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Tags: school

They basically stop to play with every toy along our path out of the daycare, which can sometimes take a little while. At the end of the day, I'm not usually in a big hurry to leave, unless I've got something in the oven (rare). But in the mornings, it can be a bit of a challenge, especially if we're running late. I usually try to prime them in the car beforehand, which usually works. Okay, Mommy has to go to school too, so we have to hurry like firefighters today, okay?

In the photo on the right, the boys are each trying to squeeze between the trees. The other two photos show them driving the ride-ons in the courtyard, and then pushing the corn poppers every which way, while I'm standing there with two lunchboxes, two backpacks and a large bag of wet/dirty clothing and a stack of artwork, saying Okay boys, time to park the poppers please. Time to go home for bath and dinner!

It's amazing that parents of toddlers can get anywhere on time. Depending on what time everyone gets up in the morning, it can be pretty tough to keep on schedule. Someone always needs a diaper change or a visit to the potty right as we're putting on our shoes to get out the door. It's really impossible to rush them, unless we're prepared for some sort of meltdown. I guess this is why our alarm is set for 5:45am on weekdays (depends on what rotation I am on). It's much easier to help the boys get ready for school if the lunches are made and everything is ready to go before they get up (which ranges from 5:45 to 7am, but usually happens around 6:30am).

Tags: M, A, daycare

Tags: A

Guess where we're going tomorrow (I mean today)?



To see model trains of course!

I'm up late and about to dictate some off-service summaries. What a week! If I still have some energy left afterwards, I'll try to post a new photo of the boys.

Tags: travel

I don't know why I like this one so much.

Tags: A

This was taken at daycare. I love wrist fat folds on babies. I just finished my last overnight call of medical school - woohoo! Call free until mid-June! That means we get to have dinner as a family and I get to tuck the kids in bed every night in person (not on the phone). Sad, but true for the q4 call folks. It's hard not to miss a face like this:

Tags: A

Tags: M, me

Just like last year, the boys enjoyed a campus-sponsored Easter egg hunt over the weekend. Unfortunately, I missed the event (was out of town for a funeral), but here's a photo. The last week has certainly been a crazy one.

Who says toddlers don't know how to share?

Tags: M, A

Tags: M

I recently posted about a sale at Shoebuy, where I bought a pair of next-size toddler shoes for about $22. They have a new promo now, where you save $10 off $30 with the code SPRINGFLING08, which is a terrific deal, especially if what you are buying is close to $30 (the shoes I bought were $31). I'm buying another pair (two sizes up) so I don't have to worry about not having appropriately-sized shoes this fall when I'll be a busy intern. Plus, we really like the Stride Rite Bailey shoes. With my recent-buyer discount and this coupon, the total price came to under $20, shipped to the door. Not bad, and we can skip the lines at the store.

Tags: shoes

My 1.5 year-old climbed the structure ladders at the park last week with only a little bit of help from me. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. It makes me a bit nervous about how I am going to manage residency and still be able to be there for the boys, but they're obviously my highest priority, so I will have to make it work. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Tags: A, me

Amazon is currently having a big DVD sale, with prices as low as $6.49. I just ordered some Leap Frog titles, including "Talking Words Factory," the sequel to "The Letter Factory," which is a really fun DVD. It was only $7.49. I'll try to review it once we've watched it a few times. I know I've been slow to review stuff, but I've got a running list of things to write about, which I'll be able to do fairly soon. Only one more week of critical care (until residency).

Tags: video

Well, it's official - I matched at my first choice residency program. Matthew helped me open the envelope, which took what seemed like 5 minutes (especially after he dropped it)! I'll be at a great academic center in California.

More details about what I applied into to come very soon, I promise!

Tags: school, me, M

We tried to ride to the local fire station over the weekend, but there was a ton of sidewalk construction, so we ended up having to take a lot of alternate routes, including riding through this (empty) parking lot. We were only able to see the fire station from across the street, since with all the construction, there wasn't a safe way to get to the other side. We'll try a different fire station next time.

Tags: me, A, M

Adding on to a long list of safety concerns regarding products from China, now heparin may have been affected too. I wonder how many more of these news releases it will take before we do something about it? It's terrible how money is often the root of all things corrupt, and healthcare is no exception.

Tags: safety

Interesting, at least in my opinion. Post-call, I had a fat email inbox waiting for me at home, and one of them was a link to the NBME site, where I found out that I passed Step 2 CK. Thank goodness! I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to taking big exams, and this was one of those where you don't walk out of it feeling like you knew for sure if you passed or not. Eight one-hour blocks, with 45 minutes to use as break time between blocks or as a larger lunch break. So if you took 5 minutes between each section, you would have almost used up all your break time (and the clock starts ticking as soon as you finish each section). It was pretty tiring, and by the end of the exam, I was pretty much just clicking answer choices to get them over with (my reading speed had also slowed by the end of the day, so I was more pressed for time in the later blocks). In any case, I am really glad to have that over with. I still have Step 2 CS (the day-long practical exam). And I think Step 3 (during intern year) is taken over two days! With all the test anxiety I get, you'd think I would have picked a profession where you aren't taking major exams every couple of years!

Tags: me

Tags: M

We visited an airplane museum for the first time over the weekend (needless to say, the boys loved it). We'll definitely be going back there pretty soon.

So many buttons and switches - it was toddler heaven.


I'm on call, so my next post won't be until tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon at the earliest.

Tags: M, A

Yesterday, we got an email to tell us whether or not we matched at one of our ranked residency programs. We didn't find out where (that's on Thursday), only if we did (I did). We've gotten a string of emails recently with alarming subjects, like Scramble Advisory (someone probably chuckled to themselves when they sent that one out to thousands of nervous graduating seniors). The "Scramble" is the stressful process you go through if you didn't match at one of your ranked programs, and you essentially try to pick up an unmatched spot, possibly in an entirely different specialty. In any case, lots of people are on edge this week, since we're going to find out where we spend the next several years. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Two more weeks of critical care and then I am done with rotations! Hooray! Then I have several weeks to finish writing up some research projects I've had on the backburner for quite some time. But at least I'll be on a flexible schedule and won't have to get up at the crack of dawn (at least not until mid-June). Or unless the boys do.

Tags: school

Food goes in here.

Tags: M, me

Tags: A

This photo was taken way back in January, but I dug it up because I think it's cute. Someone should have told me it was funny hat day.

Tags: me, A, M

I'm post-call again, but this time I got out at 12:30pm, a big improvement from last time (I realize it's only about 1.5 hours more, but when you are tired, every minute counts). I even had a chance to have lunch with Jason at one of the cafeterias at the medical school, something we hardly ever get to do.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids today, since I haven't seen them (awake) since Tuesday night. I did talk to them on the phone last night, which was really cute. When I am a resident, I plan to iChat with them when I am on call, and even have them meet me at the hospital on quiet weekend calls. We can have lunch or dinner or just play in the courtyards. This is all theoretical, of course. I'll find a way to make it work.

Oh, and remember that patient I had to write a transfer summary for on my last call? They weren't transferred on Saturday, and instead moved to the floor only yesterday (and a new transfer summary had to be written). It did make it a bit easier to have done it already, since I could just add an addendum to it, but I would have preferred to have written it after having a reasonable night's rest.

Tags: J, A, school

Shoebuy.com is having a promotion where you can save 20% off your order (there are some brand restrictions) when you use the code MADNESS08. I just purchased a third pair of these Stride Rite Bailey sneakers (toddler feet grow fast). For some reason, they are labeled as infant girl shoes, even though I think they are very cute for boys. They are regularly about $31, but with the coupon (and my additional 10% off for a recent purchase in the last 60 days), the total came to about $22 shipped.

Tags: shoes

The local chain grocery store just got renovated, and along with the cool new look, they've added a few things that have certainly attracted my attention. I generally like to shop at Trader Joe's and Costco, and will occasionally shop at the main grocery store for harder-to-find items (or items I don't need to buy in bulk).

Not only is it clean and shiny, but the aisles are wider, and they have fun car shopping carts (with two steering wheels and seatbelts!) and a full-service Starbucks in the store (although I think their coffee is a bit inconsistent compared with that of the stand-alone stores nearby). They also have a pharmacy which has friendly staff (we've had a string of bad luck with pharmacies that have rude customer service), and is open 24 hours (I wonder if the coffee is available 24 hours - probably not). It's definitely a nice way of making a routine chore a bit more fun (not to mention, a lot easier to do with the boys).

Tags: M, A

This photo was taken at a local toy store, where we were shopping for some birthday presents (so many parties in the spring!). It was a terrific display because the tracks had been glued down. I know some parents who do this at home, but I would always want the boys to be able to rebuild new tracks. I suppose you could have two sets and glue one of them down onto a board (we don't have the space nor the funds for that luxury). In any case, this store display was sufficient to keep them busy, as you can see.

Tags: M, A

Makes it much easier to forget about the rough days.

Tags: A, M, me

If I have a free morning, what I really want to do is drop the kids off at daycare and then come home, have a bowl of cereal and maybe fold some laundry while I catch up on months of recorded television shows on our Tivo. Then I might catch up on email, and post something to this site. And then study for a few hours. If I am feeling really indulgent, I could take a nap.

This never happens. I hardly ever have a free morning, for starters. But let's just say it's a rare occasion. Realistically, what happens is I throw in load after load of laundry, letting the clean clothes pile up into baskets in the hallway, and wolf down a bowl of cereal while I try to catch up on my studies. Why not take a break? Well, I've learned that I can pretty much be called at any time during the day because someone has a fever, fell down, or has pinkeye. Especially during the winter months. I can live with unfolded laundry. I will fail my exams (not to mention be a terrible physician) if I don't study.

Prior to any major exam I've taken since the kids were born, someone always gets sick in the few days beforehand. It happened before Step 1 and Step 2, as well as several shelf exams. This is stressful to say the least, but what's it taught me is to try not to procrastinate, especially when it comes to studying.

Tags: health, school

I'm going to refrain from writing too much lest I start ranting about how people have no respect for other people's time. I am post-call today, and did not leave the hospital until 2:11 pm this afternoon, after having to request that I be excused because I was post-call (and over the hour limit). And not before my resident asked that I write a transfer note for a patient being moved tomorrow, and sign out to the resident on the team who would accept the transfer (even though that resident probably wasn't going to be the one accepting the patient tomorrow). Which explains why they haven't paged me back. Anyhow, no respect for time is what I am saying.

I'm mostly annoyed because I have a schedule to follow this afternoon. I was supposed to get home at 12:30pm, take a shower and a quick nap until 1:30pm, after which I'd start prepping a pork roast that takes at 2.5 hours to cook (during which time I would catch up on email and perhaps take another nap), and then go run an errand between 4 and 5pm (a pre-scheduled appointment which also happens to double as a favor for a friend, who is also on a critical care month and is very busy as well).

I've now started the roast, and am now catching up on email and busy work (got a notice to apply to graduate), and I'll take a quick shower before running out the door again at 5pm. No nap. Oh well.

I know I am being overly dramatic, but it's been a rough day. Plus two patients died. So really, I'll stop complaining, because their families have had one of the worst days ever. But I can't help but reiterate the importance of having respect for other people's time.

Tags: school

Tags: A

Tags: M, me

Last weekend (or was it the one before?), we learned that outdoor malls are pretty fun in the rain. There are plenty of puddles (but it's not too wet), and the mix of sheltered and open areas makes it easier to get around (and take photos). The boys followed around a very patient pigeon for at least 10 minutes.

Tags: M, A

Posts are going to be photo-heavy for the next little while - critical care is going to keep me busy.

It's birthday party season! We've been to a few parties recently. These photos were taken at a party held at one of those children's gymnastic centers, which was pretty fun.

Tags: M, A, me

I can't believe it's already March! I have a critical care rotation this month, so this should be interesting. At least it's my last rotation before graduation - hooray! Then I have tons of research to write up and I've got plans to learn as much Spanish as I can before residency. Oh, and of course I'm going to try to rest and relax and spend time with the family before the real chaos begins in June. Match Day is on March 20 (which is when most graduating med students find out where they are going to train for residency) - eek!

Tags: M, A