I can't believe it finally happened....

I was able to actually speak with the nursing supervisor of the Labor and Delivery unit for Riverton hospital last week Friday. She assured me that she had received all my messages, and that things had just really been crazy. She told me that she wanted me on her team, she just didn't have a place for me at the time. She told me to please keep checking in with her on a regular basis, and that I would be hired as soon as there was a place for me. So I figured the earliest there might be an opening would be this coming Spring, as that is when that unit tends to be the busiest. So, I was planning on a rather lengthy wait. After this conversation, I promptly emailed the nursing supervisor of the med/surg unit at Riverton to inquire about needs there. She sent me a reply the next day stating that she wouldn't be able to do any more hiring until possibly January, and that she would gladly snap me up when she got approval to hire...either way, I was going to end up at that hospital!

I continued to call in for my scheduled shifts, and my extra ones. On Tuesday night I started feeling funny, scratchy throat and burning lungs, no head congestion though...so i thought maybe it was some air pollution irritation...until the fever started and the coughing began. By Wednesday I was totally miserable, and I was scheduled for a 12 hour shift that night, which I worked - it was seriously the longest night of my life. I had a puppet show the next morning which I dragged myself to and through. By the time I got home I was a total wreck. I shoved something down my throat and dragged myself up to my bed. This was about 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, I didn't wake up until 7a.m. Friday morning. I have never slept that long in my entire life, and I felt much better for it. I still feel kind of crappy, now it's in my head...headache, stuffy/runny nose....maybe that means it's on its way out....

Anyway...on with the story....I was getting ready to head out to a puppet show for my son's entire 4th grade, when my cell started to ring. I, of course, didn't reach it on time, so I immediately redialed the number and Nina Griffin from Human Resources answered. She asked me if I remembered applying for a position in Riverton's Labor and Delivery unit and I replied that I most definitely did, and then she asked me if I was still interested and I said, "Yes, of course!" And then she uttered some of the most beautiful words one can hear from any one in a position to hire..." We would like to extend and offer of employment to you..." I was just giddy with excitement, I couldn't believe it, FINALLY!!! So, my start date is December 27th, I am so excited - I can hardly wait!

Life Goes On.....and on......and on

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's been a couple of weeks, so I figure I better update! A few weeks ago, I received a couple of missed calls on my cell while I was at work. They were from Rob because the night had been particularly rough. Quentin kept waking up every hour crying and in pain because he could not breathe. His crying would wake up Haedyn, and she would start crying. Rob would get Quentin re-settled and then Haedyn, and then Quentin would wake up again, and the cycle would start all over - poor Rob. I finished my shift at the hospital, took a nap in the back of my van, went to perform a puppet show, and came home. I could hear Quentin before I saw him, he sounded horrible, and I knew he would require a trip to the doctor's office...ugh...I was so tired, I just wanted to go to bed! But I knew I would just get woken up by a sad and tired little boy, so I called the doctor, and they were able to get him right in. By the time I got him there, he was in pretty bad shape. They gave him a breathing treatment, but he didn't improve much. It was then decided that he needed an epinephrine nebulizer treatment. Normally, this would require a trip to the ER, but we were in luck, it could now be done in the doctor's office - it only required a 4 hour observation......WHAT? I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours or so, and I was exhausted, but he wasn't improving, and I wanted to avoid a hospitalization, so I agreed. Poor little man slept through most of the treatment and was just an irritable little creature through most of our stay. I wasn't able to sleep either, as there was really no place to lay down in a pediatrician's exam room, so it was pretty miserable all the way around. Eventually we were able to go home, but the doctor really thought we were going to be back in the ER again that night because Quentin really wasn't showing much improvement after 5 and a half hours of treatment. I took him home and put him to bed and put the cool mist humidifier in his room on full blast, it wasn't long before he was sleeping comfortably. I went down to fix dinner and then Rob had to leave for class. The night didn't end there either...oh no...I had gone and signed up for a Zumba class for a relief society girl's night out. Glutton for punishment that I am, I went. It was a lot of fun even if I was beyond the point of exhaustion. I guess it was good that I was so tired, because I could see that I was the fattest woman in the room, but I didn't really care. I worked really hard during that class and I figured that I would not be able to move the next day. Amazingly enough, I wasn't the least bit sore the next morning!

I have been working a lot of hours lately as well. December is traditionally a slow month in the health care business. No one wants to be in a hospital during the holidays, and so I get cancelled a lot. So I have been putting in 40 hour weeks to hopefully lessen the blow when the shift famine starts. I actually got to put in a shift at the new Riverton hospital this last Wednesday, and I really enjoyed it. I was talking to the night nursing supervisor while I was there, he was someone that I knew from the 8th floor at Intermountain Medical Center, I told him about my dilemma with the Labor and Delivery floor there, and he suggested that I just show up on the floor in the next few days and reconnect with the nurse manager, and see if she will give me an answer. He then mentioned that if they didn't want me, that their unit could definitely use me. The charge nurse was also in on this conversation, and told me that she had already emailed her boss about hiring me out of the float pool. Just a side note, her boss used to be our Education Director in the float pool, and she knows me quite well. So, there might be an opportunity there - we'll see...

My adventure doesn't end there however, as I had to return to Riverton this morning with Haedyn. It seems that croup has visited us again. Haedyn wasn't in as bad of shape as Quentin had been, but I wasn't going to wait for it to get to that point. I had put the cool mist humidifier on her for the past two nights, and she was starting to get worse. When I got to the ER, I was the only one there and was immediately taken back. Treatment was started immediately with a cool mist nebulizer which was followed by a decadron syrup dose which we hid in apple juice. By the end of two hours time, she was hardly wheezing and had stopped coughing. The doctor warned me that she might get worse tonight and that we should bring her back if that did happen. I am working a 12 hour shift right now, and my phone has been quiet, so I think she is probably fine for now. At this point, I am just hoping to remain awake for the next hour or so, so that I can return home, crawl into my bed, and sleep for a few hours. There is a plan that includes my mother in law, sister in law, my daughter, and myself going to see New Moon later on today. I saw Twilight with Brenna when it first came out, and was really disappointed along with a lot of other book fans. I have been promised that this movie is a much better representation of the book....we shall see.....

Yep...I'm bragging...

I just finished with yet another round of parent-teacher conferences. The boys did okay. Jaron got told that he just needed to relax and not stress so much, that he was doing fine. He has made huge strides in his reading levels. Cade is his usual rambunctious self, he has a need to touch everything, it's harmless, but people outside of his everyday life just freak out. His classmates like to use it to set him off. They tattle on him everytime he starts checking something out and then he gets in trouble, and then he gets mad. He hates being singled out, always has. I think if everyone concerned would just quit freaking out over nothing, then he would be just fine. He has also greatly improved in his reading levels and mathematics just seems to come naturally to him, but he hates to write. He seems to be struggling a bit this year, but I am sure that once we straighten things out, things should get better for him.
Brenna, on the other hand, is a whole different story. This child has gone and gotten A's in just about every academic area, especially in language arts. She got B's in Math and Science. She says that since she has gotten her glasses, math has been a lot easier - since she can now see the numbers and problems up on the board! She went and entered into the yearly Reflections contest this year. She created 4 separate entries for this contest, one in 3-d art, one in photography, one in music composition, and one in general fine arts. She ended up placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and received a participation award. She basically placed for every entry, it was amazing! None of the projects have been returned to her, so we are guessing that they go on to the state level competition. She did every last project on her own, granted, she waited until the day before they were due for a couple of them (can you say stressed out mommy?) but she got them all done and turned in! During her parent teacher conference,her teacher showed me her results from last years state end of year tests....she beat the STATE'S top score by a clean 20 points, I was - once again - completely amazed! Yeah...I was proud too...just a little...

I Can't Believe He's Four!

Quentin Joel Fox turned four today! When did that happen? It's almost as if he went from baby to big boy overnight, kind of sobering.

We started the day with the traditional birthday pancake. Quentin wasn't all too thrilled with this at first. He covered up his face when we started to sing to him and wanted us to stop. But after he blew out his candle, he was just fine, and happily plowed his way through two of them. After breakfast, his older siblings went off to school, and Quentin was ready to go to the toy store - NOW. He slapped on a pair of sandals and headed outside to get in the car. We were able to lure him back in the house, where Rob read him a Seuss Birthday Book, then he took a bath, and then we were ready to go! I had a puppet show to go do, so he came with me, and he actually watched it! After that, we hit Toys r Us, and he was in heaven. He of course wanted just about everything in the store that was transportation related. He found the battery powered ride on toys and decided that the kiddie Cadillac Escalade was the ride for him. He kept telling me, "but I wuv it mommy, I wuv it!" I then told him he already had something similar at home, to which he replied, "I pwomise, but I pwomise!" Not sure exactly what he was promising, but we eventually left with a nice wooden train set. He fell asleep on the way home, and I woke him up trying to get him into the house (that kid is heavy!) He wasn't ready to wake up and was pretty ornery for about 15 minutes, until we opened his new train set. Then he was once again his jolly little self. We then took him out for a late lunch at
Wendy's, where he downed an entire kids meal, then we went to the local library where he checked out an entire pile of Bob the Builder DVD's. Then we returned home again, where he continued to play with his train set for hours, and was still going strong when I left for work. We will be having a party for him this Saturday, where we will do the cake and ice cream thing - the kids were rather disappointed about the no cake thing tonight stating that it was his birthday today, and he just HAD to have a cake! But there was no cake tonight, and Quentin really didn't seem to mind. He knows he is having a birthday party in a couple of days and he is excited for all his friends to come and celebrate with him.
Love you birthday boy! Thanks for choosing our family! I hope you had fun today!

Still waiting....

and waiting, and waiting. Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I HATE waiting! IHC Riverton is opening in just a few short hours and I am still, as of yet, not on their payroll. Labor and Delivery called me back for a third interview, it has all been kind of strange. I got a call from the recruiter stating that the nurse manager had some additional questions for me and how soon could I meet with them. I of course said whenever, name the time, I'm there! She told me to go to the hospital that Thursday at noon. Thursday came, noon arrived, and I was at the hospital, in the brand spanking new Labor and Delivery unit. I wandered around a bit, there were tons of people there, all staff doing training modules and pass-offs (lucky ducks!) I was finally able to locate the nurse manager, and she looked slightly confused to see me standing in front of her. I told her who had sent me and why as well as who I was. She told me that she remembered who I was and was happy to see me, but that she had not been told I was coming for another interview. My heart started hammering at this point and I was starting to feel kind of stupid. But she countered all that with an "I wanted to talk to you again anyway, so there is no better time than now!" Thank you! Panic attack averted.....
She took me to her office and we sat down and started to chat. She relayed to me that the recruiter had told her that I had additional questions for her. Ummmmm, welllllll, not really, the recruiter had told me that the nurse manager had additional questions for me. Things were really starting to not add up, but I refused to be swayed. We continued talking and she asked me if I had any Scrub Tech experience to which I replied that I did not. She asked me if I had any HUC experience to which I replied that I had plenty of administrative assistant experience, just not in a Health Unit Coordinator position. She asked if I could use the company computer system, to which I answered yes, and I also added that I had helped HUC's on other units assemble patient charts. That was a plus that pleased. She of course asked about my puppet shows and I told her that these were entirely negotiable - they could be rescheduled, cancelled, or performed by someone else...not an obstacle at all. She then started ruminating about how soon she could work me into a scrub tech class, and told me that of course I knew that I would start out in the HUC position and then once I was done with the scrub class that I would move into Scrub Tech (this means I would be assisting with cesarean sections) very interesting work, and a decent pay scale bump as well. Then she asked if I had any questions for her. I asked about the class and how long it would take, she never really answered me. She was thinking out loud at this point, trying to figure how she was going to fit me in for all this, and then I asked her when I might be contacted for start dates and such. Then the bombshell dropped....she looked at me with a rather pained expression and said,"I interviewed someone yesterday and offered her the position." I remained cool, calm, and collected, although I wanted nothing more than to run out of her office, screaming like a banshee, "NOT AGAIN!" then she said, "but....." my ears perked up, hope started to bubble from the depths...."the other candidate has another job on the weekends and doesn't want to work them. She has until Monday to accept or decline the offer." My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. She offered this person a job when they flat out said they would not work weekends.....WHAT THE.....and I got turned down after the first round because they 'thought' I might not be as available as I claimed to be???? HUH????? So, as all this contradiction is swirling in my brain, I look at her and ask her to clarify the position, after all, she did say 'techs'. She then informs me that that is the ONLY position she has available at this time and that if I don't make it in this time, that I will be at the top for next time in December/January. Oh heaven help me, does it never end???????? I feel like the proverbial horse with a carrot dangling in front of my nose. I feel seriously toyed with.
All of this occurred on the 22nd of October. I have still heard absolutely nothing. I am quite positive that if the other candidate had declined the offer, that I would have been offered the job already. So I really have no other choice than to accept the inevitable rejection. I have called the recruiter, I have called the interviewing nurse manager, and I have spoken with my current nurse manager. The first and latter of the above mentioned group know nothing and have heard nothing. The nurse manager I spoke with hasn't returned any of my calls. I don't feel I can continue to call her without making a complete pest of myself. So now I pull back, and wait...and wait..and wait.......and wait some more. Serious Frustration Inflicted....need I say more?

IHC Maternity Hates Me

Pass me the short straw, find me some worms, here we go again.....I interviewed with Riverton hospital for a position in their maternity unit about 3 weeks ago. I even got called back for an individual interview. My nurse manager gave me the green light and a glowing recommendation when she was called as a reference. I got a strange email Wednesday morning about attending another interview at the hospital for the same position and that I needed to call to set it up. I called and played a bit of phone tag with the recruiter. When we finally caught up with one another, she began rapidly giving directions on where I needed to go and what I needed to bring and that I needed to be prepared to answer a question during the interview, which she would email me within a couple of hours. When she paused to draw breath I jumped in with, "Would the question, by chance, be this..?" and I proceeded to give her the question verbatim. She sounded very surprised that I knew the question and asked me how it was that I came by this knowledge. I informed her that I had just interviewed a little over two weeks ago and had even been through the individual portion and answered said question. "oh....ummmmmm.......let me get back to you after I find out what it is the nurse managers want." "okay" I said.."If they are doing another round of interviews to narrow down the field, I am game." We hung up. She called me back a couple hours later and informed me that they had given her the wrong list and that I was not needed at the interviews on Friday. Tonight, right before I called in for my shift, an email appeared in my inbox from Human Resources....

"Thank you for your interest in the position of Patient Care Technician/CNA - Maternity - Riverton Hospital-65677 We appreciated the opportunity to discuss your experience and background related to this position.

We have narrowed the field of candidates to those whose training and experience most closely matches our needs. Unfortunately, you are not among the final group of candidates being considered."

Heart hits the floor, turn on the waterworks....my night is ruined. Rob gave me a sympathetic hug and said, "Don't give up" I just said, "whatever, this just keeps happening."

So, why is the one place I want to be most, the one place I'm not allowed to be for whatever unknown reason? What's the deal universe? Give this girl a break! I know all that good stuff about the Lord's timetable, and patience has not been one of my strong points and there is probably a very good reason as to why....but I am just too distraught/pissed/downhearted to see it and/or accept it with any sort of grace.

That's all folks.....

Time Flies When You are Insane(ly) busy......

My four older children have been out in California having the time of their young lives, so what's my excuse?
I thought while the olders were gone, that I would finally get a handle on the mild chaos that is my house.....well, I thought about it! The only thing I got done was to get all of the clothes off the boys bedroom floor, really ambitious, eh?
Rob and I have been spending a lot of time with our adorable little baby, and both of us have been trying to keep on top of school work as well. I have been pulling extra shifts whenever the hospital will let me, which has been quite often lately. And I also got an interview for the maternity unit at the new Riverton hospital that is slated to open here in November. I interviewed last week Friday with a group of about 20 other women. They only held back a handful for individual interviews, of which I was one. I was told that they were looking to fill the positions within a week, I called today and was told that they were still checking references and that no offers had, as yet, been extended. I took that as a pretty good sign that I was still in the running. Because if they weren't even the slightest bit impressed by me in the individual interview, then I would've already gotten the rejection e-mail. It still might very well be in the works, but I will try to stay positive on this one.
So, that is the latest in this neck of the woods....