Part of what has kept us busy around here is my job search. I am in a bit of a tough situation in that I cannot work 12 hour shifts in the ER while Kimber is traveling (daycare here is from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm). Even though I have a Masters degree in nursing and twenty years of experience in leadership and management, I only have one year of actual bedside experience as a nurse. HR departments are hesitant about sending my resume to the unit directors for nursing management positions because they only view me as having one year of nursing experience and do not take the other experience into consideration.
For this reason, I decided to submit my application to a nursing staffing agency. This gives me the flexibility to work when I am available (when Kimber is not traveling), higher pay (it is basically a contracted position), and best of all, allows me to keep working in the ER (which is something I really love doing!) I completed all the paperwork and tests, and am only waiting to finish re-certification on Pediatric Advanced Life Support next week. The agency has assured me that as an ER nurse, they will keep me as busy as I want to be. This will also give me the opportunity to bypass those HR departments and get directly in front of the ER directors and prove my value. Perhaps if I educate them on the role of a Clinical Nurse Leader, they will be interested in creating a position for me.
As for other things, we spent a nice Thanksgiving here at home, then went down to Bolivar to spend a night with Kevin, Dawn and William at Kevin's beach house. The weather was cool, but the cold front that came through made the shelling pretty good. We found several really nice shells, and Sidney had a great time playing with William. We also had some really good meals while we were there, and of course enjoyed the company. On the ferry ride back, there were lots of dolphins swimming near the ferry, which is also always a treat!
Sidney and I have been dealing with the day-to-day stuff here. We did, however, venture over to Space Center Houston and the Johnson Space Center last weekend. The weather was much warmer (near 80F) so I wanted to take advantage of it. We got there early enough to get right on to a tram tour of the space center. The first stop was Mission Control, which is pictured here.
One of the other stops was the vehicle simulation building, where the space station module mock-ups they use for training is located. In addition, the building houses a full-size shuttle mock-up, two other shuttle cockpit models, and several vehicles being developed for future missions to the moon and Mars. You can see a couple of the new rovers in the background here.
During the tram ride, they play an audio presentation that tells about the history of the area and other space-related things. It was very cool when I heard one of the past shuttle and space station astronauts come on and talk about his experiences. His name is Clayton (Clay) Anderson, and he went to church with us when we lived in Friendswood five years ago!
The final stop on the tram tour was the Heritage Park, where rockets of the past are located, including the rockets that carried the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. It is difficult to describe how large the Saturn V rocket really is. Here you see Sidney posing in front of one of the earlier rockets, then in front of one of five exhaust cones of the Saturn V rocket.
Sidney enjoyed the Space Center Houston portion as well, especially the big playground they have inside. I think she would have spent all day there if given the choice. There are a lot of exhibits to see in this part, and one of the newer ones (it wasn't open when we were here before) is the Lunar Rock exhibit. Sidney is posing in front of moon rocks here, which are stored in a large vault.
One final note for this posting - Sidney is doing great in school. Her last progress report was all "A's". She is still enjoying reading, at which she excels. She also seems more settled in class. She is singing in the children's choir at church and is supposed to perform this coming Sunday.
I will try to get some pictures of the outside of the house (decorated for Christmas) as well as the upstairs and post them soon.
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