Monday, May 23, 2011

This is the day...

What a wonderful weekend with lots to celebrate. First, congrats to my favorite youngest sister, Kelly, for graduating with High Honors and being an overall rock star. I'm so proud of you, kiddo.
And secondly, and probably more importantly (sorry Kelly), congratulations to the 8 awesome, Godly men who were ordained to the priesthood on Saturday. It was a blessing to be able to witness their ordination (even though I had to spend the last hour sitting down or risk passing out). But even more so to get to be a part of Fr. John's first Mass last night. I wish I could describe in words for you so you would know. He said afterwards that it was a glimpse of heaven, and it truly was. The Spirit was there last night, moving in powerful ways, as I'm sure He will throughout Fr. John's priesthood. What a privilege to get to celebrate with him, to witness the start of his priestly ministry, to be one of the many lives touched by his humble sacrifice.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Sleepy little town

Back from a very restful two and a half days in Telluride. Restful like sleep-11-hours-and-then-come-back-and-take-a-nap-in-the-afternoon restful. But I deserved it, because it's hard hiking around in gorgeous mountain air without any oxygen, dangit! I have said it before, I love mountain towns. I love the locally owned shops and the dogs on the sidewalks and the couple in front of you at church who shows up behind you in line for croissants at breakfast. I love the bike share program at the library that gives you your very own hot pink one-speed with foot brakes and a basket to tool around town for a few days. I love the store owners who stop to share a story or learn where you're from and don't mind that you're just wandering through. I definitely love the Road Rash Red local brew, the huge breakfast burritos, and the fried oreos. And even more, I love enjoying God's creation--the mountains, the streams, the colors, the snow--yeah, the snow. All of it. Wonderful.

a breakfast poem for you

very dog friendly

my very own pink bike

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Live to Eat

My dad says there are those of us who eat to live, and those who live to eat. Clearly, everyone in my family is the latter. We LOVE food. Food is how I experience new places, how I cement memories, how I define events. I just finished a fluff book where the main characters traded Top 5 Food lists, and it inspired me to make my own. Now, as soon as I hit "post" I know I'm going to think of something else that really should have been in the top 5, but I'll rack my brain as I type to get it as accurate as possible.

1. My grandma's mayonnaise cake. I had to throw this on for a couple of reasons. First, pretty much anything my grandma made was better than anyone else's. As it should be. Chicken and noodles, sausage gravy, mini pizzas--all better in Grandma's kitchen, and really all of which could be on the list. But only mayonnaise cake was truly iconic of visits to grandma, and only mayonnaise cake has proven so elusive to re-create. The moist, rich, dark chocolate, the thick icing that didn't turn runny in the Indiana humidity, the way it coated your entire mouth until you downed a huge glass of milk. We've never been able to make it quite like Grandma. When I get to heaven, pretty much the best greeting ever would be Grandma handing me a huge slice, "Laura, I saved you a whole row."

2. The bread pudding at Free State Brewery in Lawrence. In keeping with the dessert theme, this was a treat that I had recently that blew me out of the water. Every bite was an explosion of flavors--warm cherries, homemade ice cream, some sort of sinful cream sauce--yum! As I ate it, I thought, "I would give up chocolate for this!" Yup, I would.

3. Pear ravioli--I can't remember the name of the restaurant we ordered in from in Maxincuckee, so I've never been able to go back, but oh the ravioli was so good! I don't know what was in the filling but it was slightly sweet and nutty and covered in the best cream sauce. Literally every time I have ravioli I think of this meal, gathered around the table at the lake house, listening to the water lap at the dock and watching the sun go down.

4. Bison filet at The Fort--the best (and probably most expensive) steak I've ever had. Cooked to perfection, melt in your mouth tender, and accompanied by a mariachi band singing Michelle and me "Happy Birthday". Too bad you only turn 18 once.

5. Butternut squash soup--at this little cafe that is a favorite of my aunt's. It was warm and creamy and delicious and everything you've ever thought soup should be (the salmon tart that came with it also could go on the list--flaky crust, goat cheese, yum!).

Runners up--Chicago dog at Wrigley (iconic!), grilled corn on the cob from Caldonia's at Taste of Colorado (drip down your chin juicy and slathered in butter), Aunt Carol's sticky buns, most of the Neapolitan pizza that I've ever had.

Okay, gotta stop now before I start drooling on the keyboard. What are your Top 5?

Friday, May 6, 2011

Residency 1.10: Truman NICU

Gah--I totally spaced writing last month's rotation summary. Since I know there are so many of you hanging on my every post, let me apologize. But mostly I need to post because if I get behind before intern year is even over, then we're doomed for the rest of residency, and I need to have something to look back and remember this whirlwind by (yup, just ended with a preposition; deal with it).

Ahh, the NICU. Mostly, I'm just glad to be done. Not sure what it was about Truman that pretty much sucked the life out of me. Although in the day-to-day business, I was never all that grumpy, and although I found a lot of little things to be grateful for, I found myself fairly depressed when I would get home from work every day. Even days off became an effort to try to get out of the apartment, or sometimes even dressed for that matter.

And so, I will just summarize this month by saying that I love little babies, I like doing lines, I like managing vents, but I do not like doing it after being awake for 22 hours. The end. Oh, and McFlurries and post-call sausage McMuffins do make quite the silver lining.