Noises

A lot of people have food they can't stand, smells that make them sick, and even fabrics that drive them nuts; sometimes we neglect those noises that just drive us crazy. Matt often makes fun of me for my hearing, and, as my friend KTO can testify to, I have a tendency to make things up when I don't hear them :) I am sure this will only get better with age. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't have noises that drive me bonkers. Here is a short list of the ones I can think of off the top of my head (my family knows most of them already...and does them on purpose already...)


-Nails on chalkboard. Duh. No one really likes this I don't think. BUT with smart boards and white boards etc, it isn't as much of a threat in my day to day life. Then again, putting a chalkboard in your kitchen is sort of hot right now. But a lot of times that is "chalkboard paint," and I don't know if that makes the same noise


-Knife on a plate & teeth on a fork. I think the first one is pretty common for people, which means almost everyone realizes when they have done it. The latter, however, often occurs frequently as part of an every day meal. Just an innocent person trying to make sure they get all the food off that fork. Watch for it sometime. It may just make you shudder too. Thinking about it just now almost made me want to throw up. Plastic forks for all!


-Chewing loudly. 'nough said. 


-Moving plastic grocery bags. Okay. I admit. This one may put me into the "nutso" or "neurotic" category. I am okay with that. I. HATE. GROCERY. BAGS. MOVING. Yeah yeah yeah. I know I should use my re-usable bag, but I forget sometimes. I guess this is my punishment. I like my groceries very stable and clumped together so that I don't hear them rolling and moving and getting all out of the bad. 


I think those first couple boil down to the idea of one bad texture on another. The last one seems to be - as I actually typed it out - more of a personal issue with my groceries escaping all over the place and breaking or causing a mess etc etc. Will I get over these? Probably not. Do I want to? Probably not :D

This just in

Wait...did I forget to tell you all? (Okay, anyone who reads this probably already knows...but still) Matt got a job!!!!! Teaching!!!!!! He found out last week. We are beyond excited. This isn't a feat because he has no skills. Matt is a very gifted teacher who truly loves doing it. He didn't choose to teach so he can have summers off or so he can coach. He teaches because he loves it. This was more a feat because of how tight the market is for teachers. Hundreds laid off with fewer retiring and fewer openings. The hardest part is getting the interview. He is dynamite after that. It is at a private school too! Which is a good thing in my mind. Yay! Moving in 5 weeks!

Ode to Brunch

Forgive me if I have already discussed brunch with you imaginary people, but I want to talk about it a little bit more.


Brunch. It is a magical magical word to me. It can quickly change an ordinary weekend into one of beauty and happiness and everything good in the world. Okay. That might be a bit of an exageration...in your book. Not in mine however. As long as it is really brunch. Not just late breakfast. 


Growing up, brunch WAS Patsy Clark's. It was this great place in Spokane that served an amazing, out of this world buffett type brunch. Plus it was in this really cool old mansion. We would go when we were young, and I have no clue if they served dinner or lunch or anything other than hoards of breakfast food. It managed, however, to serve as the bar against which all other brunches are judged. Sadly, it no longer exists :(


It may be the fat kid in me, but brunch is not brunch without it being a buffett. Honestly otherwise it is just late breakfast. I have no problem with late breakfast, but don't invite me to go out to brunch if we are just going to Village Inn or Perkins. Invite me out to breakfast then. :D


Patsy Clark's had table upon table of everything you could imagine - pastries, bacon, sausage, potatoes, WAFFLES, eggs, more eggs, and desserts. They likely had a meat carving station, but that didn't appeal to young Becky. Now, was it really as awesome as I make it out to be? I dunno. It could have been my young mind making it into this Willy Wonka fairy tale land. Alas, nothing I have had since can measure up.


(True) Brunches I have tried in Omaha? --> Crave, Upstream, Grissanti's, Valentino's. That is about it I think. I would say the best was probably Crave. It wasn't too expensive plus you got a free mimosa or OJ with it. Yes please!


Brunches (read: Late breakfasts) that I have ENJOYED in Omaha? --> Dixie Quicks, Taxi's, Le Peep. Dixie Quicks (now in Council Bluffs) is fun and quirky, and if you haven't gone but live in Omaha, you should go

Can I Get Through This?

I don't mean intern year. Of course I can finish that. I mean all the other items in our house/kitchen. We are rapidly approaching 'THE MOVE,' and every time we buy something, I cannot help but think, "Can we finish that?" New thing of shampoo...can we really finish that? New quart of olive oil...really? Costco sized butter...okay, that answer we all know is yes. 10lb bag of quinoa...now that is pushing it? From the outside, you may all think this is silly, but when it comes to packing, I don't want to move all these items if we don't have to. At the same time, I hate wasting money and don't want to toss things either. Ergo, we are now in a fine balancing act of buying and using. Looks like I will be washing my hair a lot :)


Having done this ER rotation for all of 1.3 days, I can see why people like this type of job. I can also see, however, how you could become very jaded and burnt out. The pluses: you get to do the initial investigation, you don't have to follow up on tests (you pass them along to their primary doc or the inpatient team), it can be really hands on (in high acuity places...not the VA). The downs: people treat this as their primary doctor (not as much at the VA as at Creighton), you can get a lot of drug seekers, you have to deal with small problems that truly could be seen by a primary care doctor - sniffles, upset stomachs because you ate too much at dinner - and having to practice CYB medicine (cover your butt). You are 99.99% sure they don't have a clot in their lung because nothing points to it at all, but you order the test regardless 'just in case.' It really could jade someone. Alas, these 1.3 days have been way better than floors.


Wasabi Sushi  
As previously stated, Monday was our 1 year anniversary. Because of Step 3 and then a meeting for Matt, we could not celebrate until last night. I put Matt in charge of choosing our dinner location. We originally chose a steak place. Then, after much debating (mostly in his own head), Matt changed plans and decided on Wasabi. We have been here several times, so I knew we would not regret this choice. 


We were seated immediately when we arrived (around 6pm or so). The servers sort of tag team service - one with drinks, one with food, another with food. Heck, if it makes it quick, I don't care who is helping me. For those who have never been before, this is an all you can eat for one price type thing. No, not a buffett sushi place. You order off a menu just like any other sushi place. The thing here - if you don't finish it, they charge you for it. Makes complete sense to me. When you see the price at first (I think $22 for adults for dinner), you may be taken back. If you go hungry, however, you can spend that much easily. Having been here before, we knew at least what appetizers we enjoyed - the fried chicken (katsu) and the "pizza." The former is thinly pounded, lightly breaded and perfectly fried. It is satisfying without being heavy. It comes with a flavorful teryaki-esque dipping sauce as well. The 'pizza' shouldn't fool you. Other than the fact that it is "stuff on top of a round thing" it in no way resembles pizza. To tell you the truth I don't know what the base is made of, but it seems like hash browns in patty form with yummy on top of it. That is all the better I can describe it. Delicious.


They have quite a selection of sushi but nothing outlandish and crazy (at least not on the all you can eat menu). I always enjoy a good crunchy roll. All our rolls were delicious, but compared to other sushi places, I don't think their ingredients are as high of quality but by no means the bottom rung either. Everything came out quickly and neatly without any issues. Included in the price is your choice of 3 different ice creams - vanilla, green tea, and red bean. Matt got green tea, and I got the red bean. Don't let the name scare you, the red bean is a perfect combination of cold and sweet. The green tea isn't for me, but it really does taste like green tea. We left full and satisfied as per usual. 


AMBIANCE: dimmly lit but great decor, modern but still warm
TASTE: middle of the road in terms of quality but I wouldn't pass up a roll in front of me; a few of the appetizers could use a bit more seasoning
MENU: expansive; as I said previously, the have plenty of rolls to choose from but nothing super crazy or fancy
SERVICE: top notch, our sodas were never empty, the food came out quick and clean
OVERALL: 5. I would go here every month if I had the money (and expandable pants) to manage it

$3000+ later...

Yep. Another hiatus. This one has a good excuse though! I was taking Step 3, which is the 3rd of 3 exams all MDs have to take to get licensed. You take Step 1 between 2nd and 3rd year of med school, Step 2 (written and fake patient) during 4th year, and Step 3 (usually) some time during intern year. They get slightly easier (or I guess I just get smarter) as you go; plus they carry a little less weight with each one...as long as you did well on the one before it :D. Oh, yeah, and they also cost a butt load of money. In total, all 3 - not counting the fact that you have to fly to one of five cities for the fake patient one - cost over $3000. Yep. I hope I passed :)


See, I told you it was a good excuse. I am so excited to not have to study every night. I start "Admit Area" at the VA tomorrow, which is their ER. No, we don't get car accidents or gnarly things, but I hear I get to do some joint taps, ultrasounds, etc. And scrubs. I get to wear scrubs.


One year ago yesterday, I got married! The service was at 4pm. At about 3:57pm, the lights flickered. It had been windy out and slightly drizzly pretty much all day. That didn't bug me. I'm not made of sugar. None of us think anything of the power flicker until my younger brother came into the holding room - "Uh...um...anyone have a lighter? Don't worry, we are setting candles up." Come again? Yep, the power went out. What we were now seeing were the emergency lights. My brothers and Matt's brothers scrambled and quickly set up candles. We found an 'itty-bitty book light' to help the readers see their readings. Thank goodness we chose the chapel we did - floor to ceiling stained glass running the length on both sides. Plenty of light! Well, plenty that we could be seen enough. Our photographers did an amazing job working with the lighting. A quick 1hr and 10 minutes (full Catholic) later, we were married!!!


Etc etc...party party


My only regret: I didn't drink enough beer at the reception. I wasn't looking to get drunk, it was just such good beer!!!!!


No resteraunt right now. Gotta get back into the whole typing things