All my single ladies

As previously stated, the lovely Matthew left on Christmas. Since then, I have been livin' the life of a single lady, quite gloriously too I think. Okay, well, no going out and picking up guys at bars or eating my feelings while watching chick flicks. I know there are many people out there who either A. really are a single lady and have to do this every day and night or B. have husbands who travel much more than mine. Whatever. Basically, my single-lady-ness consists of: lots of sweat pants (and by lots, I mean the same pair just for many hours), working out, watching TV on hulu, and eating whenever I want. The TV thing is only slightly shaming - I have watched all of "Up All Night," most of "New Girl," and am now starting on "Parks of Rec" (current seasons of course). I just wish my chair were a little more comfortable. In terms of the eating when I want, it is sort of great. Not that Matt is bossy about when we eat, but he often has a very small lunch and, therefore, is usually hungry at 5pm. Or 5:30 if I am lucky. The past 3 nights I have eaten at 8pm. Glorious. Simply glorious. Granted, there are some downsides. I close and lock our bedroom door because no matter how much I tell myself not to, I get a little scared at night. I get a little delirious in the mornings when he isn't here. I always think he got out of bed before I did - and then get a little angry until I realize he isn't in Omaha. I have no one to bake for. Besides my coworkers. And I think they aren't always happy when I bring them hoards of baked goods. Huh. Matt's coworkers are much more receptive. Less than a week 'til he's back! Now if I could just pick up...


Sometimes I tackle things in the kitchen I think simply to say I've done it. Not so that I can do it all the time or put it in our normal dinner rotation. I just want to try things once, or twice if it is really good. This week has consisted of several things that a couple years ago I never thought I would have tackled - croissants, cheese (!), and, if single girl can get off her butt tonight, pad thai. Have I already talked about the croissants? Well, they are pronounced cwa-sauns (per the bossy lady in London). I was going to take them to work, but, Becky got a little eager and didn't let them rise enough...or cook enough. They are flaky though still for all my blunders. And yes, I will still eat them. They are taunting me now.


The cheese!!!!! So, I started off easy: queso blanco. I told myself from the get-go to follow the directions. No straying as I usually do. And I did. For the most part. I did add a chipotle pepper or 2 :D. It took much longer for my milk to get to temp than I thought it would, but it turned out great. The great thing about this cheese is that you can grill it! And put it on salads. And I am very proud of myself. Next week: mozzarella!!!


In terms of "intern year" update: night float is progressing along. My first night of cross-cover (non admitting) I got a solid 6.5 hours of sleep. Amazing. Since then, however, I haven't had as much luck. 2 hours at a time at most, but still, I will get about 5-6 a night. Fine by me! Last night, however, was different. I had a patient with atrial fibrillation (you've all seen the fun commercials about the expensive drug for it). Anyway, he will sometimes have ventricular tachycardia, which is something that can be life threatening if your heart stays in it for too long. Some people, however, you have problems with their heart rhythm to begin with will have a tendency to have "runs" of v-tach - won't stay in it but will have quite a few beats of it. This gentlemen just kept having them, only a few beats at a time at first about 30minutes apart. At about midnight, however, it became longer and more frequent. Sigh. Let's just say, I used a lot of Matt's high caffeine tea blend gift to get me through today. 

Merry Christmas! (part 2)

I think I left off on Christmas Eve.

Matt and I woke early on Christmas, ran down the stairs to find a pile of gifts left by santa, made snow angels in the fresh powder just outside our door, drank gallons of just-hot-enough cocoa, wore slippers and robes and PJs around all day, and enjoyed of feast of turkey and perfect mashed potatoes. Oh wait. That isn't what happened at all. Other than the early rising part.

Matt has the unfortunate (?) condition of having been born on Christmas day. For him, this means he usually gets fewer gifts and no parties. For me, that means more planning. I think possibly for the first time in a long time, Matt actually had a birthday party. And I gave him his Christmas and birthday gifts at different times. By different times, I mean before and after breakfast. We opened our gifts slowly (allowing the oven to heat up). Matt got me some clothes (for women shocked by this, Matt is good because he picks out things he wants to see me wear, and for anyone who knows me, I am not a big shopper and I rarely think outside the box when it comes to clothes), a new watch, some candy, and a book! And some other things I am sure. Oh, a really really great tea blend that has tons of caffeine in it. I also received fancy vanilla beans from my sister and an "exotic hot dog sampler" from my little brother. The exotic meats include - kobe beef, antelope, llama, alligator, yak, and venison. We have yet to try them, but I will let you know when we do. My parents, who already gave us an amazing wedding this year, gave us a fancy camera!!! A Canon Rebel something or other. I am reading how to use it and am so excited! The last time I bought a camera, it was in 2005 I think. The LCD screen is about 1.5inches. Yep. I am still rocking it. It still takes great pictures though. For Christmas, I got Matt some dress shirts, plenty of booze related items, some cool "speakeasy" coasters (don't ask me why that makes them different than just, well, a coaster). Then came the best part of the day - BREAKFAST!

I made this and this. I followed the recipe for the first one to a T, and it turned out awesome. We still have some in the fridge even. I go eat that now...okay, I'm back. I made the whole thing the night before, and just left it in the garage overnight. It probably could have been a little fluffier, and I probably didn't cook it long enough. None of that, however, detracted from the ooey-gooey yumminess that is cinnamon and sugar and soft bread. (and...drooling). The eggs, well, I was more inspired by this post than I was prompted to follow the directions exactly. I still marked it off my recipe list though.

After gorging ourselves came birthday gifts. I was lazy (no comments on the fact that I have hoards of hours during the day during which I watch trashy TV) and didn't wrap the birthday gifts. They were hard to wrap though! I gave him a Canucks hat, a recliner table (like an end table but very very narrow - now he can put his martinis on a table and not the floor!), and - in my most crafty of moments - a scrapbook of our honeymoon!!!! It was a cheap version though. No fancy paper or decorations on each page. I kept it "simple" and "organic" with awesome 2nd grader construction paper. I did splurge and buy a 3 pack of fun scissors. Matt (told me that he) loved it! It was fun looking at all the pictures again. It was less fun cutting things and taping things and gluing things. Bleh.

I sadly had to take Matt to the airport at about 10:15. Sigh. On the bright side, on my way home, I got in the left lane (2 lanes total) of the freeway to pass a slower vehicle. Some turkey breath who is too busy to slow down gets up on my rear end. I stay calm as it was Christmas day and all. Up ahead, driving the complete other direction, I see a sheriff. And the sheriff sees the gentleman behind me. The sheriff immediately flips around on one of those "for emergency vehicles only" things, turns on his lights, and pulls the turkey breath over! It sort of cheered me up. Justice!

I proceeded to video chat with my family during their breakfast, do Insanity since the gym was closed, and go to work. I know. Thrilling. This was my first Christmas away from my family. It has been tough as I love this time of year. :( Next year at least, we will be near family all the time. So excited.

Merry Christmas! (Part 1)

Merry Christmas every body! Happy Boxing Day! I gave the maid the day off. I hope she is enjoying it. 

During our (required) pre-marital counseling, there were questions concerning traditions and what we wanted to hand down to our children. As with many questions, we said, "Well, we understand that this will be an issue at some point, but for now, we don't know." Sigh. It was the easy way out. Even though we don't have children yet, this was our first Christmas together as a married couple, so it of course brought these questions to mind (specifically my mind). My family has a lot of traditions around this time of year. And I love them all. I love that we all fall asleep at about 9pm (if we're lucky) while watching some old Christmas movie. I love Grandpa's mass & Pete's Pizza. While Matt enjoys Christmas as well, his family doesn't have quite as many traditions. If this blog still exists when we have kids, stay tuned. We will see what happens.

Our past few days have looked something like this:

Matt's last day was Wednesday. I worked that night. He went out. I got home at 8:30am. We...went...shopping (?). He went to a basketball game that night and to play poker. Boring. Friday involved...trying a different mall(?). Matt was a little slower at the Christmas shopping that I was. I worked Friday night. I couldn't tell you what Matt did. Saturday was, as I hope you all remember, Christmas Eve. We had made reservations at Jerico's a few weeks ago. It is an old school prime rib place that boasts (with good evidence to back it up) the best prime rib in town. First and foremost, however, came Mass. I warned Matt that it would be crowded. And it was. We got there about 30 minutes early, and it was already packed. St Leo's had a 5pm, a 5:05pm, a 7pm and a midnight mass. And I am sure they were all packed. Communion was a bit chaotic with all the C&E-ers (Christmas and Easter church goers). I kept messing up the new words. 

Onwards to dinner! Jerico's is tucked under an expressway, and, like most establishments in Omaha, is located within a strip mall. Warning for anyone thinking of moving to Omaha - don't judge a place just because it is in a strip mall. You walk in the doors to find: a wall. With some rules on it about shirts and shoes and men taking their hats off. Odd. Alright, into the dinning area. Has anyone ever watched "Restaurant Impossible"? I love that show. This place, in terms of decor, would be a great candidate. I don't think they are a failing restaurant, but their decor is straight out of the 70s. I think. Yeah. The 70s. We were seated at my favorite type of booth - were there is only one side! The type that is a hemisphere and you both get to people watch. By the way, GREAT people watching here. We were, by far, the youngest people (at the time of seating at least). I would say a good 50% of the diners were 80+. And that is a safe bet. This place is no thrills, just meat. The wait staff isn't trying to be fancy. Nobody there with a bread crumb brush thingy. No one there with a tiny flashlight for you to check the done-ness of your steak. Just meat. We both got prime rib because, well, you have to when that is the claim. It was great. I have yet to try and tackle prime rib. That seems...stressful. 

The place was kind of cool because we got to watch them pull out all the meat from the warmers and cut it at the kitchen was "open." This may have been an accident as Jerico's isn't cutting edge by any means. They had mirror paneling about every 5ft. Fake plants. Old school chairs. I am also guessing they had the types of toilets that old people like but everybody else seems to be dangling their feet from. In rare Wood fashion, we DID NOT order a specialty drink. We should have. They have "ice cream drinks," which sound amazing. Rather, we came home. And drank. Matt loves making new drinks, so I asked him to come up with one for us to have on Christmas Eve. He, of course, picked 2 very summery ones. Silly man. We "hungout" (it's a Google+ thing) with my family and read "Polar Express" (another tradition I love). All the Houses cried. All the in-laws judged us. We watched some TV/Sound of Music/It's a Wonderful Life. And went to bed. I don't want to bore you completely, so Christmas day activities will be in my next post.

Also, as a side note, I will not be reviewing Jerico's as I have other places simply because this is a place all it's own. A review won't do it justice. Is there better prime rib in town? Probably. Is it an interesting time travel experience? For sure.

Lookin all fancy

In case you couldn't tell, I switched it up a little bit! I guess it had been over 4 years. And I have always looked good in maroon. Then again, I don't think I wear any maroon. Ever. I used to have a lot of it, but I don't anymore.

Tonight I am going to talk about doing naughty things. No, mom, dad, siblings, or whomever else reads this, not dirty things. Just things that feel...um...wrong. NO! Still not sexual. 

#1 wrong thing: wearing socks outside. My dad drilled this into us when we were young. I don't know if he had a bad experience as a child, but the second we stepped out onto the back porch with socks on, he knew it. And the pointy finger of shame came out. "Get back in there!" You could have been trying to save Missy (our childhood dog) from a pack of rabid squirrels, but the dirtiness on the bottom of your socks mattered ten times more. To this day, I feel awful - and dirty - wearing my socks outside. Even if I am just making the 15ft walk through our garage to the garbage can, I try to find something to cover my feet (no, taking off my socks would be too easy...and then my feet would be cold). Sometimes I find this to be silly. Then other times, however, I try to think about just how dirty our socks could have gotten had my dad not been so strict on the socks issue. The more I contemplate it, the more I think this is a hill to die on. Decided: my kids will feel shame when wearing socks (w/o shoes) outside.

#2 wrong thing: touching mirrors or windows with my fingers. This may be two totally different things, but I will lump them as one. First: windows. As a child, sometimes it was fun to fog up the window and draw your name. Forwards. Backwards. Didn't matter. It was fun. Something about seeing your name as a child was thrilling. Somehow, however, my parents always knew when you were about to do it. They could just sense your eagerness to prove your existence to the outside world. To this day, when Matt wipes off the windows in the car as they fog up, it takes everything within me not to snap at him. And if I haven't slept well, I snap at him anyway. And the second: touching mirrors. Something about this one bothers me more. I think it is the ability to see the fingerprints so easily. The problem is, even when I go to clean the mirror, I cringe if I have to touch it. I have this inner sense that what I am doing is wrong. Toothpaste that needs to be scrapped with a finger nail? Nope. I just scrub harder. Usually I fail and have to resort to using my nail, but I avoid it at all cost. It just feels so wrong. You judge me? You go try it. Go put your finger on a mirror and tell me that it doesn't bother you at all. No? It doesn't? Huh. 

One Animal

"If you could be one animal, what would it be? (human doesn't count)"


I have always thought that this question can tell you a lot about a person. This and "3 foods for the rest of your life," but that is for a whole different blog post.l It can tell you not only what they enjoy most about life but also what more they want from life. My answer, for the time being at least, is: bald eagle. Hear me out before you start to argue with me.


-You are totally awe inspiring --> people paint pictures of you, take your photo all the time, stop dangerously in the middle of the highway just to get a better look
-You are a great mascot for the USA, and Eastern Washington University
-You can fly --> 'nough said. No erally. This may be what draws me to it most. If you ignore your instinct to return to your nest and have no little eagles to take care of, you can see so many places in a short span of time. Which brings me to..
-You have killer eyesight. Or so everyone says. Not sure how we can actually test this.
-You don't have to put on a show for people to notice you, but if you do, people will think it is awesome no matter what
-You have a muppet that is supposed to represent you that is blue
-You are on the VIP list...of endangered species
-You are way protected --> people can't even have an eagle feather without having a license for it. I am also pretty sure if someone thinks a bad thought about you, they get thrown in jail


I rest my case.


Matt and I ventured to the mall over the weekend trying not to get killed. We parked across the street and walked over - not because it was that busy but because NE drivers are awful and even worse in crowded parking lots. We didn't buy anything but just walked around and people watched. After that, we were, of course, hungry! Matt sounded like he wanted a sandwich, so we headed to a place nearby that neither of us had tried. In the same strip mall, however, there is a Mexican restaurant that neither of us had tried either. For those of you who have read my rants previously, I had stated that I may have given up on Mexican food. My faith has been restored!


Cilantro's: I had read numerous reviews on this place. Well, no really reviews as much as little snipits in the newspaper or weekend readers. It had been on my list for a while as well. Man am I glad we went. Being that it was lunch on a Saturday, it wasn't super busy, and we were seated right away. Free chips came out next! While they are my arch nemesis, I love free chips. Maybe it is the fault of that one Mexican restaurant decades ago that started giving free chips that cause me to expect them always, but that doesn't matter now. I hate when you have to pay $4 for a small bowl of chips and salsa. The salsa here, made in house, was some of the best salsa I have had in a long time. It was "restaurant style" in that it was close to pureed but not all the way there. This stuff had just a touch of heat and plenty of onion and...cilantro! We love cilantro! As I stated a month or so ago, I normally get the wrong things when I go for Mexican. This time, I fought my inner beast that yelled "combination plate" and "things wrapped in tortillas" and went toward the "entrees" section. I narrowed it down to 2 things; pork tamales and pork verde (it helped that both had pictures. I am a visual person). I decided on the latter and don't ergret it one bit. Unlike most other places, our food didn't come out "surprisingly fast," which, in my opinion, is a good thing. No, we weren't waiting longer than any other place, but sometimes it seems that Mexican food practically runs to your table seconds after ordering. This slight 'delay' in our food screams, "we actually put some effort...and love...into making this!!" Matt didn't get nachos! (Mostly because none of the appetizers were true nachos in his definition). He got the "Texas Chimi," which was more on the Tex-Mex side of things. The filling was chicken mixed with what tasted like a little bit of sour cream. It was moist and delicious. My pork verde was was great! Copious amounts of tender pork slathered in fresh green salsa. Man do I love green salsa. It was flavorful and not too spicy. It came with rice (nothing to write home about), black beans ( I love black beans, these were great), and a little sweet blob (?) of a cornmeal yummy. That is the only way I can describe it. Matt didn't enjoy the blob as much as I did, so I ate his too. In summary:


I will try to rate things consistently on a 0-6 scale: 
0 - never again 
1 - if someone else (Matt doesn't count) is paying
2 - if it is a big group and they decide on it
3 - only on Matt's request
4 - Oh yeah, I like this place, I will suggest this next month or so
5 - put it in the rotation!
6 - GET ME THERE NOW


Service: amazing, fast, courteous, willing to answer our questions
Cleanliness: yep, clean
Ambiance: beyond your typical decor for Mexican
Menu: great choices, love the menu style as well (tons of pictures)
OVERALL: 5. Totally a 5. Next time we want Mexican and don't want to drive to South Omaha, this is where we are going.

Surprise!

I tried to be good about reviewing where we eat, but sometimes, as you can tell, I am not very successful. I think it is mostly because I forget exactly where we eat. Unless I look at our receipts. Plus, I don't really like reviewing places we go to all the time. Like Cici's Pizza. Yes it is messy. No the pizza isn't that great. But it is cheap. And the people watching is amazing.

Last night, I pulled of the fiet of all fiets. I managed to throw Matt a surprise party! By party, I really mean a dinner. I had been planning this for over 6 weeks now, yet I never managed to let it slip. And neither did any of his work friends! This is amazing simply because they enjoy adult beverages together frequently and can be a little loose lipped at times. Anyway, to the details. I had told the guests (about 20 in total) to be at Lazlo's Brewery at 630pm. Not 635. Not 640. I wanted them seated by 630 as we were going to get there at about 6:50. Last week I told Matt "Date night, my choice!" for Tuesday. Surprisingly, he never questioned it. He got home from work at 545 and was antsy to go to dinner. At 610 (takes maybe 20 minutes to get there) he insisted on leaving. Trying to delay us, I said we have a 7pm reservation. My strategy failed as he said "Oh it is a Tuesday night, they won't be busy." Dang it! I tried to delay as long as I could. Regardless, we pull into the parking lot at 637. Ah. And of course, as per usual, we parked far away from the front door within open window view of the private dinning room. Dang you Matt!!! It was raining, so we weren't looking around at scenery or anything. We get in there and ask for our table. I had arranged that the hostess wouldn't say "Oh, the party!" And she didn't ruin it! Yay! As we walked to the room, I could see everyone back in the room, so I made Matt go first. I didn't want them to yell "Surprise!" with me in the way. Matt found me wanting to walk in back odd, but that too worked! All the little pieces came together, and he was totally surprised. It turned out just great. Now that I have surprised him once, I never have to do it again. Yay! Let's review the place now:

Lazlo's Brewery: I had only been here once before, and it was for happy hour. I didn't have any food at that time and just had one beer. It wasn't that it rubbed me wrong then (over 3 years ago), but it didn't rub me "right" either. That isn't sexual. This time, however, my expierence was amazing and not just because of the party. They have a vast choice of brews and a good sized menu. Truthfully, they weren't that expensive either. All their sandwiches and burgers were between $7 and $13. They had a few higher priced steaks and "entrees" (always weird to me when some things are labeled as entrees and others aren't). We got sliders to start (yes, we are fat kids). It was a "variety" pack with a buffalo style, california style (basically, avacado), and classic. The buns weren't too overpowering but were just slightly too big compared to the patty. The patty was moist (I hate using that word), and all the ingredients were fresh and flavorful. For dinner Matt ordered the Reuben. We are thoroughly convinced that Reubens 'out' are way better than home made. It is just easier for them to make. Since he was the birthday boy too, they added extra meat on there. I got the french dip with fries as my side. I love a good french dip, but they don't usually call my name. One of my friends convinced me to get it, and man am I glad I did. This roast beef was sliced so incredibly thin and was so incredibly flavorful. The au ju was, well, au ju. The sandwich, however, will stand out in my mind as the french dip that I now compare to. The fries were great as well - not too salty, and they put pepper on them too! Slightly different but in a good way. So to summarize:

I will try to rate things consistently on a 0-6 scale. 0: never again. 1: if someone else (Matt doesn't count) is paying. 2: If it is a big group and they decide on it. 3: Only on Matt's request. 4: Oh yeah, I like this place, I will suggest this next month or so. 5: Put it in the rotation! 6: GET ME THERE NOW!!!!

Service: amazing especially given the large group
Cleanliness: above par
Ambiance: par for this type of restaurant 
Menu: great selection but nothing too exotic

OVERALL:  5. I told Matt we are going there more often. I swear I won't just get the french dip every time :D 

Progress in the kitchen

This is gong to brief. My apologies ahead of time. I haven't been busy per se. Just doing Christmas shopping/baking sort of seems to suck up the day before you know it.

Night float is going well. I only have 3 more nights of admitting! Then just cross cover! Woohoo!!

On to the post title. I was talking about this with Matt: the progress I have made in the kitchen from <3 years ago amazes me. I am by no means an amazing chef. I can barely stick to a recipe. I have, however, progressed very far in the types of things I am making. When Matt first moved to Omaha in 2008, we would eat "chicken & rice" at least 3 times a week. And pizza the other nights. Not fancy versions of either of those either. Some store bought marinade on some chicken on some white rice. Woohoo? Maybe spaghetti from time to time. Then some biscuits. I would get fancy and do gumbo from time to time (it makes so much!!!) 

About 1.5 years ago, I started really getting into cooking; you couldn't keep me away from the cook book section of Barnes & Noble. About a year ago my amazing sister Amanda and I started sharing recipes. Since then, my variety of cooking has expanded exponentially. I made tikka masala last week. I own a candy thermometer and english muffin rings. I hide baking materials from my husband :D While cooking may be on the verge of taking over my life, I can't imagine going back now. Onwards and upwards!

Becky: 1...Night Float: 1

I can safely say that I have survived 1.3 nights of night float (should have been 2). Let's start with the Becky victory. I show up Friday night, bright eyed and bushy tailed. And early of course so that I can use my free $6 before all the places in the VA close. I get check out (the list of patients I am supposed to be taking care of) from one team and then hear from my supervisor that we have two transfers from outside facilities already on the floor and 2 new guys in the ER. Whelp. Here we go. In the span of about an hour we get 6 admission! And finally the other 2 medicine teams check out to me. We each did three of the admissions. I seriously thought I was going to cap (interns are only allowed to see 5 new patients in a 24 hour period). My 3 were pretty easy. Her 3 were much tougher. I am glad she took those ones :D By the time all is said and done with the admissions, it is 1am (with a Jimmy John's break in the middle.) Sehr (supervisor, pronounced suh-hair) went and did a few more things, and I hit the hay. I got a few pages in the middle of the night and then an admission at about 5am. That took up until about 715am or so, which means....time to check out to the day teams! I got home at about 830am, took a nice little nap, then lived it up the rest of the day. Until last night...


I head to work driving carefully as we got snow and ice over the weekend :( I had a headache all day, but I thought it was because I was dehydrated. I try to drink some water. At about 6pm we get an admission, which takes us until about 740pm or so. I go up and try to see if sleeping will help the headache. I start to become photosensitive (light was hurting my eyes), so I turn all the lights out. I get a few pages that require me to get on the computer. Every time I do, the headache gets a little worse and I start to get a little nauseous. Now, mind you, I have never been a headache person. No migraines ever. Not even in my family. I get a text at about 1030pm from Sehr saying we have a new one in the ER. I get up and pull myself together. Nausea is getting worse. I step out of my bedroom into the hall way, and BAM. Stage 5 watery mouth. We have all been there. That point where you know you need to be hugging that toilet. That point (don't read if already queesy) where saliva is simply free flowing out of your mouth. I decide the toilet is too far, so I hug the garbage can just inside my room. Somehow, I talk myself back from the edge. Back down to stage 2 or so I would say. I make my way down to the ER. Look up a little on this guy. Get ready to go talk to him. Thank goodness Sehr showed up. She goes in and starts talking to the guy, getting all the history of what is going on ("History of Present Illness" or "HPI"), etc. I have to excuse myself 3 times in the span of 10 minutes as I am feeling weak. On the third time...hugging that trash can...and losing my dinner :( I return from the bathroom (left the trash can in there for the sake of the ER staff), and Sehr says, "You look like shit. Did you just throw up?" I respond appropriately, and she sends me home. That wasn't a fun drive. Needless to say, after 9 hours of sleep I felt better.


I didn't have much of an appetite, but in general I am back to full health. Very weird. Maybe TMI for many of you, but I didn't force you to read it :D

Well Hello There Scrubs

I always joke with people that the main reason I am going into anesthesia is because I want to wear scrubs the rest of my life. While no, that is not the reason I am going into it, it sure is a bonus. Next month, I will get a little dose of it. Today is my last day on VA floors as in December I move to VA Night Float! I am a little excited and a little nervous. I will work from 5pm to 8am every other night. And I get to wear scrubs. And I don’t have to go to clinic. The first part of the month I will be admitting patients to the various Creighton teams (there are 3 of them) as well as taking “cross cover” calls. This means that any time a nurse has a question on a patient that is on a Creighton team, I will be the one answering that call. The second half of the month I won’t be admitting and will just be taking the nurses calls. Ahhhhh….to be out during the day time sounds simply marvelous. Ask me in 2 weeks and my answer may be different. For now, however, I am excited. I will do night float again but at Creighton in March. That month will be much rougher. I am not looking forward to that one L

Review time!!!!

Casablanca: So this restaurant is relatively new I think. It is a “tradition” during VA months for either your supervisor or attending to take the team out for lunch near the end of the month. We went on Tuesday and chose this place as our attending had been before and loved it. It is located near the ‘hip’ and upcoming part of Omaha called Midtown crossing. It isn’t actually in the cool part. Just near it. And slightly in the ghetto still. The place, however, is run by 2 people. The chef/waiter/host/bus boy and hostess/waitress…who only speaks Spanish I think. Anyway, this place is a tiny hole in the wall that has been open less than a year. It is Moroccan. I don’t eat Moroccan often, but I am not opposed either. It wasn’t busy at all, which was great since I had to go to clinic at 1. Without asking, they brought us out some hummus (I think they usually charge for it), which was delicious. The English speaking chef was a little slow to take our orders, but…he is the only one working. He was awesome. While they had the menu, he would ask you “What type of meat do you like?” I wanted lamb. Then he said “I make you something; you want rice and vegetable?” Yes please! It was out pretty fast and was super flavorful! In looking at the plate I didn’t think it would be as there was no sauce or anything. The middle of the plate had a beautiful (and oh so yummy) pile of rice with meat and vegetables surrounding it. So good! And filling too. I have no clue what the total came to as I had to leave for clinic, but it wasn’t outrageously expensive given the proximity to coolness. Yes, on a busy night it may be ill advised to go, but otherwise, hit it up if you are in the area. In summary:


I will try to rate things consistently on a 0-6 scale (had been 0-5 but changed it a little...there goes consistency I guess). 0: never again. 1: if someone else (Matt doesn't count) is paying. 2: If it is a big group and they decide on it. 3: Only on Matt's request. 4: Oh yeah, I like this place, I will suggest this next month or so. 5: Put it in the rotation! 6: GET ME THERE NOW!!!!

Service: slightly below par, but forgivable
Cleanliness: par
Ambiance: a notch step above par, still working on decor I think
Menu: obviously eclectic but relatively small...he will make you a combo of anything though
OVERALL:  4. If we wanted to head downtown I would throw this one out there. I may not make a special trip however (I don't have a number for that....3.5 I guess?)

How do they come up with this stuff?

Do you ever watch TV ads and ask yourself that exact question? They chose that line? That actress? That really awkward conversation? I have two favorites right now, and both of them have to do with jingles. I think one of the most obvious mistakes you see (or hear) in TV ads are unnecessary jingles. Why do ad agencies think everything needs a little jingle with it. Yes, I am sure there have been studies showing that the human brain is more keen to remember something if done with music (I can remember all the words to a song I haven’t heard in 5 years but can barely remember the age of my patients). To me, however, that doesn’t warrant a bad song. Now, if you can come up with a good one, great! Go for it. Mediocre or bad ones, however, are more likely to turn me, the consumer away. Sometimes I would like to sit in on those brain storming sessions, focus groups, and test audiences just to see from where these thoughts stemmed and who actually backed them up and told them it was a good choice. My three cases:

Gheridelli chocolate with caramel: Yes, the combination of these two things is down right heavenly. Why ruin it with the song???? It makes no sense. Plus, her outfit is downright awful. I am not saying I have great style, but you paid someone to put her in this ugly get up! I highly doubt she just stumbled into the commercial looking that way. Nix the song, change the outfit, you are good to go.

Lego Duplo: Cool. Little kids playing with big legos that their little hands and developing coordination can handle. The song?!? Wait, what is going on here? Are these kids all siblings? Why are we singing? Is this her first time walking? I guess if you look at it, a song is better than someone trying to explain what is going on in the ad. I would change this one all together.

Cat food: Pretty sure this has Acid in it or some other hallucinogen. Basically I think you now just have pot heads buying this and trying it. This didn’t need the cartoons or the song. If I take a step back, however, I can almost see the reasoning behind it: you have to stand out from all the other boring cat food ads AND your fan base is probably crazy cat ladies who love this stuff. Enough said

There ya go! So next time you are writing a TV ad, run it by me first before you embarrass your company

Losing things

The VA isn’t the busiest of places, so I often have time to sit and reflect. Recently, it has been how life progresses through what you think you have forgotten/can’t find. For me, this is how it has gone

-Middle school: where is my homework?

-High school: where are my keys?

-College: where did I put my pants (joking)? Where did I put my camera/room key/dining card/ID? Or, more importantly, where did I put my basketball mouth guard/jersey/shoes?

-Med school: where did I put my First Aid for Step 1? Where did I put my resident that I am supposed to follow around?

-Intern year: where the heck are my pager and stethoscope?

Seriously, 5 times a day at least I have that “where is my pager?” moment. It isn’t that I want my pager. That thing drives me nuts. It is more that if I don’t have that thing, there could be backlash. Not from doctors but from ancillary staff. Even if I am done for the day, I still want to know where it is. It was funny. When an intern first gets his/her pager, it is a little exhilarating. Even that first buzz or beep or vibration (mine is always on vibrate) was a little fun. Then, however, realizing that everyone in the hospital has you on a leash, you want to run. Away. Fast.

Speaking of deep things, let’s talk about philosophy, the subject as a whole. In college, I was required to take 2 courses – intro and an elective. I took logic. I liked logic. Because, well, it was logical. I only needed 3 more courses to get my minor in it. Being who I am, I seriously thought about it. I thusly signed up for “The philosophy of politics.” My goodness people, that was over my head. I only got an A because the professor liked me. I am a relatively smart person, but philosophy just wasn’t for me. And you want to know why? The language. Now, all you lovers of thought, this is all opinion, so you can’t get mad. Or you can, but realize my opinion doesn’t make you less of a person. The language of philosophy is such that it prevents people from understanding. It is a very verbose topic in general. They use too many words that are too big (which they themselves have created and defined simply to confuse people :D) making it difficult to simply discuss with everyone. It is an elite group that prefers to keep itself that way. No, I don’t have a specific ‘they’ in mind here. I just remember sitting in that politics class wondering what in the heck people were talking about half the time. If you need to create a complex word with an even more complex definition that needs 10 other definitions to define it, maybe the creation of that word wasn’t necessary?

Matt (and I begrudgingly sometimes) will listen to the ‘In Our Times’ podcast from the BBC. Some topic I enjoy – the moon, the Hippocratic Oath. Other topics bore me to death. One in particular was on some sort of philosophy. They were discussing how your understanding of a sentence depends on whether you have personal context for the current subject or if that subject should really be the predicate.  Or some ridiculous nonsense such as that. See what I mean? Do we really need to debate something like that? Like I said, it is above my head. That is, most likely, the only reason I put it down. Go ahead and keep loving it you crazy people. Just don’t try to talk to me about it.

Blank

I came into this one blank. Not a lot of ideas rolling around in my head. Weird. So I guess I will just life update and review the places I have eaten.


Life: I have clinic on Tuesdays. I hate clinic. Ergo, I hate Tuesdays. From the moment I wake up on Tuesday, I am usually in a bad mood. Yes, I know this is a personal problem that I can very easily remedy, but that seems to take a lot of effort. And to tell you the truth, once I get to clinic, my distaste quickly dissipates. I like the doctor I work with. Most of the time I like the patients. I will never be a fan of long term care (hence one of many reasons I am going into anesthesia). The issue is more the fact that it interrupts your whole day. You have to do an entire day of ward work in half a day. You come back the next day feeling unsure what happened with your patients and unfamiliar with any new ones. It creates a lot of stress. BUT....after November I will be half way done with clinic! Yay!


Food time
Upstream Brewery: As the name would suggest, this is a brewery. My parents and I actually ate here my first weekend in Omaha. To tell you the truth, I never returned other than for events that took me there - interview dinners, post-Match party, resident appreciation night. Every time I go, I remember why I don't go back, but at the same time, I tell myself to go there more often. Make no sense? I know! Why I need to go more: great happy hour ($2.50 pints and half price appetizers) and really pretty good beer with a great seasonal selection. They also have "beer to go." I am always tempted to do that, but then I remember Matt doesn't enjoy beer meaning it would likely go to waste. The appetizers are pretty good too. I also like their soup. I. Love. Good. Tomato. Soup. Seriously. I could marry that stuff. And Wednesdays are half price beer AND pizza night. Go Becky go! Why I don't go back: the rest of the food is overpriced and not great. It isn't bad, but at the same time, it is always a let down. It always seems like 'just one thing' is missing from each entree. A little lemon? Some more salt? Butter? Plating is always average. Service is average. Selection is pretty good: from steak to pasta to flatbread pizzas. Not too much but not too little. Another conundrum: the ambiance. It is an old warehouse with exposed brick. Love it. It has high ceilings. Hate it. For those of us slightly hard of hearing, high ceilings are the death of good conversation.I said I was going to try and be consistent, so here it goes:


I will try to rate things consistently on a 0-6 scale (had been 0-5 but changed it a little...there goes consistency I guess). 0: never again. 1: if someone else (Matt doesn't count) is paying. 2: If it is a big group and they decide on it. 3: Only on Matt's request. 4: Oh yeah, I like this place, I will suggest this next month or so. 5: Put it in the rotation! 6: GET ME THERE NOW!!!! 

Service: par
Cleanliness: par
Ambiance: 2 step above par (high ceiling and all)
Menu: selection is 1 above par, taste is...par
OVERALL:  3. If Matt wanted to go, I wouldn't resist. I may just eat the soup though. 

Gym People

Ah. Gym people. That doesn’t always bring the freshest picture to the front of your mind, but let me explain. I am a gym goer. I am addicted. I need the gym. I am not all ‘rexi’ about it, but I tend to get very grumpy if I can’t make it to the gym. Life as an intern, however, is a tad bit busy. The last thing I want to do when I get off work at (hopefully) 5:30 is go to the gym. Instead, I roll my rear end out of bed at just shy of 5am, pour some coffee into my oh-so-wonderful travel mug from Costco (shameless plug. It really is amazing. It stays warm, in my car, in the cold, until I drink it at 630am), and head to the gym. Yes, this may seem counterintuitive to some, but it is easier to just roll and go in the AM than to motivate and go at the end of the day. Plus, it is SOOOOO easy to talk myself out of going by the time 6pm rolls around. As a side note, I am very glad our gym doesn’t open until 5am or else I would find myself getting there earlier and earlier every day. Sick. Back to the point.

Gym people. They are the sweaty equivalent to “old men friends at Panera.” They are the people you see there every day; they don’t exist outside of the gym to you. And you to them. My gym people are the following

-“The two early guys.” They don’t work out together. One is short and fat; the other is tall and skinny. At 5:01am you can see them lifting heavy. Really? No warm up people? Come on!

-“The stretcher.” She is short, mid 60s. Runs. Every day. For about 3 minutes; then stretches. Then on again. For 2 minutes. Then stretches. This is pretty much the routine every morning. One day, however, she talked to me! (insert jaw drop). Gym people aren’t supposed to have voices.

-“The pusher.” Deep down at heart, I am work-out competitive. You know the feeling. Someone gets on the stair climber next to you, and you bump up your speed. And let go of the handrails. This girl stirs that in me for some reason. Funny thing is, she used to belong to 24-Hour as well. Whenever I am near her, I feel that I have to work out better than she does, which is tough because she is skinny and very fit

-“The long shower-er.” This may be TMI, so if that bugs you, avert your eyes…now. I have never been someone who doddles (sp?) in the shower. I go in with a specific task and get it done. From end of workout to out the door – with shower, blow dry/curl hair (naturally curly, so easy), “makeup” (read: mascara) – it takes me max 25 minutes. Max. This girl will be in the shower that entire time. Who can enjoy a 25 minute shower at the gym? It isn’t dirty or anything and they are private stalls, but still. A shower at the gym can only be so good

-“The invisible lady.” I really didn’t think she existed until just yesterday. Every day I walk into the women’s locker room (practically the first person mind you) to find some clothes hanging on the wall hooks. 90% of the time it is some skirt and some sort of top. Pretty typical 2 week-ish rotation (not that I am recording or anything. Way too little for me to even imagine wearing. When I leave about 1.5 hours later, they are still hanging there. I thought it was an employee or something. Finally, however, I saw her! No talking mind you. She exists!

And those, ladies & gentlemen, are my gym people. We are like a little dysfunctional family all going to the gym together way too early in the morning

Mexican Food

Sigh. I think I have given up. Not on life. Not of medicine. Heck, not even on marriage. Yes, on Mexican food. Funny thing is, Matt, JC (our friend), and I are actually talking about it right now and trying a new place. Maybe I am not getting the correct type of food. Matt always gets nachos. No matter what. No matter when. He will get nachos. Easy to guess. I try to switch it up however. Sometimes a combo plate, sometimes a quesadilla, sometimes a chimi. And maybe I need to stay away from things not wrapped in tortillas. I feel that sometimes it is easy to just wrap some under-seasoned meat into a tortilla and throw some half attempted sauce on top. In fact, that is usually my cooking at home. But really? At a restaurant? I don't know why I am in such disbelief. Mexican food has been a consistent let down in my life. I find that the best "Mexican" food I get is at non Mexican places. I have hypothesized about this a lot, and here is what I came up with:

True, real Mexican food, which I have had maybe once or twice, is too spicy for regular people to want it all the time. Ergo --> Americanized Mexican food. I am not talking Tex Mex here. I am talking: bland meat - velveta - tortilla - bad sauce - bad garnish. Maybe I need to get the dinner plates (things not wrapped in tortillas)? Maybe I need to suck it up, go to South O, and get me some good Mexican. Anyone want to come? Let's go. This leads up to my restaurant review:

Salgado's: (Yes, it is an urbanspoon website) Matt and I as well as some of his coworkers tried to go here over a year ago. Unfortunately we tried to go the weekend it was writen up in the paper. Oops. Bad mistake. Table for 5? 1hr. No thanks. Take two: this past weekend (heck, we usually go to happy hour at a Tex Mex place for super cheap to get our Mexican nacho fix...and by 'our' I mean Matt's). This time the place is practically empty, but they have Breckenridge Agave Wheat on their menu...cue excited Becky. Alas, secondary to a rough night the night before, I pass. (+) #1....free chips! I strongly dislike Mexican places that charge for chips. Yeah, I said it. We were all thinking it. They bring us 3 dipping choices: salsa fresca, mild salsa, and bean dip. 1 & 2, meh. No thanks. Give me my food processor, and I am 100% sure I can do better. That bean dip? Amazing. Matt ate it all. In one shot. The bite I got was delicious. Matt got nacho's: par. Becky got verde enchiladas: meh. Chicken was tender but under seasoned. Verde salsa was under seasoned. Cheese was...cheese. The rice, however, was actually really good. Usually the rice is something I can do without, resist in fact. Not this time. The rice was really good. The beans were beans. I can never resist refried beans.

I will try to rate things consistently on a 0-5 scale. 0: never again. 1: if someone else (Matt doesn't count) is paying. 2: If it is a big group and they decide on it. 3: Only on Matt's request. 4: Oh yeah, I like this place, I will suggest this next month or so. 5: GET ME THERE NOW!!!! (In retrospect, that seems like an odd scale, but it is what it is)

Service: decent, par. Cleanliness: par. Ambiance: slightly better than par. Menu: slightly below par. OVERALL: 2. If a party were going and decided on this place, I would still go and enjoy the company

I survived cardiology. And to tell you the truth it wasnt too bad at all especially when you compare it to general medicine at CUMC. I am back at the VA now doing general medicine. It is just as it sounds: thrilling and full of old men. Many times when I start updating this I wish I had helpful tips or good points, but I never do. Let's see what I can roll out here regarding medicine/intern year

- Never take it personally. Patients will be rude. Attendings will chew you out. Fellow residents will be lazy or throw you under the bus every chance they get (not neccesarily speaking from experience here). You can only control you.

- Organization is your friend. That goes for med school too. And life I guess.

- Remember to be real and connect with people. I am only gong to be here for one year but that shouldn't keep me from connecting with patients and coworkers. Life isn't about counting the number of friends you have and stopping when meet your quota. We are pople. Not tasks in your inbox.

- Know the love language of your friends/spouse/family. If you don't know what they are...look them up. If you think they are a load of bull...I dont like you. :)

- Learn to like leftovers. I have always had issues with leftovers. Even when I was young. I really dont know why. I usually get up at 445am workout, work, get home at 6pm, and then make dinner. I feel like a failure if I dont make dinner fully from scratch. Sigh. I need to get over that

- Buck up and do your job. This is for everyone and not just interns. God gave you skills and put you in your position for a reason. Enjoy the ride. Stop complaining.

Now that I got all of my "wisdom" out of the way, let's get down to bussiness. And what is business...not sure. I want focus to this blog. Thoughts? Ideas? Comments? All 1 person reading this. All right. Off for the night. To Lincoln tomorrow. I had to experience the power of Go Big Red at least one time before leaving Nebraska.

I kept saying

I kept saying: "I'll post, I'll post." I lie to my self. I lie to everyone. Crap. 2 months!!!!?!?!?! And nothing from me. Weird. Quick update on life

August:
GI at the VA was awesome. Lots of colons. That wasn't the awesome part. Easy hours was the awesome part. My brother got married!!!!! Over in London. I ate way too much and drank way too much. But it was tons of fun. I ate too many chocolate desserts and got very very hyper as well. Matt survived his first trip overseas, and he liked it! Which means he wants to do it more. Yay!

September:
Gen Med at VA. It was okay. Things moved slowly, but they are pretty quick to move patients out and along. Some patients at CUMC may sit around a few too many days because the social workers are overloaded. At the VA, however, they have plenty of social workers who are super helpful. My sister got married!!!!! Again, I ate too much and drank too much! But she got married and she was beautiful. I looked pretty good too if you don't mind me sayin.

October:
Cardio at CUMC. I was dreading this month, but it turns out it isn't that bad. At least not the first 2 weeks. We have some crazy busy days, but I feel that I am learning some good things. I like my team as well. Matt's parents came to visit this past weekend. Ate too much. Drinking didn't happen as much this time. Played my first full court basketball game in over 2 years. Wow. It is one thing to shoot around at the gym, but it is a whole different thing to run around, play defense, and then try to shoot around. Ugh. But I had fun

In other news, I am cooking a lot. I have a great blog post (in my head) about reviewing/pros & cons of food blogs. I look at a lot of them. Not that my opinion matters at all to anyone, but I know what I like and don't like.

Okay. I swear I will post again this month.

Breckenridge

Our ever so long extended honeymoon wrapped up with another trip all the way across NE back to CO and up to Breckenridge this time. With 2 other couples. And we slept on a hida-bed. Very romantic. During a benefit auction this past winter some of Matt's coworkers purchased a long weekend at a condo. One couple had to boge out, so we were the back up friends!!!! At this point I don't remember a lot of details, but here is4-er (14, the general gist of what we did.

We hiked. We wanted to do a full 14-er (14000 ft), but it turns out in late June there is still quite a bit of snow there. Huh. Who knew. The ladies were too scared of wandering too much in the snow - not because of the cold or the difficulty but because of the fear of getting lost off the path. I could picture us being featured on "I shouldn't be alive." So we turned around. Our condo was a little outside of downtown Breck, so Matt and I would walk into town a lot. Everyone else liked to chill a bit more. Matt isn't the best at chillin. We pretty much walked that whole town.

We went rafting. In wet suites of course. 2 people had just died on the river. We didn't die. This was Matt's first time, and he was pretty nervous. He isn't the best swimmer, so I was nervous for him too. It was only 2 hrs. And it was cold. But fun. We stumbled upon some large white water rafting festival. Hippies :D

We rode the chairlift to the top of Breck. Turns out there was snow up there too. For those of you who read about our trip to Chi town last Labor day, you know Matt isn't a fan of heights. Chair lifts are no exception. Again, this was something Matt had never been on. His knuckles were white from holding onto the safety bar so tightly. Cute.

We ate Chic fil a on the way home. Pretty much Matt's highlight.

Milwaukee

Finally on to Milwaukee. I may have lost the will to put up pictures, but we will see how I feel at the end of the post.

If I learned nothing else on our honeymoon, it was how to spell Cincinnati and Milwaukee (w/o the help of spell check). I also learned that Matt and I really like the latter. We arrived in Milwaukee and headed straight to the game as it was a Sunday afternoon game and we figured it would be busy. Man were we right. Standing room only. We paid for parking and standing room only tickets. That was expensive. To tell you the truth I don't remember much about the game. The stadium was not my favorite. Unlike other newer stadiums (this stadium is pretty new too), you can't see the ball field from all the concourses. You could go long stretches without seeing the field. Me no likey. On the other hand, Milwaukee was great.

We stayed at The Intercontinental in the downtown area, and for the first time we actually stayed for 2 nights! Maybe that is why we liked Milwaukee so much, but whatever. In the afternoon we walked around and over to the lake (Lake Michigan). The weather was great, and we loved exploring. It was too early for dinner at this point, so we chilled at the hotel until heading to a brewery up the street for dinner. Matt had grilled cheese. I had beer. And some food. They had tons of old beer cans on the walls including Oly and Ranier as well as Ranier Light. Matt was finally getting his appetite back, so I didn't have to help with the sandwich :(







The next day we actually got to sleep in and not drive 5 hours. Another huge plus! We walked over to a place a friend recommended for a cheap lunch. It was a whole in the wall Mexican place that I can't even remember the name of. It was cheap though. Being the cheap people we are, we only walked by the Harley Museum. We didn't go in. Fine by me. The highlight of the day was the brewery tour - Lakefront Brewery. For $7 each we got 4 8oz samples, a "tour," a souvenir pint glass, and a coupon for a free pint at a local bar. We won. Well, I won actually. As Matt isn't as big into beer as I am, I got pretty much all of his including the pint at the bar. Woohoo. At this point I was a bit tipsy...and it was only 4pm. We chilled for a bit and then stuffed ourselves on cheese. Seriously. I never thought I could hit a cheese overload, but I may have here: AJ Bombers. It has been on Food Wars. I got grilled cheese. And we got cheese curds as an appetizer. And poutine. So good.

Milwaukee also proved to decision point: drive to the Twin Cities or drive home. After much debate we ended this leg of our honeymoon early as we would be heading to Breckenridge in 2 days. We survived all those miles without killing each other and without threatening divorce. It was great. My only suggestion for anyone thinking about it would be to spread......it........out. 2 days in each place would have been way better. More expensive but way better.

On a way better rotation now. Will update on that later.

Said before and I will say it again

I love baking. I follow several food blogs, and from time to time I have the urge to make this a food blog. Then I remember that I have a 7 year old camera and am way too eager to eat the food than to take pictures of it. Ergo, I will just talk about food. Today, I made these: http://annies-eats.net/2011/07/18/soft-frosted-sugar-cookies/
Holy canolli batman. I haven't even frosted them yet and I want to devour every single last one. I will of course be taking them to work with me tomorrow.

I took a break between writing that first paragraph and this one...and ate too much cookie dough and sugar today. Oh my goodness. Maybe just gave myself diabetes. I need to go food coma myself

Wait a second

I know I know I know. I am still in the middle of the honeymoon. But I don't feel like talking about that at the moment. Basically, I can't summon the energy to put together that many coherent strings of thoughts. I am on day  13 of 19 straight. That is 13 days of waking up at 5am. 13 days of watching the sunrise. 13 days of having flashing lights accompany my drive to work. It isn't all bad. I get to see lots of bunnies. Bunnies are like squirrels here. No. They really are. They are adorable. Granted, working both days this weekend was by choice. Matt is still up in Seattle and comes back this week, so I offered to work both days so that I have next weekend completely off. Woohoo!

UniMed (what Creighton calls their general medicine teams) is a pretty tough month. My supervising resident and one of my attendings said that it is likely one of the hardest months. They even said harder than ICU (a resident can only follow 4 patients max in the ICU). I saw 8 the other morning. No, they aren't the sickest of patients. Some of them are rocks - waiting placement in a nursing home or what not. Some of these rocks, however, are difficult. And pokey. And remind you daily that they exist. I have unfortunately had my first encounter with a patient with whom I am fighting that whole countertransference thing. I think I have that right. Countertransference is when I treat them differently based on how they treat me. I think. Either way, I have a patient who isn't super happy with me ever no matter when I see her. Friday, she really got my water boiling. I left her with my happy voice on, but I told me co-intern that he would be taking over her care. I don't want to compromise someone's health simply because they are pushing my buttons. I believe this is the right choice.

One of the hardest parts of this month - at least early in the month - was my lack of cooking/baking and working out. With Matt gone, I don't care if dinner is at 8, so I have found plenty of time to workout and cook. While I really don't cook anything crazy and I haven't even been 'in' to cooking that long, it makes me happy. Being in the kitchen relieves stress for me. Almost as much as being in the gym or working out relieves my stress. In August I start on GI at the VA. I am hoping (but not getting my hopes up) that being on a consulting services calms my life down a little bit. We will see

BTW: Omaha is hot right now. Not like hot like "cool." Hot like hell hath descended upon us

Oh Chicago

Sorry for the hiatus. Intern year has finally started, and I have been like a chicken with my head cut off. Lost my brain, feathers everywhere, no sense of direction. Ever. 1 week down...51 to go (minus vacation of course). I will update about our Chicago trip first then hit on work.


We took off early from Detroit and drove past where old Tigers' Stadium used to be. It looked a little scary. We had been told that all the bars right through that area (lots of hole in the wall sports bars), look dead from the outside but somehow still manage to get busy. We will take their word for it. Headed west and eventually south to go through Ohio. I kept trying to get pictures of "Welcome to ______!" but amazingly always managed to miss the sign. The few times I was actually ready, no sign was there to welcome us. Shame.


Our route took us through Gary, Indiana. Boy am I glad I don't live there either. About that time, Matt's stomach started to bug him. I told him that it was because he didn't eat breakfast. I know that if I don't eat for >12hrs or so, I start to get nauseous. Always have, always will. Feed the beast regularly. Chicago driving was a little stressful. This was probably the only time we snapped at each other over directions. We eventually get to the hotel, which was actually the top 10 floors of an office building. Very strange. It was a little before noon, and our room wasn't ready yet :( We leave our bags in the car and head out for Giordano's pizza!!!!!


Last fall when we went to Chicago, we went on a pizza tour where we got to sample several deep dish pizzas. This was our favorite. We walk over there (not the main one because that one is always way too busy) and get seated. Matt is feeling even worse now. I assure him once he gets something in his stomach that he will feel better. Again, being cheap, we don't get an appetizer. Sigh. Well actually, that wouldn't have helped. About 30 minutes later (5 minutes til pizza!) Matt gets stage 5 watery mouth. We have all been there. Whether with the flu, food poisoning, or drinking, you know that moment from which you can't turn back. You need a bathroom. Stat. Matt excuses himself. He returns 10minutes later, pale as a ghost, while I nom on some oh so good pizza. He tries a bite. And heads to the bathroom again. When he returns, he says "Pay the bill and box it up" just before he heads outside. Sigh. Pizza experience ruined.


I struggle to find Matt outside as he is in a bush losing his stomach. He says he feels better and we can walk around. We made a good attempt, but he starts to get dizzy and weak. Back we go to the hotel! We are about a mile away, and all I can picture is him doing down on the sidewalk and having to go get the car to get him. There is no way we are paying for a cab :D He stops at more than one garbage can to do his thing. He mumbles incoherent things at me. He gets stomach contents in his beard. But we make it back. Alas, our room was still not ready. Another heavy sigh. We chill in the cool lobby. I work on my puzzle book. Matt frequents the bathroom. 230 rolls around (300 is check in time), and I urgently request that we get our room. Stat. Of course she needs to talk to Matt since the room is under him name. OMG. We make it to the room just in time for another bathroom break. I get him some 7up and crackers, and once he falls asleep, I leave. 

View from our room

Flying guy!

To Navy Pier I go!

Here are the pics from my solo walk (above)

Awesome sandwich

Matt pretty much slept all night. Needless to say, the game was a no go. In general Chicago was a bust. I told Matt he owes me another Chicago trip. He feels bad about the whole thing. We have no clue why he got sick. I never felt anything wrong. The only difference in our food was that he had some ranch with the pizza the night before. I had none. Maybe? Maybe. Our contacts were all the same, so I feel that that isn't likely. Here are the delicious foods I ate all by my lonesome.

You can't tell, but he is sweating

On to intern year. Oh. My. Goodness. For those of you in medical school: stay in 4th year as long as possible. I mean, I have done a lot of hard things, but I think this takes the cake. As with medical school, it isn't that what I am doing is super difficult. Pretty much anyone could write notes and orders. The hard part is how much of it I have to do on top of all the other little things like dictations and calling social workers. I am getting a handle on it a little more, and this will most likely be one of my harder months. Still though. I did at least get a surprise golden weekend (48 hours completely off)!! Amazing! Matt leaves Tuesday morning (5AM flight!!!!) for a couple weeks, so I am going to be stocking the freezer! 

So this is Detroit

Now that I took a little break I completely forget how I was formatting these posts. Sigh. I am a stickler for similar formatting. It takes me forever to load my ipod if for some unknown reason I lose all my music, which has happened more than once. I have had orientation going on, so that is my excuse :D

View of Canada from GM building

We left Pittsburgh the morning of the 10th (I think) heading to the great city of Detroit. Both of us had heard so many things about the state of the city, so we were excited to get to see it for ourselves. That, and the fact that the Mariners were playing the Tigers, made the 5 hour drive fast. Okay, fast is a bit of an exaggeration but still. Our drive was pretty uneventful, and the GPS never steered us wrong. Whoop!

On the way into the city, we passed a lot of factories. Matt thought they looked empty. I didn't so much, but I agreed with him as to not seem like I was contradicting just for contradicting's sake. There was no denying the emptiness, however, when we pulled off the interstate. My goodness. Below is the first building we say. Almost all the glass was blown out. It was spooky looking, and it was still midday at this point. 

We headed to our hotel and checked in causing us to notice this on our hotel door:

And we were in a super nice hotel that needed a key card to take the elevator to the rooms. We, of course, were hungry, so we stopped here:

These two places have been on TV a lot battling against each other. A few decades back they were started by relatives both serving "authentic coney island dogs." Basically...chili cheese dogs with mustard and onions. We each ate one dog at both, and our winner is: American!!!!! For me, it was the winner because I liked the hot dog a little more and the chili a lot more.

After that we went walking giving us the opportunity to see all the abandoned buildings up close. My goodness people. There seemed to be no one. No one! We made it to a free tour of the GM building, which was actually pretty cool. It turns out that Detroit hit its high population in the 50s. After that (not just with the demise of the car industry), people started moving to the suburbs. The GM building was built in the 70s in an attempt to draw people back into the city. Turns out it didn't work. Sigh. We walked around a little more after the tour before heading back to the hotel.

As we got there, it started to pour! We weren't worried about getting wet (we aren't made of sugar afterall), but our concern was that the game would be cancelled. We headed out for a wet wet walk just to see more abandonment. No people hitting up Friday happy hours. No cute little stores. In fact, a sign just north of the baseball stadium read: We strongly suggest you don't park north of this sign. We could see why. Crumbling houses. Burned out buildings. When night came, only about 30% of the high rises had lights on - that includes either offices on the inside or lights to show the architecture on the outside. 

Enough with the sadness! Tigers stadium was actually really really cool inside and out. The scoreboard and crowd interaction was a bit lacking though. The game ended up starting on time, and we got cheap seats up high. The Mariners even won! Whoop! We head out just as the great fireworks show started because we wanted to make it back to the hotel (via walking) while people were still around. Tons of people came in from the suburbs for the game, but they just head right back out afterwards. On the way, we stopped for pizza (weird) and ate it at the hotel. Overall it was a very weird experience. We agree we would go back to visit the other parts of the state, but we would probably never return to Detroit. : /

MILES TRAVELED DAY 4

Land: 286 miles

The winner!

Fist bump to the extreme

Church we found

There are actually tall buildings. You just can't see them

Where old Tigers Stadium used to be