Rushing Into Place

MONDAY

6:15 AM: Woke up to get ready to go take the TSI exam at the Del Mar Testing Center after going with my mom to pick my dad up from his night shift at work.
6:40 AM: Headed out the door in a rush since we were supposed to leave 10 minutes ago.
7:10 AM: Got my dad at his work.
7:40 AM: Arrived at the Testing Center to fill out a form and pay to take the exam. Happy to see that I was one of the very first ones in line.
8 AM: Sat in a chair and waited in the hallway to be lead into the computer room to take the exam next to people around my age group.
8:35 AM: Was called in one by one to get assigned to a computer, but they told me I needed my photo ID, which my mom forgot to leave with me. I called her asking her to bring me back my photo ID (and my social security, just in case, which ended up being smart of me to do).
8:45 AM: Waited near the entrance of the Testing Center. Got on Facebook off my mom's phone (since she left her phone with me) to read all the posts of people going back to school and others entering college for the first time. Patrick, my boyfriend, sent me a "Good morning" message. I messaged him what was going on.
8:55 AM: Patrick called me just to talk with me. We were teasing each other and being mean. It was nice though. He made waiting near the entrance entertaining and he put a smile on my face. Especially with him telling me he loves me more than once before I had to go and hang up. We discussed hanging out after the exam and he told me to call him once I'm out so he could pick me up.
9:05 AM: My mom came in with both my social security and my photo ID.
9:10 AM: Went in and got assigned a computer after presenting them my photo ID.

I sat at seat 26, where I sat happily in a comfortable rolling chair. Thank GOD I didn't have to sit in those awful high school desks that make your back hurt. Like, why couldn't they let us sit in comfortable rolling chairs like this whenever we took important state tests? I swear I would've done even better. Maybe I would've done well on the ACTs if I just had more sleep, a healthy breakfast, studied, wore a comfortable bra that didn't put ache in my spine, and sat in a chair like I was sitting at yesterday! Then again, I didn't sleep that early the night before the TSI, eat breakfast, or study. However, I did not wear a bra that morning. I, now, have this theory that sitting in a comfy chair with no bra on while testing is key. That's where the comfort is at. You'll fail at life and everything else if you try to achieve things with a sturdy chair and a spine-digging bra. Anyways, I had to fill in some background information about myself and then the exam started off with sections over reading, English, writing an essay, and math in that order. All those sections, besides writing the essay, included over 20 questions. I finished over 3 hours later and was given my results right then and there. It looks like a reading course is not required for me! I need to take a course for both English and math though. Not because I didn't do very good on them. I did great. I got points over the required amount on all sections, but I guess I just need to brush up a little more on those two subjects by taking a regular kind of class.

Once I finished, I called my dad to tell him I already finished and that I was going to hang out with Patrick. I played Fruit Ninja while I waited for him and once Patrick was near, we both got frustrated trying to find each other. Once he found me, he gave me this silly death stare he does often through the car window. He brought along his friend, Joseph, like he said he would and once I opened the door to sit in the front seat, I noticed Patrick also brought along both his dogs, Lucy and Peewee. I looked over to Patrick and saw how he was wearing his red holed Coca Cola pajama pants. Nappy boy, but I think it's adorable :) I think it's funny thinking back on how we were arguing about trying to find each other and how all of that arguing kinda dissolved on its own fairly quickly once I got in the car and went off with him. He played his music, held my hand, and asked me how I was doing many times throughout the ride. 

TUESDAY

The next morning, I woke up to cook myself bacon and egg tacos and to drink up a glass of Tampico hearing the weather channel music playing in the background. It was a beautiful morning. Afterward, I took a shower to get ready to go with my dad to get my high school transcript and my meningitis shot after dropping my mom off at her work. My dad drove me to the high school I used to attend to ask for my transcript in the office. I was given an unofficial transcript, which my college said they would accept for now. They were going to wait until my high school sent my official transcript electronically. Receiving my transcript, thankfully, takes a day for my college. While waiting around for the transcript, the only person there that I recognized who passed by was my algebra 2 teacher, Mr. Turner, who I had senior year. We exchanged a smile that meant "Hello". I thought about last year and how I had no friends to socialize with in the morning, so I would sit in my desk in his classroom since his class was my first class of the day. I'd be in there listening to music and finishing up homework or writing as I always would.

My next stop was to the Family Planning clinic. Hm, I thought. Isn't that the place you get birth control, condoms, injections, and stuff? Yes. Yes, it is. It's also where I was getting my meningitis shot. A totally awkward place to get one.. with your dad.. with televisions that talk about sex.. and emphasize that word way louder than the other English words the narrator is speaking. Kill. Me. I pretended like I wasn't paying attention. And this other moment, I commented negatively on a short film the television programmed of three girls on the subway.

THE STORY

Friend #1 was dealing with her mom getting drunk too early in the morning and wanted to stay at her friend #2's house. Friend #3 was going to join, but then she started talking to this guy on the subway that came up to her with a lame pickup line that she thought was ridiculous at first, but then she went over to his house and did it with him. Both her friends got mad and she said, "I didn't wanna disappoint him." Friend #2 said, "What does it matter? He's not even anything to you. Never in a million years would you see me doing that!" Oh, you wouldn't? Really, friend #2? The next day, the same thing happened to friend #2. She got drunk with some guy that was trying to charm her and she did it with him because she was "nervous" and wanted to make it "less nerve-wrecking" by drinking too, then ending up having too much to drink and doing it. Meanwhile, friend #1 was hitting it off with this guy that genuinely wanted her. Friend #2 got pregnant. I'm not too sure what happened to #3, but it was retarded as hell how the two girls were doing it just to make it less disappointing or awkward for these guys they don't even know well. You can't be that eager to please men. Especially when you don't even know them.

Well, anyways, it turns out they ran out of vaccination needles, but they were going to order the meningitis vaccinations from a nearby town that day that they said would be ready for me in the morning. Alrightie, then. My dad then did adult stuff like give the car a car wash and to do things whatever people do at Statefarm. After all that when the rest of my family (mom, Ricky, and Kiara) were out of work/school..

FOOD!!!

And you know.. then I ended the day relaxing up until I fell asleep.

WEDNESDAY

I went to the Family Planning clinic again, the next morning, and finally received my meningitis shot. I sat in the waiting room for a long while, before that, and had to, once again, go through the awkwardness of hearing the television loudly say, "SEX." Why do informative videos always emphasize this word by pronouncing it louder and clearer than the rest of the English words? It's so awkward! I'm sitting beside my dad here. Hello!? I couldn't take it, so I put in my earphones to listen to music instead until they called me. When they called my name, I walked through the door that led to this small open area with vaccination needles on the counter and a chair where I was told to sit in. It was a quick process of sticking the needle in my arm, getting a paper, and leaving. I'll admit, I was a little wimpy about getting it at first, looking away from my arm, trying to make conversation with my dad since it's been a good while since I last got a vaccine for anything. All it was, really, was a quick prick. And guess what! It was free. How nice of them, huh? At that clinic, it was originally supposed to cost $10, but I guess they couldn't resist being nice to us. This was all done at 9 or 10 AM.

After this, my dad drove us to this place my mom was at where she receives physical therapy, currently, for her hand since her fingers were smashed on a closing airplane door at work over a month ago. This place was much more relaxing than the Family Planning clinic. You can hear country music being played sitting in the waiting room all the way from the physical therapy room. It was nice being in a waiting room where it wasn't too quiet and it wasn't too loud either. The country music from a distance was nice as it was from where I sat. All that hung on the walls were simple, colorful paintings of the beach. Although this is irrelevant, I realized, once I saw my mother walking towards us, that I can't spend too much time with one parent because then I start missing the other one. It almost makes me despise the one I'm around often if I see them way too much. I don't know if that's just me, but I've got to balance them out. ESPECIALLY over how annoyed I got with my dad today because of how controlling he was being with me during registration. When he gets impatient, frustrated, and controlling, he makes up an excuse that he can't control those emotions and that he can't think when really, he just needs to learn how to grow the fuck up and act professional when it comes to handling his temper around me. If he can't learn to do that by now, then that just makes him look pathetically childish in my eyes.

Anyways, the three of us went out to eat at Acapulco's. I ate carne asada with lettuce in two flour tortillas with Coke as my drink. Boy, I was feeling good. My stomach hurt out of hunger before eating there. After that, we went to my 12-year-old sister, Kiara's, school to pick her up since we both had to go and get a yearly check up at the doctors. Like the artist that she is, she was upset not being able to go to her fourth period, art class. Her homework, yesterday, was to draw Grumpy Cat. She did wonderful on it! I have to create a post one of these days dedicated to her artwork. She is really good.

Before going to the doctor's, we took a 30-minute trip to my dad's work so he could withdraw money at the credit union office from his account to pay for my tuition. Then another 30-minutes went by and I was in a waiting room.. again. They played The Fairly Odd Parents on the television and I was happy to watch it. Kiara and I got called in and the nurse took our height, weight, blood pressure, and tested our vision. When that got taken care of, we were led into the room where your ears, mouth, nose, and stomach get checked while being asked questions and having possible vaccinations. I was asked to get this other vaccination just to get it out of the way, so I accepted it. I can't remember what it was called, but I got it on my right arm. I also got blood work done because of my weight-dropping "problem" that I've been having. I, personally, don't see it as a problem. This time last year, I was 10 lbs heavier. I dropped weight because I got the flu twice in January and March. This summer, when family first visited me after a while or when I went and visited them, they would be surprised to see how thin I've gotten. In July, one of my aunts in Chicago brainwashed my parents into thinking I should get blood work done and that it might be dangerous to have lost weight the way I did, which was effortlessly. 

As far as the doctor is concerned with the questions he asked me, I am healthy, but he wanted to take blood just in case something was going on inside of me. He said, "The vampires will come in just a little bit to take your blood." I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling, laid my head back against the wall, and groaned. "I know, I know. It'll be over before you know it." Mind you, this is the very first time I've ever had a needle near the bend of my arm, so I was nervous as heck! The nurse came in a few minutes later and called me up first before vaccinating Kiara. I groaned wishing Kiara would have gone before me. My body was stiff, looking away, trying to make conversation with my mom and Kiara, and I was sweating all over. The only painful part about it, although, was the strap around my arm. Jesus Christ! Kiara had to get four vaccinations. That poor creature. Both her arms were aching and got numb later on. It was hard for her to move them around for a good while. Kiara and I, obviously, weren't that very happy to end with.

We finally got to go and register me into Del Mar. I talked to an advisor so she could set up some classes for me. Since I didn't register early enough, I didn't get to be given that many classes. In fact, I only have two classes (as part-time). I have psychology first thing in the morning starting at 8 every Mondays and Wednesdays. Then I have a break for three hours before going into English. I'm completely free after 1:50 PM. Hey, at least it's something. I just can't wait to register for more classes. Registration for the next semester starts in November. My advisor recommended I set up an advising appointment with a department advisor in the nursing department towards the last week of October before registering again (since I'll be on an advising hold and I should set it up before anyone else) to let me know about major requirements I must get done before getting into the RN program.

I'm eager to finish school already. I don't know anyone there at Del Mar, and if I do I either stopped talking to them or never even began. In my case, I'm not there to make friends. I couldn't care less if someone comes up to me and starts talking to me. It's not out of bitterness. I mean, fine. If I made a friend, I made a friend. All I care about is to be on top with my grades so I'll be the best neonatal nurse I can be. I want to be the chosen one. After all that has been said about what it takes to be a registered nurse, I really need to focus and I want to try my best. I know I say that every year about every grade I'm about to get into, but my education is being paid for. This is the rest of my life we're talking about here. I'm going to have to take it serious. I have to stray away from procrastinating and relaxing too much. I'm going to have to call off plans to study. I'm going to need help if I don't understand. I have to stick to my word.. even if it means I have to pass up blogging about my life. Maybe, I'll just recap through video since typing takes much longer. I have some doubts in myself, but I'm going to have to prove myself wrong. I want to make myself and others proud about the end results in my effort.

Wish me luck!