terrabul

You know what? I'm Terrible. (I always imagine charles barkley whenever I say terrible. An example here)

Terrible in the sense that I have somehow become too busy to write even though I still haven't started working! I might as well sign off forever once intern year starts...

Anyway, to recap, we finished all our "orientation" for school. It was overall pretty boring, occasionally helpful, and did not once remind me again how to work those acid-base problems and read EKGs. I suppose I should break out the dusty textbooks before I start.

I start on our one off-site rotation of the year, in Morehead, KY. It's about an hour away but I will not be commuting - they have housing available for us. I hear that I will get off more days than a usual rotation, which I hope is true...but we'll see. I don't have an official schedule yet but maybe it will come Monday! Let's hope! Chris and I are in a bit of a pickle as we are a one-car family right now (and that one car does not have air conditioning!) It's going to be tough to only have one car if I am not in the city.

I've started on too many "home improvement projects" - after we bought out Ikea, we also bought out Bed, Bath and Beyond and are working on Lowes. The house still looks a little bare but it's improving - we've got some blinds and curtains at least! I started the daunting task of taking off wallpaper from the bathrooms...gah. The guest bathroom was super easy so I thought that it would be similarly easy to do the bathroom downstairs. I was sadly, sadly mistaken.

Um...Oh yes! Also I had a cake decorating party! How awesome is that? A few girls (who are upcoming 4th year med students) asked me to teach them how to play with fondant and other cakey things, so we got together and made cakes! They all turned out SUPER cute, I can't wait to post pictures!

Bailey is getting huge! (probably 20 pounds, but that's over twice her weight when we got her 5 weeks ago!) She's into EVERYTHING and whenever I think my house is finally puppy-proof she finds something else that's not. She's a chewer, too. I don't mind that she chews on my stuff it's just annoying that she chews on me and my friends! It's a good thing she's adorable.

She is a smart pup, though, and under the right circumstances (meaning: few distractions and lots of dog cookies!) she can sit, stay, lay down, come, get in her kennel, and give me her paw to shake! Awww...sooo cute. She also fetches but not because I know hot to teach her to do that - just because she's a retriever and that's apparently what they do.

Well, I'd better try to get back to stripping wallpaper while the puppy is asleep. If you don't hear from me ever again, I ask for your prayers beginning July 1!

busy busy bee

There has been way too much going on for me to even start writing.

1) We got the house. It's so awesome. It's a lot of work, but awesome. I will upload before/after photos once we have some "after" to take photos of. We also went to Ikea. Oh.my.gosh. Awesome. We brought a U-haul to Ikea. Haha...yep. We also bought a giant television on super sale. We're living like I actually have a job! It's pretty fun!

2) Bailey is still chewing but is as cute as ever. Gah! Need more photos. :) I got a new phone (because my other one was going crazy for a couple months) and am currently trying to upload pictures to no avail. I hate technology sometimes!

3) Lots of lovely weddings. One more next week then done for a while. Photos and stories to come...someday!

4) Chris got into a car accident on Friday, thank goodness he is OK but his car isn't! :( I was out of town (and out of cell phone reception, actually) so I didn't even know - it was a traumatic experience but I suppose if anything good came of it it got us thinking about our own mortality and we're much more conscious of how much we care for each other. The house and puppy and everything else were getting in the way...now we're making plenty of time for each other! Unfortunately he's now out of town at a conference now...so it's just me and Bailey!

5) We start residency orientation on the 15th (I think?) It's coming up so fast and I am not ready!!! I want some more vacation! My house isn't done! My puppy isn't completely house trained! Oh man I need to fit in a lot in the next week.

Sorry so short. I need to focus on this dumb phone!

let sleeping dogs lie

My puppy is asleep.

Do I clean, exercise, or make cupcakes (that I will still NOT EAT)?

Or do I read about how to stop your puppy from chewing on EVERYTHING...even your face if it gets too close!

pups and pancakes

My time has been eaten up by one quite adorable puppy named Bailey.

Bailey Floski Twist Simmons, to be exact.

She's napping now, which means it's time for me to do something productive.

Maybe workout? Price lawnmower/washer/dryer for the new house? Play on facebook? Maybe make some more yummy BEAN PANCAKES. Seriously. They taste a little "healthy-ish" but they're full of fiber, protein, and I think with a little PB they're a pretty awesome snack.

1 can of white beans (Cannellini - rinsed)

3 eggs (medium)
2 Tbls of Splenda (to taste)
1 Tbl of Vanilla
1 tsp of Almond Extract
2-3 Tbls of Flax Seed*
1/4 cup of pecans/ walnuts*
1/4 cup fat free half-half
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Nutmeg

Place all ingredients into a food processor/ blender to combine. Can be made into pancakes or waffles with delicious results. :)
* optional

Edit: the first time I made these with navy beans (the small kind) that I had rinsed very well, added the flax seed and used a little milk instead of the half-half. I thought they were pretty good for a fiber/protein snack. The second time around, I used cannelini beans (bigger) and maybe didn't rinse them quite as well...and they tasted like beans (I also didn't use the flax, pecans, or nearly as much nutmeg). After the first icky pancake, I added pecan pieces and allspice to the mix. Quite a bit better. Of course, smothering it in PB doesn't hurt, either. :)

so I swore I would never be one of THOSE moms...

...but we haven't even had our puppy 24 hours and I've already called the vet...

...twice.

Here is a slideshow of her first day. Can you imagine what it will be like when we have human children?

Edit: We actually called the vet three times. And went over to the vet's office. Within 24 hours of having her! I think that might be a record.

For the record, though, I'm not THAT crazy - she had fleas and momma needed to get rid of those because I DO NOT LIKE BUGS. Crisis averted!

Diet

So....I started a diet.

I have never restricted what I eat before (except for giving up chocolate and things like that for Lent every year...which sometimes doesn't go too well!). I always feel like the food I eat is typically pretty healthy (except for my cupcake problem, you know...but I give most of them away!)

Anyway, I've noticed the past few months my clothes were getting a little tighter. I haven't gained a lot of weight but I figured that if I was going to tell my patients to diet and exercise for their health I should do it too.

The problem is, I am sort of enjoying it.

I really enjoy making food, and although I can't eat the cupcakes (I have about 50 cupcakes and a full size cake in my freezer right now that I've been making and can't eat ANY) I still get to make myself a nutritious and balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm eating tons of fresh vegetables and I'm not starving! I actually even wanted a soda for lunch and passed it up for water...happily...what is wrong with me?!

Don't get me wrong, I was working on these cupcake toppers and made an entire bag of chocolate chips into modeling chocolate, I was molding this HUGE blob of chocolate last night - it smelled absolutely amazing and it was terrible not to eat any of it! But, I knew that I wasn't hungry and didn't need any of it. I don't even like the texture of modeling chocolate anyway, so I just reminded myself of that and had a healthy snack instead.

As an aside, Werthers makes sugar free hard candy (caramel flavor) that tastes just like FUNFETTI CUPCAKES. And you can eat 5 of them for 40 calories. It's not only my crazy brain that thinks that - Chris agreed with me. They're delicious!

You may hear more about how this is going...if not...I probably fell off the bandwagon just like my patients :)

Guess what else I'm doing today: Puppy-proofing my house because Bailey comes home tomorrow! I'm so excited! I'm also a dork and I keep googling "pet-safe household cleaners" "organic pet treat recipes" and other ridiculous things. I can't imagine how I will be when we actually have a baby on the way! :)

belated birthday (cake)

My dad's birthday was in April...and I took pictures of his cake! It was chocolate-raspberry (probably his favorite flavor combination). I tried really hard to make really fluffy pink icing layers inside but unfortunately most of them squished out with the weight of the dense cakes. So, I have no pictures of the inside - you'll just have to trust me that it was super yummy!

I made the frosting and the flowers out of something called "modeling chocolate" - it's actually really easy to make - just melt chocolate chips or candy melts and add corn syrup - it turns into a delicious Play Doh!

Happy Birthday, Dad!