All Nervous and such . . .

Tomorrow I start orientation for my first job in my new career. I must confess to being a little nervous - it's a huge responsibility. I had such a grueling time of it on my practicum in the Manor. I wanted to make sure that I did everything right because the consequences can have devastating results. I suppose that everybody feels that way before they start because when I talked with one of my friends from the course, she felt the same way. You can't help but wonder if you are going to be able to keep up and do the job right.
I would love to be able to have a job like Nancy's. She is in charge of activities for the residents and she does such a marvelous job of it. It is such a non-threatening job and puts you in such a marvelous position. You can communicate with the residents in a more positive role because you aren't seen as the caregiver then. That role can intimidate the residents because there is usually a little fear factor involved.
There is a one day course in the Sault on Friday dealing with dementia and I have already signed up for it. My course instructor had told us to always go for things like that because it looks good in our file. I guess we get a certificate with it as well which goes into our in-file. I feel that anything that helps to communicate with our residents can only be a positive thing and will help me in the long run to give the best care possible. It's important to me that I be able to do the best I can to help these folks in their final years.
I am rather uneasy about tomorrow for another reason though. Dad has to go in to have a pacemaker and there is no family around him. Sharon has kind of reassured me that this is a simple routine procedure and my mind is a little easier on that point but I do not like him going in without family.
I'm only in for 2 hours tomorrow so maybe I can find a way into the Sault tomorrow night somehow.

I Get Around . . .

I have only been figuring out the internet for about two months now and, for the life of me, I can't figure out what took me so long. I absolutely love it and I am finding more adventures all the time. I can go all the way around the world and never leave my chair. I must confess to one rather frightful habit though. I have a tendency to be rather fascinated by e-mail and will e-mail total strangers willy nilly. If they answer, they answer. If they don't, oh well. The other day I sent off an e-mail to the Prime Minister and my nephew questioned me about it.

"Do you expect him to reply?" he asked.

"Certainly not" was my answer.

"Then why do it?" he questioned me.

"Kim Campbell has not been updating her Facebook and I just wanted to know if he could let her know it was about time."

"?"

"That would be why I am not expecting an answer."

Taking a Risk . . .

Last year, I went back to college to take a PSW course. It was kind of frightening and I wasn't too sure how I would make it through the classes. When you start approaching the half century mark you tend to wonder what you were thinking. Many of my fellow students were half my age and I was more a contemporary of our teacher and SHE was a retired army nurse. However, I persevered and to my surprise I ended up with the top marks in the class. Okay, really - no surprise - but I really worked hard at it. I got an A+ in all my PSW courses and while I may have stressed about making sure I achieved those grades, it was important to me to prove to myself that I could do it. My teacher thought I was anal but it truly was something I HAD to do. I didn't want to do 'just enough', I wanted this to be my best effort.
We had our class graduation party in Bruce Mines at the Bavarian Inn in December and in April we will be graduating with the rest of the Soo College with caps and gowns and all the trappings that entails. I can only hope that I am not the oldest graduate there. I'm trying to imagine what it will be like to be wearing that funny little mortarboard - I wonder how it manages to stay one's head. Who will I invite? Will they want to come? Funny things to wonder about I guess.
Not having a reliable vehicle has left me with only one option - working at the Algoma Manor here in town. With resume in hand I haunted the halls of the manor once a week or more. I offered to help volunteer. And now - finally - I DID IT! I had my interview and passed my Back in Motion physio on Monday and it is now official. I am the first student from the class to be officially hired at the Manor. YAY! Technically there are two more but I figure that seeing as how I finished all the requirements first that makes me the first one. Nit picky I know - but little milestones are just as important to me as the large ones. They have to be - there's not a lot of large ones kicking around in the picture.
This is the start of a brand new life for me and I am so excited about this next part of the journey. This is not just a new job, it is a new career. I am just thankful that I had this opportunity to expand my horizons and am grateful to have had the support and encouragement of so many people. With the economy so shaky at present, it is such a relief to even be working at my age. I feel that there are more opportunities unfolding before me and I hope I am able to embrace them all. What an adventure!!!!! Now I'll be able to afford to travel someplace further than the Sault. . . the possibilities are mind-boggling.
YAY!!!