Summer.....what Summer

So great plans and all that.  My summer was supposed to be quiet and serene, lots of time for getting through that pile of books in my study and do some writing, including updating this blog on a weekly basis.  What happened?  Life happened.  We spent the beginning and the end of the summer travelling to Barcelona, London, and later South Carolina and Colorado and thoroughly enjoyed all of it, especially Colorado, there is something about being in the mountains that speaks to my soul, restores me a little, we all need that every now and again, especially in a high burnout profession like Nursing.

I continued with community nursing which had its very busy weeks covering for staff who were gone on vacation.  I had both interesting, sweet and challenging patients and some very hostile relatives.  I continually tell myself, their aggression is not really about me, its more about the frustration of their situation.  For an elderly patient who is facing end of life issues, a helpless relative can feel powerless and this can come across as dissatisfaction of care to the health professional in the line of fire (literally!).  Even though I know all this after several "not so nice" rels this summer I admit to it all getting a little old, being shouted at and second guessed several times a week.  But we soldier on, the hands on care is still the most magical part of nursing for me.

I also continued with my online teaching commitments.  This summer I have been coaching a leadership class and thoroughly enjoying it.  These young BSN students see themselves as novices even though many of them have years of clinical experience.  But the online education experience is a wonderful medium to exchange powerful ideas, lively discussions, solve issues hypothetically through PowerPoint presentations and develop a base knowledge that will hopefully lead them onto successful leadership positions.  All I really have to do is facilitate and grade 60 papers every weekend (groan!), all done at home by the power of my laptop, my perfect kind of job.

Just when things got to August and looked like I may have a month of breathing space before my semester starts again for my traditional teaching job at a Philadelphia University we met this guy....

I really was uncertain about doing the dog thing after losing our beloved Golden Retriever in April.  However one particular weekend when I was missing him so acutely my husband put me in the car and took me to a pet adoption at a local pet store....and there we met Toby.  It was love at first sight.  An adorable choc lab/pointer mix.  Loves to snuggle, chew cell phones and TV remotes.  He is especially fond of the 3am pee followed by a snuggle in bed.  And so I am now walking the neighborhood at 7am/pm every day, chasing him around the house with my carpet shampooer (forgot how much work potty training is), trying to persuade him not to eat the cat daily ( I secretly think the cat quite enjoys it!).  Exhausted and enjoying every minute of him

Faculty meetings have begun, planning and organizing a new semester is ongoing, I am ready to roll with whatever fall brings me and looking forward to it.

How was your summer?