Monthly chai date
December always feels like a culmination: the official end to any lingering fall days, the official start of winter with incredibly colder days, a cluster of holidays, and remembering a past year while considering the next. While often culminations feel celebratory, other times they are overwhelming. Here is hoping that if you are also culminating, there is a wealth of celebration!I did have a chai this morning, of which I gulped down a few sips during Board Report, but then found it thrown away when someone cleaned off the provider's desk while I was at Bedside Rounds. Thank goodness for those first few sips!As we sit down with our chai, I would share with you that today is my birthday! Typically I am pretty sentimental on this day: being hard on myself for what I should have accomplished, how much older I feel, how much I miss family and friends. This year I feel a bit better, more content with life as it is and fewer feelings of pining for something else. Usually I am most emotional to hear on one day from so many people I love: cards, emails, messages, phone calls... To me, birthdays always feel like an incredibly warm ray of sunshine for no deserved reason other than reminding me that I am loved and missed - and that makes me overwhelmed with joy and brings on gushes of happy tears. Perhaps this year I am feeling more celebratory than most, because I've already planned two nights out dancing this week - one for a Hall and Oates dance party, and another a Y2K blowout: I will be GETTING DOWN. I'll be honest - this is the last year of my twenties (I am thankful for youth and health!), and I am going to find ways to live it up! All of my family celebrates birthdays in December, so happy birthday to all of them, also!I am thrilled to share my special day with National Human Rights Day. Thanks to 4000 Years of Choice for these great graphics celebrating reproductive rights on this day!
Perhaps ordering another chai after I gulp down the first, I'd tell the tale of how I have caught one baby so far today. I had hoped for a lovely birth on my own delivery day, but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for me or her. I really shouldn't have caught that baby: thanks to this effed up system where I work, I was arguing with the MD on the phone about her having an abruption, while he mansplained/doctorsplained to me from outside of the hospital that she wasn't abrupting and he wanted her to have Nubain for the pain. Two minutes later the Resident and I caught her preterm baby, born with an illicit drug-induced abrupted placenta. And then the doc walked casually onto the floor and spoke directly with the Resident. So then I bought myself this hospital cafeteria piece of "birthday" cake. Sigh.
With still chilly hands around my warm mug, I'd show you that this was the temp and wind chill when I took out the dog this morning. Enough said.
I just finished reading two books: January First and The Doctor and the Diva. Both really interesting reads. Nelson Mandela's autobiography is next on the list. I've also had A Feminist Kant, Untranslatable Words, and Boys Clubs on my brain for the past few days - still mulling them over. And then, of course I was thrilled to see I'm not the only one who was on #TeamAidan. I loved the experience of Catching Fire on opening night, and am already shaking in my winter boots over the thought of the Scary Stories movie being made. New Girl is my newest TV show obsession, though The Sing-Off had me dancing around in my slippers last night.Raising my glass to cheers, I'd celebrate how I worked hard for my recertifications last month, and am thrilled to have these done for the next two years. My next project is CEU calculation to ensure I have enough for completing my two years of licensure in this state- an upcoming blog post for sure after the nightmare of even trying to begin to figure this process out!
Remembering where I was two years ago when I first certified in NRP and ACLS, I am already thinking about where this ever-exciting career will have me two years from now. I am really heavily debating whether to sign for another year of the NHSC at this site, given not only what happened at the hospital today (described above, an indicator of regular political and social drama) but for many other reasons. A major one of which is my international work love hitting full cabin fever status. Because, you know, this.Also: No-chip manicures are the solution to healthcare workers fancy hands needs. I'm on number two and love them!Many thanks to my friend Lizzie for posting this affirmation card for my birthday today!
At the end of our chai, I would make sure I have caught up with all your stories. Any personal celebrations? Any difficult work circumstances? Favorite new finds and experiences? Already working on big plans for the next year? Tell me everything!Hope you all have a fabulous month!!! See you in 2014!- Stephanie