First of all, I have to say that while I am having a busy call week, I am dealing with some heartbreaking cases in the hospital that are providing automatic MAJOR perspective.
At the start of call, 2/3 of my kids developed gastroenteritis (I believe the other one was the vector – thanks C). I got it too, though my version was more a fever/chills situation than a lot of GI stuff (thankful for that). But also THANK GOD that this is all I have to complain about because my patients’ families this week would give anything to have otherwise healthy children with some GI bug. Perspective. Sometimes it’s so in-your-face that you just can’t ignore it, and I am grateful for that today.
In the midst of what was going on, I had one of my favorite patients come in yesterday for a routine follow up, and while I obviously cannot share any specifics, she had a horrific life-threatening condition but underwent treatment at our hospital and St. Jude and is now one of the happiest preteens I’ve ever seen. Her long-term prognosis is still uncertain but she celebrates tiny victories and seems so pleased just to have the opportunity to be alive and participating in life every day.
Perspective.
My January to-do list did not get completed. It was a putting-out-fires kind of month, which is probably to be expected considering we MOVED less than a month ago (!).
(C’s bday party planning/invites are almost done though, lest anyone get concerned)
I currently feel generally somewhat overwhelmed (my systems, which are really good systems, are overflowing). I am in major need of a catchup day (mostly for work stuff — I have a record number of open charts and residency related emails that have piled up while the hospital service has been so busy this week). I’m on call this weekend, so there is hope of digging myself out then. On a related note, I also have to admit that I am noticing that my “80%” is creeping up to a higher number, which is something I have always been cautioned about (work ‘part time’ that actually full time, for part time pay). I don’t know. Many things to think about. Maybe I’ll have to submit an anonymous question to BoBW . . .
Here are some blog posts that I enjoyed this week.
Laura’s Time Emergency Fund post — this is exactly why I do work 80% time. Admittedly, this is a very pricey Time Emergency Fund that takes away from our Actual Emergency Fund, but it has felt worth it.
Un-Fancy’s Underwear Drawer post – I will admit it makes me want to have a strategic and uniform set of underthings of my own instead of the current haphazard mess
Organizing Queen’s Ideal Weekend post – mostly because I like fantasizing about what weekends might be like when the kids are older (!) and I do see what she is saying about the right ‘mix’ of social + alone time. As a fellow E, I am definitely happiest when I spend more of my weekend time with people.
Kelsey’s January post. Kelsey and I have very different life situations right now (she left her full time job ~6m ago) but (I think) similar personalities and I just have this feeling that if we knew each other IRL we would be instant friends. Loved this glimpse into what life is like for her now that she is home and working on writing. (I will note however that my BoBW voice was telling her to hire some part-time childcare after listening to the last podcast episode about fitting in writing! You deserve it, Kelsey!).
Happy Friday to all. It will be a mostly working weekend for me, but I am going to lean into it and try to dedicate it to productive catchup.
See you all on the other side! Possibly with a pants review if I can get Josh to take some pix for me over the weekend.
8 Comments
Testing Disqus!
Ooh I’m trying and failing to read Killing Commendatore too – got it for Christmas with high hopes and then .. it.. just ..sat. BoBW book club??!
Thanks for sharing your favourite blog posts! Iām enjoying discovering new blogs
Thank you for including my blog post, Sarah! I think we would be IRL friends too. I agree with all of the things you are into in your profile. š And thank you for the encouragement/validation that my work is worth more childcare! I’m thinking about what my schedule will be like next school year and maybe Cedric will do 4 days of preschool (8:30-2:45), currently he does three days of preschool, but I am also savoring the extra time with him and that he’s still so little. Pros and cons either way. One awesome thing is that our preschool is totally flexible so you can do one day one week and then five days the next and only pay for the days you go! So maybe as I need more time here or there he can go more often (plus, he loves it!).
Thank you for linking to my post, Sarah. I definitely feel that as an E I want to be around people much more than my introvert husband š Thankfully, my “ideal weekend ratio” has been working really well for a few years now.
I was thinking, perhaps you need a power hour one or two days a week for now, just to power through things that are making you feel overwhelmed?
Wait, it’s February? What happened? My daughter goes to year round school and she’s off for most of January. She just went back this week. It’s a rough adjustment because instead of being able to drop her at camp at 8, she’s at the bus stop at 8:45. It eats my mornings! (On the agenda for next year, figure out a different way at least a few days a week.) I didn’t move this month, but I feel behind too.
I’m loving the links you’ve shared lately, so thank you for that! I would love to hear more specifics about your systems, especially how you set them up and evaluate them as your kids grown/change (and Laura’s – maybe a BoBW episode with that focus?!) I’m expecting my first in April and my husband and I both have busy careers, I’m feeling overwhelmed already about how I’ll balance it all.
I was hit with that GI bug on Wednesday afternoon! I went from a sour stomach to full body aches + chills + fever in about 20 minutes. Unfortunately Dan was out of town! I managed the kids and put myself to bed on Wednesday but was up most of the night with the GI symptoms. I’m still a little weak from it. Thankfully B and G have remained healthy so far. I hope you settle into a routine soon. I have had trouble getting back into a routine with the new year (you’d think a two week break for the holidays + a fresh start + a new planner would help!) but I’m struggling. Feb 1 is the new Jan 1 š