Well, I can't sleep...so I figured I'd make the best of my sleeplessness and blog a bit. Got a lot on my mind, guys. I'll try not to get too philosophical on ya, but remember - I'm tired. :P
Have you ever felt like you are trying so hard to do the "right thing" that you find yourself beginning to lose sight of what that "right thing" really is in the first place? Or, have you ever wanted so badly for something to work (no, not like winning the Powerball) that failure simply isn't an option...but then at the same time, success seems so far in the future you can barely make out that tiny little night light at the end of the tunnel? Most people already know I'm not happy with how old I turned this year, and I feel like I'm running out of time. I haven't even come close to accomplishing the things I wanted to in my life, and at this rate, I never will. And quite frankly, that upsets me. This is not what I signed up for. This is not what I pictured my life to be. Don't get me wrong - there are so many things I wouldn't change for the world - especially my two babies. But there are a lot of things I'd do different. Maybe I'm some sort of anomaly...they always say you should life a life with no regrets. Well geez - if you ask me, those people must either have the owner's manual to life (which I definitely do not), or they are extremely lucky, or very wealthy. Either that or I'm just not as good as I should be at making the best of what I have. I'm trying though. It's an ongoing process. ;)
Maybe I'm just homesick. Maybe burned out. I'm still optimistic, though. One step at a time. The lady teaching my training class at work this week is a doula. I have wanted to get into that ever since I was pregnant with Roman and met a lady who worked as one. You might call it a baby fever that just never goes away, but I have a passion for babies. The idea of being there and assisting mothers in bringing them into the world just makes me smile. If I ever get my nursing degree finished, I'd like to go into pre-, neo-, or post-natal care. Maybe even become a midwife, so I can actually do the deliveries myself. That would be so awesome. I'm sure Jason would appreciate the outlet, too, so I'd quit talking about how I've always wanted more than two kids! ;)
Yep. Feels good to get a few dreams and aspirations down on 'paper'. Hopefully someday in the future I will be able to look back at this blog entry and say, "I did it!" That's all for tonight. I think I'll try that sleep thing again now. Night, guys. Love ya~
P.S. information about what a doula is, etc: http://www.dona.org/mothers/index.php
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
First week down...
Well, although it technically wasn't a full week, I made it through the first week at my new job! So far so good. Although the whole medical part is very familiar to me, working in a small family practice clinic is all new. At Mayo we would work with 20 doctors or more on any given day. Here, the whole office is based on two doctors and one nurse practitioner...and their patients, of course. There are so many differences between the two places I could go on and on for hours, but the one that gets me the most - and that I'm really loving - is the fact that in a family medicine practice, you see all kinds of patients, with all kinds of problems. Whereas in GI it was typically the same group of issues for each patient (which wasn't a bad thing, because I think our expertise was therefore greater), in just a few days here I've experienced everything from ear wax removal to diabetes checks, and 'girl exams' to blood draws. It keeps things interesting, and variety is the spice of life, right? Best part so far? They let you wear jeans to work on Fridays (with a St John t-shirt) if you donate $2, which they give to whatever charity. Jeans!? Sign me up! :D
We went to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium today with the kids. Roman was on cloud nine - those of you who know him well know he is completely IN LOVE with airplanes and anything to to with them. He and Whit had a blast. They got to 'launch' a NASA space shuttle, sit in the cockpit of an airplane (with all the switches, levers, joysticks, foot pedals and everything!), see and touch an F-14 Tomcat (yep, the kind from Top Gun), fly a model plane in a wind tunnel, and even ride in a moon-walk simulator. It was pretty cool. Jason enjoyed it just as much as Rome, and spent a lot of time reading the blurbs next to the planes (Mister History Channel, lol). After exploring the hangar, we went next door to a planetarium show. I though it was pretty sweet, and the kids seemed intrigued at first, ...but Rome couldn't hold still and Whitney fell asleep, lol. Maybe better luck with that part next time. :)
It's still hotter than blazes down here. It's been over 100 for almost two weeks straight, and they are predicting another 10 days or so at least till we see any rain. One lady at work said this is the longest 'hot-streak' they've had here in July in 20 years. Lucky us. Lol. Although the ant problem we had in the beginning when we got here is under control, we are still having more spider encounters than I'd prefer. We're not talking daddy long legs or little bitty ones, guys. These spiders are the freakin size of golf balls. It's crazy. And SO disgusting. We have replaced the weather stripping on a couple of exterior doors since we moved in, but it doesn't seem to be helping much. Jason says we will have to replace the sweeps under the front and garage doors next. I vote for an exterminator. ;) Ohh, the first paycheck is spent already and it's not even in our hands yet! Haha, se la vi I guess.
Well, the next two weeks at work are going to be in Tulsa at their training facility. Yay. Thank goodness I will have the other new girl there with me. We will be learning all about their computer system/programs and also the things like drawing blood and giving injections (or so I'm told). I'm excited for the hands on part, and hope to stay awake for the computer part! Hopefully we will be able to get computer access so we can sign up for our benefits and stuff, since we haven't been able to do that so far. It will be nice to have actual dental and vision insurance again, too...something we didn't really have at Mayo.
Well, I'm off to do some kid-wrangling. They are very intrigued by mommy's new blog. Whitney has already asked me, "Mommy, why are you typing so much?" :) Love you all - keep in touch!
We went to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium today with the kids. Roman was on cloud nine - those of you who know him well know he is completely IN LOVE with airplanes and anything to to with them. He and Whit had a blast. They got to 'launch' a NASA space shuttle, sit in the cockpit of an airplane (with all the switches, levers, joysticks, foot pedals and everything!), see and touch an F-14 Tomcat (yep, the kind from Top Gun), fly a model plane in a wind tunnel, and even ride in a moon-walk simulator. It was pretty cool. Jason enjoyed it just as much as Rome, and spent a lot of time reading the blurbs next to the planes (Mister History Channel, lol). After exploring the hangar, we went next door to a planetarium show. I though it was pretty sweet, and the kids seemed intrigued at first, ...but Rome couldn't hold still and Whitney fell asleep, lol. Maybe better luck with that part next time. :)
It's still hotter than blazes down here. It's been over 100 for almost two weeks straight, and they are predicting another 10 days or so at least till we see any rain. One lady at work said this is the longest 'hot-streak' they've had here in July in 20 years. Lucky us. Lol. Although the ant problem we had in the beginning when we got here is under control, we are still having more spider encounters than I'd prefer. We're not talking daddy long legs or little bitty ones, guys. These spiders are the freakin size of golf balls. It's crazy. And SO disgusting. We have replaced the weather stripping on a couple of exterior doors since we moved in, but it doesn't seem to be helping much. Jason says we will have to replace the sweeps under the front and garage doors next. I vote for an exterminator. ;) Ohh, the first paycheck is spent already and it's not even in our hands yet! Haha, se la vi I guess.
Well, the next two weeks at work are going to be in Tulsa at their training facility. Yay. Thank goodness I will have the other new girl there with me. We will be learning all about their computer system/programs and also the things like drawing blood and giving injections (or so I'm told). I'm excited for the hands on part, and hope to stay awake for the computer part! Hopefully we will be able to get computer access so we can sign up for our benefits and stuff, since we haven't been able to do that so far. It will be nice to have actual dental and vision insurance again, too...something we didn't really have at Mayo.
Well, I'm off to do some kid-wrangling. They are very intrigued by mommy's new blog. Whitney has already asked me, "Mommy, why are you typing so much?" :) Love you all - keep in touch!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Gotta Start Somewhere
So, I've been talking about starting this blog for a while now...pretty much since I packed up our life and moved here to Oklahoma in the end of May. After several weeks of unpacking, settling, job-searching, and visiting with family, I think it's safe to say our life is coming to a sort of 'normal' now. The thing about the 'normal' here, though, is that it's not. It's not Rochester. It's not Minnesota. It's not Mayo Clinic. It's not happy hour with my favorite people from work, and it's not a relaxing night spent with my close friends crafting while the kids play. I'd be telling a big fat lie if I said I didn't miss Minnesota. I hope that everyone there is doing well and are happy and healthy and enjoying life, and I look forward to seeing you all again - hopefully sooner than later. :)
Today, as some of you may know, was my first day at my new job. It went well - better than I expected, which I think is pretty good when you're talking about new jobs. I was so pumped to find out that I'm starting out at the same time as another girl, too. It's always nice to have someone else fumbling along beside you when you're the "new kid" in town, learning things you know nothing about. (Did I mention I will be doing things like EKG's and injections at this job!?) To make things better, this girl is very nice. Everyone seems nice so far, and my boss is great. Like I said before, though...it's not Mayo. And these coworkers will never be my 'family' from GI. So, I'm working at a place called OMNI, which is a branch of a hospital in Tulsa called St. John (nope, no 's' on the end...weird I think). I like that St. John was started by a group of nuns, too...it reminded me of St. Marys. :) The branch is in Owasso, which is the suburb of Tulsa that we live in, so that's awesome. To have to drive to the actual St. John main campus in downtown Tulsa would be no fun. Tulsa is wayy bigger than Rochester - glad I don't have to commute. It only takes me about 10 minutes to get to work here. Anyway, my title is Patient Care Assistant, and it's basically like my Clinical Assistant job at Mayo, but I get paid less and have more responsibility. How nice. It's a Medical Assistant position, and I lucked out in getting it, because I don't have a MA certificate. They let me take a test to 'test-out', and thanks to all my wonderful training and experience at Mayo, I passed. Yay! I'll keep you posted on how all that goes.
I don't want this post to get so long that I scare everyone away from reading my blog, so I'll just update you a little on life in Oklahoma and sign off. First and foremost: IT'S HOT. It's been 100 degrees and above almost every single day since we've been here! At first it was kinda cool, ya know, still a new experience and all that, but oh man. That novelty wore off quickly! I'm just hoping for a nice mild winter to make it all worthwhile... Sounds like you guys are getting a nice dose of hot weather up there lately, too! Thank GOD for air conditioning, right?!? :D
About a week after we arrived in OK, the kids went to TX and spent almost a month with my parents while Jason and I settled in, and they loved it. It was nice for me to be able to set up interviews and stuff and not have to worry about what to do with the kids. We all went down there and spent a week visiting over the 4th of July too, which was so nice. I am so happy to be closer to my family! Whitney is excited to start school, and Roman is going full-speed ahead as usual. We are in the market for daycare for him again (ugh), so that's on the top of my to-do list these days.
Jason is going to school at Tulsa Tech full time for their Airframe and Powerplant program. It's basically aircraft mechanics/maintenance. He loves it, is getting GREAT grades so far, and has made many new friends in class. Right now they are on a break until August 9th, and he's antsy having to sit home every day...especially now that I'm at work and he's home with the kids. It' nice that we have a few weeks to find daycare, though, while his school is on break.
Well, that it in a nutshell! Now that everyone is up to speed, I can post some less-serious, more interesting stuff! I love you all and miss every one of you! Feel free to sign up and follow my blog! ;) Take care~
Tori
P.S. I added a few pics from our tornado experience in Joplin, MO on our way down here. It was the most horrifying experience I've ever had in my life, and I honestly thought we were goners. The first one shows a few (of the many many many) semi trucks that were tossed and thrown like toys. The other is just a shot of the chunk of house (?) that was jammed into the back door of the U-Haul. I wish I had taken pics of the gauges and dents and debris on the sides, too!
Today, as some of you may know, was my first day at my new job. It went well - better than I expected, which I think is pretty good when you're talking about new jobs. I was so pumped to find out that I'm starting out at the same time as another girl, too. It's always nice to have someone else fumbling along beside you when you're the "new kid" in town, learning things you know nothing about. (Did I mention I will be doing things like EKG's and injections at this job!?) To make things better, this girl is very nice. Everyone seems nice so far, and my boss is great. Like I said before, though...it's not Mayo. And these coworkers will never be my 'family' from GI. So, I'm working at a place called OMNI, which is a branch of a hospital in Tulsa called St. John (nope, no 's' on the end...weird I think). I like that St. John was started by a group of nuns, too...it reminded me of St. Marys. :) The branch is in Owasso, which is the suburb of Tulsa that we live in, so that's awesome. To have to drive to the actual St. John main campus in downtown Tulsa would be no fun. Tulsa is wayy bigger than Rochester - glad I don't have to commute. It only takes me about 10 minutes to get to work here. Anyway, my title is Patient Care Assistant, and it's basically like my Clinical Assistant job at Mayo, but I get paid less and have more responsibility. How nice. It's a Medical Assistant position, and I lucked out in getting it, because I don't have a MA certificate. They let me take a test to 'test-out', and thanks to all my wonderful training and experience at Mayo, I passed. Yay! I'll keep you posted on how all that goes.
I don't want this post to get so long that I scare everyone away from reading my blog, so I'll just update you a little on life in Oklahoma and sign off. First and foremost: IT'S HOT. It's been 100 degrees and above almost every single day since we've been here! At first it was kinda cool, ya know, still a new experience and all that, but oh man. That novelty wore off quickly! I'm just hoping for a nice mild winter to make it all worthwhile... Sounds like you guys are getting a nice dose of hot weather up there lately, too! Thank GOD for air conditioning, right?!? :D
About a week after we arrived in OK, the kids went to TX and spent almost a month with my parents while Jason and I settled in, and they loved it. It was nice for me to be able to set up interviews and stuff and not have to worry about what to do with the kids. We all went down there and spent a week visiting over the 4th of July too, which was so nice. I am so happy to be closer to my family! Whitney is excited to start school, and Roman is going full-speed ahead as usual. We are in the market for daycare for him again (ugh), so that's on the top of my to-do list these days.
Jason is going to school at Tulsa Tech full time for their Airframe and Powerplant program. It's basically aircraft mechanics/maintenance. He loves it, is getting GREAT grades so far, and has made many new friends in class. Right now they are on a break until August 9th, and he's antsy having to sit home every day...especially now that I'm at work and he's home with the kids. It' nice that we have a few weeks to find daycare, though, while his school is on break.
Well, that it in a nutshell! Now that everyone is up to speed, I can post some less-serious, more interesting stuff! I love you all and miss every one of you! Feel free to sign up and follow my blog! ;) Take care~
Tori
P.S. I added a few pics from our tornado experience in Joplin, MO on our way down here. It was the most horrifying experience I've ever had in my life, and I honestly thought we were goners. The first one shows a few (of the many many many) semi trucks that were tossed and thrown like toys. The other is just a shot of the chunk of house (?) that was jammed into the back door of the U-Haul. I wish I had taken pics of the gauges and dents and debris on the sides, too!
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