A long time

Applying to nursing school has been a long, drawn out process.  I have been actively thinking about doing this for the past 12 years now, but 'life' somehow had other priorities in store for me (i.e. career, marriage, pregnancies, having babies...oh, those glorious newborn months!!!). 

But nursing was never far from my mind, even when all the other events were happening.  All it would take would be for someone to mention that she is a L&D nurse or a public health nurse, and I'd mentally be so wishing I had followed the nursing career path earlier in my life. 

And now it is here, but it seems like it isn't really.  This gets be back to the topic of this post, which is 'a long time'.  I submitted my application in October 2010.  I waited and waited and waited, and in March 2011 I got notice of my acceptance.  Now I wait and wait and wait until September for classes to start. 

So although it is 'real', it really isn't!  In the meantime, and for the coming five months, my life carries on exactly as it had before I applied to nursing school.  This is what makes it feel very surreal.  I told my boss about my upcoming career change, I'm now telling colleagues and friends about it, but I guess because it is seemingly so far off in the distance, it feels somewhat odd to be talking about it.  Don't get me wrong -- I am thrilled and excited to both have this opportunity given to me, and I love telling people about it, but on some level, it just doesn't seem real (and as I've mentioned before, I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world!). Lol!

I guess I just have to remember gratitude, and that when September actually rolls around and classes start, I'll look back to these months of waiting, and realize that they actually went by quite quickly. 

In June, I will be able to register for my classes, so that is the next 'milestone' to look forward to, which will help make the reality of my career change more tangible.

And on the flip side, the closer the start of classes comes, I'm sure that part of me will dread actually, really, truly, leaving the known cocoon of my current job and salary, to go embark on a new, unknown adventure. 

All this to say is that perhaps it is truly the best idea to just 'live in the moment', be grateful for where we're at, at this particular moment, and just be content. 

Have a great weekend!