Accomplished

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I got a new job.  It's a part-time gig working with a new urgent care facility that's opening up.  I originally thought I'd be doing triage, which consists of getting the patient's history, taking their vitals, and placing them in their rooms.  Well, this place does it a bit differently, in that they like their folks to be cross-trained, so I will also be doing things like blood draws, IV's, medication administration, splints, suture and staple removal, and wound packing.  So, in essence, I quit nursing school to become a nurse.  Oh, yeah, I didn't mention that either.  Well, I wasn't super proud of that fact, especially considering I left a 10-year career in retirement plan administration to go to Nursing school, but it all worked out.  I've spent the last few months gearing myself toward a career in Nuclear Medicine (hence the cardiac scan you see on my background), and I'm happy to say that I was accepted and will begin that program in May and finish next August, so I'm still finishing at the same time as I would have, had I done the Nursing thing.  After doing my observations with 2 Nuc Med departments, I am 100% sure that I will be much happier in that field, and my decision to switch was spot on.

So, anyway, I'm in training for the job, and today was the last day before we go to the clinics and do on the job training.  I was the only one who had never done a blood draw, IV, etc., and one of my awesome new co-workers let me do a blood draw on her.  I was super nervous, but I did it.  And I got the vein on the first try.  I didn't even have to do an orange or a dummy arm or anything.  I got it right in there.  And all of the sudden, I had that feeling of accomplishment that's been missing the past couple of years.  I love staying at home with my children, but I've missed having something that I'm good at and enjoy that's just mine.  I've also been too exhausted to fuss at anyone the past 2 days, which was an unexpected bonus.

It Takes A Village

It's so awesome to have neighbors.  After lamenting about having the kids home for a week and preparing myself for fussing, fighting, and messes, I received a text from Nikki asking if we wanted to join her and her son at the park.  So, that's what we did today.  We were out of the house for several hours, and by the time we got back, everyone was exhausted.  Both girls have been asleep in my bed for over an hour.  Tomorrow, we're heading to the zoo, and Wednesday, we're going to a bounce house.  Thursday is my orientation, and Friday I have class, so Wesley will be here.  It looks like I'll survive the week, after all.

Someone Will Probably Die This Week

As if Winter Break and Spring Break were not enough, this week is Mid-Winter Break for the kids.  This means I'm at home with the 3 rugrats all week.  One thing I've realized throughout my whole SAHM experience is that distance truly does make the heart grow fonder.  This is the reason I'm back in school aggressively pursuing my new career in Nuclear Medicine- so I can once again become a working mom and actually miss my children while I'm at work.  Until then, I'm playing the role of domestic goddess, which mostly involves serving as the children's tutor, referee, entertainer, and all around slave.  This is why I relish the 1 day a week I get in which all 3 are in school, and I get to recharge.  Sadly, I'm not getting that day this week, thanks to the School District's decision that the kids need yet another break from school.  That's ok, though, because I plan to dope the kids up on Red Bull and Coffee next Monday morning, so I'll have my revenge.

I am also going back to work part-time as of this Thursday.  My schedule will be mostly weekends, which will allow me to still do mom stuff during the week, but I will miss out on a lot.  I'm not looking forward to that aspect of working again, but a part of me can't wait to again have an identity aside from being someone's mom.  And like my husband has been reminding me, it's only temporary until I get out of school.

Romance Is Dead, or Maybe Just in a Coma For Now

When you've been married for over 11 years and have 3 kids, Valentine's Day is just another day.  I used to not understand the people that said it was a "Hallmark" holiday and thought they were just bitter and lonely. And while that may be the case for some people, I now realize that most of them are like us- far too busy with kids, jobs, school, and life to make plans that entail eating dinner in an insanely crowded, expensive restaurant, paying a babysitter an exorbitant amount, and seeing some God-awful romantic comedy starring America's Sweetheart opposite some young hottie in a preposterous plot that creates unrealistic standards that your relationship can never meet.

As an old married, you spend the day making sure your kids are taken care of.  You are their Valentine, and you make sure they feel special and loved, and in return, they give you some awesome homemade craft or card they made in school.  I know one day Wesley and I will have our Valentine's Day back, but for now, I prefer to celebrate it surrounded by my kids...and the candy they got from their classmates at school.

A Walk in the Park

Because we are having a ridiculously mild winter (if you can even call it that), we took advantage of the weather this past weekend and took the kids to the River Walk.  My mom got me a new camera for Christmas, so a lot of these shots are me playing around with the settings.

*Sidenote- I don't know why I wasn't using Blogger all along, because Jesus Christ, is it user friendly!!!

We Moved!

No, not our house (I wish!).  My website.  I've been using webnode for over 2 years, and over that time, it has become less and less user friendly, which I'm pretty sure is the opposite of the direction you want to go as a technology-based company.  I've been thinking about it for a while, but I'm not techno-geeky enough to figure out how to move my site over here, so for now, I'm starting fresh.  For some background info on my awesome kids, check out my old blog at http://www.mykidsarebetterthanyours.com/blog/ until I can figure out how to get it over here.