I spent this weekend on a few of the chores at home that have gone unattended during the past year as I traveled. I started with the weeds in the flowerbeds. As I worked and grumbled in my mind about how bad the problem had become I began thinking about the other aspects of life that have gotten little of my time. During the 6 weeks without Quota responsibilities I noticed how many pieces of my life have gone unattended and I began to clean things up. Unfortunately it is like the experience we all have when we have cleaned up one spot in the house and all the remaining dust and clutter is even more obvious. Or when you remodel one room and the others now look more dated and you think of all the improvements you would like to make.
I spent 4 continuous weeks at my work without travel! I have repaid my partners for every night of call they took in my absence. I started working on the EMR (electronic medical record)responsibilities I have for my group. I noticed the many trivial edits I need to make in the templates and marveled that we all tolerated them. I got back to work on the continuing medical education credits needed for the year.
My first road trip was to Oklahoma to see Chas in A Chorus Line. It had to be something special to enjoy 9 hours of driving each way and 113 degree heat. It was another good family weekend, including Mom and Lynn with family.
The next weekend we traveled east to Tuscaloosa moving Sarah into a house for this school year. The house is located 2 blocks from some of the worst of the tornado destruction. It was obvious because the block that once held homes and businesses are all cleared and empty. I counted 20 square blocks of destruction in the area that is now her neighborhood. The street she has moved to lost almost every tree. How bizarre to see a well established street with homes decades old without any trees. It is remarkable the house, Jamestown as the kids call it, is almost completely repaired. The amount of rebuilding that has been done in T-town in only 3 months is impressive.
Three days after depositing Sarah, Chas flew off to New York to begin life in the real world of an actor. I loved his comment while we moved Sarah, it was the first time in 17 years he was not going to buy school supplies. But he could not be any less excited than he was on the first day of a school year. Lots of new experiences awaiting him. Reminded me of my own emotions as I began the life of a medical student. Everything new, somewhat daunting, confident its the right place to be, anxious not to fail, determined to see the dream come true.
The empty nest is now my focus. I have spots that need cleaning and rooms that need to be updated. Besides, they left a lot of their stuff behind and it certainly was not well organized ready to go in my limited storage areas. So I started in the front yard with those weeds. I know I may never get to the end of my list, what homeowner ever does. But I am seeing progress while I soak my aching muscles.