One little thing that has made our lives easier....

we hired a cleaning lady! She comes every other week and does bathrooms, floors and the kitchen. I love it! Besides the good-I-don't-have-to-clean factor, it forces us to straighten up the house often enough that the clutter doesn't get overwhelming.

Daegan is really an awesome baby! He was such a trooper for the Jazz Fest weekend. On Friday we went to the Aquarium of the Americas, walked around the French Quarter and then met my parents for dinner at a great French restuarant in the Garden District (La Crepe Nanou). Saturday, we were at Jazz Fest from 11am to 7pm....then showered and went out to dinner. Sunday we gave the little guy a break and hung around the hotel, let him play in the pool, nap for 2 hours, then we headed out to the festival for the afternoon and evening....then of course went out to dinner and a stroll down Bourbon Street. Daegan managed to score some beads from a few strippers!! He was soo good. The dogs had us up everyday at ~6am and we didn't get to bed each night until ~10pm. And we weren't home for any naps....so he just snoozed in the wrap or Ergo as he needed. Except for the blues tent....that was too loud for him and I didn't realize it until after about 20 minutes....poor kid's ears....we got him ear plugs for the next day. He would get a little fussy at dinner each night....but I never thought he'd be as easy as he is!

He's also adapted to daycare really well. He naps in a crib there and takes a bottle pretty readily for them now...two things he doesn't do at home. And he always comes home smelling like old lady perfume, so I know one of the workers spends a lot of time holding him!!

Because he's such a good baby, I'm a little nervous about having a second...I know the next baby couldn't possibly be as content and happy as he is. I guess since I wasn't spoiled with my late pregnancy and birth, I get spoiled by how great my kid is huh! I'll take that!

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Work front:

For the most part I really like the clinic I'm at. The staff is nice and helpful. The techs are good at restraining (a HUGE PLUS), they've been working there several years at least, they know the policies/computer system, and are not offended by my quesitons/new opinions/different methods. The other doctors are nice and very easy to get along with. The two old guys are the "grew up on a dairy farm, did mixed animal practice, now settled into small animal" type. The one is more medicine-y and the other is more of a surgeon. A really good mix for them. They added the son of the medicine-y guy two years ago. He's a decent blend of their old-timey ways and the new-ivory-tower medicine. He's slowly changing things....but he still has a "back country" root. I am almost totally "ivory-tower." I like my diagnostics. I do believe in a good physical examination, but also find a place for things like radiographs, blood work and cytology. I like to find the reason for the symptoms....they like to treat the symptoms. I am starting to see that a good majority of their clients are ok with just treating symptoms. And that cost is a major factor in what is done. I'm having a bit of a hard time with that. Right now I don't really have any cases of my own....I help out on everyone's cases and just see a few new puppy checks and such. The occasional case when everyone else is busy. I don't have the opportunity to really talk to the owners about diagnostics and treatment...so I don't know if the owners would agree to more if I gave them more options....or if I would still get shot down like the guys say will happen. I often think they are just perpetuating the 'just-a-dog' attitude that exists in many of their clients. If they don't offer a higher quality of care, then how are these people ever supposed to know it even exists....let alone that it's acceptable to spend $$ on a four-legged family member!

Salary: I feel I should be paid for parttime what the son told me he's paid for fulltime. That's a huge difference. The son is going to be buying into the practice. The 'surgeon' is selling his half to the son and then the 'surgeon' only wants to work 3 days a week. That might free enough money to pay me.....but the practice might not be busy enough for me to earn my keep.

I guess that's what I'm really worried about. I'm not sure the practice can support that many doctors. I guess right now we essentially are running with 4 full time docs....and after the sale goes through (within the next 2-3 months) and after I finish my preceptor period (end of this month) the practice will really only have 2 full time and 2 part time (including me). They also have another doc who just works Saturdays...but she's kinda on her own on Saturdays so she doesn't really affect the rest of us....though they might be wanting someone (me) to help out on the Saturdays....


I have so much to think about. It really helps to be able to type it all out. I do need to look into the other clinics in town. I feel somewhat indebted to this clinic....they also are paying me 4x what they were going to pay me as an incentive for me to "remember who took care of me." I'll admit the extra money has really been nice! But I know I've earned it for them.

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I'll post some pics later.