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It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a random daily update blah-blah post. But this was a little too long for twitter, so here I am.

Finishing up week two of my Neurology rotation today. Just about anyone that has followed this blog for any length of time knows how much I love the brain. I’m sort of surprised at my love-hate relationship with the rotation so far. Some things I LOVE LOVE and other things I just couldn’t picture doing for the rest of my life. Definitely the hardest part about being a neurologist in a hospital setting is having to tell loved ones over and over and over that their family member no longer has any meaningful brain activity. After all, if neurology is called on an ICU consult, it usually isn’t a good thing.

In fact, one of the physical therapists has come to recognize me and when he sees me looking at the chart of a patient he is scheduled to work with, he realizes they probably won’t be up to the task that day.

Partly because I always strive to do my best and partly because this particular attending is challenging, this rotation is working me pretty hard. Surprisingly hard. I got home at 8pm last night and haven’t even given email barely a glance all week. Thankfully, it’s Neurology. I don’t think I could keep up this level of stamina all month if it was a subject I didn’t totally love.

And thankfully, it’s Friday. Even though I have a ton of articles to write this weekend, I am looking forward to not getting out of my pajamas unless absolutely necessary.

But first! Today Brandon and I are headed to Babies ‘R Us to finally pick up our crib and changing table! By the end of the weekend, The Office might actually look like The Baby Room! So fun!

Five minutes after I walked out of the USMLE Step 2 CK exam, everything I had so carefully prepared and studied and re-re-reviewed promptly fell out of my head.

Now — a month later — what am I doing without question banks and review books??

Reading baby books
Oh, come on. You knew this was coming. Brandon is secretly dreading that I’m going to become a fountain of scientifically-proven do’s and don’ts, when all I really care about is finding proof that limiting TV is good. I think kids and TV is almost worse than kids and guns.

Continuing Spanish lessons
I’ve dusted off and launched Rosetta Stone again. Going to try to spend a few hours a week like I used to. While I know I won’t be fluent enough to put the experience on any residency applications, judging what I’ve seen so far here in Midwestern America, knowing a little Spanish will take me a long way in my medical career.

Walking the dogs
In an attempt to curb Suh’s overzealous enthusiasm for everything that life has to offer, Brandon started walking her twice a day. On days when he’s working, I pick up the slack and try to control two dogs in a neighbourhood full of squirrels and cats while waddling on stiff hips. Most mornings it drives me nuts with frustration, but I know getting out is good for me. And them.

Stretching and staying healthy
Speaking of exercise, I’m still going to prenatal yoga every Monday, but keep forgetting we have a Wii Fit sitting in the corner.

Sorting baby stuff
This could also probably be called “nesting” as I try to prepare for the little man’s arrival. You can see in the photo that we have been blessed with a TON of stuff from friends and family. That was my attempt last weekend to organize the overflowing baby closet in the hallway. Everything is now neatly sorted and folded, just waiting for the furniture we ordered last week.

Someday this post-exam apocalypse may also come to be known as the pre-baby lull.

Other than the fact that Brandon has to work for 8 hours, Sunday is my favourite day of the week. On Saturday, I am generally catching up on stuff from the previous week, but Sunday tends to be all mine.

Things I do every Sunday:
- walk the dogs in the early morning
- catch up on the world wide web and email
- heat decaf in the microwave so it’s extra hot for extra long sips
- vacuum
- chase Maddy’s dust bunnies
- change bed sheets & wash duvet cover
- clean the bathroom
- put my feet up

Things I avoid on Sundays for as long as possible:
- dust ceiling fan blades
- clean Suh’s spray slobber off the walls
- clean the stove top elements and microwave

Extra special chores accomplished this week:
- vacuum out 4Runner
- trim trees in driveway (so we can park without being attacked by ants and spiders)
- quick outdoor shampoo for Suh (who rolled in something special)
- vacuum Suh’s kennel & wash her blanket

Today’s photo was taken with my phone a little while back and pretty much sums up what Suh and Maddy like to do on Sundays.

Sitting in the backyard with the dogs in the evening is well worth getting bit by a zillion mosquitoes just to be able to watch the awesome fireflies flitting around with their cigarette-lighter butts blinking in the twilight.

Now if only I had a lawn chair…

As many of you may remember, I tossed a few seeds in the crappy clay soil strip along our backyard fence earlier this year. I had no idea what to expect or if anything would actually come up and look good enough to eat. Two months later and things are green! I’ve already eaten four cucumbers the size of my forearm and replanted four rows that either died in the first hot spell (see Peas) or just never came up (see Herbs). Last year in Saskatchewan, we had to protect/cover/replant a lot of the garden after a freeze in June. The growing season is definitely different down here in Oklahoma and I’m learning a lot along the way.

Carrots
Green tops are growing big and strong. Whenever I see the carrots, I think of this video of Maddy.

Cucumbers
As mentioned above, I’ve already eaten four (sliced up with a little salt) and even though there are at least half a dozen more out there growing, the leaves are starting to look a little wilted and weathered.

Herbs
Cilantro doesn’t like the heat. Who knew? Everyone but me, I guess. We had a full, gorgeous row of delicious smelling leaves that bolted and flowered as soon as it was regularly over 80F. The parsley is going slow, but steady and we have more basil than an Italian family would know what to do with. The oregano and chives have yet to make an appearance. I’ve since read that they are both difficult to grow from seeds and that row will probably stay empty.

Honeydew & Cantaloupe
After the success with the watermelon, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to spend $1 on a packet of experimental seeds. Nevermind that I can get pre-sliced containers of both melons at the cafeteria any day of the week.

Onions
Harsh rains and a little hail have made the knee-high stalks look a little beaten, but they seem to be doing well.

Peas
Along with the cilantro, my pea plants did not survive the first wicked heat spell. They pushed out a few pods, fell over and wilted. Dang. Other than raspberries, peas are my favourite food to pick-and-eat outside. I replaced those rows with pumpkins (see below), cantaloupe, and honeydew.

Peppers
The hot and green pepper plants are growing taller and have pushed out a couple of blooms, but no veggies yet.

Pumpkin
A squirrel or bird stole all (except 2!) of my pumpkin seeds and plants. How cheeky! I want at least one pumpkin to carve this fall! Wondering whether I should try to replant-and-protect…

Watermelon
Even though they’re my favourite fruit, I’ve never tried growing watermelons before. I figured the growing season would be hot and long enough down here to praise my meager efforts. We have four! And one is already the size of a softball!

I know I inherited my gardening fascination from my mom. She has forgotten more about gardening than I will ever learn. I once read somewhere that the act of gardening places hope in tomorrow. I suppose that’s true. There are no immediate, short-term rewards in the garden. Everything takes time and patience and another tomorrow. From the moment seedlings first poke their heads through the soil, I just love watching everything get bigger and greener.

Oh, and see that green wire fence? Squirrels love to run through the power lines and trees in the yard behind us. I needed something to keep the dogs from tramping through. I guess an extra-exciting squirrel came by the other day because they took down the corner of the fence and half a row of onions. If they get to my watermelons… Oooooh boy! I will be mad!

The husband is at work, the dogs are walked, the decaf is hot and this Sunday morning is all mine.

Brandon and I had an amazing day off yesterday. For the first time in months, I didn’t have any studying to do and for the first time in almost 8 weeks, he had 24 hours away from his job and the hospital. Bliss!

Contrary to what might have been a popular choice, we did not spend the whole day in bed. We actually got up early (dang internal alarm clocks) and took the dogs to the off-leash park before the heat of the day set in. Then we went to Babies ‘R Us and drooled over the crib and changing table that we-love-but-is-out-of-stock-until-July and tried on baby-carrying harnesses. After a healthy fast-food indulgence lunch, we headed home to watch the USA try to come from behind (again!) in the FIFA World Cup. Then we went to an early movie at our favourite $3.75 theatre (recently re-opened and mostly renovated after extensive hail and flood damage) and came home to sleep for an uninterrupted 9 hours.

It was a rare day for Just The Two Of Us and immensely treasured as they become fewer and farther between.

Today I am back online and hopelessly behind. There are 549 unread posts in my Google blog reader. So you can safely assume that unless you directly emailed me (and it didn’t get sorted into my junk mail folder) if something interesting happened on the internet in the last month, it doesn’t exist in my world.

I hope you all are having an amazing summer so far. I know mine is about to get a lot better.

Oh, and how did the exam go? It’s tough to say and I’m always horrible at estimating those things, but it felt a lot like Step 1. Some stuff I knew cold and some stuff made me feel like I hadn’t cracked a book all year. How well I did depends on how many of each I answered/guessed correctly. I’ll let you know as soon as I know, which should be in about three weeks.

Met the lady across the street today.

I was out weeding the front sidewalk (yes, you read that correctly) and heard someone yelling. Her screen door, shaded by a deep porch and fig tree, was open about an inch and she hollered again, “Do you want to dig up some flowers?”

I walked across the street and up the wooden ramp that led to her front door. “Do you know what a Naked Lady looks like?” she asked and waved me inside. Don’t ask me why, but I opened the door further with my gardening gloves and followed her through the small house to the back kitchen window.

She pointed through the window to a row of green pointy leaves, “When those die back, you prune ‘em and they’ll bloom again in August. There are two out front you can dig up if you want.”

I realized she meant the Naked Ladies in her front garden and was happy she hadn’t yelled earlier, “Do you want some naked ladies?”

I graciously thanked her and said I would.

We spent the next 10 minutes touring her house, reading the magnets on her fridge, inspecting the window air conditioning unit in her bedroom, looking at photos of her 63-year-old-and-currently-very-unwell son on the wall and mantle, and talking about dogs while her chubby Daschund barked from the backyard.

Her name is Marge and she seems to have pretty serious neuropathy. She doesn’t go outside at all anymore because she is afraid to fall down. She claims she cared for her yard by herself for 20 years, but now has to have someone come by to mow and pick figs, apricots and pears off the trees. She used to be a cardiology nurse at the very hospital I work at. Brandon and I have never actually seen her and figured she was pretty much a shut-in and must get her food delivered. Last weekend a crew of men replaced all of her old windows with newer, more efficient versions.

Apparently they also brought her a new fridge.

“It doesn’t work nearly as good as the old one, but it’s more energy efficient, so I guess that’s supposed to be good.”

She seems a little crazy, very friendly and extremely lonely.

I think she described herself best when she said, “Nothing works in me anymore except my mouth.”

I escaped to finish my weeding, but promised her I’d be back for the Naked Ladies. And for tea or coffee to listen to her hospital stories.

“Oh, and when you come get the flowers, don’t say Thank You. If you say that, they won’t bloom.”

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photo: Tulip bulbs I planted in the fall and peeling window frames.

Feeling particularly far away from home this weekend, so I decided to attempt my Grandma’s Paska.

Things I learned today:

1) I am not my grandmother, but I think I could be pretty close if I had her KitchenAid mixmaster.

2) I should always remember to cut her recipes in half.

3) My back no longer likes standing and mixing and kneading for an hour.

4) It’s easy to feel close to home when you spend the day being thankful for the people you love.

Happy Easter. Here’s hoping you had friends and family (and lots of chocolate!) to celebrate with.

You know it’s been awhile since you’ve posted when you have to re-login to WordPress. I don’t think I’ve logged in since I installed it.

We made it to and from the Olympics in Vancouver in one piece. Mostly. I lost that awesome flag pin I’m wearing in the photo somewhere between here and that hockey game and that just sucks.

I have been sick for 2 weeks, but am alive. Mostly. I really thought I might die on the last descent into Oklahoma City. As the plane lowered, it felt like small gauge knitting needles were being stabbed through my skull into each and every sinus. It sorta sucked.

I only spread my germs to 7 Vancouver friends in 5 days. I have plenty more to write on the week we experienced Olympic history, but you can easily say there wasn’t enough time to do and see everything and everyone. It sorta sucked.

The dogs survived their week of boarding. Mostly. They both caught a wee case of the runs and are on parasite prophylaxis. More mild sucky-ness.

Okay, okay. A few things sucked. But the rest was totally and completely awesome. Including Brigette and Markus for putting us up and putting up with my germs all over their adorable new little house. What’s a good Thank You to friends like that? A year’s supply of Kleenex and NeoCitran?

I’ll be back soon. Probably before another 10 days pass, but I really can’t promise anything at this point. And I haven’t forgotten about the photo voting. That will start with the thrilling theme of flowers(!) next week.

Although maybe not quite as much as Saskatchewan has in January.

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photos: from my mom and dad in the last week.

These days are KO-KO: keep on keepin’ on. Today’s photo is from a couple of days after our big blizzard, when there were still cars randomly abandoned as if the apocalypse had hit. I’m staying on track.

Time is flying and life is great. I don’t want a thing to change.