Lots of introspection, too. Something that one often does when one gets a year older.
Can't say that I've come up with anything significant with regards to the last year and where I want to go with this year...other than life has changed quite a bit in the last year. A cross-country move helps. Dealing with some crises (personal, family) helps. Achieving a professional goal helps. Entirely changing my work habitat into something entirely different and less stressful...well, the jury is still out on that one.
I'm so hard-wired for working full-time: it's how I've always been. I'm also so hard-wired for working in high-stress chaos: my first nursing job had a lot to do with that. Now that I'm in the land of mandated ratios, working a per-diem part-time outpatient job...it's a hard adjustment. Don't get me wrong: the new job is great and I'm ecstatic to be in a new area of psych because it's a whole new world to learn. Coworkers are fantastic. The nurse I'm learning from and who I will be filling in for on the per-diem basis is awesome. And the salary out here is crazy--the good crazy.
I am keeping to my promise to myself of no searching for a second per-diem spot until January. I did get my resume reviewed by a recruiter who offered a lot of helpful tips, so if anything this month I'll tweak the resume, but that's as far as I go.
In the meanwhile, I'm telling myself of all the advantages this new job has. More time for the little one. More time for my knitting and hobbies. More time for the RN-BSN program which starts in January. More time to get in shape. More time to learn Spanish. Less stress. I figure if I keep repeating this to myself over and over it may start to sink in.
I really do need to work more on my knitting. I've been logging my stash into my Ravelry database and I have A LOT. I've gone from several sheep's worth of yarn to a herd. So next year I've vowed to "cold sheep" (translation: not buy yarn) and start putting a dent into this stash. It looks like I could have a lot of knitted socks in my future.
And I really do want to learn the Spanish, given where I am living. Lots of opportunities to practice, lots of soap operas to get addicted to.
Back to the introspection.
Overall, I have to say life has been good to me this last year, even with the crises and the hassles of moving. I've settled into life out West pretty well, I'm seeing more of the better half and the little one is making a lot of progress. I have good health though I do need to take better physical care of myself and get back into eating right (after today, of course--I am making spaghetti sauce from scratch) and getting fit. Financially, we're in a good place for the first time in quite a while. Mentally, I'm getting there--I've found a good doctor who has tweaked my meds, and this new combination has been a lot better.
I'm pretty blessed and I appreciate it.
