the new job

well, my first week of the new job is done and i am currently starting my second. it's been....interesting. i moved from the main university of utah hospital to an orthopedic center about 2 miles away. we do mostly elective surgeries here, with some total knee/hip replacements as long as they are easy cases with minimal potential of complications. i work on the inpatient unit. on any given day i have about half the load of patients that i used to have on 6 North, and they are all extremely nice and easy to take care of. last week i probably sat down more than the whole year before hand. this might sound good, but it isn't really. i like to be going, to have things to do, to keep busy. and this place is just, well, slow. really slow. boring infact. however, i really like the people i work with, and i enjoy the days schedule immensely. i actuallyw ent to church two sundays in a row, which hasn't happened in a year. i spent two whole days ina row with eric this weekend. that was awesome! i am waking up at 6.30 am and getting to sleep at 9-10pm every night! i feel normal! i haven't been nauseous in over 2 weeks. i have energy. i don't think i am pregnant all the time. there are so many pluses over here. i am having a bit of trouble with the scheduling. it is very difficult to get my full 36 hrs a week here due to the constant flex of patients. some days we get pts some days all thepts we have go home. some days the surgeons simply don't operate and we don't get any admits at all. today, i only have 2 patients. and they cuold go home tomorrow. or the next day. so you see, we can't schedule our nurses very well b/c it is so changing allt he time. this week i won't be able to get 36 hrs in. but last week i got over 40. and i don't have to work anything around the holidays b/c we are closed. that is great on one hand, but on the other, we still need my income during those weeks. so i am going to have to really plan ahead and pick up shifts back at the main hospital, or just figure somethingout. i talked to a couple of management today and let them know hwo muchi have to have 36 hrs a week and they said don't worry, it'llw ork out. i don't realy know how. so it's been slightly stressful this weekt rying to figure out if i will really be able to afford working here. it'd be a great job for a wife whose husband makes bank and this would just be play money. however, i am the bread winner and thsu have been having breadwinner complexes this past week wanting to be sure we can be provided for. eric hates that i have to go through this, but it's only for a time. so, one week has gone by and i know i need t just give thsi job a little more time. hopefully things will work out one way or the other. and i can always try to go back to 6 north for acouple of days a month and get some extra money. some of this really slow down time is hard for me to swallow though. i haven't really done anything here for a couple of hours now. i don't even feel like a nurse b/c this place is so laid back. i feel like God brought me this job in a way though,a nd so i can wait to see what He might have in mind for it. there are so many positives about taking this job and i know that anything i might go to next back at the main hospital will put me back working nights again. i just don't think i can ever stomach that again. it was one of the hardest things about my first year here.

this past weekend was really good. eric andi met up with an arkanasa alum and her husband friday night for a mexican dinner. jordan greenwald gave us her emamil and we got in contact. it was like a double blind date. we didn't even know who we were supposed to meet at the restaurant. we've done that a couple of times here in salt lake b/c that's just he way you meet friends here. anyway, lauren and mark turned out to be just great. they are really active, christians, interesting, and a lot of funt o talk with. we sat and talked until 10:30 before we realized what time it was. i am rejoicing that God brought us some more friends.

i was also able to go climbing with two other girls on friday. it was one of the best climbing days i can remember. we laughed the entire time andi ended that day rejoicing that god had given me a couple of girls with whom to bond, climb, and shre life with for a time.

we are preparing for a climbing trip over the weekend. eric's fall break is thursday through sunday and we are headed to indian creek, utah. a climbing mecca just outside of moab. we are meeting sam higby and our good friend josh is coming from park city as well. it's goign to be just fabulous. not to mention that for the first time i'll be able to contribute leading in indian creek. we went 3 times last weekand every time sam had to lead everything. so i am very excited about climbing down there. it's one of the most beautiful places i can think of to be climbing.

well, that's a good update for the weekend and up coming week. i am anxiously awaiting to become accustomed to my new job, see that my hours get filled, and become comfortable here. we are comging back to arkansas for christmas. we will be in the little rock/batesville area decebmer 23-29th---anyone else going to be around that area??! i'd love to see anyone we can.