the RATS of moose

The Random Access ThoughtS of a mid-west, approaching-middle-age, nurse starting the next phase of life.

Monday, July 31, 2006

One day left. Need I say more?

:-D

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Call the paramedics!

Is it possible to overdose on cheesecake? =8^O

I think I may have come close yesterday. I had 2, yes two, pieces of cheesecake from 'The CheeseCake Factory'. The chocolate chip cookie dough was good, but not stupendous... on the other fork, the key lime was 'to die for'!!Cheesecake_KeyLime
And I should have had the fish tacos.... Fish_Tacos

Instead (for reasons that have not made themselves known) I ordered angel hair pasta with shrimp.... not a good choice on 2 levels.... 1) TOO MUCH GARLIC - and that's a hard thing for me to say because I love garlic... but this dish bit back... (and BB refused to kiss me even after brushing teeth), and 2) I LOVE fish tacos and it's hard to get them... so why didn't I take the opportunity??? dingbat.... But the food takes second place to the company.... from 'my' group of coordinators we were only missing Jen (WE MISSED YOU JEN)
TheGirlz (there is one more, but I haven't met her yet.... hmmm.. and now that I think about it, I guess I won't be meeting her... that bites.). Anyway.... the food was second to the company. We all laughed and laughed and laughed at topics totally inappropriate to a family-oriented restaurant in the afternoon. And we did it at volume... there must have been 3 or 4 different groups of people who asked to be moved after hearing us howl to a particularly bad joke or comment. Go figure... their loss, I think.... we were funny... heh heh heh.

The green ribbon in my hair came from the most delightful/thoughtful/appropriate gift imaginable....
SilverMouse
I am in total awe. I will cherish my little silver mouse ALWAYS!



And now my friends, a toast:

"To all the Trauma Coordinators who went before us, to all the coordinators who will follow, but, most of all, TO US!!!!!"

I will miss you.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

One day plus change

Well, today was a weird one..... I was waiting in line at the ATM at work this afternoon and got a really horrible case of the shakes.... I think I am finally nervous about this change of career. It didn't last long, but it was unsettling.

Deb, my friend from medical records took me out to dinner tonight to say good-bye. Good munchie food, the weather provided entertainment outside the window (we were speculating on the amount of water going into my truck -it was pouring and my windows were open), and fabulous conversation. It's a shame we didn't think of doing this long ago.

Tomorrow is a late lunch with the trauma girlz at the Cheesecake Factory!!! Yummy Yummy yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm thinking Fish Tacos and CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE-DOUGH CHEESECAKE - Creamy Cheesecake Loaded with our Chocolate Chip Cookie-Dough and Topped with Walnuts... or maybe CRAIG'S CRAZY CARROT CAKE CHEESECAKE - Carrot Cake and Cheesecake Swirled Together, Topped with Cream Cheese Icing and Roasted Almonds or KEY LIME CHEESECAKE - Key Lime Pie in a Cheesecake! Deliciously Tart and Creamy on a Vanilla Crumb Crust. The possibilities are endless..... unfortunately, so is my waistline...... maybe I'll stick with one piece..... and maybe one to go.... and one for BB...... heh heh heh......

{sigh} I'm going to miss all these people.... I like them better than cheesecake...

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Another day closer....

Are these not the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen???
PurpFlowers
The girls from LaGrange sent them over to say that they would miss me... I LOVE THESE FLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've never seen flowers like this... I wish they would last forever.......

Only 2 full days left..... have now reached the nervous stage.... am not sleeping well... am trying to get a TON of things done so the new person isn't completely in the dark or months and months behind..... will see what I accomplish tomorrow... am off Friday and Monday will be mostly packing....

and packing.....

and packing...... sheesh.... It's amazing how much stuff accumulates in an office in 9 years.

I am soooooooo happy..... except for the ice cream incident tonight..... ;-)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Thank You Katie Couric

Dear Katie,

I just wanted to drop a note and say “THANK YOU” for my new job! Without that kick in the pants from you, heaven only knows how long it would have taken me to change things.

I’ve been in my current position for 9 years. Sometime last fall, I started to get restless, not really bored, just getting the feeling that it was time to move on.

So, I looked at ads, went on an interview or two, but couldn’t answer the question…… should I do something different at my current hospital, should I do my same position at a different hospital or should I try something new somewhere new? So I did nothing. Except look at more ads and ponder the possibilities.

And then you quit your job.

And I screamed.

And screamed and railed about how my-mornings-would-never-be-the-same and how-could-you-do-this-to-me, blah, blah, blah. And in the midst of all that screaming I listened to and read some of your interviews and something you said finally sunk in. ‘It’s time for a change.’

And the light bulb went off and my brain said…….. “It’s time for a change!”

And, suddenly, you leaving the ‘Today’ show didn’t seem so bad. After all, I can still see you… just somewhere new, doing something new.

Eight days after you left NBC, I interviewed for something new somewhere new. They offered me the position, and on August 7, I leave nursing/patient care and enter a world that combines the things I love the most (computers and teaching) with who I am (a nurse). I’ll be teaching computer documentation to nurses at a different hospital.

For the first time in my career, I will not be employed by the nursing department, but by the information technology department. I am equal parts terrified and ecstatic!

Thank you so much for leaving when you did. The push you gave me was priceless and I will remember it always.

Best of luck in your something-new-someplace-new. I hope you have as much fun as I expect to have.

Sincerely,

Chris

Friday, July 21, 2006

6, 5, 4....

Well.... 5 days and change left at work.... day 6 doesn't count as it is turn-in-the-badge, settle-all-accounts, exit interview day. Aaaaaaaaaand..... it will end with lunch with my friend who got the job an hour after the interview... she moved up her resignation date... it's the same as mine.... What a gas!!!! Bad for our department, good for us!!!!!!!!!!!!! (kinda like rats leaving a sinking ship??)

Am totally stoked about the new job... nervous, but ready to dive head first into the next challenge.

Here's to a full belly, a heavy purse and a light heart! (sorry... am watching TV and saw that quote and had to write it down.... I like it.... and won't remember it... so I wrote it down.... now, I hope I remember where I put it!!)

... the next challenge.

Nothing like a career change to wake up your brain!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

The long good-bye

I didn't realize how mentally exhausting it is to say good-bye. And good-bye. And good-bye and good-bye. I have spent good chunks of the last 2 days calling my co-horts to tell them of my decision. This is the only job I've had where I've felt the need to say good-bye. On the other hand, this is the only job I've had where I have regular contacts outside of my own hospital. I have a couple more people to touch base with and then I think a general letter/e-mail will do the trick. It just doesn't seem right to silently disappear after 9 years on the job.

Everyone has been very supportive of my decision... usually after bemoaning the state of things to come after my departure.

Little by little I am wrapping things up in the office. I have several of my "in" boxes cleaned out (mostly by judicious use of the shredder) and a fairly short list of 'must do' items for next week. Then the last 2 days should be nothing more than cleaning the office of personal items and convincing the security guards that I am not stealing.

I feel good about this change, but strangely numb at the same time. Weird feeling.

But good decision.

Monday, July 17, 2006

HALLELUJAH!!!

I QUIT MY JOB TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND IT FEELS SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!

I start the new one August 7....

Actually, I didn't quit. I turned in my resignation, effective Aug 4.

but saying

I QUIT MY JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

feels soooooooooo much better!!!!!

;-)

Saturday, July 15, 2006

The best laid plans.....

Well...... things didn't go quite as planned..... heh heh heh... they went BETTER!!! Sort of.... ;-)

[sidebar]
Isn't it weird how you can never keep anything a secret if more than one person knows?? I ran into a couple of people at work on Thursday, who do NOT work in my department, who asked me if it was true that I was leaving...... -----EGADS/CRAP/SHIT/OH-MY-GAWD/HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND OUT????????? went thru my head and the carefully crafted answer I had practiced and practiced JUST FOR THIS VERY SITUATION flew right out of my head and I blurted out no-one-knows-and-you-can't-say-A-THING!!!!!! I am such a doofus... I am busy working on who leaked what to whom.....

Now, back to the program.....
The #1 person on the list of people to whom I have to say "I QUIT!" wasn't at work Friday. Rats. Neither was the #2 person. I got a quick call from another person in my department Thursday night alerting me to the planned absences. Oh, well... then, can I call in sick? Honestly, my shoulders were soooo tense with stress on Thursday night that I was asking that seriously. (And I was totally unsure of my ablility to keep quiet). Then I was reminded of the department picnic being held on Friday... and how if I called in sick it would look rotten if I showed up for a beer.

What to do, what to do??? I should have called in sick. It was the slowest day in the ER in the last 9 years. It was so slow that the staff left by 2's and 3's to drive over to the picnic, chat and eat for an hour, and come back with food (for those of us that thought it was TOO DAMN HOT to go outdoors). And for as much as I dislike parties (weird change, that wasn't a problem 10 or 15 or 20 years ago) I'm not sure why I went. Although, as it turned out, I did get a tad of business done. All in all, a two hour appearance at a 98 degree 98% humidity picnic was not worth NOT calling in sick. No one would have missed me.

So... I went to work. And worked most of the day. And then my friend from Thursday night called around one to tell me that the job interview she had that morning had panned out and they had already called back and offered her the job !!! HOW TOTALLY FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!! She will be resigning about 2 weeks after I do. She has been there 14 years, I have been there 9. I wonder how many will follow us? I will have to keep in touch with someone.

I did keep quiet at work. I kept so quiet that people kept asking me if I felt alright.

Now I need to sit and write down all the things I want to say to the people I have to talk to. Then throw that list away and write down what I will actually say. Pink slip draft, part in pleasant company draft. Pretty simple.

I am sooooooo excited!!

Monday, July 10, 2006

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

I have a new job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am soooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I go pee in the cup tomorrow and start August 7!!!!!

Letter of good-bye goes in tomorrow!!!!! (with a scant 3 weeks notice, but, I'm not management)

GOOD-BYE CRUEL JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!

heh heh heh

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Job (non)update

(sigh) No word yet... it's been a month since the interview. I am losing hope..... (sort of). They did call last week to say that they would call thes week. And this week isn't over (yet)(almost). Don't they know that I WANT THIS JOB??????

On a brighter note... I used power tools for the last week and a half without losing anything important.

On a dumber note,,,,, why didn't I take the rest of this week off???? I have a gazillion hours of vacation time banked.

Oh, well. Better luck next time.