first day

This first day was one for the history books; it was really awesome. C'est le creme:

• I was taken on a tour of the construction zone that will be the new cancer center. It's mostly dry wall with open ceilings and drawn places on the floor where desks and built-ins will go, but it looks like it's really going to be awesome and have plenty of space for lots of different needs. It should officially open late April.
• While walking around with my boss we ran into several nurses who I already knew. One particular nurse I ran into was a student when I still worked at the hospital. We were excited to see each other again. She told my boss that I was "the best nurse she'd ever seen" and the reason she became an oncology nurse. It was probably the best professional compliment I've ever received. The Hater says that in debate terms I have good "cancer credibility" in the city.
  
• My orientation will be more fluid than rigid over the next few weeks, which I'm really going to like. I'm going to have lots of opportunities to work and orient with lots of different people within the hospital, which is exciting.
• I have stellar vibes about this job. After I went to the LiveSTRONG Summit last fall I thought it would be neat to find a job focused around survivorship issues and needs, but I was sure it didn't exist in this city. Even when I applied for this job I had no idea how survivorship-focused it would be, but now the clouds are clearing and I see that support and survivorship are the MAJOR goals of the entire center. And I'll have the opportunity to help shape the things that we're going to do, which is exciting, too. It's going to be great experience to work in a part of the hospital that isn't expected to make any money, much less turn a profit.

That's the long and short of it. It went well and I'm excited. I'm tired, but excited.

Meanwhile, tonight I've received an email from a coworker at the job I left. She said it was a bad day, that Harrison and I could come back to work now. I do think that it's sad that many times people aren't appreciated for the work they do until they leave.

I've put another base coat on the liquid-nails-on-canvas project. Still no ideas as to what I'll do over it... if I want more colors, what colors to use, what pattern (if any), but I do think it needs something else. I'll sleep on it until this weekend and see what comes to me. By all means, if you dream up something fancy, let me know!