November Happenings – Returning To Work As A Registered Nurse, Josh’s 2nd Birthday and More

The month of November has been quite the whirlwind. So many exciting and momentous things happened all in one month, that I feel like I need to catch my breath. I’ve had so much going on in my personal life, I was completely gone from the blog and social media, so let me fill you in.
I went back to work as a Registered Nurse in the same department where I used to work before I had my babies. For those of you who are new, besides sharing recipes and cooking tips on my website and on social media, I have also been a Registered Nurse since 2006. I have worked in several different departments over the years, such as Oncology, Med/Surg, Telemetry, Pediatrics, but for the the last 4 years before I got pregnant with my son, Nathaniel, I was working at the Transfer Center. In the Transfer Center, we facilitate transfers of patients between many different hospitals, depending on the specialty that they need. I am so thankful that I was able to get a job in this department again and get to work with many of the same people that I worked with before.

I had to quit working for a while because I had two high risk pregnancies, where I was severely ill and on IV fluids the entire time, with lots of complications after I delivered. The recovery for both of the boys took more than a year. It was all most certainly worth it though:). Now that I’m mostly back to my normal health, I am happy to contribute financially to our family again.

I have been orienting on days but now I am back to night shifts. I will be working 24 hours a week, 2 (12 hour) shifts. I am a night owl and have been working night shifts since I was 19:). I prefer working nights for many reasons. Night shifts are also a better fit for us right now since we still have 2 little ones at home all day. This way, I will be with the boys during the day and they will be with my husband at night on the 2 nights that I am working. For the boys, nothing much has changed, since our schedule is still very similar to what it was before I was working. I love spending so much time at home with them. It’s my dream come true. Of course, I’ll be sacrificing a bit on sleep, but before we know it, they will be in school and I can get more sleep then:).

We celebrated my younger son’s birthday, which was so much fun! I can hardly believe that he is already TWO. We love watching him grow, play with his older brother and delight us with his fun personality. It’s so interesting to me how much the two boys are different. Josh is so funny, goofy and lovable. He loves cars – books about cars, movies with cars and toy cars. Of course, I made him a cake with a car theme. He was amazed and all his little cousins were too. We didn’t really do anything extraordinary for his birthday, we just had dinner with family, lots of balloons, cake and some gifts. I just love celebrating my boys. The days they were born will always be so special to me because they are my miracles and I will never take it for granted.

My brother Mark and his wife, Marina, had a new baby girl this month too, so we were all so happy to welcome her into our growing family. We just love babies:). My parents came for a visit for almost 2 weeks to see the new grand baby and it just so happened to coincide with my day shift orientation weeks. I can’t believe how perfectly it worked out, so they were able to watch my boys while I was working 12 hour day shifts.  My sister, Milana and her husband, Andrey, also came for a visit. They moved to Tennessee not too long ago and we miss them so much. It was so wonderful to spend some time with them.

In the midst of all that happiness and excitement, I got the flu, which was terrible. I haven’t had the flu in years, so it wasn’t fun. I was just praying not to pass it along to my family. It really took a toll on me, but I had the good sense to be sick on my days off:). I had a few blog projects that were due, so instead of resting and recuperating, I was blogging while coughing, feeling dizzy, achy and gross. That’s the thing about working for yourself – you can’t call in sick because no one else will do your work for you. All that to say that it really put me behind on everything.
I apologize to those of you waiting for new recipes or my delayed response to emails, comments and direct messages. We seem to have finally settled into a new routine, so stay tuned for lots of great new recipes and join me on IG and FB for more behind the scenes and family life.

We traveled to Tennessee for Thanksgiving (I have 2 sisters who live with their families in the Nashville area). My parents were also able to join us and our other sister came with her family from NY too. We had a wonderful time together. The food was incredible – we are all big foodies and love to have big feasts when we get together. It was really relaxing and enjoyable.

I hope you all had a wonderful November. Stay healthy and let’s get excited for the Christmas holiday that is just about here. We put up our Christmas tree this week, and it really got me in the holiday spirit:). What are you looking forward to the most for December?

12 Comments

  • Tanya

    So nice to read about updates on your family! So so happy for you that your dreams came true! God bless you, Olga, and your beautiful family! Do you work at Level 1 trauma center hospital? I work at such hospital and I have a nurse friend who recently started working at the transfer center and she is so happy and blessed to be able yo work there. I am a nurse too, and we get patients transferred to us from 100-mile radius all the time!

  • Natasha @ NatashasKitchen

    I’m so happy for you Olga ☺️. Your kiddos are adorable. Have a very Merry Christmas and God’s blessings for you and your wonderful family. Greetings from Idaho 😀

  • Nancy Dixon

    Hello Olga,
    As a mother and grandmother my advice to you is to always be aware of your health and know when to give in …………to yourself. You seem to be a wonderful wife and mother always caring for your family. Always remember if you don’t take care of yourself first, you will be unable to take care of others. I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and may all your hopes, wishes and dreams come true !!!
    Nancy 🇨🇦

    • olgak7

      Thank you, for the kind and caring words, Nancy. I have dealt with health issues my entire twenties and now in my thirties, so I completely understand how important it is. That is why my top priorities are to take care of my family and my health FIRST, and everything else comes after that. This is why I haven’t been posting any new recipes on my website or sharing anything on social media.
      I hope you have a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas.

  • Terry

    I have been following you for years Olga, and am so thrilled your health is good and you are able to work as well. You are a courageous and strong woman. God bless and have a great Christmas. xoxo Terry

  • Dina Polyashov

    Olga it’s so good to hear your health is doing better! Your boys are adorable, happy birthday to your little one! God bless your family 🙂

  • Tzivia

    Hello there olya good morning lovely lady wow congrats on going back to work as a registered nurse whohoooo so happy to hear that your health has improved greatly happy bday to Josh wish him all the best and Nathaniel is also growing up too bless them both sorry that you had the flu glad that you overcame it I love the holiday times too this time of year winter and the whole spirit of it last night was the first night of chanukah for me it’s one of my favorite holidays it reminds me that even with all the crazy scary events that have been happening in the country and all over the world that we can bring light and shine it on upon a world that is so very dark can’t wait for more of your recipes to try as I’m always on the lookout take my dear be well and good luck with everything happy holidays cheers

  • Tzivia

    Good morning lovely lady wow congrats on going back to work as a registered nurse whohoooo so happy to hear that your health has improved greatly happy bday to Josh wish him all the best and Nathaniel is also growing up too bless them both sorry that you had the flu glad that you overcame it I love the holiday times too this time of year winter and the whole spirit of it last night was the first night of chanukah for me it’s one of my favorite holidays it reminds me that even with all the crazy scary events that have been happening in the country and all over the world that we can bring light and shine it on upon a world that is so very dark can’t wait for more of your recipes to try as I’m always on the lookout take my dear be well and good luck with everything happy holidays cheers

  • Luc Lemelin

    HI OLGA , I was very happy to see your name, when I was looking for a recipe for soup., and I just saw your picture with your husband and then the magic happen. I remember your husband who was coming in my kitchen to take care of my fire system. I had many talk with him. How wonderful it was. I also use your recipe the famous pastry cream it work every time when I follow your recipe. Thank you to be there and doing what you are doing. I am a chef and I like your recipes. My name is Luc come from Canada I am a Chef.

    • olgak7

      Hi Luc,
      It’s so lovely to “meet” you! Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I’m so glad you enjoyed the pastry cream recipe:). That’s so great that you met my husband as well.

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