Secrets

I know, "secrets don't make friends," but I've been keeping them for good reason lately.

August 16 was my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. My siblings and I decided we would have some portraits done to give them as a gift. We had the pictures taken in July and gave the winner to Mom and Dad last weekend at the coast. This is why I couldn't say anything - what if Mom read my blog?? You can check out Troy's blog for a peak at our pics. The picture in between the ones of all girls and all boys is the one we picked out for Mom and Dad.

Also, I went on an interview on Friday. Some of my friends were aware of this, but most of the family was not. I broadened by search for jobs to the Dallas/Ft. Worth and San Antonio markets after the Austin market has not been very fruitful. I heard back quickly from the Baylor health system in Dallas, so I started quizzing my family on how they would feel if Marc and I had to move. My parents were actually very supportive and pretty much said to go where the jobs (and the money) are. My sister was not too happy. She likes having me in town I suppose :). Anyway, I didn't want a ton of pressure from the family, as we all know our families can do, so I decided not to tell them. My brother and sister in law knew because they live in Dallas and I needed a place to stay.

I interviewed with Baylor Medical Center in Irving. It is a hospital-wide Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) position. I'd be working with the Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons to make sure they are in compliance with their regulatory standards (Core Measures, for those of you in the field), and seeing patients for them if they are not in the hospital and a patient needs something. I'd also be an educator for just about all of the units in the hospital, with the exception of Maternity (because they are their own world) and Oncology (because they already have a CNS). The hospital is trying to achieve Magnet Status, so they need someone to be very involved with that, as well as review and revise policy and order sets. Lots of responsibility!!! It's kind of overwhelming, but my good friend Sarah reminded me that they wouldn't have brought me in to interview if they didn't think I could handle the job.

So, sorry to my family for keeping you in the dark, but I figured it would be easier!!

We will see where the next couple of weeks takes us. Hopefully I'll hear something soon from Baylor, so Marc and I are doing a lot of talking about what to do if I get an offer and we have to move! Lots of decisions will be made on whether or not we want to move to a new and unfamiliar place, what to do with our house, where in the DFW area to live, and not to mention there are no HEBs in Dallas, so a new job for Marc as well!!

Times are changing, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Hopefully these difficult decisions can be made wisely!