I have an addiction to school/office supplies.

Side Note: Woohoo! I am officially done with all of the requirements for school; I got my bloodwork done today and hopefully will have the titer results in the next couple of days and another big thing can be checked off my "to-do" list. *does a happy dance*

So, I am a sucker for office/school supplies. I could spend hours and spend hundreds at Staples or anywhere where office supplies are sold. I love post-its, tables, folders, sharpies, etc. I love it all. However, since I have such a great love for supplies, I often end up buying a bunch of stuff that I don't use... So, I have decided that this year, I am not buying ANYTHING before I go to class and actually see what I need. That's right, I am cutting myself off from anything school or office supply related.

I did buy one thing, though: a planner. A planner is a must-have item for me; I love writing down what I'm doing and what needs done and checking off the days/items as I go. It helps me keep my head on straight and feel accomplished. And this year, I got a super, super cute planner because I didn't wait until the last minute to find it!

So, this is my oath to you all; I am not buying any school supplies until I see what I actually need!!

The countdown is becoming much more real...

41 days until the first day of school... Let me just throw some adjectives out there of what I'm feeling:

excited, nervous, determined, scared, committed, unsure, proud, sick.

Yes, I realize that these words are contradictory... But, alas, that's what I feel, so I'm saying it. It feels like I made this commitment YEARS ago (In reality, it was only about 7 months ago) and even longer since I was in a classroom learning (hello August 2010).

Thus, I am a creature of habit, and I have grown quite used to my habits, my life as it is right now. Friday was a hard day for me. It was my very last day of work at the Physics Department. Honestly, if that job paid more and was in a closer location to my new house, I would keep it forever. The physics department taught me so much more than I ever expected. I remember being so nervous to start (I'm always anxiety ridden when I start something new) and on Friday I was crying because it had all come to an end.

I'm excited to start school, but I am so sad to leave all those I've become so close with in the past year behind. I really felt so important and appreciated at my job, and I will cherish that time forever.

And so, I am almost done with getting everything in line for school; just my terrible, horrible bloodwork awaits me (needles, needles, needles... hate, hate hate) and then I'll have everything set; other than my parking pass.

I also applied for unemployment and I'm hoping to be able to keep renewing it throughout my schooling; but we'll see if I can keep re-opening my claim or not. Right now my initial claim is being processed, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that I can get a couple hundred dollars every 2 weeks to help with the cost of gas and whatnot.

So, I am both anxiety-filled and excitement-filled as the last 6 weeks of freedom are closing in on me and school will be starting sooner, rather than later.

Needles and doctors, oh my!

So a lot of my classmates and I are lamenting on our facebook group about all of the health requirements we have to fulfill. Ugh. I mean, I guess it's your sort of normal run of the mill stuff, but I don't do well with big long to-do lists that involve pointy needles.

So, just as a warning to all who may apply, you have the potential of looking forward to all of the following (makes me feel like I'm a teacher again, yuck):

1. FBI fingerprint check
2. Criminal Background check
3. Child Abuse check
4. Current CPR training
5. TB test
6. Blood titers for a slew of things (hepatitis, measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc)
7. Physical

Yay. On top of that I also have to go my heart check-up in July and my "lady" doctor. July is a crappy month.

I got my two-week notice letter in the mail and it made me really sad. I really do love my job and I'm going to miss everyone when I'm gone. It's really hard for me to focus in on getting everything organized so that they will be able to find things when I'm gone. Really sad. I'm a creature of habit, so this is hard for me. I just keep thinking, "I had an entire year before school" and now I'm staring July 1st in the face... It just seems like yesterday I was applying. And although I am sad about my job ending, I am very excited about school... I think. (Ok, I'm more nervous!)