The fires are so scary, Oregon.
We are at a point in our nation where catastrophic forest fires barely make the national news.
No problem DTE. I hope the job search goes well. I know that lots of the NP job in the big teaching hospitals seemed to require experience. The question is whether they count your extensive experience as a nurse. I think that also was not true if they already knew the newly minted NPs from prior work. If the do require experience, what ShawD observed was either very specialized jobs in the city (e.g., pain management NP) that didnāt require experience, or primary care and other jobs an hour plus outside the city not requiring experience.
On the fires, it was pretty amazing up in BC/Alberta. Some days were really smoky. I hope it all passes. I do think that our governmentās and the world governmentās neglect of climate change is the cause of both the storms and the fires. Plus, lack of zoning seems to have made what would have been a terrible problem even worse. What is interesting is that those who have been pretending there is no climate change will not learn from these events.
On the plus side, we had dinner with some friends who also live in Boston/Marin. We were both celebrating our 33re birthday. The wife said, āWeāre flying to Marthaās Vineyard on a private jet tomorrow for a birthday party where [husband] is the surprise guest.ā Getting to the Vineyard from Boston on Labor Day weekend takes at least two hours of driving to the ferry, half to one hour waiting for the ferry, an hour for the ferry so she had actually turned down two invitations to the Vineyard on Labor Day Weekend. With that invite, we called one of the inviters and asked if the invitation was still open and it was. Plus the airport where the private jets fly is under 15 minutes from our house. So, 10 or so minutes to the airport. Park right outside of the terminal and walk in in 2 minutes. No security. People offer coffee etc. before getting on to the plane (a 3 minute walk). A few minutes to take off and 20 minutes later, we are there. Our friends had rented a car and thus it was about one hour door to door. We went back with them on Sunday. What a treat.
On the weddings side, best of luck to everyone. ShawD went to her BFās twin brotherās wedding last weekend. Iām guessing that this was giving the BF ideas (especially because lots of folks at the wedding were telling him she was great.)
Iām preparing to be as nurturing as I can be (not my direct strength). ShawWife has knee replacement number one in two days. Weāve been getting lots of products (canes, walkers, shower bar, ice machine for post-surgery, reclining chair). Except for the chair (which I love) weāve been able to borrow from friends or from the local Council on Aging.
Best wishes to Shaw wife. I feel like I Know her since I have met her! She is lovely.
Sounds like an adventure Shaw.
I am not sure they look at my experience as a nurse. I donāt know if my age counts against me, I donāt look at they look at my hospital and think she cant take care of adults. I do point out my experience in all age groups. It seems like they want someone with experience. They donāt want to train anyone.
maybe I will look to teach. I am good at that.
These storms are so crazy.
OOps boston sports in trouble again.
Wedding vibes for Oregon and CBBB! And knee replacement vibes for ShawWife!
We are currently in Florida, awaiting Irma. Weāre about 10 miles inland on the gulf coast, and my parentsā retirement community is in full emergency preparedness mode. At this point we just wait.
I am scheduled to travel out of town for work on Monday - not sure yet if that will be happening; but I canāt really make alternate plans yet.
H has two places wanting him to visit/interview in person next week, after good Skype interviews. Hopefully something will fall in place soon!
CQ, best of luck on a) the hurricane (Iād be tempted to get out of the state); and b) your Hās interviews.
DTE, I think the trick may be to go one and a half hours plus out of the city. ShawD absolutely loves her job ā probably one hour and forty-five minutes away. Iām sure you are not moving, but ShawD gets these offers (beautiful town on the coast of Oregon, various parts of Colorado) where they are paying starting salary of $120K plus signing bonus plus moving expenses etc.
I have had the sense that at the big hospitals that it is all sorted by computer so if you donāt tick the boxes theyāve put in for that job, no person actually sees you. Unless someone intervenes, I think going out of the city is what works. Are you still working at your nursing job? Are there NP jobs at the hospital?
Iām in preop with ShawWife right now. Sheās listening to a meditation thing on her phone. The hospital is the best in the city for elective orthopedic surgery. They are incredibly intent on keeping infection rates to close to zero. It is a bit like a factory.
All the best to you and your family in getting through Irma, @college_query . And good luck to your husband with his interviews!
And good wishes to your wife , @shawbridge , with her surgery and recovery.
Sending best wishes on the weddings as well as good thoughts for shaw wifeās recovery. C_q sending both good thoughts on staying safe and for your Hās job. Also sending good thoughts to dte.
CQ, stay safe! Sending you lots of protective mojo 
Also emanating good wishes for wedding, Shaw wifeās surgery, dteās search and everyone whose feeling sad or scarred by the current shenanigans of earth-o-sphere.
Like the Facebook meme says, its like Climate/Mother Nature is saying āHold my beerā¦ā
Hope everyone is safe from all the storms!
Shaw hope your wifeās surgery went well and she is healing up nicely.
Last weekend prior to wedding is over. I think we are almost ready. It will be what it is at this point. D needed to change honeymoon plans as they were planning on going to Anitgua. She managed to book into a place in Maui at the last minute so although it is costing them more they are able to get away.
Makeup, hair, florist, caterer, rentals, dresses all good. Some of the guys have their tuxes all ready - others do not. DJ should be set. All bills are paid. 
At this point I think it is just wait til Sat. Currently the weather is looking like high 70ās and partly sunny. I could go a bit cooler but at least no rain so Iām okay with it.
Irma was diminished by the time it reached us southeast of Tampa. Lost power for over 13 hours but it came back on a little while ago. Still waiting for wifi and cable services to come back online.
CQ, glad you are safe.
RM, It will be amazing!
The first chapter of the wedding is over. It was quite the celebration and all 21 guests
had a great time. The venue was a non permitted area of the Arboretum with a few hikers
walking by which added to the fun. Nice vows. (how very hopeful brides and grooms areāsweet!).
The restaurant performed beautifully (this I was concerned about). The flowers (done by me)
were super simple and looked very nice. D liked her bouquet. Never mind that the morning of
1/2 the flowers were dead and H went to two more shops to get moreā¦a little stress but that
was all.
H is off with SILās parents sightseeing. SIL and D are having massages. I am spending the afternoon
playing Mah Jongg with my new group. We have expanded it to our community center and today
is our first gathering.
I will say the it has taken two days to feel normal from the energy and emotional and
physical output from the wedding. It was truly exhaustingābeing āonā for basically 3 days
with lots of intense talking. Today I finally feel great.
Somewhat jealous that youāre in the āitās overā phase of the wedding, @oregon101! And youāll be there soon, @RochesterMom! We have just under 2 weeks to go. D and I were on island this weekend ā me for a Camp Committee Retreat; D for on-site wedding reconnaissance and tasks. Itās amazing that weāve been going to this place for 26 years and thereās still things we need to look at/check in person.
I keep saying D is not anywhere near a bridezilla, but there have a couple things Iāve told her to dial back on/stop stressing over. Admittedly there are many, many logistical details because itās a 3 day event in a totally different venue. H is being a pill, constantly checking the weather forecast and being Mr. Gloom & Doom ā itās going to be raining; itās going to be freezing, etc., etc. It may be all of that ā but this far in advance you canāt believe any of the forecasts, and we canāt do anything about the weather anyway.
D and I went for a hair & make-up trial last Wednesday. (I only had make-up done; my hair is short, so nothing to do but a little spray.) I donāt wear much make-up, so wanted to be sure Iād still like like me for the wedding. The gal was great; we both looked pretty spiffy!
So glad you came through the storm OK, @college_query. Parts of FL are really a mess. Havenāt heard from S, who is on the FL panhandle, but thatās hardly unusual even without a hurricane! D still doesnāt know heās coming to the wedding; sheāll be so surprised! Although, I had this thought that S may be playing us against each other ā heās got me thinking it will be a surprise for D and has D thinking it will be a surprise for me. (This is totally something S would do!)
Rmā¦How was the wedding???
The big party was Saturday. The venue was a fun warehouse and SIL was his own event planner. He
had great fun orchestrating absolutely everything. It is nice as he trusts mr for input.
The taco truck was a hit. The music great for them but way too much for H and myself.
I worry about more hearing loss so we sat outside and chatted with those coming and going for
a long time. Evidently everyone thought we had left. D was glowing all night.
We are in Portland, Maine now. Sadly it is raining. All our plans are on hold regarding hiking.
Di not have reservations last night and all of our choices were closed for Sunday. Ended up at
a steakhouse we were walking past --went in without even knowing what it was. Excellent.
The host was a man in his late 70ās . He was such a gentleman working with 20-40 yr olds.
He thanked us for coming in without a reservation.
We will go to the art museum and drive to Freeport to see the llbean store. Had planned on
missing this to drive the other route to see the only Shaker community still operating.
May be able to do both.
RM just did the math. Looking forward to your report! Hope everything was perfect.
I think you had good weather. Saturday in Boston was nice if a tad humid.
@Oregon101, if you need more indoor activities, there are two small museums at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. One is for art, the other is an arctic museum. The best lobster rolls are at a little store (not a restaurant) called Libbyās Market.
I havenāt had a lobster roll since 2007. Sighā¦
RM and Oregon, I hope you can have a nice rest! Sounds like all went well. Be sure to pass on tips and advice when you have time to reflect.
I feel like a kind of a mean person. I just emailed a vendor in Houston about some overdue work. They were 5/6 of the way into their deadline when Harvey struck and they only had 1/4 of the work done. Itās kind of like when a kid waits until the night before the due date to write his paper, then his computer crashes.
I just keep gaining weight and I totally know why. I know that it spells trouble when oneās primary ārewardā is food. With the hours Iām working, my only rewards are food and sleep. Iāve been making time for yoga once a week and I view that as a reward. (Yin, so very few calories burned.) Saturday pool time is a great reward, but mostly float time rather than swim time. (Very few calories burned.) I used to view brief social media/twitter breaks during the day as rewards, but the news is SO DISTURBING these days (okay, this year.) I am trying to think ahead to plan what I can do once this deal closes that doesnāt involve food or TV.
Ladies, you will find this funny/infuriating and Shaw, learn if you can. I complained to H that my clothes werenāt fitting because of the weight Iāve gained. Ever helpful H: āHoda and Kathie Lee talk about wearing Spanx.ā I made it clear to dear H that no, Iām not open to wearing Spanx 16 hours a day.
Hi all - Iām back.
We started Thurs night with the girls getting manicures and pedicures, Friday it was out to the venue and then the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was at a park with all out of town guests invited and bar b que from a local shop. Lots of lawn games which people had fun playing. Sat morning makeup and hair then the girls back to my house to get dressed. Limo picked them up then H and I got dressed and ran out to the venue. Everything was perfect - I could have used it a bit cooler as it was in the low 80ās but it was a really nice venue. Those of you who are facebook friends have probably seen some photos by now from myself and our photographer. You guys can chime in but I thought it really came out great. Did need to put her friends from college in a uber at the end of the night and they picked up their cars the next morning. They didnāt protest - they were sure that they shouldnāt drive.
Checking in for the wedding report
While its early days here, McSon is threatening to put a down payment on a custom engagement ring heās having made. Says heās planning for a long, slow engagement, circa 2019/2020.
I suspect I am not allowed to plan, since their intent is to marry in Canada, adequately afar from my reach
RM, you describe it all so calmly. Were you calm at the time? Lovely photographs on Facebook. Both the black and white and color photos are special in their own way.
Your dress is lovely. And your hair! Beautiful. Of course, I donāt know how you normally wear your hair, but the pix are great.
My hair is long and typically just down so this was a change! Glad I had it up as down would have been way too hot for me. I think I was calm. Planning is sort of what I do and by then I was pretty sure everything was fine. I trusted the people that I hired to do what they do knowing that I had good people so I just let it happen. Iām sure the photographer will be posting a lot more. He isnāt do the reception at all yet and not many of the actual wedding. Many that he has done were done prior to the service. He may be waiting now until his final payment which will be after my D and SIL are back from Maui.