MY house!

What a busy two weeks it has been! The weekend that I went to Edmonton to see my friends, I had my painter go in my house and basically paint my whole house, minus the basement. When I came home that Sunday, I had to go over and check out the colors and fell in love with it! I feel like it is more mine as I have chosen the colors to my liking, just making it feel more, like MY house. Last week was very busy cleaning, moving and cleaning some more. It is shocking to see how some people can live. There was dirt everywhere, and when I pulled out the oven, well, I have NO idea when it was last cleaned! I was probably the last one to do it, 4 years ago. I had the movers bring in my things so the only thing I had to do was unpack and move things over from my mom's house. I have had to do some shopping and am very scared to look at my Visa bill. I got an awesome deal on a Plasma TV, and have had to restock my kitchen as well as odds and ends. The only other big things I need is a TV stand (currently its on my end table) and 2 bedside tables. Those will be purchased when I get back from England! I had my dad help me hang up all my photos and help with other small things that I couldn't quite do myself, and it is truly start to feel like home :)

I've spent three nights here and apart from it being quiet, it has been great. And I think Sarah is getting used to the fact that this is our home. I feel bad as she is at home for so long during the days, but I leave her to have the whole main level so I think she enjoys that!

I have also started my new job at the Santauri Hospice located at the PLC. Yesterday was my first day and it was fantastic! I am so excited to start this new job and am honored to be apart of the opening of the new Hospice as it is going to be so unique to Hospice and the health region. All the nurses, attendants and staff will be contributing to so much of how the unit will run and I am thrilled to be apart of that. We get to help with the design of our own flowsheets, how things will run on the unit, and even the design and what gets put on the walls! It is such a different type of nursing and I can't wait to be apart of the Santauri hospice team as well as our residents' and their families during this special time of their lives. I will miss the last week of the units orientation and I will miss quite a bit, but I will be able to catch up when I get back and I will learn things as I go along. There is tons of support on the unit and they emphasize so much on working as a team, I don't think I will ever feel alone. Because we are our own entity, we will have our own social worker, spiritual care specialist, volunteers specializing in hospice and even our own dietary aide to deliver meals to our residents. Our educator is also amazing and has a ton of palliative and hospice experience. She is very gung-ho to educate us, and continue educating us during our work experience at Santauri. I don't think that it is going to be an easy job, there will be the ups and downs, but I am eager for the change and the challenge and can't wait to start my first shift at the beginning of December.