Post Weekend Let Down

I am definitely feeling down today and all I can chalk it up to is that the past weekend was so full of excitement and fun that there was nowhere to go but down.  Kind of like the day after Christmas when you were a kid.

So Jim's pinning was Friday evening, Graduation was Saturday afternoon and then my niece's graduation from college was Sunday morning with a party in the afternoon for both her and Jim. It was a whirlwind of a weekend but so good to get to see so many family and friends and celebrate! Jim graduated with honors, Cum Laude, and as part of Sigma Theta Tau, the National Honor Society of Nursing. I am so proud of him!

On Saturday evening we drove to Dayton (about an hour from where we were in Columbus) so we would be there and ready for my niece's graduation from my alma mater on Sunday morning.  I LOVE being back on campus, the University of Dayton is such a beautiful place, especially in the spring.  After the party I convinced Jim and Em that we need to drive by campus on the way back to Columbus and walk around to see all the changes that had happened in the last year.  UD graduation is in their arena which isn't on campus so we had to make a trip specifically to walk around.  We stopped at the book store and get Emily a t-shirt, then found they'd installed a new fountain on campus, the kind perfect for a little kid to take their shoes off and run around in on a hot day.  It was 84 and gorgeous out so we spent a half hour just letting her play and enjoying a mental break after such a hectic weekend before we headed home.

Today it's back to the grind of work and school.  Jim is working 4 days in a row this week to make up for having to take next week off for his trip to Nicaragua.  He works 2nd shift so that means we'll be sleeping in the same bed but never up when the other is.  Hate weeks like that.

On a happier note, here are some of my favorite photos from the weekend.

I need caffeine.

My brain hurts a bit today. Not sure why, just feel a bit in a fog. I think I need a nap.

School is reaching a fever pitch for Joe. He finished his clinical hours for his ER rotation yesterday. So for the next 2 weeks his Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be free which is AWESOME. Well, by free I mean he'll have that much more time to work on his homework which he desperately needs. His next rotation is in pediatrics at Children's Hospital. That will start up in mid-Oct after their fall break. I love when he starts a new rotation, good stories always come home.

He was sad to end his ER rotation, I know would like to apply work in the ER after graduation next spring. Some cattiness reared it's head amongst some of the nurses he worked with though. He reported some serious sterile technique violations that he was witness to and it ruffled a lot of feathers. He also reported some poor bedside manner issues that a nurse he was working with demonstrated toward a child and their parent. That did NOT go over well and apparently his preceptor shared his concern outwardly with the nurse in question. Nice. So he's got a great reputation with the dr.'s and some of the nurses, and some of the nurses HATE him. Ugh. That's how life has always been for him. He's a super over achiever and very strict rule follower, his expectations and standards are so high that he will often call out those who aren't living up to them in work situations. And now in nursing he feels obligated to work to the highest standards because the health of the patients depend on it. I just hope it doesn't hurt his chances of working in that dept.

I have 3 days of off-site strategy meetings next week for work. Sort of looking forward to them, sort of dreading them. I'm part of a group of 10 people attending that are all much higher in position then myself. I was invited by my old boss as a way to expose me to how these meetings work and the upper mgt team as I work my way up in the company. No pressure to perform or anything. And as of this Monday I have a new boss. My old boss is still with the company they just pulled the creative portion of the business from under marketing so we're under a new supervisor. I hate change. I really really really had a great relationship with my supervisor. So I'm sad. She didn't go any where and I know her door is always open to me but it still makes me sad. She was/is my #1 supporter and cheerleader, she knew how to challenge me in ways I would never challenge myself and when I made a mistake or a flub I knew I could turn to her without any concerns and we could work through it together. She let me work completely independently and was purely there as a support. Loved that. I learned so much from her about how to be a good manager. So I'm bummed. Pity party for one... I'll bring the whine.

We're headed on vacation in two weeks. We're renting a cabin in the mountains in NY with old friends from high school. 2 of my best friends from high school and their husbands and I have been getting together over the years for a group vacation. My husband went to the same high school and was buddies with these 2 friends as well. And all 3 of the husbands get along great. It's been 2 years now since we've gotten together and one of the couples has a little boy that is 1. Yay, our Little One won't be the only kid in the group this time. She's going to LOVE having their little guy to play with so much we probably won't even need to bring toys, he's enough of a toy for her! She loves kids and babies.

Time to go get an afternoon cup of coffee and see if I can kick this headache to the curb. Gotta get some work done.

Back to School!

Today… some about my husband, we'll call him "Joe".

Joe is in his final year of completing his BSN (Bachelor's of Science, Nursing). He took a full course load this summer to get ahead and will (fingers crossed) be finished in March. Then he will work as an RN for a while before he starts the next chapter in this journey… apply to the graduate program and get a double Master's as a Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Educator. Ambitious much? Yes, Joe has some serious drive. This is a man who back in the days before he went back to college for this new career would create projects around the house to keep himself busy every moment of the day, even after working a 60hr work week. "Down Time" is a dirty word to him. I am in awe, and sometimes annoyed, as I am exactly the opposite. Oh, I should also mention he has a degree in marketing and worked for 12 years at the mgt level. He was extremely successful in the business world. The career switch was to make a change to a career that was more personally fulfilling and in line with his beliefs and desire to serve others.

For his senior year he got the coveted clinical rotation of the ER. Only 5 students out of his class of 150 or so were assigned to the ER. He definitely excels in his studies and it doesn't hurt that he has a pretty tight relationship with the Assistant Dean of the College. So in addition to his full course load and working 2 shifts a week in the hospital he is putting in 2 12-hr shifts in the ER each week for his clinical rotation. Yesterday was his first shift in the ER. He had one pretty exciting case that he assisted with (chain saw injury to the leg, ick) and he came home exhausted but I could tell he was just LOVING what he was doing. He was in the thick of trauma, making quick decisions on the fly, exactly what he was hoping for when he started this process over 3 years ago.

So, surely more interesting stories will come from his clinicals this semester. But for now it's just so great to see him excited about what he's doing. Talk to me in 6 weeks though after I've been basically a single parent for that amount of time and we'll see if the honeymoon stage we go through at the start of every semester is still there.

Little One, as I will call our daughter, starts 2nd grade next Wed., and was super irritated that Daddy got to go back to school before her. The girl LOVES school. In fact, her playroom is basically a mock classroom where she is the teacher and her stuffed animals and dolls are the students. Most Saturdays she puts on her "fancy" clothes first thing in the morning, packs her lunch (no joke) and heads off to teach school in her playroom. Little One can keep herself occupied with this for HOURS!

That's enough info overload for one post I guess! I'll get to myself eventually but honestly find the two of them way more interesting than myself. :)