First Day of the New Job and a Few Other Updates

So I started my new job today.  Margo texted me at around 9:30 to ask me how it was going.  When I finally saw her text at 12:30, I had two words for her: overwhelmed and overstimulated.  I don't think that I really appreciated until today what the reality might be of working with patients when they are at their absolute worst, psychiatrically speaking.  Fascinating, yes.  Also a touch exhausting.  Other things that left me a bit unsettled include the fact that I did not have a desk until 4:15 this afternoon, and I still do not have a computer or a phone.  It's going to be an interesting week, to say the least.  I can see, however, that I am going to be challenged and stretched in this job, which is something I am looking forward to.

I have a few other updates as well.  I called both of my parents tonight (just under the wire).  Dad is having surgery on 2/9 for his ongoing case of bladder cancer.  This is something that has been going on for years, so nothing to freak out about.  I do worry each time, however, because they put him under and he's no spring chicken (he just turned 71).  Other than that, we usually don't have a lot to talk about, but it's nice to just connect anyway.  Mom is enjoying college.  She's taking some really enjoyable classes this quarter and sounds like she's having fun.  We had a good talk about she didn't do a very good job of teaching us how to take care of ourselves.  Brought on by the fact that my half of a tooth (which should have been extracted 2.5 years ago) seems to have cracked further and needs some imminent attention.  And the additional revelation that it is a half of a tooth in the first place because I put off a root canal for more than a year.

I've also revised one of my goals.  I had identified a goal of visiting my friend Jenny, but am revising it to allow for buying her a plane ticket to visit me.  I gave her the choice and she would like to come here.  We're shooting for the summer.  I'm pretty excited about it, I have to say.  It will be fun to share this part of the world with her.  You can believe me when I say that you don't want pictures from work today, or of me talking on the phone with my parents, and least of all my broken tooth.  So I'll leave you with a picture of a scrapbook page that Jenny made of the two of us.  The pictures are old, but I think it's safe to say that this is how we both wish we looked now...