What Are You Doing This Weekend?

This is one of the questions I dislike most from our friends and acquaintances. I know the question is meant to be a conversation starter. After the weather questions, if it is a Friday, you get the weekend questions.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?"

Do most people ask that because they really want to know what we do with our weekend? Or do they ask because they want to tell us what they do on the weekend? Do weekend plans tell others something about you that they can't ascertain through other questions? Is it one of those questions you have to ask before you can ask the question you really want to ask?

What would this response say about me?

"Well, Saturday I will probably go grocery shopping. Sunday we have church. Well, that's about it. By the time Saturday comes around we are exhausted and don't want to do anything."

If the husband isn't working at the hospital, Saturday is the day he tries to catch up on everything - including sleep. The last thing he wants to do is anything that requires effort. Physical effort is perfectly fine. It is the social effort that he doesn't have the mental strength for.

We are homebodies through and through.

When we have made plans on a weekend we always regret it. Yes, we like other people. We just happen to like the ones living under our own rented roof better.

A Funeral I Won't Forget

"Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required." - Winston Churchill

I heard this quote today at a funeral and it hit me with such force that I took out my phone and made a note so I would remember it and could tell you about it.

I know that every medical spouse tries to do their best. If you are like me, it often feels like it isn't enough. The last part of the quote is where I feel I have been operating for the last few years. I am doing what is required, not necessarily my best.

The speaker at the funeral was talking about this quote of terms of our body and mind limitations. That we are capable of going further and doing more than we think we can. That we give up far too soon and think we have done our best when our best is yet to be revealed.

I can see and appreciate that. But, there comes a point when your best has truly been exhausted and you are running on fumes taking care of the necessities and leaving some things undone. It is a choice we have to make if we are to survive.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed trying to do my perceived best. I stress myself and my family out when I expect to be on my A-game in every situation. I don't allow myself to expose my flaws. I try to present myself, my family, my life as the best version of myself (which is usually only present a small percentage of the time). When I expect too much it inevitably leads to frustration and disappointment and that isn't helping anyone.

When I can focus on what is REQUIRED at any given moment I am usually much happier and less concerned with my performance and more focused on getting the job done. At the end of the day isn't that what matters - that what needed to get done was done? The other stuff is all fluff and elective.

I am sure that I have taken this quote and completely altered it's meaning from the original intent. Mr. Churchill would probably roll over in his grave if he read this interpretation. He would be screaming "that isn't what I meant - you should and can do more, not less!"

Sorry Winston, what is required is the best I can do today and that has to be good enough.

Our First Date....ahhhh

This is a very sad commentary on our social life. I am trying to remember when our last date was. And by "date" I mean an encounter where my spouse and I left the house together without our children. It doesn't happen very often.

I know it hasn't occurred since we moved the middle of June, so we are already at 3 months without a date. Before that it had been a while because we were living apart for 2 months, but managed to sneak in a visit that did include grandparents watching the kids. I think I can safely say it has been 4 months since we had any type of date night. 4 Months! That is tragic.

Makes me sad just thinking about it:-( Especially because I like getting dressed up, and I love good food. I love being out when the sun has set. I love the quietness of it all. Oh, and it is really nice if my husband can be there too.

Please let date nights be a regular occurrence when fellowship is over. Please, let us move somewhere with great babysitters available at a moments notice. Please, let us have enough money after the taxes, bills, and student loans are paid to do something fun as often as time permits.

Even though my husband and I agree that having regular date nights is important, it doesn't happen. Does that mean that it really isn't as important as we think? Or, does it mean that life is really that crazy that having regular date nights (out of the house) is an impossibility? We might have been able to make it happen sooner, but finding someone to watch your kids isn't something to be taken lightly. It takes time and not just anyone will do. They have to be able to entertain and keep safe the baby and the 7 year old, and the ones in-between. It is exhausting work.

What did we do on our hot date? We ate some sinfully delicious food, tried out a Tempurpedic mattress (thank you for your suggestions) for 15 minutes before the store closed, and stopped by Bed Bath & Beyond for a rice cooker and an expanding/hanging clothes rod to make it easier (eliminate the excuses) for my son to hang up his clothes after they have been washed. They have to be hung because we have no furniture!

Have we scheduled the next date night? No, but I hope it comes before Christmas this year! How do you find time for date nights outside of the house?

10 Things I Wish Weren't In My House

Sometimes when you hit a blogging block you need friends to help you get past it. Today I am taking my subject inspiration from The Good Life blog and jumping in for my very first time with Monday Listicles. Luckily, the subject is something I can work with.

10 Things I Wish Weren't In My House (technically it isn't my house - thank heavens)

1. Sugar Ants. They wait outside until my daughter finishes dumping her food on the floor and then magically they appear (usually overnight).

2. Laundry. Piles and piles of laundry to sort, wash, dry, fold, hang - and repeat again tomorrow because my kids forget what is clean and what is dirty. I never want to see it again.

3. Rust. How can rust develop on painted surfaces or carpet? I thought there needed to be metal involved. Looks like rust to me.

4. My furniture. I am so looking forward to the day when our furniture is made from real materials, and not engineered ones or picked up curbside.

5. Vertical blinds. Enough said.

6. Odd sized/shaped windows: huge half circle window in our master bedroom that was apparently too difficult to cover so they didn't. On a full moon our bedroom is bright! I am too lazy to get (buy) a ladder to tack a sheet up. Luckily there isn't a two story house looking down on us.

7. Toys. I hate them. They never get put back where they belong and yet I don't think they are ever played with - the fun stops the minute they are taken out of their organized and assigned spaces.

8. Tampons. I am not wishing for menopause, but I would really like to never see another tampon in my house ever again.

9. Dust. Yes, I could "dust" more often, but what is the point it just keeps coming back. Which is why I occasionally need to invite people over so I have a good reason to do that job.

10. ME! That's right - I am ready to move on. I want to kills ants, do laundry, make my own rust, buy furniture as an investment, have real window treatments, pick up toys, menstruate, and dust another house. A house that I know I will live in for a long time instead of one year here, 6 years there, 4 years here, another year there. I want to be a grown-up and put down roots and make a home. It is so close I can almost taste it.

This was fun! You should consider joining the fun when you have a momentary block that feels more permanent than temporary. She does a new list theme every Monday and you get an entire to week to think about it, if you need it. Did I mention it is fun?



Hope your weekend was fantastic and that you will be back here next Monday, October 1st for another Medical Mondays Blog Hop. You know you want to so mark your calendar now so you don't forget!

Dropping Out

I have had it. I am done. I am not going to do this anymore!

The critical point has finally been reached and it only took 3 weeks for me to see the absolute stupidity in this daily task. This may be the beginning of a roll.

Have I mentioned how much I deplore having to pick my children up from school? Did I mention that I spend at least an hour a day picking up and dropping off? Maybe I let it slip somewhere that I get what could be considered "waiting in long line parked car road rage" when I see people breaking the rules? How about the crossing guards who hold up traffic so a kid that is still 20 feet from the cross walk can cross - 10 cars could have gotten in during that time. Why don't we let the cars use the road, and then when the kids get to the cross walk stop traffic? Makes sense to me. My blood is starting to boil just thinking about it. I sit in line and see a dozen things that could be done better, and I can't stand it anymore - I am about to explode!

Well no more, or at least no more in the afternoon, for me!

It is ridiculous that I should sit in a parked car for upwards of 45 minutes just so my children don't have to wait too long after school to be picked up. Time is money. Or in my case time is time! What could I do with that wasted time? Plenty! I could even choose to waste it on something else. Anything but sitting and getting angry.

So today I drew a line in the sand and said:  I will no longer play your stupid waiting game. I will not get in line 30 minutes before school gets out. And wait behind 30 other cars who arrived even earlier than I did. In fact, I won't even be in the line when the school gets out. No. I am going to sit in my house - no more parked cars for me.

The idea came to me yesterday, after another long wait. As I was leaving the parking lot I noticed the time was 10 minutes after school had let out and there was still a long line of cars trying to get into the line to pick up kids. The school keeps the kids outside and ready to pick up until 30 minutes after school lets out. After which they take them back into the school and you have to sign them out in person. So really I have 30 minutes before I look like a negligent parent. Light bulb moment!

Arriving twenty minutes after school releases the students proved to be just right. I pulled into the parking lot and opened my doors, no wait. The kids got in and we left. Yes they mentioned my tardiness, but I told them this was going to be the new normal and advised them to remember to pack a book. Let's see 10 minutes or 50 minutes roundtrip, which would you choose?

Yes, it means my kids will have to "wait" for me, but I am sure they will come to appreciate a more relaxed mother when they get home. I know I am already.

Now if I could just get them up and at school 20 minutes before school starts I wouldn't have to deal with the craziness in the morning either. That will be my next project.

Blank

That is what I am drawing today... a complete BLANK. Since I started eating healthier and exercising more I feel like I can hardly think about anything else. That could be a good thing. Or is my "blankness" a result of something else? Hmmm.

Since I mentioned it, I've lost 4 pounds so far. That makes me pretty happy. I did have a day last week where I fell off the wagon and ate some very bad things - and they made me feel icky, but I couldn't stop. That is how I got into trouble in the first place. Learning to stop is tricky, but I am working on it.

Kids driving me crazy after a long day? Where is the chocolate? And before you know it all the chocolate in the house is in my belly. Did it ever really make me feel better? Yes and No.

Yes, because it took the edge off while it was being devoured. No, because I always felt guilty about not treating myself better.

I will admit when I am home alone and it's been a rough day and the kids have finally been put to bed, I think about those days. The cookies, the brownies, the chocolate candy, the ice cream, oh my. I wish it were possible to taste it without swallowing. Would it be weird if I just started licking my treats? And then I immediately walk into the bathroom and brush my teeth. There is nothing I dislike more than ruining a minty fresh mouth with food.

Can I Please Skip Today?

I have a problem with Monday. It starts out well enough, but by 7:00 am everything is wrong. I want to crawl back in my bed, pretend the world doesn't exist and wake up on Tuesday morning when everything seems to be back to normal.

Monday's are not good for my health! Between dragging small children out of bed so they have time to get dressed (in wrinkled clothes because they didn't think hanging them up was a good idea), eating breakfast at lightning speed (even though I made breakfast the night before), and rushing to finish homework (which I am blamed for them not completing), fighting with the other people running late in the car drop of lane (seriously, it is insane and makes my blood pressure rise), and then getting little ones ready for the first of the classes that only happen on Monday (why?)... it is enough to make me wish this day was never here. And yet it shows up every week, right on schedule.

Monday is accompanied by lots of yelling. I probably get all my yelling for the week done in the hour between 7:00 and 8:00 am. Yes, the first morning of the school week is bad.

My son informed me that maybe he should go to bed earlier. I couldn't agree more. Let's see how he likes 7:00 pm tonight. And how he likes me removing the 3 night lights he has set up in his room so he can "read".  I wonder if there is a way for me to disable all electricity in his room during the night hours? Someone should invent something like that.

I bang my head against the wall trying to figure out how to make these mornings go more smoothly. I feel like I have done everything that I have control of. What makes things chaotic is that I don't have control over them.

I am up awake, showered, dressed, breakfast eaten, kid lunches made before they even get up. You would think 45 minutes would be sufficient time for little people to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, comb hair/brush teeth, and be in the car ready to go. Apparently not.

Mental notes for our next move
1.) choose school with bus service
2.) choose school that starts at 8:30
3.) don't schedule anything for Mondays
4.) don't schedule anything... period... ever. I am not cut out for taxi service.

I try to tell myself that tomorrow will be better, but there will always be another Monday next week. ARGHHHH! I don't like Monday's. Oh, and the doctor is on call so it will be me and Monday all day long. Please let today be over soon.

Irresponsible Blogger Award

I read this post over the weekend, from another blogger that I follow. My head was nodding the entire time. How many times have I thought the same things! Trying to balance negativity with honesty - that's tough.

Today I am nominating myself for an Irresponsible Blogger Award (it's not real, but maybe it should be).

You have seen blog awards floating around. I have been the recipient of a few, and if you nominated me I beg your forgiveness for not following through on the responsibilities that come with accepting them. I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. I had good intentions, but no follow through.

My Acceptance Speech

If I have inadvertently contributed to your suffering by detailing my perceived suffering I am truly sorry. Did you see my last depressing post yesterday? Don't read it if you have student loans greater than a house.

When I started blogging I was lonely, tired, overwhelmed, PPD (what do you call those same symptoms if they start right before you deliver, pre-PPD, I had it then too?). Consumed with what I thought was, figuratively, consuming me.

The good news is that it took nearly 5 years of residency and four kids to get there! And the difficult part is over, mostly. It is all up from here. Right?

Little snapshots captured in blog posts don't really paint an entire scene or do the journey justice. That was last year - I survived. I evolved. I know these years that have had defined start and end points will be ones I look back on with fondness, knowing full well that they are the kind of years that can only be viewed that way a few years removed from them.

There have been good times, great times, happy times - I hope I remember(ed) to include them. Sure there are days that feel like they will never end. Time, energy, emotions, money - all spent and in short supply. But that is life. Not just the medicine life, but we (med families) seem to have been given a heavy dose and the symptoms last longer.

No one promised us fairy-tale endings, and if they did - and you bought it, then yes it might be a little disappointing. The truth of the matter is we are responsible for making the most of what we have been given. Some days I do a better job than others. I just try again tomorrow, and the next day - and hope that one day I succeed.

One bad day, one bad week, one bad month doesn't make the journey itself bad - or miserable, or not worth taking. Thank heavens none of us knows what the future holds! Many of us would be scared out of our minds and would never take the leap. There would be a whole herd of frightened and cowering women huddled in the corner.

I wouldn't want that to be me, and I wouldn't want it to be you. Yes, this is hard. Yes, it is long. Yes, it is unpredictable. Yes, it is never-ending. Yes, it is expensive. But already we are beginning to see that it  is worth it. Some things you can't attach a price to.

Remember YOU are strong. YOU are capable. YOU are prepared. YOU are ready. If you don't know it now, you will - trust me. Somehow I made it this far.

I also use this blog to give myself little pep talks from time to time. Thanks for indulging me:-)

Student Loan Fun

I had the happy occasion yesterday to go looking for our student loan statements. Sadly, I found them.

Here is the sobering news. Our total student loan debt (just medical school) now has a balance of $300,800.05 - next month it will likely be more. No, we haven't borrowed a dime since medical school but this balance is multiplying like rabbits! Maybe faster than rabbits:-)

In March of 2011 I documented our total student loan balance as $290,707 and growing. In 18 months the balance increased by almost $10,000! We have even made monthly payments of $230 on this loan ($2,760 last year and $2,070 so far this year). All those payments haven't slowed the snowball. If you are familiar with Dave Ramsey, our debt snowball seems to be working in reverse.

What is sobering is the total amount borrowed to attend medical school was only $240,725.31. The other 60,074.74 is all capitalized interest (and we have already paid interest that isn't included in that total). It's probably more like $65,000 over the last 6 1/2 years.

And then I read that you cannot deduct student loan interest payments from your income taxes if your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000 married filing jointly (see IRS Publication). Guess what? For the tax year 2013 our income will exceed that! Or at least it better be so we have a fighting chance to pay back our student loans.

I know you can't deduct interest paid on most sources of debt: vehicles, credit cards, personal loans, etc. It would be a nice gesture if there were some kind of "break" for that portion of our future income that will be diverted to paying down this huge debt.

In the end the amount of "interest" we will pay will probably be around $80-100K depending on how fast we can get it paid.

Luckily, our interest rates are low: 3.375% on the majority of the balance, and 2.75% on about 1/4 of the balance. I know that for many of my friends, and readers, who started later you have much higher interests rates. I am so sorry, because I know your final numbers will look even more dreary.

If you have the ability to make payments on your student loans while in residency, consider doing it. At least you will be able to deduct the interest you pay on your taxes at a much lower rate and possibly increase your tax refund by reducing your taxable income. I know it's already pretty low, but lower is better.

If you can't, then you will deal with it later - like I am. It would have been impossible to start paying back our loans any earlier than we did. (Maybe not impossible, nothing is impossible). The only reason we started paying is because we had to. There was no way around it, and maybe we should have started residency planning on doing it instead of planning on deferring for as long as they would allow.

It will be happy day when I log on to post: WE DID IT- SALLIE MAE HAS BEEN PAID!

What is left to be decided is will we live like this until we do, or are we going to live a little? I know what my husband wants to do, so we will have some compromises to make. What are your plans for tackling student loan debt?

Crazy World - Crazy Life

It's hard to believe that 11 years have passed, and yet it feels like it was forever ago.

Of course I remember where I was. What stands out is how different my life is today. How quickly life can change. How rapidly time passes. The people I associate with are different. The people I love are different. The things I spend my time on are different.

I remember being an adolescent and thinking that I would never be 21, that it was so far away. And now I can hardly see it. I recall on the threshold of residency thinking that 6 years might as well be an entire life-time. And yet, here we are. Six years passed, and the seventh is moving at a clipping pace.

Regardless of how you feel about time, trying to hurry it along or slow it down, it is going to pass. I fear I have spent too much time trying to move it along and not enough time enjoying it for what it is.

Living in the present isn't something I have been very good at. I excelled at playing the past over and over again, and trying to predict the future, all the while missing what was going on right now or drowning it out. I am trying to make the most of my present, now while I still have it.

What I learned from September 11, 2001 is that life can change. It will change. No one will ask you if you are ready. Accept what life brings you. Love the ones you have. Do your best every day. Someone is counting on you - don't let them down. Just because something looks bleak today, doesn't mean that it will tomorrow.

Bad Call

DrH doesn't have weekend call very often, maybe once a month. But when he does it is bad. I couldn't figure out how it could be so miserable when they don't have emergency admits and they don't schedule surgery on the weekends. What could he possibly be doing for 12 hours straight each day? Well, there are a lot of sick patients.

During the week they have a resident who runs the floor and takes care of the consults. As a fellow he is operating during the week, not managing floors or post-op patients. Only on the weekends does he (we) feel the full brunt of what the poor residents have been doing. Residents work hard.

Saturday DrH went in at 7:00 am and made it home by 7:30 pm to say goodnight to the kids. At 8:30 he got the page.

The first thing I hear out of his mouth: "Gosh Darnit, freaking phone service". This is as close to swearing as DrH gets so I know he was mad. He doesn't get mad very often either. Yeah, we still have awful coverage in our house - this week I am going to do something about it.

I only get the privilege of hearing one side of the conversation. From my end it sounded like this:

DrH: What I need you to do is wake the patient up and have him squeeze your hand and wiggle his toes. If he is unable to do that call me back.

(5 minutes passes, phone rings)

DrH: I just saw that patient at 6:30 pm and he was able to squeeze my finger and wiggle his toes. Are you telling me that now, 2 hours later he cannot?

(Pause)

DrH: Did you wake him up?

DrH: What I want you to do is get another nurse and see if the patient will respond to a different voice. Listen, I've been at the hospital all day and I'd rather not have to come in right now. If you could please have someone else try to wake him up and see if he will squeeze your finger and wiggle his toes I would appreciate it. I am 30 minutes away. I will come in if I need to, but I would like to know that I am coming in for something. Please ask someone else to do it with you. I will call you back in 5 minutes.

(5 minutes passes, DrH calls)

DrH: I'm on my way.

Back on go the scrubs and on his way out I hear "If I get all the way down there and he squeezes my hand and wiggles his toes heads are going to roll." Someone is going to be in trouble.

Me: Please don't get a ticket.

(1 hour passes, he calls)

Me: How is your patient?

DrH: Well, he can't squeeze my finger or wiggle his toes so no heads rolling tonight. But they still don't have the CAT scan I ordered hours ago so I am waiting on that. If it doesn't come soon, I may just stay here and try to get my rounds done early. I'll either see you soon, or tomorrow some time.

Remember I said some weeks you win others you lose? I am thinking of my update to the day in the life post last week. This week we lost - BIG TIME.

So when did he show up?

27 hours later! Sunday evening at 11:00 pm. Total time at the hospital between Saturday morning and Sunday (so late it was almost Monday) equals 39 hours. Most people like to space that out over 5 days and call it a work week.

Which brings me to one of my pet peeves about medicine: You never know from week to week if it is going to be a 60 hour work week, an 80 hour work week, or the work week that theoretically is never supposed to happen. Try planning a life around that.

As a side note, he left this morning at 4:45 am so he could sign off with the resident coming on call and has a full day ahead of him.

The Doctor Knows

One of the benefits of being married to a doctor (there are really too many to count - but there are equally as many obstacles) is that he has the answer for everything. Having all the answers also means that there isn't any seriousness taken to my claims of serious health problems.

Warning: Being married to a doctor also has the propensity to make one a hypochondriac.

Me: I have this sharp pain in my side, under my rib cage. It comes and stabs me and then is gone. Usually when I turn or have just taken a deep breath.

Dr: Oh, that's costochondritis. Don't worry about it.

Me: I think there is something wrong with my reproductive system. I have cramping on one side but I'm not even close to my cycle. Could I have a tumor or a bursting ovary? Can they do that?

Dr: What you are feeling is mittelschmerz (he says it with a fancy German accent). Perfectly normal considering you should be nearing ovulation.

Me: You keep track of my cycle?

Dr: Yeah, its not that hard. But here, let me check (presses on my abdomen) - you are fine. Take some ibuprofen if you'd like.

Me: I promise there is something wrong with my hands. I have sharp pains in the middle of my palms that usually show up after I have been writing (with a pen or pencil) for a while. And I feel general weakness in my hands.

Dr: give me your hands (quick neuro exam) - there is nothing wrong with your hands. You don't have carpel tunnel. And I think that is an excuse so you don't have to rub my back (gentle tease). You are fine.

I swear every time I rub his back, I get that pain in my palms! I tell him it is because his back is so big and my hands are so small. This is the one thing I really wish I could figure out. Maybe I need to exercise my hands more.

Me: I have lost all flexibility in my lower back. Look, I can't hardly bend backwards. Shouldn't my range of motion be greater? Is it possible that my spine has fused itself together?

Dr: No. You just aren't very flexible.

There goes my optional career as a gymnast or dancer. He is a patient man:-)

Have a great weekend!

Junk Food or Weight Loss

I have been debating for a while about adding some of my go-to recipes for when life gets out of control and I feel beat. I quickly realized that most of the things I go to are baked goods. Some of which I can whip up in 15 minutes from pantry to mouth (the no-bake variety when emergency calls). I am not going to even think about that right now.

Instead of adding that topic to my blog, I've opted instead to stop talking about needing to lost a few pounds and do something about it. I need to thank a few of my blog friends for their encouragement. I am thinking specifically of my new acquaintance over at Delicious Fitness. I met her at the Medical Monday's blog hop!

It is time to stop making excuses and get to work.

Last night I asked my husband to take the before pictures. I did, and I almost wish that I didn't. I half considered posting them here with my face cut out, but I am not that brave. They were worse than I expected.

I was somewhat pleased that I was able to get the bikini I wore on our honeymoon 8 years ago even on my body... that says not all is lost, right?

Really? It is a bikini which could basically fit any size person. The real test would have been a one piece. Even a one piece in the right size is hard to get on, but a size or two too small - forget about it.

I wasn't expecting what I saw. I almost cried. I had no idea I looked like that. With clothes on I feel rather fit and trim. What is under the clothes is anything but fit. In fact, it is a whole lotta flab and just a couple of donuts away from a full on muffin top spilling over. My muscle tone has completely vanished and I look old. That is what I get for not doing ANYTHING for the last 6 months.

That's right I have lived a completely sedentary lifestyle. And it only takes a few months to lose everything you had going. I miss what it used to be.

Even with that photo (front, side, and back) to encourage me I wasn't able to get up early enough this morning to exercise. I thought maybe enlisting the help of my husband would make it easier, but it isn't. He gets up at 4:30 am but I am not ready to be awake at that time. I thought maybe we could work out together, at home, before he leaves. We are both too beat. And honestly he is a push over. All I have to do is look at him with those eyes and he will stay in bed with me instead of kicking me out to get to work. He loves me just the way I am (good man).

This isn't turning into a weight loss blog. From time to time I will check back in to let you know I am still hard at work and maybe when I see some progress I will be brave enough to post my before and after photos.

Sorry if you were looking forward to my no-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies. I was too, but not today.

A Day In The Life

Last year in August I detailed a week of my husbands work schedule. To provide some perspective on the changes from week to week, month to month, and year to year I've decided to take a snap shot once again of what the doctors work week looks like.

No two weeks are the same, no two months are the same, no two years are the same. Here is proof.

Sunday - OFF!
Monday 5:45 am - 7:10 pm (OR day) 14 hours
Tuesday 5:45 am - 3:15 pm (light OR day) 9.5 hours
Wednesday 5:45 am - 8:15 pm (clinic day/journal club) 14.5 hours
Thursday 5:45 am - 6:15 pm (OR day) 13.5 hours
Friday 5:45 am - 5:45 pm (OR day - 1 really long case) 12 hours.
Saturday - OFF!

Total hours worked for the week = 63.5. Overall, not that bad of a week. He didn't work Sunday or Saturday, and he wasn't on call at all this week.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. This week was awesome.

I was sweating bullets on Friday because he had purchased tickets to take our son to a MLB game that started at 7:00 pm. They were doing a huge case that had neurosurgery, head/neck, and plastics involved. He thought he would be cutting it close and that I might have to bring our son to the hospital so they could leave from there.

Everyone in the OR did what they did and there were no complications. Dad was home in time, and little boy had the best night of his life. Baseball with dad, ice cream in a plastic helmet and cotton candy.

It was a good week.

Medical Monday's Blog Hop Is Here!

We're thrilled to have you here for our second Medical Monday!

Time to link up your medical/med life blog...

Here are the rules:

1. Follow your co-hosts.
2. Link up you medical/med life blog. If your blog name does not clearly state how you fit in to the med/med life world, please write a little intro or link up a specific post which clearly demonstrates your connection.
3. Visit at least 3 other link ups and let them know you stopped by from MM!
4. Help spread the word by using our button on your post or sidebar, tweet about Medical Monday, or spread the word on Facebook! The more the merrier for all of us!

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Your Co-hosts this month are:

• Emma at Your Doctor's Wife
• Jane at From A Doctor's Wife
• Red at The One with the Red Stethoscope
• Paige at Eloping Stethoscope
• Felicity at Pursuit of Felicity
• Casey at Labcoats and Liabilities

Be sure to comment and let everyone know you found them through Medical Mondays BlogHop!

Interested in Guest Co-Hosting in the Future?
Email Emma at YourDoctorsWife@gmail.com or say so when you comment below.