1/3 done… With the weekend

I started with all post partums this morning so I was pleasantly surprised. Three, then another, two discharges then trade off for an admit induction.
Off only 40 min. late and no lunch (I don’t think anyone got a lunch today). I did some things a lot better and some thing’s I grimace to think how much better I could have done them, with a little less on my plate. This exercise in time management and the all out nonstop physical aspect of this job are a welcome challenge. I feel a lot less physically exhausted today my legs aren’t throbbing, they are getting accustomed to the pace. The pounding headache is most likely a lack of food issue the pizza we had for dinner should help that. The kids welcomed me home (up past their bed time to do so). I came in to find a birthday package on the table from my Mom-in-law which contained comfy clothes, sweatpants, two tank tops, and a sweatshirt. I quickly ran upstairs to change out of my uniform into my new comfy clothes. Chad headed out and picked up dinner, a celebratory GF pizza for payday.

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Thank you Chuck and Donna for the birthday gift and the kids love their little ” I love you” (as Hannah called it) gifts too!

Categories: Family Time, food, Fulltime, Fun, kids, wisconsin, working | Leave a comment

A Lazy day at the Park

Today we found the library here in Neenah, got a library card and checked out some books then we headed to a park Chad found online that had unique play equipment.

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We had a picnic lunch and the kids played for close to 5 hours.

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20140814-203612-74172034.jpg In the mean time Chad and I read, wrote letters, and did some drawing. The perfect day of rest before I head into three presumably busy shifts over the weekend.
As I was getting ready to write this post I noticed that an article I wrote for The Gypsy Nurse was linked to our website, it is about preparing your family for travel and I thought you may enjoy reading it so I am going to try to put in a link to the article. Preparing Your Family for Traveling

Categories: Family Time, Fun, kids | Leave a comment

Wisconsin Capitol Building in Madison

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We quickly worked to get ready for the day and on our way to Madison.

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The directions from Neenah were nearly a strait line, and as you can see, even once in Madison there were no turns necessary. Only drive straight, straight to the Capitol.

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There were two other Oregonian cars in the visitor parking structure. We appreciated this guy’s plates.

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Our now-tradition of the Capitol building family selfie.

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The building was fabulously beautiful, and seemed short after the Illinois Capitol building. I liked its all granite exterior. The inside had marble from several different states and six countries. A lot of which have since been quarried to extinction making them completely priceless.

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The park or Capitol grounds were filled with people at lunch time eating their lunches in small groups and office people out on walks for exercise. It made the Capitol feel more accessible and an actual part of the daily lives of Wisconsin’s people.

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The Capitol is nearly surrounded by water as there are lakes on either side with a fairly skinny land bridge between on which the Capitol has been built.

20140813-212141-76901214.jpg The resources of Wisconsin painting from before it was the dairy state.

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Our guide.

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court will be in session while we are here and the public may attend the cases.

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We got to sit in the senator’s seats and Caleb, by chance, sat in the seat of the head senator (I forgot the actual title for this position).

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I love the skylights.

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The senator’s parlor.

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Down on the floor of the House of Representatives.

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I’m ready to vote.
Here is a picture of Old Abe a Wisconsin Civil War mascot

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It is actually a Jr. The original one burned in the Capitol fire in 1904. But this one has been sitting on this perch since abound 1908 and is an actual taxidermied bald eagle that a farmer found dead in a field and brought in to the Capitol as a reminder of the real hero of The Civil War.

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There were beautiful views of the city from the fourth floor observation deck.

20140813-214453-78293969.jpg Also another surprise was a hidden away museum up in the Capitol not too far below the dome.

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We found a park by which we could enjoy the water and let the kids get out some energy.

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This little guy kept walking circles around my bracelet over and over again.

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We sat under a chestnut tree which made us think about Aunt Vicki and Uncle John.

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Myra and I went for a walk after dinner. The scenery is so different here than in New Mexico both beautiful. I enjoyed Myra’s quiet companionship and the time by myself to process the day, life, goals, my Jesus and the big picture.

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Out of our reading from “Pilgrims Progress” today. I know this is true and may I take it to heart and remember it when I am making little decisions all day, big decisions, when I am going through hard places, and when I am tempted to take the easy way out.

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-Goodnight-

Categories: Family Time, Fun, kids, Road Trip, Travel, wisconsin | Leave a comment

Sweet Success

4:15 doesn’t feel as early as I expected it to feel. And it sure is nice to be half way done with the shift before noon.
Today was my first shift off orientation, all on my own. I got to work early so I would have time to get prepared for my assignment. Something new again, two preterm labor patients on mag. I felt like I was keeping up until 2:00 pm when the triage pt I had been monitoring for four hours got admitted. With three busy preterm patients I was barely keeping afloat so when I had to stop and do a full admit on the triage the charting snowballed on me. I could barely stop long enough to chart what was currently being done so no back charting got done until I was relieved by the next shift. I didn’t sit down for more than 2-3 min. at a time besides lunch. And I didn’t get home until 7:45 pm but all in all I feel really good about how the day went. We can chalk today up as a success.

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Zoo, fun playground, and Lake Winnebago

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We got a tip about a free zoo in Oshkosh, so we checked it out today.

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Aren’t these guys so cute!

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The kids one by one seeing how far they can jump. Caleb…

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Hannah…

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Last and funniest Eve…

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This tree gives me flashbacks to my childhood, swinging on the branches of the big weeping willow tree in Jerry and Carol Jager’s yard.

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Reminiscent of the Gilbert House, was the playground adjacent to the zoo.

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Hannah is such a crack up, this picture was 100% her idea.

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The kids played while Chad and I sat at the shore of lake Winnebago and talked.

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It was beautiful and that lapping sound of the water is always so soothing. The surf however does not at all look appealing to swim or even wade in because it is pea soup green.

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There was a group of people at the park wearing green shirts that said Oregon. Chad started talking to them and discovered that they are from Salem and are here for a Pathfinder conference.

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What a nice relaxing (for the most part) day. We tried out a new Sandwich shop on the way home that had Udis hogie rolls for GF sandwiches. It was fabulous although within an hour I was having some major stomach symptoms so the jury is still out on whether those two things are at all related. Now, early as it is, we are all tucked into bed because work comes early in the morning. It will be the first day by myself and I will surely be repeating these words (or song as it may more likely be) all day, “Not by my might nor by my power but by the spirit of The Lord.”

Categories: Fun, kids, wisconsin | Leave a comment

Friendship walk in Menasha

Just a few miles from our house is a cute little park with a greenbelt of sorts called the friendship walk. We had fun checking it out. I think we walked 5 miles round trip.

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That’s my guy with a pull-up in his back pocket. He is such a good daddy.

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There was some stagnant water that was quite gross looking and Eve insisted it was all bird poop because of the smell, but we did enjoy the wild life swimming around in it.

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20140810-201344-72824769.jpgthe houses in down town Menasha….someday I want a house like the one in the movie “Up.”

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Here is a little turtle that Hannah found on our walk back.

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Our first muskrat sighting. We also saw a duck family with a lot of little babies, a squirrel hiding something yummy in the gravel and lots of dragonflies. It was a fun afternoon.

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Categories: Fun, kids, wisconsin | Leave a comment

Night shift curveball

My first night shift, yay! Maybe that will make me feel more in my element. I got to work in plenty of time to thoroughly examine my report sheet and discover that I had been given one postpartum mag patient and two GYN surgical patients. Just when I though I might have a night where I felt like I was in my element. Those new procedures and monkey wrenches were my monkeys and my circus. With yet again almost no down time we did manage to get in my glucometer testing, safety walk and a few on line tests as well as several other things I had not yet done. I’m glad they threw in the gyn patients while I was still in orientation at least that will give me some exposure. I’m on the fence on weather I should take them up on the extra day of orientation or just know that I am going to be a pest to the nurses around me for a while asking frequent questions. The latter is, I believe, pretty much unavoidable either way. I am going to have to make a more organized report sheet so that I can hit the floor running, and take less time to organize my brain. The night went by fast. There is no nurses station just small alcoves with one or two chairs spread around the unit. That, coupled with the other nurses being just as busy, means you don’t see the other nurses except for a few times a shift and there really isn’t any opportunity to get to know them, other than if you by chance took your lunch break at the same time and had time to chat as you ate. So it is easy to see what things are going to be hard or a challenge for me here, but there are also so many positives.
1. Epic experience (a charting system)
2. They do a lot of high risk and antepartum.
3. GYN surgical experience.
4. It is two hospitals in one with a children’s hospital containing a NICU as part of that.
5. The kids love it here and think it reminds them of Oregon. (Trade out the mountains for lakes everywhere, and it is more green here. I know many Oregonians would not think that is possible.)
6. We like the area.
7. We love the continued exposure to new cultures (including unit cultures) and ways to do things.
8. The kids are learning a lot about the geography of the United States.
9. I think Chad has made a new hobby of driving around and figuring out the town/area. I’m impressed that I have managed just this last shift to make it to work and back for the first time with out using the GPS, but he can already tell you how to find the mall, Barnes and Noble, knows the names of all the main roads, and what grocery stores carry GF bread. He is so amazing like that and he enjoys it. It is his activity to go out and get a break from his full time daddy job.
10. This assignment was hand picked for us and now we get to spend the next three months discovering why. You all know how much I love surprises.

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Since we have no living room furniture yet we are trying out the couch at the mall.

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The outdoor/active wear store at the mall has a whole section devoted to the Oregon Ducks.

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Here is their local college team the Badgers.

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But really it is all about Green Bay here and cheese heads.

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Caleb and Hannah found some warm beanies for winter.

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Now it’s time to relax.

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Lots of love from Wisconsin.

Categories: kids, Travel Nursing, wisconsin | Leave a comment

A day shifters nightmare come true

Maybe nightmare is too strong of a word for this mornings experience. I was in and out of consciousness this morning waiting for my alarm to go off. I was not wanting a repeat of the previous morning so I didn’t want to keep looking at the clock, the alarm would go off when it was time to get up until then I could snuggle down and enjoy my warm covers and soft pillow for just a little longer.
The came the, “Sarah, it’s after five!” In an alarming voice….what?! No! My alarm hasn’t gone off. Oh crap your right! Scrambling as quick as I could go to get in the shower and dressed. A 5:05 am wake up for a 5:30 am day shift isn’t a pretty picture and with it being my second day on this assignment (I hate to be late to anything and to be late to work is completely taboo whether it is your second day on the job or your 15th year. But at least if it’s your 15th year people are more apt to believe that your alarm didn’t go off.). I think it was a two min. Shower and I managed to brush both my teeth and hair. No time for breakfast but Chad had purchased a package of kind bars for me to take to work for on the run snacks, of which I grabbed three, my lunch bag, and water bottle as I ran for the door. I left the house at 5:15am and made it to the floor to exchange my car keys for narc keys and pick up a report sheet at 05:25. I was a bit discombobulated, but at work and on time. The shift, just as the one before, was fast paced with very little time for anything but patient care and charting. A quick lunch was squeezed in there but orientation, to taping report, the glucometer test, safety walk, and the list of online tests that needed to be completed for orientation were left completely untouched. The plus side is I was starting to get the hang of all the charting and that part of the day went well, with the nurse that I was orienting with having to do a lot less question answering and almost no charting or patient care, so I feel like that is a success. I’ve got one more day to get this all down. The kids ran to greet me when I got home, I was almost an hour late getting off work. We will have a better idea of the “normal” time to get off soon. Myra took me on a sunset walk after the kids were all tucked in with gorgeous views if the pink clouds and a reminder that I can do this, we are where we are supposed to be and it will all work out. One day at a time.

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Categories: Travel Nursing, wisconsin | Leave a comment

Theda Clark Birth Center

Wow, I’m not sure I slept a wink all night. I don’t think I was nervous, I just didn’t sleep. I checked the clock on my phone at least 5 times between midnight and 4:15am when the alarm went off. It actually didn’t feel all that early and I felt quite awake and quite ready for the day after a quick shower, banana and cup of tea. It took less time than I anticipated to get to the hospital, and less time than I anticipated to find the unit and be ready for report (05:03 for report at 05:30) it will take me a few days to get the timing all down so I don’t have to get up extra early but am getting to work in enough time that I don’t have to stress about getting there on time. I oriented with a fun energetic nurse and we had a very busy day. A little too busy to be conducive to learning the charting system well, but I think I got a good introduction and am hoping that I will feel pretty good about the flow of things by the end of the shift tomorrow. I was home a half hour late but a lot of ground was covered, and Chad had dinner ready when I pulled up with reports of a lot of math getting done today. They kids were all playing in the back yard with the neighbor kids and ran to greet me. After dinner they went back out. So far they like Wisconsin and think it reminds them of Oregon. We will see how they do with the cold weather as I hear that will start to hit by Halloween. I’m turning in early tonight and Eve and I are going to cuddle as we both really need some sleep.
Good night, thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Categories: Homeschool, Travel Nursing, wisconsin | Leave a comment

Gearing up for the work week and early mornings

I so slept in this morning.  Way way in.  I figured it may make up for the sleep I’m going to miss the next few mornings when the wake up call comes at 4:15 am.  I was awakened by kids bouncing on me and on the air mattress which in turn bounced me some more.  Then came a facetime call from Suzanne, what a lovely surprise that was.  We got to see Hadassah’s zebra hair, and Elijah’s amazingly blue eyes and kissable cheeks.  We talked for a good long time and the kids gave her a FaceTime tour of our apartment.  Around 11:30 (please forgive me for staying in bed so late) I climbed out of bed and made myself useful by getting the dishes done and doing some more cleaning and organizing around the house.  Chad came home from the store with a fold up card table and camp chairs, yay for having our dining room all set up.  We sat around our new table and enjoyed lunch together.  The kids cleaned their room and brought out their math books, as requested to start warming up for the school year again.  I feel like we may have to do more remedial work on math this year than last, as we have taken a longer break and it doesn’t seem to be either one of the big kids’ strong suit.  Math and more cleaning.  Everything is set out for the early morning shift.  My lunch bag is all packed and I got in a phone call to my mom.  A yummy dinner of tacos was prepared by Chad, and a quiet walk around the neighborhood with Myra ended the evening.  Chad and I discussed the next two weeks plan over a glass of ice tea and headed to bed.  I’m hoping the melatonin will kick in soon.  Good night you all.  Prayers for things to go smoothly at work in the morning would be much appreciated.
-Here’s to another great assignment with lots of things learned.

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Nemo movie kind of night. My pot from Valerie is just what the kitchen needed.

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And, sweet potatoes all prepared for lunches this week

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