Orientation: Day 1

The hardest thing about working, second only to actually waking up and getting out of bed, is taming this mane:


This is my idea of tame: wax + a hair tie = half up and almost professional???

Okay, so we all hate icebreakers, right? Orientation of course started with talking to your "new best friend" and then introducing them to the rest of the group (close to 30 people) . I was introduced as being "athletic, a runner." Half way through the day a young pharmacist cornered me and asked about my running. We ended up exchanging numbers so his wife and I can be running partners. She sounds a lot faster than I am, but maybe this will be the motivation I need to kick it up a notch. Plus, he's from here and she isn't and she needs to meet people and so do I. Perfect! I also met a new grad RN who will be working on the orthopedics floor. She's from here and knows where to go and where not to go. Again, perfect! I cannot believe that I, the girl who does not speak unless spoken to, got not one but two phone numbers today! Score!

About the orientation itself: boring of course, but it somehow managed to leave me excited to be working for this company (not to mention scared about determining my benefits and 403b plan!).

If you want to laugh, read The Best Man's account of being locked out in his underwear ;)

First Weekend

My first weekend here alone (without The Best Man) and NOT studying went a little something like this:

Friday:
- Began reading Inventing a Nation- Washington, Adams, Jefferson
- Lounged by the pool and got a tinsy bit burned
- Crocheted a scarf for someone from high school...I was supposed to finish this in 2000. . .
- Ran 1.75 miles on the treadmill
- Watched Bridget Jones' Diary & Wimbledon
- Drank wine
- Missed The Best Man (he's in Illinois)
- Texted The Best Man
- Talked to The Best Man

Saturday:
- Recycled the boxes I have unpacked
- Bought a really cute dress from Old Navy
- Ran 1.99 miles on the treadmill
- Finished the scarf noted above and started working on another half finished one
- Watched Serendipity
- Did not drink wine

Sunday:
- Lounged by the pool while reading, crocheting, and listening to the outrageous accents of the other people at the pool
- Cleaned my bathroom
- Grocery shopped
- Elliptical x 20 minutes
- Got ready for my first day of work! :)

Man, what an exciting life I lead!

Don't you hate lying?

Nervous Woman on Airplane: Don't you just hate flying?
Annie Reed: Yes, I do, and I just told the most terrible one to the man I'm about to marry. Do you feel that any lie is a betrayal?
[pause]
Nervous Woman on Airplane: I said FLYING.

Man, what a spectacular movie!

So, I lied. I vowed that I would go out in public, even by myself, so I did. Thursdays and Fridays there are free concerts downtown. So I gave it a shot.

I have this really bad habit that if I make eye contact with someone by accident (while I'm people watching) I keep looking back to see if they think I'm still looking. Well, guess what they keep noticing me and I keep noticing them. This happened with two people tonight. Here's where my lie comes in:

1) An olderish, trying to be younger woman on a date. She just thought I was weird.
2) A mid-to-late-at-least-10-years-older-than-me-man-wearing- tallish-black-socks- with-shorts.
He did not think I was weird.
"Are you waiting for someone?" (As I reached into my purse to call The Best Man)
(Who could I be waiting for in a town where I don't know a soul?)
"Yes?"
"Oh. . . What time is it?"
"Almost 7:30."
"Lovely."

Then I called The Best Man to chat with him on his first leg of his 3 MONTH long road trip. And I left.

Meeting people is hard when you are painfully shy, taken, and piiiicky.

A Kodak moment or two. . .

Good news, people! I found the USB cable to connect my camera to the computer! Score! Here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks:

7/11: Moving down to G-ville. The car was packed!



My odometer at one point during the trip:



The Best Man blowing out the candles on the tower o' brownies I made him for his birthday:



7/18: HUGE snapping turtle The Best Man spotted while camping this past weekend:

"I don't want no scrub, a scrub is a guy who thinks he's fly"

As much as I LOVE Grey's Anatomy I freaked out when I was almost forced to buy a Grey's scrub top. I have to get scrubs in royal blue and was having trouble finding tops in this color in my size. At first, I could only find 1 Grey's Anatomy brand scrub top in my size. Okay, so it was pretty cute and actually makes me look like a woman and not a teenage boy. But it's almost borderline sexy (well, I think scrubs are sexy in general, so maybe that's just me?) and who is going to take me seriously wearing a scrub top that has a little Grey's Anatomy tag on it? No one! Thankfully, after looking around for 10 extra minutes I found 2 unisex tops and didn't have to buy the Grey's top. Phew! That also saved me about $14 bucks because obviously Grey's scrubs come with a trendy price. Too bad I'm back to looking like a boy, but at least I have cute Dickies bottoms :)

The Results

So, I took the test last Wednesday and have been in hiding (aka driving back to VA and camping) ever since. That was the worst 4 hours of my life. I walked out "knowing" that I didn't pass. I've been practicing a mix of dispair and indifference until today when they finally posted that I'm now licensed (they have had my results since LAST THURSDAY).

Now, I have come out of hiding with the good news and can get on with my life! Whew! I will try to update once this adrenaline rush wears off!

Unofficially Official

According to my internet aliases, I am now residing in South Carolina. This won't be official in the real world until I can fork up some money for car insurance and pay my car tax and all those fun grown up things. Yay!