ComiCon

Salt Lake had it's first ComiCon last September, It was pretty fun and I really got into the spirit even as a big ol' prego:

Since it was such a big success, the 3rd largest convention in America, they decided to do a repeat.

This last weekend was the SLC ComiCon Fan Xperience... basically a comic book convention with a whole bunch of extra stuff: Forums, guest speakers and classes. Since we don't really get that into the whole thing, we just went to the convention part and didn't pay $100 to sit and  listen to some grown men argue about Game of Thrones or whatever nonsense they were talking about. 

Since I love people watching I wanted to bring my camera this year and figured I would dress up too- If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! 

Since I wanted to incorporate my camera into my costume I decided to be Lydia from Beetlejuice. Armando helped and even made me my own Handbook For the Recently Deceased- Not the most extreme costume but I thought it was clever and three different people knew who I was so I guess it was a success!

 

People really get into it and it was so much fun. I can't wait for September to go again, maybe I'll get a little more adventurous with my costume this time.

Former contestants from FaceOff (which Mondo and I love) were making zombies!

This female Predator was awesome

I stole a pic of Edward James Olmos... 

He's a mexican- he should know I am not about to pay $50 dollas for one!

Effie!

I loved her frying pan

Babysitting

My mom retired a few years ago and has been begging for grandbabies to watch ever since... Well it has taken a while but now they are here and it's Gram's turn to babysit.

On the days that Armando and I both work Dom goes to my parent's house and my mom watches him. I have no idea what they do all day but they sure seem to be having fun together- at least my mom does- Dominic pretty much just goes with the flow. He is such an easygoing kid and loves whoever he is with that he doesn't really require too much supervision in the first place.

While my mom was in Texas with Becky, my Tia Fab watched the baby. It actually worked out pretty great because she lives close to McKay and it was super easy to pick him up and drop him off every day. My Tia loved having him and I could relax knowing that he was in good hands. Tia Fab hasn't worked since the Ogden Mall closed down years ago, she never learned to drive and so she stays home- she watched my sisters and me when we were young, she's watched my cousin's kids and now that her grand-daughter has a baby- she watches her great-grandbabies too: It's a tradition :)

Since I struggle with anxiety anyway, I've been waiting for it to rear it's ugly head since Dominic was born. My midwife told me that I had a lot of factors going on that could lead to Post-partum depression: I was a first time mom, I had a Winter baby and a history of anxiety- No bueno. 

As time went on I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop..... It didn't happen. I was emotional every once in a while, sure, but nothing worse than PMS or pregnancy hormones had been.

I was sure that I would begin to be anxious about returning to work... didn't happen then either. Maybe it is because I have the reassurance that I don't have to place my son in daycare but I've had no frantic phone calls to my mom in the middle of the day. No rigid schedules that I'm making my mom stick to while I'm gone. In fact when I dropped him off with my Tia, she asked about a schedule for feeding and I was dumbfounded... "I just feed him when he's hungry" I told her... and I pretty much do. He eats when he's hungry, sleeps when he's tired and pretty much hangs out the rest of the time.

I feel confident that he is being taken care of and I feel so loved when he sees me and his eyes light up or he giggles when I pick him up after work. I love that I am able to get the better parts of both worlds: working and being a mom.

There have been some horrible stories in the news lately regarding daycare centers- abuse allegations, injuries and even a death. It horrifies me and makes me hug by son a little tighter. I'm so grateful that I won't have to ever put Dominic in a daycare- I would just quit and stay at home if we didn't have anyone I trusted to watch him. 

Looking back, I don't ever remember being watched by someone who wasn't a family member. My mom and dad worked opposites for a long time so someone was always with us, my Tia Fab watched us for a while and then my Grandpa watched us when he retired. If my parents went out we stayed with cousins or my grandparents... we asked to sleep over almost every time we went over there anyway so they probably got more date nights than a lot of parents. 

My mom went to Texas for a month to be with Becky when the baby was born, I flew out for a week with my dad and Dom to visit as well. Jen was with me in the delivery room when I was in labor and I was there when Wes came. It makes me appreciate my family so much more knowing they are there to help out.

Old Dog, New Tricks

So I posted awhile ago about wondering where I was going to be professionally in a few years... well change came sooner than I thought!
For various reasons I left Davis Hospital- while I adored the nurses and doctors that I worked with there- it was best for my and my family that I look elsewhere for work when my maternity leave came to an end.
I started looking in February, hoping to start hearing from employers right away. When that didn't happen I started to panic- What if no one hired me? Did I really want to go back to Davis? Would we live on the streets?! Of course we could live on Armando's salary- things would be very tight- but I was so anxious about it that my mind was running wild about the worst case scenario.
My cousin is a social worker and suggested applying at the hospice company she worked for- I didn't mind working hospice I am just too OCD to have to depend on other people to be really comfortable doing homecare. You have to schedule your day around someone else. Since the patients are home they are much more non-compliant and you are on their turf- literally: you have to be in their house, which is not always clean, happy or safe- no thanks. It was excellent paying but not for me so I was ecstatic when I got an interview with McKay-Dee's surgical center.
When I started applying for jobs I had resigned myself to working on some Med/Surg floor somewhere, probably graves and working all the holidays because I would have the least seniority wherever I went. If I were to land this job at the Surgical center it would be similar hours of what I was working before the baby came: no holidays, no weekends and no late nights.
During the interview they asked if I had any questions- Since it was an OR position, somewhere I had never worked before, I asked "How long do you train?" She looked me straight in the eye and said, "One week."
F@#K, I thought- Maybe if I take really good notes and write everything down.... I guess I could always get an OR Nursing book and reference...
While I was making a gameplan in my head, I hadn't noticed that she had started smiling and was laughing in my face- "We train for 12 weeks"
THANK, GOD.
The rest of the interview went great and we talked more about me being a new mom and what was different from Davis than the actual job.
I was so happy to hear from HR a week later offering me the position- a small raise, three days a week and a load off of my shoulders.
So far it has been great, I'm learning so much and it's awesome to work for a company that believes in taking care of it's employees. Lunch is catered every day for us- so even if we are very busy we all get a chance to eat. Extra staff is always scheduled so breaks and lunches are guaranteed for everyone and you don't have to stay after your day is done to pull cases for the next day. They have a cut-off time in their OR so that Dr's can't keep scheduling cases and therefore keeping staff way after normal hours. I'm really excited for where it will lead me.