Tim trotted out of the house extra early this morning with his eyes all sorts of twinkling with excitement and hope. God love him. He's about to get the shit kicked out of him this weekend but he still approaches it as if it were his first day of second grade. His fellowship officially begins today. I guess I should have presented him with a commemorative copy of "Oh, The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss?
"What exactly is a fellowship?" you might be asking. I certainly did and then I followed it up with, "and do you really have to do one?" So it goes like this:
undergraduate = 4 years
medical school = 4 years
internship = 1 year
residency = 4 years (varies depending on specialty)
fellowship = 1 year (varies also)
My guy did a PhD in there too so we're at 13+ years of training. Is it starting to make more sense why I am so freaking excited that it's almost over? Here's an analogy: It's like a trans-Atlantic, intercontinental flight. You board the plane your first day of undergrad and you deplane on your last day of fellowship. We've been suspended over an ocean for a long time now covering the miles one-by-one. Can't turn around and head the other way, it's too far into the flight. We just have to ride it out as patiently as we can. On this flight I fell asleep a few times, I've been restless and bored, I've watched movies, played trivia with the person in seat 24B, walked the aisles, told stories, listened to stories, laughed mightily, and got lost in thought watching the beauty outside my tiny window. But now? At last! The pilot just announced our initial descent and the cabin is all a-twitter.
As a fan of crafty things made of paper I did something crazy. I made a calendar. Not just any calendar though. This one starts July 1 (today) and ends next June (end of fellowship). This one is made up of various colored circles sewn together like a giant garland. What I didn't know about this was just how long this thing is - it nearly travels the circumference of our bedroom, which I don't think will be it's final resting place.
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| The colorful calendar stretches for almost the circumference of our bedroom - and that's with generous swags. The painting was done by one of Tim's old room mates. Yes, there is a naked lady in it. |
It may end up hanging vertically like the repurposed decorations from Ada's birthday party, which is what inspired the project in the first place. Is it weird that I can't seem to part with these decorations once the party is over? I love everything that they mean - we managed to make it two years without anything ridiculous or horrible happening like a ferret eating her fingers off while she was sleeping. So ... good for us!
The thing that I keep thinking about and what Tim and I are talking about is the expectations we have for the time that this year of over. What if we end up in a new place doing the same things and all of the frustration we think we feel now is be no different? If we don't pay attention we might get caught up in "the geography cure" - the idea that if changing one thing, like moving, will make your life will be magically perfect. But I don't think that's what is happening here. Instead, we hope we will have more control over our lives: our choices, how we spend our money, how we spend our time. Because it's just a miracle to have choices in life.
Little Miss Crazy tights, here, chooses to dance with Dora. Oh goodness, do I ever love her moves! The video is fuzzy, sorry about that but it's enough to get the idea and I think that the grandparents and uncles will appreciate it nevertheless.
After dancing, we took Ada to Philz for some coffee. For us, she had a muffin.
Then Ada and I stopped at the playground before nap time.
It was hot so I took off the crazy tights she had picked that morning - yeah, she picks her own outfits sometimes. It's super fun to see what she puts together.
Later, we did some painting in the kitchen. She painted the paper on the easel, herself, and the floor. She and I took a shower after that - her skin was stained pink and her toenails are green. Thank goodness the pediatrician visit isn't until next week.
We still have 364 days to sit back and enjoy our flight! It's not time to stow my seat back tray in it's upright and locked position and turn off my electronics in preparation for landing just yet.
2 Lovies:
Wow! What a journey. Lily has to pick her outfits every day. Can be very interesting. I try to get a picture of each one to torture her with later in life! Congratulations on the last year!! :-)
I love the calendar!!! Enjoy the flight, thinking of you :)
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