Settling in....finally!

I finally have a semi-permanent-assignment!!! Yey! I have been assigned to work on 5 East, which is a Medical/Surgical ward that specializes in oncology/hematology. They also provide hospice care for the cancer patients and those that are very terminal. I will be on a regular schedule, which is great! I'm tired of being handed off from department to department!

My shifts will be like this:

I will work: Monday and Tuesday

I will be off: Wednesday and Thursday

I will work: Friday, Saturday and Sunday

I will be off: Monday and Tuesday

I will work: Wednesday and Thursday

I will be off: Friday, Saturday and Sunday

All of these are 12 hour shifts. For my first 2 months, I will work day shift. For the next two months, I will work night shift. (Unless I find someone who wants to switch with me and I can stay on day shift!) I will work every other weekend, which stinks. When I am on day shift, I cannot go to church on sunday or thursday. But I can make up for it the next week...blah. I wish there was something I could do to rearrange my schedule....Maybe I'll talk to my division officer or something.

Anyways, a week ago, I got to participate in Operation Stand Down, a program for homeless vets. Homeless vets come from all services and from all areas of the country to Operation Stand Down for medical care, alcohol detox services, legal counseling/services, dental care, nourishment, shelter, hair cuts, new clothes (donated from local businesses) and many many other things. I helped in the medical tent and assisted by doing patient assessments and writing clinical notes for the doctors to look at. It was SO NEAT! I actually got to function as a nurse, independently. The doctors trusted my judgement and we COLLABORATED on the future care (i.e. prescriptions/consults/etc). What a great learning, and yet heartbreaking, experience. I just wanted to open up my home to these folks. My heart really broke for them and thier situations! This was the best activity I have ever volunteered for, ever!

Check out the news article about it! http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=30611

HEre are some pictures from the weekend:

Date night!!!

Today was so fun! Well, work wasn't, but as soon as I got home it was!

James had an outfit picked out for me on the bed to change into (out of my uniform). We had to run some errands and then he said he was going to take me "someplace special." After running the errands, James drove us to downtown San Diego....the Gaslamp Quarter to be specific. (He would not tell me where we were going the whole time!!!)

**On a side note....I am like a dog going to the vet. I always need to know where we're going, or I start asking alot of questions and freaking out. However, I haven't started pawing at the windows yet! lol So the whole way to downtown I kept bugging James to find out where we were going! (To no avail.)

Soooooooo after parking, he grabbed my hand and led me to the restaurant. As we were almost there, he said to me in a mushy voice "Oh, by the way, this is a DAAATE." Haha.

We went to the Napa Valley Grille, which had the most delish food! I had pistachio-crusted tuna and plums. The salad was also good...nectarine salad? MMMM! James ordered the New York Strip steak with steamed baby spinich. Yummy! Then some "Laura Chenel Chevre Cheesecake" for dessert.

All in all, a very great date!

Hiking on Saturday

This weekend, James and I went to Mission Trails to hike. There are many many many trails in the mountains, some more steep than others. Of course, if you know my husband....we hiked up the "very challenging" trail. He is like a mountain lion, always leaping from rock to rock and climbing on EVERYTHING! Anyways, the trail was very steep and before I knew it (my legs knew it though!) we were almost to the top of Mt. Kwaay. There were mountain-climbers climbing the uppermost part of the peak! It was so much fun!

On the visitor's center trail, there were statues of animals. I found my favorite cousin, the mountain lion. After all, I am a PUMA! :)This is the view from the visitor's center trail...before I knew how high we were climbing!

At the bottom of the trail.....note the KEYWORD: BOTTOM!!! haha here we go!

On the mountain trail...it wasn't marked well, just try to make it up the mountain, I guess!



Time for a break...phew! What a view from up here! James' red truck was just a speck from this high!

The vista! :)

Back on the level ground, we saw a snake! I love snakes, but wasn't sure if this one was deadly...not just your friendly garter snake....so I didn't try to pick him up. But he was cute!

We found the Old Mission Dam...created to irrigate fields in San Diego waaaaay back in the day. Maybe it was bigger at one time. At least I HOPE it was...it's only like 5 feet wide! It wouldn't water much!

See! he's climbing on things...at least this time he didn't fall in! :) haha

A kayak is in our near future....I can't wait to take it on the ocean! :) :) yey! We just need to save a little more for it. This is the one we're getting:

Navy Picnic

The Navy likes to have fun....probably because happy workers do a better job. Today we had a picnic on the beach in Mission Bay. It was alot of fun, and I got some pics from driving around the beach

Eye opener

Today I was walking around the hospital base and was really humbled by something...

I was on my way to the immunization clinic to get my yellow fever shot, and was saluted by this young Marine in a wheelchair going the opposite direction. This brave young man had a patch/bandage over his left eye and scrapes on his face. He was bandaged all over his neck, and his leg was in a cast. I believe he was one of the many Marines housed in the hospital "dorms" for those that have been wounded in Operation Enduring Freedom. As he proudly said, "Good Morning Ma'am," I smiled and offered a "good morning" back. As I was walking away, I got tears in my eyes. THESE are the men defending our country on the front lines. I haven't even been out of the country, let alone on deployment! I felt as though I should really be saluting him, for all the sacrifices he's made. It made me feel proud to be a nurse, and that I would get to take care of these men and women on a daily basis.

When I worked as a nurse's aide at St. Joe's, I would really LOVE taking care of the old men who had served. They always have the most interesting stories (and advice!).

I found some pictures online...

Pfc. Kenneth Dickerson, a 19-year-old Marine from Clive, Iowa, assigned to the Hawaii-based Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, hands out candy to two girls in Barwanah, Iraq, July 29, 2006. The 19-year-old U.S. Marine from Clive, Iowa, has spent the past four months of his deployment in Iraq teaching himself Arabic, and uses it to help his fellow Marines by serving as a translator during the unit’s daily patrols through Barwanah, Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Roe F. Seigle

Cpl. James Wright, USMC

The blast severed both of Wright's hands and severely wounded his left leg. Incredibly, Wright maintained his composure, instructing his Marines to use a radio to call for help and to apply tourniquets to his wounds. Wright also directed his Marines to concentrate fire on enemy machine gun positions, assisting in the demise of 26 enemy fighters. For his actions, Wright was later presented the Bronze Star Medal with combat distinguishing device for valor.

Private First Class Brian Moquin, 20, USA

Friends said Moquin joined the Army to "straighten his life out" after dropping out of high school and earning a GED. Moquin was killed May 5, 2006, in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. He was a tattoo enthusiast and got seven of them on his last trip home; after learning of his death, seven of his friends got tattoos in his honor.

Work out!

I have started my exercise routine again after the hectic moving weeks...It feels so good to exercise! It is a bit of a shock for my legs, because there are so many BIG hills out here! Flat land is hard to come by. Think of the hills in dellwood....suicide hill to be specific. There are lots of streets that are the SAME INCLINE as that hill! It's kind of scary to drive your car up and down some of those hillls because you can't see the bottom! :O Buut, it is fun to run up them!

Also, for you ladies that want to start working out and getting in shape before I come home...and start my "exercising with Sister Gretchen"........I thought I'd pass down this neat tool to you. It is a GPS/Satellite map that you can trace a running route on. It calculates distance and even ELEVATION!!! (Handy in California!) Here's the website: http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/