Choosing Wisely: Putting my health above an agenda...again.
Per my post at the end of May, I thought I owed you a follow up to my Lupus Awareness Month to-do's. Why not take a moment to publicly celebrate a couple of "cross-offs"?
1) That chest X-ray that I needed? DONE!
I found a radiology site within 2 miles of my house, confirmed they take my insurance, called for an appointment (only to learn they take walk-ins), and took an afternoon last week when my babysitter was working to get it done. In and out in less than an hour - so it wasn't too bad. But I'm certainly going to try to keep that nasty pleural effusion from ever coming back. Sitting in the waiting area, registering for the test, explaining to the admittance person why I was there in the first place - it took me back to when those test were all too regular. It made me feel sicker than I was...and no one needs that!
2) Second on my list - box up winter clothes for the move. ALMOST DONE!
I've gathered the clothes, mittens, scarves and boots - now I just have to grab a couple of empty boxes from a collection I started a month ago, toss in, and tape up. One down - 50 boxes to go.
3) Lastly - arrange for help. DONE!
As the world's greatest and most meticulous packer, my dad will be a godsend. He's arriving this weekend, and will have our whole place packed in no time. AND he'll have a smile on his face the whole time. But I'm going to have a hard time convincing him not to pack up everything. We have a few more weeks left, and I know he's going to want to finish the job while he's here. Don't pack baby Dar Dar, Papa!!
Now - while those three tasks are well on their way to being history, a new to-do has been added, and it's one with which I'm struggling. My task? To "Choose Wisely" in regard to our move date. Practically speaking, I know what I need to do. Emotionally, I'm resisting!
Here's the situation: our renovation is scheduled for Substantial Completion on July 7th. Hooray! That means that by that date, our house will be ready and we can move back in. However, the contractor contractually has two weeks from that date to get to Final Completion, which will include fixing/finishing all of the little stuff that we find isn't up to snuff upon our walk through on July 7th. (This article addresses this distinction well.)
I just discovered that this two week period is a busy one. I thought we'd be able to move in on, say, July 8th, and the construction guys would casually be in and out of the house, working just a few hours a day. Turns out, that's not the case at all. They have every intention of coming to work at 7am and working until 3 or 4pm everyday during those two weeks. Not ideal living conditions for the Gormans!
But oh, the temptation to move in when I thought we could! My pride and the desire to get back into our house are really clouding my judgement. Add to that my penchant for schedules and order, and I've all but scheduled the moving company. BUT - I know how much I like my sleep. I know how mad I would be that first day, waking up at 7am, not getting a good nap, and having the girls experience the same. I'm not going to do it. But it IS tempting.
So here's to putting the health and comfort of me and my family at the forefront. I've had to do it plenty of times before with lupus - putting pregnancy, work, vacation, or life in general on hold while I waited patiently for my body to catch up.
Maybe I can just bury my face in the sand like Darwin and wake up at the end of July!!
1) That chest X-ray that I needed? DONE!
I found a radiology site within 2 miles of my house, confirmed they take my insurance, called for an appointment (only to learn they take walk-ins), and took an afternoon last week when my babysitter was working to get it done. In and out in less than an hour - so it wasn't too bad. But I'm certainly going to try to keep that nasty pleural effusion from ever coming back. Sitting in the waiting area, registering for the test, explaining to the admittance person why I was there in the first place - it took me back to when those test were all too regular. It made me feel sicker than I was...and no one needs that!
2) Second on my list - box up winter clothes for the move. ALMOST DONE!
I've gathered the clothes, mittens, scarves and boots - now I just have to grab a couple of empty boxes from a collection I started a month ago, toss in, and tape up. One down - 50 boxes to go.
3) Lastly - arrange for help. DONE!
As the world's greatest and most meticulous packer, my dad will be a godsend. He's arriving this weekend, and will have our whole place packed in no time. AND he'll have a smile on his face the whole time. But I'm going to have a hard time convincing him not to pack up everything. We have a few more weeks left, and I know he's going to want to finish the job while he's here. Don't pack baby Dar Dar, Papa!!Now - while those three tasks are well on their way to being history, a new to-do has been added, and it's one with which I'm struggling. My task? To "Choose Wisely" in regard to our move date. Practically speaking, I know what I need to do. Emotionally, I'm resisting!
Here's the situation: our renovation is scheduled for Substantial Completion on July 7th. Hooray! That means that by that date, our house will be ready and we can move back in. However, the contractor contractually has two weeks from that date to get to Final Completion, which will include fixing/finishing all of the little stuff that we find isn't up to snuff upon our walk through on July 7th. (This article addresses this distinction well.)
I just discovered that this two week period is a busy one. I thought we'd be able to move in on, say, July 8th, and the construction guys would casually be in and out of the house, working just a few hours a day. Turns out, that's not the case at all. They have every intention of coming to work at 7am and working until 3 or 4pm everyday during those two weeks. Not ideal living conditions for the Gormans!
But oh, the temptation to move in when I thought we could! My pride and the desire to get back into our house are really clouding my judgement. Add to that my penchant for schedules and order, and I've all but scheduled the moving company. BUT - I know how much I like my sleep. I know how mad I would be that first day, waking up at 7am, not getting a good nap, and having the girls experience the same. I'm not going to do it. But it IS tempting.
So here's to putting the health and comfort of me and my family at the forefront. I've had to do it plenty of times before with lupus - putting pregnancy, work, vacation, or life in general on hold while I waited patiently for my body to catch up.
Maybe I can just bury my face in the sand like Darwin and wake up at the end of July!!
Comments