Welcome to the world, little Girl Leavitt-Garcia! Hope your entrance wasn’t too traumatic for your poor mama. Now you just have to promise to stay wee and floppy until your Aunt Julia gets a chance to say hi in person.

*hugs my Lizzie*

I think, I’m pretty positive, that I have figured out my trip to Ireland!!! And I’ll get my sister’s wedding as well! Whee!

I’ll be flying out to Ireland late, late Friday night (late enough that I won’t be missing more than an hour at most of work) and will arrive mid afternoon, Chris will be flying in from someplace in Africa (he still hasn’t gotten that figured out) and meet me there. We’ll spend the rest of the day in Dublin, and the next day take a tour bus up to Belfast (I’m hoping to convince him to go cheap here and just take a train up ourselves and wander around) for the day. Then, we’ll leave the next day for a 6 day jaunt across the Southern Isle, before coming back to Dublin and I’ll fly out the next morning.

Then it’ll be work for a bit, and finally flying out to SLC on Thursday for the wedding weekend.

See! A little planning, a lot of nagging, a dash of begging, and it all comes out in the end. And Ellie, it just hit me…. I’m going to be at the places where our little letter game took place! I’m going to be coming home with so much info, maybe we’ll be able to resurrect it!

Whee!

For those who have been to Ireland, tell me how you travelled. Bus? Train? Rented a car? Tour? And any must see destinations? The trip looks like it might actually fall into place after all (YAY!), so I’ve been trying to figure out logistics. There’s a awesome touring group, called Shamrockers, for pretty cheap, but unfortunately, the tour starts before I could actually get into the country, so I’ve been scrounging the internet looking for alternatives.

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For the other Dr. Who fans on my list, watcher_junior has made these awesome animated icons, just because I asked her to. *hugs the Ali* They can be found here.

Next up. Changing my mood theme. Obsessed? Just slightly. 😀

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Post call today (only one more call night this month!). For most of the month, I have had very sweet call nights… gotten 1-2 patients early in the evening and slept 6-8 hours with only a few cross cover issues. Last night was a different story. My team admitted 10 patients yesterday, four of those patients were mine, two came in at the same time, two hours *before* I was suppose to start call, and the night just continued from there. DId manage to grab about 2 or so hours of sleep, but I’ve been very spoiled and it wasn’t enough. I came home and just crashed, and didn’t wake up until Chris called me with the good news about Ireland.

I go back on medicine wards at the Big Hospital again in February, where I’ll be lucky to get 15 minutes of sleep…. so I guess I’d better get used to the sleep deprivation again.

I’ve been (somewhat) working on creating some tables of drugs for a neurology book that one of my attendings is publishing, on treatments for insomnia, sleep apnea, etc. Part of it is the Epworth sleepiness scale (found here), which btw, I fail. I especially like the “Fit for Duty” scale. I don’t think I’ve been awake for an entire noon conference or Grand Rounds yet…

I love days off. More than that, I love call nights where I get almost 8 hours of (uninterrupted, but still restful) sleep and then have 2 days off back to back after that. That’s virtually 3 days off people. 3!

I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out how to do Laura’s wedding and Ireland in 1 week. I have a feeling that Ireland isn’t going to happen. 🙁 It’ll be okay. I’ve been fretting about the cost anyhow–while the tickets are supercheap (as in $500 dollars. Yes, you read that right.) and never will be so again, I’m in tons of debt still from moving and all of my travels last year. So being a little more frugal isn’t a bad thing. A boring thing, when I was so yearning to be a world traveler again and see the Cliffs of Moor and the Blarney stone and practice my grotesque Irish accent.

I’m still mulling over her engagement. I’ve always known that Laura would be the first of the D****** sisters to get married. She’s always been the athletic, pretty, popular one, whereas Karin and I have been much more plain. In high school, where I struggled to make friends (and fared a little better than Karin did, which is saying something), Laura was the queen as she was funny, smart and friendly. She’s had dozen of boyfriends (not that she’s introduced any of them to the family) and I figured she’s be married by the time she was 21, so I’m really happy that Laura’s undergone a few more years of maturity.

I just wish I wasn’t such a failure, a nonstarter in the relationship department. I think it comes down to jealousy. That even though I knew that Laura’s much more dateable and marriageable, I still had hoped that somehow it would be me first.

Enough with that.

When I was tired of manipulating days and http://www.sidestep.com (the best website for travel. It looks at every site and you can find really good deals), I found myself on YouTube watching episodes of Dr. Who. Yay! Finally! I’ve wanted to watch this show for absolutely forever, ever since eponine119 started posting about it on her LJ and wrote this awesome Sawyer/Dr. Who crossover which I adored even though I had never seen the show. Then all of my flist seemed to be going Dr. Who fanatic and David Tennant was that nerdy cute that makes my heart go thud, but I didn’t have cable to watch it and the Blockbusters down the road didn’t carry it, so I thought I was never going to get to watch it.

And then, behold the power of YouTube.

So far I’ve seen The Girl in the Fireplace, Christmas Invasion, Doomsday, The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, The Idiot’s Lantern, part of The Parting of the Ways, and The Runaway Bride. It’s cheesy, but a good cheesy. 🙂 And David Tennant is just lovely. Which others do you recommend and which should I stay away from?

Other browsing squees of the day:

I haven’t been the biggest fan of the Harry Potter movies as they always seem to let me down, but I do like the previews and the behind the scenes look and the next one at least looks amazing so far. Helen Bonham Carter looks absolutely perfect for Bellatrix, as does the young Evanna Lynch as Luna. I’m so so on Umbridge.

Anyway, behind the scenes clips of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix .

Two Phillip Pullman books are being made into movies. One, The Ruby in the Smoke, is a BBC production and stars Billie Piper for the Dr. Who fans (see, everything comes back to that show!), and will be playing on Masterpiece Theater on Feb. 4. Between that and Jane Erye playing this weekend, it’s almost enough to entice me to get cable again.

The Golden Compass is also coming to the big screen and it looks fabulous. So excited and can’t wait for the trailer!

Huh.

My little sister (four years younger than me) just called me to tell me that she’s “almost” engaged (he’s asking my father this weekend and he’ll propose after that) and wants to get married in May. Smack dab in the middle of my vacation to Ireland.

Never mind that I didn’t know his name until this morning. Yep. It’s not like I haven’t talked to her several times these past couple of months, I guess he just never came up.

Instead of me being happy about it, all I can think is how it’s made a mess out of plans that were tenuous as it was. If I still go to Ireland, it’ll mean only 5 days there, instead of the 8 like I was planning.

You know your life is pretty pathetic when the thought that you have to get up a half hour early to shower is making you want to cry.

I fell asleep at 6 pm last night and woke up at 6. I didn’t even hear my phone ring (Chris, but I’m kinda mad at him right now, since he’s taken bloody forever to figure out his Africa trip, meaning that I have no idea when the Ireland meet up is going to take place, and tickets are dirt cheap now. A couple more days and they’ll be gone and then I’ll be royally pissed.) My body apparently needed the sleep. So why am I denying it now to write this, hmmm?

Grumpy. Very very grumpy. Day started off bad with weekend attending acting like we were all idiots… and has gotten progressively worse, with attending not only thinking we were idiots, but not telling me what’s going on in that ever-so-smart head of hers. Now, I’m sitting in the ICU, waiting to make sure that my patient doesn’t go into funky heart rhythms that I would have to get him out of (funky means deadly, btw), and I’m bored. And cranky. Not a good combination.

Flist, get me out of my funk. Tell me funny stories. Tell me about your boring life. What did you do today, the day that normal people don’t have to work? Ask me probing questions. Or the meme that was floating around a few days ago: ‘Ask me my “Top 5” of anything – “real”-life related, tv-related, movie-related, whatever. You can ask for either my Top 5 Favorite or Least Favorite. Whatever you desire.’

I await your entertainment. 🙂

The year of 2006 is now dead, settled into his grave, as the New Year now takes over reign. But, as is my nature, I could hardly let him go without a eulogy.

Highlights, month by month (with pictures! Lots and lots and lots of pictures)

I posted an end of the year reflection thing…. but the pictures were ginormous. So it’s privatized now and as soon as I can I’ll edit them smaller.

In the meantime, Happy New Year! I hope yours is filled with peace, love and joy.

*HUGS*

I trimmed my bangs this morning.

I just couldn’t stand the multiple layers in my eyes. But I did cut them longer than usual, so that I can grow them out this winter. Hopefully, it’ll be easier to pin them back now that they are one length, but oh, I’m not looking forward to this at all.

I just discovered that I’m on call tomorrow. So much for my plans to do my Christmas shopping. It’s never getting done.

I’m back in the NICU for the rest of the month (and the mean resident is off for the rest of the month, limiting all of my interactions with him to next to nothing) and wow, it feels good to be back home. Plus, I’m working again with my favoritest attending ever (Im much more saucy with him than I ever am with my other attendings. I’m afraid I make a bad example for the medical student!) and it’s such a joy working again, I almost don’t mind that I have to go to bed in thirty seconds to face another early and full day.

But enough with that work stuff, shall we? Jack’s becoming a very dull boy.

I’ve had a paid account for something like 3 years and I’ve never used any of the extra features (except the userpics, but with the limited amount of time, I find myself using only my default. Must change that.) So, let’s do that.

Back in October, when I went home, I went to a salon and had my hair done. First time ever. I’m the $12 hairbut kind of girl. Anyway, the stylist twitted me about my bangs, saying that it made me look like a teenager and that I needed something that more respected my age. He wanted me to grow them out, I begged him into a compromise where he cut more bangs and layered them. They were cute and short and different–for about three days, before my hair slide back into its typical flat look that it always has. *sigh* I sure wish my hair flowed and glimmered like my little userpic)

I haven’t cut my hair since, and my bangs are now hanging into my eyes. And I’m having a really hard time preventing myself from just grabbing the scissors and hacking them–or at least even them out again.

So far I’ve resisted….resisted long enough to find the time to sit down and make a poll and ask you, wise flist, about it.

I’d add pictures, but I’m still having difficulty hooking my camera up to my computer, so that will have to wait.

Here be poll

The day spent in Chicago with Chris was almost, almost enough to wipe away all of the taint from my evil resident and this horrible week.

I’m not quite ready for Monday, but at least I won’t be throwing things at my poor defenseless alarm clock.

Plus, I only have two days left with him, really only a day and a half, since he is on call tomorrow, and therefore will be leaving by noon on Tuesday. It’s survivable.

Thanks for all the well wishes and support. Don’t worry, I wasn’t too injured by my resident’s behavior–I’ve know that he was a jerk and more since the first time I worked with him in August (and the repeat verse is so much worse than the first). He’s a hypocrite and a very unpleasant person (except to patients.. he belittles me (it’s subtle, but it’s there) when we’re in the room together, but he’s as sweet as baklava to them, so now I have a couple of my patients asking me to leave during family conferences or doing procedures. Gee thanks). But this will be the last time I will ever have to interact with him for an extended period of time.

I think I rather like Chicago, tall buildings and all, and probably will now make time to go and visit on spare weekends.

This was the last time I’ll see Chris, or anybody from home, until at least May. So maybe I’m not as entirely happy as the mood there suggests.

iTunes now carries soundtracks from all of my favorite musicals. I think they’ve carried them for a while, but luckily I was ignorant to their presence.

Singin’ in The Rain. South Pacific. The King and I. Mary Poppins. The Sound of Music. My waller is not appreciative.

I’ve already given in to the lure of owning Finian’s Rainbow which was my favorite as a teenager; I had such a crush on Tommy Steele. That brogue. That twinkling smile. I know, I know Fred Astaire and Petula Clark’s accents were atrocious and Keenan Wynn’s makeup job as the white Senator turned black is laughable, but oh, it was magical. I’ve carried fantasies about being wooed under a devil moon since then.

We didn’t get cable at my home, because we lived too far out of town, so I watched mostly musicals and old Disney movies from the library growing up. When I was younger, my sisters and I would have contests and sing all of the musicals that we could remember. It made washing the dishes go by faster. I could probably sing you most of “Oklahoma!” from heart even now. There are very few of the “classic” musicals that I have not seen (I don’t think I’ve seen State Fair all the way through), and fewer that I hate. Gigi is probably top of that list. Old men singing about lusting after little girls is too much. As well as The Pajama Game (adore Doris Day. But, ugh that was a painful movie). And I’ve fallen asleep twice now rewatching Annie, because it’s so boring. Boring! The lure from childhood isn’t there anymore.

My favorite musical of all time is actually an operetta. Junior year of high school, I had stayed up to work on a paper, and a episode of “Live at Lincoln Center” was playing. They were putting on a performance of The Merry Widow. Within minutes I was hooked (the paper, if I remember right, did not get finished on time because of my latest obsession). I’ve watched it probably 50 times since then and still love it. I’ve seen it performed live, but it was a horrid disappointment. Apparently, the Lincoln Center performance was a new translation and interpretation; the version that I saw live was the San Francisco version and it lacked the humor and warmth and the threads of the Merry Widow Waltz throughout. I’ve never been able to track down a recording of it and I’ve worn holes in my old VCR copy. Such a shame.

It’s so hard going to bed after a day off… Going to bed means the day has ended and tomorrow another day at work begins.

I’m worn out from work. I’ve been carrying 8-10 patients for a week now, discharging one, only to collect another 3…or a bouceback, a patient that I had only just discharged. The Q3 call (call every three nights) for 3 straight calls bled me dry and I’m only now recovering, only to face another call (my last!) on Wednesday. All things come to an end… Thursday will be the end of this rotation, just in time for me to move back to neurology with the three pagers and even more painful calls. (But on the plus side, another 2+ weeks in the NICU! yay!)

I tried to spend the day doing things around the house, namely scrapping paint off the wall again. It is excruciatingly slow, and I’m getting frustrated. I want to be done! I want my room to be pretty and painted brightly in one color that I picked out, not still finding deeper layers of paint below the salmon pink.

Plus, Chris is coming to visit in a week. One week from tomorrow. Guh. How could it have come up so quickly? He’s doing an interview tour, and I’ll only get to spend like twenty minutes with him, but it’s twenty minutes more than the usual. He’ll stay the night on Tuesday and hopefully find someway to entertain himself while I’m at work and then we’ll meet up before he takes off for the next destination. I’m hoping to get off early… I found out the exact days he was coming too late and I can’t get the day off. The plan is to then meet him in Chicago for the weekend…. I’ve avoided going to Chicago like the plague, but I don’t think I’m going to be successful this time. Anybody with any suggestions of what to do there?

In any case, I want things ready when he comes, show off my pretty house, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. *sigh*

Nonmedical update on the rest of my life upcoming, I promise.

I’m sleep deprived and about to become even more sleep deprived, as I head into another call night (and have to be at work at 6. Yes, that’s six and a half hours from now).

But the thought has crossed my mind the last several days…

I am honestly, truly, completely happy here. Still lonely at times, but I’m making friends and I (mostly) like my job. I’m settling, and it’s becoming home.

Maybe this will keep me going for the next 48 hours. 🙂

It’s probably wrong to be interested in my medical student.

The med student that I’m responsible for, look after, teach, who looks up at me with adoring eyes because I impart so much knowledge *snerk*.

Wrong. Very wrong.

That’s why I’m not.

Nope, not at all.

*goes back to daydreaming* In two weeks, I won’t be his intern… ooo, possibilities.

BTW, my presentation? That I’ve spent most of the week fretting/working on? Trashed. It somehow got corrupted this morning. Fabulous. So it’s going to be a long night. Bah.

I think this may be the most stressed out I’ve ever been.

Added 4 more patients to my clinic notes that I need to write up. That makes 11 from the last three weeks.

Two (hopefully three!) discharges tomorrow. Need to have all of the paperwork done early in the morning to scoot them out of here. And then dictated.

Still have at least 15 hospital discharge summaries to dictate.

Just discovered that I’m slated to give the noon lecture on Friday. Chief residents want the presentation by tomorrow. Tomorrow.

We’re on call for day time admissions again tomorrow–most likely will get three patients. And we’re on call on Friday (that time we can get six patients). I’m on call again on Saturday (5 pts). And next Tuesday (ditto). And next Friday (ditto). And the Tuesday after that (ditto).

Please tell me where I have the time to catch up!!