Wow - what a trip!

Hello again. We made it back from a wonderful vacation. Actually we made it back Monday night in the middle of the major storm pounding the eastern side of North America but… life has been very hectic since then. It seems that on the domestic front I (or at least the tasks I usually perform) was somewhat missed. And I certainly missed my usual travel partner as much as he regretted being left behind. As to whether the substitute was a problem, au contraire - we had a great time - I haven’t released that many endorphins since I don’t know when.

I’ve decided that to review the nine days of bliss for you, I’ll just start with Day 1 and recap then Day 2 etc. as if you’re all along for the trip one day at a time. Sure wish that you had been, it was fantastic. So get ready to pack up and head out to the airport tomorrow. I’ll try to stick some photos in as I go. I have the pics on CD so I can take them to a high speed venue and save myself some grief.

But that plan is for starting tomorrow because… I have to get myself organized for a course I’m teaching on Monday and Tuesday. One of the voice mail messages I had waiting was from the Community Education Training Officer at the NSCC just confirming that I had 12 students for the LPN Leadership Skills course. This is something I promised last fall “if you can’t find anyone else” which sounded like a good idea at the time. It is also something that I didn’t transfer into my 2007 date book so it came as an (almost) complete surprise and was a conflict with a regional meeting for work. I had a near panic attack when checking messages on Tuesday afternoon in my post vacation haze after a horrible morning spent doing orientation for a group of very badly behaved students who will be doing clerical experience. But I’ve since recovered, plan to take the cell phone from work and use my overtime and am looking forward to the course now. It really is something I believe strongly in, will be a nice break from the routine (after I’ve been back at work three whole days) and it’s a challenge to move experienced staff forward in these rough healthcare times.

It of course is coming during a week when I will only be in the office on Wednesday - I have a conference the end of the week in Halifax. Makes you really look forward (not) to that one day in house as the past two days have been a blur. There must have been a lookout at my door just awaiting my arrival because the phone didn’t stop ringing and every time I looked up there was a face in the doorway of the office. "Aren't you glad you came back eh?" one of the managers asked me about 2 p.m. That was the easiest question of the day to answer - no! Who would trade 28 c temperatures for 2 degrees? My nerves.