Waaaay past time for an update.
Wow... last update was almost a year ago! I've been here a lot more often to read my friend's posts, but haven't felt much like posting... anyway...
I finished up the summer at Pretty Lake, FINALLY getting the letter to take my test in August. I passed the RN exam with no problems, and got my license a few days later. Only problem is that NO ONE locally is willing to hire a new nurse for a NURSING position. Everyone wants at least one year of nursing experience, first. I did find a job as a Camp "Health Officer"/nurse for a camp run by Battle Creek Public Schools. (www.clearlakecamp.org). School rules are a pain in the butt... I can't give a kid ANYTHING that might possibly be considered medication (including cough drops) unless they bring it with them, in the original box, with a SIGNED permission sheet from their parent AND a doctor. Yeah, even for cough drops! Mostly, I've been calling doctors offices for permission for tylenol or cough drops, passing out meds that ARE approved, and handing out peppermints for everything from headaches to upset tummies.
We had a problem with one of the counselors being accused of "inappropriate touching" among other things, and we lost over 6 weeks of camp thanks to that large school system canceling the rest of their time at the camp. No camp means no pay, and the ambulance has not been letting me pick up many hours. So, it's been a tough winter.
I'd started looking for nursing positions in Kentucky in February, after I got an offer of a place to live on a horse rescue farm near Lexington. I applied for a Telemetry (cardiac) nurse spot with University of Kentucky's Good Samaritan Hospital, interviewed with them in early March, and got word at the end of March that the position was mine, if I wanted it. They were THRILLED to get a nurse with my experience, and can't believe that no one up here will hire me. What a nice change.
Now, I have to clean up a 3 bedroom house, that's barely been lived in for almost a year (I usually stay at the camp during the week), and get ready to move into a 1 bedroom apartment. 5 acres of land, house and a barn, down to a large complex and a small apartment. Gonna be quite a change. I've had the last week off, and I've been doing some cleaning, but it never seems like I'm making much progress. Unfortunately, the horse farm place isn't going to be ready for a while, so I've had to find something else, until they get the new housing built. I'm looking forward to volunteering at Kentucky Horse Park, and possibly working there during the World Equestrian Games that is coming at the end of September.
Which brings me up to the weird day today. Started out with a lot of fun. A good friend of mine invited me down to a pistol range to pop off a few rounds at a poor, defenseless piece of paper. Boy, that was fun! I especially liked the .38 S&W (I may have to get me one of them!) I had brought my new 12 gauge with me, hoping to get a chance to shoot it on the other range, but that didn't work out. I bought the long gun after a guy forced his way into my house back in mid February. Everything turned out okay, I wasn't hurt, and the guy left by ambulance with a police escort to the psych ward. I was very nervous for quite a while afterwords, though, and wanted a bit more security at my house. Just "racking" a shot gun tends to deter most bad guys. And, no... I don't think I'd have any problem shooting if I felt my life was endangered. Hopefully I never have to put that to the test.
After the fun at the pistol range, I went down to the park in Kalamazoo where my other trailer house is located, and tried to see if anyone had been interested in buying it. No joy there, and the guy who bailed on the loan is STILL not out. Grrrrr....
I decided to go and try to get my hitch taken care of. I have a reciever hitch, and it's rusted into place. I've been hitting it with PB Blaster on a regular basis for WEEKS, and tried to yank it free with my tow strap and a tree yesterday. That didn't work at all. I've been told that the only other fix it to heat up the reciever on the outside, until it expands enough to pop loose from the rusted part. Only problem is if you heat it to the point the metal de-magnetizes, you've now made the reciever brittle, and prone to breaking, so it's important to get someone who can do it right. The guy at the hitch place thought I was nuts, and the only option he could offer was to replace my 2" ball (which I can't get off, either) with a multi-size ball, or replace the entire hitch. :( Neither is particularly cheap. So, $75 later, with a new multi-size ball, I decided to head out to Dowling to pick up the trailer I bought from my boss that I needed the different sized ball FOR, since I was already half way there.
No one is around, but I have no problem getting the hitch lined up and hooked up... but the safety chains are a thin, rusty joke, AND I swore that the electrical was a four flat hookup... it's a round six. Great, and it's starting to get late. I decide to take back roads back to Kzoo and hit the Tractor Supply store on the edge of town. I get there with no problems, get some new safety chains, and an adapter for the electrical. Yay, more money out the window. Then BACK into the store because the adapter doesn't fit. I bit more looking, and I find one that will fit, that's cheaper, so yay, some money back. The plug on the trailer had mud and stuff in the plug, so I cleaned that out with a pin, and plugged everything in. Check the lights... nothing, re-check the plugs, everything is hooked up right... still no lights... and it's getting close to sunset. F it... more back roads, and I manage to pull in the drive, just as it's getting fully dark. Park the trailer in the yard, and *ding* on comes the gas light on my truck... great, now I need to fill the gas tank, too. I'm tired, it's now dark, I never did get anything done that I had planned today (house cleaning, lawn mowing, packing). I haven't eaten since noon, it's 9pm, and I come in the house to find my sis left a message that my scrubs for the new job FINALLY made it to her house... almost 3 weeks since I'd ordered them, and over a week since they'd been shipped out by FedEx. *sigh* I was just a couple of miles from her place on my way home with the trailer!
At least the trailer is here... I can fuss with it over the next couple of days (gotta figure out how to put sides on it), I may ride the motorcycle to my doc appt in Holland tomorrow, so that will be a nice ride, and cheaper on gas. Hopefully I can get done early enough to go see my sis. I have a present for her that I found at the gourd show in South Bend the other weekend. :) Still haven't made much progress on the house... it's looking like one of the houses on that "Hoarders" show... YIKES! Gotta clear out some of the shtuff here. Mom thinks I need to move my yard sale up one week, to the weekend before Memorial Day... but I really need the time to get ready. I can delay my move to Lexington by a day or two with NO problem... but I GOTTA clear out some of the extra stuff that's cluttering up this place!
Story of my life, lately... good things mixed up with much frustration... just gotta keep moving forward!