proud

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge my amazing partner for her massive accomplishment.

Sandi is a mere 3 tests away from having completed the didactic portion of her training to be a nurse anesthetist. She has been commuting to Portland (2 hours away) since the end of August, has multiplied her brain cells ad infinitum, has known the true strength of her heart strings as she has had them yanked and heaved on a daily basis, has missed nearly every fun thing that has happened and has had her head buried in a book during the most spectacular spring Maine has ever known.

She is trooper in the very sense of the word.

It turns out there is a lot to know when putting people to sleep- or as they joke, "Any monkey can put people to sleep. It's waking them back up again that is hard."  Sandi can tell you all you want to know about the coagulation cascade, the minutia of each anesthetic agent and the fine detail of how each part of the respiratory system works in concert to keep you alive.  Okay, that one she probably could have told you last year and I'm reaching here because I don't understand a fraction of what she tells me.  It is like over dinner now she speaks Swahili and I nod politely and ask her to pass the ketchup.

Part of the reason I am bragging prematurely about her giant accomplishment is that when she comes home Thursday night, having moved all of her things back home and start and real and true VACATION like none she has had since she started, I will not be around to blog about it.  This family is packing up and hitting the road to go have some fun- not for just 4 or 5 hours but for the entire three day overlap between school vacation and Sandi's vacation.

Where are we going, you ask?  Well, Portland of course. 

No worries we won't be going near UNE and hopefully not near any coagulation cascades.  Portland is where all the fun, cityish things are in our state.  Not to mention the Green Elephant vegetarian bistro. 

Meanwhile, in other news of pride, Ella now reads chapter books to herself.  She has caught the reading bug (from me I believe) and she seems to understand how incredibly fun it is to read to YOURSELF.  Especially when it is that hilarious Junnie B. Jones getting herself into a world of trouble.

My studious girls hard at work the other night:



Lest you get all excited that Sandi is now home for good and there is no longer need for concern over my mental stability, after her generous week off, Sandi begins 18 months of clinical rotations.  She is starting her at our local hospital which means she will be sleeping at home every night.  Eventually she will have to do some rotations at more distant hospitals for weeks to months as a time but we aren't talking about that right now.

I'm hoping clinicals mean home for supper most nights, but from what we can gather, Sandi is going to be spending some seriously long hours at the hospital (she has to do 45 hours anesthesia hours per week plus hours of prep and study on each end of the day and study for the advanced anesthesia course she will be taking) and we are told that in many ways clincals are harder than the didactic portion regarding your time. 

Translation: no summer tan for Sandi this week.  On the plus side, no premature aging either. 

I am so damn proud of my hard working, smarty pants, nose to the grindstone woman. And, yes, I am researching remote tropical destinations for our reward when it is all over and she have a job again.