Paperwork and Caffeine

I have been safely ensconced here in Nashville now for 5 days. For someone who has so much stuff she needs to accomplish, I have actually accomplished very little of it. Every time I look at the mountain of paperwork that I need to complete to actually start my job, I get overwhelmed and talk the kids into a game. So far, I have become a very good hider, king of Candy land, been fishing (with cards), and taught Matt and Grace rock, paper, scissors. (Kris may hate me for that one.) They caught on surprisingly quickly, although Grace picks rock about 90% of the time.

I am not sure why I have such a phobia about this paperwork. The vast majority of it is just repetitive. I answer the same questions over and over and over again. However, there is a good chunk of it that I am not sure is even in English. I am a fairly educated person, but I have read the same sheet about 3 times and the only thing I know for sure is they will prosecute me if I don't fill it out appropriately. Now the instructions on how to fill it out - so much legalese I am no longer sure how to fill out the top line that says Name.

My goal today is to make a sizable dent. I can't complete them all until my Florida license comes through and I have a Florida address. (Something else I need to work on today.) Unfortunately Kris took the kids to My Gym camp so I can't distract myself. I know that those of you who have the opportunity for kid time all the time occasionally want a break, but I am loving it. They are at the age where they are just hilarious. They have both become so mature. You can now have actual conversations with them. I am trying to convince Bassam and Kris to let me take them to Florida, but don't think I am making much progress.

Last learning point during my last few days. . . I am addicted to caffeine. I didn't really start drinking coffee on a semi-regular basis until I was a surgery resident. However, even then I didn't have it every day. Sometime in the last few years, I must have crossed over to the other side. The Helou's are not coffee drinkers (I am not sure how Bassam calls himself a surgeon). Whereas I have become accustomed to starting my day with a nice latte or grande flavored, they start their days with such weird things as milk, water and juice. It turns out that I now get a headache if I don't caffeinate early in the morning. I must also get a little grumpy because it has now become job one with the Helou's to make sure I have morning coffee (bad guest!).

Okay, enough procrastinating - off to fill out paperwork. Wonder when the kids are home?