I'm in planning mode for our big Disney trip. I'm bracing myself for disapproving looks about taking the kids out of school for a trip to Disney. Especially for the Freshman. But... Oh well. I'm not willing to spend that kind of money to fight huge crowds. Disney always seems crowded to me, no matter what, and we usually have to wait no more than 20 minutes for any ride or anything...

Mac is unable to take leave any other time, anyway. All summer leave was canceled (which I griped about sufficiently on a previous post), and he's considered a "mini"Chief this quarter which means he gets last pick after all the other Chiefs for taking leave. Plus the military threw in some extra "learning opportunities" which complicate the schedule further. I have come to recognize a "learning opportunity" means the Doctor will be off somewhere "learning" for days or weeks at a time, and the family will not be invited along for the ride, and in fact the Doctor will not see the family during this time of "learning". Sigh. So anyway, two of the other residents have been sort of volunteered for this particular "learning opportunity" which puts the department down a couple of residents. Moral of the story: This was the ONLY week of leave Mac could possilby have for over 9 months. And we are going to Disney.

We are getting ever closer to the end of April. That is when Stanford should let Mac know if he's been accepted into their program. Mac is getting pressure to apply to other more medicine-based programs. He's a typical surgeon though, and complains about clinic nonstop. It's so annoying. He's off at the hospital talking to other adults and even feeling like he's doing something productive... And he's teaching students and junior residents, which he loves, yet he has the gall to complain to me... About being bored and doing paperwork. Hello! He will never understand what it's like to be a SAHM, especially when the kids are sharing The Nastiest Bug Of The Decade. But I digress...

Anyway, so Mac decided to try to arrange for an interview with this other program. This program doesn't even exist yet, but they *think* it will be ready for a fellow in 2012 which is when Mac is set to start fellowship. It's been very disorganized, to say the least. He had finally decided just to stick with Stanford and that's that. It's the preferred program. If it doesn't work out with them, he would not do a fellowship and that's OK.

So today he talked on the phone with someone from the other program, and now he's sending me texts about checking out airfare, blah blah blah. So I guess he's going to interview at the other program. Nevermind that the ONLY 3 days that he can leave are in mid-May. Stanford will let him know weeks before the other interview, and Stanford will not wait... Usually they give 48 hours to accept an offer, something like that. I think we're going to flush another $380 down the toilet in airfare just so Mac can say that he gave the other program a chance...

I'm beyond frustrated. It's so exhausting. It's depressing. It's annoying.

He's not leaving during the Disney trip, so that's something. I would go without him. I really would. And he would never hear the end of it.