1 Year Anniversary!

Wow! I can't believe it's been one year since Hurricane Ike hit, and my adventures as a hurricane refugee began.

I still remember trying to sleep during the worst part of the storm (in the early early morning of Saturday, September 13, 2008). I want to emphasize "trying," because really, it's hard to sleep when you don't know if you'll have a home, or a job, or a life the next day. At that point, I didn't even know where to start to pick up the pieces of my life.

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But I am so unbelievably grateful for many things during the last year:

1. I am so grateful that, unlike many of my colleagues, I did not lose everything in the storm.

2. I am so grateful for the flexiblity that we were able to have in moving around the state of Texas to still get our training (even though it was stressful at the time--moving every month, being homeless, learning a new hospital system every month).

3. I am so grateful for the people that took me in during the last year and let me be a nomad, sleeping on their couch, their floor, and in their extra bedrooms (the Feighner family, Lisa, and Spogmai). It saved me so much time and money and stress to be able to have a place to lay my head during this time.

4. I am so grateful for the thoughts and prayers and gifts from everyone around the state of Texas, the country, and even the world. It is so nice to have such support!

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I still can't believe the way this blog has affected people, including myself. Just last week I met yet another woman at work that had read my blog when she evacuated, and she was so excited to meet me. Seriously? I'm just a normal person who was put in a situation and tried to make the best of it.

Although I have thought about the possibility of another storm. If there was another hurricane, would I volunteer to be an E1 and stay at the hospital? I think I would. Although my perspective would be very different the second time around.

Anyway, I finally feel like my life is coming together. I have a car, a home (albeit rented), and a job that I'm finally happy with. Sigh. Life is better. :)