Busy Like a Beaver
Last week was my last week working day shift. I've graduated the first half of orientation. All that stands between me and being a "real RN" working all by myself is a few more weeks of being supervised on my designated shift. A huge part of me is thrilled. I had a million and one problems working day shift. I hated the sound of my alarm at 4:45am and punching in before the sun came up. I hated not being able to keep my eyes open past 9:30pm. I found the staff on day shift very difficult to work with, which the second shift staff has summarized as "most of them have been nurses for decades and are so stuck in their ways that no one will ever get along with them - the other half is so tired of being told they'll never be good enough that they rebel by drinking and partying, thus living up to the promises of the old-timers." I completely agree. So I'm excited to work during hours that my body is happy with and being able to enjoy the sunny afternoons here at home. It's fairly difficult to get any color on one's skin living under fluorescent lighting. I've already worked with the second shift crew twice and I'm completely in love. On warm days they go for walks during their dinner breaks. They turn up the piped in music at the nurses station no matter how sappy or "elevator-ish" it may be. They take the time to talk to their patients, give back rubs before bedtime, and catch up on all the work that day shift neglected while standing around talking about each other. Everyone is friends, everyone gets along, everyone takes time to get to know every other member of the team. After only eight hours with them I've already been invited to go country line dancing, out for lunch, to carpool with one of our aides, and learned more about the people I'll be working with than I did with day shift over three months. The one and only downside: I'm working the exact opposite hours of Dan. He'll be finishing up and putting away charts right about the time I'm getting report to start my day. By the time I'll leave at night he'll be in a deep sleep, and when he drives by my house in the mornings I'm still dreaming. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out ways to make this work, and have yet to find a single one. It shouldn't be such a big problem. We spent the first nine months of our relationship living an hour away from each other. Three months from now we'll be living together and can see each other in passing. After he finishes grad school and (crossed fingers) gets hired at TW Ponessa he'll be required to work second shift at least three days a week, leaving us with plenty of mornings together. For this month we'll still have weekends together, and starting in June I'll work every other weekend but have two weekdays off to spend evenings together. I shouldn't complain. We'll get through this, just like we've gotten through every other obstacle. I just can't help but feel guilty: all of the obstacles have been MY obstacles. I was the one who went away to school. I was the one who got sick. I was the one with a family that occupies a lot of free time. I'm the one with the new job. He's great about all of it, but I have to wonder if there isn't a little resentment buried underneath.
On the other hand, this past weekend was filled with so many accomplishments that I will not allow myself to become depressed under any circumstances. Dan picked up the suit he bought for the wedding and it fits perfectly. All he has left to do is stop being so picky and settle on sandals, a shirt, a tie, and a ring that he can be happy with. I'm starting to think it might not be possible. I picked up my dress over the weekend - it's currently hanging on a nail in the wall of our laundry room. I brought it home Saturday afternoon, hung it on the top of my closet door, and then fell asleep for two hours. Dan swears he didn't see it when he came in to wake me up, but he'd never confess if he had. I've paid the deposits on the locations for the ceremony and reception, the caterer, the photographer, the mayor to do the ceremony, and I picked out my ring. The guest list is done and as soon as we get the last two samples we ordered we'll pick an invitation and start resting our hands before the addressing begins. The only other major thing that hasn't been done is to book our room at the beach, but that can't be done until I confirm with my boss that I can definitely have two weekends off in a row. I have to be honest, getting all of that done, while also doing all the yard work at my dad's parents house, cleaning my room, and suffering from some sort of cold/flu/pain in the neck thing and still having time to go out to dinner and a movie Saturday night makes me pretty proud.
My next big task: mapping a way to get to the parking garage on Queen St. now that Duke is closed and Prince is in a constant state of gridlock from all of Duke's traffic.
On the other hand, this past weekend was filled with so many accomplishments that I will not allow myself to become depressed under any circumstances. Dan picked up the suit he bought for the wedding and it fits perfectly. All he has left to do is stop being so picky and settle on sandals, a shirt, a tie, and a ring that he can be happy with. I'm starting to think it might not be possible. I picked up my dress over the weekend - it's currently hanging on a nail in the wall of our laundry room. I brought it home Saturday afternoon, hung it on the top of my closet door, and then fell asleep for two hours. Dan swears he didn't see it when he came in to wake me up, but he'd never confess if he had. I've paid the deposits on the locations for the ceremony and reception, the caterer, the photographer, the mayor to do the ceremony, and I picked out my ring. The guest list is done and as soon as we get the last two samples we ordered we'll pick an invitation and start resting our hands before the addressing begins. The only other major thing that hasn't been done is to book our room at the beach, but that can't be done until I confirm with my boss that I can definitely have two weekends off in a row. I have to be honest, getting all of that done, while also doing all the yard work at my dad's parents house, cleaning my room, and suffering from some sort of cold/flu/pain in the neck thing and still having time to go out to dinner and a movie Saturday night makes me pretty proud.
My next big task: mapping a way to get to the parking garage on Queen St. now that Duke is closed and Prince is in a constant state of gridlock from all of Duke's traffic.