DONE!

As of today, I am officially done nursing school!

I wrote the Canadian Registered Nurses Exam, which started at 8:30am sharp this morning. I walked to the school, to clear my head, and also to make sure that I got there on time. The exam was four hours long and I had 200 questions to complete. I have been studying for the past two weeks at home, but of course, have been preparing for this exam for the last four years. It wasn't too bad. I will find out the results (PASS/NO PASS) in about 6 weeks.

In the meantime I have my temporary license, which means I can call myself a nurse, just not a Registered Nurse. I can also call myself a Graduate Nurse. It's a bit strange. I have spent so many hours being a student, and suddenly, tonight...I have no homework.

So I am taking the night off, then the job hunt starts tomorrow. I would love to have another summer off, but on the other hand, I am eager to start working. In Yellowknife, there is a benefit and a drawback to being one of only 18 nursing grads. There are fewer of us looking for work, but also fewer jobs that we are fighting, ahem, I mean, competing for.

Otherwise, the fam is doing well. We have all just gotten over what I suspect was the flu. Rachel and I were stuffy, headache, sore throat for about a week, and Shane is just getting over it now. The weather is nice and warm, and dry, which means no bugs. Well, of course there are bugs, it's Yellowknife, but they are not preventing us from going outside...yet. We are expecting a thunder storm tonight, which is rare, and I can see the clouds starting to roll in. The wind is picking up quite a bit too. Rachel and her friend are outside with umbrellas, waiting for the rain.

We still haven't landscaped, and it doesn't look like it will happen this summer. We have a plot of land beside us that will eventually be a community garden, but until the community organizes itself, it's just a sand pit. Which is kid heaven, in case you didn't know. All weekend Rachel was outside with various kids from the neighbourhood, using our hose and some gardening tools to dig holes and pile up dirt into little mounds.

We haven't planned our next camping trip, did I mention the first one? It was way too cold, but we had a great night. We just need a bigger tent and some air mattresses. It's perfect weather now, not too hot or buggy. The only thing is that the dryness means a strict fire ban, so no campfire. Isn't that the whole point of camping? So we still need a family tent and some sort of Coleman stove in case we can't have a fire.

Rachel has one more month of school, then we have her booked into day camps for July, on the hope that I will be working. She is ready to be done school, and is already planning her birthday party. She wants a home party, which is more work for me, but inexpensive, and I can keep the numbers of kids down. I think I can handle five kids, and if the weather's nice, it will be an "outside" party. We have some lovely greenspace behind the house, and although the grass is still coming up, I'm sure we can find some games for the kids to play while they wait for cake.

Ack! Just read the updated forecast: rain AND snow. Will we ever get a break?