The Collectors by David Baldacci

The Collectors

by

David Baldacci

The Camel Club series by David Baldacci is a delightful series.  Although the books are considered political thrillers,  they are amusing because the main characters are a group of older men that are a bit on the bumbling side.  The Collectors is the second book in the Camel Club series.  It revolves around the Library of Congress and a spy ring that is using the library setting to export governmental secrets.  It also has characters that collect books.  There is murder and suspense along with the treasonous spy's that our Camel Club members are pursuing.  Most books that contain mysteries I can figure out before the ending.  Not so with David Baldacci.  His books keep me guessing till the end.  As always click on the author's name and book title above to follow links to more information. Enjoy the video that follows that tells about one of the books that was sought after by the book collectors in this novel.  

Epilogue To The CPNE

Two weeks ago I was spending my first night in Pennsylvania getting ready to begin my three days of testing which has been the topic of my last few blogs.  Since I have been home I have been in a bit of a daze.  I sit and stare into space a lot, my mind a million miles away.  But I have realize in my thinking that I have left a lot of thank you's out of my blogs.  So many people supported me emotionally and as a cheering sections while I prepared for my test.  I worry that even with adding another blog I will still leave people out.  If I miss you I very much apologize.  

First I have to thank my children and step children.  They probably heard me talk on and on about the test the most.  They were all patient with me and great support.  But my adult twins,  Nick and Nicole,  listened the most and Nicole sent me to test with a Starbucks gift card to spoil me while I was testing.  And one of my husband's adult twins, Amy,  made a special effort to make sure I had a talisman that she picked out specially for me to keep in my pocket while I tested.  

Many friends too heard of little else from me for months.  I was so bad about it I almost hated to talk to people during that time.  Everyone I emailed heard about it at least once a week as did my yoga teacher who loaned me a small piece of Hematite to carry in my pocket.  

My siblings and father heard of nothing else from me.  My only brother Jim was especially reassuring with his belief in me.

But no one put up with more than my husband Bruce.  He carried the slack at home so I could study and he was very patient through out the fall months as I was struggling and not always in the best of spirits.  He was my support throughout.  He even drove me  to Atlanta so I could take my mock test.  

All these people deserve specific thanks along with anyone else I forgot to mention.    

An Educational Journey Part IV: My CPNE Test Weekend

Required attire for a CPNE test weekend is business casual on Friday night and all white uniforms with no flashy jewelry and no long sleeves Saturday and Sunday.  Also on Saturday and Sunday hair had to be off the collar and there could be no visible tattoos.  As I mentioned in earlier posts,  I started to seriously study for my mid December test weekend early in August.  Toward the end of September I had perused my closet for a pair of dress slacks.  suitable top and conservative shoes for Friday night business casual.  When packing a few days  before the test I slipped the outfit back on prior to taking time to press it.  Oh my.  Four and a half months of study time munchies and nervous eating had turned my loosely fitting dress slacks into those "skinny" type pants the young women  wear today.  I tried on every pair of dress slacks in my closet.  Oh my.  Then I remembered a box of clothes I had not put away yet that my daughter had given me.  Digging through it I found a larger sized pair of dress slacks that fit.  Crisis averted.  My shoes still fit.

The drive from SW Ohio to South Central PA on Thursday afternoon and evening was uneventful except for my last bathroom stop at a rest park just before getting off the PA turnpike.  I was parked in an isle that had no other cars but right next to an isle that had cars.  As I was walking toward the building I saw one of those  vans without windows on the sides park next to me.  I felt concerned but took my time in the ladies room and before starting back out to my car looked the situation over and the van remained.  So I went back to the store area and asked for security to walk me to my car.  They directed me to one of the fast food places to talk to the manager who assigned one of her young men french friers to walk me to my car.   He was very polite and said he thought it looked really creepy too. 

When I checked into my room at Country Inn and Suites I had two Queen sized beds and set one up with lab practice supplies and study materials. (see picture above)  The motel was located near the hospital test site and there were plenty of restaurants to choose from in the nearby area.  They had an Excelsior discount which was nice.   Chambersburg PA is a small community so I was comfortable there.  The girls at the check in desk at the motel agreed that I had every right to ask that french frier young man to walk me to my car.  They said the man in the van should never have parked next to me  and sat with his running lights on. 

My mantra for the weekend that I kept repeating to myself was "I am competent.  I am confident.  I am determined.  I am not nervous."  And every day before I left my car in the hospital parking lot I played a you tube video of the Mary Tyler Moore show theme song.  The one where she throws her hat in the air and they sing "This girl is going to make it after all".   The CPNE is a weekend test of basic nursing skills.  They don't ask us to do anything much that we haven't been doing all along in our careers as LPNs.  Only LPNS,  Paramedics,  and Respiratory Therapists can take Excelsiors program.  It is very stressful because so much is at stake.  But it is a rite of passage.  Nurses have to be able to handle stress as stress is an every day thing in many nursing jobs.  It is three days where you have to do it the Excelsior Way  and  it is very much a frame of mind thing.  

I slept good on Thursday night.  I got up early for my second shift self - about nine am - on Friday morning and reviewed things.  Business casual Friday night consists of four lab station simulations.  I was to be at the hospital at 4:30 pm so arrived at 4:15.  I wore my hair in one braid down my back because nothing said I had to put it up on Friday night.  Putting my hair up had been a problem to figure out because it is long and heavy.  Whatever I had tried to do with it the last couple of months would fall out.  I got it off my collar on Saturday and Sunday and it stayed but it looked terrible.  Of the four lab stations only one was a task that I hadn't done about a zillion times  in the prior 37 years but that night I  had to be sure to include all the Excelsior critical elements.  Three of the labs were limited to 15 minutes and we had 20 minute to complete one of them.  I got through them and passed all four.  It seemed like they were most concerned with Asepsis.  Of course they wanted other steps to look good too but the girls that failed labs were ones that made mistakes in the area of Asepsis.  My hands shook which was silly because I had practiced these labs many times and knew what to do.  I had to re-draw my insulin before I could stick the dummy.  I have only mixed insulin in a syringe a half a dozen times a day for most of the past 37 years but that pm I pushed past the dose and could not re-enter the vial because it was the second med.  I was glad to see the tape was not paper tape at the wound dummy station.   The tape they had tore nicely and was easy to get that one inch limit on each side of the dressing when I used the method Sheri had shown me.   The IV piggy back station went smoothly.  It helped me that when I went to LPN school back in 1976-77 that we counted drips.  Back then  the IV pump era was just beginning.   The station that had me the most worried was the IV push station.  Other than flushes I did not do IV push as an LPN.  It is out of the scope of practice for an LPN to IV push meds.  I did have to redraw one syringe because of a stubborn air bubble.  But over all I was pleased with how that station went.  Those that failed lab stations on Friday evening had a chance to repeat them on Saturday afternoon.  Only one student was sobbing Friday pm during the labs.  Of the seven students that showed up Friday evening six returned both Saturday and Sunday morning.  Three of us had passed when I left on Sunday.  Three were still at it.  I don't know how they came out.  

Saturday consisted of two patient care situations and Sunday consisted of one.  If a person didn't fail any of them then they would be done Sunday morning.  If they failed one they could repeat it on Sunday afternoon.  Depending on which ones they failed they might get the chance to repeat two.  A PCS (patient care situation) consists of writing a care plan,  then completing assigned assessments and managements and evaluating and charting.  It is a basic nursing test.  As LPNs in long term care we did Neurological assessments and Respiratory assessments daily.  But since it is important that a nurse have the ability to pay attention to detail all the paper work had to be filled out exactly right.  Missing one initialed spot could cost a student their  goal.  The double stethoscopes they had at my test site were good.  I had heard that the ones that were used were hard to hear out of but I had not problems hearing. 

Through out the weekend we were tested by CE's (clinical examiners) and we had a CA (clinical associate) that over saw the weekend and made sure we had a fair testing experience.  I had heard stories that some of the CE's and CA's at some of the sites were pretty hard to get along with and pass hardly anyone.  As nurses we have to know how to get along with difficult people so I guess that is why they have some of those types of people testing us.  But I was so lucky at my test site.  The CA and the CE's were all very nice.  They wanted us to pass and encouraged us.  One of mine got so excited when I had my bandage scissors in my pocket to cut open a transdermal patch she said "I know you are a nurse - you have your scissors".  I silently thanked Jean Stone for that one.  (see part one to know who Jean is)

During the entire weekend I did notice that they were very strict about Asepsis.  With all the antibiotic resistant organisms out there these days I think that is important too.  Once I picked up on that focus I made double triple sure I did all the gelling and hand washing needed and I gloved up when ever something was wet and wasn't mine as we are taught.  

For any one who might read this in preparation for their weekend I would like to suggest one hint.  On Sunday morning I left my name tag in the motel.  This caused my stress level to soar.  I would suggest a person leave their name tag in the glove box of their car and not take it into the motel.  Then if they forget it they only have to go into the parking lot to retrieve it. 

So that is the story of my Excelsior College Journey.  If you missed the prior posts they can be found at the following links.  

Part One.  

Part Two.  

Part Three.  

I am so very glad to be listening to audio books again on my way to and from work instead of my home made audio study files.   I am so glad to be reading a fiction book instead of my huge almost 600 page study guide.  I am so glad to have last weekend behind me.  After the holidays I have to think about the state board exam.  But I am not even going to think about it till after the first of the year.

And as far as my prior aspirations to continue my education,  I really don't know at this point.  Not for awhile.  I have some of the past few months expenses to pay off first while I decide.  And I have doubts that I would be a very good teacher following this experience.  My home made audio study files revealed to me that I tend to mispronounce an awful lot of words.  They sound right in my head but when I listened to myself on the audio files I  realized that they are not pronounced correctly.  So a teacher is probably not a good choice for me to use to supplement my retirement income.   For now I have the goal of passing the state board nursing examination to keep me busy and a trip to plan to ride on a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail.   Beyond that - who knows.  

An Educational Journey Part III: The Home Stretch

As I was completing my last couple of modules the summer of 2013  I recieved a message from Excelsior that my seven year limit for completing the program would be up July 2014.  I wrote back and explained that I had enrolled in the school of nursing four years not six years ago.  They answered explaining that the two years I had been enrolled in 2002/2003 counted toward my seven years.  But they also said I could write a letter of appeal asking for an extension.  This I  did and that they gave - till the end of 2014 as long as I had my application in for my CPNE by the July 2014 deadline.  (CPNE stands for Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination).  So I finished up my last module September of 2013,  took my two FCCA's by early 2014, and was eligible to apply.  Did I mention the end of December of 2013 I moved from NE Indiana to SW Ohio and that during the process of filling out the CPNE application I got married again?  The application requires a back ground check,  a physical with lots of vaccination titers and repeated vaccinations for any titers that no longer covered me.  A copy of my current CPR certification had to be included along with a copy of my current negative TB test.  And proof of a flu shot.  That sort of thing.  None of which are hard but all seemed to take forever to gather up and complete.  Therefore it was early May, I think, before I sent off the last item.  I waited on them till July and they messaged  me my test date of December 12-14.  Pass rate for first time testers of the CPNE is like 44%.  The over all pass rate is 66%.  I had till December 31 to get this thing done therefore I had to pass on the first try or face the fact that I was never going to be a RN in this life time.  At age 57 I was not going to start a new nursing program.   So there was nothing else to do but prepare all I could prepare and to be successful.  Plan B would be to change majors.  If my life has taught me nothing else it has taught me to always have a plan B.    My original idea was to get my RN to make more money now and to continue on with my education till I had the credentials to teach as I felt a part time teaching job would supplement my retirement.  Plan B would scratch the more money now but there was nothing to say I couldn't prepare myself to teach something other than nursing.

So it was July and time to get busy preparing.  Right after I knocked out the 24 CEU's the state of Ohio required by August.  How did I miss that requirement was coming up?  And two waiver things the job required me to read and take little tests online about to get certificates.  In the meantime I worked on reading the almost 600 page CPNE study guide and signed up for a one day workshop Excelsior offered which I attended the beginning of August.

Another fly in the ointment I had pop up was that I suddenly found out about two weeks before the online class started that I had not taken a requirement called "Information Literacy".  Which was not hard and I knocked it out.  It just cost money I didn't expect and if I had not noticed it I would not have made my end of the year deadline.  It also took up some  time that I could have used studying for the CPNE.  

In order to pass the CPNE one had to know something called "critical elements"  which were things that had to be completed without missing any during the course of the performance exam.  None of the critical elements could be missed or the exam was  failed.  There are around 24 areas that each have up to about ten critical elements.    In order to learn these something called mnemonics have risen up over the years.   This exercise in memorization brought to mind the section in one of the modules during the written part of my course work about how the plasticity of one's brain lessons with age.  Memory work is not what it was at age 20 at age 57.  I worked hard.  It was work hard enough to slip in the sweat time.  I made audio files on my IPod and gave up listening to audio books from September till December.  Every day to and from work I listened to critical elements and mnemonics.  I drove down the road saying them aloud along with the audio files. I read the almost 600 page study guide 3.5 times.  I was doing the Excelsior offered message center "PCS"   exercises and as soon as I was able I started the weekly phone conferences with Excelsior. And as I mentioned earlier I had attended the one day workshop offered by Excelsior early in August.  But I was not getting it.  I felt like I was walking toward a firing squad.   Then I was saved by three things.

The first thing that saved me was on one of the various pages on FB that are students either trying to pass or just done passing the CPNE.  Lots of moral support are on those pages and much advice - some good some not so good advice.  But on one of those pages was a post from a paramedic in the Cincinnati area looking for a study buddy for the CPNE.  That paramedic,  whose name was Michelle,  was one of the things that saved me.  She had purchased all the lab station set up from Excelsior for practice and we met weekly at one of the Cincinnati hospital's classrooms and studied and practiced.  I would not have passed the CPNE without Michelle.

The second thing that saved me was Sheri Taylor.  She has a workshop in Atlanta, and an online workshop, and she offers mock tests for those that want to sign up.  She is a private entity and is not affiliated with Excelsior College.  Her speciality is to prepare students to pass the CPNE.  I would not have passed the CPNE without Sheri Taylor.   I took her  online workshop for two months.  I went to Atlanta for a one day mock.  And Michelle and I went down to Atlanta and took the three day workshop.  Excelsior College is adamant that it is not necessary to go to an outside source to pass their CPNE.  They say that everything needed to pass is offered by them.  And the information is there in the items they provide.  What Sheri provides is a system and strategies for a student to hang that information on along with tools for a student to be able to do the work to pass the CPNE.  Also she says the same things that excelsior says information wise only  in simpler language.  There are several workshops available out there to help students pass the CPNE.  I have heard good stuff about many of them.  Sheri Taylor's program worked for me.  I did not use the others so I can't say anything good or bad about them.  I would not have passed my CPNE without Sheri.  

The third thing that saved me was an Excelsior instructor.  Three weeks prior to my test date I was hit with the most paralyzing test anxiety ever.  When I had my weekly phone conference with Excelsior staff I asked about any ideas about what to do about it.  The Excelsior staff member gave me concrete things to do that had me functioning again in about 48 hours.  I was still nervous right up and including during the CPNE but I was no longer immobilized.  Her recommendations included to begin taking the Rescue Remedy I had purchased to take the weekend of the test immediately four times a day.  It is by Bach Flowers and is a herbal remedy for stressful situations.  The second thing she told me to do was to look in the mirror every day and say "I passed my CPNE.  I remembered all my critical elements and mnemonics.  I read my kardex carefully.  I made no silly mistakes. In fact I made no mistakes at all.  I was not nervous.  I had a good testing experience."  A third thing she told me was to find something to keep in my pocket during the test weekend  to touch to ground myself when I started feeling nervous.  I would not have passed my CPNE without Ellen.  

This brings me to my test weekend.  That part of the story will be told in Part IV.  

An Educational Journey Part II: A False Start And Then Steady Slow Progress

In the spring of 2002 I received one of the junk mail advertisements from one of the private companies that publish study materials to help people get through Excelsior College's Nursing program.  It might have been RUE.  There are several companies that have packages and programs.  After I investigated the various claims and ending up on the Excelsior Web site itself I learned that it was cheaper to go through the college directly and order the college text books rather than to go through any of the various publishing companies.  What this program entails is studying an entire semester of these college courses and taking a very long test by proxy at the end for what was usually three college credits.  By the time I signed it up was a couple of months and then by September I moved into an apartment and out of the home of my third marriage.   It seemed like my entire life every time I made a start to proceed with my education either a marriage or a divorce happened to complicate my concentration.  I messed around reading the text book for about a year and a half - so much for getting through the entire program in that length of time - and then it was time to test.  I had no cash to test and my credit cards were entirely too high to start putting a college education on them.   So I gave up.  Here is the first word of advice I have to any one starting out in the Excelsior program.  I am sure that it says this in the large volumes of info on their site but I missed it.  When you start paying their annual tuition fee the clock starts ticking on your program.  It is not necessary to enroll until you get to the actual nursing courses.  You can take the pre-requisites off the clock.  But the two years I was enrolled and did nothing almost cost me my goal.  There is a seven year limit to finishing up the nursing program.

So I worked as an LPN supporting myself.  The kids were young adults and independent.  I was living in a condo that I had purchased.  Life was a lot of hard work but I was enjoying my freedom and all was good.  Except that even when I was taking all of those various classes I wrote about in Part One of this blog series,  I really thought I would get my RN eventually.  But my biological clock was clicking and it was looking like it wasn't going to ever happen.  Then I met a nurse friend at work named Peggy.  Her husband liked to hunt and fish on his vacations.  The man that I was dating at the time was not a traveler.  He liked his own pillow and his own toilet.  Travel was one goal I wanted to realize so Peg and I took an annual vacation for a few years.  We would take turns planning it.  One year she would plan and the next year I would plan.  I am a President Lincoln fan so in 2007,  the June before I turned 50,  we found ourselves in Springfield Illinois.  She had her College Network modules with her.  She had one more module to pass to complete her written tests for Excelsior and then would be preparing for her clinical weekend test.  The College Network is one of the many publishing companies that charge an arm and leg for study materials for assist people in getting through Excelsior's Nursing Program.  Peggy and I talked and made an agreement.  Which follows.

Back up to when I was nine years old.  I seemed to get grounded a great deal.  When my kids were growing up we did time outs that were about ten minutes but when I was growing up in the 1960s the trend was grounding - for like a week.  I would have to come home from school and go to my room.  I would be expected to come down stairs to join the family for supper and then return to my room.  I spent a good deal of time assigned by my parents to that schedule my fourth grade year.  My fourth grade teacher felt sorry for me.  She sent me home from school with my arms loaded down with books.  And I learned to love reading.  All that time spent in my room I was traveling to wonderful times and places through books.  And one place I seemed to read about was the Oregon Trail.  I really liked those pioneer books.  So Peggy and I's agreement was when I completed Excelsior College's nursing program - which would end with something called the CPNE -  we would take a vacation and ride on a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail.  When we got home from Springfield Illinois I emailed The College Network.

As I said before,  it is cheaper to go through Excelsior College directly.  I would caution any prospective Excelsior College Student Wannabe to avoid publishing companies if they can.  But The College Network worked for me.  Their modules are like cliff notes for the college textbooks - still they were each around 300 to 350 pages long - and the main thing they do that was the clincher for me is that those high testing fees are rolled into the financing package.  So I made the monthly payments and when I was ready a module arrived.  When I finished the module and was ready to test I called and they cut me a check to pay for my test.  It worked for me.  But it still took me forever.  I have to say I enjoyed it.  I would get up after working second shift the night before late morning.  While I sipped on my coffee I would spend about an hour reading the module.  When I got done with a module before testing I would take a couple vacation days and do Excelsior's practice tests and cram.  I got all A's and B's on my eleven written classes except one C.  I enrolled back into  the school of nursing in July of 2009 because I had completed my pre-requisites and was ready to start the nursing written exams.

I feel I learned a lot and digested a large amount of information.   I feel I got a very good education in the nursing field with distance learning.  Following the written tests I had to complete two online courses called FCCA before I was CPNE qualified.  Those were hard for me.  There was a great deal of reading and they boxed me into the eight week online classes to get it done.

I should also mention that besides The College Network modules I did purchase the actual textbooks used.  I would get one edition back and it was pretty inexpensive that way.  And I would google.  My main problem with the modules were they were not indexed.  So when I was reviewing and cramming I was  unable to look up information.  So that is why I needed the text books and google.

So this brings us up to 2014 when I was finally ready to begin the application and preparation process for the CPNE.   That part of the story will be told in Part Three.

An Educational Journey Part One: The Early Years

There has never been a really firm idea in my mind of what I want to be when I grow up.  When I was a teenager, back in the 1970's, this concerned my parents.  They wanted me to be interested in college prep courses.  I tried those my freshman year and hated them.  They required way too much work.  So my sophomore year of high school I took general business classes and home economics.  Those bored me to tears.  My junior year of high school I moved in with my great grandmother in order to switch to a near by school who had this new idea called Vocational Education.  I took something called Health Occupations.  That class was a blast to me.  I loved it.  We attended it at the local hospital education building four days a week and on Wednesdays we went to a near by town where the Vocational School was located.  Our teacher was Jean Stone.  I went to visit her last year before I moved to SW Ohio.  She is in a retirement home not far from Fort Wayne.  She looked wonderful and it was great to see her again after many years.  No voice visited me as much over the years I worked in health care more often than hers.   No other person had the influence in forming what kind of nurse I turned out to be more than she did.  After my junior year ended I decided that nursing was what I wanted to study.  Of course that took pre-requisites - like chemistry.  So I moved back in with my parents and went back to my previous high school and attended half days.  I worked 5-9 pm through the week and 3-11 pm on the weekends at a local nursing home as a nursing assistant.  They paid me $0.85 an hour.  We got a five dollar bonus at Christmas.  And I kind of, sort of took Chemistry.  Let's just say I got through it with a little help from Paul,  and Steve,  and Phil,  and well you get the idea.  I didn't do a lot of the home work alone.   But I got good enough grades on the homework to pass in spite of my poor showing on the in class tests.  So the spring of 1975 arrived and I graduated.  The following August I moved in to St Joseph School of Nursing in Fort Wayne.  It no longer exists.  I tried to find some info about it,  or even a picture of it on the web but sites were scarce.  I did find an old book about it HERE.    I lasted six months.  We did have fun.  We all had metal lock boxes to put our valuables in.  A small bottle of Southern Comfort fit in them nicely.  Back then we all had rather big purses.  In fact a six pack of beer fit in them nicely.  Henry's bar was for gays and in the 1970s they did not card us.  It was within walking distance.  Of course we had to get rid of the evidence because we were not allowed to have alcohol in the dorms.  Once we threw the cans down the laundry shoot.  Once we threw them out the window into the teacher's parking lot.  They made great noise the next morning when the teachers ran over them.  We were all called to the auditorium once and given thirty minutes to clear out our rooms before they did an inspection.  I forget which of the above times preceded that event.  Once they sent me back to the dorm to iron my uniform.  They had large billowy cotton skirts with pleats.  My pleats were not creased.  Then one day I got my ears pierced.  The teacher on the unit told me that I could not be doing my clinical rotation unless I got those ear rings out of my ears.  I had just gotten them done and they had to stay in two weeks.  I went back to the dorm and called my mom and told her to come get me.  I quit.  She sat in the directors office with me and they argued with me about how good my grades were and I was almost done with the semester and would have quite a few college credits if I stayed a few more weeks.  I said no.  I am going home.  My mother asked many times but I never told her it was about the earrings.

I went home and got a job waiting tables.  I was no good at that.  I got in big trouble with my boss because I waited on the table of a farmer before a judge.  When he was yelling at me about why would I do such a thing I explained that the farmer arrived first.  Then he really  yelled and said I must never do that again.  I explained we might as well not continue with this employer employee relationship because I will serve whoever comes in first first.  So I ended up back at the nursing home and they really needed help and were very glad to have me back.  I think I was up to $1.65 an hour by then.  But living at home was not what I wanted to do forever and one could not get an apartment on those wages.  So after much brainstorming,  LPN school sounded like a good idea.  My father made me sign a written contract that I would not quit or I had to pay him back the $1000 it cost for him to send me there.  I lived at home and commuted.  I liked it.  I tied with this other girl for valedictorian and no one said a word about earrings as long as they weren't dangling ones.  The picture of me at the beginning of this blog is in 1977 when I graduated from LPN school.

They really stressed that we not stop going to school.  I took one psychology class at Manchester College after that but the drive was far and I was working a lot.  The professor gave me a B but it was a gift.    I might have taken English Comp there too I forget.  Then I got married and my education halted for a while.  I had three children.  Time passed.  When the kids went off to school all day I went back to school.  I was married for the second time by then.  I was getting quite a bit of progress as far as collecting credits although I did not know what to study.  I did enjoy a mis-matched bunch of courses at Lake Michigan College and IU South Bend.  Then that marriage ended and there was no money for school and I had to get a job again.  I did take a class here and there over the years.

Sometime in 2002 as my third marriage was winding into a bad condition I decided I wanted to get my RN.  Maybe my daughter being in college and my youngest son graduating from high school got me to thinking.  I am not sure what motivated me at that time to look into schools.

But that is a long story in itself and that part of the story will be told in Part Two.