My first work week!

So I made it through my first week of work! I must say I am pleasantly surprised. I wasn't quite sure what I was about to be thrown into and could only imagine the worst. After the first 2 days, I pretty much knew most of the routine and had some of the residents names memorized. By the end of day 4, I was confident enough to be on my own with a little prompting with things I had never done before such as taking a blood pressure. My brain was full of all sorts of things from, so-and-so likes hot tea before dinner, to which cleaning agent to put in the mop bucket! The nursing field is quite different but I'm glad to have the experience should I ever need to use it.



Most of my residents live in "Cottage Care" which is a step below living in their own Apartments. Almost all of my 14 residence use walkers and a few in wheel chairs. They don't know me by name yet because for one, they change staff regularly and for 2, they cant remember half the time what was for lunch! They do however, recognize my face most of the time and seems genuinely happy to see me.



I am on my second work week and find that I still really enjoy it. I have my favorite residents already and they are all very sweet in their own ways. For instance, one of my residents will say "Thank You" even if you look at her. She is so sweet and was a P.O.W for 4 1/2 years when she was 14. Another one of my residents asks me every night before bed "is this where I'm suppose to be? Am I going to fall off the bed?" Half the time I know the answer to her question before its asked because I hear it EVERY night. They really are great. I'm enjoying myself and glad to be working again.

A New Chapter

So the time has come.
I have been putting it off since Feb. 2006.
There is no other choice.
Your probably wondering what I'm talking about.....I got a JOB! Ya, so I'm pretty excited about the whole deal. I actually enjoy working and having a million things going on at once is something I thrive on. This new adventure is quite different in every aspect. I have worked in the auto glass industry for over 10 years and suddenly I find myself going in a whole new direction. I am reluctant to find out exactly how well I like it. I am going from being #1 in sales to.....nursing. There I said it. Nursing. Hmmm.



I am nervous only in the fact that I'm not quite sure what to expect. I will be working in Cottage Care and Apartments. Which is a good starting point right now. Most of the residents are fully capable of taking care of themselves but need a little assistance from time to time. So accepting this job is a good way to get me back in the swing of things.



I am also finding out that now that I will be working I had to find a daycare. The "D" word. Not something I'm a huge fan of. I still see our son as being little and I want to know he is well watched and all those worry-some bothers that parents feel. It will cost be approx. $20 a day for my children to be there for 3 hrs. Yikes. Making $8.00 an hr. doesn't leave much left. So for now we shall see. Tuesday is the beginning of something totally new. Wish me luck!

“Top ten reasons to become a nurse”

1. Pays better than fast food, though the hours aren’t as good.
2. Fashionable shoes and cool uniforms
3. Needles: “Tis better to give than receive”

4. Reassure your patients that all bleeding stops…eventually
5. Expose yourself to rare, exciting new diseases
6. Interesting aromas

7. Courteous and infallible doctors who always leave clear orders in legible handwriting
8. Do enough charting to navigate around the world
9. Celebrate the holidays with your friends-at work
10. Take comfort that most of your patients survive no matter what you do to them

It's Halloween!

Well, tonight was the big night! Our 2 little one's have been counting down the days until trick-or-treating. Lauren is almost 5 and Chandler is almost 3. This year we had a witch and a tiny ninja.


Chandler this year was very timid about all the different activities going on around him. We went to a party last weekend at the fair grounds and he didn't want any part of any of it! There was no way someone was painting something on his face or having him toss a ball at a goblin.


Lauren was a lot of fun. When we first got to the party I tried to get her to have her face painted and she clammed up immediately! After several minutes and many games later I looked at her and said "are you ready to have your face painted yet?" She went running over to the booth, sat in the chair like a big girl, and came out with a great big smile. She was so proud of herself for being brave. They had a cookie decorating table, bowling with goblins, ring toss, and many MANY more games to play. We found a hay ride outside with beautiful horses so we all hopped in and went for a ride. All in all we were there for a little over 3 hours.

So, Halloween night Chris was gone to Phoenix for his sister's wedding but my wonderful Mother came to give a helping hand. Being an adult on Halloween isn't near as fun once you have to find costumes, paint faces, get layered in warm clothes, buy a candy bucket, grab the flash light....you get the point. So, she came to help and it was wonderful. We went to the Hospital in town which was having a party and stayed for awhile. Once we went outside we soon found it was raining. HARD. So.....just as we get out of the car to run to a few houses, we notice....why doesn't ANYONE have their lights on! Power was out. To the entire city. So its pitch black, no street lights, raining off and on but really........the night couldn't have been better. We all had a wonderful time, Lauren won cupcakes at the Monster Mash walk, and they were so excited Grammy was along for the ride. Hope every ones Halloween was wonderful.