what's saving my life (vol. 2)

1) the PANRE-LA. this is the longform, at-home board certification exam that the National Commission for physician assistants recently rolled out. when I first graduated as a PA, we had to take a standard 300-question recertification exam in an official testing center every 6 years to maintain board-certified status (that's the -C at the end of PA-C, in case you were wondering!). I took my first recertification exam in 2014, when Greta was a baby. then they rolled back the certification requirements to taking the exam every 10 years. and now, based on updated research on adult learning, they offer the option to take the test at home as a longitudinal assessment. each quarter, you must complete 25 multiple choice questions that can be answered at any pace over the course of the quarter. before submitting your answer for each question, you report how confident you are in your answer, how relevant the question is to your particular scope of practice, and whether or not you used a reference resource (references are allowed). then the correct answer is immediately displayed with an explanation (and the rationale for why each of the other options was incorrect). questions you answer incorrectly will appear again later in subsequent quarters. the minimum passing score can be reached in as few as 8 quarters or as many as 12 quarters (they will keep sending you the next quarter's questions until you pass the exam, or until 12 quarters are up). 

at first I thought this sounded a bit like cheating since you are allowed to consult references, and also I wasn't wild about having the exam hang over my head for up to three years. but honestly, we consult references so often in actual clinical practice that it's actually more useful to be tested on your self-knowledge (i.e., knowing when you should look something up and where to go to find that information), and logistically, it's far easier to answer the questions on my own time than to arrange childcare and time off work to go to a testing center for the exam. the immediate feedback about the answer choices is so helpful, too. ultimately, I feel like this form of the exam does a much better job of assessing your actual knowledge gaps and helping to fill them in, rather than just measuring your test-taking ability.

2) fuzzy socks. how something so simple can fundamentally brighten my mood is one of life's great mysteries. 

3) Costco rotisserie chicken (a huge chicken for under $6) plus a bagged salad, like the Mediterranean salad, with feta, mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette. a dinner that tastes gourmet, takes minutes to prepare, won't break the bank and is relatively healthy? sign me up!  

4) new forks. the girls and I prefer to use salad forks for our meals. we've been using the same flatware service for 12 that we received as a wedding gift, and over the years a few pieces have been lost or fallen victim to the disposal blades. so especially over school breaks or when we have guests over, we end up using all of the small forks in the course of a day. this irked me on a nearly-daily basis when we were all home in the summer. and finally, I just ordered another set of 12 salad forks! they don't match the original set (it appears our specific pattern has been discontinued), but I don't even care. every time I open the silverware drawer to see a robust supply of forks, I rejoice!

5) binoculars to watch theater shows. this year, I treated myself to season tickets to our local theater's Broadway series, which hosts the official national Broadway touring companies. it has been absolutely glorious to slip out on a Saturday night each month by myself to see some truly excellent musical theater! however, in the interest of being budget-conscious, my perpetual seat is in the second tier of the balcony; it's not nosebleed, exactly, but you really can't see the actors' expressions or pick up the details of the set. at one performance, someone in the row ahead of me had binoculars, and I promptly bought a pair on Amazon. they are a game-changer!

6) the youth-boosting advanced night retinoid serum from e.l.f. I have a horrible confession to make that over the past year, I stopped washing my face at night completely. ugh, ugh, ugh, I know. the second- and third-trimester pregnancy fatigue, and then the newborn fatigue, and then the back-to-work with a baby fatigue all conspired to have me falling asleep on the couch without doing my full bedtime routine and then just brushing my teeth, taking out my contacts and rolling into bed for the night at some point. I would still use cleanser in the shower and moisturize afterwards in the morning, but I definitely noticed a difference for the worse in my skin (shocker!): uneven texture, dullness, more fine lines and just a general sallow appearance. I got a bit caught up in reading about various techniques for skincare including skin cycling, and then realized I need to reliably start doing something on a nightly basis before ordering any kind of expensive skincare products. so now, I use a Costco brand rose water facial cleansing cloth at night, then the retinoid serum on top of that, and my regular moisturizer. it takes less than a minute. after just a few nights I have noticed such an improvement in skin firmness and brightness! (I mean, almost anything would be an improvement, but still!)   

7) finally, this deserves all of the accolades: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, on audiobook read by Meryl Streep. I'm a very picky audiobook consumer as my attention tends to wander when I'm listening. this book is so poignant, funny, and relatable, and Meryl's narration is truly a work of art. her voice is soothing and pleasant without being soporific, and her little chuckles and vocal inflections add such depth to the text. 10/10 recommend!