It has been awhile........and will probably continue to be

For years, whether anyone cared to read along or not, I managed to post just about weekly....on average anyway.  This through preparing for nursing school, nursing school itself, boards, new jobs, at least a half dozen moves, 2 surgeries, and Tia's pregnancy.  Then, baby Q.  Then, nada.  The only reason I am writing this today is that I am home sick with Q in daycare (the last month has seen me with at least 2 colds, one course of ABX, and the norovirus; Tia with at least 2 colds and a course of ABX, though she has probably been sick the most frequently the last few months; T with RSV and at least one general cold).

And it isn't as though I don't have the time.  I do.  He falls asleep around 6 every night.  It is just that, from 6 until bedtime, I have so little ability to focus an energy on a task such as this.  Feeding myself, cleaning up from the day, and preparing for the next is just about all I have the energy for.  Even reading is sometimes too much, let alone writing.

What I am learning is this is in part due to the fact that Q is very high energy.  I didn't know this until other parents of little kids point it out.  Perhaps he is just catching up from the months of general discomfort and malaise.  He literally does not stop moving when he is awake though.  Often to quite comical effect.  Once he gets his arms flailing, legs kicking, and starts to unleash his pterodactyl screech of joy, he is truly in his zone.  It does probably explain why he needs to nap as often as he does.  Honestly, I want to nap just watching him.  It can be exhausting just trying to keep him occupied (and woe to the person who does not try......he does not suffer such a lack of effort quietly).  However, all things considered, even when he is waking us up at crazy hours and we are collectively worn out, he is just so infectiously happy you can't begrudge him any of it.  It is certainly a joy to hear him laugh and watch him play, especially considering how far from that we were not so long ago.

Q is finally on the growth curve now as well.  At the 3% side of the ledger, but there nonetheless.  He LOVES solid food.  It is funny just watching him try new things.  He immediately lets us know if he is a fan or not.

My job remains largely the same.  I float around a bit more than usual, though I am still primarily at the main hospital.  There is still no concrete word on the new company taking over the clinics.  Still endless rumor, though all proving false in time.  It may yet not happen still.  It may be next month.  No one in a position to know such things seems to have any idea and, if they do, they are reluctant to share it.  In the meantime, we all just keep plugging along and waiting.  We do finally have a director and, at the beginning of next week, a manager (nearly 1 year to the day from the last one getting fired).  Will be interesting to see if that changes anything.

Tia's job continues to be very busy and, if one of the rather large grants gets funded, will get more so.  She is also looking around when the right opportunities present themselves, but it remains unclear if she would actually jump ship.  There is a lot of frustration there, but a lot of camaraderie as well and the benefits are pretty amazing.  But, she certainly has the capability to do other things and I understand the burn factor.

I have been looking around as well when the right opportunities come along, but have had little success getting so much as an interview.  I believe that if I was willing to look at more general positions (med surg) and less desirable shifts (nights) I could find something, but at this point I don't think it would be wise.  I generally like being home with Q and, though it is certainly not easy, it is getting incrementally better.  I am very much looking forward to the spring/summer (which seems so far away at this point. This is the part of the year we would normally get away somewhere sunny for a week, a proposition not in the cards this year) when there will be much more to do outside and he will be much more capable of enjoying those things.

There is little else to catch up on.  Apparently time passes quickly when you are constantly on cold medication.  I will try, as always, to be more constant in my posts.  I will also likely fail in the regard.