Playing tourist again

This weekend, I went to the Udvar-Hazy National Museum of Air & Space out near Dullest Airport, and I went to see the National Christmas tree. The tree was supplied by Washington State, so I thought that was pretty cool!

NYC

I had a great trip up to NYC last weekend to look at the Christmas window displays :-) It was actually cheaper to fly than take the train, so 1 hour up, 1 hour back -- perfect! I stayed at a hotel south of Grand Central Station. No bedbugs to report (whew, thank goodness!)! I walked 13.3 miles on Saturday alone, fueled by a monster chocolate chip cookie from Levain's Bakery. My aunt had heard about them so I went up to 74th St. to find the bakery. I timed it just right, getting there with only 2 people in front of me. The next time I looked, the line behind me quite long. My favorite windows were the ones at Bergdorf Goodman's and at Tiffany. Saks 5th Ave had cute ones too. They were kind of hard to photograph though. I was able to catch the Broadway show "Cinderella", by Rodgers & Hammerstein. The lead who plays Prince Topher is from Richland, WA! Small world. As fun as it was, I was glad I live in DC and not NYC. I'm happy to be back to my nice clean city :-)

Christmas at Mount Vernon

At my aunt's insistence, I headed down to Mount Vernon yesterday. It is only about a half an hour outside of DC by car, probably less by horse! It was sunny and 50 degrees - hard to believe it's December! His estate is magnificent and the tour was excellent. One thing I love, but sadly can't take pictures of, is how bright their walls were back then. Think kelly green with ornate white wood accents. It reminds me, like in Williamsburg, of Kate Spade green and either Vera Bradley or Kate Spade. Very cool. There were about a dozen Christmas trees, each decorated to honor either one of his rooms or one aspect of his life. There was one for him as a surveyor, one for him as a host, one for him as an entrepreneur, and one for him as president. The surprise highlight was getting to see the two turkeys that were pardoned by President Obama on Thanksgiving day! They get to come here for a while before being sent to a farm in Virginia to live out their turkey life in peace. Enjoy!

Williamsburg

When my aunt was here, I took Friday off and we went for a 3-day weekend to Williamsburg, VA. It was about a 2.5 hr drive, through some really rural areas. We went down there at night, leaving after 8 to avoid the traffic jam that is I-395 in the evening. My mom would have had a fit if she would have seen how many people were still out after 8 PM :-) We passed several deer on the sides of the road, which always makes me nervous, especially when I'm tired! We stayed at Wyndham Patriot's Place, which was nice. We got a multi-day pass for Colonial Williamsburg, which meant it didn't matter if we got a late start ;-) Highlights: Our spa evening at "The Spa at Colonial Williamsburg" and our supper at King's Arms Tavern. The tours of the buildings made them come to life far more than just walking through them and through the town like we'd done the first day. Good times!

Big job ahead

I am in my first full week in the ER and I've already discovered in the past week and a half that I'm going to have my work cut out for me! The pharmacy department is definitely not like the one I left behind. It takes multiple phone calls to get medicines from point A to point B, with point B being the ER. The inefficiency drives me crazy! I've already met with ED nursing and pharmacy management to see if we can change some of the processes, to try to cut down on phone calls. As always - data, data, data. Another thing that is different here is that when a doctor enters an order for a medicine to start at a certain time, I can't just change it like I did in Yakima. I have to "reject" the initial order, call the doctor, and have them re-enter it for the correct starting time. That's getting really old fast! I can understand the value of training them to pay attention to such things but it's very time-consuming for me. The ED physicians have been great and have went out of their way to get me set up with everything I need. Soon I'll have electronic devices hanging off of every side of my body :-) I'm getting to know the nurses too, and slowly I'm learning their names. The ER keeps a lot of "boarders," so it's not unusual for a patient to be in the ER for over 24 hours, waiting for a bed upstairs. I'd say at this point my time has been split fairly evenly between entering orders for ER boarding patients, pestering the residents who entered the orders incorrectly, and tracking down meds that were never sent. It seems like it will be a while before I can tackle any clinical-type projects because first we've got to get the drugs coming from pharmacy in a satisfactory fashion. Wish me luck and lots of patience!

Busy busy

I survived the month and a half of orientation and now I'm finally up in the ER. YAY! I have a few projects already that will need to be addressed, and I'm sure they'll think of more things for me to fix :-) My aunt came to see me for my birthday, and we're having fun. We took a "Fall Foliage Cruise" here in DC this past Saturday. The weather couldn't have been better! We went to a couple flea markets (her idea) and ate some good food. This coming weekend we're heading down to Williamsburg, VA to check out that area. It should be lots of fun!

Week Recap

I just finished a great week. I was training in Pediatrics this week, and Friday I took in Cinnamon Rolls to celebrate my last day and thank them for training me. Wednesday night I saw some people who are very special to me, though I haven't seen them in years. It's a couple who let me "housesit" their apartment in Santiago, Chile in 2002 while they were in Canada. It made my stay there so much more fun than it would have been otherwise, and I got a taste for urban life, which it turns out, I seem to like :) They were visiting from Denver, so we made plans and met up Friday night as well and had dinner in Georgetown. I adore their little boys, who were totally engrossed in their new books. It brought back sweet memories of my own childhood! ;) Yesterday I got some new furniture and checked out a place called Eastern Market. There is a most wonderful greeting card/gift store near there and I spent a good 30 minutes laughing, reading cards. One writer in particular really speaks my mind for me, in card form! I'll be going back! Today I had my first dinner guests, the lovely Simon & Karen. I go to their house for church and enjoy them so much! I'm rediscovering the joy of spending time with actual, as opposed to electronic, people! Tomorrow I start at 6AM, so this will have to be an early night. I can't wait for this coming week. I don't have in mind, but I suspect good things are on the way :)

Fall Fun

What do you do for fun when all the usual stuff is shut down? And your little friends are 2, 4, and 6? You go find a fall festival! My friend Cameron, the first person I met at WSU, is in town with his wife and 3 kids. We met up today and went to an Agricultural History Farm place in Maryland and kept the kids quite busy with all sorts of old-time farm activities, like pumpkin rolling, sack races, digging for potatoes, corn maze, feeding/brushing goats, etc. Fun times! It was 85* or higher so we were all pretty tired by the day's end!

This is the beautiful sunrise I enjoyed this AM. It gave no hint that today would be yet another scary day in another part of the city. I love the little pocket I'm in. May it always stay the way it is now!

Proud accomplishments

I was able to successfully parallel park my car on the left-hand side of the road. It felt really backward, but I managed to get in and out unscratched and un-bumped! Hooray! And I have now gotten home for the third time the "right" way (meaning no unintended detours) through that one section I despise :) That's worth cheering about, if you ask me.

Falling behind!

Well let's see... where did I leave off? I survived my first week! Day 1 was a general orientation for all new employees, Day 2 was with the pharmacy manager, covering some policies and procedures and basic stuff, and then the remaining 3 days I was training with this great veteran pharmacist (35 years at Georgetown) who taught me the pharmacy order entry program. There are countless new names and faces to learn, so that's a teeny bit overwhelming. The one who I totally learned, right away, was Honeygirl, but Friday was her last day so so much for the easy-to-remember names! Friday night I walked over to where the going away party was, at Continental Billiards. It was fun to hang out with my new coworkers and play some pingpong and see some most unique dance moves! :) Saturday morning, I got up bright and early and headed up to play Ultimate Frisbee with some friends from WA and OR who live near Baltimore. I have never played that particular game before so it was an interesting and fun time :) I would describe it as a combo of football, basketball, and soccer. Not entirely intuitive, but very fun :) As I was leaving here to go there, I was heading east on Highway 110 and westbound 110 was blocked for Clarendon Days 10K. It was great to see all those runners, and I had to laugh when I saw a guy running in a suit! :) It would have even been better if he would've had a briefcase with him! After Frisbee, I got to enjoy some homemade pizza - YUM! Sunday afternoon I took my bike out for its very first bike ride in 3 years. I am pleased to say I did not fall over and the tires did not go flat, so it was a successful adventure. My body is protesting loudly, but I'll go out on it again another day and try to remember what the different gears feel like and all that good stuff. I'm tempted to ride over and explore Theodore Roosevelt Island, which is near here. That night, I went to another friend's house for delicious pulled pork sandwiches and other great food. My face hurt from laughing, which is my idea of a perfect way to end a great weekend. Today I was back to work again, this time getting to enter real orders for real patients :) I still have the benefit of being under the watchful eye of my trainer, so that's reassuring. Odd things have come up already, so thank goodness he's there. For lunch, for my own amusement, I walked down the street to where the French Embassy is and stuck my foot under the fence, technically stepping in France :) Yep, I'm a dork. Not sure what I'll do this evening, but I'll think of something. Everything is going great. My navigation through that super tricky stretch is much improved, but I think the drivers here are rude and make the madness (try driving at the place called Seven Corners) even worse. Thus - I continue to do a lot of public transportation and walking :)

27.5 miles

My brother and I walked a grand total of 27.5 miles in the 3 days he was here! We covered everything from Georgetown in the West to Library of Congress in the East! I'll post pictures soon, but I'm still recovering :-) On Sunday I was invited out for lunch by some new friends, which was a delightful way to start the week. They are really good cooks and hosts! I can't wait to get more kitchen chairs so I can return the favor and not make people stand. That gets serious deductions in your hostess score! Today I started work, though it was just orientation. Tomorrow will be the first day I go to the hospital, so a big day for me! It will be more orientation for a while, but that's all good. Deciding what to wear has kept me up quite late tonight! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an excellent first day tomorrow. Here's hoping I get to sit down and rest my tired legs :-)

Annapolis

Today I was feeling pretty indecisive about what to do, because I didn't want to do the one thing I should do, which is finish unpacking!  I looked at the map and decided a day trip to Annapolis sounded like fun.  It was a nice little drive and I really enjoyed walking around Historic Old Town.  I took a tour, which I can't say I'd recommend.  We saw just a handful of things and the guy spent too long, in my opinion, talking about architecture of the buildings/houses.
I walked down to the end of Dock Street, hoping to catch the last harbor cruise and get a view of the town and US Naval Academy from the water, but there weren't enough people so they cancelled it :-(  I was really looking forward to being out on the water on a gorgeous, crisp day like today.

I'm still having the worst time with the freeways!  Exits are not always from the right lane, I have to pick between 95, 295, 395, and 495, and I think I've picked the wrong lane for the last time over by Memorial Bridge.   I have a pretty good sense of direction and am always the navigator, but there is nothing intuitive about the roads around here!  Also, it's surprisingly hard to find a car wash.

My brother comes tomorrow, so I need to have the roads figured out by then so I won't get too much grief from him.  As it is, I've spent the last 4 hours unpacking and organizing my office so he can use it as a bedroom while he's here. zzzzzz. Good thing I have 23 more hours to get everything just right :-)

Saturday, I decided to drive up to see a museum that's a bit off the beaten path.  It was a folly-filled adventure, and I'm sure I broke a driving law or two, but at least no accidents happened.  I drove up to one of the many military joints named Walter Reed, and perhaps this museum once existed there (as indicated by the sign outside the big fence that said "museum,") but it certainly doesn't anymore.  In fact, I'm not sure much exists there anymore because all the gates were closed!  It wasn't the nicest part of town, either, so I had a pile of feelings to sort through, plus the stubbornness that I was going to find it.  I gave Siri another chance and this time found my way to the right one, another several stoplights and awful traffic scenarios away.
One of my new pet peeves in life is 2 lane streets where residents are allowed to park in the outer lane!  Who came up with that bright idea?!  It was especially dangerous when there would be a street or two with no cars, so I'd switch back over to that lane, only to have cars parked in my lane another block up!

So why did I want to go to the museum?  I heard there were odd things there, plus the bullet removed from Lincoln's head by the surgeon on the night Lincoln was assassinated.  This museum, by the way is the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

I saw the bullet, a lock of his hair, misc Lincoln-related stuff; this surprisingly significant slab of concrete, and all sorts of specimens of bodily malfunctions.  The saddest were the babies, of course.  Getting back to this slab:  it was part of the floor in a trauma bay at a tent hospital, Balad, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  They had an astonishing survival rate, and it was all at once both hard & easy to imagine all the carnage that came through this room.

Here are a couple pictures.

Ok, I won't lie - today wasn't my favorite day.  I started the morning off by going over to the storage shed I'm renting so I could unload my snow tires, skis, and other things I won't be needing anytime soon.  I had to hurry back, change clothes, and speedwalk a mile over to Georgetown for my stand-up paddle board lesson.  I thought it was awfully windy and thought it might be a disaster, but nobody called so I kept going.  Of course once I got there, "Oh yeah, sorry, we've cancelled that for today." Grr!  So back up the stairs, over the bridge, and up the hill I went.  I decided my mood was already annoyed enough, I might as well spend the rest of the afternoon at the DMV getting a Virginia drivers license and get my car registered over here.  Indeed, that took a full 3+ hours, sitting in a room with no wi-fi, no magazines, and no vending machines.  I had a terrible headache by the time it was my turn, so here is the plate I picked, to match my mood today :-)

Another annoyance today -- Siri has been messing with me!  She's been directing me into this awful round-a-bout which is just the most accident-prone awful one I've ever encountered, right near Arlington Cemetery.  Fortunately I've discovered a bypass and will avoid THAT mess in the future!

I'm hoping for a good sleep tonight and fun adventures tomorrow.

Time to play!

My law exam was yesterday evening so now I can start being a tourist and play! Wheee!
I sure hope I passed, but it's behind me now and I can't change anything, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I think I'll go check on the Hope Diamond today and the Reagan China... two faves.  I was going to go to the zoo to see the baby panda, but apparently it doesn't get to come out until it is 4 months old, so I'll skip that trip for now.  Oh, so many wonderful options!!

I'm sure no one is too interested in hearing how I took the cardboard boxes downstairs, and the day-to-day dull stuff, so let's skip to the good stuff.
Trader Joe's = quite possibly the most fun grocery store ever!  I snapped some quick shots of a couple of the first signs I read.  Someone there has a sense of humor :-)

I took the subway to DC to go to a pharmacist there and ask them some of my law questions that I was not finding answers to.  Rather clever of me, I must say.  After that, I took a bus over to Georgetown and spent well over an hour wandering along M Street.  The Home Store/TJ Maxx was impressive.  Here's a photo of just one of the steals you can find!  Once I got home, I could've kicked myself for passing on this.

I don't have any photos from my walk home, but it was lovely.  I stopped in at Dean & Deluca and bought a little demi baguette, then walked to Key Bridge and crossed over the Potomac into Rosslyn.  I've got some blisters for my efforts but it was just the most wonderful day and the most wonderful walk.  I kept smiling for no good reason at all, other than loving my surroundings and finding it hard to believe that this is now home!  

4.56 miles today :-)

Amazon is my friend

Amazon sends me boxes most every day! :-)  I feel bad for the concierges because I imagine they're staying pretty busy sorting out all the boxes that come for people every single day!

Yesterday I went to church here and got to meet some nice people.  I was invited to stay for lunch, which I accepted rather than face my mountain of boxes and plastic silverware! :-)  It was a wonderful welcome and great food!

I'm loving the proximity to Safeway.  I walk half a block, cross the street when no traffic is coming (most of the time), take the walkway between some buildings, and then dart across the next street -again, when no cars are coming.  I am hauling everything back by hand, so I make small trips :-)
I bought a pedometer to satisfy my curiosity, and I'm averaging 4.1 miles/day right now.  I am going to be in fabulous shape by the next time you see me! :-)  Then again, I discovered a wonderful place today called Crumbs and they had samples outside.  Mmmmm - divine!  The Caramel Apple cupcake for the month of September might just be my downfall!

Wednesday is my DC Pharmacy law exam for licensing, so wish me luck!

Shopping and style update

For those Yakima ladies who have bemoaned the lack of remotely professional clothes available in town, particularly at Macys... come to DC!  The style seems to be skirts and dresses paired with flats (or flip flops after work).  The Nordstrom Rack has circles dedicated entirely to little black skirts and the regular Nordstrom had an impressive collection of versatile dresses.  I can't wait to see what they bring out for coats in the fall/winter!

Costco has a chocolate shop!

Well today left me feeling a bit like a college freshman... in a new place, I don't really know many people, and I don't have my car (yet).  After getting internet installed, I headed over to Pentagon City to where the mall and Costco and some other stores are.  I really wished I would have been wearing a pedometer today because I covered some ground!  My feet aren't city feet just yet! Ow!
I'd say the highlight of today was going in the Costco here.  Check out these solid chocolate capitol buildings!!  They also make chocolate Pentagons :-)  White, milk, or dark chocolate.  If I wouldn't have been carrying everything back with me, I might have been tempted to try one!
Tonight, I went over to Dupont Circle for a nice dinner, then came home to do some studying.

I'm here!

Hello, my blog readers!
I left Seattle at 8:10 AM, saying goodbye to Mom, Dad, and Aunt, and caught my one-way flight to DC.  I'm calling this my first day of 29th grade, and just like my other first days of school, my sweet Mom packed me a lunch :-)  PB&J and a bag of grapes = perfect!  I think the pilot knew I was anxious to get here so he stepped on the gas a little extra!  We made the trip in just over 4 hours instead of 5.  It was a spectacular descent, coming in over Georgetown University, then over the Potomac River, to the south of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, etc.  I spotted the White House, and the Capitol, and all those good things :-)  What a pretty, magnificent city!
I had to wait a while for a cab to come that had enough room for me & my bags. I weighed them at the counter and one was 35 pounds, one was 33 pounds, and one was 28 pounds.  :-)  The driver delivered me safely to the door of my new home.  A few details later, I had the key and was on my way up to the 15th floor.
It took me what felt like an eternity (over 5 minutes) trying to figure out how to work the fancy electronic key.  When I finally mastered that and stepped in, I was happy, relieved, and a little shocked. Somehow, in my memory, the apartment had grown in size.  This was quite a reality check!  Gulp!  Luckily the views, both during the day and at night, are awesome!
I took some pictures, then headed out to get some basic groceries and necessities (dish soap, paper towels) that I'd forgotten to pack or order online to have shipped.  I found a Safeway very close by, and then took the subway 2 stops to Clarendon.  I meandered my way all the way back from Trader Joes to my place, taking my sweet time and stopping into the Container Store, Crate & Barrel, etc to do some research/planning.  I must maximize use of cupboard space!  I checked and the walk, without stops and my side adventures, was 1.25 miles.  I'm going to get a workout while I wait for my car! :-)
Once back to the apartment, I made myself my first cup of tea and washed my hair, so I would really feel like I was home :-)  I also started measuring all the cabinets and drawers, and used painters tape to plot out where furniture might go.  Decisions, decisions!  I could use a second opinion!

Furniture/boxes should arrive on Saturday, and the car still hasn't been picked up :-(  I guess the driver says he'll be there tomorrow.  He's not quite as organized as my other guy seems to be.  Oh it will be so nice to have a chair to sit on and my stuff! :)
Time to sleep. It's later than I think!

The moving truck is on its way

A million thanks to my parents for coming to help me finish boxing up everything.  I continued to purge stuff that was just "cute" or just for decoration and had no function at all, and things I had too many of, etc.  The movers were amazing!!  The driver, Richard, drives a 53 foot long truck.  It took him a little while to figure out how he would get it in here to this complex, but he did it and between him and his helper, they wrapped everything that was not in a box in great big blankets, and stacked it clear up to the ceiling of the truck.  I thought I had a large load but they said it's the smallest one they've ever done together!
It was worth every penny.  Those guys were professionals and strong, to boot!  Now I'm left with 3 suitcases, a bedspread (I'm using it as a chair right now), and some basics that I will take back to Mom & Dad's when I go on Sunday.  1.5 days of work and my life in Yakima will be wrapped up.
Uff da!  We just went to Red Robin for a celebration lunch :-)

Please click link below to see photos:
Moving Day Album

Decorating thoughts

As I've looked at pictures I took of my new apartment, I am really glad I sold all my furniture because it just isn't quite going to match the style! I'm going from cottage chic to urban, modern style. I don't know how I will decorate just yet, but I took the StyleFinder Quiz on EthanAllen's website and my "signature style" is Explorer. Relaxed eclecticism. Hmm, we'll see what that means. My current thought is to keep my red, which is not negotiable, and add some teal with it. I'm trying to find inspiration from catalogs of Grandin Road, Pier One, World Market, and Pottery Barn. Are there any I'm missing? I'm not a super-modern gal, so CB2 and West Elm don't really appeal to me. Hmmm.

Househunting Day 2

This morning, I got up, went to Georgetown Hospital to do my drug test, and then went to the bookstore to check out the t-shirts and Georgetown gear. I decided to wait until I get over there rather than dragging it home to Yakima, then back over. I walked across campus to the campus shuttle that takes riders across the river to the Rosslyn Metro station. From there, I walked up the hill, past Mark Felt parking garage. I reached my first stop, the brand new (and partly still under construction) Sedona-Slate apartment buildings. Sedona has one style of decor, Slate is slightly different. I went in and met the leasing people and asked to see what they had. Well the first 1 bedroom I walked into had me hooked because it had floor-to-ceiling windows! What a difference that makes in how big the space feels! I wasn't bedazzled with the walk-in-closet, and I was really hoping for 1BR with a den (for visitors), so I asked to see the next one. I had a good feeling about the complex though. I liked the kitchen I saw. The 1 BR with den did not have the floor to ceiling windows, and felt much smaller. I didn't like the kitchen layout either. I asked if they had any others to show me that were 1 BR + den with floor to ceiling windows. We came back down to the office and she pulled up the list and they had one left!! It was smaller than the one she showed me, but I still wanted to see it. As soon as I walked in, I knew that was the one I wanted. Floor to ceiling windows, better kitchen layout, and better view than the previous one. It's on the 2nd floor from the top, so 12th floor up from the ground. They have a nice rooftop pool, more for splashing than swimming; an outdoor grill, a club room with pool table, fire place, jumbo TV, etc; 24hr gym with weights, cardio machines; and apparently a little "pocket park" in the back with more grills and a business center. Certainly all I need and then some. I was so relieved I had to do a little happy dance! I'll be the first occupant in the apartment, which actually isn't even 100% ready yet. It's a smoke-free complex, very "green", with recycling, special paint, lights, energy-friendly appliances, and all that good stuff. Plus lots of nice security features that will give me peace of mind. I loved the location, with the Metro 2 blocks away (Rosslyn station), Starbucks right outside (for visitors, not for me), grocery stores 2 Metro stops away, 1 mile walk to Georgetown Shops, and 2.1 miles to work! There are a few restaurants around there and I'm sure with time I'll find more. This will give me the urban experience I was hoping for. YIPPIE!

House hunting Day 1

I just returned this past week from a 3-day trip to DC to find an apartment. I had it narrowed down to 2 complexes after extensive, exhaustive research! I had my list of "Must-haves" such as garage parking, washer-dryer in unit, near Metro, and a list of "Nice-To-Haves" such as non-smoking building, walk-in closet, reserved parking, den, additional storage. I arrived in DC around 11:30PM, after flying into Baltimore and picking up a rental car there. Since I will be working evenings, I wanted to drive around these neighborhoods at the time of night when I will be coming home to see how they look that time of day. Everything is lovely in the daytime, right? I really liked the area on the west side of Arlington Cemetery, which was near Courthouse Metro Station. It was a nice walkable community with lots of little restaurants and shops. I was not as crazy about the area around Pentagon City mall. When I went just 1-2 streets over, the feeling was not so safe and there were some sketchier-appearing people around. Armed with this info, I went to my hotel and promptly fell asleep :) Day 1: I started with the complex in the area near Courthouse. I'd narrowed it down to the perfect apartment... but while I was out getting a tour, that one perfect floor plan was snatched up. :-( It was certainly a shock to see how small these apartments were in real life. I guess the imagine in my mind that I'd created was much larger. 700 square feet is not very big! It was hard picturing my furniture fitting in any of these places, so it was pretty discouraging. Once I realized nothing at that complex was going to work for me, I headed over to Pentagon City to check out two complexes there. Those were fairly new, and I found one apartment that was a "maybe", but ... I guess I just couldn't get excited about having a view of a mall and a Costco. I'll be in DC ... I can get those views anywhere! I wanted a little neighborhood with shops and restaurants and a little personality. I went over to Georgetown and looked at a condo for rent there. Awful -- teeny kitchen, no W/D in unit, laundry is in the hot, dark basement. It was just a creepy, old building. Not worth the price they were asking for! From there, I went back to see a condo across the street from the first complex. That too required a long walk down a dark, dingy hallway. Closet space was great but it was just not very nice and not what I had in mind. I would not have been happy there. Just in case, I put a hold on the "maybe" apartment back over in Pentagon City in case I didn't find anything else. Discouraged, I came back to the hotel and I'm going to bed.

The job

I will be working for Georgetown University Hospital in their Emergency Department. They recently decided to hire a pharmacist for that area and this is something I've pioneered and helped set up a couple times now, so this really was a perfect match of what I can offer and what they were looking for. :)

What? Washington DC?

Yes, I've finally gone and done it! I've been wanting to shake things up in my life and I've been wanting a change, but I never knew where I should go. I've considered Florida, California, and even Seattle, but none were quite the right option. A friend suggested I check out Washington DC, because he knew the city well and thought I'd really enjoy being surrounded by young, professional, active people. When I was there in October, I felt instantly at home and loved the city. I've been watching the job market since that time and started taking a few steps to free myself to leave. Most critical was selling the house, which happened in May. I had some applications out at that time but did not have my first interview until mid-June. That lead to a follow-up interview, and that lead to a job!