Well, then.

Well, hello.  It's been awhile, hasn't it?  I'm dusting off this blog without having read the old posts; it was a rough time and now I'd like to focus on the now.  And, dare I say, the future.

In case you are wondering, things did not turn out the way I would have made them turn out if I'd had any say.  But now I can honestly say that the way things turned out was exactly how they were supposed to.

I will probably elaborate in a future post but right now I really don't want to get into specifics...mainly because I feel pretty good about where we are today and where we are headed.  Those of you who know me know that it was a rough year and a half.  It's over now, though, and time to move on to better and brighter things.

So let me tell you how this story begins...

A few months ago I was bored and surfing the net.  I wasn't specifically looking for anything but, as I always do, I checked out jobs in Hawaii.  It had become a way to fantasize about what could have been and what never would be after all was said and done.  

It wasn't that I was really unhappy...I loved my job and the people I worked with.  I was happier than I'd ever been in my marriage, though I wished T didn't have to work nights.  Things were good, aside from being perpetually tired from picking up extra shifts.

Anyway, as I looked at the available jobs at the hospital in Hawaii that I'd tried to get into for 6 years I saw that there were 2 that I was qualified for:  a staff nurse in PICU and a transport nurse position.  I stared at those 2 job postings and thought:  What the Hell.

And I applied.

I thought no more about it after that.  I knew they would never contact me.  After all, I'd applied and applied, taken all sorts of tests, even spoken to HR and unit directors...all to no avail.

2 weeks later I received an email telling me that I was required to take some pre-interview tests.  I laughed to myself; I'd already taken every test in the system and passed them with flying colors.  T wanted me to call them but I just kept putting it off.  I knew that it would be just like all the other times.

After a few weeks of T pestering me about it and getting increasingly annoyed with me, I called.  Mainly to get him off my back about it.  Being constantly rejected by them really did a number on my ego.  When I called I was told that I didn't need to take any tests since I'd taken them and they would forward my application on to the appropriate department heads.

Right.

I then promptly forgot about it.

After all, I had a vacation to plan and a thousand other things that needed my attention.

Until last week.

As I watched TV and played Facebook after a long day at work, the phone rang.  I glanced down, expecting to ignore it, to be honest.  But caller ID said "Hawaii, US".  It really didn't occur to me that it would be the Hospital.  I thought it was the hotel we had booked for our vacation next month so I answered it.

And there I was being asked if I was still interested in a job I'd applied for months ago.  A job I'd coveted for years.

After a 45 minute phone call I was ecstatic.  I really thought it had gone well.  Really well.  The hope that suddenly blossomed in my heart scared me to death.  I was afraid to get my hopes up.

After 6 long days I couldn't stand it anymore and I called the director who had interviewed me.  Of course I got voice mail.  She did call me back but I had already had to gone to bed.  A 6 hour time difference really makes it hard to communicate sometimes!  We agreed that I'd call back the next day after work.

So I called.  And got voice mail.  Story of my life, right?

But then something happened.

Human resources called and officially offered me a position in the PICU.  My dream job in a dream place.

So this morning I accepted.  And now the adventure begins.

So....Why?

I've had a lot of people ask me why we want to move to Hawaii.  Aside from the obvious (it's paradise...HELLO!), what started it was my husband's ambitions.

My husband is the smartest person I know.  He may work as a paramedic but his true love was always research.  Specifically marine biology and coral genetic research.  His dream was to go somewhere where he could do research for a living.  For that kind of research, we had 3 choices:  Australia, Florida, and Hawaii.  In the first 2, he'd have to actually go away for months at a time to live on an island and do his research.  While he may at times prefer this, I would not.  That left Hawaii and the University of Hawaii.

As I began researching the university and the hospitals there I began to get on the bandwagon.  U of H has a pediatric nurse practitioner program and the children's hospital services the entire South Pacific with fixed wing transport.

It still took me a few years before I was really comfortable planning such a big move.  I didn't want to leave my older kids and, frankly, I was scared to fail.  As the kids got older and moved farther and farther away with their own lives I decided it was time to live my own, scared or not.

I've run into a lot of people who have tried to talk me out of it.  "It's too expensive"  "It's too far away"  "What will you do with no family?"  I don't know if people think this is spur of the moment and that I've done no research on it at all, or what.  Yes, I know things cost more but I'll also be making more.  Yes, it's far away but there are planes.  Yes, some family will be far away but some of the most important people in my life are coming with me so I think we'll be ok.

No other news on the ER job yet.  I'm continuing with my planning as if it doesn't exist.  I have a lot to do in a short 9 months!

Take care of yourselves.  Smile as if you are up to something.  And hug someone for no reason.

Peace.