Rough 'n tumble Monday

Today was a rough day. 24 patients today seemed like a lot and it was a lot really - I sent the other 4 back to their cell to see them tomorrow (a perk of the job - sending them back to their cell when I run out of time). I started to feel the strain of how much I don't know - looking up a lot of things I know I actually have knowledge in but feeling inadequate. I came home and cried in Shawn's reassuring arms. I'm really wishing there would have been a training period - a real training period instead of a here - try this, see how you do and we'll try and answer questions as they come up...I am reading the blogs of my fellow former classmates now colleagues and reading their struggles and successes of their first few weeks, it reminds me that I'm not the only one who has gone thru this adjustment period. But tomorrow is another day, it's Tuesday, and wing night! yay! So chin up buttercup as Shawn would tell me.

Gobble Gobble

Gobble Gobble gee and Gobble Gobble gickle, I wish Turkey only cost a nickel.

Had an amazing Thanksgiving, although we wish we could have been with our family, we made the most of it. We had a huge spread for the two of us: turkey stuffing (separate stuffing for Shawn of course - he doesn't eat the stuffing from inside the bird), mashed potatoes, sweat potatoes, our family fruit salad, corn, cranberries, wine (just for show), and homemade apple pie for desert. YUM! We ate on our china dishes and drank (well one sip) from our crystal goblets. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday I think. I love fall, it's the same month we got married - and so our first holiday we celebrated as husband and wife, there are no gifts to worry about - just good old family togetherness. Here's a few pics of our spread.

Shawn "carven der turkey" me with the knife - scary... our spread .... and us just before our turkey coma.

Gift Exchange

Our third anniversary gift exchange was postponed because we both decided we needed more time for whatever reason, Shawn needed to work on his "project" and I was waiting for mine to actually be shipped. So we decided today would be the big gift exchange. To spare the reader: Shawn had a beautiful leather scrapbook embossed with a special message and our wedding date and made a scrapbook of our first three years together - it was breathtakingly amazing! I bawled flipping through the pages, each page thoughtfully pieced together with witty sayings/messages, all in perfect order. Words don't do it justice, I'll have to post some pictures, it is truly a masterpiece. I never expected something like that from Shawn - ever. I'm usually the crafty one and he did such a good job keeping that a secret and it was so perfect in every way possible! He never ceases to amaze me! My photo album is my "brick" (in reference to the over joy he had last Christmas with our Wrigley field brick).

Our first year of marriage, the traditional gift of paper, we did a little unconventionally and got Wrigley's papers to join our family Anniversary number 2 (cotton) we decided we weren't going to give a gift since I was on rotation, money was a little tight but Shawn, being the sneaky sneaker he is bought me lovely cotton jammies that I absolutely love! I felt so terrible I didn't do anything (as we agreed).

So that brings us to this year (traditional = leather, modern = crystal). I had this amazing idea I was going to fashion some kind of bracelet for Shawn or something out of leather and either brand or emboss something meaningful on it. Sounded easy enough. Then I couldn't find a company that branded or embossed around here, but I did find a branding tool and an embossing tool so I decided I could do it myself. Next dilemma, no bracelet big enough. So I thought I would order one (at the 12 day mark at this point until A-day), but turns out the type I wanted came in a pack of three - bummer but back up in case I don't succeed with the first one (plus everything form TX comes big, right?), but to my misfortune, they're back ordered... time is ticking away. After no success with the 2 leather sores in PDX and realizing the craft store "ready make kits" are about as quality as something I could find at the 99cent store I am really feeling the time crunch. Then 5 days before the big day I find almost exactly what I want online. I couldn't settle on a design, wasn't sure exactly what I wanted and worried it wouldn't fit. All of these worries ate into my time and it wasn't ordered until 4 days before, but according to there website it would be there on the day or maybe 1 after. Well long story short, it didn't make it here, and found out Friday after work that for many reasons it wouldn't even be here for the Sat exchange. Panicked I decide to make a leather frame and decorate it with hand pieced leather flowers and Swavorski crystal. It turned out fair considering it was a last hour project. But for the first time I was topped by Shawn... and so the war begins.

And tonight, at 1130 we decided we wanted pancakes so we wouldn't have to eat and wait to digest any kind of breakfast before our run, only to realize after making the batter that we in fact don't have any syrup, so Shawn, bound and determined to have pancakes went to Wal-Mart in the pouring rain at 11:35pm.

Friday

Walking in Wal-Mart tonight through a random aisle of vaccuum cleaners and minifridges and yes, mini 5.3 cu ft freezers. A man and woman are intently focused on the freezers - even have a tape measure out. As I pass by, I hear:
Woman: "How do we know it's big enough?"
Man: "Well, could you fit inside of it?"

Got to re-incise and drain the heroin skin popper - it made the afternoon fly by.
I can't believe next week is only a 3 day week for me, both Thanksgiving and Black Fri are holidays. Yeah for Turkey day!

The Real Deal

I started work Tuesday - 2 days of orientation and then BAM! hit the floor running seeing patients bvy myself. I'm working with an NP who beat her best time in Spyder solitaire today while I was "training". My medical director must have been so busy that outside of the mandatory medical administration meeting we had this morning along with 6 other people, he was too busy to stop by and say hello. Definietly a remote site. I had such a fun day of trying to swim without my arm floaties I actually thought to myself, this is going to look so good in Typhon - sick I know. Highlight of the day - drained 2 ginormous and deep abscess on bilateral triceps caused by "skin popping" heroin. Awesome! Apparently this client comes in frequently - or rather rejoins the community regularly so I'm sure I will see it again. Lots of HTN, a couple DMs and a few asthmatics, not to mention trying to wade through schizoafffective disorders to get to the root of a problem (at least the psych NP dose all those diagnoses).
It felt really good to sign my name with PAC today, this is going to be really fun despite the steep learning curve.
Despite my fun - how wonderful it was to come home to the best hug ever from perhaps the proudest husband ever.

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary - 3 amazing years, it doesn't get better than that,, does it?

Modern Toilet

MMM I'm hungry (like that's nothing new), next time we're in Taiwan (or if/when we go there) we'll have to give it a try. I heard the curry is the best but about 1/3 of the people who order it can't actually bring themselves to eat it. And don't forget your beverage (via urinal) and dessert - chocolate ice cream (poop) in the bowl (toilet bowl that is). [seriously, google modern toilet restaurant Taiwan]

Wasting Time

So, I thought clearance was my only hurdle, I thought I was starting next Sunday-ish... but turns out my paperwork for practice and remote site isn't complete, won't be approved at least for 14 more days from the state and wouldn't you know it appears my doc has too many PAs already. So frustrating that this 2 1/2 month process is still ongoing (had I known it would take this long, would have visited home for a week). Sheesh. At least in this down time, we've been running, I've been working on my new quilt and spending lots of time at home together (especially with his 2 unexpected days off last week). So hopefully I won't be wasting too much more time, can start working and earn a pay check by the end of the month and actually be contributing to our household once again.
3 yr wedding anniversary in just over a week ...thanksgiving...Christmas all right around the corner.