Year in Review Meme: 2008

While I'm usually not that into memes there is a meme out there right now that I find interesting. It's a "Year in Review" meme for bloggers and I think it's an interesting way to sum up the year. So I'm getting in line with the lemmings and hopping aboard the meme train. :-)

Here's how it works: Jot down the first line of a definitive or memorable post from each month in 2008. I don't think my first-liners are all that great and probably don't really reflect my entire post since I tend to ramble and wander from subject to subject. So, to give things more context, sometimes I broke the rules and included more than just the first sentence. There were some months were a bunch of big stuff happened but I just picked the post with the best first-liner. There were other months where the most significant post didn't have the greatest first line but since the post was particularly meaningful to me, I included it anyway. It was pretty amazing to read over everything that has happened over the last year. I knew that there had been a lot of changes in my life and that I had gone through some intense stuff but there's just something about reading my thoughts in those moments. It's almost like reliving a piece of the past.

January: Big Changes, Big Week
"Alright so last week I thought I had everything together. . ."

February: Moving Day
"I absolutely cannot believe that we are actually moving [to Orlando]!!"

March: I'm Official
"To all who care: it's official!!! I'm an ARNP!!!"

April: Week Of Goodbyes
"Well, I did it! I've made it to my last week at Shands. Tomorrow I'll be driving up to Gainesville for work for the last time!!"

May: Cruisin
"Well, it's about that time. Tomorrow we leave for the port in Miami and by dinnertime we'll be setting sail on our first cruise!!"

June: Back to the grind
"Well, I've been back at it for a little over a week now. The cruise was fun but mostly just nice to get away from everything for a little while."

July: N/A
Cuz' I'm a dork and didn't post in July. ;-)

August: Truly. Wretched. Night.
"Well, last Tuesday (August 5th) started out like any other day. But by the end of my shift on Wednesday morning, it would go down in history as 'Hell Day.'"

September: We got a house!!
"So, yeah, after my truly wretched night, I haven't really been in a blogging kinda mood. But actually it's been an eventful month."

October: Life and Death (a very personal, profound post for me and hard to re-read)
"Yeah, so as much as this particular job stinks, my job in general is pretty cool. I mean, I save babies. How much more noble can you get than that really?"

November: What a GREAT day!
"So we are officially home-owners! I can't believe today is closing day! This past week has been (yet another) week of big changes. And all of them wonderful!"

World Diabetes Day (I just couldn't leave this one out.)
"Well, today, November 14th, is World Diabetes Day. For whatever reason, I was inspired to Google some new blogs and I was curious if I could find a few from people like me living with Type 1 diabetes. Well, I found more than a few!! I found hundreds."

December: Merry Christmas!!
"I know I'm late (what's new, right?) but I did want to hop on the world wide web and be sure to wish every one out there a very Merry Christmas."

Here's to a happy, healthy, wonderful (and hopefully less eventful) 2009!!
Happy New Year!
~Layne

Merry Christmas!!

I know I'm late (what's new, right?) but I did want to hop on the world wide web and be sure to wish every one out there a very Merry Christmas.

I was exhausted after working an unexpectedly crazy shift on Christmas Eve and we did our normal house-hopping routine for the holidays, but despite all the commuting and lack of sleep, Brad and I had a wonderful Christmas.

We got to see so many of the people we love that we, unfortunately, don't see often enough. We ate delicious food and gave and received some festive gifts and had an all-around wonderful time. I wish nothing less for you and yours this Christmas!!

~Layne

Holiday Madness

No, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth! I have been incredibly busy lately both with work and trying to get ready for Christmas. I don' know what is wrong with me this year but I have no clue what to get anyone and try as I might, I can't seem to get my act together. Well, to cut myself a little slack, driving to and from work 2.5 hours roundtrip and working nights doesn't much put one in the mood to do anything other than sleep. I certainly never feel like leaving the house. Which really is a shame, since I love my new car and wish I could enjoy driving it more but I hate being in the damn thing! I bought the car on August 30th of this year and it was brand new with only 6 miles on it. Now it has over 8600 miles in less than 4 months!! It's a love/hate relationship, really.

I could go on and on but the truth is the crazy commute will be over soon. I'm going down to part-time and I will only be working one shift per week starting the first of February. Since we are moving farther away I knew that I just couldn't commit to working more than that when it will be an hour and a half away from home. Speaking of home. . . .

Brad and I are 23 days out from moving into our new house!! Yaaayyeeeeee!!! And for those of you math-inclined people who will notice a discrepancy since the last countdown reminder: we moved our move date up by a week. We will be painting and putting down flooring the first week of January and then voila! We're in! And I'm so completely stoked. As much as I love the house (and I do) the main reason I'm so happy is that I can't stand where we live now. Lake Nona is beautiful but it's painfully far away from everything. My family, my friends and even stuff to do (movies, malls, restaurants, etc.). This may not be so bad but considering I'm so sick of the inside of that car I could scream (see above) the idea of driving 30-45 minutes to visit with people, shop or go to the movies on my time off is the opposite of appealing. So I'm a hermit.

But we are moving to Winter Park which is infinitely more central and so much closer to everything!! I even have a Moe's less than 2 miles away . . . and if you've ever met me, you know that I love me some Moe's. I've even perfected the burrito:insulin ratio so that my bloodsugars even love Moe's. And I must say, it's been a difficult 8 months without my Moo Moo Mr. Cow every week. (And if you don't know what I'm talking about, I must say I'm truly sorry.)

In other exciting news, I interviewed for pretty much my dream job 2 weeks ago. It's in a Level 3 NICU 15 minutes away from where we will live. I've heard nothing but good things about this hospital system and really hope I get this position. Supposedly they are making their decision this week but I'm not going to hold my breath. I've been in contact with the higher ups from this NICU for almost a year and as nice as they are, timely they are not. If they say I will know something this week or next week, I'm expecting to hear back mid-January. :-) I was up against 4 other practitioners, 3 brand new, no experience (but they are all working there as nurses now) and one with 10 years of NNP experience who will be moving from out of state. Funnily enough, 2 of the candidates were my classmates in the Master's program. And then there's me, 9 months of experience in a Level 2. They have 2 positions to fill and I seriously have no clue which candidates they will choose. Please pray for me. Maybe I'll get an early (or late) Christmas present in the form of a shiny new job! Eeek!! :-)

Cautiously hopeful,
~Layne

PS: Earlier in the week my mom and grandmother and I got together to make cookies which we probably haven't done since the 80's or at least since high school. I got to choose the cookies and we ended up making powdered sandies, peanut butter kiss cookies and crack cookies. And I (begrudgingly) took half of each batch home with me. My waistline is not thanking me but they were oh so delicious.