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Week 10 (Somewhere in the mountains)
Oh, the excessive secretions! With the nasal, tracheal, and bronchial mucus, I feel like I am drowning. It has sleeted and snowed this week so it is incredibly difficult to imagine it is related to allergies, but I get pollen alerts every day. I need to evaluate it further to see exactly what the trigger…
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Week 9 (Somewhere in the mountains)
I have a washer/dryer combo now! No more laundry mat. I feel like I am living the life of luxury. I am very much like my Granny. She always had a load of laundry going. My Grandaddy would tease her and say that when she walked through the front door, she would run straight to…
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Week 8 (Somewhere in the mountains)
Sagebrush dominates the terrain here. Can I tell you how fabulous it smells? When we first arrived during the cold temperatures, everything looked dead. Remember the post about how Wookie blended in with the terrain? How could I have known that these bushes would bloom and turn green with warmer temperatures? I wasn’t prepared for…
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Week 7 (Somewhere in the mountains)
Pearl is sitting beside me as I write this. She will be gone tomorrow morning and so will my husband. Back to Texas again. I don’t have words to describe the feeling of loss. I always begin feeling that sense of loss the moment that they arrive for a visit. Maybe someone else can relate.…
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Week 6 (Somewhere in the mountains)
One of the reasons that I was brought here was to change the culture. I absolutely love leadership and developing employees/teams. I enjoy investing in each person and motivating them to reach their full potential. Learning each individual on a team is imperative to building a strong movement and to fulfill the mission at hand.…
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Week 5 (Somewhere in the mountains)
It’s hard to believe that we have now been here over a month. In some ways it feels like yesterday that we made the trek across the United States to get here. In other ways, it feels like I have been here my whole life. I stick out like a sore thumb here with my…
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The power of hope (Wookie part 2)
I received the most wonderful news this week. Wookie gets to come to work with me! He now has a bed in my office again, but this time is a little different… My previous roles were corporate (one was onsite and the other was remote). So, I have only seen him interact in that type…
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Week 4 (Somewhere in the mountains)
It snowed 5 inches on Friday. Beautiful snow, not like the type we get in Texas that melts and turns into mud. Here it just evaporates, leaving no trace behind. We have began to locate new services here to replace the ones at home. Now that Wookie has a new groomer and I have a…
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Week 3 (Somewhere in the mountains)
I started out this past week weary and tired. But it’s not the kind of tired that sleep would cure. I think it is related to the challenges this week along with trying to establish a “new normal”. I think the most difficult part about establishing a new normal is that it requires an acceptance…
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Wookie
I wonder what Wookie would say about this whole adventure. I know he enjoys the hikes, new smells, new sounds, and new critters. But I also know that he misses home where he was able to run freely around our property (no fences). I believe he would have mixed reviews…. Backstory: Wookie is 3 years…
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No tears in travel nursing
To be honest, I started out today a little bit weepy. It was a long night without electricity and I woke up without any water. I cried a few tears as I spoke with my husband on the phone. No shower, no toilet. I brushed my teeth with Listerine and went to work at 0630…
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Baby, it’s cold outside (and snowing)
Today’s temperature got to 60 degrees outside and then quickly took a nose-dive. It is now 30 degrees with a “real feel” of 11 and snowing like crazy! The picture above is the very same view that normally has mountains in it. You would never know that mountains existed at this point. To make it…
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Week 2 (Somewhere in the mountains)
This. Is. Everything. I don’t know if the “new” will wear off, but right now life is pretty great. The mornings are cold and clear, the afternoons are hot and sunny. I don’t think I will ever grow used to the beautiful scenery and the surrounding mountain view. I suppose I am here at a…
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Week One (Somewhere in the mountains)
I woke up today and the temperature in the camper is 49 degrees. In the camper, not outside. This is definitely not Texas. I do have to say that despite the outside temperature being in the 20’s, it doesn’t feel that cold. The sun feels hot, the air is dry, and there is no wind.…
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Left behind
I had to give up everything in my greenhouse when I left home. It was FULL of things that I had started from seed and nurtured along. I brought three of the little plants with me. I am not exactly sure why, but maybe just because I couldn’t let it all go. One is lemongrass…
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Arrival
We arrived today! I can not explain the emotion as we drove across the pass to see the view of the little town that I would now call home, at least temporarily. I have never seen such beauty. The “majestic” mountains are surreal. The little town is built right up against them. There is no…
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Curious and Curiouser
I have so many questions that my questions have questions, just ask my husband. He will tell you that is my one annoying trait, and one that I happened to pass down to our son. In our search for answers in life, we are often labeled or assumed to be rebellious or rude. We are…
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Route 66
We are currently driving on the famous Route 66 which is fascinating to me. I believe that we got on it somewhere around Amarillo and will be on it until we turn north towards Nevada. The route is beautiful and does not disappoint. It is absolutely the most beautiful road trip that I have ever…
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Utter Exhaustion
I now know that I can not tolerate 12 hour drive days. Maybe I am a wimp. Or maybe it is because I have had such severe nausea all day, which I believe is related to fear/anxiety. Either way, I feel like I have the flu. Everything hurts and I am so exhausted. I feel…
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Big Skies
It’s a 12 hour travel day for us. Our plan is to stop in Arizona and finish the last leg tomorrow. I saw snow-capped mountains for the first time today while traveling through New Mexico. They were every bit as wonderful as in the picture books. Has anyone ever told me how big and blue…