Five Little Words - Penultimate Finale

Little Ms Blogger set me up with Five Little Words some time last week, but I keep spouting from the mouth and making each word much longer than it has to be. Sorry, it's just what I do. If you want to see my take on the first three words you can look here and here. Without further ado, here are my last two words.

CAREER
I took a circuitous route to get to where I am today. When I first started college I was a French major. The thought of doing anything sciency never entered my mind. Then I  considered International Business, but I really wasn't excited about it, plus I had transferred schools and wasn't really doing all that great. If my major had been playing hooky I'd have aced it. I spent a few years going back and forth, then I got married and had a couple kids, then before I knew what was happening I was a single mom with 2 little girls. I finally got my act together with the help of a couple close friends (I've mentioned them before) and got a degree in biochem, although there isn't much you can do with a biochem degree except be a peon in a lab or go for a PhD. Throughout my long and illustrious undergraduate years I kept taking career aptitude tests and they kept coming back "pharmacist" or "speech pathologist". I always immediately dismissed pharmacy thinking I didn't want to spend my life in a grocery store. When I graduated with my biochem degree I finally decided "what the hell" and decided to go to pharmacy school. I packed up my girls and moved 1500 miles in order to be near Barb and go to school. Imagine my surprise when I got wait-listed. I was devastated. I thought maybe I was right all along and pharmacy wasn't for me. I thought I'd give the whole speech pathology thing a look and shadowed someone for a day. One day. I hated it. I remember going to Barbs and crying crying crying. She said there was nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home mom, but I wasn't married at the time. There wasn't much for an over-educated under-qualified single mom to do.
A few months later I got a phone call from the pharmacy school. I got in. I was so excited! It never occurred to me to be nervous or scared, I just did it. It wasn't easy tho. As I said, I was a single mother and in a school with a reputation of being difficult. I remember my Dad telling me that he hoped I'd stick with it. I entered as a 3rd year student, and it was a 6 year degree. So for 4 years school was pretty much my life. I did, however, find time to fall in love and get married to the man of my dreams, but I'm sure I've already told you about him.
Before I had even graduated I had a full time job at Schnucks. I loved it, and I think Schnucks is a great company to work for, but there was one problem: the hours. Most nights I wouldn't get home until 10pm, plus I had to work every-other weekend. Add to that the fact that I was newly married and had pre-teen age girls. I just needed to be home more.
There is a story about my breaking point, but I'm not going to put it here. Suffice it to say that I decided to venture out on "my own" as a free-lance pharmacist. I LOVE it. I work when I want to, I have contacts all over the area. Some weeks I work every day, sometimes I just work a day or 2 a week. I rarely work saturdays, but I will now and then to fill in for friends. I can honestly say that this is what I was meant to do. I love knowing that I'm actively helping people, and yes even saving lives. You don't think so? I'll tell you more if you want, but this is already longer than I wanted. My point is, I feel good about myself, my choices, my career.
And the best thing about it shows if you look at my profile. First I am a mother to teenage girls, then I am a wife, then I am a pharmacist.
There are some people that wish they had it all. I have it.

Tune in next time for my Ultimate fifth word :)

A Day in the Life

I've been thinking about the name of my blog and thought I should share what a Day in the Life of a Would-Be Bambi really is. Well, I don't really know exactly what it is. But what I do know is what a day in my life is like so I thought I'd share a little with you.

The first thing I do is wake up at the butt-crack of dawn 5:45 and take Jenny, the oh-so-elegantly sprawled dog to the left, and Juneau (my favorite child ---shhhhh!) on their daily walk. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, we stumble out of bed and go for a walk. Ok that's not true. If it's raining I usually say "screw it" but then I always pay for it later. The deal is that Jenny, our rescue dog, has to poop in very specific places. I can't just shoo her out the door and expect her to do her business. It's a very methodical process and everything has to go just right. God forbid a bird should happen to call, a mild breeze should blow past her butt, or a hapless fly should happen by, poor Jenny wont poop. Trust me. I know. Although what goes in must eventually come out, and if she doesn't poop on the morning walk , I know it's coming out somewhere in my house. Again, only in special places (like on the rug I bought in Turkey, or in front of #6s room - much to her chagrin. Teenage girls do not like poop. Especially not stinky fat dog poop.

After the morning constitutional takes place, I quickly shower and dress for work. At least lately. I do relief work, so luckily I have many days that I can move a bit slower. However I am taking over for a pharmacist on maternity leave so I actually have to get up and go to work most days. It kinda sucks.

My next stop is non-negotiable. I think we all know where this is heading. My neighborhood starbucks. I usually get a grande skinny caramel latte, but lately I've super-sized to a quad venti skinny caramel latte. Must be because I know that it's going to be 98 degrees out I feel the need to get as much coffee in me at one time. Or because working 5 or 6 days a week (when you're used to 2 or 3) kinda sucks.

After I have purchased my mega-latte (ok and sometimes I also purchase a cinnamon scone, does that really make me a bad person???) I begin my commute to work. This is not usually too bad as I tend to stay in a 30mi radius (I prefer the 4mi radius, but I follow the money...) This summer my job is 11 miles from my house, so it's a pretty easy commute. Or should be. If it weren't construction season... (this isn't my photo, but the credits are in the link)

Anyway, my drive to work is usually uneventful and I have time to ponder speed limits, life, or myself in an Audrey Hepburn 'do...

Once I get to the pharmacy the real fun beings. I get about a bazillion calls from druggies wanting to know if their vicodin/xanax/lorcet/soma/ativan/ultram is ready.

In addition there are the many calls of the regualr people wanting refills on blood pressure, cholesteral, or any numerous medical condition medicines. Dont forget there is also the endless phone calls from doctors, nurses, etc wanting to know specifics about medications, dosages, pregnancy classifications, etc. I get calls on many different issues and usually I am more than happy to help the caller out.

Some days I even get to do the crossword puzzle...but I can't always finish it. Darn it.

After a fun filled day in the pharmacy I get to go home to one of several things, depending on the season of course. Sometimes its soccer or field hockey games,

Sometimes it's hanging by the pool...

Sometimes it's working out to relieve stress, or maybe to make myself feel better about all the wine flab squishy parts of me my wonderful husband has to hold on to.

Sometimes it's believing they all really exist...

And sometimes its just being grateful for the most wonderful person in my life...