eke it out

one more . . .
or sort of. our ED schedule isn’t really that bad — we have 18 shifts (14 8-hour shifts, plus 4 12 hour-shifts on the weekends) plus 4 clinics distributed over the month. that’s only 180 hours for the entire block, which works out to 45 hours per week. basically: a resident’s dream come true!

future residents: click to enlarge if interested in what our schedules look like for an ED month!

but for some reason, this month has felt harder than that for me. part of it is that the 8 hour shifts easily become 9 (and sometimes 10) when you are trying to wrap up loose ends. the other part is that i spent my glorious minibreak weekend flat on my back with some gross illness, courtesy of some ED patient, of course. and, to make up for the wonderful coworker who covered my butt and worked a 13 hour shift when i couldn’t make it through mine (sick), i have to work 5 hours on monday which would have been a much needed respite after working for the past 7 days straight.

which means that if i don’t count my sick weekend as time off, i will have worked straight from november 3 until november 19. and even the days off before that came after shifts that ended in the AM or the middle of the night.

IN CONCLUSION: despite not working that many hours, my schedule has sort of sucked. so no wonder i’m tired and feel like i live in the ED.

light at the end of the month
but, it will certainly be nice to begin my vacation at the end of my shift next friday night! josh has wanted to go to his family’s thanksgiving bonanza — an enormous event held outdoors in miami beach, complete with a hired pianist and impromptu vocal performances by various family members — for YEARS. unfortunately, his program hadn’t allowed him to take that week off, as it was ‘reserved’ for upper levels.

finally, he has gotten to that elite senior status and we’ll be taking off the week of thanksgiving. so: this will be one of our classic bifamily pilgrimage-type vacations that those of you who are married are familiar with, i’m sure. we will start in my home city of philadelphia. coincidentally, i’ll be there during the marathon, but i won’t be running it!

from photos 4 travel

instead, i will be hanging out with my family, and also touring and tasting brews at my favorite brewing company.

there will also be plenty of wonderful food, from my mother’s cooking (right mom!??) to dinner at distrito, a modern and totally delicious mexican place near penn’s campus.

from there, we will fly to orlando, of all places. yes, despite not quite being in the target demographic, we are going to disney world. WITH josh’s parents, brother, sister, and our 3 toddler nieces and nephews, ages 0-3. i predict a few meltdowns but i think it will be a super fun time nonetheless.

then, it will be on to miami beach (driving from orlando) for the aforementioned thanksgiving fête! we will stay in tropical paradise until saturday.

finally, we will finish off our vacay with a much-needed day of recharging/recovery at home. whew!

present vs future
you all know i am a huge advocate of trying to live in the NOW, not the next weekend/vacation/year. but sometimes it’s just inevitable, and in some ways the anticipation of weeks like these just adds to the fun. i will still try to focus on things as they are happening and actually ENJOYING my 12 hour ER shift, but admittedly dangling this vacation carrot is helpful at times.

what are your thanksgiving plans? last year, i was off but josh was working, and we made thanksgiving at home. the year before i was on call in the NICU!

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11.14.09

workout: 13 miles, average 8:55/mi in chapel hill. I’M BACK BABY! 4 weeks until the marathon . . . wow. it will be interesting to see how my totally minimal training plan pans out in a race situation.

doin’ time: 2 more marthaless days!

reading: not yet.