Mad studying this afternoon. I MUST get through nephrology this week and complete GI by the first part of April, ID by May, and cardiology the end of May. That leaves July and August for reviewing all of it – rheum, heme-onc, endocrine, pulmonary, general internal medicine, dermatology and neurology. Ugh, how did it come so fast???

1. I got about 3 hours of sleep last night before two patients became troublesome and demanded my attention for the rest of the night.
2. I really dislike the fellow that I was working with last night. I think most of the fellows right now are lazy, condescending and (relatively) ignorant, but this one has been especially grating. Reminders of why I’m happy to be leaving are refreshing, as this person would be my attending next year if I stayed – blech.
3. Clinic this afternoon was actually enjoyable. I manged to get some good sleep this morning, a couple of my patients canceled and I had a couple of interesting diseases that I had to think through and come up with treatment plans. I got all of my notes done, plus 1-2 old ones (less than 10 to go!!) and one of my patients hugged me. I’m getting just a little emotional that I’m leaving.
4. I got me the doctor’s appointment that I need! And labs ordered so I can prove that I did have chicken pox when I was a young’un. It’ll all be done before March 10th, which is when I’m supposed to have it turned in. *pats self on back*
5. An abstract that I wrote got accepted for a national meeting! Woot! The meeting is in Arizona in May, so I can spend time with my nephew and gestating nephew (I’ll probably be unsuccessful a second time convincing the kid to come early)! It’s at the same time as neurology retreat, my favorite time of the year, though (I’ve been really, really looking forward to the 1 hour long massage…) 🙁 I’ve never done a poster presentation and I’m kinda more than a little nervous about it. But it looks great on the resume.
5. I really want to learn how to knit. It seems like the thing right now and I’m getting jealous over all of the scarves and hats that I see on my friends blogs. Anybody have any good suggestions on where to start?
6. I’m craving Ramen noodles tonight. Specifically, beef flavored. I don’t think I’ve had ramen noodles in at least 5 years, so I don’t know where the urge is coming from. Luckily my laziness and null desire to go back into the cold is winning this round.
7. Women’s History Month project died out on Day #1, just like all of my projects. You all were no help. *pout*
8. I don’t know why my spell checker keeps thinking that “women’s” is misspelled. Can a month be possessed by a plural that doesn’t end in s?
9. Obviously I’m getting to the punch-drunk-crazy part of post-call sleep deprivation. Always a fun time.
10. All lists should end at 10.
11. But this one is going to end at 11. Just because I’m contrary like that. And because I miscounted, and it’s really #12.
13. Maybe I should start doing the Thursday Thirteen memes? I mean, I’m doing a great job of it tonight. 🙂

As I mentioned, I’m back on neurology (4 more months!), where I’m on call overnight in the neurointensive care unit and it’s just been one little irritating thing after another. The patient sign-out was, as always, ridiculous. These are the sickest patients in the hospital, but you wouldn’t think so given the 1 liner that I had on each of them. And of course the two fellows were rolling their eyes when I was asking for more details. There is certainly no remorse with the decision to go elsewhere for fellowship tonight.

What’s truly annoying me is the fact that because the schedule was only finalized yesterday, my clinic schedule didn’t get cancelled tomorrow. I took today off work and took a nap, but tomorrow, instead of enjoying a long day off slumbering, I get to go to clinic. On my schedule is a patient who wants disability forms filled out, another who is questioning why they hasn’t recovered from their illness they just started treatment for today (yes, today), and another who I just saw last week. I’m already tired and cranky.

In order to distract me from the winter gloom, I’m trying to honor Women’s History Month on my facebook by featuring an awesome woman from history a day. Yesterday was Clara Barton, today is nobody, since I can’t access Facebook from work. Who would you want me to highlight? I’ve got a dozen, but I need more, so send me your ideas.

And now, off to try to get a little bit of fractured sleep.

I have unofficially finished the internal medicine portion of residency. Officially, I still have clinics on Thursday afternoon and graduation isn’t until June, but I am done with medicine wards. It seems like I’ve been doing this forever; residency has certain dragged on and seemed endless at times, and yet, these last few months have slipped past so quickly that I’ve hardly registered their presence. Suddenly I’ve four months away from graduation. Four months!

I’m starting to get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I need to complete before July. The house situation: moving, fixing, sell vs rent, property management vs realtor, etc, etc. The paperwork for the new hospital. Getting a doctor’s appointment so they can confirm that yes, I’m up to date on my immunizations. Finding a new place to live. Can I afford to fly out there and scope it out? Evaluations to complete. Need new glasses and a dentist appointment. And did somebody say that my Boards are less than 6 months away? I should be studying every second that I am awake! Maybe I should go to bed listening to lectures… Right now, it’s all I can do to not bury my head under the pillows like an ostrich – I’m in avoidance mode, as I often get when I feel overwhelmed and despondent.

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s melancholy poem “Ring Out Wild Bells” has been reverberating in my soul these past few days. It’s an LDS hymn that we sing near New Year’s. The story goes (although I can’t find internet confirmation) that the composer, Crawford Gates, was a soldier in WWII, despairing over all of the death and misery around him, when he read this poem and composed the music. The music is in a minor key, suiting the death of a year, and is laced with longing and a little bit of regret. Many complain that it’s depressing, that the new year should be sung in with glad tidings and joyous celebrations; I love it, because I’ve always found New Year’s to be a somewhat mournful day and frankly I think the music suits the frosty “winteriness” of the season (if you’re in the northern hemisphere, I suppose).

Anyway, I thought I’d share the lyrics. And link you to the LDS version of the song.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Happy New Year, my friends and family! I am, as always, so blessed and grateful to have you in my life.
(And now to bed – I’m on call tomorrow – ouch!)

My good friend Sarah is going through a tough time right now (long story short: dating over the age of 30 sucks, especially when the boys of our dating age seem to have forgotten that they have aged as well) and since I know that she loves getting mentions in the blog, this one is entirely for her.

Last night, I browsed through my memories and found my old entry on favorite hugs where you all had given me such great ideas about hugs, because if there is one thing that brings me a measure of comfort in depression and despair is a good, heartfelt hug from friends. I did get to see her and hug her today, but here are a few more virtual ones to help her get through the upcoming days. (Only the Anne pics are mine; everything else I borrowed and plan on returning them. Eventually)

(Warning: image heavy and cut your benefit. 🙂 )
Read the rest of this entry »

My patient made me cry today. He’s one of my favorites; a patient under my care for the last two years and I’ve coaxed him into getting flu shots, sleep studies, new medications, while listening to his ailments and heartaches. Today he told me that I was the “best doctor he ever had” and praised me to my attending.

Then I told him that I was leaving in six moths and this was probably our last visit.

I’ll admit I lingered over the visit, making sure he was “tucked in,” the colloquialism used for making sure that all of the loose ends are tied up before passing a patient on to the covering physician. I cajoled him into a few more tests to work up some of the complaints that I hadn’t been able to figure out. I confirmed that I had documented all of his health maintenance and tried to convince him one more time that he needed a colonoscopy, which he, as always, brushed off.

And then, before I left for the last time, I held his hand and felt tears prickle. I’ve been so careful to protect my heart, to focus on all that I need to complete and do. The new city. The drudgery of packing and moving. I didn’t want to stop, to think about what I was leaving behind.

I wasn’t supposed to miss this. Not yet.

I did not succeed on my Nablopomo quest. Being away from a computer for 5 days puts damper on even the best-laid plans. I thought about cheating and going back and filling in some of those days, but man, am I tired. It’s okay; I was doing it more for the principle of getting into the habit of blogging more and documenting my life, rather than the prizes. Right? Right. And there’s always next year. In any case, I had started doing the two 30 day memes because I didn’t think that I could find words of my own to fill a month. I underestimated myself. I hate leaving things incomplete and I’ve put a lot of thought into some of upcoming questions, so I guess I’ll be continuing this into December. Should I make a “Blog Every Day for 365 Days” goal? How did everybody do on their Nanowrimo/Nablopomo projects?

My “vacation” was lovely. I arrived in SLC around 1:30 on Thanksgiving; Dad and I traveled down to Provo where we had a mighty feast and gorged on pie (death by pie would be a lovely way to go) and then played Dominoes into the evening. Friday was spent renewing my driver’s license – since my car is registered in Utah, I’ve kept my Utah license, but they wouldn’t let me renew in online; it’s one of the reasons that I jumped on the chance to go home. We then visited my aunt and cousins and little 1st-cousin-once-removed Cora (hee) who was quite adorable. We actually did participate in Black Friday and bought shoes. For me. Specifically these shoes. I’ve wore these shoes pretty much every day since third year of medical school – super comfy and padded; I can endure marathon rounds without too much pain. Alas, they don’t last forever (but this is only my 3rd pair, so they are pretty durable). I also found a pair of fluffy slippers that are definitely what I needed in this cold weather – my feet feel like they are blanketed in feathers.

Saturday we spent with my dad’s family. My cousins and their kiddos drove all of the way from Connecticut (and managed to skirt most of the storms), so we had a second Thanksgiving dinner with them. The kids were entertained endlessly by moving small toys around and hiding things and crawling up and down stairs and playing with the swinging doors that lead into the kitchen- I had forgotten how fun this age can be. We capped the evening by visiting another cousin, Sara and her 3 week old baby. He is a doll. 🙂

Sunday, I slept in. 🙂 Karin and I finally manged to get ready and surprised my friends Laura and James by coming to church with them (ignore the fact that we arrived late). I have to say that when I walked in and Lucas (their 7 yo son) lit up and hugged me was one of the best moments ever. I lovelovelove and adore all of my friends’ kids, but Lucas has a special place in my heart – he was the child that I watched grow up. I went over to L&J’s house virtually every other week during his first year or so of life. Being away from these kids, all of them, having them grow up without me has been hard – but having Lucas recognize me and hug me: heart swelled big time. I almost started crying. It’s still hard to believe that this baby:

can now write me notes during church.

After church, we went over to Laura and James’ house, where Liz and Edgardo and daughters braved the weather and joined us for dinner. Such a wonderful, companionable evening that was over way too soon! Oh, oh, I’ve missed my friends – it’s hard to believe that we’ve been friends for more than 13 years at this point. It had been snowing all day long and I really, really, really hoped that it would have snowed enough to cancel my flight, giving me one more day. Alas, my flight actually departed on time, getting me back to Milwaukee in the wee morning hours.

I didn’t take as many pictures of the weekend as I wanted, as I was too busy lapping up the company and conversation. But you can see a few pics:

And now, off to bed. I’m determined to make it to Board Review tomorrow and 6 o’clock arrives way too soon. Ugh.

(Composed on the 3 flights that it took to get me home).

On the middle leg of the trip, I unfortunately had the window seat. My “traveling companions” were, I think, a very newly wed couple who made out and whispered sweet nothings for the majority of the trip. Luckily, I was quite sleep deprived (4 hours of sleep on my couch, as I dared not sleep in my bed because I would not wake up) and mostly slept, but ugh. A little decorum please.

This leg, I’m reading a book Chris and Gretchen gave me, called Half the Sky. Have any of you heard about it? It’s a really well-written, enlightening exploration of the plight of women and girls across the world. It’s been a harrowing read, a very uncomfortable reminder of poverty, violence and brutality that others face every day. The stories are engaging and unflinching – girls and women who suffered abuse, mutilation, trafficking, but how there is possibilities of hope. How spoiled I am by the comfortable life that I live. I’m about to go and eat a feast with my loved ones, with parents who value my existence and provided me with shelter, love and education. It’s one of the lessons learned when I went to Kenya – and I had forgotten.

I love the idea of thanksgiving and of Thanksgiving; it’s one of the holidays that hasn’t been completely encased in merchandise and materialism. Remember those blessings that I’ve been given and, yes, been blessed. Yet, when I think about that, it makes me feel guilty. Guilty for having so much, for not appreciating it enough. And even if I did, does it change the reality of the other people who haven’t?

There have been some practical suggestions of charities and projects in the book that I am looking forward to implementing. A chance to look outside myself again and truly give – money and passion. And maybe then, my thanks will means something.

(Posted late because I was tired and didn’t press the right button. And I’ve been traveling and didn’t realize it).

I was such a good girl today. I was only 30 minutes late to lecture this morning – which, of course, had be taught by the neurology department, so the lecturers know me personally and glared at my late arrival. Hmm, maybe I wasn’t so good. I went to lunch with my friend Kim and then, instead of doing what I wanted to do and going home to sleep/pack/do laundry/dishes, I actually went back to work and only left when I had permission. I had nothing to do this afternoon. Nothing. But I was good and didn’t start my 4 day weekend early.

I still haven’t packed. I went to Deathly Hallows again with another friend and just got back. My flight leaves at 7. My friend is picking me up at 5:30. It’s now just before midnight. Oh, Procrastination, why do I listen to your siren song? At least I managed to do laundry yesterday!

Having trouble coming up with something to say tonight (the next All About Me questions are requiring quite a bit of reflection), so instead, a video link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004pyw0

It’s a really charming short film that made me happy. It’s about 12 minutes and well worth the pause in your day. 🙂 It’s especially recommended to my librarian friends!

As of 0450 today, I am 32 years old. Since it is well documented that I never know my own age, I’ve been thinking that I was 32 for a couple of months now. At first, it was more to just “try on” the new age, and then over time, it just felt right. I think that I’ve gotten over the dread of getting older – turning 30 and 31 was a period of purging and mourning unlikely dreams and now I feel comfortable acknowledging that I am “middle aged” – in the 2nd trimester of life, as it were. Although when my intern stated that he wouldn’t date anybody more than 5 years older than him (and even that’s too old), I felt some mild panic. Not really. Even if I was turning 21, I’d still be too old for Intern. And too short, too fat, too pale, etc. The boy is picky and very much not right for me either!

My day has been rather perfect. I brought a carrot cake to work, and had a spontaneous party with my neurology peeps. We had lunch together, then yummy, gooey cake. I got done early, came home and took a nap, then spent a couple of hours on the phone talking to my beloved ones. In between, I slipped off to Noodles and Co where I treated myself to free noodles. Since I was the last customer, they gave me the leftover cookies. Total score! My facebook, LJ, email and phone have been filled with messages of love, which is the best present I could ever want. {{{HUGS}}} to all: you give my life meaning and enrich it every day. I could not possible convey the gratitude and love that I feel.

I have to say, I am looking forward to my 33rd year of life. Not only do I new adventures to look forward to (and new heartaches, challenges, disappointments, boredoms, joys, etc), but I have a pretty mathematically aesthetic birth date (11/22) and I’m going to be 33 on 11/22/11. Palindromic and additive, it really can’t get better.:)

I had a lot of fun with this one!

Day #10: Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad. I only slightly cheated on this one: 2 songs for each category!
Happy song:

When I’m happy, I tend you get sentimental. This song never fails to make me smile. Plus it’s from one of the greatest movies of all time.

Stole My Heart – Little & Ashley. I am sooo happy that stop animation is making a comeback and the Amazon commercial was so whimsical that I had to track down the whole song which is just lovely. When I’m happy, I tend to seek out the sappy love songs.

Sad songs:

Be Ok -Ingrid Michaelson. My friendship with Chris almost completely broke apart this summer/fall (it’s part of the reason that I took such a prolonged absence from this blog. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t think). There were several things that contributed (that I still don’t want to get into – we’re okay now, so we’ll leave it at that), but during the weeks of uncertainty, my choice of music definitely leaned towards the melancholic yet hopeful. I make have listened to this song over and over for a week.

Pieces – Villagers. I think this was another NPR discovery, and once again, it really spoke to me in those hard months. I like this acoustic version best. “All the words that I meant to say, they’ll never come out the right way.” (Ignore his hair)

Bored

Vienna Teng is definitely my favorite singer/songwriter/pianist. Like Eva, she’s one that I grab every new album released. This song is probably my favorite and I listen to it in all of my moods. This is just a lovely live performance (although, her album version is better IMO).

Learn to Fly – Carbon Leaf. My other “almost constantly streaming” band. This isn’t my favorite song of theirs, but it is the one with a actually music video and I love Barry’s haircut here (the other videos he looked like a lumberjack who got in a fight with a grizzly). I’ve seen them live twice – the first concert was amazing, the second, well I’m pretty sure that the entire band was drunk and it was a tad disappointing.

Hyped:

Sing, Sing, Sing – Louis Prima and Benny Goodman (from Swing Kids). Honestly, you have not lived until you’ve gone swing dancing and swirled madly across the dance floor and attempted a flip and given your partner a bloody nose.

David Duchovny – Bree Sharp. Terrible video quality (they never released it officially), but oh, I love this song. Still.

Mad:

Push – Matchbox Twenty. Speaks for itself, I think.

Breaking the Habit – Linkin Park. When I’m truly angry, I like angry, loud songs. This is one that I’ll turn the volume up and belt it out. (The video is cool too).

Harry Potter Meme: Day # 10 – Horcruxes or Hallows.
Horcruxes. I honestly felt that the Hallows were too complex for the amount of time devoted to them and detracted from the story. JKR had done such an amazing job hinting and setting the plot up for such minute detail, but it really seemed that the Hallows were cobbled together at the last minute. I’ve appreciated them more as I’ve reread the series again (and honestly the animation explaining them in the movie was amazing), but there really was enough for Harry and Co to do with just chasing down the Horcruxes.

Lazy day today. I cleaned my bathroom and contemplated doing dishes (they’re sorted into cups, silverware and remainder. Maybe tomorrow). I met up with my friend Sarah at the nearby Starbucks for some studying (an aside, their peppermint hot chocolate is to die for), where, as per course this week, I managed to read 2 paragraphs of MKSAP15 “Pulmonary and Critical Care” before discarding the book in frustration. I’ve been trying to get past “Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease” for the past two weeks – it’s twenty pages of wishywashy-ness that basically says that “there’s a lot of diseases that affect the lung and differentiating between them is really hard, but we’re going to do so in a way that contradicts everything that we said before.” Seriously, I am struggling. I need to get through this all by the end of this week – I had hoped to be half-way through GI by this time. Maybe a countdown of days to Boards will be a motivator.

Anyway, Sarah and I spent more time talking and catching up than we did studying. She mentioned that she liked being mentioned in my blog, so consider this your shout out. 🙂 Sarah is one of the most vivacious people that I know, which means that hours can go by without me even realizing it. Our conversations have familiar themes but we always seem to find something new to talk about. It’s lovely.

The All About Me Meme – Day #9 (I swore I’ve done more than that!). Your hobbies:
Honestly, medical school and residency have sucked my life dry of any meaningful extracurricular activities. One of my friends remarked that to get into medical school, all of the schools looked at how well-rounded you were and chose those who had balance in their lives with interesting things they did outside of school.

1. Photography. Well, I think you all knew that. I’ve wanted to get into photography since college. Longer maybe – I used to read my parent’s National Geographic and long to take pictures like that; truth be told, I still do. It took me a long time to convince myself to buy my camera, but I’ve never regretted the decision. I’ve taken over 6500 pictures, many of them crappy, but it’s been a wonderful learning experience. There’s so much more that I want to learn to do. I want to take a photography class or two, so that more of my photos are less “point and shoot” style and more like art. I want to learn to do more with HDR, motion shots and night-photography (how much would I love to get into astrophotography!). There are several lens that I lust after – I would love a wide-angle or fisheye lens and I still really want a 35 mm lens. Someday…

2. … I don’t know. Wasting time on the internet? Reading and educating myself about politics/science policy/health care reform/vaccinations? Seriously, I’ve gotten lame.

From a google search for hobbies, I learned that I have the following: church attending, eating out, home repair, internet, listening to music, relaxing and sleeping. Still lame.

Hobbies that I used to have:
1. I used to paint. In high school, I loved to paint and draw. I never was fantastic at it (my drawings were pretty comical), but I enjoyed it. Some of my favorite memories involve going to my grandmother’s house and painting with her. I wish I had enough free time that I could get back into it.
2. I used to write. Short stories mostly. I miss my days of writing fanfiction – there was something so supremely satisfying about getting just the right turn of phrase. I heard once (and I can’t remember where) that 70% of people have “write a book” on their bucket list, but only 5% actually do and less than 1% ever get published. I’d love to be part of that 5% – I don’t care about being published – but I have no original ideas or even starting points.
3. I used to read. That’s an understatement. I used to devour whole books, 700-800 pages, in one sitting. My favorite brand was fantasy and I followed several series at once. Now if I read a book a month, it’s an achievement. I read the Hunger Games triology in a 2 day period but that was back in September and I’ve barely read anything since. Currently (as in I started it this afternoon), I’m reading a book about the world-wide oppression, prostitution and genocide of women that Chris and Gretty got me for my birthday which is getting me all righteously impassioned. I need to add books back to my diet.
4. Stamp collecting. Haven’t done that since before high school. I wonder where my stamps went.
5. Dancing: swing, latin, ballroom. I miss it so much. I joined a Facebook page that posts about all of the swing dances across the city and haven’t been able to convince myself to go. Soon. One day, I’d like take a Lindy-hop dance class.
6. Guitar: I learned to play the guitar in the 9th grade. My fingers have long ago lost all of their callouses and I no longer even own a guitar. Last weekend, I held one in my arms. My fingers remembered a few songs (I think I’ll be able to play Leaving on A Jet Plane on my death bed) and it was lovely getting to make music again. There are so many techniques that I never mastered and I’d love to get into it again.

Hobbies that I wish I had:
1. Astronomy. I would love to be part of an astronomy club and go star gazing on Friday nights.
2. Costume making. Specifically, Edwardian/Jane Asutenesque costumes. My dress that I made last year only whetted my desire.
3. Quilting/Sewing. I really, really, really want to make a Cathedral Quilt.

What hobbies do you have/wish to have?

HP meme: Day 8 & 9:
Day 8: Hogwarts subject you would most like to take.
Can I pull a Hermione and go to all of them? Okay, okay, I think I’d probably like Charms the best – it seems the most practical and the classes always sounded fun in the books. I’ve a soft spot for Prof. Flitwick as well – nothing fazes him! If potions was anything like my organic chemistry lab class, I think I’d find it pretty painful (and worse with Snape; I don’t do well with pressure). I think I would have found Care of Magical Creatures boring (sorry Hagrid), and I’d have definitely pulled a Hermione with Astrology. Arithmancy and Ancient Runes sound awesome too – too bad we never got to learn more about them.

Day 9: Least favorite male character.
There are quite a few male characters that bother me, actually.
1. Severus Snape: I understand you lost the woman that you loved, but you were pretty spineless when she was alive, it was 20 years ago, and it doesn’t excuse your bullying now. Also, if Voldemort had AD’d you like a proper villain, you wouldn’t have been able to pass on those memories to Harry, so he wouldn’t have found out that he needed to die and it would have all been for nothing. Luckily, your author really likes convenient coincidences, so we never had to find out.
2. Draco Malfoy. I just wish that you had gotten the guts to defy those in power and really choose the good life, instead of just living in fear. Yours was a redemption story that fizzled. At least your mom loved you.
3. Harry. It’s okay to ask for help. Things might have gone a little better if you did. Also, if you had paid a little more attention in class,
4. Dumbledore: In life and death missions, usually directions for how to accomplish the massive scavenger hunt are helpful. I realize that you are the “Guardian archetype” and so your role is done once the Hero has realized his potential, but since you kept vital information from your Chosen One, you made him much less prepared and relied on chance for him to succeed. Lame, mentor. Lame.

Now that’s the way to make a book-to-movie adaptation. This really was the first HP movie that I loved. It captured all of the essence of the book (without all of the painful exposition), the magic, the helplessness as they tried to figure out what to do. It was poetic and melancholy and just perfect. I cried from the very first scene – stuff about how your life is changing and what you have to give up and sacrifice really touches my tear ducts right now.

Met a cute boy tonight who was a big Harry Potter fan too. That also made me happy. 😉

Day #8 – Bullet your day. Read the rest of this entry »

Both my dad and sister reminded me that I had been there when Laura was burnt by the tar. Apparently, my mom, sisters and I had gone on a bike ride and Laura had ridden her bike directly into the hot tar pit. So my memory was correct!

Speaking of nostalgia and memories, have you all seen the latest Arcade Fire video? I shared it on my Facebook a couple of weeks (maybe even months now!) and I still love it. Go here to their website, type in your address (nostalgia is one of the ingredients to making it powerful and mindblowing – it’s best if its the address of a place you grew up) and wait for it to load. It only works on Google Chrome or Safari and it also uses a lot of memory and processing ability, so it is best if you only have that one program open. And then after you see it, read/listen to the interview on NPR about how they made the video. It’s amazingly magical.

The video of where I grew up: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/#1339+E+Allen+Rd,+Tucson,+AZ+85719,+USA. The first time I saw it, it made me cry.

All About Me Day 07- A picture of where you live
I’ve inundated you all with pictures of my house over the last month. Does anybody not know what my house looks like?

Instead, pictures of my other “home”: Read the rest of this entry »

Headache is still lingering, I think, because it’s turning colder and I’m hunched over more. I could really go for a massage right now. To top it off, I twisted my ankle – or at least, I did something to my ankle this morning while walking to work, so I spent the rest of the day hobbling. Not fun.

All About Me Day 06 – Your earliest memory
I’m pretty sure that all of my earliest memories are really memories based on suggestions and hearing family stories. No really. I have recollections of going easter egg hunting – but I was 1 and have heard the story about how I made my parents hid the easter eggs over and over since I was tiny. I do have some recollections that I’m sure are real – memories of elementary school and flying a kite and walking along the Tucson riverway (only had water in it a couple of months) and sitting on a cactus, going to the Clouse’s house for piano lessons. Being in The Christmas Carol. But I think most of those memories are from when I was 8-9.

Interestingly, I was just reading some articles about how we “patch” our memories and cofabulate so they make sense. For example, I remember being there when my little sister fell into a hot tar pit – but I’m pretty sure that she was with one of my parents and their bike tipped in? In any case, I no longer feel bad about having a poor memory.
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I’ve had a bad tension headache/migraine for the past two days. My fellow let me leave work early and I came home and crashed and if it wasn’t for my grumbling, hungry tummy, I’d slept longer. The muscles in my neck are really tight and tense and I got dehydrated which triggered everything. Anyway, there’s the explanation for the lateness in some of my blogs. I can sleep in a little tomorrow, but I’m still kinda achy so I think it’s off to bed again. I’m behind in the 30 day memes, but promise to resume them tomorrow.

How was your weekend?