Out with the old...

In with the new...Happy New Year to all!

Yes, I've taken my good old time on this blog the last couple of months. A few things have come up to keep me busy.

First, I was lucky enough to be sent to Seattle in fall weather to attend a conference. I had a blast in the land of Starbucks. I've only been to the Pacific Northwest once before and that was north of the border, so this was my first junket to that neck of the woods in 10 years. I learned a bit and had a good time. I wish I would have had more time to be a tourist!

Earlier in December, I got not one, but two birthday celebrations and a memorial service in one day. After all that, I had a surprise party...much to my surprise! I hadn't even a clue. I guess that's what I deserve for a speed limit birthday. It was fun.

When the holidays rolled around, I got the pleasure of working, as I will for years to come, since I am lucky enough to have no seniority. So until everyone quits or retires or I win the lottery, yours truly will get to work on Christmas and most of the other holidays, unless they fall on my day off. Ahh, the fun of work...but I ain't complainin'! I really enjoy my commute (could only get longer if I decide to walk) and the pay and benefits are nice. It's also nice to work in a specialty, since we're respected for knowing what we're doing, which, as Martha would say, is a very, very good thing.

My most memorable holidays gifts: a "MOM" coffee mug, some DVDs (foreign films and Sabrina--yeah!) and a nasty, nasty virus. Try as I might, I couldn't send the virus back. At least, as a good nurse, I kept the virus at bay until the holidays were over (I'm sure my boss enjoyed that!)

2009 is interesting so far. I'm studying and cleaning and plotting and planning. It should be fun!
Stay tuned...

Getting ready for night shift

I'm sorry to say that I'm one of those morning people. I like to wake up anywhere from 4:30 to 6AM. Even on days I don't have to, like today, I was up by 6. Starting tomorrow night, I get the pleasure of working my first string of night shift hours, as part of my orientation.

So, to start, since I am so diurnal, I asked around about how people survive the night shift. I got lots of answers.

• Go to bed as soon as you get home in the morning.


• Do not sit down at 0500, or you may fall asleep. (One coworker suggested cleaning or restocking, so your mind is active.)


• Use room darkening shades.


• Get one of those masks for your eyes.

I also surfed the internet and found some intriguing articles:

Sleep tips from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Coping strategies for night shift (from encyclopedia.com)

Now all I have to do is figure out how to go back to sleep...in the morning. It should be interesting.

This week, a new job

Yep, I've done it again. In fifteen years since I got my first full-time job, I started my eighth one. I just couldn't resist...a job within a long's walk came up, and with the potential for $4 per gallon gas prices this year, this old economics student opted to change. It wasn't hasty, mind you. I'd been contemplating it for a while. Inflation of costs and deflation of my savings account made me look long and hard. A three percent raise just doesn't go as far as it used to go.

Right now, it's been interesting working in the service of the Government. The outfit is so big that there's all those corporate perks I'd been missing since my time at a big financial services company on Jefferson, with two offices in town to boot. We've got the shuttles, we've got the bus passes, and we've got the good vacation package. Hooray! Maybe one day I will get Bubba to Disney World!

Do I miss what I was doing? Sure. Slowing down into a new, different rhythm of life makes you look back at what happened before. I remember moving from a job where I had not one, but two phones on my desk and calls all day from all over the world. I left that for a job to sit in a really small office with a bunch of computer equipment and silence, because everyone sent e-mail. This was really hard to get used to at first. I missed my salesmen and customers calling me and everyone ordering stuff. I missed talking to folks all over the US and Canada.

Right now, what do I miss? People. My people. I always miss the people more than the lights, the sounds, the smells from my jobs. My patients, my coworkers from the floor, other people in the hospital who appeared on our unit--the consulting docs, the IV therapists, the respiratory therapists, the dieticians, and all the other assorted therapists. The right people appearing in your day will make any job tolerable.

Okay, I do miss certain smells, though. The smell of coffee wafting down the hall from Cairdeas coffee stand in the lobby and onto our unit woke me up many a day...and also sent me out for my very own cup o'Joe. I especially like Kaldi's Supersonica, which normally appears there on Thursdays.

There's no coffee shop here, but occasionally, I hear a hawk in the trees near the bluffs. In some buildings, I can look out and see the river meandering by, as muddy as ever. It's a panorama that reminds me of my childhood in the far reaches of St. Louis city, and being at high school, just down the road from here, where I could stand and look a certain way down river by one of the buildings at the north end of campus and see the Arch downtown.

The long, circuitous route has taken me places I'd never imagined being, and now, it just may have led me back home.

Update

Yes, I'm off and running (literally and figuratively) in the nursing world. It keeps me out of trouble.

The last few weeks have been busy with work, housework and adding goodies to www.stbonifaceonline.com as it became the Ivory Theatre officially on September 27 (see more details at stbonifaceonline.blogspot.com). Bubba was enjoying his summer at preschool, playing outside, kicking balls and hitting baseballs, in between water play (spraying the hose everywhere). Hubby is still in the hunt for a real, live FTE position in radiation safety after his stint at BigLab. They'd love to have him back, but then again, I like having him here, too, for school pickup, etc. We keep praying the right job will come along.

I've had fun baking this summer, since most of the time it was not beastly hot, outside of a couple of weeks. My newest favorite baked goody is the Berry Betty. Thirty or so minutes in the oven, just a few ingredients and you're done. I also enjoyed this recipe since it fits well with my new diet which includes more whole grains and less white flour.

Here's my version of the original I found in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

Berry Betty
5 cups or 1.5 12 oz pkgs of berries (I use blueberries, or mixed berry combos)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp finely chopped crystalline ginger or 1/8 tsp ground ginger
5 cups (about 7 slices) whole wheat bread cubes
3 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
Whipped cream (to garnish, optional)

Thaw berries if frozen. Do not drain
In a large, mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour and ginger.
Add berries and juices. Toss to coat.
Add 2 cups bread, toss gently until combined.
Transfer filling to ungreased 2 qt baking dish.
For topping, put remaining bread cubes in mixing bowl.
Drizzle with melted butter or margarine and toss to coat.
Sprinkle topping over fruit filling.
Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping golden.
If desired, serve warm with whipped cream.
Makes 6 servings.

The weekend!

At least I only had to work yesterday, and I'm off until Tuesday. We didn't have a whole bunch of patients in rehab, but it was busy!

Lots of fun stuff going on...my high school friend Ann and her husband Pat are awaiting a new baby. Hubby is almost done with his BigLab contract and working on a permanent position. Hopefully, we'll see how it all falls out by Labor Day. I'll be in orientation until mid-September, and then I'll have three months with no floating to any other units.

We took Bubba with my aunt to Innsbrook to see fireworks last night (they have an annual show the Saturday nearest the 4th of July each year). He got a little scared, but he enjoyed the colors. We got home by midnight and thankfully, he was asleep by then. It was a beautiful night and the bugs weren't too bothersome, either.