Belay on

Rashy took me rock climbing last night. My lats still haven't recovered. This is not your Family-Fun-Center-scramble-to-the-top-any-way-you-can rock climbing. This is people-bring-their-own-shoes-and-don't-even-think-of-using-a-hold-that-isn't-on-the-route rock climbing. And. It. Was. Awesome. Mentally and physically challenging, great community, lots of room to grow. I'm hoping to go back soon. For now, enjoy this shot of my butt.

Residency 3.2: NICU, Part the third

Just finished my third and final month of NICU, and let me tell you, there was no love lost as I waltzed out of there at 4 pm. As you may have surmised from my prior NICU/Truman posts, this is not my most favorite place in the whole wide world. In fact, I think it may come in as like my 145th favorite place in the world, behind Target, but ahead of airports. In reality, we didn't have that bad of a month. My calls were fairly mild, our interns were strong, and though the census was high, the babies weren't all that sick. Still, I get cranky way more often over here than on other rotations, it seems. And, this time around, it was coupled with just a touch (read: whole-whopping-lot) of senioritis. Is August too early for that? Too early for tuning out during rounds, taking 30 minute breakfast breaks, and stretching meetings an extra hour just to not go back to the NICU? Brace yourself, cranky-pants, we got another 10 months to go.

I remember back to my first time in the NICU and those terrifying calls where I had to look up what to say in response to, "He hasn't peed in 23 hours, what do you want to do?" The answer--always--is wait longer. See? Now you can skip straight to second year. However, besides getting more delivery experience (which was essentially the goal), and teaching my squirrely interns the ropes (who am I kidding? They basically teach themselves), I don't feel like I learned a whole bunch, and I'm hoping that doesn't set a precedent for third year. I don't wanna be so checked out that I'm not taking advantage of these last few months where I have a safety net and plenty of resources at my fingertips. Right now, all motivation has to go towards finishing my Professor Rounds presentation and prepping for Kili, followed shortly by job hunting (yikes!), but maybe if I wish hard enough, I'll become a human sponge and just start absorbing things around me. Only useful things, though. I don't really care about the Chiefs' front line or how much 'Magic Mike' took in at the box office.

See? I can't even focus long enough to write a proper blog post. I better quit now.

The Burning House

Foster Huntington, in May of 2011, asked himself what he would take with him if his house were on fire. The answer led to an intriguing project that demonstrates how uniquely each of us attaches to material things. It got me thinking about what I would take with me. I was surprised by how many of the things I've accumulated over the years that I was ready to leave behind. It's all just stuff. Stuff that I like, and that would take me a long time to replace, but just stuff.

In reality, the items I chose were so scattered throughout my apartment, and I had to think through each one of my storage spots, that there is no way I would actually be able to gather this exact collection to save. If I had that much time, I'd just put out the fire. No, in real life, I'd look around, grab an armful of the most expensive things, plus the cash and savings bonds in my dresser (don't come rob me), and get the heck out of Dodge, praying that I'd estimated high on the renter's insurance. But if we suspend reality for a moment, to let me reflect on irreplaceable things, here's what I would grab (let's pretend I could carry it all in one trip).

Twenty-eight years' worth of stuff

1) My laptop. Too much stuff on here, and no backup drive (I know, Dad, I should back everything up)
2) My phone. Cause, otherwise, how would I call the fire department? Also, let's be honest, I'm now lost without my phone.
3) My TEC Bible...I've already got all the important stuff underlined. Don't want to waste all that work.
4) I've got a drawer full of all sorts of things I want to keep. We call it a "Forever Box", cause that's the stuff you want to have, you know...
5) Couple of pictures that are professionals, so I don't have the negatives...Michelle hooding me, Mimi and Grandad, and the Zapapi.
6) Also, a photo strip from Milwaukee with The House, after Brady's wedding--first photo booth experience, and it was everything I wanted it to be.
7) Various artifacts from my globetrotting sisters...Moroccan jewelry box from Michelle, Jamaican drum from Kelly, German beer boot from Mary.
8) The pearls from Mimi and Grandad for my 16th birthday
9) Pearl necklace from John
10) Grandma's diamond cross necklace
11) My keychain collection--I'm proud of it, and it would take WAY too long to replace.
12) My billfold--you know, driver's license, credit card, Starbucks' card, library card, PALS card--all the good cards.
13) My passport (complete with Tanzanian Visa)...no way I'm jeopardizing my Kili trip this close to launch time.

The End.