Merry Christmas Week everyone!
I have been in Mountain View for the past week (already?!), waiting to see where I needed to be and when. I needed to stay just in case I started orientation last week or the beginning of this week. I was offered another travel position at Stanford ( !!!! ) to work on their surgical ambulatory care unit and ambulatory transfusion and infusion center! I'm very excited for several reasons: 1. I love this area and still have so many things left to see/do. 2. I love the girls I met my first week at Stanford in October and we are having so much fun getting to see and do things together. 3. I love working at Stanford. 4. I love the area (did I already mention that?)! It worked out so well! I was taking a gamble by not accepting a poorly paying job in LA (have absolutely no desire to go there) Wednesday night, said I would "think about it," while I waited to hear back on the Stanford job. I got a call from Stanford Thursday, did a phone interview and was offered the job at the end of the interview. I was later told by my recruiter that the LA job was already taken since I didn't take it the night before! I was thrilled on so many levels! All of us have been extended through the spring (except Minnesota, who is working at Yale).
That's the latest! I start the 11th of January, maybe sooner if they can work out the logistics before then so I can get hours.
The Texas Tech (men's) basketball team plays Stanford this year . . . In Lubbock. : (
I hope everybody has a fun Christmas and you're able to have some good times with friends and loved ones!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
"So, where are you now?"
I've been getting questions about what's going on now and people send me questions wondering where I am, my address, etc. Well, more waiting and I'm homeless! I'm currently in Mountain View, California, staying with one of my friends that I met while working at Stanford, who is also a travel nurse. I'm just hanging out here while I wait for word on the next job, just in case I need to be somewhere this week or next for orientation. I will probably wait through Thursday and then make plans to get back home for Christmas if I don't hear anything. I should probably be more stressed than I am, or, maybe not. I am not worried as of yet and am enjoying the time off and the Lord has been very provident so far, so I don't feel the need to worry too much! I do have brief moments of "okay . . . I kinda need a job . . . " but, for the most part, I'm just enjoying getting to hang out with these girls, be in the beautiful bay, and go do fun things (which are FREE!), like hiking, driving the coast to go Christmas shopping (not free, but if you don't find anything, like myself, then it's free!). And, we're just catching up and laughing a lot. I don't have time to stress about not having a job! : )
I hope to know within the next couple of days. There are a few possibilities on the table, but, only word on one, and I will talk more with the liaison about that one tomorrow. We will see! I will be staying in California and have no plans to leave until the spring, maybe later. I'm in no hurry to leave.
This is what has been going on in the meantime:
I hope to know within the next couple of days. There are a few possibilities on the table, but, only word on one, and I will talk more with the liaison about that one tomorrow. We will see! I will be staying in California and have no plans to leave until the spring, maybe later. I'm in no hurry to leave.
Old Town in Sacramento--they have preserved Old West
Sacramento. Very neat!
The iconic gold vertical lift bridge
over the Sacramento River.
The jelly belly factory is in Fairfield, Ca, which is about halfway
between Sacramento and San Francisco!
It takes 7 days to make a jelly bean (you've always wondered . . . )!
Our jelly belly hats we had to wear!
Bubba Gump's on the water at Monterey!
Our hike in the East Bay at Fremont. We will be sore tomorrow!
We were even with the houses at the beginning of the hike!
I'll let you know when I get my assignment and where I'll be. Love to all!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
So long, Sac!
Wow . . . where does the time go? As soon as I get used to a place and begin to enjoy it, it's time to move on and start over! I was very reluctant to begin work in Sacramento because it wasn't "the Bay" and my friends were still in the Bay and I'm here. As it turns out, we've been able to get together a few times and have had a wonderful time (because we all miss each other, so we really make the best of it) each time we get together. So, getting together with them has made this assignment much better than I feared it might be. The people I work with have all been so much fun and so helpful.
Sacramento has been very hard in a different way, though. As you may have read in my previous posts, there is a very high population of homeless here and this hospital sees many. It has been a very difficult reality check and has reminded me of how broken the world is. I have wanted to scream because of the injustice (and not by the hospital, by any means, but, general, inherent injustices in the world). And, I have also felt and seen how little, in the big scheme of things, my effort and good intentions and benevolence really make a difference. I know what you may be thinking. We are always called to good works and they are the fruit of a changed heart in Christ. What I mean is we are absolutely hopeless for the world to really change, to really be made right, to really be healed forever and indefinitely, infinitely, and wholly without Christ. We are powerless in our best human form. I have had experiences where I have tried to comfort and console a confused or patient with psychological issues and my greatest of well-intentioned efforts failed. It didn't matter how much I loved, or cared, or tried . . . I, in my best nature, could not console or even communicate with some of them. The monsters in their heads kept them from receiving any kind of comfort, help, or consolation. The same goes for treating cancer much of the time. We use all of our human powers to make new medicines, develop new treatment regiments, to zap, cut, burn, oblate every cancer cell we can. And would you know, our best-intended treatments may be the end of cancer-eaten patient. We may pound on a chest, inject meds to jumpstart the heart, shock a person, and we are often powerless.
The lesson re-learned, reiterated here in Sacramento for me has been that the world is not what it should be and what we all know it should be. And I saw that my best of intentions and best of works and best of efforts, although necessary now and still beneficial, they are not the ultimate answer "saving the world." I would say that I have known this intellectually for years, but actually realizing it and seeing it, knowing I tried as hard as I could, did everything I could, and still fell short of comforting, consoling, helping, was a good lesson. It is a hard but essential lesson. I will say, here, I have never been more ready to see Jesus come back, reconcile the world and right all the wrong.
Sorry, folks! This is not where I intended this blog entry to go! It just happened as I reflected over Sacramento and my time here. I'm not sure where I will be going next. I have a few possibilities and will hopefully know within this week. I would love to go to the bay again and I would really love a 3 month assignment instead of a 1.5 month one!!! Saying goodbye is killing me!
If you have any suggestions or questions for blog entries, let me know. I'm afraid this is "all about me" . . . I want it to be a way to keep in touch, not my address to my captive audience! So, tell me if you have suggestions! : )
A couple of my friends and I went to San Fran for a cheesy Christmas Day in the City and did cheesy Christmas things. It was a ton of fun and here are some pics!
Sacramento has been very hard in a different way, though. As you may have read in my previous posts, there is a very high population of homeless here and this hospital sees many. It has been a very difficult reality check and has reminded me of how broken the world is. I have wanted to scream because of the injustice (and not by the hospital, by any means, but, general, inherent injustices in the world). And, I have also felt and seen how little, in the big scheme of things, my effort and good intentions and benevolence really make a difference. I know what you may be thinking. We are always called to good works and they are the fruit of a changed heart in Christ. What I mean is we are absolutely hopeless for the world to really change, to really be made right, to really be healed forever and indefinitely, infinitely, and wholly without Christ. We are powerless in our best human form. I have had experiences where I have tried to comfort and console a confused or patient with psychological issues and my greatest of well-intentioned efforts failed. It didn't matter how much I loved, or cared, or tried . . . I, in my best nature, could not console or even communicate with some of them. The monsters in their heads kept them from receiving any kind of comfort, help, or consolation. The same goes for treating cancer much of the time. We use all of our human powers to make new medicines, develop new treatment regiments, to zap, cut, burn, oblate every cancer cell we can. And would you know, our best-intended treatments may be the end of cancer-eaten patient. We may pound on a chest, inject meds to jumpstart the heart, shock a person, and we are often powerless.
The lesson re-learned, reiterated here in Sacramento for me has been that the world is not what it should be and what we all know it should be. And I saw that my best of intentions and best of works and best of efforts, although necessary now and still beneficial, they are not the ultimate answer "saving the world." I would say that I have known this intellectually for years, but actually realizing it and seeing it, knowing I tried as hard as I could, did everything I could, and still fell short of comforting, consoling, helping, was a good lesson. It is a hard but essential lesson. I will say, here, I have never been more ready to see Jesus come back, reconcile the world and right all the wrong.
Sorry, folks! This is not where I intended this blog entry to go! It just happened as I reflected over Sacramento and my time here. I'm not sure where I will be going next. I have a few possibilities and will hopefully know within this week. I would love to go to the bay again and I would really love a 3 month assignment instead of a 1.5 month one!!! Saying goodbye is killing me!
If you have any suggestions or questions for blog entries, let me know. I'm afraid this is "all about me" . . . I want it to be a way to keep in touch, not my address to my captive audience! So, tell me if you have suggestions! : )
A couple of my friends and I went to San Fran for a cheesy Christmas Day in the City and did cheesy Christmas things. It was a ton of fun and here are some pics!
Union Square
So, I'm a sucker for the over-commercialism.
The ice-skating rink! We even had cold weather
to make it feel authentically wintry! (and nobody
fell! Big deal!)
Last, but not least, a lovely dinner atop Macy's
at the Cheesecake Factory! Great end
to a great day!
Peace on Earth!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The glorious life of a "traveler" . . .
My friend, Angela, asked me to post pictures of where I live a while ago. These are my extravagant accommodations! They are "free" to me and I don't spend much time here. I am only here for another 2 weeks or so and I have done much better about keeping this place tidier!
I brought the quilt coverlet for when I have to provide
my bedding. Decided to use it in the hotel too!
: ) I do miss having a house to make more of a "home" and having a place to have people over. But, for the time being, this keeps me warm and dry. I look forward to a 3-month assignment so I can have a one bedroom apartment (some day)!
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