Taking the Leap

It turns out that I misunderstood my boss... they aren't planning to lay off my medical assistant. Phew! I got that news a week later.

But since then... They did lay off our administrator (he was terrible and deserved to go... but how will they manage the program without someone to steer the ship?) and a nurse practitioner at the one site that had two nurse practitioners (and the only one non-unionized so there was no issue of her "bumping" another NP out of her job) and a front desk person there (because, again, the only site with two). And in two months our billing person will go. That seems very concerning since she chases all our incoming revenue. How will our income drop without someone to hound the insurance companies for the money they owe us? Supposedly the medical assistants will be trained in some of this work but I am dubious... they already are busy with the work they do in the clinics.

In any case... I realized that despite the good news about my medical assistant, I had gotten really excited about Mexico. Unlike last time, when I was overcome with anxiety about the long list of things to figure out, I am excited (if still daunted) by the adventure.

Since my last post, I've booked flights to Mexico in April, arranged visits at two different schools there (one is a full three day visit for both my girls), set up an Airbandb (with a pool, a huge win when traveling to a new place with few toys), scheduled a tour of a place I might like to work, and booked a babysitter! Not too shabby.

I'm trying not to make any firm commitments until after this, our second visit to San Miguel de Allende, and especially until I've seen the schools but... I realized on Friday (while speaking in Spanish to my pedicurist!) that my heart as decided. We are going to Mexico next year! (Short of some disastrous experience in Mexico or something else going terribly wrong.)

I asked my medical director for her support in my asking HR for a leave of absence and she readily agreed, which is wonderful. I haven't officially requested a LOA yet but she emailed HR on my behalf (not specifying who she was asking for) and HR didn't seem to hate the idea... said it would be considered, and decided upon by a bunch of factors. So fingers crossed it might work out... but I might not want to come back after a year! And I might not want to come back to this job. I'm pretty tired of the many ways it is broken, even while I still love the patient care (and feel pretty good at it).

In the meantime... we move downstairs to our new-to-use, newly remodeled, apartment in a week! I can't fathom how our contractor is going to get everything done but he continues to assure me that it will be ready. I finally mentioned the idea to Amelie today for the first time. It's still so messy down there that it's hard to explain to her that that will be our home.

I'm anxious about all the work ahead of me -- I'm not packing at all, just hiring guys to carry things downstairs and put them away -- but also SO excited to have a beautiful home that I got to design myself! It feels like I dream I never dared to have. I never thought it would be in my reach. And it seems nuts to leave it behind so quickly to move to Mexico but it would be more crazy to stay here and miss out on the adventure of a lifetime because of a mere apartment.

I'm so excited to be taking the leap! I know that I if I skipped it because of fear I would regret it for the rest of my life. The time to do this is now.