Pinning and Graduation

What a busy few days! Thursday night was pinning. The ceremony was only our class of 47 people. So it was really nice and intimate. We've all gotten to know each other so well throughout the year. It was easy to laugh and cry together. I gave the speech for the class and nearly yakked from nervousness. But everyone said they liked it a lot. We ended up at Scott's Seafood in Jack London Square laughing and talking until pretty late.

Friday was graduation at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. It's a gorgeous old Art Deco theater. The big ceremony was pretty impersonal as you might expect. Really, I only went to get good pictures of us in caps and gowns.

Remember this?



Tiffany, Martha, Me, and Colleen- After a day of our first clinical rotation.

Well, look how far we've come...



Colleen, Tiffany, Martha, and Me- Ready to walk. Lots more pictures on my Flickr stream.

Yesterday, Brian and I went to Napa for a celebration dinner with my in-laws. It was nice to see them. They were very sweet and very supportive. Plus, I received the bottle of champagne that I'm going to drink when I pass my board exam.

We have been sleeping like the dead for the past couple of days. I think I saved up all my tiredness for the year and it hit me this weekend. I've been up at 7am pretty regularly even when I don't need to be. It's like I'm finally allowing myself to relax.

In other nursing news, I accepted a job! As of July 28, I'll be a staff nurse on the telemetry (cardiac monitoring) floor of John Muir Medical Center- Concord Campus. The hospital specialized in cardiac and oncology treatment. It's not a trauma hospital like their sister campus. But I'll get lots of experience with cardiac rhythms and remedies. Hopefully, this will lead to an ICU position in the next year or so. They only hired 12 people for the new graduate program. It's a 5 month program where they teach you exactly how they want you to do everything- like a mini-nursing school and preceptorship all over but specific to the hospital. My friend, Martha, got a position at the Walnut Creek campus. Now we're just crossing our fingers for Tiffany to get a spot with me in Concord. She interviews in a week or so and it's looking pretty good. (Colleen wants labor and delivery. Those are probably toughest to get right now but we'll see.) Lucky me! I'll be surrounded by friends when I start work. What could be better than that?!?!