Odds-n-Ends

First off - phew! I had my very first nursing school exam last week. It was in Pathophysiology (the study of diseases) and covered cardiac and respiratory diseases. I was terribly anxious going into the exam. I had no idea what to expect because everyone has been talking about how to answer "nursing questions". The idea that more than one answer may be right but you have to pick the option that is the MOST right or the BEST answer.

I'm very happy to report that I scored an 89.23%! Woo hoo! I am also happy to report that is only 0.77% away from being an A grade. What that means is that I can easily boost myself up to an A for the next exam. I found a great study method that really seemed to work for me. I use concept maps to outline each disease separately. It covers their eitology, pathology, signs & symptoms, dangers, diagnostic tests and treatments in a visual manner. Here is a sample of one that I did:
It's a bit hard to see the specifics but you can get the general drift. Pretty neat, huh? Thanks to Miss Emilie for linking me to this great free software!

Now my only problem will be to keep up with doing this on a weekly basis instead of waiting for the two days before the next exam. I know with this method of focusing on the diseases I will be able to do great in this class, as long as I don't procrastinate and wait until the last minute. Uh oh! That's going to be a big challenge for me!

In other news, I played Rock Band for the first time this weekend and it totally kicked ass! I love it. It's my new favorite game! I'm going to have to scheme a way for us to get a playstation 3 and Rock Band soon! Maybe prices will drop after Christmas?

I also got to do some knitting this weekend (thanks wildtomato!) and finally got started on my socks. Yes, the socks I was going to learn to knit over the summer. Since the weather has been so nice here lately (until today) does it count that I'm learning during an indian summer?!? It will be so nice to have a small project to take with me during my l-o-n-g commute to school and a great way to decompress on demand.

Lastly, here is a picture of me from my first day of school. Matty had some issues with getting a picture but this is what we've got! I messed around with the color and jacked up the picture because my face was completely washed out by the flash.


Oh, truly lastly, we joined the local climbing gym Planet Granite in the Presidio. They have workout machines, yoga classes and of course, climbing walls. I'm going to take the belay class in the next few days (Matty already took it) so we can have some fun together!