Silver and Gold

Imagine being in a room with 3 people who have over 170 combined years of practicing medicine. Imagine meeting 19 doctors from the class of 1960, a class which included only 5 women. Imagine walking onto the same field that the Broncos do every Sunday. Check. Check. Check.

Alumni banquet and awards ceremony for the University of Colorado School of Medicine--where all your dreams come true.

No, seriously, it was a cool night. A night where, yes, I sat through several presentations of awards whose qualifications no one will ever know and the process for choosing the recipients might remain equally mysterious. But, it was pretty inspiring to see a man who has been a physician for longer than my parents have been alive, telling us that we should never try to be good doctors. "Because good is the enemy of excellence." And it felt pretty posh to see the Invesco club suites and keg rooms (Broncos locker room off limits) and eat dinner with the most amazing view of the Denver skyline that I've ever seen. And it was entirely surreal to think that in 15 hours, we will all be doctors. Holy cow. There's no way to put it all into words, but I know that it's an honor I'm going to be sharing with some amazing people; people I'm very proud to call colleagues and friends.

And in 50 years, maybe we'll all be back in the same place, imparting wisdom to the next generation of physicians.

Up, up, and away

Michelle and I did "The Incline" last weekend. It used to be some sort of railway near the cog railway up Pikes Peak. You can see it driving into Manitou Springs, an 8-foot dirt swath cutting through the mountain. The "No Trespassing" sign doesn't even cause people a second glance. The hike's about a mile, straight up. Huge steps, much more conducive to someone with far longer legs than I, and at an altitude guaranteed to raise your heart rate with every step. But how fantastic to be out enjoying another one of those "Colorado blue sky" days, working hard, enjoying the lack of humidity. I'm really gonna miss these. I highly recommend it if you're up for a morning challenge (it took us 2 hours round trip--the way down is almost 3 miles winding down the side of the hill). Maybe pair it with an ice cream cone in town when you get done.

From the top, looking straight down.

No stoppin' me now

Well, I have officially completed all requirements of graduation so that the only thing between me and my MD is the passage of the next week. The past few days have been filled with my ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certification which involved various simulations, performing CPR, learning drug doses. Important note: if you don't know what to do, the correct answer is 1 mg Epi, Amiodarone, shock 'em, or continue really effective CPR until someone else who knows what they're doing arrives. And that's basically 8 hours worth of class distilled down to essentials. Aren't you glad your doctors went through so much school?

Wish I could wax sentimental on the last four years, but I'm too stinking excited to do any profound reflection. I will say that they were difficult, exhausting, often demoralizing, but also enlightening, challenging (in a good way), and rewarding. And I'm really excited to put it all to good use. Just as soon as we make it through Senior Skits...brought to you by the MSA


*The picture is from nataliedee.com, though it was essentially made for these skits.

The whelping box

Monday, Hilary's dog Blaze gave birth to her puppies (called whelping, thus the box that you put her in so the puppies are safe when they are born; it's like a huge sandbox only without the sand). I was so thrilled to be able to share in the excitement. Unfortunately, there was also sadness to dampen the joy of new life: three of the puppies were stillborn. It was heartbreaking to see Blaze try to get them to start breathing and wondering if they were going to make it, and then to have to take them away so she could focus on the living ones. Still, it was incredible to witness the other puppies, just hours old, crawling around blind, completely reliant on their mother for food and protection. I wish we could have the good without the bad (as so often in life we do), but maybe it helps us appreciate things just a little bit more when we see how they can go wrong.

Mayflowers

So, it's the middle of May...there is snow on the ground. What gives? My flowers are hiding out in my garage (I suppose I should be grateful that they are mobile. Well, not by themselves actually. Michelle carried the pots inside.) and I'm ready to wear sandals. Such is Colorado. Honestly, except for worrying about the curse of my black thumb, I love the unpredictable weather. Because it means that in the middle of December I can be outside in a t-shirt playing basketball. Yup, totally worth moving the plants inside. Also, I was not aware until recently that tulips wind up their petals air-tight at night (probably because this involves having tulips and waking up early before they open for the sun) and there's a beautiful red and yellow one off the 2nd porch step just begging for a more competent photographer than myself (Rashy, get out here, now!) to immortalize it. For now, I'll just enjoy it, along with the cherry blossom tree and grape hyacinths that make our front yard look like a greenhouse.

Off to Omaha this weekend to see Mary GRADUATE! Holy cow, my sister is done with college. Good job, kid. You survived 4 years of soccer, 4 years of accounting, and most importantly, several trips to the Moon for a boot. Here's to you!

Definition of a conversation piece

A 13-inch cupcake. No joke. This was what greeted us when we got back to the house after a delicious Pizza 51 stop with new friends. So, to have said giant cupcake, you not only need a birthday to celebrate (as one would expect), you need someone with a giant cupcake mold, 2 boxes of cake (I can't even remember the last time I had strawberry cake), about 2 cups of pink frosting, and enough non-pareils to cover the 100-square-inch top. And it was...delicious. Throw in stories about breaking your arm "playing football" (read: tripping in a parking lot while chasing a football) and memories of dodgeball recruitment and you have a recipe for goodness. Kansas City is going to be a fun ride.

Zoo Day!

Today we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for Sue's birthday. Normally, I'm kind of a "seen one zoo, seen 'em all" kind of person, cause animals don't really change that much, but this zoo had some cool stuff, from being able to feed the huge herd of giraffes, to the twin baby golden lion tamarins, to the hippo show, to the grizzly bears, okapi, beavers, spectacled bear, baby orangutan, mountain tapir--so many amazing, wonderful creatures that God has created, some of them apparently just for the laughs. Plus, we had beautiful weather, peach pie, and there were boxing giraffe pens in the gift shop. Wonderful!