August 19, 2015

Life Updates & Baby Bumps

Happy Wednesday! Any day off work is a happy day for me! I thought I’d feel like I was working less hours, but I don’t lately. I’ve still been working a fair amount because of orientation at my new job, plus having to get in hours in the ER still. The new job is going well though. I’m feeling like I’m getting the hang of things, but I’ve only taken three patients so far and it’s hard to imagine taking 5 or 6. I believe I have another four orientation days, but one of those should be getting certified with the IV team and doing admissions. I’m actually nervous about having to get certified with the IV team because I really hate being watched when I’m in that “orientation” role, if that makes sense. I’ve had plenty of nurses watch me start IVs, but when I know they’re judging how I do it, I just feel shy! And I haven’t worked with adults in the ER in awhile, so my IV starts have been much fewer than usual so I’m worried I’ll miss a bunch of easy IVs. (Probably all ridiculous thoughts since I’ve been starting IVs regularly for 5 years now.) So, the job is going well. I should probably check my mail and see if I have my first paycheck yet since it’s not direct deposited till the second check!

The pregnancy is going well. My food aversions are still gone, thankfully, but I do tend to get cravings for stuff easily, especially if I smell something or see somebody else eating something. Then that’s all I think about. I had an EKG class last week and saw a guy eating a sandwich that looked like a tuna melt, and I literally craved tuna with cheese melted on it for the next hour. I couldn’t even focus on the class because I was so focused on getting tuna for lunch. Then I ate it and spent the next hour wondering if it was albacore or white fish tuna and how much mercury I just consumed. I also have a serious case of pregnancy brain. I always thought this started later in pregnancy, but I assure you that it’s in full swing. Last night I found yogurt in my fridge and couldn’t find the lid anywhere. I get up at work and walk somewhere and then have absolutely no idea what I was doing. I open a tab at work and can’t remember what I wanted to chart. I have conversations and then can’t remember anything the person said, even when I need to know (like at work). It’s crazy. All these things used to happen before I was pregnant too (not the yogurt), but it’s just one after another. All day long I feel like I’m wandering around lost. I also spend a ridiculous amount of time convincing people that I’m not showing and that I’m just bloated. I was supposed to have genetic testing done Friday, but somebody from the office called today and said I’d owe $900 out of pocket. No thanks! I don’t really care about genetic testing anyway! Neither of our families have any history of genetic abnormalities so no way am I paying that, especially when it won’t even apply to the deductible for the delivery (since I deliver next year).

Good example here! Left photo is at 9wks2days, first thing in the morning. The second photo was first thing in the morning, but on Monday (11wks2days) right after being insanely bloated all weekend from the food at Kassie’s wedding. The third photo was also first thing in the morning, but on Tuesday after eating much better all day Monday. No baby yet. That’s all bloat in the second picture, and the other ones are how I usually look!

I’ve still been working out! I get out of breath way more easily and I also get completely exhausted way more easily, but it has been good to stay active. I was actually super excited to try the CrossFit gym close by and the WOD today looked great, but when I just went to sign up, it didn’t show up. They may close their registration early, but all the other noon classes are available every other day. Doesn’t make sense. So I’m going to one of my favorites tonight, Elite Edge, for my first arm night there.

Laura and I are leaving this Saturday morning for a trip to Wyoming. We’re driving out, so we’re spending a night in Kansas City so we can see the Power and Light District, and then heading out to do an afternoon at Medicine Bow (WY) and we’ll be staying just outside Grand Tetons. We’ll go into Yellowstone as well, so this afternoon I need to spend a little time figuring out how to get the most out of the parks in just a few short days! I can’t wait for the trip and really wish we could go for longer, but it’s going to be so fun! After this, I’ll be saving money again for spring tuition, baby items, and delivery bills. So I better make the most of this trip! I am loving that I’m going with Laura though, so all bills are split between us. For any of you single folk, enjoy your vacations with friends! It is much harder to see the cost of a two person trip to come out of one bank account!

Well, that’s about all! I’ll be spending my day cleaning the house (one last deep clean before school starts- the floors don’t get cleaned nearly as much when I’m in school!) and finishing up my online orientation for grad school! I need to make sure I have all my books ready since school starts Monday (while I’m on vacation, bummer)! I also need to run to the grocery store for a few small things (I want to eat all the gala apples!!!!!!). Perhaps I’ll buy a new crockpot too, since mine leaks dirty food water all over the place (how is that even possible?!) so I finally threw it out after it leaked all over onto my floor last time… So, nothing exciting in my future. Just a much needed productive day so that I can spend Friday packing, getting food prepared for our trip, and having dinner with Crista before Jon gets home!

Everybody enjoy your day!

July 22, 2015

Bachelorette Party Shopping, New Jobs, and Protein!

Another day, another dolla. I’m kidding. I didn’t even work today. I rarely blog on days I work. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

I did my first Body Attack class last night through ClassPass! It was just weird, you guys. It was basically like a cardio class where you just run in place and jump up and down and wave your arms and punch the air and dance your little feet in square shapes. Not at all what I was expecting. Actually, I thought I signed up for Body Pump, so really not what I was expecting. But it was good. I actually got my heart rate up and got my sweat on, and it was nice to have a break from weights because my body is so tired. So I may do it again. I’m not really sure.

After another sleepless night last night, I got up and headed up to the new hospital for my employee health appointment and medication test. (By the way, I totally just realized I forgot to have my Hep B titers drawn today, which I hope doesn’t mess up my start date! How did I even do that?!) The medication test was actually pretty hard but we got to use a book, thankfully! I am a bit worried because ALL of my new employee paperwork has me listed as working PCU (progressive care unit, a step down from the intensive care unit) and I was very clear during my interview that I wanted telemetry to be my main area and that I could float to PCU as needed since I have ER experience and am familiar with everything they’ll do in PCU, aside from pulling sheaths after coronary intervention. So, I’m a bit miffed because I think I may have been mislead, but I’ll speak with the manager at orientation next week and get it straightened out. Jon told me I should email them now, but either way, I need a break from my current job so bad that I’d really work either… But still, I’ll be reviewing this with them.

After I finished up there, I headed to Whole Foods to grab some stuff for work. Still totally not feeling hardly any food, so I’ve been kind of winging it at the grocery store and hoping I’ll be able to tolerate one of the few items I buy. I also stocked up on some Orgain Protein Almond Milk in hopes of adding it to my fruit smoothies since I’m not eating any meat these days at all.

Gina met me at my house once I got home so that we could do some Bachelorette Party shopping for Kassie’s big weekend! I actually had been planning on going to her house, so when we switched it last minute, it gave me a reason to do a quick clean on my house and now it’s finally cleaned up! I can’t be having people see my house messy.

Gina and I went to Party City for some basic pink Bachelorette goods, but they sadly don’t have any penis decor! I guess I should have expected that since they can’t really throw penises out where little kids are. We also needed to find some lingerie for her lingerie shower (which we’re doing at the Bachelorette Party), so we stopped by TJ Maxx for some sexy underthings! Then we headed to a sex shop thinking they’d have some penis stuff, but they didn’t aside from a penis cake pan (for $19!). Who knew?! And their non-penis shaped stuff was really expensive! So we decided to go in search of a Spencer’s, not even knowing if that store still exists or not. But it does! And they have plenty of penis stuff!

Kassie said no to that penis nose! WHY?! Haha. I would have totally rocked that! Their penis cake pans were only $8 too! I’m going to frost two penis cakes- one peach and one chocolate. I’m super excited!

After our shopping adventures, Gina left and I read up on some cloth diapering discussion boards (I really think Jon and I are going to go the cloth diaper route because I am way too environmentally conscious to just be throwing away tons of diapers, and cloth diapering is cheaper in the long run). I learned a lot but the whole cloth diapering thing is a bit overwhelming! I think I’m going to register for various types of diapers on my baby registry in hopes of getting different stuff.

I’m thinking I may head out for a quick elliptical session at the gym and maybe some arms. Why not? I’m feeling cabin feverish and hopefully all the post-work gym goers are heading out since it’s 7pm. Maybe I’ll take a walk outside after that too for some nice, fresh humid air! I’m not sure how I’m still so energized today, but I’m loving it! I wish this nausea would go away, but whatever! At least my body hasn’t been drained all day!

June 28, 2015

New Jobs vs. Old Jobs

It has been a rough two days at work! Apparently between the increase in heart rate that you have during pregnancy and probably just having too much on my mind, I haven’t been sleeping well at all! I also feel like I’m in a fog a lot of times (which I actually noticed the day before and the day I found out I was pregnant), so work has been really less than pleasant lately. Not to mention the fact that I’m just burnt out. I’m getting irritated much more easily and am just over it. So yesterday and today really just kicked my butt.

One of my good work buds texted me this after work (after I let her know that I did not quit my job before 7pm and made it through my shift!). Definitely summed up my day! I don’t even know how I keep it together sometimes.

However, on the job front, I had my interview with the cardiac floor the other day. It went pretty well, aside from me answering a question totally wrong (I was thinking of the wrong letters), and I actually enjoyed the interview. It was weird being back on the floor I worked on years ago! It smelled the same and everything! The only downfall is that the pay is a big pay cut. In order to take this job, I will have to drop my hours at my current job, which will cost me $5 an hour just at that job. And the pay cut from what I make now to this other job? $13 an hour. I honestly don’t even want to think about that, because just that thought stresses me out.

Another big downfall is that even though I only had to work 4 shifts a month, I’m on a rotating every 3rd weekend schedule and I can’t even begin to tell you guys how much I hate that. One of the best parts of my job is that I can pick and choose my weekends, even if I do have to work four weekend days per month.

I had to really think about this the other morning. Will I accept a job that I will be unhappy with my weekend schedule at, and that will end up costing me hundreds of dollars a month in income? But, sometimes I just have to focus on where this job will get me in the future, even though I may not love it now.

It’s a break from my current job. The ER is wearing me down and I honestly considered quitting today. I’m just so incredibly burnt out from that place! So it’ll change up my work schedule and I’ll go to another place to do part of my shifts, while still making somewhat decent pay (even if it does suck in comparison to what I make right now). I gain experience in another area, making me more marketable for future clinical nursing jobs and future management jobs. They sound like they have a lot of management opportunities from within, so it may be a good place to get my feet wet. And lastly, it’s a per diem job. I won’t find a job that will take me into a brand new field of nursing (for me) and only require me to work four days a month on day shift. I caught this floor at a desperate time.

So, sometimes you just have to do things you don’t want to do, in order to come out where you want to be. If I hate it, I quit. If I don’t hate it, well then, I’m really winning then, huh?

March 9, 2015

Gravity Studio, Wedding Dress Shopping, and Travel Nurse Dinner

Happy Monday Funday! I had a pretty awesome weekend and Monday! On Friday, I had a STEMI Summit that ended up being really, really, really boring. I was bummed cause I was actually really looking forward to the conference because cardiology fascinates me! But the speakers that were there were really less than stellar and didn’t hold anybody’s attention. I decided to dip out at 4pm cause I couldn’t handle it anymore!

That night, Haley (my new “roommate”) and I went out to have dinner with a few other Atlanta based travel nurses. It was actually a lot of fun and one of the old nurses I used to work with while I was a tech was at dinner too.

We stayed out until 10:30 and I really felt like I was getting crazy! Is it sad that I don’t even know the last time I stayed out till 10:30? (Surely it wasn’t that long ago! I just can’t recall it. Right?) I was definitely ready for bed as soon as I got home though and went right to bed like the old lady that I am at heart.

Saturday morning I had to miss my favorite ClassPass workout, but it was worth it since it was Kassie’s wedding dress shopping day!!! Kassie and I have been best friends for over 14 years now (fun fact: Kassie threw me a surprise 15th birthday party) and I’m so excited to be in her wedding!

We were twinning accidentally.

Dress shopping was so much more fun when it was for somebody else! I could have watched her try on wedding dresses all day long! Her mom and her soon-to-be sister-in-law were there also (and Gina), and we facetimed her maid of honor while we were there.

We all headed to lunch at Olive Garden after Kassie decided on a dress (clearly #notthisdress). Kass, Gina, and I tried to find some bridesmaids dresses at the mall after but had no luck! I’m not sure why dresses have to be so ugly these days! None of them were flattering at all!

Saturday evening, Jon and I headed over to my parent’s house for dinner. I hadn’t seen them in two weeks and I like my weekly dinners with my mom and dad! My mom and I finished the night off with the cinnamon rolls I’ve been recommending!

Saturday night I took benadryl and crashed at 9:45 so I could get a full night of sleep before losing an hour of sleep before a day at work! I had a surprisingly great Sunday at work, which I was thankful for because my poor neighbor got killed the entire day so I was able to lend a hand all day long so she didn’t drown! I was so excited to head out of work into daylight! I’m pretty sure that daylight saving is my favorite time of the year! After work, Jon and I had a chill night at home relaxing!

Jon was called off work this morning. It couldn’t have happened on a better day because he has been sick all weekend and has been exhausted! I still crawled out of bed somewhat early for Gravity. This is definitely up there with my top ClassPass classes! I did a poor review the other day, but I realized today that the machines we use are total gym machines. I love them! If the power tower wasn’t $5,300, I would totally buy one. You can get an awesome full body strength workout on that thing. I really enjoyed the class today and definitely felt the burn! We did legs too so I was happy to get in a good leg workout, even though my knees just aren’t what they used to be!

Jon and I ate some breakfast when I got home and then headed to drop my car off for an oil change. We decided to grab some coffee and groceries and look at a few more Jeeps (welcome to our life). Although it’s cloudy, the weather is fantastic today! I think we may head out for a short walk before The Bachelor finale tonight! I’d actually like to go for a run, but I want to spend time with Jon and he definitely won’t go running with me while he’s sick!

Have a good night, everybody!

January 14, 2015

Wednesday Ramblings

Happy Hump Day! I had to wake up for a medication class at work today and it only lasted 1 1/2 hours, so now I’m home nice and early! Unfortunately, it was hard to fall asleep last night and Tom has gotten in the habit of laying on my face (literally, across my face) in the middle of the night and purring like a wild banshee. It’s hard to push him off when he sounds so happy, but he’s a fatty so it’s not very comfortable. And I’m having total flea paranoia lately since they seem to be scratching more, but I have a feeling it’s just their dry skin from the cold weather. I always get paranoid, deflea them, and then never see any dead fleas. Since we have people with pets visiting this week and bringing in luggage, I also feel the need to deflea them before anybody gets here and brings anything into the house. So that’s what I thought about in the middle of the night while the cat smothered my face. Sleepless nights.

I’m feeling exhausted but the bathrooms/floors in the house need to be done and I also need to go to the gym, although I’m super sore from my workouts lately… I’d take a day off, but since I’ll be taking all weekend off while Jon’s family is in town, I’m going to try and suffer through a tired/sore workout today. Maybe I’ll just do abs or something easy. I want to try to go tomorrow night as well, since my sister-in-law’s family will be getting in later on Thursday night.

I started working on taxes last night (the joys of being an adult) and am already over it. I should have saved more receipts throughout the year in case I get audited, and because I didn’t, I have to go through my bank statements to find hotel charges from traveling and all of that fun stuff. I also should have kept a lot of my miles for the year (to and from assignments, mostly, and my starting and ending miles for the year). Lessons learned. I really want to get everything submitted for taxes by February 1st so I can get that out of the way before getting all my travel stuff in order (since it’s always a pain in the ass to get ready for another assignment). Not to mention that I need to make sure I recert my ALS and BLS soon too so that I don’t expire while I travel in the summer/fall. I also finally finished up my resume for grad school and now I just have to mail that in and make sure the doctor and midlevel I asked to write my recommendations actually get them done. Fingers crossed they do them in time. Deadline is fast approaching.

I’m really in the mood to make a breakfast quiche with a hash brown crust, cheddar cheese, eggs, spinach, mushrooms, and bacon. Like, really really want to make it. Actually, I don’t want to make it- I just want to eat it. I have no idea how exactly to cook that so I’d need to Pinterest some baking times, but because we won’t be home this weekend and have a ton of food to eat over the next few days, I’ll hold off until Monday. But doesn’t that sound delicious? I’ve really come to love me some quiche in my old age. And I think Jon would really love some quiche too. I’m amazed at what a Betty Crocker I’ve become over these last few years (at least in comparison to my former, pre-Paleo life).

I guess I should be off to start having a productive day. It has just been so dreary lately and I’d really rather cuddle up on the couch with my cats and read a book or watch some trash TV. I could have stayed in Portland for all this dreary weather we’re having. People really underestimate the lack of sunny days we have in Georgia.

October 19, 2014

Portland Assignment!

I figured I’d do some Portland updates! I’m one week in today! Woohoo! 7 to go! As far as work goes, I’m glad to only have 7 weeks left. Don’t get me wrong- I actually like this hospital, but something about only having to get through 7 weeks of work is really nice! I miss my Mass work crew a ton. They were just so fantastic and fun and had so much energy! I feel like my work crew here is just dragging. They’re boring. Time goes slow. Not a ton of interaction between coworkers. However, it’s a totally different pace here! I think Portland is slower in general. Nobody even speeds here! But really, the pace is way slower. I have kept my rooms filled back to back but lab comes to draw labs, we have people who specifically do our EKGs, and the doctors rarely order IV meds on patients, so I end up not even putting IVs in most patients. I think I’ve put in 4 IVs all week and at home, I put in 4 in an hour sometimes. I’m sure if I had a critical patient or a really sick patient, it’d seem busy here. I don’t feel like teamwork is up to par with my home job either, but I’m finding that they’re just really helpful at that job. I’m definitely liking it though! The time drags at work because I spend 12 hours at a much slower pace that I’m used to, but really, I needed this! I hope it stays this way for the whole 7 weeks! I’m actually considering coming back here in the summer next year because it’s just that nice!

Adjusting to the evening shift has been difficult. I’m exhausted at the end of my shift and these days are actually 13 hour days, not 12 hour days. I’m used to 6:45a-7:15p (or earlier), and here I do either 2:45p-3:45a or 1:45p-2:45a. Even more draining when I’m doing 3 in a row! Today I slept until 3:30p and was so drained when I woke up. I almost didn’t even get out of bed but knew I had a time crunch at that point (I had dinner with a friend- I’ll update the social aspect another time). I was dragging and not feeling well through the grocery store and finally gained some energy when I ate at home. I have worked 3-3 shifts in the past, but not regularly, and it’s actually a bit harder than I had expected! I’m feeling a bit zombie-like. I’m sure it will get better, but I’m definitely going to need to adjust!

The time change from Georgia is also strange! Jon and I don’t talk much (we really didn’t when I was in Mass either, though). I get a 10 minute break at work (their policy is actually three 10 minute breaks and one 30 minute break, but that’s excessive!) so I typically call him during that and then talk to him while I’m at dinner sometimes. Today I caught him for about 15 minutes while I was getting ready to leave tonight and he was on the bus on his way home from an air show. I don’t feel stressed about the lack of interaction though. I’m just happy to hear his voice when I do! And besides, we only have 7 weeks to go and we should get to spend a whole month together!

I haven’t worked out at all. Still missing it a ton but know that if I even step foot into the gym, I’m going to aggravate my hip because that’s the nature of a hip injury. I’m giving myself one more week and then am going to try and go in and at least do something! The pain is still not any better than two weeks ago and actually seems more irritated lately. A lot of tenderness with palpation and it continues to wake me up frequently through the night when I move.

I also am enjoying where I live. I mean, it’s free, so you can’t beat that. I actually haven’t even seen the girl I live with (Juliette) much. Since I went out of town this week on my days off and worked the nights she was home, we haven’t seen each other since last weekend. I was hoping to go to a winery with her today but ended up sleeping through it and she was still gone when I was up. But I’m very comfortable here and have taken time to help clean the kitchen up every day (she works full time and has a 2 year old son) so that she won’t have to do their dishes when she has time to spend at night with her son! And her son is adorable and reminds me of my nephew, so I love it!

So, assignment #2 is definitely going well! I’m very happy with the hospital and the living! I just wish my hip was better so I could get in some good hiking! More updates later!

October 9, 2014

Last Georgia Weekend (again)

It has definitely been a busy last few days! I’ll start with my last weekend in Georgia, just because it was actually a pretty fun one! On Friday, our new bedroom furniture was delivered! I am so excited about how it looks and I love it!

I feel like we’re real adults now that we have such a fancy bedroom set! I also love how it fills up the space in our room! Unfortunately, we had a lot of cleaning up to do after the furniture was delivered since almost everything from our bedroom was in the living room, so we spent the next 4-5 hours getting organized and taking stuff to Goodwill!

I did manage to fit in a trip to CrossFit:

Strength:
Hang Power Clean- 2 TNG EMOM @80-83% x 10 min (I used 85#)

WOD: (103 reps total)
4 min AMRAP @77% of Power Clean 1RM (75#, 36 reps)
Rest 2 min
4 min AMRAP: (12# ball cause I hate wall balls, 60 reps)
Wallball-20/14#
Rest 2 min
4 min AMRAP: (7 rope climbs)
Rope Climb-15″

After getting everything together for the weekend, Jon and I headed to my parent’s cabin in Blairsville. We got in pretty late and headed to bed shortly after getting there.

We woke up to some brisk weather on Saturday- perfect for a fall day at the cabin! We had planned on doing a hike but Jon was getting impatient about breakfast, so we had to go grab a bite to eat first. Over breakfast, we decided not to hike and to have a fall day! I was so excited because my favorite view in Blairsville is right by the Southern Tree Plantation and they always have pumpkins out in the fall!

We headed out to the Plantation, only to find that there were no fall festivities this year! Bummer! We decided to check out a local winery instead- Odom Springs Vineyards.

The winery was only about 20 minutes from the cabin and it was so adorable! They had a little bonfire going and we were the only people there. To top this place off, they had a cat! And this cat was the sweetest cat ever, so of course it’s my favorite winery now. We did a tasting of 6 wines. I really liked the rose, but the others were dryer than I prefer. We decided to each get a glass and sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and the cat.

We spent some time hanging out by the fire and walking around. I’m a lightweight, so by the time we finished that tasting, I felt a little bit buzzed! So of course, another wine tasting seemed to be in order!

Odom Springs told us about a few other good wineries in the area so we headed up to Nottely. It was a little farther away but I really liked the location! Very picturesque.

It was a really minimal winery- outhouses instead of real bathroom type of thing. The guy doing the tasting was great! Very educational, which I really like because I like learning more about wines! Unfortunately, after the first tasting and some more wine from this one, I don’t remember many of the fun facts he taught us…

We headed out from that winery to go to a third, but then we came to a sign for Chattanooga and Jon mentioned never having been there. I love Chattanooga and I was drunk so I said he should go if he wanted to! We grabbed some sushi as soon as we got there at Sushi Nabe since they do the Delta Skymiles Dining program and you might as well make bank on those points cause sushi is never a cheap meal! They had nice outdoor seating that we really enjoyed! They also had a pumpkin roll (I added cream cheese) that was awesome! Their sweet potato tempura roll was one of my least favorite sweet potato rolls I’ve had, but the pumpkin made up for it. I was pleased.

After dinner, we walked around Coolidge Park and then crossed the river via the pedestrian bridge. We enjoyed the downtown area and then decided we should probably head back since it’s a 2 hour drive back to the cabin!

We slept by the fire that night (love real wood fire places) and then woke up early on Sunday to head back! It was another beautiful day and I would have liked to enjoy the weather outside, but I had packing since I had to leave for my road trip on Monday!

As soon as we got home, I started doing laundry and packing. My parents came by to say goodbye for a bit and so did Laura. Packing took quite awhile (as expected) and was harder than I thought it would be since the weather is still in the 70s-80s! I was expecting all cold weather! Totally messed me up! But I took way less for this assignment than the last one, so I’d call it a success!

I talked Jon into going for a run before it got dark out! I hadn’t gone for a “real” run in awhile (I’d done a few shorter ones with other stuff mixed in) so I was curious as to how it would go! We went about a mile together and he was ready to head back but I was feeling great so I kept going! I did another two miles but have no idea how long it took. I didn’t use my MapMyRun cause I thought it’d just be a short run, but I’d be curious about my time! It was my old 3 mile go to from last year! I must say, I really enjoyed my run! I may have to get back into doing a few short runs a week!

Jon and I headed to bed around 11 on Sunday night. I really didn’t wan to go to bed and kept bugging him since I knew when we woke up, it’d be time for me to leave! I was super bummed about having to leave him since I enjoyed my time at home with him so much! And I always hate leaving Tom and Kitty too!

September 28, 2014

Portland No More? Fall Day!

Just a quick update! I’ll go into more detail later most likely, but this morning my recruiter called me. She said the hospital in Oregon sent her my schedule and that it was for night shift! …?! She was in Vegas at the traveler’s conference so I guess was just catching up on work today and saw it and knew that I had accepted the evening position, not the night position. As a matter of fact, I expressed during the “interview” that I would only work the evening shifts so that definitely should not have happened. I basically said I wouldn’t go there if I had to work nights. It’s not what I accepted and I’m not working for a place doing something that I absolutely did not agree to. She’s going back to them on Monday and telling them that I won’t work there if they don’t switch me back to evenings, so I have no idea what will happen. This means that I may be out of a job in Portland now and have to look for a new one, which is a total bummer because I was really excited about being able to take a Christmas trip with Jon and to make it home over the holidays with the rest of the high school crew. I’m just going to go with the flow though. I know these things can happen while traveling and it’s exactly why I still have a job at home. We’re short staff all the time so I should still be able to get any hours that I need on short notice until I lock in an assignment. 8 week assignments aren’t nearly as common as 13 week assignments though, so I’m thinking the California trip is out.

In other positive news, I managed to make it to the gym yesterday after an 8 hour workday! Totally surprised I made it, especially since I was exhausted on my drive home and even laid down to take a nap when I got home! The workout was as follows:

Strength:
Power Snatch-3 reps @80% of 1RM every 90 seconds x 8 cycles (I don’t do anything with a wide overhead grip, so I did clean and jerks at 65#, which ended up being fairly light)

WOD:
3 Rounds For Time: (I finished in 5:35)
2 Rope Climbs
15 Double KB/DB Swings-2x 35#/20# (I used 15#)
15m KB Front Rack Lunge- 2x 35#/20# (15#)

It was a good workout and I definitely am glad to be back doing some CrossFit again, even though I was loving my gym time in Mass too. I’ve been really sore since I’m back to doing a lot more varied movements and I’m able to actually do some oly lifts without worrying about dropping my weights.

After the gym, I rushed home to shower and get ready. My roommate Marianne and I headed downtown to meet up with Lizzie and Gina for dinner at Bone Garden Cantina! It was a good time but we sat inside and it was so loud! I may be showing my age here, but I just want to eat in nice, quiet places so I can actually hear what people are saying to me! Aside from that, my burrito was so spicy and there was no indication on the menu that my bean burrito would be spicy!

Me, Lizzie, Gina, Marianne

After dinner, Gina left to go meet up with her boyfriend and Lizzie and Marianne and I went to a bar down the road, where Laura met up with us. We enjoyed a drink and then we were all tired and decided to head home. Lizzie and I laughed about how this time, we were both so tired and the last time we hung out (two years ago), I got so drink that I slept naked in Gina’s bed and threw up sushi in her sink. Not my best days. We’ve grown up so much (don’t worry- that was not normal for me 2 years ago, either!).

Today I went hiking with Jon, Crista, and Billy in north Georgia. We went for a 3 hour hike out at the start of the Appalachian Trail. It would have been nice to make it out to Springer Mountain, but it was later when we arrived and we were all wanting to go apple picking still! I’m not sure how far we went! Maybe 7-8 miles? It wasn’t strenuous by any means where we were, but it was definitely an uphill battle most of the way! Good hike for sure.

After that, we headed out to go apple picking! As soon as we arrived, I got my first bee sting ever! Right on my forearm! It swelled up like crazy and was so painful. Most of the swelling has gone down but it is still really painful. Anyway, we had an awesome apple fritter and ended up grabbing some apples from the orchards. It was a lot of fun and definitely good to hang out with Crista and Billy! And of course, a day with Jon is always enjoyable!

We stopped by the Nike outlet and spent money that I definitely shouldn’t have! I didn’t buy any workout clothes for almost a year while my thumb was injured, and then I wasn’t really getting into the gym as much so I bought only my running pants and running shirts, so it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten anything else. I loved one of the hoodies I bought from Nike. Good hiking hoodie for cold weather!

Now Jon and I are home and I’m about to get ready for bed since I work tomorrow. I hate working on weekends when Jon is home (at least while I’m traveling). I’m considering picking up a few hours at work this week since I’d go into overtime and I’m wondering how long I’ll be home for now! Might as well get some hours in! I’ll have to see what’s available tomorrow when I get there! I want to enjoy my stay though and not work too much! Just have to find that balance!

September 16, 2014

My first gym selfie & travel nurse updates

This morning (Monday morning- it’s midnight after work) I was really NOT motivated at the gym at all. I ran 0.5 mile (yup) and then did legs. I actually managed to get through back squats, deadlifts, and good mornings fairly well but by the time I finished that short leg workout, I was over it. After a few quick pull ups and an ab workout, I was out the door. But not before taking my first gym selfies ever. And last. Look at how awkward I am. How do you even pose for a full body photo of yourself?

Helloooo long torso and short legs! And lack of hips. I rarely look at photos of myself and think that I look like I’m only 5′, but I look pretty short here. Every time I’ve weighed myself lately, I’ve been 101.4lbs, so this is right around that weight, I’m sure. I don’t really weigh myself much and only do if a scale happens to be in the bathroom I’m in. If I ever get back to 105lbs, I’ll do a comparison photo. But I doubt that’ll happen cause it takes a lot for me to gain weight.

After the gym, I had an interview for a job in Portland, OR. I was technically offered the position from my paper profile but wouldn’t accept a position without speaking to the manager. I have to be honest, the manager did not sell me on the job. I expected some sort of info about the hospital but she said, “I was told you wanted to speak with me” and then let me take the entire lead and provided very unimpressive answers. It seems like their nurse/patient ratios are good and it’s either 2p-2a or 3p-3a shifts with mostly block scheduling. That sounds pretty good to me, however, the pay leaves a little to be desired still. The one benefit of it, which I initially was really put off about, was that this is an 8 week assignment. I really want 13 weeks, but Portland is going to be rainy and once it snows, I can’t hike the surrounding mountains because of the snow (unless I learn to drive in snow). Since the start date is October 13th (earlier than I wanted), I would be finished before Christmas. Jon can come up and we can take a California road trip (TAHOE IN WINTER!) and I can fly home to work before my next assignment, all over Jon’s Christmas break from school! Score! So, I think I’m going to accept it and then Jess is going to work on getting an ICU/ER position in Portland or Salem for the same time. Also, if the weather sucks, we can move on to our next assignment earlier! I think New Mexico may be next!

My second to last night at work was fantastic! People have been bringing me food to work and tonight it was actually something healthy! Then the Panera crumb cake showed up, but that wasn’t actually for me. I just ate a lot of it. It was a slow night at work and I enjoyed plenty of snack breaks and chats with my coworkers! Definitely going to miss them! They really are a fun bunch to work with! I’m bummed to be leaving here in the fall too! I bet it’s beautiful in the fall up here!

I’m about to get in bed, enjoy the 50 degree weather, and relax for a bit. My energy level is still lacking so I think tomorrow will either be a nice rest day or perhaps a day in Boston. Not sure which, but the weather has been great so I’d be fine with either!

June 25, 2014

The differences between emergency rooms!

Holy smokes. I just worked my first shift as a travel nurse and let me just say, I LOVE MY OLD JOB (still currently my job, but it’s 17 hours away). We have a lot of ex travel nurses that are in my ER and I’ve been told by numerous people how good our ER actually is. We’ve had nurses leave and come back because ours is better. I know my job is stressful and I bitch about it, but it’s stressful because the expectation is high. Our care is expected to be good by management and we really do try to make our patients happy and comfortable with care that is as fast as possible (which is not always fast, but it’s still good care).

I see how good my job was now. I texted Jon at 7:45 “I haaate it.” The charting system here is absolutely horrific. One of the techs was telling me how their reimbursement is so low but it’s probably because they aren’t documenting properly to get reimbursed because to complete it, it would take forever to find it. The nurses are overworked and the ER was way understaffed. I left at 11:30 and gave report to a nurse of 3 weeks (at this facility- not ever) who was now taking 6 patients. Six. Not six sniffly patients. Six legit patients. ER patients. W.T.F. The patients there are all lined up in beds along the hallway. People have all kinds of visitors sitting in the hallway with them (the one time I worked in a hallway at my job, I said 0 visitors allowed, no exceptions. HIPAA?). What a clusterfuck. And while I did actually really like my preceptor, I jumped in at 3pm and we ended up with 5 patients and it wasn’t until around 8 that she started helping with nursing stuff. I get that she wanted to let me learn, but I’m not sure if letting somebody who knows nothing about the system just completely drown is the best.

I’m a bit weary of traveling again after this because it was just that bad. It made me miss my ER at home where we have our shit together. But at the same time, if I do go to grad school for management, this is all really useful. It’ll look good on my resume (traveling jobs show adaptability, but I’ve also already been employed at my “real job” for 4 years, so I’m also committed to my workplace) and I’ll also have a more well rounded perspective on how to improve a department. These 13 weeks should really fly by though and quite frankly, I’m just looking forward to working a few shifts in my hospital where I actually feel like the care I’m providing is really good because the care that I have time to give here felt almost negligent, and that is definitely not the type of nurse that I would ever want to be.

Working tonight actually made me realize how much I like taking care of my patients. I don’t just want to say hi, start an IV, and leave. I like creating a relationship with my patients and while I knew that I enjoyed some of my patients at home and quite frequently would get complimented on what a great and caring nurse I was, I had no idea how much I actually like doing it (but not for the rest of my life). Those sweet patients make my job worthwhile in a way that I never even noticed and I really hope that over the next 13 weeks, I have enough time to really make a difference in somebody’s time in the ER. I have never worked 8 hours without having some sort of relationship with a patient in the last 6 years that I’ve been in healthcare until tonight, and I really didn’t like having that missing piece.

	lavitanuestra on Short post
	Liz on Short post
	lavitanuestra on Short post
	Angela on Weekend.
	Liz on Weekend.

at20something

The life of an average 20something girl.

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