Swimming in September

And we are off to the races my friend.  I'm finding my groove as I settle into the new 9-5 and 5-9 routine ahead of me for the coming months.  The hospital here is phenomenal.  I feel tremendously blessed to be training here.  I didn't choose the easy path for this year and one of the outcomes of that is going to be a tremendous amount of learning and growth (more growing pain than I had anticipated or hoped for. . . but I trust deep in my heart that this formative year is going to have a formative impact on who I am as a psychologist and a person going forward. . . in many ways the angst of it all already has has rocked my world pretty profoundly).

My wise MIL reminds me that adventures are never fun while you are having them -> true story

Last week I could have sworn that summer had made an exit.  It was getting cold enough at night that I could no longer sleep with my windows open (some people rely on the pumpkin spice latte to make the season change official - my barometer is sleeping with windows open or closed).  I was wrong.  The sweet sticky hot humidity has come back for an encore.  Tonight I did something I'm pretty sure I have never done in mid-September:  I went swimming outside when I got home from work.  It was actually pretty marvelous.

Since my last post, the gifts have continued to come. . .  here are a few. . .

Gift #5:  Wonderful supervisors.  If you have ever had a non-supportive clincical supervisor you will understand what a HUGELY TREMENDOUS gift this is.  I've already had some really meaningful, touched-to-the-core interactions to start the year.

Gift #6: Ashley S.'s visit.  The program Philip is in comes at a high price.  Two years away from your family is. . . well, incomprehensible to 99.7% of the population.  But the relationships we've made and people we have met in this program have been relationships that, like many friendships we cultivated in the UK, will last a lifetime.  Philip is with guys who are cut from EXACTLY the same cloth as he is (and wives who understand what that means).  There are going to be a lot of people even in our military circles who won't be able to fully wrap their head around what Philip has experienced when all is said and done, so being with people who can really connect on a very core level is important and of tremendous value.  The wife of one of Philip's colleagues was visiting her inlaws in NJ just as I arrived.  Her MIL brough Ash and the boys to Princeton for the day.  Ashley and I were able to laugh and cry and have moments of feeling deeply understood.  It was so refreshing.  Ash and Steve will have done the same 15 month apart stretch that Philip and I are.  Only this Wonder Woman has done it with two small children.  Amazing.  For real.

Gift #7:  I'm not sure how you celebrated Labor Day but I celebrated it doing what I do best:  Laboring.  I went back and worked at Founding Farmers.  36 out of 48 hours in DC.  It's how I roll.  I was grateful for the opportunity to have something to do (and to be able to be fiscally productive) my first weekend in NJ.  Without this structure I would have just been lonely and sad and it just would not have been a pretty picture.

Gift #8:  I made it back to NJ safe and sound on Labor Day.  Seriously when your spouse is gone it is Murphy's Law with the vehicle - so every day that goes by that I don't have a major vehicle fiasco I am thanking the Lord for his incredible grace and mercy.

Gift #9:  We thought Philip would loose internet a few weeks ago.  He didn't.  This has been huge.  We've managed to find times to try to be online at the same time to g-chat and have adjusted a bit to my work schedule.  We're sometimes able to be on the comp early during my mornings or he'll stay up reeeeally late and we'll chat for a bit when I get home.  This week we even got to Skype and I got to HEAR HIS VOICE AND SEE HIS FACE.  This is a HUGE deal people.  HUGE.

Gift #10:  Spinach was on sale this week.  It's the little things. . . .

Gift #11:  The pool didn't close on Labor Day so I got to enjoy this lovely amenity this evening.

Gift #12:  I have some amazing people praying me through the journey I am on.

Gift #13:  Remember Josh & Elizabeth from my previous post - we had an AWESOME dinner at a great restaurant downtown over the weekend (you literally can order anything you want from the kitchen even if it's not on the menu - it was amazing).  More people on the "they get it" list - such a comfort. (and they introduced me to the best ice cream parlor in Princeton - also very important. . . come visit-I'll let you in on the secret. . .)