Old Year's Conclusions

Shamelessly borrowing from a friend's blog in which she reflected back on the last year, I thought I'd do the same.

It's been a tough, tough year. There have been blessings, for sure- Corryn's birth, Dave finishing residency, discovery and correction of Corryn's spinal cord defect with mostly smooth sailing, but most importantly, no lasting effects. There have been some difficulties- the furnace dying, Corryn's broken arm, the stress of the job search. The adjustment to 2 kids has been challenging for me, I will admit. Between the demands of small kids and Dave's work hours, it has often felt like there is simply not enough of me to go around.

Through it all, though, I have gained and ability and an immense appreciation for leaning on friends and family. Contrary to the American way, I learned how to ask for help- and in the process learned how much it adds to your life. It doesn't make you helpless or weak to ask for help- it makes you human and lessens your load. I've had loving ears on which to voice concerns, vent frustrations, cry, laugh- whatever was needed. We've been fed numerous times and had the house cleaned for us (thanks moms!!) There's simply no way we'd have made it through this year without the help of others.

I'm not making new year's resolutions. I'm just going to keep trying remember what I've learned from 2007. I'm learning to relax a bit with caring for 2 kids and in the process have been able to laugh with them more. Dave and I have leaned heavily on each other through it all and look forward to things settling some in the next year. We continue to lean on each other through the job search as we try to balance the wants, needs and dreams of all those involved with the available jobs.

At one time, I couldn't wait for this year to end. Now, as I think back on it, in many ways, I feel proud to have survived it, am thankful for the things I can take away from it and hope for a little less of a roller coaster next year.

It's all in how you define it

Dillon, when she woke up this morning: "Mom, can we have a better day today?"
W: "Did we have a bad day yesterday? I thought we had a good day!"
D: "But I want to have the best day ever!"
W: "Well, what would make it the best day ever?"
D: "It would need to have more ice cream and cookies than yesterday did."

So, it's not about how well you get along with everyone, it's about how much sugar you got to eat.

Stuff

We had our Secret Santa exchange at our homeschool group yesterday. The guidelines are that homemade or recycled is preferable, but if that isn't possible, then $5 or less. This makes for creative gifts. Dillon got a really cute framed watercolor of a pink elephant. She was really excited about it. We had to go to the grocery store after the meeting, so she wanted to carry it in with her so she could show it to people. I didn't realize that she wanted to show it to everyone in the grocery store. We had to have a conversation about it not far in the door as she very quickly was highly offended that no one was stopping to ask her about her picture. I had to explain that most people don't come to the grocery store to check out what someone else brought with them and that if we stop and talk to ever person there, we'll never get through the store. We agreed that it was fine to tell someone about it if they asked (and a few did...), but that we weren't going to stop people. It wasn't long before she got bored with the whole thing and put it down in the cart.

On a different note, the job search is still a big conundrum. There are some new developments with the job in Southern Illinois. Some things that were promised have now changed- including the offer of reimbursement for our trip there before Thanksgiving. And he wants us to make another trip for Dave to meet a few other people at the hospital. So, it has changed our thinking on that one a bit. Maybe it's a good thing that we didn't have a written contract. I'm trying so hard to take a "wait and see" approach on this, but it is hard.

And on one other note, twice today we have walked up on Corryn standing freely somewhere-as in, she didn't pull up on something and let go, she just stood up from the floor. Last night she was taking one step from one object to another. She's 11 months old today- sorry no picture today. I'll post one soon!

What's up with the job search?

Good question. We aren't sure. 4 weeks after verbally accepting the job in Southern Illinois, we still don't have a written contract to go with it. We aren't sure if this is a normal amount of time to wait or not. It feels like it's taking far too long, though. And there have been promises of calls with updates that haven't happened.

And as for the job in Indiana... it just stalled. Not completely, but definitely stalled. They thought they had an anesthesia medical director hired, then didn't, then were talking about just subcontracting anesthesia instead of the hospital actually hiring them. Since they couldn't decide, they decided to hold off on staff job offers. Now they have someone they want for medical director and hope to have a written contract with them by January (note the importance of that written contract part- and the "hope to" part). Then, they'll be connecting the new medical director with the candidates for staff positions. This could easily take another month or two. That would put us into March- 6 months after the initial interview. But, it is a new hospital, so delays are inevitable.

How do you put a frustrated growl into writing?

The Southern Illinois job is the current top choice, but this dragging out of the written contract part has brought up some concerns. So, we continue to wallow around in the waiting game, when mentally, we are so beyond ready for it to be settled.

OK then

The girls and I were driving to a friend's house for dinner Monday night, singing songs to try to keep Corryn from screaming in sheer hatred of the car seat. Dillon suggested Happy Birthday. She had gone to gymnastics that day and it was one of the girls' birthday. I asked, "What was her name?"

"I don't know."

"Did you ask her how old she was?"

And in being absolutely true to her nature, "No, I wasn't really interested."

Fair enough. Afterall, why bother if it isn't interesting?