My 42nd Year

I turned 42 years old yesterday, and not to brag, I did it with the dignity befitting someone of my advanced years.  I rounded, had clinic, participated in a multi-disciplinary tumor board meeting, chatted with several family members and friends, had a delicious dinner that I prepared myself, and played with Coco.  It may not sound like anyone else's idea of a great birthday, but was exactly what I needed this year.   

It is no secret that I did not gracefully embrace 40 (or 41 for that matter).  To be entirely truthful, I went a little nutty.  I had started to worry that my funk was never going to pass - two years is a long time even for me.  However, as this birthday approached, I noticed that it was not nagging at me as had it's two predecessors.  I found myself dwelling on the positive aspects of being my age as opposed to the negative ones that had consumed me for the last few years.

Having reached the grand age of 42, I am happy to report that I am doing well.  I am healthy - something one does not take for granted in my line of work.  I have a wonderful family and great friends.  I have a job that I enjoy and allows me to feel as if I make a difference.  I earn enough money to keep a roof over my head and beautiful shoes on my feet.  Feeling sorry for myself as I have for the last two years now seems a waste of time and disrespectful to those who have real problems to face.     

Perhaps the 40's and I have finally come to terms.

What is going on here?

It's snowing - AGAIN!

My car is no longer speaking to me.

Peek-A-Boo

Nashville appears to be playing peek-a-boo with Sunshine.

Saturday was GORGEOUS. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the temperature was in the mid-60's, and the convertible top was down. All was well in the world.

Fast forward to Monday. The sun has made no appearance all day, the sky is gray, the temperature is in the low 40's, and the convertible top is firmly back in the up position. All is not well in the world.

So it is technically still Winter, and the Northeast is frigid and covered in snow. I don't care. I want my Sunshine back.

Winter Time Blues

Leaving Miami might not have been my brightest move ever.

Yes it is wonderful being close to my family. It is great being able to see my best friends and the kids on a random Tuesday. I even recognize - despite the current state of unsettledness - how great it is to be able to afford a house and shoes.

However, I am not a fan of winter. It's not the cold. (I have an enormous amount of coats, gloves and scarves - especially considering I have spent all but 12 months of my life living below the Mason-Dixon.) It's the lack of sunshine and daylight. Nashville is at the Eastern edge of Central time. This means that it starts getting dark here around 4:45 in the afternoon. Therefore, unless I leave work in the middle of the afternoon, by the time I get home, it feels like bed time - even though the clock may only say 6:30. This leads to an entire week going by with my accomplishing NOTHING outside of work. Throw in back to back weekends of crazy call, and I am down for the count.

Okay, enough whining. I will figure this out. Perhaps I can start getting up at 4:30 and get things accomplished then - the sun comes up by 5 here so it is at least light. Or perhaps I will just keep thinking of solutions.

Home Sweet Home

Yesterday was punch list day for my new house. For those of you, like me, who have no idea what that means, allow me to explain. During a punch list, one walks through one's soon to be purchased home with a roll of blue painter's tape. One then marks every imperfection that one sees regardless of how small, and the builder then fixes it. Basically, an OCD girls dream. Although at one point I was fairly certain they were going to take my tape away due to overuse - it actually went pretty well. There are only two "real" issues with the house both of which seem like easy fixes - if one is a plumber and an electrician.

All of that being said, it means that move in day is rapidly approaching. This weekend as a matter of fact. Although the spector of closing on Friday still has me somewhat petrified, I am starting to get really excited about moving into this house. Let's just hope the excitement wins out over the commitment issues. Hopefully pictures soon to follow.

Thank You Mother Nature

Started this week, like many weeks, determined to get back into a health work out pattern. Mother Nature must know how desperate things are getting because she threw me a bone - temperature in Nashville on this end of July day - perfect 82 degrees.

Warp Speed Ahead

When I decided to embark on building a house, everyone kept warning me about what a drawn out process building can be. They encouraged me not to be upset with delays, and that I could take it to the bank that I would miss my closing deadline. These predictions were always told with a horror story from someone's own personal experience.

Therefore, in my head, I was moving into this new house of mine next year. Imagine my surprise and immediate heart palpitations when my builder informed me the other day that we are about one month ahead of schedule! They painted my entire house this week - inside and out!! We started talking about the trim guy!!!

I thought it was common knowledge that I have commitment issues - you can't move things up like this on me. I thought the building process was stressful - the actual idea of committing to a morgage - now that's real stress.