Its that time...

Its Thursday night…and you know what that means…DATE NIGHT! (at least this week it means date night)…I’m sipping on my beverage waiting in the Thai restaurant on our block.  Mmm Thai…

Phil found some Imperial Stouts we’ve not tried before and a friend of ours brought back some yummy chocolate treats from her weekend hiking extravaganza in New Hampshire (including our very own chocolate turkey) as a ‘thank-you’ for dog sitting.  Getting paid in chocolate for hanging out with one of the coolest dogs I know = awesome.

Phil is taking weekend call with preggo ladies and I’ve got ladies night out with my CMDA girls (Christian Medical and Dental Association…we get crazy). Oh. And studying. LOTS O’ STUDYING!!! 

It’s that time in the semester where every hour is blocked off and scheduled on the google calendar and I barely have time to wash my hair let alone date night my husband and ladies night my friends…

But here’s what I’m learning.  You’ve got to make the time.  There is so much time that is not utilized in the day.  Get up an hour earlier, read for 10 minutes instead of watching your 40-minute TV show. Don’t wash your hair…because we all know that you look fab no matter how clean your hair is… (my morning self-pep talk)

Life happens.  Assignments get checked off. People get fed. The house gets cleaned…well, the house gets by. 

Cherish the simple. Cherish the moment. 

My mind wonders to all the things on the many check lists I keep -- pink post-its, yellow notepads, and electronic To-Dos…there is plenty to think about. There always will be.  Even more tempting than the check lists are all the ‘plans’ I have for the Holidays!  I smile just thinking about cozy sweaters, sweet cookies, and peppermint mocha creamer in my coffee (thanks Katie Honea Black!)  I think of sweet snuggles with my niece and long talks with family and friends late into the night. 

For now, I breathe. I soak up the ginger and curry spice and pin back my dirty hair. I concentrate on my 72-year old female that presented to the clinic with complaints of generalized malaise, cough, congestion, and foul smelling urine.  I think about her grief after loosing her husband of 34 years to cancer.  I try my best to evaluate her  case, make the appropriate diagnosis, and plan her care.

And most importantly, I pray. And I thank God. And I am humbled. And I’m encouraged. And I’m filled up. And I’m poured out.

And my Pad Thai is ready. And it’s time. Time for time with my man…