Dog Wash Saturday

I'm almost done with the CCU. We have a long stretch the last rotation of the year, so I have an extra 5 days of work this month. I'm done as of Tuesday at 7 am. Today was my day off. So Karma and I went to the dog wash. She's been a very good dog while visiting us. Until yesterday when she decided to roll in some dog poo. Adam was the one who had to deal with the initial hosing down, as she did her rolling on their morning walk before Adam had to go to work. Today I took her for a real bath, at the South Bark Dog Wash. People are a little weird about their dogs around here. When we had to find a place to board her while Adam was out of town and I was on-call, we found all kinds of craziness. Fido & Co. is a "canine country club" that requires an application fee. And offers spa services, including pedicures and massages. There are places that offer a shuttle service to their facility. At the dog wash today, Karma got a blueberry facial. Seriously? A dog facial? I don't know that she really enjoyed anything about her bath, not even the aromatherapy facial. And I don't know that I would take a dog to a dog wash again. It was nice that I didn't have to clean up the mess (and what a mess there was!) but for $12 I could buy a whole bottle of lavender-mint shampoo and wash the dog in my own bathtub many times over. I don't even take myself to the spa. Should my dog really have a better life than I do?

More Ramblings

When people find out I have a blog, I don't really know how to explain it to them. I'm not someone who has a blog to share my views on the world. I don't write well enough to be entertaining to those who do not know me. I don't expect random people to read my blog. I really don't think anything I write about would be interesting to people who don't know me. As one friend told me, my blog *sounds* like me. If we were all in the same city, we could sit down and have a conversation that would sound very much like my blog. I look at my daily life and find the things that entertain me (or depress me) about it and that is what I write about. Which I guess is how I would explain my blog--it's a substitute for the conversations I would have with all of you guys if we were in the same city, and it helps me feel like I'm still connected to all my friends and family.

The good news is, that as of July 1, 2009 (and probably 4 or 5 days before that) I will be back in Seattle, so many of us can resume these conversations in real life. I can't tell you how excited I am to go back to Seattle. San Diego really is a great city, but I miss home. There are so many things I'm looking forward to back at home:

I miss my family. It's not the big things that I miss, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. My family has always been pretty flexible with major holidays. I think that is one of the benefits of being a child of divorce, you learn that it's not so much about the date but about the people who are there, and the traditions(like corn souffle!). We could celebrate Christmas in July if we had to, and it would still be just as meaningful. It is the small things that I miss. I couldn't go to Kate's graduation, or Tom's graduation, or Marcy's graduation. I missed Dillon's school plays. I haven't had a chance to visit Kendell at college. I miss dinner with Dad. I miss Mom too, but moving back to Seattle won't help with that. :) Adam and I are hoping to get out to Austria for Christmas though if I ever get vacation at Christmas-time again. Hopefully by 2010!

There are other things I'm looking forward to as well:
Bookclub! I loved my bookclub, and I have missed it terribly.
Kate and Emily! It will be like high school again. Except we'll be much cooler than we were back then. And we can go places other than Denny's.
Friends! I have friends in Seattle who are at the same stage in their life that I am -- trying to figure out what we really want to do with all the education we have, how to be successful and have families and whether they are mutually exclusive. I am so excited to be in the same city as them and figure these things out together.
Bike trails! I did not appreciate the Burke-Gilman until I did not have it.
And of course, the mountains! I can't tell you how much I miss the mountains.

So one year to go. Until then, I will continue my one-sided, on-line conversations with you all. It makes me happy to know my friends and family are a part of my life, and hopefully no one feels offended that I never call. It's not that I don't love you all, I just love sleep more. Really. Ask Adam.

P.S. K&J--Karma says if you want to leave her with us, she's happy to adopt us as her new family. Ok, she didn't really say that. She actually misses you. But we love having her, she's such a good dog. Except she has started leaving my socks in weird places around the house, and never in matching pairs. Odd.

Good Times

I'm still busy busy busy. I was on call last night, and managed to get about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Although there was one nurse in particular who kept paging me to tell me a patient had not peed during her entire shift. Yes, at times that is important. But at 3 am and again at 4 am, I really didn't care. In fact, *I* hadn't peed during her entire shift, and my kidneys are working just fine thank you.

Today I decided to forgo my post-call nap and Karma and I headed to the dog park for an afternoon game of fetch. Or rather chase, but not retrieve. I think the "Chuckit" has got to be the world's greatest invention. For those of us who (forgive the sexism) throw like girls, and people like me who despise saliva (which is one of the main reasons I could not be a GI doctor. Poop doesn't bother me, it's the saliva... yuck.) the Chuckit is a lifesaver. I had Karma running from one end of the dog park to the other despite my complete inability to throw and without once having to come in contact with dog saliva. Finally she picked up the ball, walked over the shade and collapsed. I saw that as a victory on my part. I had tired her out.

Tonight was mellow. Adam made steak. I made asparagus. Karma played with her faceless, stuffing-less, shell of a previously stuffed bear (it's a very morbid appearing toy but she loves that thing). And now, at two minutes before 9 pm, I am going to sleep.

Drum roll please...

June 18th, 9 am. Match Day.
Since we were still rounding at 9 am, I took the portable computer with us on rounds so I could pretend to be looking up lab results when in actuallity I was looking up my match results.
And the results are in.

HERE is where I will as of July 1 2009.

Only 359 more days of residency.
I can't wait.

Dog Days of Summer

We have a dog for a few weeks--dogsitting for friends visiting the east coast. Having a dog is great. It is nice having someone/thing to hang out with during the day. Today Karma came with me on all my errands, testing the dog-compatiblity of our new car. It works great. She hung out in the back with her travel water bowl, and seemed quite happy riding along back there.

It was a beautiful day and I wanted to spend some time outside, since I've been stuck in the hospital for so many many hours this week. While dogs are not allowed on most beaches around there, there is one beach in Ocean Beach called "Dog Beach" where dogs are allowed to roam free, so that is where we went. It was great. I was able to sit and enjoy the sun, while Karma ran wild. I had forgotten her ball in the car, but she took advantage of all the other dogs playing fetch with their owners, and jumped right in their games. I caught some of it on video:

One of the dogs she was chasing, was playing frisbee with his owner. And quite the frisbee player he was. I wonder if Vizslas are any good at frisbee?

Overall, it has been a good day. Adam is home. Only two weeks of 2nd year left. Match Day is day after tomorrow. And Karma wants her Mom and Dad to know that she had a great day too (and we promise to give her a bath before she comes home!).

Lack of a Weekend

It's Friday night. It's 9:30 pm. And I'm going to bed. Adam is in Houston for his brother's residency graduation dinner. My friends are all at Dartmouth celebrating our 10 year college reunion. And tomorrow I am on-call for the cardiology service. My weekend will be spent evaluating meth abusers and coke addicts for chest pain and heart failure due to their drug habits. I will continue to convince the family of the man who had the massive heart attack that their family member is only continuing to circulate blood because of all the machines we have him hooked up to and he will never wake up, despite their belief in miracles. I will spend countless hours sitting in the ICU trying to figure out how to keep people alive, while they try desperately to die. And really, what I would like to be doing is spending the weekend in Hanover, hanging out with my college friends, exploring our old haunts, and eating EBA's chicken sandwiches. It makes me very sad that I can't be there. Not just because I hate the ICU (I do hate it. I want to go into endocrine for a reason), but because I loved college. I loved who I became while I was there, and the friends I made there are still some of my closest friends. I loved the lifestyle of a college student--having so much time to hang out with friends and freetime on weekends and our disco lemonade parties where the guys all had to sit down because our celeings were freakishly low. I miss the freedom of being a college student, the opportunity to learn about anything from women in religion to vampires in German literature. I even miss the unbelievably cold winters we had up in New Hampshire. I liked having four seasons. But mostly I am sad that my friends are there, and I am not. I know I will get to see everyone again soon at the wedding. And I just saw them all in Seattle for my bachelorette party. But I'm still sad. And my weekend is going to suck. I can't wait to have a normal life again. Although what is a normal life anyway? I guess all I really want is a weekend. One entire 48 hour weekend. Two whole days to myself. That would be nice.

Sunday!

I love when my day off falls on a Sunday, because that is the day of the Hillcrest Farmers' Market. Adam is out of town this weekend--up in the San Juans on a sailing trip (and I won't pretend I'm not a little jealous). Today there was so much beautiful produce, I went a little nuts. Of course, there were my weekly strawberries:

Such beauties! So sweet, so delicious! And grown only 45 minutes from here. We have a ridiculously long strawberry season here, and I always have some cut up in the fridge. I use them for my "strawberry-sans-cake"--strawberries and whipped cream, without the shortcake. I eat that a lot. Probably more than is healthy.

The stone fruits are all in season right now. I wandered from booth to booth eating all of their samples: peaches, plums, white peaches. They were all so sweet and delicious, I couldn't decide what to get. But finally, inspired by smitten kitchen, I also bought some apricots:

Which after a quick 20 minutes, became this:

I also got my favorite fruit--Rainier cherries! Which I get to eat all myself, because Adam doesn't like cherries (and he's out of town):

And for my lunch today, I started with this:

Which, with a few tortillas and some cheese, became this:

It was a good day. Tomorrow, back to work. But it's only a short 8 days (and two call nights) until my next day off.

Some Random Thoughts on Food

I love food. I love eating it. I love cooking it. I usually love watching shows about it (except Sandra Lee--that "semi-homemade" stuff is crap, and Paula Deen? I think she is trying to kill us all). I love cooking meals that require multiple steps (and as Adam will certainly point out--multiple dishes!). It's my therapy. I need to chop and simmer and saute and mix. And Adam loves my cooking. I love that he loves my cooking. It makes me happy.

I don't like making simple things. I enjoy the challenge of cooking. But these challenging dishes are rarely healthy. They involve butter and heavy cream and cheese--all things that I love. I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done about this. How to eat healthy and still pretend that I am a gourmet chef?

I fantasize about food. Is that weird? I actually fantasize about enameled cast iron. I dream of the day that I will own a Dutch oven and imagine all the beautiful pot roasts I will create. Having quality cooking equipment makes the cooking experience so so so much more enjoyable. I've been cooking for 2 years now with my crappy aluminum stock pot. I just haven't gotten around to upgrading most of my kitchen stuff, knowing that I have to move again in a year (and wanting to have *something* to put on the wedding registry!). But oh the day I get to cook with all the equipment appropriate for the task...

Last week Adam invited his co-wokers over for Taco Tuesday. I made fish tacos, rice and refried beans. Also... my famous margaritas. I was post-call, and only got a few hours of sleep, but I had such a great time. I love cooking for groups. I am still quite proud of my Christmas Day dinner for 12. I can't wait for the day when I have a fully stocked kitchen, with every dish and appliance that I can imagine. I don't need electronics, or computers, or fancy cars, or expensive shoes. I need a well stocked kitchen. Because that makes me happier than anything.