The fame and fortune of Tre and Roon

ODE TO BAILEY AND RICA

There once was a family of humans who found some furbabies...

Rica (also known as Roon, Big Red, Mole-mole, Racuna) is the oldest, wisest, and dirtiest.  

Bailey (aka Bucket, Tre, Cluck-tron) is the peaceful beauty of the family, except when she is the neurotic poophead.

These furbabies never shed, never bark, and even scoop their own poop!

They have traveled the world with their humans, or at least, the Western United States...

and made some friends along the way.

They know how to scale mountains and forge rivers (and plastic kiddie swimming pools).

Their greatest adventure yet has come in a 7lb 13oz package of pure entertainment...

Carry on smartly, girls...carry on!

A puzzle for you...

What do all these things have in common?

A jogging mom...

A sleeping elf...

A screaming elf...

Crochet projects...

An Ergo Dad...

Fancy German breakfast pastry...

Lots of furbabies...

 

Skyping to Djibouti...

And a dancing baby in his underloons?

Thats right!! A Judkins family Christmas.  

We have enjoyed having Tim home from work, Meri-lyn and Vin out from Colorado, and Brooke here to see her boyfriend (its complicated).  There is no snow (starting to give up on the famed Utah powder), no turkey dinner (we had a Mexican food spread of elk tacos, burritos and chicken enchiladas), and no tree (does a giant wreath on the front door count?), but we are creating our own traditions for Luke's 1st Christmas.  Hope this holiday season finds you surrounded by love and family with lots of good food piled on top.

Locums what?! A Latin lesson...

  Tim is completing an extra year of training in hand surgery this year, Bailey is a professional fetch coach at the neighborhood dog park, and Rica is the family dishwasher.  I am doing locums work.  Locums what?!  Yeah, I had to 'Google' it too.  Basically, a locum tenens is a person who fills in for another, most commonly used to describe physicians and clergymen.  Synonyms include backup man, relief, fill-in, substitute.  Thats right, I am a temp surgeon.

  I know it doesn't sound like the greatest idea at first glance.  I often don't know where the OR is, I haven't a clue about the computer system for completing medical records, and I get lost going to the doctor's lounge.  I operate on people that I don't know and will unlikely ever see again.  Yet somehow, it works.
  Most of my jobs are short-term (3-7 days) and only include call coverage.  If someone comes into the ER or their primary care doctor's office and needs a general surgeon, they call me.  At some hospitals, I cover their trauma call too so I take care of car accidents and other (often alcohol related) mishaps.  Some hospitals are busier than others, but for the most part, these are smaller communities where the hospital administrators are just trying to give their full-time doctors a break from call. 
  It works perfectly for me because I have complete freedom over my schedule.  I worked solid in August and September.  I took a weekend in October when I was 36 weeks prego, right before I was too fat to fly.  Now, I have unlimited time off after the arrival of Luke until we decide that it is reasonable to go back.  I can work where I want, when I want, and for as long as I want.  The companies that place temp surgeons cover travel, hotels and rental cars, as well as malpractice.  Locum docs often get medical licenses in multiple states (I have Colorado, Utah, and Idaho) so we have the opportunity to choose from more locations.  

  How does it work now with Luke?  We are not sure, but our trial will be in Colorado next month.  I will fly out to Denver with the mini-man, get our rental car, and meet G'ma Kammerer at the hotel.  We will pray for a quiet weekend (I cover 7am Friday until 7am Monday), but if I have to go in for a consultation or a surgery, she will take care of Luke.  It will be a nice way to ease back into work slowly--if it goes smoothly, we may do a couple trips per month.  If we need more time as a family, we don't take on any new contracts for a while longer. Win-win situation and Luke gets to rack up the frequent flyer miles...

Back on the horse again

  The Judki are active people...most of you would not argue that fact.  We have been known to go to the gym after a whole day skiing and DWIM (Drew and Tim) have, on more than one occasion, completed the trifecta--biking, kayaking, and climbing ALL in one day.  

  

  Now, fast-forward to life with the mini-man.  Although I can't completely give you the specifics on what we do all day, the time flies.  We do tummy-time, we change diapers and belly up to the milk bar, we cook and sometimes clean, we go to the dog park and for the big day out, bi-monthly Costco runs.  But other than that, we aren't really sure where the time goes.  I don't run, shop, garden, or work, yet every night I realize we have managed to completely fill our day.
  In my former, pre mini-man life, I worked out at 4am.  Yes, you read that right, 4am.  Two years ago, when Belen and I decided to sign-up for a half-marathon, we were 4th year surgery residents who often started our day in the hospital by 5:30am and rarely getting home before 6pm (or 8 or 9).  The only time we had was early, REALLY early.  Sounds crazy, but when the alarm goes off at 4am, it is just as miserable and impossible to differentiate from 5am so the routine was started.  I would show up at Belen's apartment by 4:15, calling and texting on my 2 mile drive over to ensure she was awake.  If she didn't hear from me, I would get incessant buzzing from my phone which roused me from my warm bed to drag myself to the gym.  Once there, we would run, bike, or lift weights for an hour before jumping in the shower and heading to work.  Once the half-marathon morphed into a whole marathon, we were committed.  We kept this schedule for the last two years of residency and were all the more healthy for it.  Early morning exercise really is the best way to start your day.

First Marathon--Steamboat June 2010

  Now I have other reasons I am awake at 4am and getting back into the groove of working out has taken a distant 2nd place to sleep.  Thanks to my generous husband, I have gone to the gym a couple times and done a couple short (2.5 mile) runs outside since Luke has been born.  Tonight is my first yoga class and I am so excited.  I think the family routines are going to encourage early morning workouts once again with a slightly different flavor, given the lack of Belen (who now lives in Miami) and the addition of a lovely, smell-good parasite.  Whether it is 6am or 6pm, this mama is officially back on the horse again--wish me luck.

We LOVE milk comas