I haven't had many posts this summer, honestly because having an exciting and spontaneous life while working 8 hour night shifts has proved to be quite tricky. After almost 3 months, still haven't figured out how to sleep correctly, much less fit in exciting day trips to new places. Don't get me wrong, I've managed to have some fun!
Last weekend my friend Lauren and I headed to my mom and step dad's house (one of the places I've found myself the most) to join my mom and brothers for a 5k. Lauren and I managed to shave off about 3 minutes off our first 5k race we did together. It was the first race I've ever done with family, so that was pretty cool. Everyone finished!! I had high hopes to medal as this was a significantly smaller race than I've ever done before, but it turns out slow in DC/Minneapolis is still slow in small town Iowa! :)
Sunday we went to the Minnesota State Fair. This was my first state fair outside of the Iowa State Fair... yep, I grew up in Nebraska, but have never been! I don't think many Nebraskans have been... at one point I think it was going to get shut down. I'm not even sure if there is still one. Anyway, we always opted for the home of Butter Cow! Although smaller than Iowa's, the Minnesota State Fair did not disappoint in the amount of fried goodness on a stick! I tried cheese curds for the first time-- they're HUGE in Minnesota, and for good reason.. they're DELICIOUS! Yummy salty fried cheesy goodness that should probably just stay at the fair for me for only once a year indulgence.
What's next you ask? Oh well, surprise! I've already been in MSP for 3 months! My assignment ends Saturday and I am moving (AGAIN) on Sunday to Bloomington so I can be closer to my next assignment that I will start on Tuesday! I have four more night shifts this week, then I will be back to 12 hour shift bliss! I'm so excited! I'll definitely miss the people I have become close to here, but I'm excited for my next adventure! It'll take me to December 1st, then who knows after that!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
July in MN/IA
I'm sorry for lack of posts. I'm having a hard time keeping up. Since I last wrote I've kept myself busy. My 4th of July was very low key, borderline sad. I had to work that night at 11p, but tried to at least go to my pool and was disappointed to see that is was completely filled with college kids slamming beers and being obnoxious. I'm pretty sure 3 of the 50+ people at the pool actually lived there. I lasted about 20 minutes sitting in an upright chair because all the lounge chairs were taken before I got too annoyed. I spent the rest of the day watching Moneyball and relaxing.
That following Saturday I went to the Basilica Block Party. They have three stages around the Basilica, which is gorgeous. We saw The Lumineers, Fitz and the Tantrums, and O.A.R. It was super fun! Made me realize how much I miss seeing live music! I can't remember the last big concert I attended.
Sunday night I went to dinner and a movie with my new friend Lauren. We saw Magic Mike. I'm not even ashamed. I was there to see some dancing abs, not a plot. I got what a wanted. :)
Tuesday I met up with two friends from high school who live in the area and their significant others. We spent the evening on a boat on Lake Minnetonka. It was so great to catch up with them and sooo nice to be on the water!!
Friday I headed to Iowa to my mom's for a family reunion (step family side) for the weekend. I also stopped at the DMV to get a license and register my car. Yep, you read that right. The population of a small town in Iowa just got a bit bigger. I was really sad to give up my DC license. She practically had to pry it out of my hand. You might be wondering why in the world I got a license in IA instead of MN... well, I don't have a permanent address here in MN and I certainly don't want to have to change it every 3 months until I settle somewhere. It's much easier and less risky to have everything sent to my mom's house than have things accidentally get sent to an old address and missed.
The family reunion was a lot of fun... a little overwhelming at times with about 40 people in the house all of which were new to me except my immediate family, but fun none the less! It consisted of lots of food, booze, crafts for the kids, kickball, slip-n-slide, and a fireworks show. The slip-n-slide got to be quite to competition amongst the adults. It was a great weekend and made me so thankful that it's so easy for me to be around for events like that now. One of my brothers and I stayed a day extra and made a trip to Greene, IA where my grandparents built their dream home when we were young. It was an acreage complete with barn, windmill, and for some time horses. My grandma had an apple orchard, grapevines, and a HUGE garden. We spent countless hours as kids driving the riding lawn mower around, climbing the windmill, snooping around the barn, playing with the animals (dog, cat, horses), or just playing in the dirt. Easter egg hunts outside, making chocolate chip cookies with Grandma, bingo nights (complete with prizes), and fireworks shows were just some of my favorite childhood memories at that house. My grandpa bought us two go-carts and made a large track out in one of the fields for us to race around. We would also drive up and down the gravel roads with them for hours on end. The town was so small our visits as kids would make it into the newspaper. It was also here that my grandpa would let me sit on his lap and drive his car. I guess you could say I learned to drive several different things here before I could drive! Grandpa also had a tractor he would carry us around in the front loader. Needless to say driving past the acreage brought back a lot of great memories. We were driving by slowly and taking pictures, then noticed the current owner in the window taking pictures of us, lol. So we pulled in and knocked on the door to explain our history. The guy thought it was weird, but was relieved to know we weren't crazy, but he unfortunately did not invite us in for a tour. Dang!
Wednesday, Lauren and I took part in the Aquatennial's Torchlight 5k. I haven't been running much since I've been here, so my pace wasn't the best, but it was great to get out and run! Thankfully the weather had cooled down a little for the 7:30pm race. It was followed up by a parade, although we only managed to see the last couple floats.
Thursday Lauren and I continued our participation in the Minneapolis Aquatennial by going to see the Twin Cities River Rats perform. It's a waterski show with acrobats on the Mississippi River. It's a free show and they do it every Thursday. The MC and skit stuff was a little corny, but the stunts were cool!
Now it's off to work night 5/7 which will bring me right toThursday morning when I will fly out to DC for a long weekend. I can't wait!!!!!!
That following Saturday I went to the Basilica Block Party. They have three stages around the Basilica, which is gorgeous. We saw The Lumineers, Fitz and the Tantrums, and O.A.R. It was super fun! Made me realize how much I miss seeing live music! I can't remember the last big concert I attended.
 |
| O.A.R. |
Tuesday I met up with two friends from high school who live in the area and their significant others. We spent the evening on a boat on Lake Minnetonka. It was so great to catch up with them and sooo nice to be on the water!!
 |
| Sunset on Lake Minnetonka |
Friday I headed to Iowa to my mom's for a family reunion (step family side) for the weekend. I also stopped at the DMV to get a license and register my car. Yep, you read that right. The population of a small town in Iowa just got a bit bigger. I was really sad to give up my DC license. She practically had to pry it out of my hand. You might be wondering why in the world I got a license in IA instead of MN... well, I don't have a permanent address here in MN and I certainly don't want to have to change it every 3 months until I settle somewhere. It's much easier and less risky to have everything sent to my mom's house than have things accidentally get sent to an old address and missed.
The family reunion was a lot of fun... a little overwhelming at times with about 40 people in the house all of which were new to me except my immediate family, but fun none the less! It consisted of lots of food, booze, crafts for the kids, kickball, slip-n-slide, and a fireworks show. The slip-n-slide got to be quite to competition amongst the adults. It was a great weekend and made me so thankful that it's so easy for me to be around for events like that now. One of my brothers and I stayed a day extra and made a trip to Greene, IA where my grandparents built their dream home when we were young. It was an acreage complete with barn, windmill, and for some time horses. My grandma had an apple orchard, grapevines, and a HUGE garden. We spent countless hours as kids driving the riding lawn mower around, climbing the windmill, snooping around the barn, playing with the animals (dog, cat, horses), or just playing in the dirt. Easter egg hunts outside, making chocolate chip cookies with Grandma, bingo nights (complete with prizes), and fireworks shows were just some of my favorite childhood memories at that house. My grandpa bought us two go-carts and made a large track out in one of the fields for us to race around. We would also drive up and down the gravel roads with them for hours on end. The town was so small our visits as kids would make it into the newspaper. It was also here that my grandpa would let me sit on his lap and drive his car. I guess you could say I learned to drive several different things here before I could drive! Grandpa also had a tractor he would carry us around in the front loader. Needless to say driving past the acreage brought back a lot of great memories. We were driving by slowly and taking pictures, then noticed the current owner in the window taking pictures of us, lol. So we pulled in and knocked on the door to explain our history. The guy thought it was weird, but was relieved to know we weren't crazy, but he unfortunately did not invite us in for a tour. Dang!
 |
| Adults and kids love the slip-n-slide!! |
 |
| Grandpa's Acreage |
Wednesday, Lauren and I took part in the Aquatennial's Torchlight 5k. I haven't been running much since I've been here, so my pace wasn't the best, but it was great to get out and run! Thankfully the weather had cooled down a little for the 7:30pm race. It was followed up by a parade, although we only managed to see the last couple floats.
Thursday Lauren and I continued our participation in the Minneapolis Aquatennial by going to see the Twin Cities River Rats perform. It's a waterski show with acrobats on the Mississippi River. It's a free show and they do it every Thursday. The MC and skit stuff was a little corny, but the stunts were cool!
Now it's off to work night 5/7 which will bring me right toThursday morning when I will fly out to DC for a long weekend. I can't wait!!!!!!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
It's Been A Month!
I've been here just short of a month. It's crazy for me to think that my guaranteed time here is 1/3 over. It's starting to put more pressure on me to get myself out in the city and meet new people. I feel like for being here a month I haven't made a whole lot of progress in exploring. I have, however become quite familiar with several highways/interstates and car dealerships. After weeks of research and searching I finally bought a new (to me) car. I love it, and more importantly I am so relieved to be done searching. I am NOT a fan of car shopping! I absolutely loath the "typical" car salesman... probably because I don't appreciate condescending people. Anyway, I bought a 2010 Mazda CX7. The sales guy was showing me another car and I saw it across the lot and said "I want to drive that one!" It was sorta fate. I'm pretty happy.
You may remember that my first day off orientation at work was a little crazy, well that really hasn't changed. I've developed a black cloud. I've never really had one before! It's exhausting! Every day I work is busy. I have yet to have a normal patient (mentally), with a normal pregnancy, with a normal labor, and a normal delivery. Weird things happen on the unit when I'm there. I've heard more than once "that never happens". It's a joke (reality) that it's me. I keep telling them things will go back to normal and calm come September when my contract is up. Although, for some reason the staff seems to want me to stay. We were talking about the craziness the other day and one of the nurses said "Yeah, but the nice thing is, is that you can handle it." and another nurse in reference to me wanting 12 hour shifts if I were to take a permanent job said she told our manager to "Give her whatever she wants." The job has been a little exhausting between the 8hr shifts and being constantly busy, but it sure helps when I feel like the nurses respect me and like me enough to want me to stay. I say that not because I worry about people liking me, (I think I'm pretty easy to get along with) but as a traveler and learning a new unit you inevitably feel like you need to prove yourself.
This past week I met two new people. Both are friends of friends. I met each girl for dinner in Uptown. I really liked both of them and hope that we will be able to hang out again. I am dying for a social life. It was also so nice to get out and explore. Both restaurants were fun and I love Uptown. Super cute and reminds me of places I would go in DC.
I've also started two weeks of going "gluten free". I'm on day 4 and it's going pretty well! It takes a lot of planning ahead and is quite expensive, but I'm surviving! I went grocery shopping the other day and it took forever because I kept having to google whether something was gluten free or not. I probably looked like a smart phone addicted crazy person. There are several things that are clearly marked, but many things that are not. I'm giving it two weeks to see if it makes a difference in how I feel. I've been told that 2 weeks is enough time to notice a difference. We'll see!
Today I went and walked around Lake Harriet. It was pretty humid and hot, but it was nice to get out. The lake has great paved paths for bikers and runner/walkers, separated which is nice so no one gets in each others way. I would have loved to run it, but I didn't think I was in good enough shape to run in the heat. After a lap around the lake I found a shady place to read until the free outdoor concert at the lake started. They have free music or movies every night during the summer, which is AWE-SOME! Basically means even if I never make any friends there's always something easy/free to entertain me. It was slightly annoying at the concert as I had found a nice spot clearly by myself and this woman with her two children comes up (with plenty of space around) puts her blanket down like two inches from me and then proceeds to summon her friends and their children to put their blankets down all around me. Now let me preface this by saying, I love kids and I like people, but these people were not friendly. The couple in front of me barely watched their kids, although I do have to say they were well behaved, but it was just weird. I didn't appreciate the invasion. It was fun though, to take in some Minneapolis culture and get some good people watching in.
I anything planned for this week except on Tuesday I get to see my friend Katherine from DC. She's originally from Minneapolis and is in town visiting family. She's actually the one that put it in my head to move here. I'm so excited to see her!! Other than that, I've got several days of work. Hopefully the Labor Gods will be kind and take my black cloud away. Please?!
You may remember that my first day off orientation at work was a little crazy, well that really hasn't changed. I've developed a black cloud. I've never really had one before! It's exhausting! Every day I work is busy. I have yet to have a normal patient (mentally), with a normal pregnancy, with a normal labor, and a normal delivery. Weird things happen on the unit when I'm there. I've heard more than once "that never happens". It's a joke (reality) that it's me. I keep telling them things will go back to normal and calm come September when my contract is up. Although, for some reason the staff seems to want me to stay. We were talking about the craziness the other day and one of the nurses said "Yeah, but the nice thing is, is that you can handle it." and another nurse in reference to me wanting 12 hour shifts if I were to take a permanent job said she told our manager to "Give her whatever she wants." The job has been a little exhausting between the 8hr shifts and being constantly busy, but it sure helps when I feel like the nurses respect me and like me enough to want me to stay. I say that not because I worry about people liking me, (I think I'm pretty easy to get along with) but as a traveler and learning a new unit you inevitably feel like you need to prove yourself.
This past week I met two new people. Both are friends of friends. I met each girl for dinner in Uptown. I really liked both of them and hope that we will be able to hang out again. I am dying for a social life. It was also so nice to get out and explore. Both restaurants were fun and I love Uptown. Super cute and reminds me of places I would go in DC.
I've also started two weeks of going "gluten free". I'm on day 4 and it's going pretty well! It takes a lot of planning ahead and is quite expensive, but I'm surviving! I went grocery shopping the other day and it took forever because I kept having to google whether something was gluten free or not. I probably looked like a smart phone addicted crazy person. There are several things that are clearly marked, but many things that are not. I'm giving it two weeks to see if it makes a difference in how I feel. I've been told that 2 weeks is enough time to notice a difference. We'll see!
Today I went and walked around Lake Harriet. It was pretty humid and hot, but it was nice to get out. The lake has great paved paths for bikers and runner/walkers, separated which is nice so no one gets in each others way. I would have loved to run it, but I didn't think I was in good enough shape to run in the heat. After a lap around the lake I found a shady place to read until the free outdoor concert at the lake started. They have free music or movies every night during the summer, which is AWE-SOME! Basically means even if I never make any friends there's always something easy/free to entertain me. It was slightly annoying at the concert as I had found a nice spot clearly by myself and this woman with her two children comes up (with plenty of space around) puts her blanket down like two inches from me and then proceeds to summon her friends and their children to put their blankets down all around me. Now let me preface this by saying, I love kids and I like people, but these people were not friendly. The couple in front of me barely watched their kids, although I do have to say they were well behaved, but it was just weird. I didn't appreciate the invasion. It was fun though, to take in some Minneapolis culture and get some good people watching in.
I anything planned for this week except on Tuesday I get to see my friend Katherine from DC. She's originally from Minneapolis and is in town visiting family. She's actually the one that put it in my head to move here. I'm so excited to see her!! Other than that, I've got several days of work. Hopefully the Labor Gods will be kind and take my black cloud away. Please?!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Random Tidbits
I don't know how long it's been going on, but I've recently observed that I hold my hand up to my chin/mouth when I'm thinking. I can't think clearly without doing it. This makes me quite similar to people (children) that do things like put there tongue out to the side of their mouth when writing/concentrating. It's cute, right?
I went to an apartment social last week in an attempt to make to friends. There were several college students, then mid 30s+. I sat with a group of ladies... all retired. I now have permanent lunch plans at noon and coffee at 4 in the social room with the ladies any day that I'm home. Not gonna lie, it was a successful day! ;)
My apartment smells overwhelmingly like roses when you walk in the door. There have never been roses or any sort of flowers nor lit candles in the apartment. I have no idea where it's coming from.
My car is not safe in the rain at night. The headlights have dimmed and the windshield wipers seem to smear the rain making visibility worse. It's quite scary actually. Anyway, it seems that now every time I decide to drive anywhere it wants to rain. My step dad is a farmer and they are in great need of rain... I think he should pay me to drive circles around the fields! This rain situation has caused me to push myself to make a decision on a new car sooner than later. Still working on that...
Currently I am developing a black cloud at the hospital. I am two days off orientation and two for two on taking on a patient who is pushing and ending up in the OR with an arrest of decent, chorio diagnosis and babies in SCN. At the last hospital I had a total of 3 c-sections with no babies admitted to SCN over the course of 3 months... Hmmmm
I went to an apartment social last week in an attempt to make to friends. There were several college students, then mid 30s+. I sat with a group of ladies... all retired. I now have permanent lunch plans at noon and coffee at 4 in the social room with the ladies any day that I'm home. Not gonna lie, it was a successful day! ;)
My apartment smells overwhelmingly like roses when you walk in the door. There have never been roses or any sort of flowers nor lit candles in the apartment. I have no idea where it's coming from.
My car is not safe in the rain at night. The headlights have dimmed and the windshield wipers seem to smear the rain making visibility worse. It's quite scary actually. Anyway, it seems that now every time I decide to drive anywhere it wants to rain. My step dad is a farmer and they are in great need of rain... I think he should pay me to drive circles around the fields! This rain situation has caused me to push myself to make a decision on a new car sooner than later. Still working on that...
Currently I am developing a black cloud at the hospital. I am two days off orientation and two for two on taking on a patient who is pushing and ending up in the OR with an arrest of decent, chorio diagnosis and babies in SCN. At the last hospital I had a total of 3 c-sections with no babies admitted to SCN over the course of 3 months... Hmmmm
Monday, June 18, 2012
It's Been Too Long
The last couple weeks have been great as well as stressful. Rewind to the last week in May... I had my last shift in Boston. It was great, even though it was Epic (new electronic charting system) launch day at the hospital which equals craziness and waayyy too many people around to try to help. My co-workers got me a cake and we ordered out for lunch. I had a friend come in early for me so I could meet Debbie to go to the Sox game. It was a beautiful night! The next day I packed up the apartment and my mom flew in that night. I took her to the North End for dinner. Of course we had to go to the place with the guy! There were two birthdays going on, so we got to have to owner sing twice which is always entertaining! Friday we went to Newport, RI (made it without incident this time!) and did the cliff walk. It was a perfect day. So fun to show my mom what I had been doing the last few months! Friday night we packed the car and headed out on the road at 6:30am on Saturday. We started out with several hours of rain, which is no fun in my old car... faded headlights and poor wipers. I'll spare you the details of the next twenty four hours, but it consisted of driving in a packed Honda Civic with no ability to adjust the seats from their upright positions. As professional cross country drivers we only stopped for gas, bathroom, and food which we tried to always bundle in one stop. It was a long trip, but we made it in exactly 24 hours driving straight through. We had quite a scare just about an hour from our destination. I was driving (4:30am) and keeping my eyes peeled for deer when I looked ahead and realized there was a car on the wrong side of the divided interstate going at least 75 mph towards us. Thankfully... for my heart I didn't see him until he was right up on us so I only had time to honk and possibly move over a little. I was in the center lane and he was in the lane to my left. He drove straight past me. It was so scary. We called the police who were already in pursuit. I think they got to him before he hit anyone because I didn't see anything online about a crash, although I did find many articles about people driving the wrong way on that interstate!
Anyway, my apartment wasn't available until Monday, so we stayed with my step brother and his family. Monday I drove to orientation with my car still packed full, and thankfully it was untouched at the end of the day! My apartment is pretty nice. It has a balcony overlooking a common area which I love!
I have had two weeks of orientation at the hospital. I spent four glorious days (with the most sarcasm) in computer training learning Epic... yep the same system I just learned in Boston. Learned might be the wrong word. This system is easy in some aspects and complex in others. As far as L&D is concerned Epic is no fun and they didn't seem to think about us when creating it. I miss Obix. I also had 5 days on the floor including a day in postpartum. Everyone is really nice. It was interesting being in postpartum... kind of made me miss it a little. Just a little.
The first weekend I was back I headed to Omaha for my friend Abbie's wedding. I got to have dinner with two of my roommates from college and their husbands. We had a blast! It's so fun to reminisce about our years living together! We've all come a long way since then! The wedding was great! Abbie was a beautiful bride and it was fun to see some friends from college and high school as well as camp friends! Abbie and her hubby met at camp... awwww! :) It was a very quick trip, definitely didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see and would have loved to have more time with the ones I did get to see. Omaha is just under 6 hours away, which is not ideal, but sure beats half way across the country!
Last Wednesday was my birthday. It was low key to say the least. I had computer training until 2p and then drove around the city a little bit, then decided to go test drive some cars. I fell in love with the Hyundai Tucson, however I did not buy it. Something about making a big purchase without sleeping on it didn't sit right. This past weekend I looked at more cars and test drove a Chevy Equinox with my mom and step-dad. Between debating between all wheel drive and front wheel drive, car or crossover, space or mileage, etc I'm completely overwhelmed. I'd really like someone to just tell me exactly what I should get. Ugh. Part of me just wants to drive an old car forever that I don't have to worry about getting scratched. I'm not really a big fan of car payments either.
Yesterday was my first day off of orientation. On orientation I've taken care of a couple of outpatients, an induction, and a scheduled c/section. My first day I got a patient who was pushing, but we pretty quickly we ended up in the OR. The documenting system wouldn't work in the OR, so I had to write down everything to be charted later. I had lots of help, but felt more than a little discombobulated! Hopefully tonight will go a little smoother!
Anyway, my apartment wasn't available until Monday, so we stayed with my step brother and his family. Monday I drove to orientation with my car still packed full, and thankfully it was untouched at the end of the day! My apartment is pretty nice. It has a balcony overlooking a common area which I love!
I have had two weeks of orientation at the hospital. I spent four glorious days (with the most sarcasm) in computer training learning Epic... yep the same system I just learned in Boston. Learned might be the wrong word. This system is easy in some aspects and complex in others. As far as L&D is concerned Epic is no fun and they didn't seem to think about us when creating it. I miss Obix. I also had 5 days on the floor including a day in postpartum. Everyone is really nice. It was interesting being in postpartum... kind of made me miss it a little. Just a little.
The first weekend I was back I headed to Omaha for my friend Abbie's wedding. I got to have dinner with two of my roommates from college and their husbands. We had a blast! It's so fun to reminisce about our years living together! We've all come a long way since then! The wedding was great! Abbie was a beautiful bride and it was fun to see some friends from college and high school as well as camp friends! Abbie and her hubby met at camp... awwww! :) It was a very quick trip, definitely didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see and would have loved to have more time with the ones I did get to see. Omaha is just under 6 hours away, which is not ideal, but sure beats half way across the country!
Last Wednesday was my birthday. It was low key to say the least. I had computer training until 2p and then drove around the city a little bit, then decided to go test drive some cars. I fell in love with the Hyundai Tucson, however I did not buy it. Something about making a big purchase without sleeping on it didn't sit right. This past weekend I looked at more cars and test drove a Chevy Equinox with my mom and step-dad. Between debating between all wheel drive and front wheel drive, car or crossover, space or mileage, etc I'm completely overwhelmed. I'd really like someone to just tell me exactly what I should get. Ugh. Part of me just wants to drive an old car forever that I don't have to worry about getting scratched. I'm not really a big fan of car payments either.
Yesterday was my first day off of orientation. On orientation I've taken care of a couple of outpatients, an induction, and a scheduled c/section. My first day I got a patient who was pushing, but we pretty quickly we ended up in the OR. The documenting system wouldn't work in the OR, so I had to write down everything to be charted later. I had lots of help, but felt more than a little discombobulated! Hopefully tonight will go a little smoother!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Oh New England, I'm Gonna Miss you!!!
Sometimes I wait too long to blog and then the idea of summing up everything gets overwhelming. The last few weeks have been super busy!
Last week Debbie and I hiked the Blue Hills. It was a beautiful day and the hike was awesome. The trees have really turned green recently which made the view from the top breathtaking. We followed the hike with lunch on the waterfront. Doesn't get much better than that.
Last weekend my friend Samantha was in town visiting family, so we got a chance to catch up. It was a gorgeous day in the city so after lunch we just sat in the Boston Common soaking up the sun and the atmosphere. On the walk over there was some sort of zombie parade going on... people screaming with fake blood all over them- never a dull moment.
Brian flew in late Sunday night. We started Monday with a tour of Fenway. The Red Sox were out of town during his whole visit, so the tour was the next best thing. It was pretty awesome! Afterwards, we met up with Debbie who helped me play tour guide through the Public Garden, Boston Common, Freedom Trail, the North End, and an obligatory trip to a pub for a drink and a Celtics/Red Sox game. The North End of course meant a trip to Dolce Vita (YUM!!) and my first trip to the famous Mike's Pastry.
Tuesday we toured Samuel Adams Brewery and then grabbed a late lunch at Doyle's Cafe which is the first bar to ever agree to carry Sam Adam beer. If you get a Sam Adams brew at the bar and then show them your tour ticket they give you the Sam Adams glass... sounded like a good enough excuse to keep drinking to us! After lunch Brian wanted to see Harvard and MIT so we drove over for a quick little drive through. It turned out to be a horrible idea because it was rush hour. Rush hour driving a manuel=no bueno. Brian got to see a few buildings they he had seen in movies, so he was excited, although his photography skills in a moving vehicle leave him mostly with pictures of a random tree or another car and not so much what he was aiming for. Oh well, that's what google is for.
Wednesday we did the Essex Scenic Byway. I did this drive when Stephani was in town, but this time we started at the top near Newburyport and worked our way all the way down. It was an absolutely beautiful day. It was perfect. It really made me realize how much I love the water and how much I am going to miss the ocean.
Thursday didn't quite work out how we planned. Brian flew in and out of Providence, RI, so we decided before he flew out Thursday evening we would go do the Cliff Walk in Newport and check out the mansions. We were just 30 minutes out for Newport when my car started sounding like the something was wrong with the exhaust/muffler and a piece of metal was dragging. Awesome. We luckily found a car shop just off the highway. An hour and half and $350 later we were back on the road. By the time we made it to Newport we only had about 45 minutes. We stopped at the beach for a few pictures and then I drove Brian quickly by some of the mansions. We finished up Brian's trip with ice cream at Kilwin's near the Newport waterfront... it's one of my favorites, so it had to happen. After a scenic drive back to the airport Brian was back to Omaha. It was great to have him out! We haven't gotten to spend that much time together since we lived together in college, I think!
So I finally got a job! (as most of you have probably already seen on facebook) It was harder than I thought and quite a frustrating process, but I am headed to Minneapolis! I have mixed feelings about the job itself, but it's getting me where I want to be, so I am pretty pumped! It's a travel position, 13 week contract, 8hr night/some evening rotation. Soooo that means I'll be working from 11p-7a (occasionally 3p-11p) 5 nights a week. I am not so excited about that, but the pay is good, so hopefully the people will be great... that's going to make all the difference. The other unfortunate thing is that the job starts June 4th. My last day of work here in Boston is May 30th. My mom is flying the night of the 31st, she wants to spend a day in Boston, and then we will drive the 1400 miles to my next job on June 1st/2nd. Needless to say Monday morning is going to be a little rough!! I was hoping to get some time off between jobs, but no dice. I wanted to go to camp. Camp Quality is an amazing camp for kids with cancer and their siblings. I've been volunteering for the last 8 years and this will be the first camp I've missed even with living half way across the country for the last 3 years. I also was hoping to visit DC. I miss my DC family so much. I'm hoping I can finagle a couple weeks of my days off together to make a trip during the summer, but I'm thinking it might have to wait until September. There's a few details to get figured out this week still, but thankfully I'm not responsible for that. My travel company should have an apartment address for me by the end of the week... the holiday weekend didn't work out so well for getting anything squared away with the contract. If all else fails they'll put me in a hotel until they find an apartment. The hospital is just north of the Minneapolis, so I assume I won't be housed in the city, but I'm hoping!
It's very surreal to be leaving a job again. I've really enjoyed working with many of the nurses and staff here. I haven't really thought about not seeing these people probably ever again. Saying goodbye to some of the girls today was a reality check. It's crazy to think that a week from today I will be living and working 1400 miles away. I'm really excited, but it's pretty overwhelming. I have two more shifts left. I work Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday is the big EPIC kickoff. The hospital is converting over to a whole new documenting program. We've all gone through hours of training for it. Fortunately/unfortunately for me I will get to be there for the first day, and it will be my last day. Many hospitals around the country are switching to Epic, so it's good that I got the training for it, although I could have gone without the 8 hours of training for 10 hours of work. :) Why not 12 hours you ask? Well I got someone to come in early for me so I can go to the Sox game with Debbie! I'm so excited! Thanks to Whitney for helping to make it happen!!
Well I better get packing! My next update will be coming to you from Minnesota!
Last week Debbie and I hiked the Blue Hills. It was a beautiful day and the hike was awesome. The trees have really turned green recently which made the view from the top breathtaking. We followed the hike with lunch on the waterfront. Doesn't get much better than that.
Last weekend my friend Samantha was in town visiting family, so we got a chance to catch up. It was a gorgeous day in the city so after lunch we just sat in the Boston Common soaking up the sun and the atmosphere. On the walk over there was some sort of zombie parade going on... people screaming with fake blood all over them- never a dull moment.
Brian flew in late Sunday night. We started Monday with a tour of Fenway. The Red Sox were out of town during his whole visit, so the tour was the next best thing. It was pretty awesome! Afterwards, we met up with Debbie who helped me play tour guide through the Public Garden, Boston Common, Freedom Trail, the North End, and an obligatory trip to a pub for a drink and a Celtics/Red Sox game. The North End of course meant a trip to Dolce Vita (YUM!!) and my first trip to the famous Mike's Pastry.
Tuesday we toured Samuel Adams Brewery and then grabbed a late lunch at Doyle's Cafe which is the first bar to ever agree to carry Sam Adam beer. If you get a Sam Adams brew at the bar and then show them your tour ticket they give you the Sam Adams glass... sounded like a good enough excuse to keep drinking to us! After lunch Brian wanted to see Harvard and MIT so we drove over for a quick little drive through. It turned out to be a horrible idea because it was rush hour. Rush hour driving a manuel=no bueno. Brian got to see a few buildings they he had seen in movies, so he was excited, although his photography skills in a moving vehicle leave him mostly with pictures of a random tree or another car and not so much what he was aiming for. Oh well, that's what google is for.
Wednesday we did the Essex Scenic Byway. I did this drive when Stephani was in town, but this time we started at the top near Newburyport and worked our way all the way down. It was an absolutely beautiful day. It was perfect. It really made me realize how much I love the water and how much I am going to miss the ocean.
Thursday didn't quite work out how we planned. Brian flew in and out of Providence, RI, so we decided before he flew out Thursday evening we would go do the Cliff Walk in Newport and check out the mansions. We were just 30 minutes out for Newport when my car started sounding like the something was wrong with the exhaust/muffler and a piece of metal was dragging. Awesome. We luckily found a car shop just off the highway. An hour and half and $350 later we were back on the road. By the time we made it to Newport we only had about 45 minutes. We stopped at the beach for a few pictures and then I drove Brian quickly by some of the mansions. We finished up Brian's trip with ice cream at Kilwin's near the Newport waterfront... it's one of my favorites, so it had to happen. After a scenic drive back to the airport Brian was back to Omaha. It was great to have him out! We haven't gotten to spend that much time together since we lived together in college, I think!
So I finally got a job! (as most of you have probably already seen on facebook) It was harder than I thought and quite a frustrating process, but I am headed to Minneapolis! I have mixed feelings about the job itself, but it's getting me where I want to be, so I am pretty pumped! It's a travel position, 13 week contract, 8hr night/some evening rotation. Soooo that means I'll be working from 11p-7a (occasionally 3p-11p) 5 nights a week. I am not so excited about that, but the pay is good, so hopefully the people will be great... that's going to make all the difference. The other unfortunate thing is that the job starts June 4th. My last day of work here in Boston is May 30th. My mom is flying the night of the 31st, she wants to spend a day in Boston, and then we will drive the 1400 miles to my next job on June 1st/2nd. Needless to say Monday morning is going to be a little rough!! I was hoping to get some time off between jobs, but no dice. I wanted to go to camp. Camp Quality is an amazing camp for kids with cancer and their siblings. I've been volunteering for the last 8 years and this will be the first camp I've missed even with living half way across the country for the last 3 years. I also was hoping to visit DC. I miss my DC family so much. I'm hoping I can finagle a couple weeks of my days off together to make a trip during the summer, but I'm thinking it might have to wait until September. There's a few details to get figured out this week still, but thankfully I'm not responsible for that. My travel company should have an apartment address for me by the end of the week... the holiday weekend didn't work out so well for getting anything squared away with the contract. If all else fails they'll put me in a hotel until they find an apartment. The hospital is just north of the Minneapolis, so I assume I won't be housed in the city, but I'm hoping!
It's very surreal to be leaving a job again. I've really enjoyed working with many of the nurses and staff here. I haven't really thought about not seeing these people probably ever again. Saying goodbye to some of the girls today was a reality check. It's crazy to think that a week from today I will be living and working 1400 miles away. I'm really excited, but it's pretty overwhelming. I have two more shifts left. I work Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday is the big EPIC kickoff. The hospital is converting over to a whole new documenting program. We've all gone through hours of training for it. Fortunately/unfortunately for me I will get to be there for the first day, and it will be my last day. Many hospitals around the country are switching to Epic, so it's good that I got the training for it, although I could have gone without the 8 hours of training for 10 hours of work. :) Why not 12 hours you ask? Well I got someone to come in early for me so I can go to the Sox game with Debbie! I'm so excited! Thanks to Whitney for helping to make it happen!!
Well I better get packing! My next update will be coming to you from Minnesota!
Friday, May 11, 2012
All Work And No Play
The last week and half has been pretty insane. Last Monday I found out that a travel job I had applied for required a certification that I didn't have. I had applied 6 weeks prior to finding this out and was more than irritated that this wasn't brought to my attention earlier. The certification is not one that is offered frequently in any particular city. Although it was probably too late for this particular job, I did a quick search to try to find a class anywhere near me, so this certification wouldn't continue to haunt me. My two options were a class in Dover, NH conveniently only about an hour and 15 minutes away, but unfortunately going to be held on Wednesday and Thursday... just two days away AND I was scheduled to work both days, OR there was a class in New Jersey in a couple weeks that I would be off work for, but it was 5 1/2 hours away and would require two nights in a hotel. I really didn't want to invest 11 hours in a car and two nights stay in a hotel in the middle of Jersey for a certification for a job I probably wouldn't get anyway. Thankfully, a miracle happened and my co-workers pulled through for me. I switched my friend Janice my Wednesday for her Tuesday and spent Tuesday at work sweet talking my friend Karin into switching my Friday for her Thursday. YAY!!! All that switching however, put me working/in class for 7 days straight. After all that I got one day off and then was back on for one more, which was icing on the cake of my exhaustion. I am now enjoying three very much earned/needed days off.
The class that I took was great! For those that are wondering it was AWHONN Intermediate Fetal Monitoring. I took it at a hospital in Dover, NH with about 8 of their nurses. It was really interesting to hear a lot about how they do things in their hospital, as obviously a lot of the conversation turned to their experiences. At one point I did however have to be "that girl" that requested that we get back to the class material... What?!? I didn't want to stay late to hear about how the nursery wasn't getting adequately notified about deliveries!! Same story, different hospital. :) Anyway, a lot of the information I already knew, but it's always good to get a refresher. More and more I'm learning how much research is evolving the way we do things in healthcare and it is so important to stay on top of it. Where ever I end up in my next permanent job I'm setting a high priority on the hospital being very active in the continuing education of it's nurses. I'm talking classes, conferences, lunch & learns, etc. I want it to be an expectation, not something you just do on your own. Yes, I've taken myself to conferences on my own, and I have no problem doing that, but it's different when the place you work for is on board with what you are learning.
I'm not planning anything too exciting for my three days off. Today I worked out and filled the fridge which had become baren. Then continued my "recovery" from my long stretch of work. It's also been raining and gloomy for the great majority of the past two weeks. There might have been one nice day, but I was definitely stuck inside. Friday and Saturday are supposed to be nice, so I'm sure I'll find something to do outdoors. Saturday night is Game 7 for the Caps vs Rangers in the Stanley Cup Semifinals. I am really looking forward to watching, and I really hope the Caps can win in regulation time as I have to work Sunday morning and 3 OTs don't really bode well for me and my 5am wake up call. Honestly though, I don't really care how long it takes if they end up with the W!
May is super packed between now and my last shift. I get to see my friend Samantha from DC here while she is visiting family, Brian (my brother) comes in 10 days, and my last day of work is in 20 days. Time is going fast, but I'm happy. I love it here, but I am so anxious to get home. I haven't seen my family since Thanksgiving. I feel like I'm just in a holding pattern at this point, just waiting for the next step. I don't really like that. That part of it makes me want to just go for a permanent job, but I think a travel assignment is the best thing if I can get one in Minneapolis. We'll see. Nothing in the works for right now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)