I'm outta here!

So my plan to update more frequently with smaller bits of information has obviously been a failure! I don't have an excuse...just lazy I guess. Anyhoo - I'm leaving Virginia...today actually...and going home to Oklahoma for a visit. I head back to Columbia in NYC on June 5th for a 13 weeker. It wasn't my first choice - heck, it wasn't even on my list but the economy is taking a toll and there just aren't many options. I feel very lucky to even have a travel position at this point...many travelers are going staff due to the lack of jobs. Just to put it in perspective...Cross Country (my company) usually has around 3000 jobs...as of Monday, they had just under 150 for all types of nurses all over the US. There are probably that many travel companies and you can be most of them have those jobs listed as well. Thankfully, I've been at this awhile (both nursing and traveling) so that tends to make me a more marketable and desirable candidate.

I'm meeting Lucas and Megan for breakfast before I head out of town so I've gotta go get ready. They just got a job yesterday (after 3 weeks of looking) in San Antonio so we are going to celebrate our blessing!

I just want to make a quick shout out to my most faithful reader and honestly the reason I continue to write these things...

Julie Jo - you and your little man, Wes and Hazel are in my prayers! I'll be thinking about you and praying for you on Thursday (and every other day!) Love you always dear friend!

Greetings from Virginia

I made it to Fredericksburg Saturday evening, only a few minutes before my Mom thanks to the usual traffic jam on 95. I arrived at my apartment to discover that I did not have water (great thing to discover on the weekend!) but after a call to the emergency line for the complex a maintance man was en route and had me fixed up in no time. Lucas came over (we are living in the same complex) and we all went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner...Cracker Barrell! We made a quick Wal-mart run and then home to bed. We were greeted early the next morning by a text message from Lucas (whom my mom now refers to as the "cat's meow") informing us that coffee was just outside the door! Ahhh...now I can face the day! The three of us headed to DC to show my Mom a few of the sights which, lucky for us, included the cherry blossoms! It was a full day but so much fun. We met Megan for dinner and then were able to just sit around and catch up.

I had to take my Mom to the airport today...unfortunately she has a life and responsibilities in Oklahoma and can't just stay with me. :( She hates to fly but I guess that's what Moms do...suffer for the good of their children! So...thanks Mom...I love you and I'm so glad you finally got to come visit me!!

I start work tomorrow night...should be interesting! I'll have to let you know more on that later!

Best picture of the day!

We thought the Washington Monument was falling on us!

The cherry blossoms at the tidal basin...I'm blocking the Jefferson Memorial.

This is the look you get when you trick me into taking a picture!

The talents of Mr. Willoughby...thanks for playing photographer once again!!

I have a job!

I received an unexpected phone call from my recruiter this morning to tell me of a new job posting in Stafford, Virginia. It is very close to Fredericksburg (about 15 min north) and is a brand new hospital associated with Mary Washington which is where I worked before. I gave it a few minutes thought before I called her back to tell her I was interested. She submitted me and within four hours I had interviewed and been offered a job which I accepted. I was hesitant at first because it wasn't even on my radar but the pot was sweetened by the fact that Lucas and Megan are in Fredericksburg through May and financially it's one of the best offers out there.
I'm so blessed without even trying - a great paying job and friends nearby too! I don't know what I've done to deserve this but I hope I keep doing it! The only wrinkle is that due to the orientation schedule, I have to start April 6th. I finish up here the morning of the 4th so I won't have time to fly home, get my car and be in VA by 8am Monday. Worst case scenario - I'll have to do without things like linens and dishes for a week or so until I can go home. Best case scenario - my Mom and I have discussed her gathering the things I'll need and driving my car to Virginia. I think that sounds like great fun and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for option B!!

So I suck at blogging!

I apologize to all my friends whose blogs I read religiously for sucking so bad at this thing. I was so excited to actually do this but most of the time I just don't have it in me to try and be witty! I think I'm going to try to do smaller updates more frequently so I'm not so overwhelmed by the amount of information I want to share.

To start - it's flippin' cold today...I'm not leaving my apartment unless it catches on fire and even then, it's gonna be a judgement call! I'm so ready for warm weather. It looks like the job market is gonna help me out with that one! It's slim pickins out there kids...who knew hospitals would fall prey to this economic wreck we are in? California looks to be the most promising with the highest number of jobs so I may end up there. I'm secretly hoping for an opening at home...just want to have some company for awhile!

I am kinda over the city and haven't been able to come up with much energy to get out and do stuff. I have a list of broadway shows as long as my arm but just cannot bring myself to walk the few blocks over there and see a show. My disappointment with Phantom took the wind out of my sails and I'd rather pay $12 for a movie that might suck as opposed to $60-80 for a broadway play (homeskillet doesn't pay full price btw)!

I almost got to go see Letterman but the darn ticket people were recruiting for the next days show and I had to work. Funny thing - I was standing in the TKTS line (cheap broadway tickets from the theater foundation) and literally bumped into Mike who I worked with in Virginia. The lady comes up to talk with us about the Letterman show and it turns out he went to high school in PA with her - it's a small small world!

I guess this just basically lets you know I'm still kickin'...I'll try to get up the energy to fight the picture posting process later though I think most of you who read this have access to my shutterfly, facebook or myspace (why don't I have the time to blog?)!

New York

I made it to New York...got here on the 2nd. I had the weekend to get acclimated so on Friday I just ran a few boring errands (toilet paper run and scoped out the immediate area). My apartment is almost centered between Penn Station and Time Square...very cool!! I was pretty tired from all the travel (flew out of Tulsa at 7am) so I went to bed fairly early. On Saturday, I got an early start and just went walking...found some familiar sites like K-mart and Payless! Lucas came up around 1pm and we hung out at my apartment for a few hours and then went in search of food. We ended up in an area with a heavy oriental influence (couldn't even find menus in English) so we just kept walking until we got to Southside Seaport. That was the first place that had anything remotely american! Sunday I did some grocery shopping and ventured out a little further from my apartment. I took the subway to the hospital and figured out where I needed to go for orientation. I started work on Monday with a little "classroom" time to learn IV pumps, code carts, etc and take care of some housekeeping items. I was off Tuesday so I walked around in Chelsea...saw some interesting outfits (on the men!). Wednesday was computer class for the charting system my hospital uses. I am working at Columbia which I'm very honored by...it is ranked 6th in the nation of US hospitals and the neuro department (I'm in Neuro ICU) is ranked 5th. Lucas came up again on Wednesday (he had finished his assignment on Long Island that morning) and we just hung out, walked a little bit, and I had my first taste of Thai food! Thursday and Friday were night shifts on the floor and so far...I like it. It is super crazy busy but part of that is because I'm learning where things are, the routine of the unit, and what the Docs expect. I can see it's going to always be busy but hopefully within a couple of weeks I'll find my rhythm and things will settle some! The best part of things so far is the the residents and fellows from both Neurology and Neurosurgery are literally on the floor most of the night. So, my patient seized and they were actually close enough to come witness! They also accompany us when we have to leave the floor for things like CT and MRI (which I did twice within 6 hours for one of my patients) so there is an extra layer of comfort! I have also met a fellow traveler that lives in my building (we met in orientation on Monday) and we have hung out and are going exploring on Thursday! I'm very grateful for that...really helps keep the loneliness at bay! Tonight is my first night solo...hopefully, I won't have a totally different opinion in the morning!!


This is the view from my apartment...not a great picture but there's certainly lots to see!

This is my living/bedroom! The apartment is lots bigger than I expected...plenty of room for an air mattress or two if I have guests!