On Holiday

I made it! I am halfway through intern year as an ob-gyn and I finally have my first vacation!  

My plan was to try to take two weeks in a row over the holidays because this way we could spend time with Chris' family and my family- but it meant a lot of waiting for all my days off at once.  Now that I'm here - in Hawaii (!!) and on vacation with no near end in sight, I'm so glad we did it this way.

This is my early morning view from the hotel balcony.  Pretty sweet, huh?  I've been getting up earlier than everyone by several hours because not only am (was) I on east coast time, I was on residency east coast time, meaning up at 4:45, asleep by 10:30.  It has actually been great though, as it has given me a few hours to myself before the rest of the day starts to reflect and get a bit of studying in.  

But the days have been just perfect for vacation for me.  Wake up with hours to reflect or work our by myself. Breakfast and then heading out - to a beach, for a hike, something active! Then by he time the rest of the world is up and crowding us, we are ready to head back for lunch and calmer afternoon activities like swimming in the pool, playing board games, and reading on our own.  It's a bonus that my niece (5 yo) and nephew (2yo) are here, as they provide oodles of entertainment!  We have definitely had all sorts of vacations in the past but right now this balance of play and rest, balance of together and solo really works.

How is your ideal vacation time spent?

Since not only us but also my future brother and sister and law are planning a wedding, we have been talking a lot about how to organize future family vacations.  My other brother and sister and law (the ones with the kids) said they have just decided to alternate thanksgiving and Christms between their two families each year, and now have coordinated with his whole family so they all do the same thing.  We decided we should just all coordinate with them.  That way, we can all plan with our other families well in advance.

How do you organize the holidays with your families?  

As mine gets bigger and more wonderful. We are still finding new ways to navigate it so that we get to revel in everyone's company.

That's all for now, got to get back to he vacationing! 

Happy and Merry holidays!

e