ShaNae Noyce, RN

Yes, I know I used that title for a previous post.

I now have 3 days of real, full-time work as a nurse under my belt though, so I guess it really is official now.

Since I am on an internship program, we are going to take our sweet time (3 months) to learn the ropes. I am very happy about that. So far, the team training us has been nothing but nice, and they are always stopping to make sure we understand things. They are never at all condescending if we don't know something or if we never saw it in clinical or whatever. I learned how to be a nurse in an 11 month nursing program, and it ended 6 months ago. Needless to say, I feel less than confident about a lot of my knowledge and skills.

This week has been mostly orientation. Tuesday we shadowed on various units so we could see a lot of the paperwork in action. Today we went over how to actually fill a lot of it out. I believe we will start on med passes next week.

The great thing about orientation is that I am working a regular schedule. I work 7-3:30 Monday through Friday. I still have my evenings and weekends, so I can actually see my husband during the 2nd half of the week when he isn't gone all day at work and class. That won't last. Once I have my regular assignment, there is little to no chance that I will get a day shift position, and I will definitely be working some weekends. That's okay too, but it's nice to dive back in to things with a more predictable schedule. The most difficult part of this week has been getting up early. I haven't had to do that in months. Almost as difficult has been going to bed at a decent time so I actually get enough sleep.

I'm still trying to keep up on my bargain hunting, although I have been working out shortcuts to make it all a little faster over the past couple weeks in anticipation of starting work. It is a fun little hobby.

Zack has been busy. He has decided to keep working full time while attending grad school full time, and he still has Tuesday nights and many hours on Sunday that he devotes to his church calling. That leaves a bit of time for homework, and that about wraps up his week. Despite both of us being busy, I can say that I am so very happy to have a routine again. We'll see how long that lasts. A couple of months of getting up at 5:45 AM might leave me wishing for the boring ol' days again. :)

I know, this has been a pretty dry and boring post. We have a lot going on, but nothing that's really exciting to tell about.

Free Museums

Yesterday, a bunch of museums in Philly were free so we took advantage and went to a couple that I hadn't been to yet.

We started out at the Franklin Institute, which is basically a science museum. It is mostly pretty kid friendly, but we had a great time anyway. We saw a planetarium show (Cosmic Collisions!), walked through a giant model of a heart, and played with various interactive displays on machines, sports, trains, and more. It was pretty crowded, but very fun- and FREE.

Next we went to the Academy of Natural Sciences (is that what it's called?). Anyway, it was basically dino bones and a bunch of stuffed animals in dioramas. The also had a butterflies section where you could walk through an area while tons of butterflies flew all around. Very pretty.

It really was a very fun day, and shrunk our list of things still to do in Philly by 2 museums at no cost to us. :)

I start work tomorrow. Finally. Except I am not excited about getting up at 5:45 in the morning. I'll let you know how it goes.

Grad School

For those who haven't heard yet, Zack got accepted to Drexel with a scholarship. Congratulations to him! He starts classes today. It has been pretty crazy for him since he just found out that he was accepted 4 or 5 days ago and has been trying to get registered and everything in that time. He is still working some of that out.

So congratulate him if you see him. :)

Swagbucks

Have you heard of SwagBucks? I have been using it for the past month or so. It's basically a search engine of sorts. You type in a search on their site (or on their toolbar) and you can earn swagbucks just by searching. You can then redeem those bucks for different prizes. I always just redeem 45 swag bucks for a $5 amazon gift card. I think it's the best value. Anyway, it's really easy, and it's a way to earn prizes for something you already do (searching the internet). I have had a good experience with it so far and just wanted to put it out there for anyone else who might be interested. I put a link on my sidebar if you want to check it out. Some people are hardcore and earn hundreds of dollars worth of prizes with this each year. I just earn a couple swagbucks a day and call it good. You can pick how much or little you will use it.

Check it out.

An honorary birthday

Since my birthday hit on a Sunday this year, we decided to do the bulk of the celebrating on Saturday. We went across the Delaware to Camden to go to the Aquarium there. We have been wanting to go for some time, but cost is always an issue for us, and the tickets are pretty expensive. Well we decided we could splurge for the special occasion. Then, by a stroke of luck, while we were waiting in line for tickets, a woman approached us and said she had bought a ticket online the day before, but the person who was supposed to use it didn't show up, so she just gave us that ticket. It was pretty awesome. So we basically both got in for the price of one. Woo hoo!

The aquarium was a blast. They had birds and hippos, sharks and seals, penguins and turtles. We loved it. We saw almost all the little shows/presentations that they put on. My favorite was the seal show, where they just kind of show off what they train their seals to do so that they can best care for them. For example, they train the seals to open their mouths on cue so that the trainers can brush their teeth. Pretty cool.

Here I am in the bird/hippo/porcupine exhibit.

Zack with jelly fish.

Oh no! I've been eaten alive.

Open wide.

Penguins

Z with hippos

4-D movie

Z the octopus

Me petting a shark

After the aquarium, we went and ate some fish. We love Red Lobster. We split salmon and shrimp. Oh boy, it was delicious, and we were so freakin' stuffed when it was all over. I could barely move. But move we did, and we polished off the day by walking around the mall by the Red Lobster before heading home.

Today (my actual birthday) has been nice and relaxing. We did the church thing. I had to teach the lesson in young womens, which was kind of a drag, but it still was okay. Then we went to Bartram's Garden for a picnic with Savanna and Jesse. I should mention that Savanna made me the most adorable hot pink scarf for my birthday. Thanks- I love it! We ordered some pizza yesterday so that we could eat it for my birthday dinner tonight, and there are brownies baking as a sit here (mmm, they smell good). So it has been nice. I am sure getting old though.

Longwood Gardens and some other stuff

On Saturday, we went out to Longwood gardens. It was a beautiful day, and the gardens looked great. Thanks to Natalie and Robert, who left us their free passes when they moved. They made our trip possible, and we really enjoyed it.

Here are some pretty pictures.

Fountain show

I loved these big yellow flowers with pepper plants in the background.

Italian water garden

On our way home, we ran into nearly a million block parties. Okay, I am exaggerating, but it really was very many. Each block that was having a party was blocked off. It was a real nightmare trying to get home. We drove around and around, running into blocked off streets at nearly every turn. Traffic was ridiculous as everyone else in the area was stuck in this mess too. We finally made it to Chestnut street, which was, thank goodness, a clear ride the rest of the way home. I was so happy that I just couldn't help blogging about it. Thus my last post.

Here's a picture of that mural that is going up next door that I mentioned before. It has progressed a lot more since I took this picture. I will add more later.

We had a relatively quiet and enjoyable Labor Day. We spent it shopping and just kinda hanging out.

My shopping trip for today: I got 8 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of brownie mix, 3 cans of soup, 2 boxes of granola bars, 2 boxes of pasta, 4 boxes of Gushers, 3 noodle mixes, 2 packages of Oreos, 2 cans of Pillsbury biscuits, 2 bottles of soda, and a gallon of milk for just barely over $30!

For those of you who are worried that we are living off of Lucky Charms and brownies, relax a little. When bargain shopping, you often end of stocking up on things while they are a good deal, and eating/using them over several weeks or even months. We took a grocery trip earlier this week and bought produce (pineapple, grapes, strawberries, limes... mmmm) and some meat for some real meals. I'm not pretending that we always eat the best things ever, but I feel like I should reassure my mom that we aren't just eating cookies for 3 meals a day. :)

And finally... I had to go get a physical today for my new job. I got there about 5 minutes after my appointment time, checked in with the lady at the desk, signed my name on the sign in sheet, and waited..... and waited.... and waited. About 45 minutes after my appointment time, a man walked in for his appointment and he went right back to see the doctor. It was about that time that I started thinking something was wrong. A bit later, more people that had showed up after me started going back to see the doctor. So I went to the desk, and it turns out that they had basically forgotten about me. Nobody really knew I was there. I had checked in. I had talked to someone and signed in. But I waited an hour and a half only to find out that they didn't even know I was waiting there. It was annoying and weird.

PS-- Go healthcare reform! (although I am not blaming the above situation on the current healthcare system. That was just an unlucky fluke)

Chestnut Street

At times, one of my least favorite streets to drive on. Today, a lifesaver.