The To-Do list grows

There comes a time when planning must become implementation. I can spin mental circles and make lists all I want, but the time when I have to leave is drawing near. The Summer session consists of 3 classes that I will have to miss and add on to the fall semester in order to get all 50 weeks ICU experience I need. I started working at the end of August, so, Mid August is when my 50 weeeks would be up.

Here's the list of things I have piling up:

1) Apply for New York state licensure
I can't attend clinicals if I'm not registered in the state of New York. New York is not the most organized city in the world, so I'm sure the form I send them will get lost, and then they need to send a form to California to verify my license, then California needs to get on the ball and send the form back to NY...and I remember the state board of registered nursing in California being a lovely place, too--they're backlogged at least 3 or 4 months themselves. I passed the NCLEX some time in August and didn't get my actual license until the end of the year.

2) Apply for Student Housing
Student housing isn't the best, but it's about 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of an apartment in a good neighborhood (near shops and walking distance to the subway and major bus lines) PLUS, the utilities are included so things like the air conditioner won't be an issue. I can't see paying utility bills and so forth and remembering to pay my rent on time when I'm in school. I can barely handle paying things on time now, and I'm not under the stress of school deadlines and assignments...I turn into an absolute mindless spaz when I'm in school, and on campus housing is the only way to go, though it is usually louder and not as nice--it's a sacrifice. I'm not there to live my life, I'm there to go to school. I don't care where I live so long as it's safe and a shelter from the weather (my friends have all moved to the upper west side, it's a status thing. But, I'd be less than a block away from the building our classes would be at, so getting up on lecture days would be a cinch...just a 2 minute walk to class.)

3) Pre-departure check ups
There's no way I'm going to go to NY to find out I have something wrong with me. Dentist, Gynecologist, Neurologist, GP and maybe a Cardiologist referral, too--I haven't seen anyone for my VSD (ventricular septal defect) since I was about ten years old, and now that I know how to read a 12 lead EKG, well, naturally I want to see what my heart looks like, and what's going on there...no sense if falling down dead in the New York subway from a condition that could have been spotted by echocardiogram or EKG. I should add here also, "get a haircut!"

4) Clean out the garage
This sounds silly, but my car will have to be put up when not used. And, on the days when my hubby has to deal with street cleaning, and no parking on this side of the street or the other, it's one less thing for him to deal with if he can just drive my car and park it in the garage when he needs. Though, he does have this crazy effect on the electronics of a car; he drives things for a while and when you get the car back, some indicator light is on and won't shut off. When I went to Italy, it was the brake sensor in my jeep, and in his car it's been the check engine light, the oil light, and a few other mysterious lights that the mechanics say are just the light sensor themselves, and not a problem with the engines. So, when I get back from New York, my Prius (all sensors) should be lighting up like the Las Vegas strip.

5) the Packing
The ever growing list of things I need to bring; two laptops, a rice cooker, maybe my little air oven for roasting the occasional chicken, or should I buy a microwave? Does the studio apartment they'll put me in have a fridge since it's got a kitchen? will I even get into the studio apartment or will they cram me back into Bard hall, where I was lucky enough to have my own bathroom, but no kitchen. Just an 8x10 room with a phone booth sized closet and drawers under the bed. Towels, sheets, winter clothes and coats and boots, summer clothes and shorts, something nice in case of interviews, and evening wear in case we go out to celebrate people's birthdays and such...then there's all my scrubs, and clinical garb--shoes, clogs, and my books and stuff...ugh, Stuff stuff stuff...so much stuff.

6) Financial Aid
This stupid Ivy League tuition isn't something I can just pay out of pocket. We're talking nearly six figures to attend just last year. I hear the Graduate portion will be cheaper, but who knows how much cheaper. In any case, it's all about loans, and grants in order to get through it. I have to submit all that stuff too. I'm off to find the online applications now :(

that's all I can think of right now, but the list is bound to grow as these 6 months creep forward.