A Tight Squeeze

My nursing license was up for renewal at the end of November.  The Oregon State Board of Nursing (OSBN) requires an RN log 960 hours over 5 years to be eligible for renewal.  And also you can't have murdered anyone, or stolen drugs, I believe.  A license is good for 2 years -- just like a temple recommend -- which also precludes murder and narcotic theft.  Anyway,  you'd think 960 hours, i.e. about 4 hours/week, is not a burdensome requirement.  But throw one year of not working,  three months of maternity leave (twice), and laissez-faire scheduling (my doing) into the mix, and you end up 238 hours shy of the mark.  Why did I wait until the eleventh hour to find out my cumulative hours?   Ummmm.  Wait.  That is not the point of this post.

238 hours!  That is the point.  Where does a full-time mom find 238 hours to spend at work over 5 weeks?!?!?  Plus, there was the possibility of being cancelled from a scheduled shift at any time - so I would need to work extra at the beginning of the month, as much as possible.  Briton and I toyed with the idea of just letting the license lapse -- for about 2 seconds -- before deciding we'd go for it, for obvious reasons.  And by "we", I mean, I couldn't have done it without his 100% support - since he would basically be single-parenting and cutting into his work schedule.   The kids loved it, because they got to eat new recipes -- like peanut butter and pickle pizza.

I clocked in 962 hours, in fact, by 11/24 -- two hours over and two days before deadline.  That pic is the online renewal form.  Notice the "Response:  Yes".  That felt really, really good to write.  As you can tell, because I took a picture of the screen.

I learned some things during that month.
1.  It's easier to go to work than it is to be a mom  ... sometimes.
2.  Home is where my heart is.
3.  Working overtime and nights and weekends pays prettily.
4.  Old habits are hard to break.

A couple weeks ago I was asked to play the organ for ward temple night.  I said sure, no problem.  The following Sunday, the bishop pulled me aside and notified me that my temple recommend had expired (see #4 above).