Gripe Time
A year ago today, I was in Istanbul.
For those of you reading this who don't know me, I took a six-week leave from work last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to spend a week with my sister and her kids, and I traveled to Turkey, Bulgaria and Prague. At the beginning of my time off I had hopes that it would be some sort of life-changing experience... but that really didn't happen. I did, however, get a nice rest and did more traveling than I had done in years. I hadn't taken a trip like that since 1990.
This year, by contrast, is turning out to be Karmic Payback Time. My vacation time is being used almost exclusively on family-related activities (my brother is getting married this year); I have to take the internal medicine boards again this year (I'm due for my ten-year recertification); I just got called for jury duty. Last week I learned that I have to quickly get ten hours of educational credit in radiology, because I hold the radiologic supervisor's license for my office and now they're requiring that all licensed supervisors get ten hours of credits every two years - something they never did before. I don't mind doing it, but the timing sucks as I have to get it within six weeks. Also, I am going through an extremely stressful time at work (I won't go into the details for confidentiality reasons).
There is good news. Everyone I care about is healthy and functional, thank God. I've drafted an article which has been accepted for publication in an online magazine (I'll let you know when it's published). I am employed by a company that values me, where I'm happy.
But I'm stressed and I'm tired, and I don't see it letting up until the end of the year. I wish the pressure would just go away.
posted by Dr. Alice at #
