I. AM. DONE.

So the "college" chapter of my life has officially come to a close. I checked my final grades this morning and was pleased with what I saw. So, now what?

I have signed up for two classes this summer. One starts on May 31 and is at 8 a.m. for 10 weeks through the summer. It is general chemistry and hopefully since I will have a little bit more time to focus on it, it will not be as stressful. The second starts on July 11 and is called Human Growth and Development. It is online so hopefully it will not be too bad. It is a psychology class, and since I just got an entire bachelor's degree in psychology, I do not expect it to be too hard.

I have had a few job interviews and I am keeping my options open. I am writing this from vacation in San Francisco and I will have to evaluate the pros and cons of each job when I return. I basically have an offer for one job, but I do not know if it is something I want.

Speaking of San Francisco, I love it here! I fell in love with Oakland yesterday. It is exactly the type of city I want for my 20s. I texted my dad last night to tell him I will be relocating and he said "you want to be in earthquake central". Ah yes. I love California (now that I have been to both north and south) but those pesky earthquakes.

Graduating from college is so interesting. I'm inundated with so many different feelings about it. Nervous, excited, happy, scared. My FUTURE is ahead of me. It's really interesting.

My lupus is pretty stable. There was some evidence of increased activity in my last blood tests, but I'm not that worried. I also was diagnosed with TMJ so I need to see a dentist to help me deal with that.

Well, hopefully I will have some more time to update the blog. I think I know what to rename it since I am no longer a college student and I will be playing around with formats and what not.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

A Year Older

Well, my birthday was Aug 1 so I am now 22 years old. Geez, I feel like I am 16. I am still sometimes amazed that I am old enough to get behind the wheel of a car.

I'm enjoying work at the bakery but it is very, very hard on my joints. The past few days have been particularly rough. I worked 9-2:15 yesterday and then I had to take the train back home, change, and go run around to three different computer stores to try to get something for my printer. Then I went back home and almost immediately went back out to go to a concert by the Goo Goo Dolls. I got home around 12 but had trouble falling asleep. So I did not get to sleep until around 3 in the morning and I had to get up at 5:30 to work 7-2. Needless to say I am not in the best shape right now. My joints are screaming at me.

I am supposed to be on 20mg of prednisone but I am only taking 10. My face started to fill out and I just hate the stuff. I will be on it until I go back to school at least.

My classes are going well. Only a few more weeks though until I move back to school.

And because they are wonderful, here is a video by the Goo Goo Dolls! (It won't let me embed)

Some Good and Some Bad

First for the good news: I got a paying job! It's about time! It's at this little neighborbood bakery about a 30 minute train ride from me.

Now, for the bad: I have gone on the dreaded prednisone. This swelling around my lungs is just not going down and its very painful and annoying. I knew it was going to happen when I went in there, but I am still extremely disappointed.

That's all for now. I'm still doing this ridiculous class so I need to continue my work on that especially since I will now have an extra thing to do during the day!

Off For A While?

I am starting my second class of the summer today. It is pretty intense with papers, discussions, readings and about 4-5 normal length movies to watch each week. So I am doing something new and warning everybody in advance that I might be absent for a little bit (now watch me blog every day...)

Some Good News

I got back into the apartments for next year! I am beyond thrilled by this because my schedule and everything was based on me living there again. Also my house is packed with stuff for the apartment and if I did not live there then all this stuff would have to stick around for another year.

I went up to school to see the eye doctor on Friday. Since I started taking the Plaquenil, I have to go back and get a visual field test in about a month. Then we will also talk about having the cataracts removed which I really want. The doctor wants me to try getting new glasses with a special coating on them first.

Today I went to the gym for the first time since I had my kidney stones. It passed last night and I am not in pain from them now so I thought I could try going back again.

I am still jobless but this news about the apartment next year has lifted my spirits considerably. My online class is going well, I just have to find the motivation to do the work. I have to watch a 2 hour documentary tonight and I have a mini-paper due on an article tomorrow.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Turned to Stone

Unfortunately I am dealing with kidney stones at the moment. It is not the first time I have had them. One time they kept me in the hospital for a week and I was discharged on my (18th? It's hard to keep track) birthday. No hospital admissions in sight for me this time around though, I'm dealing well with them on my own.

My online class started yesterday and I have done none of the reading yet. I have also not gotten back into the apartments for next semester, found a job, and my financial situation is still pretty awful. All around I'm just not in the best mood.

That's it for now. I have to go to school n Friday to see the eye doctor again so I will post again after that.

Not Impressed

Sorry for the gap between posting again. I had written a long, thought out post a couple days ago and erased it by accident and couldn't retrieve it. I basically described my meeting with my new rheumatologist. I don't really like her and my father was not that impressed either. She made some recommendations that I don't think I will take her up on. The only thing I said I would do is try Plaquenil again. I refused the prednisone (again) and some other things she suggested. She seems to be in favor of polypharmacy and I am certainly not. She also just seemed bored while I was there.

I gave my blood to some blood bank for lupus research while I was there. This rheumatologist is affiliated and located in a big research hospital so I have opportunities to participate in research. I also consented to be contacted by the people running a study on Vitamin D and lupus. I take a weekly megadose of Vit. D because my levels tend to be pretty low.

My summer classes start June 8 and are available for preview on June 1. For some reason I am looking forward to starting them although I know my tune with change once they actually do start.

I have been going to the gym regularly since I have been home. I want to lose 10 more lbs before school starts again. I want to go again tonight but I have had a pretty bad day and I am very aggravated so I just want to go to my favorite ice cream stand and watch the Celtics WIN.

That's all for now. Enjoy the holiday weekend!