The first quarter went really well. I could feel the improvement in Gem’s over all willingness to participate in this new discipline and start to relax into the work. The biggest change was in her attitude of saying yes instead of no. This got me all fired up for the second quarter and I sat down to write out the list of goals I had.
Which was about the time reality and a big dose of panic hit and I realized this quarter was going to be a wash. If I’m lucky.
Currently I am qualified in foot and ankle surgery. This May I will be sitting for my certification exam and spent the better part of February banging my head against the wall trying to collect the requested documents for the case submission part of the exam. Now it’s time panic about the computer portion of the test.
Failure is not an option for this test. If I fail I lose my hospital privileges. If that happens I’m screwed.
Studying in school was easy. It was my job and I had nothing else to worry about. I graduated with a 4.0 from medical school due to my ability to focus on studying and studying alone. Having a very understanding husband who never fussed about my 14 hour study binges was a big plus.
Studying in residency was also easy. We had weekly meetings to cover various topics and scenarios. I ate, slept and breathed surgery often times scrubbing in for my first case at 6:30 am and my last case at 7:30 pm that same day. I was surrounded by it. Passing the qualification exam was made possible by this.
Studying now feels impossible. I have a full time job that isn’t all surgery all the time and is instead once a week. I also need to run the business. Then I come home and be a mom. Cook dinner. Feed the horses. If I’m lucky I get to sit down and study at 8:30 pm after Wyatt is in bed and I’m already exhausted from my full day. Keeping my eyes open and my brain focused until 10 pm gets harder and harder as the week days go by.
It’s not going so well. I’m scared shitless I’m going to fail.
All that to say Gem is getting a vacation until May 9th rolls around and my life can resume. It’s bad timing. We will lose a lot of what we gained. But not losing my business is more important and so it must be.
No riding. Must study.
No arena renovation. Must study.
No lessons. Must study.
No life.
Must. Study.
The Roaming Rider 
You can do it! Sending all my good vibes and good-brain-power thoughts and study skills your way.
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Thanks. I hope so!
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oh man, yea this definitely sounds like a “must-do” scenario. you totally got this tho!! sending you positive (and focused!) study vibes and the hope that the next 7 weeks pass in a way that leaves you feeling more and more confident with each day! and don’t worry about Gem either, you’ve done such good work with her and she’s already shown that she can retain that progress after some time off. this time will be no different!
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Hopefully I can still hop on from time to time but I don’t know. My brain hurts and I already learned all this stuff
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Good luck with all your studying and passing the exam!!!!! It’ll all work out in the end and I’m sure Gem will come back better than ever… you’d be surprised how a little break really does help the horses and they usually are better for it! So study away and the ponies will still be there on May 10th 😁
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I hope you are right!
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I can somewhat commiserate- graduating undergrad was easy. Then decided to get my MBA while working FT as an executive director of a broken non-profit, with a 4 year old, Husband deployed to Afghanistan, and pregnant. We had so much money sunk into it, failure wasn’t an option. But YOU GOT THIS. Gem will be there when you get back into it. Sometimes they come back better after an extended break. Good luck, let me know how you do! Now stop reading comments and study!
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It’s hard to juggle it all. I think it’d be easier if Wyatt was in high school or something and knew what studying even meant
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Gem will be fine. You can do this! I remember returning to graduate school when the kids were really young and we lived far from the school – if I took the bus it took an hour and they stopped running after 5. It was hard and I had to be really really focussed. But I did it and you can too- you are nothing if not tenacious.
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Oh wow. That would be really rough.
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Wow, you’ve got a lot on your plate. But if your Q1 goal achievement was any indication, I’d say you got this!
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I told the hubby yesterday that I knew how to make being a doctor, boss and Mom work. Being a student as well is pushing me over the edge
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You can do this!
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I hope you are right!
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You got this!
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Everyone has more faith than I do
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If anyone can do this and totally rock it – it’s you! You’ve GOT this. You’re so dedicated and talented to boot. Sending all the focus vibes!
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I need all the good vibes I can ger
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Okay, so adding student to your day means something else has to go. Barn chores? Laundry? Cooking? Be a Mom to Wyatt, yes, but maybe the home/barn maintenance needs to be outsourced. Hire a local teenager to feed? Cleaning service for a few months? Can you afford to pay someone to do what your hubby can’t pick up? Can you agree to let some things slide for a bit? (Like blogging… but just let us know when your House Hunters episode airs!)
You can do this. Everybody gets the same 24 hours in a day, but if you need 3 of them to study, you have to “ruthlessly exclude” anything that is not work/family/study/sleep. The ponies will wait. Try to carve out two hours on a weekend to enjoy them, though- you need the break, too!
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See, I love people like you….solution people!! My favorite type.
Blogging is going to be only if able to a) write something worth reading and b)I get a spare moment at work to sneak it in. So basically probably won’t be happening much.
Dusty is amazing around the house and really helps out a lot. I’ve already told him all no essential functions aren’t going to be happening and to not even ask me an opinion just do the thing and I’ll comment in June about it. HA!
I like the ruthlessly exclude concept. I’ve been studying at night before bed and have cleared my friday’s at work of surgery until after boards. I figure that way I can claim several hours every week during work time to do it. I’m trying to save weekends for Wyatt time until the very end and then they will go away too. Now if only my brain would start retaining this stuff again.
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