I convinced myself earlier today that I was going to finish all my Susie-Homemaker chores today and tomorrow so that I would have enough uninterrupted time to study properly on "day 3" because last week got so screwed up and I can't afford that to happen anymore.

Oh yeah, I really DO need to catch everyone up to date. I think I mentioned that I changed jobs. I did go ahead and end up taking the ICU job at my old hospital, well, this required my old and antiquated brain to go back to school, in effect, and I have classes every Monday and then work with my preceptor two other days a week. I am finding that my brain is not nearly oxygenated enough for me to be taking any sort of classes again, and the old text anxiety that I used to suffer from???? Well, I still have that! If anything, it is worse.

 It's been almost 4 weeks now, and I think I am going to enjoy it, or at least I was feeling pretty sure about it, until yesterday, and then there was a sudden shift in the management that could create an upheaval and present problems in the unit now, but I hope it doesn't. I'm hoping that I am enough of a little Indian this time and not so high on the totem pole anymore that I have to worry about all the politics, but I know that it always has a trickle effect.

One of the V.P. of the hospital made the decision to terminate the Dept. Manager that had been there for 22 years and the Patient Care Supervisor (who was up for the position of Nurse Manager and a winner of the Rosen Award), who had been there for 14 years. The V.P. said she felt that "new management was required at this time" and so she let both of them go. There were a lot of upset staff members and many of them were not happy about the PCS's loss, especially when they knew that she was willing to go back into staffing if it was felt that they wanted someone else in Management, but....a lot of times, it happens "out of sight, out of mind", so it may be the case this time as well, and I suspect that is what the Administration is banking on, but I foresee a great deal of changes coming down the river on this one.

 It leaves me feeling a tad uneasy in a way, as I knew the PCS fairly well, and was hired by the Dept. Manager, but then, I guess we all were, so maybe I won't be standing out in the crowd. I hope not, anyway. I want to blend in like beige, for a change. It would be nice just to show up, do my job and be able to go home at the end of the day, knowing I've done all I could do, and everyone was pleased with my work and that's a wrap.

 As for the house...most of the work on the exterior if finished and it looks pretty good. Especially if you like Mediterranean colors. I'm not sure that was the look I was going for on a Victorian house of 170+ years old, but that is the look I am going to live with for the next several years after what has been spent on it, that's for darn sure.

 Truth is, I really wanted a house painted a pale shade of pinks, like a house that is in the Garden District of New Orleans, on the corner of 7th and Prytania, but my husband was not having any part of a pink house. He felt that pinks was for old ladies. Heck, that's what I feel like!

So then I'd found a teal that was pretty close to what we had on the house to start with, and I've always liked teals and lavenders together, so thought that the lavender trim would be a nice touch, but we ran into two complications on that one. The first one was when Pat came in and said "There sure is going to be a lot of purple on the house, isn't there?" Well, that was all I needed to hear....if it looked purple to him, he would never like it and it didn't matter how light a shade of lavender it was or that it was just on the trim....it would be too much and look like something that should belong on a house belonging to Jack's character on "Will and Grace", so I had them change the trim color to go with the teal....a lighter shade. That probably turned out to be a blessing anyway, because the teal for the house color turned out to be a turquoise. W-A-Y off.... I felt like I was back in Santa Fe, New Mexico. What a nightmare! The paint had already been purchased, so I couldn't go back and just start all over and go with a green or something else, so what I did do was have him add a tint and darken it up. Thank goodness it helped. However, it came out with a very tropical oceanfront property looking Mediterranean look. One of our neighbors told me he loved it and how it looked like a house that should be sitting out over the ocean. I told him "one more hurricane, and it just might be!"

Actually, I've had every neighbor come over to me and tell me how great the house looks and how much they love the color. So I guess, that is a good deal, because if they were like me, they would just smile, wave and zip off without saying anything about it at all if they thought it was a travesty or mistake.

I laughed when Pat told me he thought we should change the color of the doors, though, from the butter yellow I'd picked out to go with the teal and I told him that those were the only original colors left and they still worked and I was keeping them...LOL. He just laughed and told me he didn't care, whatever I wanted was fine with him.

So, I guess when they finish replacing a couple of window sills, and touching up a couple of places, the exterior will be done. I noticed a patch job they did on one window sill that wasn't so hot, but other than that, the job has been outstanding.

And slowly but surely, the house is getting clean. Who knows, I might someday even be able to do my oil paintings again?! What a delight that would be!!!! I long to do that, but have vowed not to do it until the craft room is cleaned up enough to set my paints and easels up where I can leave my things set and walk away if I need to take a break. To do that, the rest of the house must be done.

 I'd thought the library would be finished by now, but just as I feared on it...it will probably NEVER get completed. I will probably never get my box locks and door knobs put on, or my shelves put up on the end of the closet, or my toilet put in as I'd planned, or my library ladder put up. I think I'd settle for the box locks, knobs and ladder at this point, but doubt if I'll have them done even in 2 years from now. I've been trying to get a door put up in my kitchen for almost 5 years....AND I HAVE THE DOOR!!! LOL. But I am learning. And I saw how to do a lot of things, so you just never know....I just might have that bad boy put up.

I've got the paint for the dining room and for the craft room and will get them painted, and have a chandelier for the dining room to be put up, but I don't know how to mount it, but I'll figure it out.

Yeah, it's coming along.

Well, it's that time now...the witching hour...