Facts in Bullet Point Fashion

In the world of Blogland, I'm pretty good at recording what my children are doing and about our fun outings. But I don't regularly document pertinent information about our day-to-day living and what's on my mind. Like most of you, I blog so that my family will have a better remembrance of their past. I may be cocky, but I like to think that Skylie and Kaitlyn will actually want to know what their mom cared about when they were babes. Here's an effort to do better.

A few thoughts about Matt's residency, our life in Indy, and what's going on in my head:

• For the past six months Matt has been doing his psychiatry rotation. Compared to most residencies, the hours have been a breeze! He's worked about 55-60 hours each week, from about 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 or 6 p.m. weekdays, and he had all major holidays off. One night a week he was on call at the hospital until 10 p.m., and one weekend a month he had to go to the hospital to sign orders on Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Those weekends he was usually only gone for a couple hours at most.)
  
• The breeze came to a screeching halt this week when Matt began his three month internal medicine rotation. He's working every Saturday and Sunday (at least from morning to mid-afternoon) for the next three months, has call (meaning he stays late at the hospital) once or twice weekly, and has one weekday off each week. It's going to be a more grueling schedule than he's had, but I know that many other residents work just as hard or harder, and often have much more demanding schedules for years--not just a few months. I consider myself quite lucky his schedule has been as great as it's been.

• In a previous post I mentioned that I'm teaching a few group exercise classes at the local YMCA. I love it, and the perks of being a Y employee rock. I'm teaching two Turbo Kick classes, a Women on Weights course, and I'll be begin teaching another class (TBD) shortly.
• For the first few months we lived in Indianapolis I sometimes wished we'd moved to a more central area or purchased a house that wasn't a new construction. We hadn't completely realized how much work and money a new home needs until we'd moved in. After spending a weekend on the other side of town in December (where we would have lived if we hadn't purchased our current home), all my regret left and I realized that I'm really happy where I'm at. I love the neighborhood, my ward, and the more open and less-crowded feel on this side of town.

• I've been reading up on finances lately. I've learned a lot, but one of the biggest personal realizations I've come to is this: I'm going to try to never again complain or feel sorry for myself when I can't afford (or choose not to buy) something I want. Simple enough right? But the reasoning behind it is the important part. I think that I'm a fairly educated person who has solid and broad work experience. I could quite possibly get a job where I'd make more than Matt's current salary. Even if I couldn't get a great job, I know for certain I could do something to increase our income. But I'm choosing this life and choosing to spend my resources and time in other ways. It's my life, my choice, and once I've made a choice I should embrace it completely. If I'm ever not happy with my life's choices, I hope I'll be proactive to change my circumstances. From my reading I've also learned not to paint myself in a corner and limit my possibilities but to be creative in finding ways to get the things I really want if at first it doesn't seem feasible. Robbing banks isn't the creativity I have in mind. ;) By no means do I intent to imply that other people's decisions should be the same as mine. See next bullet.

• I've mentioned that I often feel guilty leaving my kids in childcare while I work out. Recently a friend wisely said that she's come to realize that spending her time in ways that are important to her is what matters most. We shouldn't feel guilty for spending our lives doing what's valuable to us. If, for example, my friend vacuums her house more than I do, that's okay because it's important to her and something else could be more important to me. Thanks for the great advice!