Wheelin' and Dealin': Hello World!

Ah geez, it's been forever since I posted, and while sometimes I think it's because I haven't been doing much, other times I think I've done a lot and I should write about that! LOL. Anyway, I've now been in the new job 90 days (woo hoo - I'm eligible to use PTO!) and I think I've settled nicely. I'm not doing too much clinical work, like seeing patients and writing scripts, but you know what? I'm ok with that. I was inspired to go to CNS school by our CNS, who was an educator, and the prescriptive piece just kinda came with. Definitely makes me more marketable, but I like where I am and I like what I'm doing. I'm sure some of my school friends think I'm crazy for it, but oh well! I'm developing protocols, revising policy, and taking suggestions for new educational opportunities for my nurses. It's been really great so far and I really do like it. Today I had my monthly meeting with my boss and was talking about some of the things that are going on personally (I'll get to that in a minute), and she said, "well, have you thought about working 4 10-hour days and just having 3 day weekends?" um, hello??? Of course I've been thinking about that, but I never thought it would fly!! It has been surprisingly hard to go from working 3 12-hour shifts to 5 8-hour days. Yes, it has been really easy to not have to work 12 hours anymore, I'm not completely exhausted when I get home, and have been able to start exercising again. But, the 5 day work week bit is intense. I know I sound like a weeny, but when you're used to grocery shopping at 10am on a Wednesday, it's hard to think about going when "all the other people" are there. I kind of expected working 5 days a week to be different, but I'm still surprised at how different it is. So for the past couple of weeks I've been thinking about how to approach my boss and ask if I could work 4 days a week. And today she's the one that suggests it!! Awesome! So, I have some vacation coming up next week, and beginning in August, I'll be down to 4 days a week!

So, stuff that's been going on personally. We still haven't sold the house. The end of this month will end our 3 month contract with our realtor. We've had some lookers, but absolutely NO bites. Not even a rediculously low offer! We've lowered the price and had an open house yesterday, so hopefully we'll have some more action soon. Even if someone offered $10,000 less than our asking price, we'd at least have a jumping off point for negotiations. Oh well. So now, we're considering **the dreaded** renting. We'll be trying to manage a property from 3 hours up the road, with who knows what kind of people living in it, and what we could charge for rent would probably just cover the mortgage, so it's not like we'd be making any money. Frustrating.

Marc still hasn't found a job. You know, they say that you should look a month for every $10,000 you plan on making. Well, then he still has another month or two. But, just like the house, no bites at all. Not even a call for a preliminary screen before an interview. Double frustrating. So, he's still in Austin, working in a job he hates, and maintaining a house for sale all by himself. I worry a lot about his psyche. I know he is discouraged, so I try to stay positive and encourage him as much as I can. Things will turn around. On a positive note, the time apart has actually been great for us as partners - our communication has improved a ton! But, it is still hard to live apart from the one you love, and every Sunday evening when one of us is leaving gets harder and harder emotionally. I'm proud of both of us for being so positive and making this work for so long now - and I know that it will come to an end and he will be here with me soon.

Enough with the heaviness. Here's what we've been up to this summer! Our friends John and Juanita got married the end of May, and their wedding was beautiful and a total blast! In June I went to the lake with Allison, her parents, and my parents. Marc and I took in a Rangers game on my birthday, and the weekend after I went to New Orleans for Girls Weekend with my Austin buddies. My sister came to stay with me July 4th weekend, and her family and a few of my cousins, along with my bro and sis-in-law met us in Arlington and we spent a day at Six Flags! Here are a few pictures:

John and Juanita