A Random Header Image
6th February 2009

bliss

Plans for this weekend:

  • visiting the library
  • going grocery shopping
  • watching episodes of LOST
  • getting Alice (the babe) to warm up to me (it’s been a few months since I last saw her, but maybe she’ll remember me?)
  • taking pictures of the babe (first chance to really play with my camera. Could I ask for a better subject than a two-year old’s grin?)
  • sewing my regency dress
  • cooking and consuming delicious food
  • E-fest amateur electric plane festival!! (a pylon race! helicopter crashes! combat! night-flying!)
  • staying up way too late talking and opening up my heart
  • remembering exactly why Susan has been my bosom friend for so many years (almost 12 years)

This was exactly what the doctor ordered. 🙂

posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

2nd February 2009

blech

This may have been one of the worst post-call days yet. I did get some periodic sleep (so it could have been so much more awful) and then woke up this morning sick. As in, I-think-I-got-food-poisoning-from-my-spinach-salad sick. I was sick enough that had it been any other day, I would have left and have one of the other residents cover, but as it was, we were already short a resident so that wasn’t an option. I finally managed to get away and I’ve spent the day sleeping and only now have been able to tolerate some sprite and bread. Good times.

To make up for the TMI of this post, some YouTube videos that friends have posted that have caused much amusement in my convalescence.

The Weepies – Can’t Go Back Now. The Weepies+puppets=awesomeness

German fashion show. My friend Brooke linked this on her blog, wishing that she understood German. I’m not sure that I do–the images are searing enough!

And now, I’m going back to bed.

posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

2nd December 2008

100 Things

Felt like wasting time. I have to go to bed now, because I’m on call yet again tomorrow, and am still feeling sleep deprived and we’re rounding early. (As an aside, it is supposed to snow all day tomorrow, meaning I have to dig myself out again post-call before I can sleep. And more head traumas as people slide on slick roads which translates to more 4 am consults from neurosurgery when they decide that they don’t want to operate after all with means less sleep. Am somewhat bitter at Mother Nature who is not doing a great job of nurturing right now.)

1. Started your own blog (I have several right now. Most are just mirrors of my original livejournal, but I do have my own that will be revealed officially to the public as soon as WP 2.7 is released and working properly).
2. Slept under the stars (Several times)
3. Played in a band (I jammed with my 8th grade guitar class but I don’t think we ever made a band)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
Read more

posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

24th November 2008

Catching the bouquet

Some friends of mine got married a month or so ago. Lindsay (the bride) is a romantic and planned the wedding to have a Jane Austen theme. All of the guests were seated at places named after Jane Austen locations: Bath, Mansfield Park, Lyme (which was actually where we were seated), Northanger Abbey, and of course, Pemberley, the table where the bridal party sat. There were horse-drawn carriage rides and silhouette portraits and of course, dancing (although not English line dancing to my disappointment). The gentlemen from my church in attendance were, as I should have expected, dolts and lacking any sort of a romantic sentiment:

Me, teasingly: How long do you presume to reside in Lyme, Mr. B? Are you here for the season? Will I have the opportunity to make the acquaintance of your sisters?

Mr B: What are you talking about, woman? I can’t understand anything you’re saying.

Excited about the prospect of dancing and a formal wedding reception, I had dressed up for the evening, wearing my bridesmaid’s dress from Sam’s wedding with the long flowing skirt that I love so much. Lindsay and Tracy (the groom) were good on their word, there was dancing. Live, big band dancing playing Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong. And I couldn’t get anyone to dance with me. I finally did manage to drag out every one of the boys from my church out there to the dance floor, away from the food where they lingered and insisted that they escort me off the floor (I’ll save my appalled rant on the lack of common decency and manners later) and had a fabulous time anyway. I caught the bouquet, did I mention that? The pictures make it look like I had staked out the front row position, when in reality, I had just come in from the side. The bride threw the bouquet over the chandelier where it hit the ceiling, bounced off another girl’s chest and landed in my arms.

I thought I had recognized the photographer as the guy who had done the pictures for Liz’s wedding. What do you know, he was a friend of the bride’s sister. I started whistling “It’s a small world” and my friend Sarah remarked that she recognized the guy who followed him around with the flash as the photographer for her friend’s wedding once upon a time.

In any case, the wedding photos were posted online today. There weren’t any pictures of me dancing and I don’t like the pictures of me catching the bouquet (I look manic), but there is a sweet one of the groom and me.

Click for pictures

posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

23rd November 2008

Recipe for happiness

  1. Take the visit of one’s closest friends and their adorable daughter.
  2. Add good food: broccoli cheese soup. ham. mashed potatoes. pumpkin pie (never cake when you can have pie).
  3. Mix liberally with laughter over shared memories or antics of daughter.
  4. Serve with the exquiste tragic romance of Madama Butterfly
  5. Top with late nights catching up.
  6. Enjoy.
From 30th Birthday

Perfection.

posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

14th November 2008

Happyness, the pursuit of

I am in a really happy mood right now.

All of the patients for clinic this afternoon showed up early and since I was gone to the neurology business meeting for lunch, by the time I came back they had all been seen (or not shown up) and my attending basically waved me away. A whole afternoon off. I love this rotation!

I finally got the bookcase and water bottles out of my car. Yeah for better gas mileage! Tomorrow I’m vacuuming the entire thing out and washing the windshield. Baby’s gonna sparkle.

I got more leaves swept (gutters are still full).

Chris just called, he’s got the weekend off and I’m going to Madison on Sunday to see him! I need to find someone to teach my sunday school class (anybody itching to discuss the law of chastity to a bunch of single adults? Yeah, didn’t think so), but that should be the only glitch. I haven’t seen him for more than a few, brief hours in months, so I’m really excited about the prospect of an entire day. I’ll get to see his new apartment, eat some kind of exotic food and just catch up.

I am relishing the thought of sleeping in tomorrow.

I had pumpkin frozen custard last night, which was phenomenal. THis really is the best time of year, ever.

In just a week, Susan and her family are coming for a weekend visit. Suz and I are going to the opera! And then we’re having an early Thanksgiving/birthday celebration with lots of mashed potations and pumpkin pie.

I’m doing great with my NaBloPoMo goals, haven’t missed a day yet. How are you guys; I hope I’m not boring you all too much! (I have noticed that as my posting has increased, the blogging of many of my friends has decreased… Hmm. A scientific correlation, perhaps?). NaNoWriMo has, as expected, fallen drastically short of the mark, but I’ve really come a long way in brainstorming ideas and plots and characters so it might be something that I can continue to pursue.

And to top it all off, there’s this:


I love Doctor Who and can’t wait for Christmas. 😀

posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

12th November 2008

raspberries and potatoes

It is November 12, and I ate my last raspberry off my bush two days ago. Yesterday morning, I awoke to frost, and the poor raspberries were all frozen to the branches in various states of ripeness, perfectly preserved in their last moments of life. *sniff* If it had just stayed warm for 2 more days, I’d had enough to add to my breakfast. Tomorrow it’s up in the 50s again (but raining). I hope there will be enough of a peak in the clouds that I’ll get to clean out my gutters when I get home.

In another food related news, I had the most awesome dinner. When my friends were here last month, Laura insisted on making a Sweet Potato Curry. But it had to be the right kind of sweet potato, the “pale variety” she told me, more like a potato than a yam. Fine, fine. Sam and I scoured the grocery store, finally finding something that was labeled as a sweet potato and brought it home, where we were flatly informed that it was a yam and would not do. Sam later returned and with the help of 2 grocers who couldn’t resist helping the cute pregnant woman, found the spud, which at least here in Wisconsin is known as a “Golden Yam” (it really is a SweetPotato. So dinner was salvaged and I instantly became converted to the yummy yumminess that is the yellow pale-skinned SweetPotato. Its texture is much closer to a potato, it just has a hint of sweetness to it.

So I was digging through my cupboards this evening and stumbled on a golden sweet potato and I knew I had to make it my dinner. I heated up some minced garlic, whisked in some fat free evaporated milk with curry power, paprika and a touch of cinnamon, poured in on the griddle and then added thin slices of the yummy spud and cooked it until all of the liquid was gone and the potatoes were soft and flaky. Perfect. You all should try it some time. 🙂

(I need more food icons)

posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

14th September 2008

i love weekends

I have had a fabulous weekend. It’s been so refreshing and relaxing that it almost feels like I had the entire weekend off, instead of just Saturday.

Friday, I came home post call and packed for the “girls only” camping trip. It was one of my friend’s 30th birthday, so to celebrate, we decided to go camping. Yay! I’ve been wanting to go camping all summer long but have been thwarted over and over again by forgetting tents, threatening rain and long work hours. The weather didn’t look promising, but I was naive enough to believe the forecast of “20% chance” of rain. It started raining before we were even on our way. There went those plans. Instead, we went to my friend’s mother’s house, and sat under her car port, grilling our tin-foil dinners (seriously, tin foil asparagus is the most incredible food ever), and basking in the glow of the fire pit (I’m more determined than ever to get one). Afterwards, we all came back to my house and had a sleep over; my upstairs room almost looks like an oversized tent and everybody fit perfectly. We stayed up late talking (well, they did. I crashed early. 2 hours of sleep in 40 hours does not a coherent Julia make) and in the morning consumed pancakes (cooking tip: the addition of vanilla, cinnamon and cardamon makes a fantastic pancake). I haven’t had so much fun in a really long time.

After they all left, I decided to take advantage of my one day off and went over to Home Depot to research more about garage doors. The contractor was busy with another customer, and I got impatient waiting, so just as I was about to decide to leave and just order the darn thing online, one of the other sales associates stopped me. He listened to my rambling complaints of what was wrong with my door and felt that the door and opener were not the problem, that likely I needed some lubrication and new wheels as they get worn out.

I attempted to install the wheels yesterday and I think I’ve figured out the whole problem. It’s doesn’t even seem to be worn out wheels. The tracks were entirely caked in about 6 layers of grease and grim and the bottom part has rusted and the wheels were in a similar state (I don’t think those wheels have made actually contact with the tract in years, hence, there is barely a sign of wear on them, once you remove some of the grime).

I spent all day yesterday getting as much off as I could with a combination of paper towels, knife, fingernails (they could angle the best. I chopped them all off afterwards), and finally, dish soap (didn’t work so well). There’s still at least one multiple layers, but it’s already running just a little bit smoother. I just need to find a really good grease solvent to cut through the rest of it (any ideas???), and then lub it up good with some WD-40, and I think I’m set! YAY! You have no idea how much of a relief this is, this possibility that I might not have to replace my garage door. Of course, I still might have to actually replace the tracks if the rust at the bottom is worse than my original glance-over, but my bishop’s wife has recommended an independent contractor who is reasonable, so I might be able to get that done for a quarter of what I originally predicted. SWEET.

Afterwards, I cleaned up and went over to my neurology program director’s home for dinner which was nice. Everybody brought their kids, there was more food than imaginable (we have a rather large mix of vegetarians, meat consumers, Muslims observing Ramadan, etc). And then after that, I went to my friend Laura’s birthday party. She decided that she wanted to do a sing-a-long party, so we all got together and sang “The Music Man.” Yep, you read that right. We are such nerds. I haven’t seen it since high school at least; I remember most of the lyrics.

This morning, I rounded on all of our patients. We’ve cut the number patients down a lot, which made for easy rounds so I actually was able to make it to church for the first time in three weeks. And then I came home, ready to make potato soup for our on-call pot luck tomorrow, but I’m missing several ingredients, so instead I’m heading to the grocery store bright and early, chopping the vegetables and bringing it all to work so that it can cook in the crockpot all afternoon. Yummy.

And, I’ve figured out most of the problems with my from-scratch blog. It should be up and running in a couple more days. I’m so excited for its unveiling.

This week will be busy. I’m on call tomorrow and Friday. Saturday, I’ve invited my entire church over for a party. *boggles* Not sure exactly what possessed me to agree to host a party when I’m post call and sleep-deprived but there it is. It’s going to be fun, with a firepit in the backyard with camping chairs around and white Christmas lights on the fence, music in the front room, games and instruments downstairs, more games upstairs and tons of food. Luckily, I have the day off on Thursday to clean and all of my friends are coming over Friday when I’m at work to set up, so I don’t have to do that; hopefully, all I’ll have to do on Saturday is nap, take a shower and put on clean clothes and greet the guests.

Okay, I’m off to bed. Gotta get those veggies in the morning. 🙂

posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

2nd September 2008

Adventures in Yogurt (with recipes!)

I’m in such a cooking mood right now, and I don’t know why. I’m in the middle of making Chicken Tikka Masala; I finally gathered up the last of the ingredients and decided at 8 tonight to whip it up so I’d have something good to eat on call tomorrow. 6 days into my rotation at the VA and I’m so sick of the food already (granted, it’s the same food that I’ve eaten there for the last two years, so I guess it’s not surprising). So the chicken is marinating and I’ve decided to share some of my favorite recipes that I’ve discovered over the last few weeks.

I have recently fallen in love with cooking with yogurt. I had used it in the past to make my famous salmon (which I have since perfected. I know, I know, it was delicious before, but I’ve made it even better), and then, thanks to this blog that I’ve linked to before, I tried out some other recipes and have been surprised at how versatile yogurt can be. Her Yogurt Cream is absolutely to die for (although, use half-and-half or milk, the extra calories from the cream just aren’t worth it. Especially when you’re cooking for one). And it is perfect for making savory, creamy sauces that are lighter on the calories and fat. Since then, all of my google searches have been for cooking with yogurt. Yogurt and rice. Yogurt and cilantro. Yogurt and cucumber. And have I found some goodies. 🙂 Here are some of my favorites.

Salmon with Chermoula Sauce

posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

2nd June 2008

More decisions

Hypothetical question (really, truly):

If you were trying to impress a young lad with your homemade cooking, what would you use as a side dish to complement my signature salmon recipe? (I was going to make it into a real poll, but I got lazy.)

1. Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. What better way to get a man’s affection than through the staple of life? Plus, the author promises that I can expect to be worshipped and kissed for at least 38 hours.

2. Crushed Hot Potatoes. It’s got the potato factor in its favor, but it’s simple, so it doesn’t make me look too desperate.

3. Lemon Flavored Saffron Rice. I brought the saffron in Africa and carried it all the way back with me and haven’t used it yet. I love lemony saffron rice and it would really complement the fish. Plus, Cleopatra reportedly had great success with her use of saffron um, probably not the kind of success that I’m really seeking at this time :D.

4. Other! I am obviously an inexperienced Kitchen Goddess and need to be taught immediately that the perfect side dish would be:______________

Your input would be invaluable. And needed before Wednesday so that I can go shopping. Hypothetically, of course.

(As an aside: I LOVE the Pioneer Woman blog. I discovered it a couple of days ago and have spent most of the day browsing through her site. The pictures are goregous and it makes me long for the small town life that I’ve left behind; I miss those times of absolute solitude. Another part of me is overwhelmingly grateful that Kris Hullinger and I never hit it off, because whoa, I am glad that ranching is not my life.)

***
This is my last month as a second year resident, can you believe that? It just incredible how time can fly and still seem so slow. I’m not halfway done with my residency yet… that endpoint still seems a long way away. I certainly down feel ready to be released on the unsuspecting world, but I find myself chomping to get done with this all.

I’m rotating on the epilepsy monitoring unit, which is a different experience. Basically we admit people and provoke them into having seizures and I’m learning how to read EEGs, which is really like learning how to read petroglyphs done in a 3-year-old’s squiggly scrawl. I have no idea what I’m doing. The worst is that it really comes down to physics and electricity and currents and vectors, and man, that was my weakest point in all of physics. I could never understand it. I read and read this afternoon and I’m still confuzzled. But I’m excited about a new challenge, and the hours will be a little easier than a regular wards month (still have to do call, bleh)

***
I got my DEA license! And promptly had to renew a prescription for a patient, so I’m already being tracked. We won’t talk about how much money this little “privilege” cost me, but all I can say is that the little bonus that they give me at the end of the year to cover licensing and exams(while supposedly leaving enough to fund a gym membership as well), didn’t even cover half of what I’ve paid this past year for the honor of becoming a Real Doctor (like Pinocchio, but still with strings). But it’s all done now.

***
I’ve had “There are no cats in America/and the streets are filled with cheese” running through my head all day today. I have no idea where that came from, as I probably haven’t seen the movie (An American Tail, for those who are less Disney informed (and yes, yes, I know it’s not a Disney movie, work with me here)) since I was 10. Weird, especially since I did give in and buy myself a copy of Mulan since I’ve had an inexplicable urge to watch that movie for the last month, so I should be having “I’ll make a man out of you” there in my noggin instead. I did resist on buying the copy of Escape to Witch Mountain which is another one of my childhood favorites; luckily the store didn’t have The Three Lives of Thomasina or Toby Tyler –those I could not have said no to.

***
I think I’m going for the hammock in the back yard, it would fit the space better. One of these days, I’ll redo the front and make a real porch where I can install the swing. I’ve just gotta make sure that the side of my garage could handle the weight if I hook it there. I wasn’t able to find a fire pit yet either, so my backyard beautification project is on-going.

***
And I think that’s it. It’s all I can think to talk about, unless you want to hear that I have dishes to wash and clothes to fold and my hair to cut and CuteIntern friended me on Facebook (mostly shaved now. Definitely cuter) and I’ve got a date on Thursday that might almost be called a second date and there’s still about 5 clinic notes that I haven’t finished. Yeah, you definitely don’t want to hear about those tedious details about my life. 😀

posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

19th December 2007

No cooking goddess here…

So the reason that there hasn’t been updates on the glorious Indian food was because it was a little bit of a bust. I realized that I didn’t have yogurt, ended up borrowing sour cream instead, and then discovered I was out of lemon juice as well. 🙁 So no tikka masala. 🙁 I was really disappointed as the recipe looks fantastically good.

I did try the recipe for Chicken Saag, and it was…disappointing. It was a lot better than my previous disaster with the laab (ugh, just the word brings back memories of the taste, yuck, yuck, yuck), as it was edible and not bad tasting; it just didn’t taste anything like the saag I’ve had in the past. I’ve just found another recipe that is a slightly different variation, so maybe I’ll try it again some time and provide the recipe them. I don’t suppose my family is going to be adventurous enough to try my attempts at making exotic take out. Yeah, I didn’t think so.

I’m packing up and getting ready to go home tomorrow. I am so excited for a vacation, to be free of work, of responsibility, of patient calls, of 30 hour work days for 15 days straight. It’s going to be lovely. I’ve taken it pretty easy these last few days, though, and that’s been nice. On Monday, I decided that sitting behind someone while they flipped through hundreds and hundreds of MRI images was not a productive way for me to learn as I was fighting sleep every day and it was BORING, so I took a reading day and reviewed neuroanatomy. Once upon a time, I was awesome with the anatomy, now, not so much. It was really great–I need more of those.

Yesterday, after getting home post call, I slept a bit and then went shopping. I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done. I did end up splurging slightly for myself, but hey, I figure I’ve got to play the role of boyfriend in my life sometimes.

Today was spent in a frantic frenzy as I woke up to do some packing before going to work and discovering that I had no idea where my iPod was. None. And the last clear recollection of using it was back at Thanksgiving. So I tore apart my house and car, went to work and tore apart the clinic, the resident room, the work room, asked all of the staff in the unit and on the neurology floors and nobody could recall seeing it in the last 2-3 weeks. Security didn’t have it. Etc. Etc. Etc. I was quite sick. So I came home early, pulled out my backpack to put in all of the work stuff I have to bring with me, and there it was in the front pocket. Much relief, as I was getting quite tired of my forgetful irresponsibility that has been the theme for the last 2 weeks.

And now it is time to mark a few other things off my “to do” list. Like do laundry and actually buy my bus ticket for tomorrow. You know, the little, not important things, that’s all.

I’M ON VACATION!!!

posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

15th December 2007

ginamak be warned – I may steal your husband

Because if all of his recipes are this good, wow, I want him around.

My mouth watered last week over ginamak‘s description of the dinner that her husband made for her of a spinach/feta cheese omelet. She graciously provided the recipe, I finally gathered the ingredients and WOWZA. Talk about amazing.

Because I want to be as desired, I’m providing you all with the recipe (and my variations). Steal me away!

1 package frozen spinach
Sliced and diced fresh mushrooms (a handful per omelet)
1 cube of feta cheese
Eggs (3 per omelet)
Milk (1/4 cup or so per omelet)
Garlic powder
Onion powder
A dash of oregano
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Pinenuts (optional although so tasty, they shouldn’t be)

Cook the frozen spinach as to the package directions. While cooking, slice mushrooms and crumble feta cheese into large chunks. Once spinach is cooked, drain and squeeze well. Saute mushrooms for 1-2 minutes or until they start to soften and change color and then remove from pan.

Whip eggs and milk together until slightly froathy, then fold in spinach and mushrooms. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Pour on half of hot skillet, cook for a minute, then rotate pan so egg mixture drains to other side. Cook until bubbly. Work spatula around cooked omelet and flip. Crumble cheese on egg and fold in half. Allow to finish cooking and serve, sprinkled with pinenuts. Keep napkin close by for drool.

****
In other cooking news (what have I become? A domestic goddess? A food blog???) I have finally tracked down all of the ingredients to make Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Saab and the leftover spinach is perfect for that. So tomorrow, it’s Indian day. YUM YUM YUM.

(Don’t worry, I’ll be providing recipes.)

ETA: Should I be ambition enough to try naan? Never have done bread before…

posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

9th December 2007

Food! Glorious food!

And on the seventh day, Julia maketh french toast for dinner. With eggs and evaporated milk and pumpkin spice and fluffy white bread. And lo, it was good. And her mouth did agree. Insomuch as she maketh more french toast, this time with raspberry jam. And it was very very good.

posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

25th October 2007

just gotta

Gotta love the 13 hour days. When we don’t round until almost 6 pm, and I’m still so far behind that I’m just finishing the admission note for the 8 o’clock (am) stroke. When Cointern takes the day off. And senior resident is post call. And there are four strokes within a hour of each other, with just me to see them.

Things did get better, two of the neurology residents stepped in and admitted two of the patients (*loves*) and I did manage to see all of my patients by the time we rounded, so I guess I should be proud of that *snort*. But I never got lunch (and I only had orange juice and Saltine crackers for breakfast) and I missed the “interview” dinner where we take out the potential residents…free food, love it. That’s probably a good thing, because I am so tired and so frustrated and so ready to be done that I might have painted an overly negative view of the program and then nobody would want to come here which would create more work for me.

And now I’m scrounging up a frozen dinner and climbing into bed, because if I don’t get more sleep tonight, I will start crying tomorrow.

posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments

31st July 2007

Cooking with Julia

My Tom Kha Gai soup was a success. I made it much more mild than you’ll ever find in any self respecting Thai restaurant, but even that was enough to open up my sinuses. Yummy! It’s been a long time since I had any and I can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

The recipe, fyi, can be found here, I’d recommend just tearing the kaffir leaves, but leaving them attached to the central stem–they really aren’t edible, and I made the mistake of shredding them into tiny bits. And since you really aren’t eating the lemongrass AND the galangal, it makes a lot that you are removing in your mouth. I also used lemongrass powder as well, I think it made the flavor stronger.

The Pork Larb Moo on the other hand was an utter failure. I’ve never tasted anything so foul in my entire life and my house still reeks of the combination of fish sauce and lime juice. Ugh. I think I bought the wrong fish sauce as well. Fish sauce isn’t the most tasty stuff in the world, but this is down right nasty.

Tomorrow I’m trying out the Indian food. I’m really looking forward to the Chicken Saab, as it’s one of my favorite Indian dishes.

posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

28th July 2007

*hack hack* *sniffle*

I’m so tired of being sick. I’m on day 7 of the Killer Virus and it really hasn’t gotten much better. The fevers/chills/hallucinations are thankfully gone but I’ve still got the burning throat, aching ears and hacking cough and the Dayquill aint’ doing nothing. If I didn’t know in my little doctor heart since I don’t have a fever, exudate, lymphadepathy I don’t have a serious infection, I’d seriously be considering writing myself some antibiotics. And possibly some guaifenesin with codeine. I splurged on NyQuil since I finally will be able to sleep in tomorrow. Hopefully, a full night of sleep will turn me into a new person. But I swear, if it doesn’t improve by morning, I’m going to be one of those awful people and drop by the ER for a nonemergency, to get a rapid strep done.

Chris call this morning with the offer of visiting. I looked around at my pile of used kleenex (a word to the snifflers. Splurge on lotioned, brand name Kleenex. Your nose will thank you), dishes and dirty clothes and begged off. 🙁 Hopefully he’ll have the entire weekend off next weekend and we’ll find a festival or something to experience.

I lurched myself off the couch at some point and tracked down a Oriental market, where I have bought supplies so that I can make Tom Kha Gai soup, Larb, Chicken Saab, and Chicken Masala and fresh spring rolls over the next several days. So excited. Why the sudden urge for Thai/Indian food?? While I’ve been convalescing, I’ve gotten pretty involved in reading this blog: Six in the World, which is about a fix who took a year off and travelled around the world, which sounded pretty amazing. As in, I almost started planning my trip, until reality set in again. Yeah, won’t be doing that for many more years to come. I started getting really hungry when they were talking about all of the great Thai food and the Thai cooking classes, which caused me to remember the spices that Chris had brought back for me from Thailand and the recipes from his cooking lessons… so now I’ll be making Thai food and experimenting with Indian. Yummy!

And the last thing, before I drift off (hopefully) in drug-induced sleep. I have an infestation of fruit flies. Darn things are smaller than the holes in my screens. Any ideas of how to get rid of them??

posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

18th May 2006

left behind

I was going to write a very happy post about the joys of having your best friend come home three days early…

Of getting the chance to go to all of the “last time” places that you were going to miss because the best friend was gone…

Like Thai food. And Indian food. And today’s treat: real English afternoon tea, with sandwiches and scones and little chocolates (not to mention tea)…

Or the banquet tonight, held in honor of the graduates…

Where I was presented with an award for “distinguished service” (I apparently volunteered a lot. I guess all of those Saturday mornings were worth something)…

And the laughter and hugs with some very good friends that I’ve made in med school. Fellow classmates… spouses… single… married…

And the thought that I was one of the few who had become friends with all sorts of the “cliques” (yes, Virginia, they still exist in med school) and feeling quite good about that…

But I just got back from the “after banquet” party, and after sitting on the fringe, getting left out of conversation after conversation… and hearing hints (and blatant remarks) about parties and gatherings that I haven’t been invited too…

And feeling, once again, overwhelmed by the thought that this, all of this is ending and I’m leaving and I have to say goodbye…

That good feeling has dissipated, and I wish it would come back.

posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

  • Julia’s Journal

  • Just an ordinary girl.
  • Monthly Calendar

  • March 2024
    S M T W T F S
     12
    3456789
    10111213141516
    17181920212223
    24252627282930
    31  
  • Archives

  • RSS Red Head Snippet

    • Books read October-December 01/01/2024
      My goal was to read 120 books this year. I just finished number 129. (Some of these I reviewed as part of my WWW posts). October: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I had high expectations for this book, as it had been so praised, and I felt let down by it. Still enjoyable, […]