Job good...

I am now officially and gainfully employed by St. Vincent's Hospital, here in Santa Fe. I start work tomorrow morning at 9 am. Now, while this is by no means my ideal job, it does pay well and the benefits are very nice. It will suit my schedule while I am in school and doing my clinicals and even better, my shifts will be scheduled during the time that Patrick will be at work too. Mary Karshis and Lois are both very excited about my working at the hospital and even Patrick is thinking of applying if Blue Corn doesn't work out well for him. All in all, not a bad situation.
Patrick and I went out to Rio Rancho to visit my dad for Father's Day today. He is doing so well on his liquid diet and has lost 27 lbs. in 3 weeks! I'm really proud of him and the fact that this has become a priority in his life. He and Lizza do water aerobics twice a week and he is really enjoying that. I think he is starting to be a little more optomistic now that he is feeling a lot better.
Patrick and I are still comfortable with our decision to stay here in Santa Fe, especially now that we have work and school going on. Today we took our first Medical Terminology test and we both got 100%. I'm really pushing to earn 4.0s each semester so that I don't have to worry about getting into a good program and grad school. I'm a little worried about A&P next semester, but I think with a little dedication, I'll be fine.
I joined the Curves gym here in Santa Fe and although it is nicer than the one in Ann Arbor, I don't like it as much. I think that after my membership is done in October, I will drop it and join a gym with more of a variety of facilities that will allow for a more thorough exercise routine.
I haven't spoken with Gemma in a while, I need to call her.
Julie is busy planning her wedding and it sounds as though things are going smoothly - Kelly is helping her and from what I can see so far, is doing a great job. I still need to figure out what to give them for their wedding.
Patrick is hinting that it is time to go to sleep.
Nite.

The semblence of a plan

After a lot of run around and quite a bit of thought, Patrick and I have decided to stay in Santa Fe and get our ADNs at the community college here. We spoke with the advisors at UNM and quickly realized that getting into and then through the BSN program there could take up to 6 years, if not longer. We were advised that because we already have degrees, we should just get an associates degree in Nursing and then move on to get our master's degrees once we are done (which we now know is a possibility due to our already having earned a bachelor's degree). So, we have enrolled in the Community College here in Santa Fe, which has an excellent ADN program, and are staying with Lois for at least the time being. This will give us the chance to save some money (once we get jobs) while paying down our credit debt and going to school (also much cheaper than UNM). Since the ADN program is only 4 semesters long, we will be able to get jobs as nurses much sooner and will then be earning enough money to buy a house (probably in Albuquerque) and then enroll in a master's program while also getting experience in our career fields.
The job situation is a little stressful for me. I never heard back from my interview with SED Labs although it is probably just as well because with our decision to stay in Santa Fe made, it doesn't seem feesible to drive into Albuquerque every day for work. I have applied at several places here in Santa Fe and am trying to be patient about waiting to hear something, but patience was never my strong suit. But at least now we have a semblence of a plan that is moving in the direction we want to go. We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. All in all, not too bad for being home only 2 weeks.