Tuesday, September 23, 2008

My therapy

After the last eight weeks, I desperately needed a day off with no pressing responsibilities or to-do lists. I had a great massage yesterday followed by a quick, short-notice trip to visit my mother-in-law. I had planned to spend yesterday afternoon relaxing, but since we made the trip instead, I decided to use today for my relaxation today.

I spent the morning curled up with Sebastian watching Season 2 of Heroes. Since we missed the season premiere last night, I figure I had time to refresh myself on last season (thank goodness for DVR!). Now I've moved into the kitchen (bringing the laptop and the rest of the season with me) and have started on my own version of therapy -- baking. I trialed a new recipe for a dessert called Serendipity Deluxe bars (3 layers of deliciousness -- all from scratch!) and am waiting on my yeast roll dough to finish its 2nd rise before I split it up into rolls and do the 3rd rise. I'm also testing the new breadmaker to make a loaf of fresh bread for sandwiches. Knowing what ingredients I'm putting into my recipes appeals to me, and making all of these treats from scratch has been so fun. I have some flour left over from the bag I opened today that won't fit into the flour canister, so I think I may make some peanut butter cookies too in a little bit. :)

Hubby's not going to know what to think when he walks in the door tonight! At least I know we're having salads for dinner tonight; that will help counter-balance some of the yummy goodness awaiting us for dessert.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Go, Cowboys, go!!

This weekend my parents came to visit. Since Hurricane Ike wiped out a large portion of Houston, the wedding in which my brother was a groomsman was postponed, so he and my sister traveled to Dallas to join in the fun. We have had a blast!! The siblings had to leave this morning, but my parents get to stay until tomorrow. Right now we're doing what every good Texan family is doing -- watching the Cowboys game. It's fun to watch the boys get so riled up!!

The last two weeks have been long, and I have enjoyed these last two days off immensely. I have tomorrow off as well, so I am being blessed with an hour and a half massage (winning that gift card really paid off!), and then I'm probably joining Hubby for a quick trip down to his mom's to get some furniture out of storage.

Thirteen days from now, Hubby and I are headed to Walt Disney World -- my fourth trip and his first. He has no idea how much fun we're about to have and doesn't have a clue why I am so excited. I'm praying that no hurricanes come to ruin our fun, but no matter what, I'm looking forward to having time with him with no work to hang over our heads during our vacation. We've both been averaging 60-70 hours a week for the last few months, so this vacation will be very welcome!

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Sister time!

I had the weekend off, so my sister came to Dallas to visit. We had so much fun! Saturday morning Hubby and I finished cleaning the house, and I took Sebastian to the vet to get caught up on his vaccinations. He sure wasn't happy with me that day! By the time we got home, Becca was already waiting for us at our house. It was time to let the fun begin!

The three of us (Hubby, Becca, and I -- not Sebastian) went to Chuy's for lunch since Becca and I were craving some creamy jalapeno dip. Unfortunately, they forgot to bring out Hubby's plate, and by the time his food arrived, we were almost done eating; at least they gave him the meal for free since he pretty much had to eat alone! (He did encourage us to eat so that our food wouldn't get cold while we waited on him -- so sweet.) After lunch we did a little shopping and bought tons and tons of red meat for our weekend feasting (my hubby LOVES beef in any shape or form). I made a yummy mixed greens salad with bacon and balsamic vinaigrette as well as fully loaded baked potatoes while Hubby grilled his signature filet mignon. Becca agreed with me that his steak is better than most steakhouses and stated it was the best steak she'd had in years. My boy can grill!! :)

Becca brought us genuine kolaches from the Czech Stop in West, Tx, so we had those for breakfast. Becca and I are half-Czech and extremely proud of it (one of my next goals is to learn to make kolaches from scratch like the ones my grandma used to make), and having the kolaches reminded me of being a little girl going to visit Grandma in College Station and having cream cheese kolaches for breakfast in her little house. After church this morning, we had steak and grilled onion sandwiches, and now that Becca's gone, we've begun a long afternoon of watching football. Go Cowboys! This weekend was just what I needed; I now feel better equipped for another twelve straight days of work.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Lack of sleep leads to random thoughts

Cardiology has been a pretty good rotation so far. While my call last Friday was way worse than my PICU calls, the day-to-day work has been easier. My interns are awesome, and I have even had great interns working with me when I'm covering other services! I had another long day at work today but at least got to see some REALLY cute kids in my clinic. I've worked 113 hours in the last ten days and will hopefully only work about 23 more over the next two before getting Saturday and Sunday off (isn't that sad that I just used the word "only" when describing that)?

I couldn't stop yawning while I was talking with my mom on my way home. She even asked if I thought I could make it home without falling asleep! I took an accidental nap on the bed with Sebastian sprawled across my shoulder, and when I woke up, I realized just how hungry I was. I grabbed a handful of ranch-flavored Goldfish crackers to tide me over, and I must have wiped my hand on my pants or something because Sebastian is going NUTS. He keeps trying to lick my pant leg and the spot on the bed where I put my hand down. It's hilarious!

I found out as I was walking out to my car today that another patient with whose care I was very involved passed away yesterday. That's three kids in four days. I didn't expect pediatrics to be this hard.

Hubby and I did some serious shopping this weekend. Several months ago, I lost the mixing blade to our breadmaker, so it's been out of use as I was having trouble finding a replacement part. This weekend I found the entire breadmaker on sale for only several dollars more than the blade alone by the time I factored in tax and shipping. Hopefully I will have time to bake bread again this weekend!!

I'm taking a big step by putting my blog address on my Facebook page. This blog has been a haven for my ramblings and is read by a couple close friends but more by people I wish I knew better (and maybe a few random people as well). I don't really know why I'm motivated to do this. It reminds me of something a friend once told me in medical school: "People just want to be known." Maybe that's part of it; I have a huge shy side (the loud side really is just a big act!), and I often feel like I have to put on a certain face depending where I am. I desire authenticity; I just want to be real.