Clinicals.
If you haven't been living in this house for the past 10 months-which is 99.9% of the population-you probably have very little idea, if any, what a big deal that word has been.
Clinicals. Always like that. Actually, in even bigger letters...Clinicals. There. That's better.
Clinicals meant...well, it means a lot of things. The start of a new year; the second year of P.A. school.
An end to the classwork, and some of the crazy fire-hydrant-book-learning. And the start of all things hands-on and people related. In other words, my husband's forte.
For quite awhile, it meant the possibility of being separated for six weeks or more; or relocating for part of the year.
Basically, clinicals has been a big, giant, much-talked-about question mark in this house. But now...
Let me back up a minute. First, this year. This crazy, crazy fast year of book-learning. Didactic year has been...well, interesting. Not easy, but not horrible either; thanks to a wonderful husband who gets it and does his best to keep first things. And, of course, we've had a lot of Divine help.
It's been challenging for both of us and has required even greater discipline-from both of us. You wouldn't think I'd necessarily need to be more disciplined, seeing as I'm not the one in school; but I absolutely did. I've found that living a bit more disciplined life in some areas has actually led to more flexibility, more calm in our days, and simply everything running smoother in general. Which I'm sure is no brain wave to most people; but let's face it, I'm NOT the type-A one in this family and there's definitely an element of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants in my blood. I've been working on it. So, now, I get up voluntarily between 5:15 and 5:30 (Adam is up by 4:30, to get a little more studying in...but he's always been better at super-early mornings than late nights. Baker's son and all that.). This early rising is perhaps shocking to my mother. I've found, though, it's been vital to smooth (and slower) mornings, which I do much better with. This way I have time for things like quite times and exercise and getting a load of laundry done and the dishes unloaded before the kids wake up. You know, all those things that help you not to be a crazy person (or at least, a little less crazy). Plus, when you have a husband who is up so early that he brings you your morning tea nice and hot before you've even sat up in bed most days...well, that helps a lot. A LOT. Really, I don't know what I'm gonna do when he's not a student anymore and gets up at a more normal hour-or when he works nights and isn't around to make my tea. I'm thoroughly spoiled. I know this.
And yet...somehow, even with all the newly-added organization/discipline in my life, there's been a serious lack of time. Time for things like blogging, anyhow. Also, that whole homeschooling-during-the-smallest-son's-naptime might have something to do with it. Either way, it means that somehow I've let a WHOLE MONTH go by between the time we found out about Adam's clinical placements and the blogging of it. In fact, I didn't even think about it until I started getting questions from aunts and good friends and cousins about where he'd be doing clinicals...oops. So, to answer the question-we're staying in the Valley! Adam had requested a couple of rotations up in Colorado, but between the school's requirements and the doctors' available time, it simply didn't work out. And while it would've been fun to have a 6-week adventure in Colorado with family, there's no denying it's much, much easier not to pack up a family of 5 with three young kiddos for six weeks. Believe me, I've done it before. Doable, but not easy!
We're also incredibly thankful that Adam will be able to come home at some point every day. This is truly an incredible blessing. Several students, including some with families, have clinicals in places that are over an hour commute each day-which means they'll most likely be finding a place to stay for the week and home only on weekends. Going into this clinical process, I prayed for two things: that we'd be able to stay together as a family, and that Adam would get the preceptors and clinical sites he needs to learn what he needs to learn. I knew I'd be able to handle anything else that came our way. I'm so incredibly thankful to see how the Lord has answered the first part of that prayer-and I can't wait to see how he answers the second part!
Neither of us can believe how quickly this first year has gone. We're down to the last 7 weeks...it'll be 7 weeks of craziness, but STILL! It's only 7 weeks. Then a few weeks off to breathe, and then....the fun begins!
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