A random entry!

02-19-07 --> 02-26-07
Hello to all!

I am in my last week of pediatrics. Last week I was at the outpatient office, and had a good time. This week I am at the hospital (a new hospital for me) and at a child abuse clinic. The new hospital is different… Its forms and way of doing things are completely different than the other 3 hospitals. For some reason they don’t want us writing in the charts, so all of our presentations are done orally. Tomorrow I am going to the other center—I hope I learn a lot.

The thing about 1 week at a place is that it takes a few days (2-3) to get comfortable. I know I said the exact same thing two weeks ago, but it is true. I do appreciate the many different environments I have seen in the past month (2 weeks in a peds ER and the inpatient unit, 1 in outpatient, 1 in a different inpatient unit, and the center tomorrow), but… it is still difficult. My friend “J” says that he feels the same way I do at the beginning of each new rotation. Phew! At least I am not alone. I am trying very hard to look at it the way mom told me to: “worrying about something today doesn’t really make tomorrow any better… it just spoils today” AND… “you know you’ll want to extend your stay for a few more days at the end… this is always the case”. This is of course true. By the middle of last week I would have gladly added a few more days at the outpatient site… it was just loads of fun.

Okay, now really enough of this. I will not be venting about this specific topic on my very public journal any more.

So, last week… it was SO much fun!!! I went to the office and basically followed the doc on the first day (that’s the way they do it there), and then by the 2nd day had asked them if they could show me the computer program so I could walk into a room and interview a patient like I would normally. The nicest thing about last week was that I met one of the patients from the ER (and since she was admitted later on, from the inpatient unit as well)—she was doing so much better. It was very nice to have continuity of care.

The weather was amazing on Tuesday and Wednesday—it was in the 50’s and was sunny, and since we just had the week of 15F as our high, this felt wonderful.

Exercise… I haven’t talked about that in a while—well, during the cold week I couldn’t make myself go outside and walk. It was just too cold. So… I had a small lazy spell. But… Dad is the one who kept pushing at me until I started working out again. (Thanks dad!!!) I got out the old ‘pilates workout for Dummies,’ and I’ve been doing that. You know what I’ve realized?…I have some abdominal muscles I never knew I had… Ouch! It was such a nice change I think I might have to run to blockbuster and find some new work out videos for myself.

Speaking of blockbuster—Not that I have rented a movie recently, but I was thinking of joining netflix. Anyone uses them? Are they any good? Since I really don’t watch too many videos, I’d probably get something cheap. Let me know what you think.

Movies—I might not be renting many movies, but I sure like to see ‘em in the theater! I saw “Music and Lyrics” on Saturday. It was great! I told my friends Karen and Matt that I saw this movie and their response was: “We’re sorry.” Ugggg! Can’t they see how amazingly cute Hugh Grant is? Huh??? I mean, just to see him dressed in 1980’s clothes was worth the ticket price!!! :o)

Peanut butter alert—I ate from a recalled peanut butter jar before I knew they were recalling it. I had a nasty stomach ache and diarrhea. I was convinced I had contracted salmonella from the very delicious... I mean... DARN peanut butter. Well, no, actually, I thought I caught a viral bug from the kids, but it was just so out of the blue, so I had to think about the salmonella. Today I was all better, so hopefully this was the end of that lovely adventure.

Soups—I have made the best soup yet! I used this url for the recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-of-sweet-potato-soup/Detail.aspx

And for those who read this via regular mail, here is the recipe (taken from allrecipes.com)

Cream of Sweet Potato Soup
SUBMITTED BY: Zoey McCullen
"This easy to prepare yet oh-so-elegant soup is a favorite at my house. Because it has a slightly sweet taste, the kids love it, and it's my husband's favorite soup. Serve warm with buttery garlic bread and a crisp green salad. You can also serve cold with cucumber or watercress sandwiches."
INGREDIENTS
• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 3 (14 ounce) cans low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Black pepper to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bake sweet potatoes in preheated oven until soft, about 1 1/2 hours (you can also use a microwave). Remove and let cool slightly.
Peel sweet potatoes, and puree with chicken broth in batches, using enough chicken broth so that it purees smoothly. Bring puree to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in the sugar, salt, nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper; cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cream.
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YUM! Delicious!

Okay, did I babble enough?

No actually, there was one more thing I forgot: KC.
KC decided it was a stupendous idea to get into the trash and eat some of the corn cobs I threw out a few hours earlier. Very clever of him. Not only did he get the whole cob stuck in his front teeth, he then growled and hissed at me when I tried to help him get it off…But, nevermind that, the poor cat puked his guts the entire night. He managed to get all of the pieces out of his belly (I hope). He is feeling great now, and he has already shown renewed interest in the trash. I better get a can with a lid.

Now, that’s an entry!

Reut