Sunday, October 6, 2013

Life Goals = Check

So for the first time since June, I feel somewhat ready for the week ahead. For the past 10 days or so my main life goal has been to empty the dishwasher. I thought, if I could pull that off I might even lift my game and wash the sheets on my bed.

Well, done and done.

You might be thinking that this is THE most boring post you've ever come across but honestly, I feel this deserves to be put down in the history books. My food for the week is made (mulligatawny stew, curried cauliflower soup, and some slow-cooked peanut chicken), the sheets are fresh, the floors are vacuumed/washed, my bathroom is clean, laundry is done, bills are paid, dog food is stocked, and the fridge is sparkling. Oh it is sweet. This is what happens when I get two whole days off!! (Ok, I was post-call on Saturday so I slept until 1415h, thus making my achievements even more impressive, as far as I am concerned).

This week will be busy, I have volleyball tomorrow, am on call in the ED on Tuesday and on call for anesthetics on Wednesday but then on Friday I am flying home for Thanksgiving!! I can't even remember the last time I spent Thanksgiving with the family. It's been at least 10 years for sure. I am ridiculously excited...and prepping my elastic waistband pants in advance. Ah screw it, I'll just wear scrub bottoms the entire weekend.

In other GREAT news, Duncan finally gave his notice at work which means that the Manfriend will be joining me here shortly on the bald prairies. Yes, he is leaving his job and house on the ocean in BC to move here. It must be love.

Let's hope he's still smiling come February...

It's going to make such a difference having him here in the shoebox-sized rental. Residency has been a heavy go and a lonely road so far, and it's definitely been tough to keep the fires burning long-distance. Hopefully his tender British hide doesn't get frostbitten during his first REAL Canadian winter. Eep. Yeah, he's been in Canada for four years but Vancouver Island winters really don't count. We had a long discussion about vehicular modifications required for -40 degree winters, phrases like "block heater installation" and "winter tire purchases" were thrown around. I think he is still processing all of this. I get random questions like, "So...do people plug their cars in at work??" in the middle of a conversation about running shoes.

Yessssssss.

I am currently on my combined gen surg/ortho rotation. It is...meh. I really enjoy being in the O.R but my program has really changed up our rotation so that we spend most of our time in ambulatory care and surgical clinics. Which, I suppose, is nice for the people who hate being in theatre and who plan to have mainly GP clinic based practice. (In case it isn't already painfully obvious I don't plan on having a predominately clinic based practice). I recognize that this approach makes sense in terms of what family medicine residents need to know from a surgical rotation perspective - I just wish I had some more time getting to assist and do procedural things. Which is probably why I LOVED LOVED LOVED my anesthetics rotation (but that is a whole other post). Did I mention, I LOVED ANESTHETICS?!?! 

Well, that is enough rambling for one night. I just thought I should check in with the odd happy post from now on so that people don't think I am scouting highway accessible bridge abutments.  

Also. My dog rules.

Wake up and pet me dammit!!!
Roll on, Monday. 

7 comments:

PGYx said...

Well done! I don't think I pulled off all you did at any time during intern year. I was grateful if I managed to scrub the toilet. Residency is better but I rarely get all the needed things done in one weekend so something always lags behind. After reading your post I have no excuse!
Am so happy you have an amazing dog and will soon transition from long-distance to local love! 9 more months for me and I can hardly wait! :-)

Albinoblackbear said...

EGAD--nine months!!!! That is a loooooong time. Ok I will officially stop whining. ;)

Well--to be honest it was the most productive I've been in ages. Mostly because I had already watched all the Orange is the New Black, Mindy Project, Parks and Rec, and New Girl episodes! hahah

PGYx said...

We've made it through 19 months already so 9 months is a home stretch of sorts if we factor in the way time tends to fly. But feel free to whine away as we get to see each other every 3.5 - 6 weeks (aim for every month). I'm absolutely counting down the days to the end of residency. Will miss the rich academic environment and daily access to loads of knowledgeable doctors, but I'm quite over the fast-paced urban East Coast lifestyle and can't wait to move on after graduation!

Unknown said...

Great to see you're still posting. I know it can be tough to choose an area that interests you as there is always another area that will interest you. When I mentioned before that this blog will be your chance to reflect and use it as a road map for the future - I would strongly advise trying to imagine what specialty will fit in with your life in your 40's 50's and 60's. The great thing about doing Medicine is that you can pretty much pick any branch and with the right attitude find it interesting and rewarding. You will never pick the perfect specialty just as you will never pick the perfect partner as you both will change and evolve over time - the best you can do is pick who is perfect for you now AND is likely to change in harmony with the way you will change. Given your life experience that you have mentioned I am more than confident you will do both - just trust yourself.
All the best
David

Unknown said...

Kudos to you. Its great you can do all that even in residency. I understand what you are going through as per choosing specialties.

Kapryśna Kaśka said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kapryśna Kaśka said...

What is a breed of dog? it is beautiful :) / sorry for my english, it may be incorrect