Out and About

So sorry to disappoint you photo hunters... but I just can't bring myself to post the load of pictures that I've taken in recent weeks. There are tons! First off, my far away friend Leah came to visit us and I got to meet her boyfriend Clive (a long overdue happening), then we took a weekend visit to Vermont - Lyllah and Rick's new house on Friday night, Auntie Liza's apartment in Burlington on Saturday night. Apple picking on Sunday (stuffing our faces with cider doughnuts) and a walk around Church Street was refreshing... the weather was perfect... and then a drive to Milton, with a 3 hour nap for the girls, where we celebrated my brother's 38th birthday. Then home to Providence at 11pm.

Penny was totally darling as she happily slept in 3 different beds on 3 different nights. Ruby and Eloise were also VERY adaptable considering the lengthy car rides.

At the end of last week Myles was offered a position as a second year resident in Orthopedics at Brown because a girl was quitting the program. The director was doing his best to lure Myles into the spot by this week so that the other residents wouldn't have to pick up the slack for the dropout... and then she would take over his research work. This was such a shock to both of us and we went back and forth for a couple of days about what Myles should do. It was either "Pursue your dream and get slammed into a really grueling residency program for the next 5 years... and stay in Providence" OR "coast along with the research you've been doing and hope for the best with the anesthesia match... and potentially move again in spring 2008". I was so completely torn. Ultimately I would love to see Myles work his ass off and become an orthopedic surgeon... but considering how much fun we've been having, and how excellent his entire demeanor seems without the added stress of the surgery world, I think anesthesia will be the best fit.

He has chosen to stay with research and wait to hear from anesthesia programs (he already has some interviews set up). But as with any life-altering decision we are now experiencing some "did I make the right choice?" remorse. The director of the ortho program was pretty pissed, the other residents are most likely pretty annoyed and Myles gets to think about how some people would have jumped all over the opportunity to join such an incredible program. Honestly though, it would have been perfect for us if he was 25 and we didn't have kids. If he had joined the program this week I would have been stuck with the 3 kids from 6 AM to at least 8 PM and would have had to consider paying for some evening help. He would have to miss out on most of Penelope's first year... and Ru and El's school events... it would have been awful and he would have been a total grump.

Sorry to bore you all with the lame-o details of this event. We have been wallowing in all kinds of mixed emotions for the last few days and it feels good to finally share it with the computer. When I take the time to spell all of this out I realize that Myles has definitely made the right decision and I should quit feeling bad about what regrets we might have down the road. It just feels odd to acknowledge how much more we value family time over career time.

Phew. I'm toasted and would love to put several thousand dollars worth of stupid shit on my AmEx while I'm at the mall.