Family & Friends
Holding hands
11/19/08 05:18
Sorry I've been posting less. My hours are currently
5:30am to 6pm, and I'm working a 30-hour shift on
Saturday-Sunday too. And then I'll be on outpatient
(8am-5pm) for a couple of weeks. And then a
much-needed vacation is coming up (I think I am the
last intern in my class to have vacation this year).
Can't wait.
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More lunches
11/07/08 04:32
A trip to the fire station
11/03/08 06:09
We visit the fire station every October during Fire
Prevention Week. Most stations have an open house on
a certain morning of the month. Unfortunately, I had
to miss this year - I was post-call and not yet off
work. The fire station near our new home is small,
but it worked out well since there weren't too many
people there at all and the boys got their own
personal little tour.
Halloween
11/01/08 03:06
I know I say this a lot, but I can't believe how fast
time is flying by. It's already November! Don't
forget to turn back the clocks (one extra hour and I
don't have to work - hooray!)
Here are some shots from yesterday. The kids' daycare had a parade. Amazingly enough, J and I were both able to leave work early (he was at some sort of new hire conference, and my clinic ended early, probably because it was Halloween). So I rushed over and was able to catch most of the parade. It's really fortunate that we could both make it. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have been able to take these photos. M was Buzz Lightyear (there were quite a few people who didn't recognize his costume - I guess those movies are sort of older classics now). A didn't want to put on his actual costume for the parade (he had just woken up from a nap), but we ended up strolling through the local mall later in the evening and I was able topersuade trick
him into putting on at least the top part of the
costume. Oh, it's kind of chilly out here; we
better put on our jacket. Hey look! There are funny
mittens here, and oh boy it's cold - we should put on
our hood too. I don't think I totally tricked
him since after we put it on, A said I'm a
monkey! But at least it kept him warm (it really
was cold) and I thought he looked pretty cute in the
monkey costume.
The outdoor mall is actually a terrific place to take really young kids out for Halloween, since it's well lit and there are lots of other kids (and dogs) in costumes, and it's not as much walking in the dark. Our neighborhood is so new (and condo complexes don't really have much Halloween traffic) that we knew there really wouldn't be any trick-or-treating there, and I didn't really want to pick a random neighborhood to visit. Since for us, the experience was more the goal than candy collection, the mall suited us just fine.
Here are some shots from yesterday. The kids' daycare had a parade. Amazingly enough, J and I were both able to leave work early (he was at some sort of new hire conference, and my clinic ended early, probably because it was Halloween). So I rushed over and was able to catch most of the parade. It's really fortunate that we could both make it. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have been able to take these photos. M was Buzz Lightyear (there were quite a few people who didn't recognize his costume - I guess those movies are sort of older classics now). A didn't want to put on his actual costume for the parade (he had just woken up from a nap), but we ended up strolling through the local mall later in the evening and I was able to
The outdoor mall is actually a terrific place to take really young kids out for Halloween, since it's well lit and there are lots of other kids (and dogs) in costumes, and it's not as much walking in the dark. Our neighborhood is so new (and condo complexes don't really have much Halloween traffic) that we knew there really wouldn't be any trick-or-treating there, and I didn't really want to pick a random neighborhood to visit. Since for us, the experience was more the goal than candy collection, the mall suited us just fine.
We tried to register to vote, but failed
10/30/08 06:30
We cannot verify your registration because the information you provided does not match any current records.
Earlier this month, we mailed in our registration to vote in the upcoming election. Having just moved to a new city and county this past summer, we definitely wanted to update the polling offices to our new address. I've been checking online to see when our registration has gone through, and strangely it still says that we are not active voters. So, I finally gave them a call yesterday morning (I had the luxury of a slightly later start to the day's work), and found out that while they have probably received our applications, our names were not activated because our new address is not in their precinct database (it is a relatively new community). So what that means is, unless we go down to the county office, we will be unable to vote in this election. In fact, the lady on the phone was quite testy, telling me If you had called earlier, we may have been able to take care of this. Plus, you can always come down to the county office. Feeling rather testy myself, I said Polling locations close at 8pm. Is there not any way I can vote in a location closer to my home? She replied We're very busy here. You should have called earlier.
I was a bit surprised to be met with such attitude. Usually, the volunteers are thrilled to have interested voters. I explained to her that our applications were mailed in early this month and asked why we didn't receive a notice to tell us that our address wasn't in their database (it is active in the U.S. Postal Service database, and has been for quite some time). She told me that they cannot mail anything anywhere that isn't in their database. And I inquired about the phone number we put down on the applications, and the email addresses they could have contacted (why do they even collect this information if they don't use it?). It's at least 40 minutes by car to the county offices at that time of day (and that's assuming we can make it on time).
To be fair, I called back later after digging around the voter website, to inquire about early voting and spoke to a very nice woman who went out of her way to figure out how I could more easily vote in this election. She ended up calling her mapping guy and he called me for directions to the neigborhood and said he was going to come check it out and add all the new streets. Good thing, since there are a lot of of new streets in this little neigborhood and a whole host of potentially untapped voters. Both of them were very excited about adding the neighborhood. So, maybe I just caught that first lady at a stressful moment.
While I recognize that had we registered to vote right when we moved earlier this summer (as good citizens might have done), we might have been able to get them to update their database in time and possibly even vote by mail (I knew that would be too good to be true given the new neighborhood, but I wasn't expecting to hear there wasn't even going to be a polling location for our community), but I have to admit that time has gotten away from me and we just haven't been on top of these sorts of things. We made all the deadlines, but we just weren't early enough. Aside from the fact that I think the voting system is too complicated and that I've felt for a long time that there shoud be a National Voting Holiday, I'm rather disappointed in both myself and the process today.
Watching fish at the aquarium
10/26/08 03:53
No, we don't own stock in this company
10/22/08 06:32
Although, if they wanted investors, I'd strongly
consider it. The boys have been riding their new
Strider bikes every weekend
for the last few weeks (and some weeknights if
we get home early enough) and all I can say is
wow. My little guy has starting
"riding" it alone now, after just a few times
where he needed some
assistance. My only concern at this point is
that they will need pedal bikes really soon and
won't need these anymore! Boy, that would be a
neat invention - a balance bike where you could
add pedals later.
Anyhow, these things are pretty awesome, especially if you find a place to ride that has a long road with a mild slope.
Anyhow, these things are pretty awesome, especially if you find a place to ride that has a long road with a mild slope.
One year ago today
10/20/08 00:55
Taking care of yourself - ha
10/20/08 00:51
It's pretty ridiculous how as physicians, we advise
our patients to take care of themselves, get enough
rest, eat balanced meals - and then of course, we
make it almost impossible to do all of these things
ourselves. Of course, I am generalizing - I do know
some physicians who get up at 5 am to run 2 miles,
eat only raw foods with no additives, and get at
least 8 hours of sleep each night. But this is
definitely not the norm. Most of us (especially
residents) are just struggling to get by, and to
maintain what we all know to be a healthy lifestyle
is just not possible. Actually, I think most new
parents probably have the same problems. New moms
always tell me that they would just love to be able
to take a shower and a nap.
I'd love to be able to dedicate some time to exercise each day (although I really hate running). But that would mean it would have to come at a cost of less sleep (and that is already a limited commodity), which I am not willing or able to do at the moment. It might also come at a cost of spending less time with the kids (which I am unwilling to do). I suppose if it was my highest priority, it could get done, but I guess the point I am trying to make is that it's incredibly hard to take care of yourself during residency, and even harder if you've got others to take care. Instinctively, most parents easily put their children first (and we are the same - the kids eat breakfast every day, but that isn't necessarily true for myself or my husband). I do try to take the stairs when possible, make healthy food choices and rest when I can, but certainly not to the level that most people would think is adequate. Hopefully, when I am finished with my training, there will be a better balance. In the meantime, I will take what I can get.
I'd love to be able to dedicate some time to exercise each day (although I really hate running). But that would mean it would have to come at a cost of less sleep (and that is already a limited commodity), which I am not willing or able to do at the moment. It might also come at a cost of spending less time with the kids (which I am unwilling to do). I suppose if it was my highest priority, it could get done, but I guess the point I am trying to make is that it's incredibly hard to take care of yourself during residency, and even harder if you've got others to take care. Instinctively, most parents easily put their children first (and we are the same - the kids eat breakfast every day, but that isn't necessarily true for myself or my husband). I do try to take the stairs when possible, make healthy food choices and rest when I can, but certainly not to the level that most people would think is adequate. Hopefully, when I am finished with my training, there will be a better balance. In the meantime, I will take what I can get.
What goes in the lunchbox?
10/17/08 08:30
Often times I am asked why I get up so early (I
usually get up around 5 am), even when I am on a
lighter rotation. When I have to be at work by 6 am,
I get ready and head out the door (and J takes care
of the lunches, which means he has to get up by 5:40
am). In that situation, he has to pack the lunches
before the boys get up and then help them get ready.
It's pretty hard to do all that, clean up, and get
yourself dressed in an appropriate amount of time so
as not to be late. So when I am on a lighter month, I
like to get up and make the lunches (and give J a
break). Besides, making lunch can be fun, depending
on what the menu is for the day. Plus. if he gets the
kids dressed, I can have a heartier breakfast on the
table (instead of eating on the go) and clean up
afterwards as well.
When the boys were younger, it was much harder to pack their lunches, since their meal choices were rather limited (and may have needed to be pureed). Now, they can pretty much eat almost anything, and it's fun to pack a variety of things for them to eat.
This particular lunch includes dumplings, cheese, baked peas, honeydew, and corn on the cob (and the standard milk cup). My kids usually eat all their dumplings for lunch, so we have those at least once each week.
This lunch includes mini tacos, raisins, cheese, watermelon, honeydew, wheat crackers, and chicken perogies. This one was for my preschooler (my little guy doesn't eat raisins yet - or rather, he chews them up but doesn't quite swallow them (choking hazard, I know), so we don't pack them for his lunch)
Here's another one, with Chinese sausage, rice, teriyaki salmon (all leftovers from dinner), baked peas, honeydew, and a hard boiled egg.
This one is for my toddler, since he has an egg sensitivity (I really hope he outgrows this soon). Mashed potatoes, rice, Chinese sausage, teriyaki salmon, grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, honeydew, and baked peas.
Do we always have lunches like this? No - it really depends on what leftovers we have from dinner, and how much time I have in the morning. Most days, I also throw in a cup (or tube) of yogurt. It is getting easier though, and now as I plan dinner in the evening, I'm also thinking about lunch. Of course, do my lunches look like this? Uh, no (I wish). We don't usually have enough leftovers for all of our lunches (plus mine are fortunately provided most of the time by our department). Plus, there's always that added risk that there won't be time to eat lunch (terrible, I know). My husband usually gets a less elaborate version of these (one dish plus fruit and a drink).
When the boys were younger, it was much harder to pack their lunches, since their meal choices were rather limited (and may have needed to be pureed). Now, they can pretty much eat almost anything, and it's fun to pack a variety of things for them to eat.
This particular lunch includes dumplings, cheese, baked peas, honeydew, and corn on the cob (and the standard milk cup). My kids usually eat all their dumplings for lunch, so we have those at least once each week.
This lunch includes mini tacos, raisins, cheese, watermelon, honeydew, wheat crackers, and chicken perogies. This one was for my preschooler (my little guy doesn't eat raisins yet - or rather, he chews them up but doesn't quite swallow them (choking hazard, I know), so we don't pack them for his lunch)
Here's another one, with Chinese sausage, rice, teriyaki salmon (all leftovers from dinner), baked peas, honeydew, and a hard boiled egg.
This one is for my toddler, since he has an egg sensitivity (I really hope he outgrows this soon). Mashed potatoes, rice, Chinese sausage, teriyaki salmon, grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, honeydew, and baked peas.
Do we always have lunches like this? No - it really depends on what leftovers we have from dinner, and how much time I have in the morning. Most days, I also throw in a cup (or tube) of yogurt. It is getting easier though, and now as I plan dinner in the evening, I'm also thinking about lunch. Of course, do my lunches look like this? Uh, no (I wish). We don't usually have enough leftovers for all of our lunches (plus mine are fortunately provided most of the time by our department). Plus, there's always that added risk that there won't be time to eat lunch (terrible, I know). My husband usually gets a less elaborate version of these (one dish plus fruit and a drink).
"Scary guy"
10/15/08 06:34
The other day, as we were driving on some weekend outing, I hear my toddler in the back seat say I want scary guy. Actually, when he says it, it sounds more like sceery guy. I turned to J and asked him What made him think of that? At the same time, I realized that we were driving by the exact same pharmacy we had gone to before. It's weird how kids remember this stuff.
I've realized now that he calls anything that looks like a skull a sceery guy. It's very cute. He's half afraid and half captivated every time he sees one. Halloween should be interesting.
Bouncy house birthday party
10/13/08 10:22
We ended up deciding to go with the boys' double
birthday party at the bouncy house location. It was
really fun, and I think everyone had a good time.
Most of the invitees were children from the
preschool, and almost everyone we invited ended up
being able to come, so it was quite an event. We
don't have as many photos as we'd like (hard to do
when you're the host), but here are some that I was
able to snap.
Here's the egg-free strawberry cake option we had, baked by a woman who has a bakery stand at the local farmer's market (the other cake was from Costco):
Here are the boys waiting to blow out the candles:
The little girl in this photo is our neighbor. Our kids adore her (and even picked out a pumpkin for her at the pumpkin patch - photos coming soon). Our garages face each other, so the kids often find themselves riding their bikes together outside our homes.
Here's the egg-free strawberry cake option we had, baked by a woman who has a bakery stand at the local farmer's market (the other cake was from Costco):
Here are the boys waiting to blow out the candles:
The little girl in this photo is our neighbor. Our kids adore her (and even picked out a pumpkin for her at the pumpkin patch - photos coming soon). Our garages face each other, so the kids often find themselves riding their bikes together outside our homes.
Birthday presents
10/11/08 04:15
My two year old hasn't quite figured it out, although I am still glad I bought him one too since he (of course) wants to do everything his big brother does. He does ride it with some assistance though and I am looking forward to watching him learn how to ride. We were lucky enough to find them at a local store (I really wanted to see them before buying them, and would hate to pay extra shipping costs on such large items if I needed to return them). They were just under $100 each (plus tax), but you can also find a very competitively priced selection at Amazon, with free shipping. And while relative to other balance bikes, I think they are pretty fairly priced, they definitely are an indulgence. We are certainly very lucky.
I'll try to review them at some point in the (hopefully) near future.
Water fountain
10/08/08 04:43
My little guy has recently become fascinated with
water fountains. There is a little one in the outdoor
playground at his preschool that he loves to drink
from. It's pretty easy to see how one might find it
to be so interesting (he also tries to drink from the
handheld shower head at home). In any case, my
favorite photo in this series is the one where he is
looking right at the camera.
Does this remind you of anything?
10/05/08 15:30
Silly smiles
10/02/08 05:08
Three years ago today
09/29/08 01:47
Wheee!
09/28/08 00:22
Life doesn't get much better than this.
For those who are curious, we are riding a plasma car, which we were very lucky to pick up dirt cheap at less than $30 last year. I haven't been able to find it again at such a low price, but Amazon currently has a fair price with free shipping.
For those who are curious, we are riding a plasma car, which we were very lucky to pick up dirt cheap at less than $30 last year. I haven't been able to find it again at such a low price, but Amazon currently has a fair price with free shipping.
Smithsonian Magazine museum day
09/26/08 13:50
Free museum admission this weekend to many locations
around the country. Most of them are for tomorrow.
Check it out here.
Cheese quesadilla
09/24/08 06:08
One difference between my two boys is that my younger
one really seems to enjoy eating. In general, he'll
eat try just about anything I offer him. My
preschooler, on the other hand, is somewhat more
suspicious and hesitant to try anything outside his
usual favorites, although he is getting much better
these days. For him, eating is more of a chore than a
pleasure, unless he's really hungry or we're having a
special treat.
Just look at how happy my toddler is eating this cheese quesadilla.
Just look at how happy my toddler is eating this cheese quesadilla.
Watermelon at the Farmer's Market
09/18/08 02:57
One year ago today
09/17/08 08:56
Golden weekend
09/13/08 07:00
I never really quite appreciated all the hype about a
"Golden Weekend" in residency. Until now, of course.
A full two days off, hooray! - well, technically I
have a bunch of discharge and off-service summaries
to do. I just finished two lengthy discharge
dictations this morning (helps to not have to leave
the house by 5:30 am).
I'll be back to post some more later. Hopefully with some new photos.
I'll be back to post some more later. Hopefully with some new photos.
Not quite right
09/04/08 04:06
Watching the diggers
09/01/08 06:03
Trying to make it to the weekend
08/25/08 04:32
I logged 79 work hours last week (from Sunday through
Saturday) and I can't remember if I logged all my
hours doing dictations at home. I haven't had a day
off since I started this rotation last Monday and
won't get one until Sunday. I generally get to work
by 6am and leave somewhere between 6 and 6:30 at
night. And call is from 6am until about noon the
following day (which is what I did this weekend).
Logistically, this means I leave before anyone get up up in the morning (while it is still pitch black outside), and get home in time to (hopefully) have dinner with the family, play with the kids for a bit and then help put them to bed. Fortunately, they have been going to bed a little bit later during the summer (closer to 9pm) which leaves me a little bit more time with them in the evenings. Of course, this makes it harder on my husband who has to get them up for school in the morning so that he can make it to work on time (It'd be great to have a nanny and daycare, wouldn't it?). So this means after 9pm, we've got dinnertime clean up, and then whatever dictations I need to do, and then try to get to bed at a reasonable hour so i can be up early in the morning to do it all again. What usually happens though is that I am so exhausted at 9pm, that I fall asleep in the kids room (sometimes I lay on a mat in there when they go to bed) and get up at 2 or 3am, freak out about all the work I have to finish and then stay up until it's time to go back to work.
It's weird how there is this "rule" of working a maximum of 80 hours a week, and then seeing how everyone really has to try hard to stay under these limits (I've definitely gone over before). Overworking is certainly not limited to the field of medicine but I have to say it is much too common for my taste. The other thing I think people don't always recognize is that when I am at work, I am pretty much working the whole time I am there. There really aren't many breaks or periods of downtime unless I consciously remember and force myself to a) eat something or b) sit down and take a break. And that is assuming there is enough lull in the workload to dare try it. My pager always seems to go off the second I walk into a restroom.
Logistically, this means I leave before anyone get up up in the morning (while it is still pitch black outside), and get home in time to (hopefully) have dinner with the family, play with the kids for a bit and then help put them to bed. Fortunately, they have been going to bed a little bit later during the summer (closer to 9pm) which leaves me a little bit more time with them in the evenings. Of course, this makes it harder on my husband who has to get them up for school in the morning so that he can make it to work on time (It'd be great to have a nanny and daycare, wouldn't it?). So this means after 9pm, we've got dinnertime clean up, and then whatever dictations I need to do, and then try to get to bed at a reasonable hour so i can be up early in the morning to do it all again. What usually happens though is that I am so exhausted at 9pm, that I fall asleep in the kids room (sometimes I lay on a mat in there when they go to bed) and get up at 2 or 3am, freak out about all the work I have to finish and then stay up until it's time to go back to work.
It's weird how there is this "rule" of working a maximum of 80 hours a week, and then seeing how everyone really has to try hard to stay under these limits (I've definitely gone over before). Overworking is certainly not limited to the field of medicine but I have to say it is much too common for my taste. The other thing I think people don't always recognize is that when I am at work, I am pretty much working the whole time I am there. There really aren't many breaks or periods of downtime unless I consciously remember and force myself to a) eat something or b) sit down and take a break. And that is assuming there is enough lull in the workload to dare try it. My pager always seems to go off the second I walk into a restroom.
