So I know that it's been quite awhile since my last blog, but you know life happens. So what has happened since my last blog...well, quite a bit! In the month of October, I celebrated my birthday. My mom drove up from down south to be with me for my birthday. It was nice to have her with me for a couple of days :). In November I got to drive down south for about four days to see my family for Thanksgiving. It was very nice to see everyone. My assignment in Atwater was supposed to end on the 16th but it got extended a few weeks. I know that I had said that I didn't like it very much there, but toward the end, the place grew on me. I was invited to go wine tasting with some of the ladies from work and it wasn't until then that I really started feeling part of the group and not just a "traveler filling a position." I had even offered to extend my contract for another 13 weeks, but I asked for too many days off in December. My sister was graduating in December and I HAD to be there! I wouldn't miss that for the world. And Christmas, I had to see my family for Christmas.
As I get older, I realize how important family is. You can't pick your family, but you can choose how you handle them. They won't be there forever and you need to cherish all the time that you can with them. I was so happy that I got to see my Grandma. It's so important to me to see her on each and every holiday because I know that there will come a time when she will not be with us.
I decided that for this next assignment that I would find my own housing. So I looked on Craigslist and found a few listing for some rooms for rent. I found one in Greenfield, which is about 12 miles or so north of King City. The room was nice and simple, it was furnished and ready to move in ASAP. So I was good to go!
My last week in Atwater was bittersweet. The Friday before they had a "pizza party" for me. Which was very thoughtful. My last day was on December 11th and it took me FOREVER to pack up my car and clean up my apartment. I didn't leave until 2 pm when I had expected to leave at 11..the latest! But it is was it is! So when I was all packed up I drove down to Riverside to go to my sister's graduation the next day and the drive back up north to start at 1 pm in King City. Talk about a crazy three days!
My sister's graduation was beautiful! She had worked so hard and I wanted to be there for her. She was there when I graduated, so I couldn't imagine not being there for her!
So on the morning of the 13th, I left Riverside at 6:30 am. My step-mom was worried that I wouldn't make it there in time because the weather was bad and traffic was always bad. She had heard on the news that there was a possibility of the Grapevine being closed down. Oh ye of little faith, I said. Praise God, there was hardly any traffic and the Grapevine was wide open. On my trip back up north I traveled through three states of liquid. It was raining when I left, it was snowing in the Grapevine, and once I hit the 5, there was miles and miles of fog.
So I'm following my GPS, and it told me to get off of the 5 and cut across the 198 to the 101. Well, what it didn't tell me was that this was THE WORST hwy to take. It was 58 miles of windy road out in the middle of nowhere. It was the kind of road that you pray to God that you don't break down because not only does no one ever go down this road, but there wasn't cell service! But, I got through it! I got into King City about noon with an hour to spare.
Talk about a small town! In one block there is..A Cemetery...A High School...An Elementary School...and on the other side of the road...A Hospital. They get you coming and going. You never have to leave!!
After finding the Human Resources Dept to fill out a little more paperwork to go with the mounds of paperwork that I had to fill out prior to getting there and getting my picture taken for my badge, I was ready to find the clinic and get to work.
I didn't know what to expect when I walked into the clinic. My friend Gina told me a few moths ago that she really liked working there, but I had no idea. Everyone there was so welcoming. I immediately knew that I was going to like it there. The first day I didn't do much. Just followed another therapist around and got the lay of the land.
After I got off I drove up to the house in Greenfield where I was renting a room. The house is owned by a husband and wife that just like to rent their rooms out to travelers. I'm guessing that there are lots or travelers in this area being that it's a small town and it's hard to find permanent employees. There are two other people that rent rooms here. One is a traveling nurse that works at the prison in Soledad and the other is an older gentleman that is a Colonel at Fort Hunter Liggett a little south of here. So it's a pretty well rounded house!
By Friday, they gave me the key to so I could come in and work on Saturdays. Pretty cool, huh? I really, really, really like this assignment! I actually feel needed, like my opinion counts. I get to go to meetings every morning to talk about the patient's. I never got to do that before. I feel more then "just an Assistant" and it's pretty nice. I could see myself here for awhile.
So onto Christmas! I left here on the 21st to spend some time with my family for the holidays. Some of my coworkers told me of another hwy that I could take that was a little less windy then the 198. And I now know that the 46 was the same hwy that James Dean died on. So much history I'm learning!
It took me about 5 hours to get back home and was so glad to get out of the car! I didn't do much for Christmas, just got to hang out with my family. That Saturday I got to go make cookies with my mom...along with then enjoyment of some Wine, Brie and crackers! Good combo
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| We had fun decorating! |
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| I did a little more Christmas shopping. Look at that line. Happy holidays!! |
My dad had his "dinner" on Christmas Eve, so I spent the night with my mom and wake up with her on Christmas. Later that day on Christmas, my mom and I drove down to see my Grandma. It was so good to see her!! I love my Grandma!
Well, Christmas was over and it was time to drive back. The drive back was quite nice. The Grapevine was kinda crowded, but other then that, everything went smoothly. I even joined the crowd and pulled over to snap some pictures with my phone!
So, I just found out today that I live in a salad bowl. What is that you may ask? Well, it just means that this area is not only known for one or two things, even though there are wineries EVERYWHERE, but they grow everything here. Everything you can put in a salad. Thus we have, "The Salad Bowl!" HAHA!
Well, that's all for now, I will try and keep up on my blog and not go wait so long till the next blog.
Until later....
