Sneak preview :o)

... A few hours before I am starting my pediatric residency, but just a small note to say that I will complete this blog asap with some awesome pictures from graduation, but... just for now, here is a sneak preview!

Tears in heaven

This song below made me tear up...

Here is the update!!! (late is better than never!)

05-13-08
I promised an update… but I was extremely busy, and so it took me almost a whole month to get to and journal here…

So, what have I been busy with?

Well, first of all I have finished my last rotation. It was an excellent one and I am SO happy I decided to take it. The first Monday not to be on rotation was very strange… I woke up early in the morning and told my dad (who was visiting) that this was very bizarre and that I couldn’t possibly be on break and that I need to go to work.

But alas, getting used to being on vacation is WAY too easy!!! LOL!

On that Monday dad and I went to my new locations in attempts to find housing. No luck. We looked and looked and drove around, and talked to relators and drove more, and drunk some coffee, and drove more. It was annoying. I wasn’t willing to give up my washer and dryer (heck, I could have had only hookups, I didn’t care), but didn’t want to drive more than 10 minutes to the hospital.

So no luck.

BUT!!!! (and this is to my readers who haven’t talked with me in a while) a day after dad left I found a place!!! It’s a cute little apartment in the landlord’s back yard (over his mother’s place). It has a washer and a dryer. It has two tiny (teenee-tiny!) rooms, a small living room, a kitchen, a sun room, an attic. It didn’t have an outside balcony :o( the cats will have to compromise :oP It is 5 min by foot from the shore and 8 minutes from the hospital with a car!!!

Now I liked it, signed a lease and hoping that this would work out. If it doesn’t… well, it’s only for a year.

So that was the big thing I was happy I did before I went home for a visit. Check.

Okay, so then a few days later I went home to Arizona—It was the first time I went home since mom’s death last year. It was wonderful to be home, but in the beginning it truly felt like mom was in the bedroom.

Anyways, I had several things I needed to get done, the most important of which was to transfer mom’s blog into a book format. It was very difficult to read her blog in full again. It was even harder when I read it a 3rd or 4th time. Still, even though it was the most difficult it was the most fulfilling. Mom left us a treasure. Her words. I am SO happy she wrote this blog. I worked very hard (and definitely stretched Microsoft Word’s capabilities to the max). I love designing the artistic aspects of a book. Well, I think it turned out wonderful. I tried very hard to really understand what mom meant with her words and to find the right pictures/facial expressions/ pictorial feeling.

Then (or maybe it was before), dad and I went through all the books in Hebrew to donate to the center of Jewish Education. We’ve created stickers in the front saying that this book was donated by us and then had 6 different pictures we chose of mom (one for each sticker) in memory of mom… etc. It turned out great! I’m sure that the Israelis in Phoenix will love this new library!

I tried to create a small booklet with mom’s favorite recipes (to make and to eat), but even though I have made a list of all the recipe I didn’t get to making this booklet. Maybe next year.

In the last moment I went through mom’s cloths, and most of the fitted me (how come I’m not surprised).

Hmmm.

I met Omer’s girlfriend who is a sweetheart. I rested. I played with the doggies and took them on walks everyday. I managed to annoy Omer. I managed to make Omer laugh. I ate good. I exercised. I met up with Julie’s family.

And then I went back home.

And then it was the 6th of May, 2008.

A year is a very long time, but it is also a very short time. If I had it my way she would have been here and healthy and happy with me that I am finally finishing up school. But I didn’t get to have it my way. And I miss mom more than words can say; and I know she misses me too.

I am glad we are doing the memorial on the 23rd of May, which is Lag BaOmer.

That’s all I have to say about that.

So graduation is this Saturday. I am flying back to the Midwest this Thursday. I am ready to be done with school, but I know that there is so much more I could learn/should learn… so glad I have residency to go through!!! :oP

Anyways, this is not the last entry on this blog, but I think that after graduation, “My Life as a Medical Student” will officially be over :o) I truly enjoy writing a blog, but will probably create a personal journal to have for myself.

Talk soon,

Reut

Update soon!

But until then, I found this wonderful story and wanted to share with you :o) Enjoy!

איזה כיף שבא אביב!!!

04-02-08

Hi everyone!

I am in my very last rotation, which is actually a ‘left over’ from last year for an elective, so this rotation is only two weeks short! I decided to do peds neurology, and I am SO very happy I am doing it!!! My goal was to master the neurological examination, and I am definitely feeling good about it :o) My second goal was to really understand the classification of seizures, and… well… I’m still working on it.

The doctors I work with are very different from one another. One is from Canada, and he is just so kind. I love working with him. Unique to him from most doctors I worked with before is that he likes me to present the patient in front of the patient. I actually have no problems doing it, and was surprised at the fact that I ended up liking it and seeing how involved the patient feels in the process.

The second doctor looks like Savta Adina (my grandmother) when she was in her early 40’s. Tee hee hee! It is very weird to work with someone who looks like your grandmother, because all I want to do is be like… “Oh, Savta, I forgot to tell you about this and that…” This doctor is excellent and enjoys teaching a lot, it’s too bad my time in this rotation is SO short.

The last doctor looks like John Travolta. No kidding. I spent the whole of Monday morning grinning inside because I was chatting with ‘John Travolta’ about neurology and financial plans for residency… LOL! I actually called up my friend Tala when I came home, and exclaimed: Tala, I spent the whole day talking to John Travolta!

On Thursday night my stomach started feeling funny (again), and by Friday I was feeling terrible; but I vomited and felt so much better afterwards that I actually dressed up and went to work. I was there for about 20 minutes and I started feeling bad again, and then after we finished seeing the first or second patient I asked to leave, and they were more than happy to let me go. I spent the rest of Friday and Saturday sleeping it off. On Sunday I woke up and felt better. Yesterday I returned back to my normal self, hurrah!

Last week, or two weeks ago, I told you how everything has started to bloom… now the whole neighborhood looks like the film set for a wedding! It is gorgeous! I promised some pictures, so here you go:










These guys are nice, but…




They leave this around.





I know you saw this one already, but I like it!




The wedding tree! I think E.ma would have loved it!!!












Well, that was my week. I had a small cooking disaster today… I made Avocado Soup from http://startcooking.com/blog/238/Avocado-Soup . Startcooking.com is a cute little website for people who are just learning to cook. Obviously, I have been cooking for a while now, and can usually make decent stuff… However, I really like her videos and enjoy reading the blog. BUT… today… I made the avocado soup. It smelled great, and I was so excited to eat it. The first bowl tasted good, it was smooth and delicious. The second bowl tasted HORRIBLE! I don’t know what happened, but in the time span between one bowl to another my taste buds did a ‘180’. I had to toss out the rest of the soup because I just couldn’t make myself eat the rest. Blah!

But I redeemed myself with this creation (I don’t know which website I got this one from, I thought it was from the same site, but I can’t seem to find it today):
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 T olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Moroccan Spice Mix (see below)
salt to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp)

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. chile powder
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice--> didn’t have
1/4 tsp. ground ginger--> didn’t have
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350 F. in toaster oven for me.

Drain garbanzo beans into a colander and rinse well. While beans drain, make spice mix. (Store the rest in a glass container)… I put my ‘Chauayaj’ (the mix) in a zip lock for now.

When beans are well drained and dried, toss with olive oil, spice mix, and salt. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet. Roast 40-50 minutes, or until they are slightly browned and make a rattling sound when you shake the baking sheet. Serve warm or let cool.

YUM! But… this was very filling and I think it should be for 2 people, not just one. Also, no need for extra salt, it would have been okay without. I thought there was too much olive oil.

Anyways, it was very delicious!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My friend Lori sent me an early birthday present… the whole Sweatin’ to the Oldies set!!! Thank you Lori!!! I was disappointed I couldn’t dance with it today, but it was too late to ‘thump’ on my downstairs neighbors. Instead I did weights and toned while listening to the DVD in the background! It is lovely and I can’t wait to start learning the new moves!

Well gang, it is getting late here, and Vega is calling me to come to bed… I better go before KC starts bugging her and then she’ll get all wild up and won’t go to bed until midnight…

Happy Spring!
Happy Birthday to Saba and Abba!!!

Re

Update soon :o)

Hey everyone!
I was sick and didn't feel well enough to update my blog. But will do so in the next couple of days.

Enjoy this picture I took today (I was feeling better):

Abba-- this one is for you :o)

As promised, LOL!