wednesday waitlist

Today = My 9-month anniversary with my job!  And that means... sign-on/retention bonus! (I'm so thankful for this little boost with the recent changes and cuts in hours and such)  But because of the pay cycles it's 16 days = I actually get it.

3 days = My grad-school friend K's wedding.  I'm so excited for this weekend!  We met when we started OT school almost exactly three years ago and she was such a great friend to me throughout grad school... and now we're colleagues.  She is a people magnet and has amazing friends, which I have gotten to adopt as my friends too!  It's gonna be a great wedding.

8 days = The boy takes step 2 and I get to stop hearing about it (at least until grad school starts in a couple weeks and the busy-ness and unavailability starts back again).  Sooo this was originally supposed to be tomorrow... Today I go to wish him "good luck" for tomorrow and I find out it's actually next week.  Does he realize I'm counting this down also?  I better not tell him... he hates when I try to "plan".

10 days = The next time I get to see the boy, though I'm not "planning".......... ok yes I am.  I have a list of things I want to do on my iPhone.

16 days = Nashville Asheville trip for one of my best friend's 30th birthday.  This was originally supposed to be Nashville, where I've never been, and my other best guy friend was supposed to be coming from St. Louis, however plans changed a little bit.  I'm still excited for Asheville because I've never been, and my friend P whose birthday it is has been one of the most loyal friends I've ever had! It is him, his serious girlfriend, and 5 or 6 other guys... even though we're short on girls, I think I actually like that better!

20 days = The boy starts back up with grad school and I'm not sure what to really expect.  I think he thinks it's going to be significantly easier for him than the last three years have been, but the closer it gets, the more skeptical I am that that will be the case.  It is an accelerated masters program for medical students, so I expect it to be pretty rigorous, since the students are the hardworking type.  It's also a different kind of work for him than what he was been doing... more reading, research, and paper writing versus rote studying and long exams.  Anyway, I need to relax and not get ahead of myself.  It's still 20 days away, B!

22 days = Flying to Ohio with my Grandma for the nuclear family "reunion" and my parents' 40th anniversary shindig.  It will be the immediate family, who sadly gets together just once a year!  This includes my 3 brothers, their wives, and one niece-- all in one house.  We're thrilled Grandma is going to make the trip (with me as her travel escort), she is excited too, and I can't wait for five whole days off of work!

I don't have any other events set in stone (or in pencil for that matter) past the last weekend in August, and part of me is nervous about that!  I love having things to look forward to... it keeps me going during difficult weeks.  I do know, however, that I have to make my Thanksgiving and Christmas plans (at least somewhat tentatively) by OCTOBER 11, per company policy.  That is crazy!  We're only allowed ONE day out of the days immediately surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That means, if we want the Friday after TG off, we have to work Christmas Eve AND the day after Christmas AND New Year's Eve/New Year's Day.  If we want Christmas Eve off, we'll have to work all the others adjacent days.  CRAZY!  Why so complicated?  Medicare reimbursement doesn't recognize holidays, and neither do illnesses or sick people who are trying to get better.  Therefore, therapy is still needed 5 days a week in our skilled nursing centers for all the patients.  No days off for illness/diseases/disabilities means no days off for therapists either!

But who knows... I may have an entirely different job by that time of year anyway...  If you want to make God laugh, make plans, right?