The Journey Begins

  Each new endeavor begins with a single step. If you were to link a bunch of steps together you would create a journey, so here I go with step one.  Welcome to my first blog; my biggest hope is that you will be comfortable visiting here.  In my line of work, change is a constant.  With that in mind, I plan on changing things on this blog from time to time in order to decide how I prefer to set things up around here on a more permanent basis.   So, thanks for bearing with me.
  As my "About Me" box says, I am currently a Medical Technologist. It's a lay term for "Clinical Laboratory Scientist", and that is a more apt description.  I've always been interested and involved in the field of science, beginning with my class choices in school and volunteering as a candy striper as a teen.  I have always been compelled to help others, and I credit Dad with giving me my compassionate heart.  He was a real soft touch, and I miss his gentle ways so very much.  But, that is only half of my story.
  Enter Mom.  She was a gregarious and beautiful woman with a creative streak a mile wide.  No wonder dad fell head over heels in love with her; she created her own orbit and everyone around her was drawn into her world.  My creativity manifests itself mostly in writing, and I've actually been at it a while. I still have the poems, stories and class papers from high school and beyond that were my favorites.  Several ended up in the school paper over the years.  I also dabble in jewelry-making and cooking.
  After nearly losing my husband to an illness years ago, I decided to finish the degree I started many years earlier.  Off I went to the university and got the thing done.  It took a lot longer than planned due to another family crisis, but the goal was to finish before I turned 40, and I reached that goal with a few years to spare.   Now that I've been working a while, I feel the need to allow my other heart's desire to have its turn in my life.
  The field of medical technology is suffering a horrific decline and brain drain nationwide.  Schools all over the country are closing-including my own-which does not bode well for the future of health care.  The sick need doctors and nurses as we all know, even children know that.  However, you cannot run a hospital and cure the sick without a laboratory on hand to help divulge the body's secrets. Labs are responsible for ~70% of the healthcare decisions, but comprise less than 10% of a hospital's budget. Disproportionate you say? We've known it for decades.  You cannot diagnose, treat, or follow the course of someone's treatment without a laboratory running tests to determine cause and effect.
  So, what does this have to do with writing?  I had an epiphany at work a while back, and it led me to a grand idea. More on this later, time for bed!