Havin' A Blast, Wish You Were Here

The war has been won. I took the wretched comprehensive Pathophysiology final exam this past Monday ... and I PASSED! WOO-HOO! I went into this thing having made peace with the very real possibility of having to take this class again. I mean, I went in as fully prepared as I could possibly be, but given the way the rest of the exams have gone, I knew I was riding the fence on whether or not I could pull it off. I appreciate all the prayers and small animal sacrifices that were performed on my behalf - I think that's what pulled me through. FINALLY, Dr. G's voice will stop ringing in my ears. (note: If anybody actually sacrificed small animals, I do not want to know about it.)

I was very distressed at missing my friend J's 40th birthday/July 4th extravaganza. I told him a while back that I would have to sit this one out thanks to the Patho exam. I pictured myself sitting in my loft studying away with the distant sound of fireworks going on around me. But my little community had other plans. When I got home from school on Tuesday, a team of Mullet Men were in the field next to my house clearing every little piece of growth that had found a strong-hold there. They cut down the honeysuckle that was growing next to my house, and this distressed me to no end. My first thought was that something dreadful was going to be built next to me. Something like, oh, I don't know, maybe a home for juvenile deliquents. But the next day, the field had been cordoned off with bright yellow tape, and it dawned on me that perhaps there was a July 4th thing happening. Turns out FREEDOM FEST was the big deal that was going to blow up right here in my little corner of the world. I spent most of the day studying with my newly adopted study group, and later in the evening my friend E came over to watch the show. And she brought me a freshly baked blackberry thing ... SCORE! I think this county blew its entire budget on the fireworks because it was quite impressive. And every single neighbor around me seemed to be having a competition to see who's personal fireworks display dominated.

Nothing more exciting than that going on here. Nursing school does not lend itself to having anything more than "studying for an exam" to report. I have a Health Assessment exam on Monday and a big research paper to work on for that ridiculous on-line class. That is my life right now. And I have to say, I miss my old life. I miss my friends back home. I miss my fire department. I miss Sunday brunch followed by a lazy afternoon of croquet and volleyball and horseshoes. I miss coffee at Espresso News, and gallery openings, and quiet nights out in the country where the stars were so amazing that it took my breath away. I miss my porch swing, and the sound of Cove Creek. But I DO NOT miss my former neighbors: the weirdo Rabbi and his motley crew of wayward young men. My current neighbors are fabulously normal people who play volleyball in the pouring down rain, and who do not speak English. And I adore them.

Other things that I've grown to appreciate in this strange world I now call ... um ... headquarters (I still can't bring myself to call it home) include: the totally hot motorcycle cop (this county not only has money for fabulous fireworks, but they have all kinds of fancy toys for the local law enforcement folks to drive); the way the railroad track is on a slight hill so that when I drive over it at just the right speed, I feel like the Dukes of Hazard; the fact that the local diner, the post office, the town hall, the elementary school and the fire department are all within spittin' distance of my house (seriously, this town is THAT SMALL); I love that when school is in session I can hear the morning announcements from my backyard; but mostly I love that there are always folks out and about here: a pack of kids riding bicycles and older folks walking on the track at the park and neighbors working in their gardens and people at the church across the street playing kickball ... basically, I almost feel like I live in a Norman Rockwell painting. Almost.