It feels like forever since I’ve posted on here. Several things have happened in between now and when we left for vacation. I’ll update you as I find the time, I promise!

For starters, vacation was amazing. I had so much fun being there with our family. Let me give you a run-down of the TWELVE people who were there…

So as you can see, we were a full crowd! Chris’ parents have 7 timeshares (only 2 of which his dad knows of – that’s a story for another post), and 2 of those 7 are at the resort in St. Thomas. So, we used 1 of the 3-bedroom timeshares, and then his parents got 3 hotel rooms plus airfare for everyone just off of Marriott points from their Marriott credit card (they’re kind of big spenders). The hotel was literally rightnextto the resort – the only thing separating them was a path. They did a similar thing in 2005 when we all went to Hawaii. So, not only was it a great vacation, but it didn’t cost Chris or me a thing (minus “room + board” for Bear).

I was sad to leave St. Thomas, and not just because we would be coming back to cold, wintery Massachusetts. I was sad because I missed seeing family. I won’t say that I was homesick, because I don’t really miss my “home” in a geographical sense. I miss family. Since I get along so well with all of my in-laws, seeing them was a balm for my spirits. It wasn’t until I could see all the lights of Boston from the airplane that I really realized how much I was going to miss everyone. I started crying right there on the plane! And if you know me, then you know that wasn’t the end of the tears. I cried later that night, on Sunday night, and again on Monday night! I’m glad to say that I’m over it now, but I was pretty down in the dumps for a few days.

Since arriving home I’ve started on my new unit, and I’m sure that doing so has added to the stress. My 3-month rotation program at the hospital ended the day before I left for St. Thomas, so my first day back was on my new, permanent unit. I’m excited to be there, and I think that it’ll be a good fit. They have a new nurse manager who started the same time as me, and she is making a lot of adjustments. In a way, it’s perfect timing because I’m there right from the get-go, learning all of the new things. I don’t have to work myself out of any bad habits, because I wasn’t there to form them in the first place.

There’s also the fact that the staff is really nice. I think that your co-workers make all the difference. I was really nervous that they would be mean or rude or just unfriendly, but so far everyone has been kind, and several have gone out of their way to help me through the learning process. Again, I think that this unit will be a good fit.

There’s more that I could post about, but I think that this one is long enough, at least for starters 🙂 I hope that you all are doing well, and you’ll hear more from me soon. It’s good to be back!