Millner Menagerie: To sedate or not to sedate...that is the question.

I'm not really sure how I managed to swing it this year, but I got to get away by myself again! I went once at the end of February to surprise my sweet friend, Debbie, for her birthday. We had a wonderful weekend in Seattle despite record COLD temperatures. This past weekend, I got to sneak away to San Antonio for a continuing ed class on enteral conscious sedation. My office closed down Thursday last week and we go back tomorrow (3/29). I left town mid-morning Thursday and hit the road by myself to San Antonio. I haven't been on a road trip solo since before Joshua was born. It was really kind of peaceful in the car! I went at my own pace, stopped to shop in San Marcos and didn't have to worry about snacks, naps, diapers or screaming fits. I got an added bonus of catching up with a couple of my classmates from dental school. I hadn't seen one in 5 years and it had been at least 3 since I had seen the other. We had a blast and it was just like old times minus the stress of school!

My class was very informative. I have been wanting to take the class for quite some time as something to broaden my practice of dentistry. I am longing to get into the world of implants and most people don't want to face a drill going into their jaw without some sort of pharmacological therapy. So, off to class I went. I figure this is a stepping stone to a distant goal. Funny thing about that first step... I quickly realized that I have so much to do to get my office ready for this sort of procedure. For the most part the equipment is there, it's staff training that I now have to conquer. Not to mention increase in professional liability insurance, ordering of drug log books, DEA documents. The list goes on and on. So, I do plan to sedate at some point, I'm just not sure when that will be.

The rest of my long weekend has been wonderful. I came back Saturday night after the class finished and we spent the day Sunday as a family at the Arboretum for the Dallas Bloom Festival. I took a ton of pictures but we got rained out and chilled to the bone before I got to my favorite part of the garden. Who would have thought?!?!? The temp when I left San Antonio on Saturday was 88 and I think we only made it to 50 yesterday. Today we took the kids to school for a short while so Eric and I could practice for our upcoming rifle tournament. Oh yes, I will be shooting in a rifle tournament in 2 weeks. I phrase I thought I would never say. Anyway, after a leisurely early lunch with actual uninterrupted conversation we picked up the kids and headed to the zoo. We had an absolutely perfect day. It was cool and sunny and all the animals except the lions were out and active. Going back to work tomorrow is going to be tough!