Three months since my last blog post….so much for “more time” to blog with this traveling gig. Honestly, though, I have the time, but haven’t had the inspiration. Thoughts come in through the day and then….POOF….gone when I sit to blog. but here I am today, so let me catch you up real quick like!

My assignment in Gainesville finished up and it was a great foray into travel. I definitely brushed off any rust on my clinical skills and felt overall good. My current assignment is a local travel and Night Shift. The good news: The main facility I work at is 7 minutes door-to-door. The bad news: nights. Nights are a double edged sword, generally GREAT people and none of the drama of day shift, but as I get older, the swap from days to nights and back again is far different than it was in my 20s. Overall though……I’m handling it and it’s a pretty decent shift, location and ER team, so truly no complaints.

My next assignment is bringing us to New Hampshire in August to a small town, and somewhat rural facility so this should be interesting. I did have a great conversation and interview with the manager so the vibe is a positive start. Housing proved challenging, however, we were able to secure a SWEET location and townhouse through November. Hoping future housing will be easier since we will have “boots on the ground” and can search in person.

With a month to go until we scoot north, we are doing our best to check a lot of boxes off:

1. Moving our son home from college to finish his remaining classes online and settled at home. Gives him time to transition as well as become familiar with the expectations of home maintenance with the girls while we are gone. Wish us luck.

2. Buttoning down the house to be as little maintenance as possible while we are gone. Thank you Hubby! This has been ALL him! As well as trying to infuse all our “house” knowledge to the kids so that they can keep the house up and troubleshoot any issues when they arise. Most recently a plumbing issue. sigh

3. Visiting with friends and fam as often as possible until we go. We took a trip to North Florida last weekend to meet up with several friends and it was a fantastic time visiting and catching up—-well worth the drive time!! Bridge walks, sunrise beach walks, hanging by the pool, beach and dinners are all taking place in the weeks ahead! Friendships are so important in life and like anything else, need nurturing and attention. The benefits to your heart, soul and mental health are priceless and I will gladly make that effort every time!

4. Work on finishing compliance items for the new assignment, doctor’s appointments, car maintenance and vet and nail appointments for the pupper to prep us all as much as possible for our trip.

5. We’ve purchased a few things such as hiking shoes, boots, and winter coats and we will see how much we can cram in the car and if we will need to ship anything up. It’s going to be interesting……and all part of the adventure. YIKES! I hate packing though.

Hopefully it won’t be another 3 months before I blog again—we know I go in spurts! So stay tuned as we head north!