My first week

Last week was my first day as an almost pharmacist. I won't be licensed until the middle of July, but we're getting a jump start on training so when I do get licensed I'll be ready to go (maybe).

My boss called me the week before to chat and told me to be there at 0700 on Monday. She had decided our other new grad, Kerry (also a friend from my class), would start with the "Front" position that is mostly checking meds that need to go up to the floors. Kerry is already licensed so they want to be able to use her on her own ASAP. My boss wasn't sure who she'd have me shadow, but I'd find out on Monday. Fine with me.

On Monday, I got up EARLY. Super duper early for someone that hasn't been working for 6 weeks. Got all dressed up in my new outfit, excited that for once I didn't have to wear scrubs or my hair in a ponytail and I could actually look like a nice young lady. Packed my lunch and headed out. When I got there, I met Kerry and showed her to the pharmacy and started introducing her around. Finally I found our scheduler and asked her what I was supposed to be doing today. "You'll be in the IV room for the week." Great, glad I did my hair!

I love the IV room, it "home" to me at the pharmacy. Its the only area I've really worked when I've come back on breaks for the last 5+ years. Its familiar, its the most comfortable place to start learning, but for once, I wasn't really excited to be there. The day, and the week really, went well. My technicians accepted my new transition from fellow technician to pharmacist very well. We have a new IV room manager and are all learning the new changes she is implementing and they helped inform me of those. I even caught a mistake on my first day!

Over the week I had the opportunity to work with three to four different pharmacists and learn their way of doing things. Everyone has a slightly different method and it will take time for me to develop my own, but its good to know what each one of them likes to focus on. I continued to catch mistakes throughout the week as I checked things before the pharmacist and I gained confidence that this will be a smooth transition for me. Next week, that's all likely to go out the window as I start shadowing and training on order entry. I will be seeing a new side of our pharmacy computer software and will have to think about many different things at one time instead of just: correct fluid, correct volume, correct drug, correct amount -- check!

Paris (Part 3)

Saturday began with Haden and her dad going out for pastries for the family. They were so delicious (my mouth is watering now as I think of them). After we ate breakfast (and cleaned up the crumbs) we head to the metro to go to Monmarte. Monmarte is a big hill you can see from many of the sites in Paris and it has a huge church, Sacre Coeure (Sacred Heart), at the top. There are also a lot of street artists that come and paint or draw portraits for money. Angie and Gerin wanted portraits of everyone in the family and since it took so long to get them drawn, we all ended up getting other portraits of ourselves as well.

Thomas and I also hit up the Dali Museum that was up there. I have been a fan of Salvador Dali since a high school trip to Europe that included Spain, his home country. I was a little disappointed at how small I felt the museum was (and the rude kids running, not walking quickly but RUNNING, through the museum). They did have a "penny smusher" machine which is one of my favorite souvenirs to get! We skipped the big church due to the crowd and met back up with Gerin, Haden, and Allison at CLUNY, a medieval history museum.

On Sunday, Angie was feeling under the weather so she decided to stay home while the rest of us set off on the train to Fountainebleu. It is an old chateau, much like Versailles, but not quite as popular. Old kings of France had lived there, or passed through and stopped while touring the country. Napolean lived there and we saw his throne room. We also saw the table on which he signed his abdication before heading into exile. It was a really fun day trip.

Monday was our last day in Paris so we all split up to visit last minute shops and museums. Thomas, Gerin, Julie and I went to the Paris Sewer Museum (learning all about the sewers while being down in the tunnels above the sludge) before going back to Angelina's for lunch and hot chocolate. I bought some last minute gifts, and Thomas and I headed to a Naval Museum. There were replicas of lots of old ships (Thomas now wants to start building his own models of ships) and there were lots of paintings of ships and storms and the sea. There were also a lot of models of modern war ships from European countries as well as the US. We took a few more pictures at our carousel and then met everyone at Baci for one last dinner. Haden and Allison had found some purses they were excited about. Angie and Gerin found some steak knives they really liked. And Gerin and Julie found an antique sword to add to Gerin's collection. All in all, a great ending to a fabulous trip!

Paris (Part 2)

Alrighty, Tuesday was arriving and rainy day, Wednesday was engagement day, that brings us to Thursday: church day.

Thomas and I, along with Haden and Allison, got up early Thursday morning and made our way towards the Latin Quarter. Haden was especially looking forward to this as this area is where some of her classes were last year. We headed for her favorite crepe stand, and were disappointed to find it wasn't open yet. We decided to keep moving and went on to see Notre Dame. We took a few pictures outside and marveled at the carvings above the doorways and the architecture. We went inside before the crowds got too overwhelming. Mass began while we were inside and it was both beautiful and surreal to hear the chanting and know most everyone there is just walking around to have a look.

Thomas and I decided to climb the towers while Haden and Allison went off to look at other things. It was a very tight spiraling staircase leading up and they only let a certain number of people up at a time for crowd control.

Interesting tidbit we learned about medieval staircases on this trip: most are built clockwise to make them easier to defend. The defender coming down the stairs will be on the larger portion of the stair and his sword arm will be more free to swing from the top right (outside) to the bottom left (inside) where the attacker will be trying to swing up and from the smaller portion of the stair. Anywho, we climbed the tower and saw lots of Paris and took lots of pictures.

We met up with Allison and Haden and were going to go to St. Chappelle but the line to get in was enormous. Also, its located within a government building so you have to go through more security in order to see it. Instead, we decided to go see St. Sulpice. There was a pretty fountain in front, but a lot of the outside of the church was covered in scaffolding for renovation.

Friday was the first day all 8 of us stayed together. We started off with a visit to the History of Chocolate museum where we saw the progression of chocolate from a form of currency to a spicy drink only for royals and the military to a sweet drink and then finally commercialized. There were old ads and china cups used to drink hot chocolate out of. At the end of the museum, there was a demonstration and a tasting!!

We all wandered the streets for most of the day, slowing making our way to the History of Paris museum. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of english translations, but once we got to the swords and armor, the guys were pretty entertained without translations! Also, there were paintings of the French Revolution and everyone marveled over the death of Marie Antoinette and the tiny gushes of blood depicted.

We went to a restaurant called Baci for dinner and had wonderful pasta, I had a cheeseburger, and Gerin and Thomas had one of the most mouth watering steaks I've ever tasted. We also had desserts of pineapple with basil and a chocolate cake thing we couldn't pronounce but definitely could eat twice!

Happy... everything!

May has been (well was since its June now) a very exciting month!! We started the month off by ending our 4th year of Pharmacy school and finishing up rotations. Mother's Day weekend brought a huge celebration of family (Mom's of course) and graduation from Pharmacy school. My mom and grandmother were especially proud to have a doctor in the family again.

Just after graduation we dashed off to Paris (I promise to post more about that trip soon) and got engaged!! It was an amazing surprise and a wonderful way to get to know Thomas's family better. I'm glad we all got along and am happy they will be my family one day.

After Paris, the job search continued. After a second interview with Presby, where I have worked for many years already, I was officially offered a pharmacist's position. I took a few hours to think about it and accepted! I will start as an intern later this month until I get licensed in July. It wasn't the goal I set for myself when I started pharmacy school, but a lot has changed since then and this is the best move I can make right now. I will continue to pursue nuclear pharmacy as a career option, but its important for me to start working as quickly as possible and gain experience any and everywhere I can.

To finish off the month of course, was BIRTHDAYS!! Thomas and I had some friends and his parents over to my parents house this weekend for a nice party. BBQ pork sandwiches, home-made slaw and fruit salad, and his sister made us a cake! It was great to have friends around to celebrate with. It certainly was a great month!!