A Year Off

After finishing my first year of college, I went home for the summer and decided not to return in the fall. That was a big mistake! I got a job working at a nursing home and then got a job working for Dollar General. This began my working-two-jobs-at-once spree. A spree that continues still today. I would work overnight at the nursing home, get off at 6 am, grab breakfast, take a 2 hour power nap, and then go to work at Dollar General until 8pm. After getting off at 8pm, I would go home, eat, shower, and then go to sleep until 10:30pm because I had to be at work at 11pm. This continued for awhile. Then I got a job at St. Bernard's Regional Hospital as a Certified Nursing Assistant. It was a lot easier than the nursing home. As you can see, I stayed on my feet a lot during that year off of school. I thought nothing of the swelling. I just figured that it was due to my busy work schedule. If you are wondering if I had any kind of social life, then the answer is yes. I was busy, but always found time to do the things that kept me happy and sane. I don't recall many episodes that kept me from working with the exception of one event. Nothing major happened. It was a regular working day at the hospital. I got off that night and checked myself into the ER because my feet and ankles were sore to the point that it was hard to walk. The doctor did an x-ray, took some blood, and checked my heart.  All tests came back negative for any issues or concerns. He prescribed me some pain medicine and told me to get some rest. I was off that weekend so getting rest was not a problem. After going through the motion of working way too much and way too hard, I decided that going to school wasn't such a bad idea after all. I called Coach Brown (Head Volleyball Coach at L.O.C) and asked her if I could come back. She told me yes and gave me some steps to follow. At this point I was very excited because I had another opportunity to do something that I loved AND it would take me a way from my current surroundings and heavy work load. I called my friend Tosha up and asked her if she would like to help me get in shape for volleyball season. She agreed to do so and participated in many of the activities. We had a blast! We would walk to the gym at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro, lift weights, do 30 minutes on an exercise bike, play a game (basketball, volleyball, racquetball), do a couple of miles on the track, and end with some leg throws outside on the track. I would have to say that racquetball was my absolute favorite! We would swing for the fences! Sometimes we made contact and somehow managed to hit the other person in the side, head, or leg. Other times, we would miss completely and fall down laughing. I think we did more laughing than playing. Of course, no good deed goes unrewarded. On the walk home, we would stop for ice cream at the Sonic's on Johnson Ave. And that is how I spent the summer getting into shape for the season. I'm guessing because I was so active that I somehow improved the circulation in my legs because I had no issues throughout my workouts. Not to mention that I would drop dead tired for the day. Again, resting was no issue.