From where you are...

"From Where You Are"
By Jason Wade, Lifehouse

So far away from where you are
These miles have torn us worlds apart
And I miss you
Yeah I miss you

So far away from where you are
And standing underneath the stars
And I wish you
Were here

I miss the years that were erased
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things
I never thought that they’d mean everything to me
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you
Were here

I feel the beating of your heart
I see the shadows of your face
Just know that wherever you are
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you
Were here

I miss the years that were erased
I miss the ways the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things
I never thought that they'd mean everything to me
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you
Were here

So far away from where you are
These miles have torn us worlds apart
And I miss you
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you
Were here

66H (in transition) out...

He was still wearing his green boot socks...

Why that will be the thing I remember most about the Soldier that came into the ER after shooting himself in the head with a .40 caliber pistol, I don't know... But he was wearing his green boot socks with his civilian clothes.

The Army is a strange thing, it really does become a part of the fabric of who you are, even when you are not in uniform or on duty. For example, at this very moment, I am sitting around the house in one of my PT shirts... I don't have to wear one again until Tuesday night, when I go back to work, but I am still wearing it for no reason in particular. The funny thing is, when my active duty service obligation is up next year, I will keep all of my uniforms and I will probably still wear my PT shirts, because the Army will always be a part of me.

Anyhow, the above was a rough ending to an emotionally rough week. I am ready for William to come home... Seven more months to go as of today. The official countdown begins...

66H (in transition) out...

I am getting fairly proficient at this WiFi pirating business...

So, my first few days of work went well, one trauma and one intubation... Nothing too crazy. But, I have a feeling it will be a LONG six weeks of orientation... For both me and my preceptor. Ha-ha. Aside from that, the people I work with are really great and have been very welcoming of me. I have already made a couple of friends that I will definitely be hanging out with. I have also looked into several running clubs in the El Paso area... I need to get back to running and really would like to run at least one half marathon this year.

Anyhow, I just thought I would pop on and jot a few things down. Nothing too exciting...

66H (in transition) out...

$143.20 for flowers and plants?!

Yep, that's right... I spent almost $150 on plants yesterday...

I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with an excellent pulled chicken burrito from Taco Cabana, chips, guacamole and a little dirt on my hands from planting. I am a little anxious about it since this is my first endeavor with planting. I mean, I have had house plants before, but never transferred them to other, more stylish pots, or actually planted flowers. I tried quite hard to stack the deck as far in my favor as possible... I bought hearty flowers that like sun; I bought Miracle Gro potting mix that is supposed to be smart enough to regulate how much water it absorbs to prevent over, or under watering; and I bought them at Home Depot, which gives me 90 days to kill them and get new ones, or a refund. Ha-ha. We shall see if keeping plants alive is in my repertoire of talents. Just in case they don't survive, I made sure to have digital documentation that they actually thrived at one time...

Anyhow, I bought all of my navy blue scrubs, and some new clogs, so I am ready to rock-and-roll on my first day of work tomorrow. My only complaint is the colors we are allowed to wear... Navy blue or forest green, yuck. However, I did manage to find a shade of navy blue that isn't too bad, but it makes me feel like I am in nursing school all over again, since we wore navy blue scrubs during clinical. Oh well, whatever. I am still excited to get bact to work.

And getting back to work will be good for my wallet too... I have invested more money than I had intended in my last two "prevent-me-from-being-bored-out-of-my-mind" projects... But both of them turned out quite nice, so I guess it was worth it. Ha-ha. Aside from my planting project, I printed off four of my favorite photos of Will and I in black-and-white and framed them in matching photos to hang as a group in my little desk area. They turned out awesome and take me back to my fondest memories of us together.

Well, I guess that is about it for now...

66H (in transition) out...

I have been fully assimilated...

I finished in-processing today and I start work on Wednesday... Oh yeah! Actually, I have really been waiting to get back to work, it helps me keep my mind off Will and keeps my focus elsewhere. And believe you me, I will have plenty of work to do in the next six weeks... Weekly written goals and objectives, a weekly written literature review of a peer-reviewed article for presentation to my head nurse and whomever else feels like listening, a skills evaluation checklist to complete, and bi-weekly self-evaluations. Good thing I haven't completely gotten out of school mode! Ha-ha. But, I am not complaining by any means, I am really ready to get back into the mix of ER nursing and test-drive all of this knowledge I just gained!

So, I still need to get those plants I was talking about... My apartment and my patio need some color and some life. I guess I just put it on the docket for this afternoon. Ha-ha.

Other than that, not much else is going on, but stay tuned... I will start having some interesting stuff to write about soon!

66H (in transition) out...

Silly Audrey!

So... Apparently, I have been a day behind for a couple of days now... I am not sure why I thought today was Saturday and yesterday was Friday. But it was a little bit of a shock when I got in my car and the DJ on the radio was like "I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday afternoon..." I was like WHAT?! Oh well, whatever, I don't have too much to do right now. I spent all day yesterday and half of today reading This Much I know Is True, by Wally Lamb. It was such an engrossing book, I couldn't put it down! It is almost 1000 pages long and I read it in two days... No joke.

Anyhow, I guess I am going to leave Starbucks, stop pirating Super 8 Motel's WiFi for a hot second, go get some plants for the apartment like I planned on doing today, and maybe go get another book or two. Maybe I'll work out for the first time in ages later this evening... Ugh, I am really out of shape, it is pretty ridiculous.

I am almost done in-processing at the hospital, only a few more stops tomorrow, then it is back to work in the ER for this Army nursey...

66H (in transition) out...

Finally settling in...

Well, I am finally getting things in order here in El Paso. I rented a cute little apartment on the west-end of El Paso with all of the amenities a girl could ask for... Gated access, 24-hour fitness center, pool, a little patio, trash pick-up, etc. Jinx seems to enjoy the new apartment too, because the windows are big and close to the floor so she can bird watch and enjoy the sunshine. I also live near two gas stations with diesel, a Wal-mart supercenter, a Taco Cabana, a Whataburger and a drive-thru Starbucks, so one could say that I have everything I could ever ask for! I will really feel at home when I get my phone, internet and cable set up next week.

Ft. Bliss is sort of an interesting place... It is HUGE, and I have taken a couple of unplanned tours of the post... Ha-ha. I did manage to find the gas station with diesel fuel, the PX and the commissary... Collectively known as the three most important places on post. There is a museum and Air Defense Artillery gift shop with various rockets, aircraft, and tanks on display in the parking lot (since Ft. Bliss is home of the ADA), as well as a little depiction of what the old Ft. Bliss looked like, complete with a couple of clay builings, faux horses and a little museum... Of course, me being the nerd that I am, I had to document them digitally. Ha-ha.

I finished in-processing to post yesterday and stopped by the hospital to meet my new Head Nurse and started in-processing to the company today. For those that have never had the pleasure of in-processing anywhere, it can be a slow and painful process, so I attack it like ripping off a band-aid... I just do it quickly; It still hurts, but you get it over with. Ha-ha.

Anyhow, I decided to take the afternoon off, since I have 5 days to in-process to the hospital and I got about 1/4 of it done today. So I sit here in the Starbucks, pirating the Super 8 Motel's free Wifi to surf the web, drinking my grande iced mocha, blogging and relaxing. Ha-ha.

I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all...

66H (in transition) out...