Ok, Ok...I know!

Ok...so I know it's been way more than a week since I've written, but in my defense I have been a busy bee! I have been working a lot, plus I was sick. So...now that the formalities are out of they way.

Work has been getting better. I am finally back working night shift (thank Heavens!) and I am so much happier about that! It is still busy at work, but at night I actually have time to talk to my patient's, which is one of the things I like most about nursing. I am getting more used to the hospital in general as well, but the more I get used to it the more things I find that I feel need to be changed. It is one of the drawbacks of traveling. I won't be here long enough to actually see any changes implemented, but at least I can do my part and tell management what I believe needs to be changed to make the hospital a safer and more efficient facility. Also, I have started working with my recruiter on locating my next assignment. I will be done here on April 18 and it looks like we are shooting for a April 28 start date for my next assignment in Chicago. I have been submitted for a few positions in Chicago and I have already heard back from one, but nothing is for sure yet. I will keep everyone posted on that as soon as I know! I will be home in Muncie for about 5 during March because Mimi is coming to visit for Eric and Sara's Spring Break, so if you're in that area and want to hang out let me know!

Only 7 more weeks to go!!

So, what have I been doing here? Besides being sick for a week (boo...I am feeling better now though) Shawn and I have been doing some fun stuff still. We went last week to a Washington Capital's hockey game. They play at the Verizon Center in D.C. and that night was the game against the NY Islanders. That night was also a tribute night for people in the armed forces, so we all got free camo hats with the Capital's logo on it. Plus...Shawn and I were gonna buy tickets when we got there and as we got in line a guy came up to us and said he had 2 extra tickets that we could have for free. They weren't great seats but whatever! They were free!! So that was pretty awesome. We hope to get to go to another game before hockey season is over, but it's not looking likely. However, since it is almost time for baseball season (woohoo...Go Cubs!) I have already started trying to figure out when/where I can go to Cubs games. The Washington Nationals have a new ballpark this year and I was really hoping to get to go to a Cubs game there, but they don't play the Cubs until the week after I leave. I did find out that the last weekend I'm here the Cubs play in Philadelphia. So I got tickets for Shawn and I to go to the Friday night game against the Phillies, and we are gonna plan to go up early in the day and do some sightseeing too. Neither of us have ever been there before, so that should be fun!

Last night was my friend Mike's birthday, so we met him and some of his Law School friends at a bar in Chinatown. The bar is called the Rocket Bar and it has a kind of college bar feel to it, so it was really fun. Plus it was great to hang out with Mike and his friends all seem really cool. They have their Spring Break this coming week, but we are planning on hanging out after he gets back a few more times before I'm out of this area. We met Mike for dinner a couple of weeks ago in D.C. and then went to a house party a friend of his was having. We didn't stay long because I had to work the next morning, but while we were there I got to play Guitar Hero (which I am totally addicted to thanks to my little brother!!) His friends were quite impressed with my skills (ha!) and last night Mike was telling another friend of his that I'm really good at Guitar Hero, so apparently this friend and I are going to be having a Guitar Hero tournament after they get back from Spring Break! That should be interesting....especially since I can't practice before then! Oh well...I will let you all know the results. Here are some pictures from the hockey game and Mike's birthday. Enjoy and I miss you all!!

Busy Busy

We have been doing lots of stuff in D.C. this past week. We went to the Smithsonian Air & Space museum (but we'll need another day there - plus there are several interesting iMax movies there now that seem really interesting!). We also went to the Holocaust Museum the other day...that we intense! I was incredibly depressed the whole rest of the day but it was totally worth it. What an interesting experience. The main exhibit was so informative and vivid. There were lots of videos from the time plus lots and lots of pictures. The pictures and stories were a little hard for me to take at times, especially when they involved children, but I made it through. We only did the main exhibit, but I'm planning on going back for the other exhibits. We went yesterday to The National Archives to get a look at the Charters of Freedom, unfortunately the Constitution isn't on display right now due to some remodeling in the Rotunda area where they are all displayed. We did get to see the Declaration of Independence though and that was neat! We were gonna try to go back to some of the memorials that evening to see them all lit up, but it was WAY too cold. So we're gonna put that off until some warmer weather!

Work still sucks...I did have one good day this past Saturday, but it was a fluke! It was the only day so far that we were appropriately staffed, which is why it didn't suck. I had an appropriate patient load so I actually had time to talk to my patients! I didn't have to run from one room to another! My patient's had access to me if they needed me, and I liked that! I don't see it happening very often though. I'm a total sucker though...they called today to see if I would pick up an extra shift tomorrow and I said I would (I know, I'm pathetic! Overtime pay though...might be worth it!) I'm still stuck on dayshift and I'm afraid I'll be on days longer than I would like. They are staffed better at night and so that'll make it difficult for them to put me on nights :( We'll see.

Only 10 more weeks to go!

One week of work down...

So...I worked my first week on the IMC unit at Inova Mt. Vernon Hospital. Unfortunately, I don't like it very much. It isn't terrible, and some of the people are nicer than others, but I miss the babies :( The other travelers are really great though and there are quite a few of us on this unit right now. Another thing that kinda sucks right now is that I'm stuck working day shift. Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I hate that!!! Plus with the traffic around here and all the stop lights I have to leave my apartment by 630am to get to work on time which I HATE! That is too too early for me! Anyway, I work 3 days in a row this past week and I survived. I will hopefully be moving back to night shift at the end of February, so I'm looking forward to that!

Only 11 more weeks to go for this assignment!

I had this weekend off of work, so Shawn and I did a little sightseeing again. We visited a few more of the memorials in Washington D.C. on Saturday. We walked along Pennsylvania Avenue, walked by the White House then checked out the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. Those two memorials were really neat. I really enjoyed the FDR Memorial. The weather isn't nice enough yet for the memorials to have the water or fountains running yet, but I'm hoping to check out all the memorials again before I leave at night and when the weather gets nicer. Shawn and I made a list of the all the stuff we want to do while we're here. We posted it up on the fridge and are crossing things off as we do it! Still plenty of stuff to do, that's for sure! 

 Today we went into D.C. again to meet a friend of mine from high school that I've not seen for a very long time! Sara has lived in D.C. for several years now and suggested we meet up at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden to go ice skating. I guess it is a large fountain that is converted into an ice skating rink in the winter. It was really fun! Not only was it great to catch up with her but ice skating is always fun! I still haven't seen my friend Mike yet, he goes to Law School out here at GWU, but seeing as he's in Law School he's pretty busy! We are watching the Superbowl now, but I'm not really all that into it this year and the commercials have been pretty lame, so I decided to update this blog and post some more pictures for all of you instead!

Hopefully this week at work will be better! I miss you all!!!