I am currently on "vacation." While I remember needing vacation very desperately during intern year due to feeling particularly run down, I don't think I have needed another vacation as much as I currently need this one.
I know it's probably been obvious from recent past posts, but I have been incredibly stressed out lately. It is not really stress while at work that has been keeping the anxiety level high. Even on OB, things seem quite manageable this year. FP clinic, including the millions of notes which seem to be piled up at the end of the day, is not as daunting as it has been. The bottomless EMR inbox is under control. However, it is the after work tasks cutting into normal down-time which are making me feel run-down and exhausted. Now having a job secured and with the end of residency in sight (just a mere trimester left!), I feel like I should be coasting, enjoying our last few months in the Sacramento area and spending time with friends; however, more than ever, I feel like a gerbil spinning my wheels in a cage, just trying to stay afloat and finishing everything that needs to get done.
It is times like these that I am just looking forward to the day (?post-wedding?) where I can go to work (or call), do my thing, come home and just relax, without having to plan or do anything (does this actually happen? Perhaps in a world without kids). I underestimated the time it would take to prepare for OB M and Ms (while one is done with, another one awaits me 2 weeks after return from vacation). I really underestimated the time it takes to plan a wedding. I underestimated how much insomnia (including nightmares) and poor sleep quality can affect your psyche in the negative. I am not sure I have ever been as tired as I have been in the past month.
This brings me to the question: are "vacations" periods where you are supposed to just let go of all of those things hanging over your head and truly just kick your feet back, knowing that a ton of work awaits you upon your return? (This is something that I have a lot of difficulty doing but which K does quite well). Or does it make sense to do some "work" (= wedding planning and other miscellaneous tasks, which are not very fun to me) while "on vacation," as it makes your life upon return incrementally less stressful? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
I have been able to let go a bit since Wednesday and, thanks to César Chávez (a Mexican-American civil rights activist), whose birthday is a holiday in California (among seven other states), we got to start our two-week vacation a day early.
Kelvin's sisters Theresa and Katherine flew up to Sac on Tuesday.
On Wednesday night, we (along with Kimie) all went to the Lady Gaga concert at (formerly Arco Arena; now) Power Balance Pavilion. While the show (main act didn't start until 9:30 PM!) didn't conclude until after midnight, which was way past my bedtime, it was really entertaining, as were some of the concertgoers' costumes!
Theresa was the only one of us who was inspired and fun enough to create a costume for the affair, which bought her a VIP entrance to the photo booth at front, as well as many photos with random strangers; her "telephone" hat was quite awesome, don't you think?!
On Friday, we drove down to Westminster and enjoyed some time at home with K's family.
We've gotten to watch some great college basketball games (although Richmond is out, fellow Richmond school VCU got its revenge over Kansas and now I am torn who to support in that final four game! I have fallen in love with Butler, esp with their heroic game over Florida!).
We have run on Sunset Beach, hung out with some of K's old friends in Orange County and enjoyed some rousing karaoke, as well as (as always, down here) great food, including Bruxie waffle sandwiches in downtown Orange, and Korean BBQ today.
Tomorrow, we head to Costa Rica for 8 days. Aah.
Life is fairly good right now, with about an extra 10-14 hours a day to myself.
Can't wait to sit down with a good book and do some leisure reading.
However, this vacation ends in 2 weeks and then it is back to the full grind.
What I am most excited for is post-wedding relaxation.
Today, we booked our roundtrip honeymoon tickets to:
and:
After the wedding, after boards, either before or after our move to Arcata, in late July we are headed to Bali, Indonesia, and then to Malaysia to spend time (per Hellen's recommendation yesterday) to visit the Perhentian Islands.
We can't wait for the *real* vacation :)
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