Time To Learn
I love that song. I remember it best from the movie Armageddon though. But yes, I am leaving to fly to Orlando for the IHI National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care. For my day job, I work in health care as a registered nurse. And I am a part of a unit based team that, well that isn’t really interesting, so let me focus on getting ready for this trip.
The conference spans over 5 days, and this will be the first time I have been away from my husband for that length of time. It is a strange feeling. To know when I get done with my work day, I won’t be coming home, for four nights. And knowing my husband is at home, alone, while I am over 1000 miles away. Just weird.
But this trip has been planned for some time now, and my team has been selected to attend this conference for free. So I am going to get to learn a lot about improving health care. And I get to do it some place warm. But before I go, there are some things I need to do, so hopefully I won’t be worrying about everything back home while I am in the learning zone.
Getting Ready For A Trip
Since I have known about this trip for some time now, I have had time to prepare for it. Besides leaving my husband, I am leaving my horses. This means for the next 5 days, I won’t be feeding them. And with Frisby’s recent bout with colic, I want to do everything I can to make it easier for my husband to care for the horses.
We typically get hay every 2 weeks. And he is accustom to turning them out every day, but I am the fooder, typically. So I have tried to make it easier for him by getting their pelleted feed, and supplements all packaged up. All he will need to do is grab a bag each morning and evening, and dump the bag into their buckets. There is plenty of hay, so I don’t have to worry about that, which is a good thing.
The electrical cord that I would typically leave plugged in for their water tank died. So I have been plugging in the tank heater nightly, and then we unplug it in the morning. Not ideal, I know. But it keeps their water unfrozen and accessible when the temperature drops below freezing. But he will be responsible for unplugging, and plugging in the water every day.
I have left out the first aid kit, along with the vet’s phone number in the barn, just in case.
Their halters are also easily accessible, in case he feels the need to halter them up. Not that he would, but you never know right?
The temperatures haven’t been too cold at night, so even though I usually blanket my horses if it is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, I have been getting the boys accustom to not having their blankets on, unless it is bitterly cold. Thankfully, there is no snow in the forecast, so they will be fine without their blankies for a couple of nights.
Horses, Check. Now It’s My Turn
Once I had the important things covered…my horses…then I was able to focus on getting myself ready to go. When we cleaned out our barn over the summer, we got rid of our suitcases. We never travel, and the suitcases were old, so we donated them to Goodwill. But I found an affordable suitcase online, and it’s purple. I considered that a win.
With my bags packed, and ready to go, All I had to do was get everything else ready, including myself. And with Christmas almost here, I didn’t want to have wrapping presents on my brain, so I think this is the first year I have all of my shopping done, everything wrapped, and a plan in place. I can check off the holiday, and focus on the conference.
I am bringing my laptop though, along with about 44 blog post ideas to write about, to fill in my free time. I would love to be able to visit my brother, because he lives in Florida, but he is over 4 hours away from Orlando. So I think I will just plan on hanging out at the hotel. Disney and Universal Studios would be incredible to visit, but the entrance fee’s to the parks are just way out of my budget. And without my husband to enjoy it with, it just isn’t worth it, so we will save that for next time.
I also had to do some shopping for ‘real’ clothes. All I wear are scrubs and jeans. And the conference states ” NO JEANS” so on a lunch break last week, I went to Goodwill, and found 3 business casual outfits for less than $20.00. Not too bad really, especially since I probably won’t be wearing the outfits very often in my regular life.
On To Orlando
So my bags are packed, and I’m ready to go. I have printed my boarding pass, and I have all of my conference hand outs, and my schedule. I think I’m ready, but we will see in the next few hours.
I think I wanted to write this to help myself get ready, and make sure I had all of my bases covered more than anything. But also to share with you sometimes things come up. And having a plan for when things come up is important. You can’t hide from opportunity when it presents itself. But you can prepare for it, and embrace it.
Yes, my YouTube channel, and my blog, have kid of taken a back seat for the moment, but when I get back I can focus on what I love most of all, my family, my horses, and sharing my experiences with you.
