Finally!

Wednesday night B came home and told me he had heard from his boss at his former job. She wanted him to call her. In a nutshell, they reorganized the department (which spreads across 4 local hospitals/clinics), fired everyone, and made everyone re-apply. After round 1 they had an open position running the clinic at a hospital only a few miles from us. Although some other internal people were applying for the position, she specifically recruited B. The catch - the job closed Thursday (the next day) so he had to apply right away. He decided to do it.

I decided to take a bath shortly after that call. While I was reading a book and relaxing, B was messing around on the internet and I heard him let out a hearty laugh. I cried. It wasn't until that moment that I realized it had been weeks since I'd heard him laugh. S.A.D., being miserable at your job, and family stressors are no joke. Just the mere thought of being out of his job lifted his spirits and allowed him to laugh.

Thursday morning the boss set up a lunch interview with B - and she came to him! Thursday at 5pm she left him a message to call her, and at 5:15 he called her back and was offered the position. He asked for the evening to talk it over with me, even though it was a no-brainer. It's a rare hospital nursing job (9-5:30, days only, and no weekends), and it's back working with patients. Needless to say he accepted early Friday morning. It's now been 3 days and I feel like the fog has been lifted.

I took Friday off to help move my grandma. While it was sad, the overwhelming stench of urine and hearing my mom whisper "she wet the bed again last night" made me realize we were getting her out of a bad situation. My uncle and cousin came to help, and as a team we helped move her to her new place. She may only have a small bedroom and en suite bath to herself, but the house is beautiful. It smelled lovely, the sun was shining, and her new caregivers are so nice. Day 1 they were so patient with her and they were already working with her on some physical therapy for her back. We're all hoping this is a better place for her.

Today (Monday), I had a meeting with my supervisor to go over the results of my 360 review. Although I wasn't worried, it's always nervewracking. We're rated on 16 items on a 1-5 scale, plus there is a section for comments. I suggest 2 people to review me, my supervisor picks 2, and she rates me too. Overall, I got a 4.5 out of 5, which is virtually unheard of (high). She said she was really proud of me, and then proceeded to tell me that one reviewer had actually suggested I be a member of our Leadership Development Team, and yet another suggested I be promoted!! She thought this was a good idea, but she wanted to talk to me about what the promotion would mean. I was SO flattered that one of my reviewers would say I deserve a promotion, and even more flattered that my supervisor agreed. I'm talking with a few people that have made the transition from my current role to the potential new one to see if I'm interested in it, and I'm supposed to get back to her.

So to sum up my past week:
Wednesday: B gets possible job opportunity
Thursday: B gets interviewed and gets job
Friday: B accepts job and we move my grandma into a lovely new place
Monday: High praise from my boss and the offer of a promotion

YES! Insert heavy sigh of relief (and jumping up and down with excitement) here! Finally things are moving in the right direction, and I couldn't be happier.

I'd like a break

Yeesh, someday soon I hope to have something happy to write about! In the meantime, this is certainly a low time in my life. What was supposed to be a happy event on Saturday (my cousin's wedding) quickly turned scary. In the middle of her reception, there is a lot of activity going on at the table my parents are sitting at. My mom is in a panic, and my dad is extremely pale. His eyes are closed and my mom tells me he's very dizzy, having trouble seeing, and he can't stand up.

My mom is about to lose it, and she tells me to call 911 (which my uncle has already done). Before I know it, a zillion EMTs, paramedics, and hotel staff are surrounding my dad. I've never been more grateful to have a husband for a nurse. He was calm, did some basic assessments, and made me feel much better about everything.

After a trip to the ER and a CT scan, they decided it was vertigo and "near fainting" and they sent him home. A much better diagnosis then the stroke they were worried about, but still very stressful.

Sunday was spent packing up my grandma. About a year ago my mom and uncles moved her from her huge house into assisted living. A few months ago she was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's Disease, and in the last month she has deteriorated rapidly. She's blind from macular degeneration (sp?), and she's no longer able to find the bathroom on her own. She is easily confused, and her care facility has been doing a very poor job of caring for her. She pays a whopping $5,500 a month to basically be neglected, so my mom found a great new place for her. The new home is run by a mother/daughter pair, and they have 3 people maximum. Right now there is only 1 other person.

Thankfully she is happy to be moving, but packing her up is so sad. She is confused about a lot of things, and she can no longer do the things she loves (sewing and quilting) because her brain can no longer process how to sew. She wouldn't even answer the phone while we were there because she "couldn't find it" even though it was right next to her.

On top of those things, I'm dealing with a potential job offer in Denver (to move or not to move?), a husband in the throws of S.A.D. and a job that makes him miserable, and my own job stress. I'm trying to be supportive of my mom who is dealing with both my dad and her mom, but I'm trying to maintain my own sanity in the process. It remains to be seen if I'll be successful! I'm looking forward to 3 week of 4-day workweeks. This Friday will be spent moving my grandma, but the next two Fridays will hopefully be relaxing and spent with a good book.

Work traveling

As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane bound for Denver, then on home to Portland. Of course, the seat in front of me is reclined so far that I can’t even open my laptop fully, but I’m lucky to have one of 3 open seats next to me. I think the 6’4” guy in the aisle seat is even more grateful for the open seat so he can sprawl a bit more. I just finished watching Eat, Pray, Love, which (minus the 30 minutes I fell asleep during), was just as bad as I had heard it was.

I’ve been in DC for work for the past week. I don’t travel for work frequently – just enough for people to think it’s a huge perk. Let’s face it though, I really don’t enjoy traveling for work. I don’t like being alone, in a city I don’t know anything about. I don’t like jet lag, coupled with the expectation that I’m going to be awake enough for meetings that would be boring were I not jet lagged and sleep deprived. Now that I’m married, I loathe sleeping alone. B is a natural furnace, so although we sleep in 65-68 degrees at night, I have to crank up the heat to 76 and wear a long sleeved shirt, yoga pants, and socks to stay warm enough when I’m alone. I miss my kitties. I miss my routines. I miss my husband (even though he’s sick, so being apart has probably helped spare my immune system). I constantly find myself thinking that it would be so much fun if I had my traveling buddy with me. Exploring restaurants on your own isn’t nearly as much fun. I love my boss, but she’s not super chatty, so going out with her can be awkward.

While I generally don’t like traveling, there are certainly some perks. On this trip I got to have dinner with 2 high school friends. It was fantastic to catch up with them, and we’ve made plans to get together when they come home for Christmas (they are sisters). I also found time to squeeze in lunch with a colleague from my old work. Although I was sad to hear that she is still unhappy at her job, it was really nice to catch up with her and give her some support. If I find myself in DC again soon, I might try and actually meet some bloggers in person as well. It’s definitely a perk that work pays for all of my food, and luckily the hotel this time had lots of places close by. One night a group of us had yummy vegan Chinese food, and last night we got Persian take-out. So while overall I’d rather be home, this was a work trip that had a nice amount of fun in it. I also felt very accomplished that I was able to navigate the DC metro system quite well. If only every town signed everything so well.

In about 5 hours I’ll be home, snuggling up to my love and likely getting mauled by the cats. I can’t wait. In the words of Dorothy, “there’s no place like home.”

New hair and movies

I only get haircuts about 4 times a year. I justify splurging on my expensive lady since I don't go all that often. Last weekend I decided it was time for a cut and color.

(Pardon the non-showered, weekend grungy me)
Before:


After:


It was lovely to have 3 hours to myself at the Salon. I cut off a good amount and lightened it up with some highlights. I'm liking the results, although next time I do highlights I think I'll have her go a little more dramatic. I don't color often because I'm lucky to have blonde hair that naturally lightens in the summer, so it will likely be next fall before I dye again.

After getting my hair done B took me to see Waiting for Superman. We'd been really looking forward to seeing it. If you haven't heard of it, it's a documentary about the education system. I looked forward to learning a lot. Instead, I walked away feeling totally depressed. Parents, stuck in shitty school districts due to finances, put their kids in the lottery system for limited slots in charter/magnet programs. All but one kid (the one who was already in a good school) didn't get in (one did end up getting called from the weightlist). It was as if you knew in that moment that these kids were likely destined to live in poverty forever. The movie offered no suggestions for improving the system and was an all-around depressing bust. It was riveting though for sure as you waited to see if the kids would win the lottery.

I'm also back to being two-footed! 6 weeks in the boot are complete, and my fracture has healed. Hooray! Mostly I'm happy about just getting in the car and not having to take off the boot, put on a shoe, and put the boot back on at my destination. I think B is happy to have his walking buddy back too. Now to decide if I'm brave enough to walk to work in Portland fall/winter.

Alaska Part 3: Glacier Bay

Yikes, I forgot about my blog for a bit there! I'm always in awe at the people that manage to blog every day. I can barely remember to blog more than once a month.

Glacier Bay National Park was the highlight of our trip. Although it was the 3rd day on the boat, it was exciting to finally have "real" Alaskan scenery. The usual cruise route goes partially in up to John's Hopkins Glacier and then partially up the neighboring glacier (I'm blanking on the name).

Our captain wisely decided to spend the entire cruising time in John's Hopkins and get reeeeeallllly close. It turns out that Johns's Hopkins Glacier is the location where 80% of the harbor seals in Alaska birth and raise their pups, so late September is the only time cruise ships are allowed to get close. Lucky us! The park ranger that joined our ship said it was the closest he'd been to the glacier in his 25 year career!

We started off the day in the Crow's Nest, which was the bar at the top of the ship with stunning views.


Although it was pretty cold out (we saw a few flakes of snow), the weather was actually pretty good. I'll let the photos mostly speak for themselves.














Glacier calving (pieces breaking off). Interestingly, John's Hopkins is one of the few glaciers that is growing - by about 10-15 feet PER DAY! Of course, there are pieces breaking off too, which was fun to watch. It made a huge booming sound that was quickly followed by a whole bunch of "oooohs" from the cruise crowd.








I think we'd all agree that the cruise through Glacier Bay was the highlight of the trip. It was stunningly beautiful, and it was amazing to be so close.

Alaskan cruise part 2: Juneau

Thanks for all of the broken ankle sympathy. Orthopedics appointment is tomorrow, but I'm getting more used to the boot and the pain is virtually gone unless I walk too much.

I've decided to talk about Juneau next and leave Glacier Bay (the best part) for the third post. The drawback of an Alaskan cruise at the end of the season means you are likely to hit rough water. Our original itinerary had us going out in the open ocean to head up to Sitka for Day 2. Unfortunately, the evening/night of day 1 saw 30 foot swells! The captain wisely decided to switch course at 2am and go up the inside passage. I was grateful for a smoother ride, but that meant no Sitka, an entirely changed itinerary, and 3 days at sea before our first stop. We were certainly happy to see Juneau when we got there!

As if on cue when we got off the boat, this eagle swooped down and landed right in front of us.


We didn't have any tours planned (they were crazy expensive), so we wandered around for a bit in the tacky shops and along the water.



It turns out that not paying for the expensive cruise arranged tour is a really smart idea. We found a local tour that was usually $50 (compared to the $120 the boat wanted), but they only charged us $30 each since we were the last group of the year. It was a 2-3 hour van tour, and we learned a ton about Juneau and saw some beautiful sites.
This church (the Shrine of St. Therese), hidden on a former island in the trees.

It was raining like crazy and super cold, but it was a very peaceful spot. They also had a prayer labyrinth.

I think this photo speaks for itself (and how irreverent we are!)


Next up was a stop at a lake fed by Mendenhall glacier (in the back left of the photos). It was just gorgeous.

Love this family photo :)

My dad picking up a large chunk of glacier ice:



It was a bummer that it was so cold and rainy, but the stop was nice and learning about Juneau was really interesting. Our guide was funny and entertaining, and it was a well-spent $30. It was a beautiful place, although I'm not sure I'd like living in a town that is only accessible by boat or plane.

Broken

That sprained ankle I mentioned in the last post? It's now housed in a large, clunky black boot. While the PA that read the X-ray said it was just a sprain, the radiologist that looked at it 3 days later clearly saw a distal lateral malleolar fracture. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I broke my ankle playing ping pong. I'm that talented. So for the last 3 days I've been hobbling around in a boot.

It's a pain in more ways than one. My hips hurt because my gait is now uneven. The outside of my ankle hurts because of the rubbing of the flat brace. I can't walk well due to the broken ankle (I usually walk to work). I can't drive easily because it's my right foot, and the brace doesn't bend to allow for driving. Each time I get in the car I have to undo the 5 velcros and put on a shoe. Each time I get out I have to put the brace back on. Chasing after my friend's toddler yesterday wasn't easy. Sleeping with a boot is uncomfortable. Needless to say all of this has made me kind of cranky.

I still don't even really know what's wrong. I have to wait for a call from the orthopedist, then set up an appointment, then find out how long I have to wear the boot. Thankfully they didn't force me to take the crutches (I'd been walking on it for almost 2 weeks), but the boot is still hard to deal with.

Enough with the whining! More Alaska this week.