Sunday, December 30, 2012

2012

Well, I survived seeing my family at this time of the year. And it means that I get to celebrate...with some nice coffee stout. Lord knows, I've earned it. Believe me, dealing with my nutty mom and my whack-job sister (to quote my DH "There's not enough alcohol in the world for me to deal with your mother") while being pleasant to them...I've earned it. I totally get the Dropkick Murphy's Christmas video that Grumpy posted the other day...

With the penultimate night of 2012 here, it's time to reflect. This is the first year in 6-7 years that hasn't totally sucked donkey balls. '07-'11 were bad years. Full-on stop bad. The "getting kicked while down" type of years. Yes, 2012 was a crazy year, with new jobs and moving. But it is settling down into a familiar place. We like the new town much better than the old place. It's still small-town, but it feels bigger, more cosmopolitan. As my husband points out, minorities live here! For me, the measure is how far away Target is - a mere 15 minutes (next town over) versus over an hour on the freeway. My kids are happier - I'm not sure if it's because I'm working less, they like the environment more, or they can sense that we're happier.

DH has settled into his new job well. As have I. I'm in a mid-sized group - large enough that I'm not always on call, but small enough that we know everyone. Working part-time is a god-send for my sanity as well. Less than 1 weekend per month! WTF?!?!?!?!?!?! They've got my back & I, theirs. I've found my "sister from another mister" in one of my partners - we're both pranksters. The front staff is learning that the two of us together can be a very bad thing.   ;)

Here's hoping that all is good for you in the upcoming year. I'm hoping that 2013 will continue the trend of being a good year...there are some big events in it for me - my 40th birthday, my DD turns 13 (so help me god), my 15th wedding anniversary. Lots for us to look forward to.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Enough

I can't read my homepage right now...Yahoo is covering itself in coverage of the massacre of a first grade class. This post has been percolating since Friday, I'm still not completely sure I'm articulating all of what I want to say.

First, as a mother, my heart aches for the families. My son is in 3rd grade and he and his sister are our world. To have that suddenly stolen from you has got to be the worst thing in the world. But on Monday, he will go to school  - and even walk there. Without supervision on the 7 block walk. To revert to hovering, to not to keep on living - it allows evil to inch a little closer to ruling this world.

Second, I hope that we will finally say "ENOUGH!" We have had mass murder after mass murder - Columbine, Wisconsin, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Northern Illinois University, Virginia Tech, Tucson. Maybe it is time for adults to re-examine whether or not the 2nd amendment is applicable to our times. The constitution was not intended to be a static document - the Founding Fathers had the foresight to realize that things may need to change. I would love a conversation on whether or not this needs to be done. I do agree with the gun lovers that guns are not the bottom line cause - but I would love a discussion on how do we minimize the use of guns. Whether that is through taxation (ammo would be my target, pun unintended), licensing, mandating insurance. But we need as a country to stop letting people go "SECOND AMENDMENT!!!!!!" and look and talk about how we, as a society, want to enter the future.

Third, please, oh please, let this shine some light on the shittiness that is mental health coverage here in the USA. Lack of insurance coverage, lack of psychologists and psychiatrists, overfilled psych wards. The ER as a front-line, because of the previous factors.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Let's Review

It is December 14th. Just a smidge over 2 weeks left in the calendar year. I am taking vacation for the week after Christmas.

Do you HONESTLY think we'll be able to get your surgery done before the end of the year? Because if so, you have GOT to share that cloning secret.

FWIW, most surgeons book at least 4-6 weeks out. I think I'm looking at late January for my surgeries. And that's assuming we don't need to fiddle with getting your DM or HTN under control or if we're trying to coordinate with another surgeon.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

I need to...

stop looking at my schedule and whining about it.

Yesterday, I previewed my afternoon's schedule at lunch. It looked ugly - lots of colpos, paps, and first OB visits. And double-bookings. With far more new patients than I like (I usually give new patients more time & yesterday there wasn't extra time built in). So the whining commenced.

But WOOT! Multiple cancellations. Scheduled paps who didn't need paps! And all of the new patients were really super nice.