getting into the swing of things.

stuart is well into his third year - he has successfully completed a week in the newborn nursery/NICU, a week in a general pediatric outpatient clinic (mostly "well" visits), a couple of weeks in pediatric outpatient specialty clinics (cardiology, pulmonary, allergy, endocrine, etc.) and is just finishing up his first week of being on the inpatient pediatric cardiology step-down unit at arkansas children's hospital.

a few weeks back, when stuart's rotations were in outpatient settings, he didn't have to leave until 8am, so i would get up and have breakfast with him before he went. now that he is working with inpatients, he leaves the house before 5:30am, so i happily let him wake up and eat breakfast on his own. :)

i've landed a nursing job at UAMS (the university hospital where stuart is in med school) on their inpatient adult medical oncology unit. i'm a cancer nurse! i was always interested in oncology through nursing school, and the interview for this unit turned out to be kind of a last minute surprise, and it was neat to see how the Lord provided the perfect job for me, at the perfect time. it doesn't start for a few more weeks, so i've been driving south to pine bluff to work for stuart's dad ("pop") in his outpatient OB/GYN office a few days a week.

it's hot here - yesterday the high was 103F, with a heat index of 111F. ugh. makes one feel like napping all day long. one thing that i have been excited about after moving to arkansas is "sip and shop" here in hillcrest (the neighborhood we live in here in little rock). the first thursday evening of each summer month, the local shops and restaurants stay open later, local musicians set up on the sidewalk and play music, and folks come out for a good walk around town with their kids and pets. it's just fun. tonight is the first sip and shop to occur since i've moved here, but with a heat index of 111F, i'm not sure i'm at all interested in going out for it.

things are mostly unpacked around our apartment. i think we have only one box full of things to really find homes for. we also need to figure out the lock combination to the bike room so that we can move my bike out of our living room. i have allotted myself a $20 crafty budget for august so that i can get a little decorating done. :) things will really be up and running around here starting on august 16, when i start at UAMS. we can't wait!

we'll try to get some photos up here soon (and post more often - thanks for the reminder, dad!).