Life as a "Mormon"
11 years ago
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
NOT For Sale
Well, it has been six months since we first put our house on the market. Everything seemed to be going great. We consistently had people coming to look at the house, and everyone had great things to say about it. We got an offer on the house after it had only been on the market for three months, but since that fell through, things have not gone well. We've only had a couple of people come look since June-- one of which we were told by their realtor that they were going to make us an offer, but they ended up not doing it. So, we had a decision to make and decided to take our house off the market. Our realtor, Jayne, came by today and picked up the sign and lockbox, so it's official. We were just kind of over the process and have already started thinking of plans to improve the house, such as building a deck, so we just wanted to move forward. So, for now, we'll be sticking around Old RR Bed for a while. I'm really not upset about it. Like I said before, we like our house- the main issue was being on a busy road, and it would be nice to be closer to town with gas prices being so high. I know that Heavenly Father plays a role in everything, and He knows what is best for us. The timing just wasn't right. I've said before that we wanted to try to find a house in our same ward. We've made so many good friends, but now, one couple is going to be moving soon, and another one just put their house up for sale. So, if everyone keeps moving away, we definitely won't be limiting our options to just our ward. So, Dawn, your hope is still alive- I know Jared would love to be in South Huntsville so he could be closer to work. Anyway, I know everything will work out in the end.
Busy, Busy, Busy
Wow! It has been a long time since I've posted something. I guess I should fill everyone in on what's been going on in our busy lives.
The biggest thing is that I started back to work at the hospital in the ER. When I had Taylor, I had originally planned to go back to work after my maternity leave and just work PRN (which means I sign up to work shifts that they need extra nurses for, and I'm only required to work 36 hours a month). Well, by the end of my maternity leave, I just wasn't ready to leave Taylor, so I decided to become a stay-at-home mom and just continue to do my medical transcription work at home. It's definitely not a decision that I regret. I love the fact that I've been able to be there for Taylor through all of her milestones- smiling, cooing, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, talking, walking, everything!- and I'm grateful for the bond that we have developed.
Around the time that she was about 8-9 months, I started having the strong desire to go back to work. It was strange because that was really the time that I loved being with her the most because she had started to become so playful and fun. I guess I mostly just feared losing all of my nursing skills and knowledge as opposed to just really having the desire to go to work. So, I guess the last year has been a big roller coaster because I went through phases of wanting to go back to work and then deciding that I really just wanted to be at home.
Well, over the 4th of July weekend, Jared suggested that I think about going back to work. It caught me off guard because I was finally comfortable with just being at home and knew that I could reacquire my nursing skills, but I couldn't get back time with Taylor. We just finally realized that we needed the extra money. Sure- we could make ends meet and were doing fine, but we weren't able to save any money at all, and we weren't comfortable with that. So, that weekend, I sent out an email to my old nurse manager from the ER and asked if they had any PRN positions available. She said yes and that they would love to have me back, so I put in an application a couple of days later. She told me that someone from the ER would call to set up an appointment for me to come interview with her. Towards the end of the week, I still hadn't heard anything, but by that Friday, the nurse recruiter from the hospital called me and offered me the position without me ever having interviewed at all (sweet! I HATE interviews!). So, I was excited about that and also excited about the pay that they were offering. The starting pay for nurses is higher now than when I started, plus I have a year of experience so that's more, plus PRN nurses get a 20% differential which ended up being about $4/hr more!! Way more than I expected! She told me that an orientation started the following Monday, but that meant that I would have to come in that same day (Friday) for drug testing to be able to start on Monday. The next orientation wouldn't start for two weeks later. I was ready to start and get orientation over with, so I went that day and had my drug testing done and then started on Monday. So, as you can see, everything happened very quickly.
Unfortunately, since it had been over a year since I worked at the hospital, I had to go through boring hospital orientation classes for a week which was just sitting in a classroom M-F 8-4:30. I also had to take a test the second day of orientation which meant I was studying all that weekend-- something I haven't done in a while! That week was really rough. I hated being away from Taylor every day and realized that there was no way that I could go back to working full time. I especially could not work a M-F job where I was away from her all day and then only had a couple of hours to spend with her before she had to go to bed. It was rough on her, too. We started having a lot more trouble getting her to take naps and to go to sleep at night. The week after hospital orientation, I was just going to work two 12 hour shifts in the ER on Monday and Tuesday. There are a couple of classes that I'm supposed to be certified in to work- one being basic CPR, or BLS, and the other being an advanced cardiac class, or ACLS. Well, my CPR had already expired a year ago, and my ACLS was going to expire this month. So, on Wednesday, I looked up when the next classes were and there was an ACLS class the very next day that I needed to take. So, it was a big scramble because I'm really not supposed to take ACLS without being up-to-date on BLS, so I had to email my ER educator, and then he had to email the instructor that was over ACLS. She gave me the okay to go ahead, so I signed up for the class last minute and got some of my sisters-in-law to watch Taylor at the last minute. So, I went to ACLS on Thursday, and the instructor offered to go ahead and certify me in BLS if I could come back the next day. Yes, it seemed very inconvenient to have to take another class last minute the next day, but she really did me a huge favor. Since my CPR had expired, I would have had to take the whole class over again- 8 hours worth!- instead of taking the shorter class to recertify. So, I went back the next day, and she had me taken care of in just a few hours (and it only took that long because she was working me in around some other classes that she was teaching that day).
I know that's a lot of info, but I just wanted to give you all an idea of how hectic that first couple of weeks was. Basically, since then, I've been working two days a week. I'm still on orientation, which means that they pair me up with another nurse until I get the hang of things. At first, I felt like I was starting all over again because since I had Taylor a new ER has been built, so everything is different, and they are doing computer documentation now that we weren't doing before. Luckily, I've been able to pick things up pretty quickly, and the ER educator has been great about being flexible and basically letting me pick my own days to work. I plan to stay on orientation up through the first week of September because that's when the new work scheduling period starts (we do our schedule a month in advance for a 4-week period, so we just started scheduling for Sept. 7-Oct. 4).
Once I'm on my own, the plan is to work about once a week. To make things even more complicated, Jared is coaching a U-16 soccer team this fall (today is his first practice), so he will have practice on Tuesdays and Thursday and then games on Saturdays, and then I have Activity Days at church the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, so that really only leaves me a few days that I could work- if they even need more nurses that day! It will work out fine though. I think what I'm going to try to do is work Monday and Friday of one week, then have the whole next week off, then work Monday and Friday the next week, and then a week off. Of course, I can change that if things come up (like our two beach trips coming up in September in October-- yay!!).
I am just very grateful to have a nursing degree so that I can get a job with such ease and I can be so flexible with my hours. I think this will really work out great. I will still get to spend most of my time with Taylor and Jared, but at the same time, I will be able to keep up my nursing skills and make some extra income for our family. Above all, I am extremely grateful for my family. My mom, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law have all been amazing and extremely supportive. I am grateful for everyone who has babysit Taylor so far but also grateful knowing that everyone is willing to help out in any way that they can at any time that are asked. I am extremely blessed to have such a wonderful family!
The biggest thing is that I started back to work at the hospital in the ER. When I had Taylor, I had originally planned to go back to work after my maternity leave and just work PRN (which means I sign up to work shifts that they need extra nurses for, and I'm only required to work 36 hours a month). Well, by the end of my maternity leave, I just wasn't ready to leave Taylor, so I decided to become a stay-at-home mom and just continue to do my medical transcription work at home. It's definitely not a decision that I regret. I love the fact that I've been able to be there for Taylor through all of her milestones- smiling, cooing, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, talking, walking, everything!- and I'm grateful for the bond that we have developed.
Around the time that she was about 8-9 months, I started having the strong desire to go back to work. It was strange because that was really the time that I loved being with her the most because she had started to become so playful and fun. I guess I mostly just feared losing all of my nursing skills and knowledge as opposed to just really having the desire to go to work. So, I guess the last year has been a big roller coaster because I went through phases of wanting to go back to work and then deciding that I really just wanted to be at home.
Well, over the 4th of July weekend, Jared suggested that I think about going back to work. It caught me off guard because I was finally comfortable with just being at home and knew that I could reacquire my nursing skills, but I couldn't get back time with Taylor. We just finally realized that we needed the extra money. Sure- we could make ends meet and were doing fine, but we weren't able to save any money at all, and we weren't comfortable with that. So, that weekend, I sent out an email to my old nurse manager from the ER and asked if they had any PRN positions available. She said yes and that they would love to have me back, so I put in an application a couple of days later. She told me that someone from the ER would call to set up an appointment for me to come interview with her. Towards the end of the week, I still hadn't heard anything, but by that Friday, the nurse recruiter from the hospital called me and offered me the position without me ever having interviewed at all (sweet! I HATE interviews!). So, I was excited about that and also excited about the pay that they were offering. The starting pay for nurses is higher now than when I started, plus I have a year of experience so that's more, plus PRN nurses get a 20% differential which ended up being about $4/hr more!! Way more than I expected! She told me that an orientation started the following Monday, but that meant that I would have to come in that same day (Friday) for drug testing to be able to start on Monday. The next orientation wouldn't start for two weeks later. I was ready to start and get orientation over with, so I went that day and had my drug testing done and then started on Monday. So, as you can see, everything happened very quickly.
Unfortunately, since it had been over a year since I worked at the hospital, I had to go through boring hospital orientation classes for a week which was just sitting in a classroom M-F 8-4:30. I also had to take a test the second day of orientation which meant I was studying all that weekend-- something I haven't done in a while! That week was really rough. I hated being away from Taylor every day and realized that there was no way that I could go back to working full time. I especially could not work a M-F job where I was away from her all day and then only had a couple of hours to spend with her before she had to go to bed. It was rough on her, too. We started having a lot more trouble getting her to take naps and to go to sleep at night. The week after hospital orientation, I was just going to work two 12 hour shifts in the ER on Monday and Tuesday. There are a couple of classes that I'm supposed to be certified in to work- one being basic CPR, or BLS, and the other being an advanced cardiac class, or ACLS. Well, my CPR had already expired a year ago, and my ACLS was going to expire this month. So, on Wednesday, I looked up when the next classes were and there was an ACLS class the very next day that I needed to take. So, it was a big scramble because I'm really not supposed to take ACLS without being up-to-date on BLS, so I had to email my ER educator, and then he had to email the instructor that was over ACLS. She gave me the okay to go ahead, so I signed up for the class last minute and got some of my sisters-in-law to watch Taylor at the last minute. So, I went to ACLS on Thursday, and the instructor offered to go ahead and certify me in BLS if I could come back the next day. Yes, it seemed very inconvenient to have to take another class last minute the next day, but she really did me a huge favor. Since my CPR had expired, I would have had to take the whole class over again- 8 hours worth!- instead of taking the shorter class to recertify. So, I went back the next day, and she had me taken care of in just a few hours (and it only took that long because she was working me in around some other classes that she was teaching that day).
I know that's a lot of info, but I just wanted to give you all an idea of how hectic that first couple of weeks was. Basically, since then, I've been working two days a week. I'm still on orientation, which means that they pair me up with another nurse until I get the hang of things. At first, I felt like I was starting all over again because since I had Taylor a new ER has been built, so everything is different, and they are doing computer documentation now that we weren't doing before. Luckily, I've been able to pick things up pretty quickly, and the ER educator has been great about being flexible and basically letting me pick my own days to work. I plan to stay on orientation up through the first week of September because that's when the new work scheduling period starts (we do our schedule a month in advance for a 4-week period, so we just started scheduling for Sept. 7-Oct. 4).
Once I'm on my own, the plan is to work about once a week. To make things even more complicated, Jared is coaching a U-16 soccer team this fall (today is his first practice), so he will have practice on Tuesdays and Thursday and then games on Saturdays, and then I have Activity Days at church the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, so that really only leaves me a few days that I could work- if they even need more nurses that day! It will work out fine though. I think what I'm going to try to do is work Monday and Friday of one week, then have the whole next week off, then work Monday and Friday the next week, and then a week off. Of course, I can change that if things come up (like our two beach trips coming up in September in October-- yay!!).
I am just very grateful to have a nursing degree so that I can get a job with such ease and I can be so flexible with my hours. I think this will really work out great. I will still get to spend most of my time with Taylor and Jared, but at the same time, I will be able to keep up my nursing skills and make some extra income for our family. Above all, I am extremely grateful for my family. My mom, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law have all been amazing and extremely supportive. I am grateful for everyone who has babysit Taylor so far but also grateful knowing that everyone is willing to help out in any way that they can at any time that are asked. I am extremely blessed to have such a wonderful family!
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