I’m not very good at stopping to celebrate my successes. I usually just finish one project, inititative, department, etc. and plow on to the next one.
And lately, I’ve wanted to act on my long-held fantasy of driving to Midway airport and hopping on the first plane going anywhere decent (knowing my luck, that first flight out would be to Detroit. Or maybe Tulsa. So I would hold out for Bahamas, Miami, Vegas, or even Maine. I hear Maine lobster is worth the flight). The stress at work has been just terrible (and that IS being optimistic) and I’m not quite sure how I continued putting one foot in front of the other.
However, everything seems to have changed dramatically in the last few days. Maybe my brain chemicals were shaken up and corrected. Or maybe I finally realized that I get to celebrate a few things.
• I won another employee lawsuit!
• I am (knocking on wood) still undefeated!
• I spent probably 20 hours in the Finance department with the Number Gurus and they helped me finagle my budgets to meet hospital goals.
• I owe said Finance people filet mignon, lobster, and caviar.
• Too bad that stuff isn’t in the budget!
• I successfully completed my budgets, had them approved, AND met hospital targets of 10% decreases in expenses and staffing!
• I cut said budgets WITHOUT impacting patient care, quality, or outcomes!
• I went around the system and hired an emergency preparedness manager!
• And my security badge still works!
• I helped hire a new nursing manager for our large Telemetry unit!
• I wrote my first academic review on an ethics book!
• Three of five Lean projects are complete!
• My CEO actually called me to thank me for my hours, dedication, and success!
• When asked by the new VPMA for a status update on our accreditation survey (and I gave it to him), he told me that he “had no doubt about our readiness” the moment I took over the project.
• THAT actually affected me deeply and just now realized how much I respect him.
• For the first time in seven weeks, I did not have a supreme sense of impending doom when considering our upcoming accreditation survey!
• For the first time in months (years?), I do not have a supreme sense of impending doom when I think about my job and all that is expected of me!
• I feel like I survived a tsunami.
It has been so HARD these last few months. I was in a perpetual state of exhaustion and while I hate the expression, if I had a dollar for every time someone said, “you look tired,” well, I wouldn’t have to work anymore this year. And I do look tired. My massage therapist actually tried to sell me some tea tree oil (?) to help alleviate the black circles and puffiness.
Hey, at least I don’t look 24 anymore. I think I easily pass for 27 now.
And I'm finding ways to insert more humor. Ted took over for me today:
So the whole “living for the weekend” thing is tough…we work our tails off all week in a crazy grind and decided that we are GOING to enjoy our weekends.
Jack and I attended the annual hospital gala at the end of September. I lollygagged until 3pm when I finally decided to shower, throw on a ball gown, and head downtown. I was glad I did because that’s some of the best hobnobbing one can get. Plus, surf and turf and unlimited Chardonnay is never a bad deal.
This past weekend, I channeled my DIY, nesting tendencies and spent WAY too much money at Lowe’s. I could not stand “contractor brass” for one more week. Filling up 2 shopping carts, we sought to replace all the light fixtures, hardware, and faucets in one swoop. I even painted my bathroom a nice, warm candlelight color (which does NOT look dingy, despite my initial fears). I learned a few things while painting on Monday and Tuesday:
1. I get vertigo when balancing on a ladder, trying to reach the corners of 11 foot ceilings.
2. Singing U2’s “Vertigo” does not really help.
3. I totally have a fleet (flock?) of guardian angels as I almost fell off the ladder four times (paint sloshing precariously around my pan).
4. That all this DIY leaves me so sore I felt I was in a car crash!
Otherwise, we tend to measure our weeks by the Notre Dame football schedule. This week? Soldier Field (as it is forecast right now, in the freezing cold rain). Next week? Hopefully a “PR day” as we take our good friends to their first ND home game- Stanford. Yoshi is in town for the game and we’ll have approximately 7 tailgates to visit. I cannot wait. Screaming at the Notre Dame running backs just isn’t as fun in my living room as it is at the game.
So, for now, I will work hard, celebrate what I can, and live the HECK out of the weekends.
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