Life Will Change Again

     When I look back over the changes of the past 3 years, I am impressed that I am still standing.  

     In 2015, I was finishing up a midwifery apprenticeship that ended up being a little rocky at the end.  I became a Certified Professional Midwife after about 8 years of study (5 part time and 3 very full time) and a Licensed Midwife in the state of Virginia.  I met Garrett.

     In 2016, I started working as a midwife at the Birth Centre of Charlottesville.  And I got engaged.  And I got married. And I moved to "The Valley" (as everybody up here calls it).

     In 2017, Garrett and I moved into our beautiful little trailer.  And had countless adventures.

     And this year, the changes have continued at an alarming rate.  Now I am getting ready for another change -- a job shift.

     I am backing down from full-time work at The Birth Centre of Charlottesville.  This is something that the practice owner and I talked about at the end of August, and we've been taking steps to implement this since then.  Midwifery takes some long-term commitment and it isn't the sort of job where you give a 2-weeks notice.  Business plans need time to shift.  New people need to be trained. Etcetera, etcetera.  Lots of prayer went into this as well, and I've been grateful to see things falling into place.  We are on track to have my final "full-time" day to be sometime in January.

     It's been hard, too, though.  I will spare you the details.  But there are people at The Birth Centre who I love so dearly and never want to leave.  And there is a certain rhythm that I will miss there.  Plus, goodbyes are hard and long goodbyes are even harder.  It feels like everyone goes through a withdrawing process -- where you let go of something you know you can't keep -- but doing this over a 6-month period creates a rollercoaster of feeling like you are the most desired person and feeling like everyone has walled you off and is already pretending you aren't there.

     Garrett and I have some plans for what happens after January, but not all of them are set in stone.  And some of them are depending on which opportunities are still open then.  I am hoping that the shifts in January will also make writing easier.  In fact, I am starting to get rather excited about it.  And then, perhaps, this blog will be a fun place to hang out again.  ;) 

     If I had my way, then my writing goals for 2019 would be to resume blogging and write another complete story.  And maybe in 2020, try and get it published.  Wouldn't that be awesome!!!

     There is a story that has been rolling around in my head for about 4 years.  It might be time to get it out and put some flesh on the old bones.

     How about you?  What changes do you see coming next year?  And what writing goals do you have?