'Twas the season...

Welp, the blur that was the 2019 holiday season is in the rearview mirror. It may have taken literal months to prepare for it all, but it was over in what seemed like a matter of hours. I mean, it was a great season, but we get all worked up for... that? I'd like to think "huzzah! 2020 is going to be DIFFERENT!" But, that's probably not going to happen. This is just how we do it. I'm going to stress way too much and SPEND way too much, just because I want to make sure that my people are happy. I'm pretty certain they are going to do the same for me, and I definitely have plenty to be happy about...

Retirement!

I've always known how hard of a worker my mom has been. She's worked her tail off to make sure that her family has had what it needed. There have been countless times that she has put her three boys ahead of her. So, all the puzzle pieces have finally fallen into place where she can FINALLY retire. Her countdown that she has been following for well over a year has finally hit ZERO days. On December 13, we were invited up to Children's to watch Janet and the rest of the PICU crew show their appreciation for Mom's hard work. It was awesome watching all of these doctors, big wigs, and other suits recognize Mom for basically building the PICU from nothing into the big moneymaking powerhouse that it is today. I'm so friggin proud of her! We packed all of her stuff up and brought it home. She left her office for the last time on December 20 and now (hopefully!) gets to enjoy a life of a little more leisure! She definitely deserves that R&R.

Some of us STILL have to work...
Since I will probably never get to retire (maybe? maybe not? lol), I still wake up and go to work on a near-daily basis. I'm fortunate that I have a job where I actually enjoy what I do. Well, for the most part. :-) I think I've made that transition of "new guy" to just one of the guys. There are rough points, but what job doesn't have those? For the most part, those points are when I feel like I'm failing to reach the guys. But I've had plenty of good moments that remind me that you're not going to reach EVERYONE... but that I am making a difference. I look forward to continuing my education and then hopefully applying what I learn and my degree towards growing my career within this agency. That's the goal, anyway!

Winter BREAK!

December 6 was the final day of my FIRST semester of graduate school. I'm super proud of myself that I wrapped up the semester with STRAIGHT friggin A's! That's how we do this! I'm already enrolled in my classes for next semester, and it sounds like it'll be a doozy of a semester! Nine more hours of classes that involve stuff like POLICY and RESEARCH. God grant me the strength to get through the Spring and put three MORE A's on my transcript!

The Post Christmas Holi-daze

I think I started plotting out my Christmas plans, at least when it comes to presents, mid-October. I purchased my first gift around the beginning of November. We've been planning a day or so worth of "stuff" for over two months... and it's just over in the snap of a finger. BUT I'd say it was worth it. The presents that I gave out brought smiles to people's faces. People got me some pretty awesome presents this year, too. The thought, not necessarily the stuff, definitely reminds me: "hey! You're loved!" I was off from work Christmas Eve (a Tuesday) and Christmas Day (a Wednesday)... only to have to go back to work Thursday and Friday. THEN, this week, I'm off tomorrow (a Wednesday) for New Year's Day. I'm not quite sure what days are holidays, what days are weekends and what days are supposed to be work?! It all just kinda blurs together. I actually look forward to next Monday (the 6th) when life goes back to somewhat normal. THEN school starts back the following Monday (the 13th) and it's back to not having a life. I keep telling myself it'll be worth it. :-)