Somewhere, inside, I'm still a nurse

I'm really struggling with this new job. I don't think I ever appreciated how organized the hospital that I've been working at has been. I say this because I'm actually shocked at the level of disorganization that I face almost daily at my new job, from the human resources level. Human resources should mean that they work with humans, ie., me. I frequently speak on the phone with someone from their office in order to try and clear up something else that isn't working. For instance, getting paid. Yet, it doesn't seem like they know how to deal with humans because they seem to treat me like I don't really exist at all. It is very easy to be passed along to 3 or 4 more people until you reach someone who knows what you are even talking about and who can assist you. Maybe this is just the real world of working during the day and I just have to deal with it. Fine.

My other issue about this job is that I didn't get a heck of a lot of orientation. So I spend much of my time trying to figure out what it is that I should be doing, asking a lot of basic questions, and making phone calls. When I started, I was sort of put on my own with instructions to "just call if you need anything!" but I'm not really sure what I need. This I keep finding out along the way. I'm pretty sure most people do not go through life just knowing, off hand, how to do an MDT, an SAP, and put those in the student's IHP. Somewhere, I've missed out on all of this and I'm learning as I go, and most days I feel, not like a nurse, but just some dummy who is in the office for the day. I try to remind myself that, no, I'm actually a nurse. I try to remember some of the things I was able to do for a living at my last job: save lives, fly in helicopters, witness a new life being born, etc. I'm really not so dumb as I am probably coming across, and I would like to shout it out to the people I work with, or at least send a memo about it.

This past weekend, we were able to spend time with our good friends, Greg and Carmen. G & C came to visit us because they had a weekend off and they don't actually live in our town. We went to Red Robin (yum) and I had my usual Royal Burger: basically one of their burgers with bacon and cheese, but they also put a fried egg on it. As I said, yum. I've tried to make this on my own at home, but it isn't the same. They also brought the home game of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? I figured out after playing that, I'm not. I missed a lot of questions! Although, I was feeling good about answering what kind of a baby has a horse for a mother and a zebra for a father? Answer: a zorse. (Unlike a hebra, which was my 2nd choice). Anyway, it was fun, and you know, the good friend thing. Could my trouble at work have anything to do with not being smarter than a 5th grader? I wonder if they are related. Somehow, I doubt it.

Happy Birthday to Wu

Saturday, the first day of Labor Day weekend. And it's September! That might imply some upcoming cooler weather, but it's supposed to be 90 all weekend. Our house projects are continuing to keep us busy, and we seem to be taking on more than we are finishing. So, this will really be a laboring weekend because we have so much work to do. In fact, while I'm still sitting here typing this in my pajamas, Russ is outside moving concrete from our front step.
Thursday was our little guy's birthday. He's one! In celebration, we went out for Chinese food and had birthday cake and ice cream. I think I actually felt a little sad, because he's not here with us. Most kids have a first birthday party with their parents and it is, many times, a big deal. So it seemed a little abnormal to being having the party without the kid. Ok, but what part of all of this has been normal?

Last Thursday, some of my co-workers threw me a "toddler" shower. It was so sweet! I really was overwhelmed by their generosity toward us, and, like us, acting on faith that this little boy will someday come and be part of our family. So now, we have a lot of toys, clothes, and books waiting for him. I had to take a picture of some of my favorite things that we received. Russ and I also bought him something for his birthday, although we are not allowed to send it until after our dossier has been sent to China. We bought him a little stuffed beagle, which we can hopefully send soon. I hope he likes it--and then when he comes home he can meet the real thing!
We have also decided on a name! We've actually been asked about this numerous times. It is only second to "so, have you found out when you are getting him?" Well, at least I can have an answer to the first question. His name is going to be Caleb Wu Lee Brannagan. Caleb means "bold" and he is named after the Caleb of the Bible, who remained faithful to God. And while we had always been planning to use a Chinese middle name, it wasn't always going to be Wu. But we kept it because, hey, that's all we've been calling him these past weeks. We couldn't let it go. "Lee" is the middle name of Russ, his dad, and my dad, and we like it, so we had to use it. So that's the official name, and now I just have to get used to calling him something else while we wait.
So, Caleb, happy birthday, buddy.