Coffee, My Nemesis

I'm supposed to like coffee.  I'm supposed to use my fanny programmable coffee maker to make it fresh every morning for when I wake up at oh-my-god-this-is-sooooo-early-o'clock.  I'm supposed to sip it on the bus and arrive to work feeling alive, awake, alert and enthusiastic.  I'm a surgeon, for crying out loud.  I should bleed coffee.

I made coffee every day for orientation and tried really hard to like it.  But as I added more and more cream and sugar, and peeked inside the lid to see how much more I had to drink, it hit me- I don't like coffee.  I like Diet Coke.

So as I prepare for my first day of internship, the dreaded "July 1", I plan on braving the day without this mysterious "caffeine", whose effects I am apparently immune to.  I'll throw a Diet coke in my locker. Maybe I'll change my mind when its 11am and I've already been awake for 7 hours.  But I'm freeing myself of the expectation that I need to be coffee fueled for this epic day.  Because I don't like it.  It's sort of gross.

First Impressions

Two days of orientation so far, real work starts July 1.   Here are my first impressions:


-Of my co-interns: Some of the most normal, down-to-earth, level-headed and easy-to-talk-to people that I've ever met (at least, in surgery).

-Of my schedule: No comment. Apparently March 17-June 23 is just not enough time to make our schedules, so they still aren't done yet.  I'm a nervous nelly and REALLY want to know what I'm starting on.  We were told that we'll get them on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, and also told that there is nothing that we can read or do at home to help us prepare for our first day, so we should stop worrying about it.  Easier said than done.

-Of my commute: I've taken the bus everyday so far, which has been really nice.  I like having a bit of transition time to sip my coffee and watch Jon Stewart between the hospital and home.  I think that I will succeed in being able to read for 20-30 minutes a day on the bus, which would be WONDERFUL.  I get free parking at the hospital though, so I'll probably try out driving and see which I like more.  Options are good.

-Of the hospitals:  Our county hospital orientation consisted of a lot of  "We used to have funds to do X, Y and Z... but now the city is broke.  So you'll have to draw your own blood.  And transport your own patients.  And cook your patients meals".  OK fine, I made the last one up.  The private hospital orientation was a little like Disney World, sparkly and exciting.  It'll be funny to flip flop between the two environments.

-Of the gender roles: There are only 2 female surgery interns, and we get along great.  When we went out last night with our whole group though, I felt like we both ended up mostly keeping "the wives" company.  I'm trying to make a more concerted effort to not find myself blocked out of important conversations and relationships just because women tend to clique off together.

-Of the city: Love love love.

-Of the apartment:  We had a fairly epic power struggle over whether our dining room would house a pool table or a dining room table.  Somehow, we have ended up with BOTH.  This is what happens when 2 stubborn people date each other.  Oops.

Danny's Old Stuff

A Tandy word processor!  We just have to find an old printer with an equally ginormous connector cable, and then we can use it.  And also find out the last thing that 8th grade Danny wrote on it.

A pamphlet from NASA in 1967

In case you can't read it- "Then if all went well, Apollo 11- in the third quarter of 1969- was to make the first actual landing."  They were right on that one.  But not their claim later in the book, that "After establishing a base on the moon, it will serve as the gateway to travel throughout the rest of the solar system". 

Family In Chicago!!

A Common Sight In Our Place

Burger and Beer 5K Fun Run

Operation Make-Friends and Operation Get-In-Shape are both in full swing here in Chi-town.  We live above a running store, and on Monday nights they host a "Burger and Beer 5K Fun Run".  Basically about 80 people meet in front of our house at 6:30pm and run either 5K or 5 Miles (I bet you can guess which group we went with), and then go to a local bar for a free beer and not free burgers.  YUM.

How can you turn that down? Seriously.

We met a few really great people- and we saw someone slip inside our building after the run, only to find out that one of the people we'd been running with was our upstairs neighbor!!   I like being back in the Midwest, where people are friendly and talkative, where beer is free, and where burgers served in a ridiculously huge portion size.

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Until I get a paycheck, I am perfectly willing to run a 5K to get a free beer.

Living With a Boy

I'm living with a boy now.

Pro's

• He owns every tool.   I'll say something like, "Man! I could totally fix that if I had a circular saw...." and BOOM! I have it.  Or, "Huh... I wonder if I could fix that with a wire cutter...." and SHABAM!  I'm cutting wires.
• He carries heavy things.  I'm no wimp- but unloading a 16 foot truck about a 6 hour drive was certainly a lot nicer when he constantly said things like "Don't worry, babe, I'll get all the heavy boxes."  *swoon* 
• He is always around.  I no longer have to carry around the mental list of "Things I Need To Remember To Tell Dan When I See Him", because he's always within ear shot.

Con's

• He totally dominates the TV.  We've had our fancy new big flat screen TV for exactly 8 hours, and I'm pretty sure he's been watching the Cubs game for at least 6 hours.

Ask me for a pro and cons list in a few months.  Maybe it'll have shifted. :-P  But its been really great so far.  We've painted our new place, and it looks fantastic.  We bought our grown-up TV today, and we're getting our grown-up couch on Saturday. I'll post pictures when everything is set up.  One thing that has been so odd, is to be around one another even though we don't particularly want to be. It used to be that if we were together, it was because one of us WANTED to be with the other person enough to drive over and hang out.  Now it's just the default setting that we are together.  It's sort of funny to be around him all the time, and yet still feel like any time we spend together should be special and important. 

Here's a few pictures from my friend Heidi's wedding that we just went to.  It was the perfect way to party it up, one last time, with my med school possee.  If I look red and sweaty and terrible in the second picture, it's probably because the outdoor ceremony and reception were both in 95 degree heat, and I had already been dancing quite a while at the time of the second picture.  Gross and sweaty.

The Last Five Days

I've been pretty busy the last five days.  I graduated from medical school, went to a wedding in Colorado, packed up to move, drove to Niagara Falls, and now I'm at a wedding in Ohio.  Busy busy times- but all very well worth it.