Shady Pines

Da Kid and Herself, his fiancé, have promised both her mother and me that they will take care of us when we are old and feeble, by paying for our stays in an imaginary nursing home they dubbed Shady Pines. Nothing is too good for us, they've always said, after all they've put us through over the years.

Herself called early last week to let me know about her interviews for R.N. intern at two different hospitals.

A job is a job but she was really (and I mean really) hoping for one over the other. The drive would be about 45 minutes shorter each way and the salary and benefit package was far better.

She'd start off at about $2 more an hour than she's earning now. As soon as she gets the paperwork that confirms she's eligible to take the state Board exams, she gets another $4 or so an hour on top of that. Once she's passed the Boards, approximately $7 an hour more.

Salary alone even without shift differential, in a few short months she'd be making more a year than I did after almost 25.

And that's to start.

Then there's also the full insurance, paid leave, tuition reimbursement, 401k, employee home- buying assistance plan . . .

In that particular hospital, she was really (and I mean really) hoping that of the three openings they had, if they hired her she'd get the one in a specialty ICU step-down unit.

She called late last week and I could tell by her voice she was trying her best not to sound like she was crying: "I got it."

Yep. The hospital she wanted AND the slot. She starts January 3.

Meanwhile, Da Kid got a call a couple of days after the "physical" on his day off to come in for an interview. When he got home after it on his day off this week, he was a mix of positive and negative. He thought he'd done well but hadn't realized there would be 30 other candidates vying for whatever training slots the department was trying to fill, and they only have 65 paid firefighters.

Whatever the decision, one of the chiefs would call him Friday.

Da Kid called just before noon.

"Mom, I'm a firefighter."

He goes in on December 20 (his day off) to go over his salary and benefit package, and starts January 6.

After these last two weeks, the hell with Herself's mother and me just having rooms at Shady Pines.

Each one of us deserves our own wing and heck, it looks like they'll be able to afford it.