Thursday, May 3, 2012

...And I'm Back!

Wow, 2012 has been a crazy and busy year!  It all started when I got a phone call the day we were going to fly to Houston (I think it was 12/29/11) to see Northwestern play in a bowl game against A&M.  The call was from Austin State Hospital, where I applied for a job as a psychologist.  I ended up flying back to Texas the next weekend (I think it was the 2nd week of the new year) so that I could interview for the job on a Monday.  I thought I did my best during the interview, but they were also interviewing others, so I wasn't sure what my chances were.  A few weeks went by as they interviewed other candidates, and I finally heard in mid-February that I got the job! 

Things were pretty crazy busy after that...as soon as I accepted (which was within about a week), we gave our apartment in NJ 60 days notice and ended up moving out about 45 das after giving our initial notice.  We planned to move at the end of March/beginning of April, and we began to pack our stuff at the end of February.  In the end, we had about 150 boxes and all of our furniture...we do not travel lightly.  Packing is so tiring!  We hired movers to ship our stuff to Texas and also shipped our cars.  My 1998 Toyota 4Runner that I've had since high school is still kickin'!  We stayed with Mark's parents the first week of April (Mark continued to work everyday) and left for Texas on Easter Sunday (4/8).  We arrived at our apartment in Austin and slept on the floor with 2 pillows and a bedsheet for 3 nights!  It was quite uncomfortable but we survived.  There was really nothing to do in our apartment and literally not even a place to sit except for the floor.  Our stuff and cars finally arrived on Wed. and we spent the rest of that week and weekend unpacking.  I don't consider my person who necessarily "loves things" but boy, did I miss our stuff! 

I started work on Monday, 4/16.  Good thing work started off with a 12 day orientation.  Although it felt long, it was kind of nice to ease into my job and responsibilities.  The state hospital is a much different environment and patient population compared to private practice!  My orientation is officially over as of yesterday.  I'm making progress on determing what my job responsibilities are and getting more comfortable working with the patients here.  I'm working with patients who have both a mental illness and mental retardation.  I think I'm going to learn a lot while I'm here and hopefully can help the patients too. 

After one week of work/orientation, we went to Houston to celebrate my 31st birthday.  We had a wonderful crawfish dinner...yum!  It was so nice to spend time with my family and catch up.  The last time I saw them was around the time of the New Year and my aunt's funeral, so circumstances were much better this time. 

So far I am loving Austin.  It seems like there is so much to do and so many places to eat!  My blog might shift from a cooking blog to a "pictures of things I ate" blog.  I am dreading the heat of the summer months though.  At least we have a pool in our apartment complex, so that should help in keeping cool. 

I'm adjusting to life with a full time job and finding that there is much less time for "life" when you work.  Most people already know this, but I am just now living it.  I've been spoiled working basically part time for the last year or so.  I am not a morning person, so having an 8-5 job is a little difficult for me.  It is nice to have evenings to spend with Mark though. 

Now that things have finally settled down a little and I've established some semblance of a routine, I hope to keep my blog more up to date. 

1 comment:

  1. We miss you in New Jersey, but look forward to hearing about your adventures in Texas. xoxox

    ReplyDelete

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