Work & life this Saturday

I have been working at my new job for close to 2 months now and I must say, I really love it! It generally is a 9-5 M-F gig, however, in my position and all the responsibility it entails, I am expected to “do what it takes” to get things done…that includes coming in on a Saturday to finish audits. This was my first time doing this (and I gather it won’t be my last).  Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed going in and getting the work done! I am pretty sure it is because of my partner in crime, Tiffany. We had a blast putting together an efficient plan of action to ensure we had had the right queries (now and for future use). We are both nerds who *LOVE* spreadsheets! 

Backstory:

There is a state issued audit for community health centers. These numbers are due by Monday, March 2, 2009. Tiffany, the Director of Quality (i.e. Joint Commission) looked busy on Thursday so I asked her if I could help her. I committed to helping her run the audits for this report. We had finished most of it by Friday, but when I asked the Patient Services manager how things were coming along (she was entering our data into the state’s software program to capture this data), she asked us if we really performed 15, 000 chart audits. This started a cascade of sorts…actually moreso AVALANCHE, if you will. We found that all our data had to be recalculated because the way we interpreted the question gave us a different denominator. Long story, short: We had to come in on Saturday to re-do the whole thing. 

Back to Normal Story:

Before beginning this time, we formulated a systematic approach and worked side by side, ensuring the other was performing the exact same details in the query.  This time, spreadsheet in tow, we had all of our t’s crossed and all the i’s dotted. By the time we got done, we had formulated, documented, and calculated individual line items where even a non-auditor could interpret the breakdown of information. Tiffany & I have the same strong work ethic so we were both ELATED that our Saturday was SO productive. I don’t think either of us missed out on our normal Saturday lives.  We were done by 2pm. My husband, left to his own device, sleeps until 2 or 3pm every chance he gets.  So, I knew I wasn’t missing out on anything with him (nor him with me), plus he got to sleep in longer than 11:30 am which is how late I usually let him sleep on the weekend before I start getting annoyed.

Still on cloud 9 about the great, productive day I felt we had at work, I went home happily. My husband was in the shower when I got home at 2:30 and was ready for breakfast. We ran an errand then went to Clarke’s in Evanston where he had his usual: Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and scrammbled eggs and a large Diet Coke. I had already eaten pizza (courtesy of the executive staff at work, who also happened to be there) so I wasn’t hungry and just had a cup of tea & a slice of not-so-impressive cherry pie. Anyway, he and I have been having been having our own issues with life. His are his depression issues; mine are general issues of rage and unhappiness. In anycase, we had an open conversation about these things (as we always do). It was nice. Something that I find comforting about our relationship is that despite our apparent pitfalls, we can tell each other about it.