Wow, blogger has changed. How did I miss this in the month I've been moving? In this moment I have to say I hate the new layout....but then I'll probably love it in a few weeks. Remember when Facebook changed and the world was up in arms? Now I can't even remember what the old layout was like. I'm like most human beings in the fact that I dislike change. Speaking of change, Captain E spent the first few days in the house walking around saying, "This house isn't as big as our other one." (A complete falsehood. This house is actually almost 1000 more square feet then our other one, making it the largest house we've lived in up to date.) "My room isn't as big as my other one." (Also false. Not only is his room bigger then the previous one but he also shares it with no one. In the other house we had all three kids in the room. It went like this, closet, shelf, bunk bed, shelf, window, crib, dresser, door. The only empty space was in the very middle of the room.) "There isn't enough stuff in this house." (See proof positive that the house is bigger...all of our stuff is in and we still have plenty of walking around space.) I think the kid is just dealing with some insecurities. The result, a grouchy, critical child who sasses a lot. We had a family home evening lesson on gratitude Sunday night and I haven't heard any complaints since then, but the sass is still on full blast. Yesterday on his way to a time out he stopped to pick up the mail a job I'd told Gigi she could do. When I told him to hand the mail over he started running around the yard away from me. In not my best moment I probably chased him for five feet. Then my face got really red and I said, "GET IN YOUR BEDROOM, NOW!" The neighbors probably think I'm nuts. Then we had an hour of him screaming and crying and every time he'd calm down enough to talk with me, him telling me why this was all MY FAULT! Note, to child, when trying to get out of time out do not blame anyone else for your actions. In the end I told him he owed me a job for all his disrespect and the job was cleaning the toilets. I actually worked in the bathroom with him and the job took no more than ten minutes but when he first heard he had a job assignment there was probably another ten minutes of tears. He is definitely just naturally more tightly wound (I blame his genetics) and I think the separation from mom and dad, the move, the month or so without stability, the new house, friends gone, etc. is probably harder on him then it is on the rest of us. I mean sure I miss my friends but living in a house almost double the size, having a garage, owning a great big lawn, having a job that pays 4 times what we made last year (don't get so exited, we're still making under 50K, we just didn't make much the last eight years), well those things go a long way to ease the pain. Kids I guess don't really appreciate those types of benefits.
There are other new adjustments. I'm now responsible for lawn care. Yesterday my mother and I went to the store to pick out some perennials for my flower beds. I was about to buy the full price ones when my mother in law found a shelf of clearenced out plants. Instead of $7-8 a plant these guys were running $1.98-3.98. I'm not going to lie, they didn't look very good, but they were still green and flowering so we took a chance. Ten plants costing us under $30. We got them in the ground last night and I went out to check on this morning and they are already looking twice as good. So I'm hoping this was a deal success.
Church alone was delayed another week since my mother-in-law was here. Our ward is only about nine miles away but because it is all two lane roads the drive takes about twenty minutes. The building is really new but in an older part of the city so we are blessed with security cameras on the building and in the parking lot. Note to self, leave GPS at home. The people are fairly friendly although at least for the summer the ward seems a bit small. Most of the families have young kids although there are four boys to pass sacrament and I noticed a few teenage girls. I need to find out if they are babysitting age because I'm dying to see Harry Potter, but with Dr. J's schedule there is just no way. Captain E did fine in class. His teacher said he was really shy, and I laughed because it always starts out like that but once he is comfortable, watch out! His comments on church, the ward is AWESOME but longer. The awesome is related to the fact that they are earning a cookie party by bringing their scriptures. I have no idea why he thinks it is longer. 3 hours is 3 hours. Long :) Also he is the only boy in the class, but there are four girls. G bear seemed to enjoy her class, but didn't have much to say. Peach was a of course a Peach. The nursery leaders said she was a joy to have. I guess the fact that she never cries, is so verbal, and participates in all the songs and activities really does make her fun to have in class and a little unusual for a just two year old. There was another new resident's wife at church on Sunday. Apparently they moved in just a few days after we did in the same neighborhood. She's been waiting for me to show up! It's fun to have someone going through similar experiences although her husband is doing pshychiatry so he is around a lot more.
Speaking of being around or not being around the schedule really does stink. You know you have all these people who go through residency tell you that and yet it is still shocking when it is true. Here are the realities. Every morning Dr. J gets up at five. He takes a shower, gets dress, eats, and heads off to the hospital so he can be there by 6:15 where he personally checks on all of his patients. At 7 they round together. He then spends the day managing his patients, writing orders, making discharges, or picking up new patients. Every Tuesday after rounds he rushes to the continuity clinic, works from 9am-noon, seeing his own primary care patients and then rushes back to the hospital to finish care on his hospital patients. On a normal week day he shound end at 7 (weekends the shifts change over at 1, so theoretically he could get out then), every fifth day though he is on call which means he is expected to work a 16 hour shift. Every seventh day he gets a day off. The goal is to keep him under the 80 hours required by law. The reality, the man has only made it home on time one day this week. On his call day he didn't get home until 12:30 in the morning. That day he allowed himself to sleep in until 5:30. Last night when he was suppose to end at 7:00 he didn't get home until 10:30. Today is his day off from the hospital but it's Tuesday so he's in the clinic this morning, and then has to do a neonatal resesitation class this afternoon, so he won't be home until four. The truth is he fudges his hours down every week to keep himself in compliance with federal law. The work has to be finished so if you aren't done, you don't come home. The frustrating thing, it isn't patient care that takes so much time, it's paperwork. Everyday he spends hours and hours typing up paperwork, paperwork that has to be perfect. Keywords have to be included or insurance companies won't let you bill for things. Every detail has to maticulously recorded so that if by chance a lawsuit occurs they can prove they did everything possible. It can be frustrating, especially since the antique dos machines the county hospital uses are notorious for freezing and losing all of ones notes, notes that have to be retyped and perfect. Bet you never realized when you went to medicine you had to become an expert typist and record keeper. We just keep marching on and hope that in four years it will all be worth it. We're definitely looking forward to a pediatrics rotation where we've heard the time constraints aren't so bad. I mean afterall, all those guys are going to Harry Potter this weekend.
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