Counting my blessings

Lately it seems it's been too easy for me to dwell on the negative parts of my life. By nature I tend to be pessimistic and melancholic, which I don't like. Thinking on the positive parts of my life and what I have to be thankful for is a good way for me to get my mind off the things that aren't so pleasant. I've found that writing and sharing my thoughts on this blog has been surprisingly therapeutic. So I decided it's time to straighten my crown and start counting my blessings!

A few things I'm thankful for

• A reliable vehicle that gets me to work 
• A happy childhood and good memories of family times
• A job I enjoy that keeps me busy
• A heated garage
• A mom who cuts out dresses for me and helps me with my patterns and sewing
• God, the church, and friends who care
• That I was born in a Christian home 
• My own home - my haven

A few things that make me happy

• Seeing the sunrise just as I pull into the parking lot to start my day at work 
• The giddy feeling the night before when I don't have to work the next day
• Being with my nieces and nephew - children are so innocent and funny!
• Listening to a book while putting a puzzle together 

Sometimes I feel guilty and selfish for doing things I enjoy to make me happy. I'm not exactly sure how God looks at it, but I've found that looking for joy in small, everyday things and doing little things I delight in does help me to feel better when I'm down. There's so many more big blessings I could add to my thankful list, but the little things are what impress me! I want to focus on the good instead of the bad.

once a teacher...

It's been almost three years since I taught school, and some days I miss it. Especially on Sundays when I'm at church and see the children and my former students, I find myself remembering. Although I have regrets and wish I could do some things over, I really loved teaching. I miss being involved with other teachers, children, and the school board. I miss having a classroom to decorate and dreaming up ideas for educational projects. I remember science fair, book study, social studies power points, map study, and caravans. I miss the thrill of explaining a lesson. I miss making lesson plans. I miss that amazing feeling of seeing a child progress and learn new skills and easily do math problems that were once hard for them. I miss seeing wonder and interest in their faces when presenting a fascinating history or science lesson. I miss introducing them to good books during story time. I miss all the breaks and summer vacation. But there's just about that many things I don't miss, too! When I compare my job now with teaching it's so much easier in some ways. At the end of the day I can go home, forget about work, and be free from responsibility. Also, I have better benefits and pay (not that I'm making so much money - Google "pharmacy technician salary" if you're curious). The medical world intrigues me and I genuinely enjoy my job.

As anyone who has been a teacher can probably tell you, teachers face criticism. I've learned I don't handle that very well. Another area I wish I was different in is being able to give correction without showing frustration. Being a teacher can be mentally and emotionally draining and I don't know if I'm really cut out for it. Part of me can't accept that my teaching days are over, though. Maybe I'll just always have this nostalgic feeling. I certainly will never regret the years I spent as a teacher!

the scoop on salsa

Yesterday I put a question on my WhatsApp status regarding what kind of salsa is good to buy for those of us who don't make homemade. I got quite a few answers and some told me they'd like to know too, so here's a report.

1. Chi Chi's

2. On the Border

3. Leal's (apparently not available in PA, but looks like it can be bought online)

4. Newman's Own medium, put in chopper to get rid of chunks

5. Penny's Salsa

6. fresh salsa from refrigerator/produce section

7. Pace - recommended by 3 people! One person blends it a bit and adds cilantro. Another person blends it and adds vinegar, salt, and garlic salt.

8. Two people sent me recipes using canned tomatoes

Yum! Some of the suggestions I've already tried and I'm looking forward to sampling new ones. Since I mostly shop at Sam's Club I've just been buying whatever they have - On the Border, Member's Mark, etc. Of course, it usually comes in a bigger container so I've had a problem with it going bad before the jar is empty. I kind of go through spurts where I eat a lot of it for awhile, then it sits in the fridge for a long time. Cliff rarely eats salsa (popcorn for him!) so I guess I need to start buying smaller jars. Thanks for sharing your favorites!

find your cozy nook of comfort

One of the things that gives me the greatest joy is coming home from work, lighting a good smelling candle, and working on a puzzle beside a warm wood fire. I feel like I don't have words to describe the pleasure I get from this simple activity! It's so relaxing and there's truly no place I'd rather be on a winter night than at home, by the fire, working on a puzzle. The calendar I have on the wall close by says "find your cozy nook of comfort" which is exactly what this is for me. 

my current puzzle - the one I got for Christmas

While I was working in the clean room today, I asked the pharmacist who was with me if she goes home and cooks every evening. She said most nights she does, it's how she relaxes! I. cannot. imagine. Usually the last thing I want to do when I get home from work is cooking a meal and it certainly is not the way I relax! I don't mind cooking if I'm at home all day, but I just don't have the energy after a day at work. This pharmacist has about an hour drive home so I asked what time they eat, and she said around 8:00 pm. By that time, I'm thinking about going to bed, not cleaning up after a meal! Her husband (also a pharmacist) likes to cook too, and they enjoy making elaborate meals together on the weekends.

I discovered Wal-Mart has some pretty good salads that come with dressing and toppings, all ready to mix and eat. We both like them, and for $2.98, it's cheaper and healthier than fast food! Although I am not a Wal-Mart fan and avoid going there if at all possible, I've been using their grocery pickup and am super impressed. For someone like me who doesn't enjoy shopping and would rather click and shop, it's fantastic! On my way home from work I can stop by, someone brings out my groceries and loads them up, and I'm on my way in a few minutes. I really hate to be promoting Wal-Mart, but I haven't found any other grocery store that has such great pickup service. If someone knows of a better place, please let me know! I do use Sam's Club pickup a lot too, but you have to go in the store to get your order (yes, I know this sounds lazy. I just think it's a waste of time going in stores!)

Now it's time to work on my puzzle! 😄

anecdotes from pharmacy life

It may be awhile until I write Part 3 of my "day in the life of a pharmacy tech" posts. I'm not officially trained in the anteroom for day shift, although I have covered other tech's breaks and lunches and been trained on weekends and second shift. Next week I start my day shift training and then I'll be in the anteroom for several weeks. In the meantime, I'll tell some other experiences of things that happen at work.

There's usually no one working in the clean room after 5:00 pm, so the second shift anteroom tech is the one who has to make any stat IV medications that get ordered. We have a small "stat" hood in the anteroom and do a shortened version of the garbing and scrubbing when we make things in there. Medications made in the stat hood are only good for 24 hours because it's not as sterile of an environment. I had one night of second shift anteroom training before I was on my own. 😒 Once you are familiar with how drips are made and have been trained in the clean room, working in the anteroom is not that difficult, though. The night I was training, I asked the tech I was working with what would happen if I ever had to do a stat open heart, and she said "there will be a pharmacist with you, so it will be fine." Usually when there's heart surgeries, we get everything together and prepare all the drips the day before. Sometimes a patient comes in who needs surgery immediately, or for some other reason the heart team gets called in to do a stat surgery, so we have to be ready for that. I never got a chance to prepare the heart supplies when I was working in the clean room, so I didn't even know what kinds of drips were needed. Soon after I started working second shift in the anteroom, one evening there was a code called in CCU. In the meantime, I went back to the clean room to make my radials (a cocktail of drugs we make every evening to have on hand for the cath lab) and while I was back there one of the pharmacists poked her head in and said "they're taking the patient who coded back to surgery." At the time I didn't know the story, but it was a patient who had open heart surgery about a week prior. Apparently there was a slow bleed that they weren't aware of until he coded that night. On second shift, we have a much smaller staff and that night there was only 3 pharmacists and 2 techs. One of the pharmacists was working in the ER, another was newer than me and hadn't been trained in the clean room yet, and the third was a per diem pharmacist who only works about 3 evenings a week. The per diem pharmacist had to figure out how to enter all the heart orders, and I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do! I couldn't believe this was happening. Since I didn't know what kinds of drips to make, I waited until the orders were entered and I had labels telling me what they were. There's about 5 different ones and some of the IV bags look exactly the same, so unless a pharmacist watches you, they have to take your word that you put the correct drug and right amount in the bag. Because of who was working that night, no one was with me in the clean room, so I made those drips totally on my own!! It would've been so easy to make a mistake, but I tried to be extremely careful and can honestly say I believe they were made correctly. It took awhile to get everything figured out, but we did it! And the story has a good ending - THE PATIENT LIVED!!

Sometimes we have people come in who are overdoses or have a very grim outlook. It appears like some families want everything possible done for the patient even though the chances of survival are slim. There's times when we are making multiple doses of strong IV medications around the clock for a week, and you know most likely that patient is being kept alive by chemicals. Finally the meds are discontinued and a little while later you might see a litter being wheeled into the morgue, which is a short way down the hall from the pharmacy.

We had someone come in who tried to commit suicide by drinking antifreeze. Another person unintentionally drank formaldehyde. Apparently the patient had a cold, and someone gave it to him, saying it was something to help his cold. Needless to say, he soon began feeling much worse. One night a lady was brought in by EMS and her husband said she had been unresponsive for a day. The husband came in with another lady, who was his girlfriend. To not do anything for a day when someone is unresponsive seems irresponsible at the least and possibly criminal. We hear about these things but never really know the outcome as far as what happens to the people who are potentially responsible.

Working in a hospital opens your eyes to the fact that things can happen so quickly and just like that people's lives are changed. It's made me learn to appreciate what I have now, and not take good health for granted.

confessions of a melancholic

I'm so excited that it's Friday night and I have the weekend off! Truly, not having to set an alarm is one of the best feelings. Since I know I don't have to get up in the morning I'm wide awake!

As I mentioned before, I am genuinely surprised at how many people have told me they enjoy this blog. Thank you for the kind comments. It makes me feel a little guilty, though. I don't want to portray myself as something that I'm not, so I want to make it clear that my life is FAR from ideal or perfect. Although my writing may sound happy and positive, in reality I struggle with being the exact opposite. Since my life is different from most of my peers, I feel like I'm somehow missing the mark because I'm not a dutiful housewife. Most nights I'm too tired when I get home from work to prepare a decent meal. Having company looks impossible to me because if I'm not working I just want to spend time at home and get caught up on wash and things around the house. As an introvert, being with people can be exhausting and I feel like I don't know how to relate to others. Somehow I can write things that would be hard for me to say, but talking about my life and feelings seems self-centered and I didn't think people would want to hear about it anyway. That's why it's been surprising to hear that others find it interesting!

On the other hand, I do feel like I'm blessed and my life is rich in so many ways. I want to be the person God wants me to be, and accept who I am. That's something I need to grow in. I appreciate your encouragement!

a day in the life of a pharmacy tech - Part II

Part II - the clean room

This installment will describe what we technicians do on a typical day when we are assigned to work in the clean room.

Within the pharmacy, there's a room called the anteroom, which is where you scrub up and gather supplies before entering the clean room. In part 3 I will describe the anteroom in more detail. The clean room is where we make sterile products, like IV antibiotics. Since these products go directly into a patient's vein, proper hand washing and garbing is extremely important, as well as keeping the clean room free of contaminants and particles. Everything that is brought into the clean room is wiped down with antibacterial wipes. Garbing has to be done in a certain order, going from dirty to clean. These are the steps we follow.

bunny suit

surgical hand scrub

1. Put on booties, then bouffant cap. Enter anteroom.
2. Put on face mask.
3. Step into bunny suit (lint-free coveralls) and pull it up to your waist.
4. Scrub hands, including fingernails, and arms up to elbows with surgical scrub.
5. After drying hands and arms, finish putting on bunny suit.
6. Enter clean room and use hand sanitizer, then don sterile gloves.

If you go back into the anteroom for something, you have to change your gloves before working in the clean room again. While compounding sterile products, we periodically spray our gloves with alcohol to keep them sanitized.

The products are made in a laminar air flow hood, which uses filters and air flow to keep out particles. It is important to not block air flow to the "critical point" where you inject or withdraw the drug. Syringes have to be handled in such a way that you do not touch the main part of the plunger, which could contaminate the product in the syringe. Learning how to hold the vials so that you are not blocking air flow while at the same time using the syringe correctly is difficult at first. All products wrapped in sterile packaging, like needles and syringes, need to be opened in the hood. If you take your syringe out of the hood, you can no longer use it because it is contaminated. It needs to be drilled into your mind to "stay in the hood."

As for what kind of products we actually make, there are certain medications that we batch and always keep on hand. The tech working in the anteroom decides which medications need to be batched for the day. Many of the drugs come in powder form and we reconstitute them. They are then injected into an IV bag or syringe. Usually there is a pharmacist and a tech in the clean room. The pharmacist mostly watches the tech to make sure the correct sterile technique and right amount of drug is being used. This varies though depending on who your pharmacist is. Some pharmacists supervise and let the techs do the work, and others pitch in and help if there is a lot to get done. It is important to understand math and proportions when making IV medications. Here's an example: vancomycin powder is reconstituted with 100 mL of sterile water. The resulting concentration is 500 mg/10 mL. We are batching 1500 mg of vancomycin in 500 mL 0.9% sodium chloride. How many mL's do you inject into the 500 mL bag to result in 1500 mg of vancomycin? I'll let you tell me the answer. 😊 This is an actual drug and concentration that we do all the time.

Cleaning is another important part of working in the clean room. Before we start in the morning, we clean the hoods (we have a 4 ft. and a 6 ft. hood) using a 3 step process. It has to be done in a certain order because of the air flow - from back to front, and top to bottom. The process is repeated in the evening when we are done for the day. We also have to take out the trash and wipe down counters before we can exit and take off our garb. It gets hot wearing that suit, mask, cap, and gloves!

When I first started in the clean room I thought it was horrible. It's a small room with only a pass-through window looking into the anteroom. You have no way of knowing if it's a beautiful sunshiny day or cold, gray, and rainy. Drinks and phones of course are not allowed, and if you have to go to the bathroom or blow your nose, you have to go through the whole garbing and scrubbing process again. We are in there for hours at a time, mostly standing in one place, which can give you sore legs, feet, and back. Learning the sterile technique and how to manipulate a syringe and needle was so unnatural and awkward for me. After awhile, when I felt more comfortable and knew a little more what I was doing, I started liking it! There's no constantly ringing phones. The hoods make a calming droning sound and you can just kind of get in a zone and block everything out. At this point, I prefer the clean room over any other position! 

Sometimes crazy stuff happens and you have to do stat drips for someone who is coding, or a patient has an emergency surgery, etc. I have more stories to tell but I think this is long enough. Hopefully the details were not too monotonous!

Best of 2018

As 2018 is coming to a close, I'm doing some reflection and remembering. Although it hasn't been all sunshine and roses, there were good times and simple pleasures along the way. "I've found it's the simple ordinary pleasures which are the real ones after all" describes it perfectly. I can't seem to find that quote but I don't think I made it up! If someone has it, send it to me!

Simple ordinary pleasures
Sitting on the deck on a warm summer evening listening to the sounds of nature. Watching fireflies. Coming home from work late on a cold night to a warm bed, thanks to my husband for turning on the heated mattress pad. Eating a good home cooked meal. The sound of my nieces' laughter. Fresh fruit and vegetables in season. An evening at home. A nap in the middle of the day. Mom's cooking. (Food = happiness) More ways to shop online than ever before means I can order essentials and have them delivered to my door. Yay!

Best books I read
Although I read quite a few books this year, my favorite was one of the most recent. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton is an amazing true story. Others worthy of mention are Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius (nonfiction), The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (historical fiction) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien - finally read them!

Travels
January: While on our way to the spray foam convention, a refreshing weekend in the Smokies in a nice HomeAway condo high up in the mountains overlooking Gatlinburg. Stayed with Dad and Mom, Camille, Charles and SaraBeth and girlies in an Airbnb house in Fairhope, Alabama during the spray foam convention in Mobile. Had some good times in that house and ate some good ol' Southern food at Fish River Grill and Lambert's Cafe. Made a quick trip to Florida afterwards to see family and friends. In August, we spent a relaxing week in Phoenix with the Smith's and experienced Arizona summer.

Bittersweet occasion
My little sister's wedding. No more siblings at home when we go to folks. 😢

Home improvement projects 
Cliff did a wonderful job installing new hallway flooring that doesn't squeak. We also found a beautiful old barn beam mantel for above the wood stove in our living room. I knew this sign belonged on it the minute I saw it.

New Year's Eve
Anticipating being with family for a traditional pork and sauerkraut meal this evening. Been looking forward to that meal for several days! Wow, food seems to be a recurring theme here. Sounds like New Year's cookies are also involved for tonight.

Praise belongs to God for blessing us with health, jobs, family and friends, and countless other gifts this year. Wherever 2019 takes us, may He go with us all!

a day in the life of a pharmacy tech - Part I

As mentioned in an earlier post, I thought I could give more of a description of what I actually do as a pharmacy technician. When I started writing I soon realized it was going to get lengthy, so I decided to split it up in 3 different installments. This post will explain what I do when I'm working in the front of the pharmacy.

Since I work in an inpatient hospital pharmacy, some things are different than in a retail setting. I've never worked in a retail pharmacy, nor do I ever want to! Our pharmacy is located on the ground floor and has only one window which looks out to an interior hallway. I miss not being able to see outside but we're usually busy enough I don't have time to think about it. During the busiest part of the day, there's 20 - 25 people working, and the pharmacy is not all that big in size! Some of those people are working in offices attached to the main pharmacy, and other pharmacists are deployed to nursing floors. The techs who work in the front make all the deliveries and do a lot of walking. Some of the deliveries we make are chemo to the cancer center, epidurals to the birthing center, and morphine to the NICU babies who are withdrawing from drugs because their mothers used drugs while they were pregnant. We also make rounds 6 - 8 times a day delivering IV medications and antibiotics to the nursing floors. The hospital has a tube system much like the ones drive-up banks have. We can send things from the pharmacy to any part of the hospital but there are certain things that can't be tubed, like narcotics, which have to be delivered by a person. If the tube system goes down, you can spend all your time walking around the hospital delivering items.

pneumatic tube system

While we are in the pharmacy, we are responsible for answering phones, which are usually ringing constantly. Sometimes you may have 5 different phone calls you are working on, so being a multi-tasker is a must! In the morning we work on pulling meds for the Pyxis refill lists. Most nursing units have 2 med rooms with a Pyxis machine that has drawers and pockets for storing meds. After we pull the drugs and a pharmacist checks them, one of the technicians working in the front takes out the refills to the various med stations. When filling the Pyxis, you enter the beginning count of the medication, how many you are filling, and the expiration date. If you are filling a narcotic, you have to be especially careful that the count is correct or it will create a discrepancy.

Pyxis Med Station

During the day, there's usually around 4 techs working in the front. On second shift and during the weekend, there's only one. If it's a busy night or weekend, it can get a little overwhelming. Still, I'd much rather be swamped than sitting around twiddling my thumbs! My favorite part of working in the front is being able to get out and around. Since I worked on two different nursing floors before coming to the pharmacy, it's nice to go back and see nurses I worked with. I miss being with the nurses and hearing stories about patients, but I like the work I do now much better.

various musings and a recipe

Presently I'm feeling a bit of a post-holiday lack of motivation that I'm sure others are affected by too! My work schedule isn't helping this - I'm in the middle of a 6 day stretch working 2:30 - 11:00 pm. In the morning I feel draggy and tired, but by the time I get home at night, I'm ready to read! or blog! and don't get to sleep until late (or rather, early). There's things I should do around the house but I can't seem to gather up any extra energy and I'm relying too much on caffeine to get through my shift at work. I know this sounds undisciplined, but just being honest here! Hopefully this too shall pass.

Pennsylvania did not have a white Christmas this year. In fact, it's been warmish the last few days. On Christmas day in the evening Cliff and some of my family came to see me at work. It was the perfect chance to show them around a little since we were slow and only a few people working in the pharmacy. That made my day!

Before Christmas I made some caramels and took them to work. As a side note, I've never worked at a place that was so into food! People are always bringing food in and on weekends you can pretty much count on there being quiche, donuts, or cronuts and something hot for lunch. So the caramels got lots of compliments and several people wanted to pay me to make them some (I didn't). They take time to make and wrap, but really are fabulous! I sprinkled salt on top which added more deliciousness. I'm pasting the link here if you want to check it out. Thanks to SaraBeth who originally introduced me to the recipe!

https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/homemade-caramels/

Christmas mood

First of all, I want to say thank you to all who have commented or sent me text messages giving me encouragement for this blog. It honestly surprised me that so many people would be interested! If you would like to follow so you can receive notifications when a new post is published, log in from a computer or go to "view web version" if you're on your phone. You should see "follow by email" on the right side of the page.

I was able to have off Saturday, Sunday, and today. Having a three day weekend every now and then is so rejuvenating! On Saturday we had the family over for supper. We're sixteen people now when we're all together, so we decided to set up in the garage since my tiny kitchen is full with 10 people around the table. Cliff did a super job cleaning out the garage, getting the tables set up, and stringing Christmas lights to add to the atmosphere. Burning my Bath & Body Works "Leaves" candle for several hours took away the garage-y smell very nicely. The menu consisted of ham chowder, "That Really Good Salad" (Schneider cookbook), fresh-baked French bread, and fruit slush.

Tonight we had our family Christmas at Dad & Mom's house. To keep it simple, we ordered Tony's Pizza for supper, which was delicious as always! Finally it was time for presents! This year the men and ladies drew names separately. Mom had my name and gave me a "CPhT" pin, along with some other items I had on my list. As of December 21, I am officially a certified pharmacy technician. This pin makes me happy! I'll wear it on my badge to work. Another gift she gave me was a new 1000 piece puzzle. I can't wait to start working on it one of these evenings when there's a fire going in the stove. When I get started on a puzzle, it's like a good book - hard to quit! Long winter evenings and puzzles make me happy too! The rest of the evening was spent playing Rummikub and doing some singing. Derek and Camille brought their espresso machine here all the way from Kansas and served us some top-notch lattes, iced coffee, and teardrops. Apparently the caffeine is still in my system.

In the morning we will go to church for a Christmas day service. I'm working 2:30 - 11pm so will be able to be with the family for lunch yet. My contribution to the meal is graham cracker fluff, which is my usual holiday dish. Cliff introduced it into our family and it's become a tradition. Thanks to the Smith family for the recipe!

Wishing you a joyful Christmas, and in the words of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, "God Bless us, everyone!

thankful for family times

The holidays are here, and my family is all home. What a blessing! As I get older, I realize more how precious time with family is. My nieces and nephew are young, sweet, and innocent, and I wish we could hold on to this time, just like I wished my little sister would stay little. Since life continues to move along no matter what we wish for, I want to cherish each moment we have together. Yes, we do sometimes get annoyed at each other and don't always see things the same, but at the end of the day, we still love each other. I know people who don't speak to their mother because of a disagreement, or have family members with addiction, or their parents aren't together, and so many sad stories. How did I get so lucky to be born in a Christian home with loving parents?? In the world we live in, this is not so common. I just want to say, "Thank you, Jesus, for my family!"

which describes my job

I thought I could start out with a description of my job, since that seems to take up a large part of my life! Since quitting teaching in 2016, I've been at a small 200 bed hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania. Initially I worked part time as a unit coordinator (secretary) in the critical care unit. At the beginning of 2018, I transferred to a different part of the hospital, doing the same thing but now working full time. I enjoyed what I did until we upgraded to a new computer system in June 2018, which changed the job description for unit coordinators. When I started, I was trained to enter physician's orders for labs, testing, medications, etc. It was challenging to be able to read doctor's handwriting and determine how to enter their orders. I learned a lot and loved being involved with the doctors and nurses and getting in on the action without having to do actual patient care. Seeing what the nurses go through convinced me that nursing wasn't the job for me, although parts of that life are appealing. The medical world fascinates me and I enjoy learning about the body, diseases, and treatment. When it comes to dealing with difficult patients and family members and other stresses that come from being short-staffed (a constant issue, from what I've seen), I don't think I could handle it. Anyway, back to the change the new computer system brought. Doctors now are entering all their own orders and everything is "paperless", which is mostly a good thing. However, it left me feeling bored, useless, and unchallenged. Before we transitioned to the new system, I had been looking for a different position because I knew I probably wouldn't be happy staying where I was. Pharmacy has always interested me and I knew some of the pharmacy staff working in the hospital, so I made some inquiries. Upon their recommendation I applied to a technician position and was able to get an interview. It took a long time to hear back, which was rather anxiety-inducing, but finally I got an offer and accepted the position. After taking a week off to recharge and mentally prepare, I started in the pharmacy towards the end of July. The first few days were tough and I think I ended up in tears by the time I got home. Finding my niche and learning so many new things was pretty overwhelming for awhile. Being trained in the pharmacy is a steep learning curve and it feels like they "throw you to the wolves," meaning you are expected to launch out and learn by doing. When I was trained in my previous position, I had several weeks of observing and being monitored by someone before I was on my own. Here it was like, "this is what you do, now go ahead and if you have any questions let us know." Thankfully I was somewhat familiar with abbreviations, medications, and brand/generic names. Still, I felt extremely lost that first week. I was warned that it would be tough because they were really understaffed at that time and the week I started, the lead technician was on vacation. Gradually things started making sense though. Since I started, they've hired 4 more technicians so we're now fully staffed, although we all still have further training to go through. It can take 6 months or longer until you've been trained in all areas of the pharmacy. The techs fill three positions within the pharmacy - the front, anteroom, and clean room. Since we are required to work a rotation, we get trained for day and evening shifts in all three areas. I most often work 8:30 - 5:00, but also anywhere from 6 - 10 evenings during a 6 week schedule period and generally every other weekend. In another post I might describe what I actually do at my job, but I think this is enough detail for now!

what this is all about

The idea for this blog came as a suggestion from a friend. It was a new thought for me, but after thinking about how I'm not a great communicator and have lost contact with old friends, I decided to try it as a way of keeping in touch. Writing has always been easier for me than speaking and maybe putting my thoughts and experiences into written words will prove to be therapeutic. Since I'm not on the journey of typical Mennonite housewife and mom, I feel like it can be hard to relate to my peers. Now that I no longer teach school, contact with my church sisters has diminished to basically nothing except for brief words on the Sundays I don't have to work. Although I'm generally content with my life, I do wish I would be able to connect with others better. At this point, I'm not sure what all I'll be writing about on this blog. It may be part diary, inspiration, confession... I'll see what works for me! Hopefully I'll come up with at least one post a week.