Wow, that's just what I wanted! How did you know?

One really great birthday present from the universe is that tomorrow our office has a new nurse starting. Guess what? She is taking the full time position which leaves me to do what I want: work about 32 hours/week or take 9-10 patients at a time. Could I be happier about this? Um no, not really. Also we are dividing more clearly along territory lines (and I had the privilege of drawing the map!) which means I'll be getting the East Side, where I live, and will hopefully be driving a whole lot less! In the past 9 months I've had a 25 mile radius and anywhere from a few to 14 patients at a time, plus on call and admissions. I think I've put about 16-18,000 miles on my car in the nine months, and haven't gone on any long road trips. Everyday I feel like I am racing the clock to get as much done and see as many patients as I can, just to keep up.

Because of how stressful it has been, I was doing some deep thinking not too long ago and considering other job/career options. I realized during that time that the job I have IS the job I want. I actually really love doing what I do. I just also want it to be less overwhelming, I want to do it more slowly and for it to take up less of my life so I have time to recover from it. Sometimes helping people die comfortably is exhausting, and I need some time to recharge. When I work 45-50 hours a week, I don't really have a chance to let it go. I am so glad that I will be getting more time to myself soon--I'm hoping that I'll be going to the new schedule sometime about two weeks from now. Yeeeeehaw!