Zilker Botanical Gardens

The Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin are gorgeous ("gorg" as Dani would say). And it's free this time of year. The recent rains have made all the plantings lush and colorful. Just watch out for the mosquitoes - they are vicious. In fact, they drove me away early from my picture-taking. But here's some looks at how lovely it truly is.

So, if you need an activity, go to the gardens. Check out the info at http://www.zilkergarden.org/. The best time to go is early in the day, it's cooler and not as crowded and no parking hassles. Austin is full of little gems like this, another planned activity (soon to be seen here) is a tour of the local museums. Tours of all the Anthro stores (there are 2!) has already happened of course, no pictures needed. Well, I could show pics of all the clothes I've bought, but you probably don't need that.

Red Alert -- Another Stab at the DMV!

Dani and I made our third trip to the DMV today. I did actually find the small card issued by the state of New Jersey stating that she passed Driver's Ed. So we took our thick folder of documents up there for another attempt to get a Texas Graduated Driver's License (what we used to call a learner's permit) for her. Here's a list of what I had to bring (no kidding): birth certificate, social security card, NJ GDL permit, NJ commercial driving school certificate, verification of enrollment from Lake Travis High, state of NJ Driver's Ed card, and North Hunterdon High's driver's ed certificate. Whew.

Here she is at the window. Will we get it this time? Or will they tell us again that we are missing a piece of paper? Let's recap what happened on visit one in East Austin. After consulting 3 different supervisors, they tell us that she needs to both repeat her commercial driving school (because Texas requires 7 hours, not 6 as in NJ) and she needs a "verification of enrollment" from Lake Travis High. The nice fellow also tells us that we "should have stayed in New Jersey" if she wanted her license. So I grit my teeth and contact the school & they say they won't issue the form until the first day of class. When Dani gets that on day 1 (two months later, incidentally), we decide to drive all the way to Marble Falls to a DMV office a little friendlier than East Austin. The woman there tells us that we need the state of NJ driver's ed certificate, and makes up some other stuff about needing even MORE hours in a commercial course. I decide to ignore the bit about the course & just find the darn card. And I found it.

So we decide to try the Northwest Austin DMV office this time. It's open late on Wednesdays, and that's when we go. It's a long line of people as we arrive at 4:30. When we get up to the counter (this is just to get the paperwork to start filling out), the woman looks at us blankly and says, "What's a GDL?" I'm sorry, I couldn't resist elbowing Dani. Here we go again! She has to go ask a co-worker what to do, and makes a show of looking at each of our papers although it's obvious she is clueless and isn't really making any kind of judgement. She hands us two forms to fill out. Dani and I sit down and fill them out.

They call our number and we go up to a window and hand over everything. Again, for the sixth time, I explain what each item is, although I sense right away that the young woman behind the counter knows what to do and is familiar with the process. Her name is Rebecca & you'll see why I bothered to ask her name in a bit. She looks at things carefully and looks up some information on her computer, asks us a few questions about dates on the forms. A woman with a clipboard behind her chimes in at this point that if all the documents are correct, Dani will get a Texas GDL and repeat her six months training. Dani starts to protest and the woman says, "Oh, but this is a Texas GDL, not New Jersey." I have to shush Dani as her voice escalates. Good god, if I hear something like that one more time, I will get violent. This doesn't ruffle Rebecca, however, as she calmly excuses herself to confer with her supervisor. When she returns, she says...you know what it is, right?...we need another document. The certificate from the NJ driving school just isn't official-looking enough. So I start begging. Really. With tears in my voice, I beg her to just give us a permit; this is our third trip, we have done everything they've said, we just need a permit, we don't even care that we have to repeat the six months. The sad thing is, I wasn't acting. I meant every word.

Rebecca and I look at the documents again and I point out that the state of NJ permit has the driving school data written on it. Obviously, the certificate was good enough for them. She agrees, and goes back to the supervisor. We wait anxiously.

When she returns, she is smiling. She tells Dani, "You're going to get your license. You've had a permit for over six months, all you need is a driving test." That's right, not just a permit, but a real, drive-by-herself license. We look at each other and almost cry. After a few more minutes, we pay the fee, take the picture and we're out the door. She has 90 days to go back for the driving test. Before we leave, I get Rebecca's name. You better believe I'm writing a letter to her boss about what a great thing she did for us. Here's Dani with her new temporary license. I'm still a little in shock. Dani's already looking at cars on Craig's List. Boy, life's going to change! Thank you, Rebecca.

School Started

We started the school year and it was an interesting first day for us all. I had a fender bender after experiencing such ferocious traffic that both kids were late on their first day. Surely arriving 30 minutes in advance would be enough, I foolishly thought. But no. I was so perturbed that I hit the woman in front of me -- who happens to live two streets down from us in our subdivision and was also dropping her kids off (she was very nice about it). She warned me that the first few weeks is a madhouse. Their carpool system is not ideal and since the kids bring a truckload of supplies the first day, I guess all parents want to drive. This one did but next year will be different, even if they have to strap on double backpacks.


I'm relieved that the suspense is over for the kids starting a new school, but the hard work (in terms of socialization) has begun. So far, Dani has only gotten into my car and burst into tears twice at pickup. Well...actually, one of those days was yesterday. This is certainly not easy. And Nile just says "fine" to every question (how was your day? how was lunch? did you slay any dragons at recess?). The schoolwork does not appear to be harder than NJ -- in fact, Nile is repeating his semester of studying the Holocaust, and I'm not sure that's such a good thing. Surely one semester of that is enough for a 14 year old to deal with. Dani's classes that are not AP are, as she states, "so easy". Better than too hard. Nile's pre-AP science is proving interesting, they are looking at hurricanes right now, which seems appropriate given Earl's action.


I started my second per-diem nursing job this week. This one is in a south Austin woundcare clinic and oh my goodness, folks, I've never worked in a clinic before but let me tell you something.....this is INCREDIBLY easy compared to hospital work. You get a lunch break! When you want it! You can pee when you need to! The doctor knows your name and he USES it to address you! The patients remember you from last week! They are happy to see you! Alright, you get the gist of it. Even better, this job pays as well as hospital positions because it's affiliated with a hospital and there's a single per-diem RN rate. All I can say is after 3 years of med-surg on 3 West, I deserve it. The only downer is I have to wear dowdy navy scrubs; here's a picture.


But you know, I definitely want to keep my psych job going too. It's just too much fun there. In a single shift last week, a patient wanted me to leave with him as I discharged him and get married. Really. He was serious. Why, how did you know that I really dig hyperverbal bipolar narcissists? And then a few hours later, another patient fired me as his nurse because I'm just too much of a bitch. Yes, he used that word. Here's the deal: I wouldn't discharge him without a doctor's order (that pesky little detail). You can't just let unstable psychiatric patients run out the door, for obvious reasons. Oh, but I'm a bitch. Good thing I didn't marry that first guy, he'd have been sorry.


We had another family gathering Sunday and (can you stand it?) here's more pool pictures. Someone at work said that if we turn on the heater, we can use this baby into November. Music to my ears. And my dearest brother Roy, who has a booth at Room Service (a very cool Austin store, check it out), took away some of the junk in our garage with the promise of more to be removed. The bedrooms and office were painted, so Nile is no longer in a pink room with fairies on the coffered ceiling looking down at him. It's a manly blue.


One sour note...still no progress with the DMV. The NJ high school told us they issued a completion card to Dani for driver's ed. She has no memory of this & if we can't find it, the state will have to reissue. Yep, that's the one and only state of NJ, in the middle of one of the worst fiscal crises in the nation. I'm sure some sweet civil servant will gladly issue us a new card. Maybe if I can figure out which agency, how to contact them, and who to ask. Alright, I'm tired just thinking of that. I'm going to swim laps in my new best friend.

OMG...More DMV Hell

The DMV has a special place in my stomach right now (it's turning). Our quest to get poor little Dani her driver's permit continues. Dani & I finally got her "verification of enrollment" form on the first day of school (we waited all summer for this), and we drove to Marble Falls, TX to the little friendly DMV office there. Not a quick trip, took 45 minutes. But after our delightful (NOT!) experience at the East Austin DMV, I thought this would be better. Well, darlin', the DMV is nothing if not consistent. This time, the woman told us we need 14 hours of behind-the-wheel training. Yep, don't know where she pulled that number from because I know that it's 7 hours based on our last DMV trip and the official web site. But I digress. She then fixated on the report card showing Dani completed Driver's Ed at school with a grade of A. "We need to know exactly how many classroom hours this was." I point out to her it's 2.5 credit hours (1/2 semester). Nope, not good enough. We must have an official letter from North Hunterdon High School. Each time we visit, it's something new and they are obviously making this up as they go along. Makes me wonder what's really going on -- are they just trying to keep us awful Jersey people off their precious Texas roads?

So here's hoping my nightly laps in the pool can cure this massive headache I've got after this experience. And the glass of wine too. I am already mentally composing my letter to the editor of the Statesman. As if moving across country wasn't traumatic enough, now my plans for dealing with work/transporting kids are basically all changed. OK, I'll stop whining now.

New Online Friends

You can meet real people online. A woman that just moved her family here from Michigan has been corresponding with me since February 2010. We met on the Austin forum of http://www.city-data.com/, which is a great resource for people facing a move to a new city. Cecilia moved here this summer with her husband and 3 daughters (all close to Dani's age). They were actually planning a move to the Lakeway community (where we live), but they ended up in Steiner Ranch. It's close but a different school district.




As you can see, the girls really hit it off and enjoyed an afternoon in the pool. It was interesting to hear Cecilia's perspectives on Austin. Since it's not truly a new city to me, quirks like the way streets are arranged (& how the names change so often) don't really bug me. The fact that I-35 is unusable (except as a parking lot) is just something I accepted a long time ago. These things bug her. I also didn't hear a lot of gushing about the "weird" Austin, most-cool city thing from her. And that's in spite of the fact that she's already enjoyed the easy availability of live local music. Maybe all that really doesn't matter to newcomers that aren't in their 20's.

It's funny how things turn out differently than you planned. We are truly enjoying the pool, much more than expected. We have my family over every other Sunday and basically have a big party. It's a nice draw to invite kids over to meet Dani and Nile. And I am finding I can actually get some exercise out of it and use it to relax in the evening. We looked at a lot of houses that didn't have pools & it wasn't high on our list. Now I would list it as a "must have". I figured I would not be able to tolerate working at a hospital that wasn't in South Austin, but I've found the commute up to 32nd street not bad at all. Saturday was especially sweet, only 25 minutes. And this is corny, but I love driving through downtown between the high rises and then skirting along the edge of UT. I love being back in the city.

The kids start school tomorrow, so soon everything will change drastically. I have most of the week off so that I can help ease the transition. The painters come on Tuesday to paint much of the interior of our house. I start orientation for my second job the next week. Ken's been invited to play a big poker game in Houston one weekend in September. Dani & I are planning a Thanksgiving trip to NYC to visit Holly. I was concerned Nile would never replace his beloved Clinton TaeKwonDo studio, but in some ways I think he found an even-better school (smaller, more of a family).

Life is good and I'm living in Austin, where I always wanted to come back to. It's great.

Employment

I am now employed in the fine state state of Texas. In fact, I have two jobs, which is the way I like it. Both are per diem, so I only work when they need me & I want to. One is at a private psychiatric hospital that is actually two floors within a larger acute-care hospital. I completed my orientation week there yesterday. I was quite worried about the commute - I actually drive through downtown - but it was not bad, and that was for arriving at 8:30. It took me 35 minutes from our house in Bee Cave, and (again), it's a pleasant scenic drive along Bee Cave road. And I actually like driving through downtown -- a part of me loves being back in a city. Should be less than 30 minutes when I am arriving at 6:45 am for regular work. Look, I even have a badge.

I see good signs that I will like this job. The employees seem capable and friendly and the patient population is more interesting to me -- these are people with acute psychiatric needs and with insurance. I am hopeful that with many of them, I will feel like I'm actually making a difference in their lives -- helping them through a crisis and getting them back on their feet. Hagedorn was a different situation, one that I grew to appreciate, but very few patients did I ever feel like I was making a difference in their outcome.

I also signed all the papers yesterday for my other job - it's as a woundcare nurse at a wound clinic in south Austin. This is very cool, can you believe I was able to find jobs in my two specialty areas? And dayshift? Woo hoo! This employer is part of a large system, there are 6 hospitals in the metro area with a total of 1088 beds. It's big. I also see signs that it's a good place to work. I start that orientation on the 30th of August.

The kids went to their "round ups" at school, got their schedules and books. Dani met two girls that just moved here and I am hopeful friendships will develop. Nile is fitting right in at Tae Kwon Do. The school bus stops only a block away at 8:00. Ken has a good apartment in Houston during the week and finds his new job interesting. He says it's much less stress than Clinton, so hey - that's really all I care about. It's all good. Summer is winding down, one week left for playtime. But the nice hot weather & the enjoyment of the pool continues. I'm getting in the habit of getting in there every evening. It is so relaxing and pleasant, especially if I spent the day working indoors. I have figured out that I can swim laps if I do the breast stroke and that's not too annoying. Trying to do freestyle is just too much turning, too fast. Here's another pool pic -- can't take enough of these I guess. I can't believe we even looked at houses without pools. What was I thinking?

TX to Philly

I went to Philly last week for my annual pilgrimage to my workout goddess's shrine in Glassboro, New Jersey. That's Cathe Friedrich's gym and filming studio. This was my fourth trip and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time in 2005. I'm getting so I know the routine so well, I don't even bother to bring the agenda with me. I took a total of 6 classes from Friday evening to Sunday morning. That's me with Cathe in the pic. Yes, she really sat at our table to eat. Not your typical idol.

On Saturday, Cathe did her one minute of fame with us, where small groups got to workout on the set with Cathe and take pictures for a minute. My cool camera even does video, so I got a video of it and it's posted on Facebook. For a minute, I could pretend I was one of Cathe's cast working on a video with her. And yes, the lights are really hot. I am amazed that they all aren't dripping with sweat on the videos. Must really have the hair and makeup shellacked on.

I love to go to these Road Trips because it really gives me a shot of inspiration and enthusiasm to get up at dark-thirty every morning I'm working and sweat for an hour and a half. It can be lonely to workout at home and it's also weird. I spend that time with Cathe every day & start to feel like I know her -- she releases a new set of workouts about once a year & I've been collecting them since 1999, so if anyone knows her little jokes and how she thinks, it's her loyal fans like me. But when you meet her in person, you realize how one-sided the relationship is, although she is very warm and real. No diva.

And New Jersey/Philly was lovely. The weather really cooperated and was so much cooler than it has been in Austin. Not that I saw much of it starting Friday night, but the days before were nice.

I got to see Jackie and Christy and many of my 3 West pals, which was nice. I worked out at my old gym in Clinton and took a terrific Zumba class - better than the Zumba here in Austin, in fact. I miss New Jersey, especially now that the temps here are over 100 degrees every day (& I really feel it)!

The bad luck of this house continues though....when I returned home I discovered that my Mom had backed into the neighbor's mailbox with her car while she was babysitting my kids during my trip. She leveled it, and it was one of those big brick things. Oh well, it's fixed now. I just have to laugh.