Random on call thoughts.

A night on call.....The important thoughts, from myself and the anonymous. 
Crab cakes with chipotle mayo, lime vinaigrette couscous...and a Pepsi max.  $3.94.
This was my cafeteria dinner on call tonight.  Sounds frightening from a hospital cafeteria, but surprisingly nice.
How do you stab yourself in the eye opening bacon? Be a good girl scout and cut AWAY from you face.  Who am I to judge, I burn myself on the oven on a nearly monthly basis.
You are heartless if you don't cry during "The Vow."
Bochdalek.... Bochdalek..... Bochdalek....still sounds funny no matter how many times I say it.
I was cold all day, why is my Twix melted?
Apparently we have started a nonagenarian clinic in here tonight.
Nonagenarian (plural nonagenarians) -One who is between the age of 90 and 99, inclusive.
When we grow up we want to be disgruntled Wal-Mart greeters. It's good to have goals.
Look at the tiny little enhancing mass, don't you just want to put it in your pocket to take it home and feed it.
Support hose at 29 = no varicose veins at 30.
Sure, there were more educationally valuable thoughts of the night, but these are the ones that make life interesting.
Recap of the week:
Survived the presentations. Never made it to the gym. Planned a mini vacation for my 29*th birthday. Hugged the best boyfriend in the world as many times as I could (you would hug him too if he had helped with your research citations!) 36 days remaining.

Quotes from the zoo

Got to spend some time at the St. Louis Zoo with Teddi (more on call thoughts to come).

As she noticed all the strange noises people make at zoos- I noticed all the strange things people say at the zoo.  Below are some chosen quotes.   The names have been eliminated to protect the innocent.




Small child, "Hey, wake YO sleepy head up." (loudly to the innocent napping bear)


Adult A, "Why don't they put all the gazelles in the same pen?"
Adult B "That's an Alarming Honk...not a gazelle."
Adult A " No, that's a gazelle that speaks with an alarming honk according to the sign."
Adult B "Never mind, I have no idea why they spread out the gazelles, and in my defense, on the sign, Alarming Honk was bolded."
Adult A, (snaps picture of sign to remember the moment)

(After spotting the large pair of brown leggings draped over a random rail,) "Oh, ...look..., pants, .....someone is walking around without pants,..... how unfortunate."


Teenage girl," What is this .....Ugh.....it's JUST a raccoon."  (As we all read the below sign)

Adult C "I don't know what they are, but they poop."


Adult A, "Stop that!! There are little kids everywhere!" (To the preening penguin.)


Adults talking TO the prairie dogs "I wonder what they think of us." "Stand back up and pose for me!" "you're so much cuter when you stand up."

Adult A," I hope he's not dead, after the park the other day with the dead duck and turtle, oh, he blinked, we're good"

Adult A, "I'm just chilling...eating my plant....no big deal." (narrating the movements of the gorilla)

Adult A, "Ooh do that again...IT WAS LIKE YOGA!!!"  (to the gazelle)

Adult A, "I'm glad they can be friends, these ostrich and for legged things,  along with the stork and the gazelle."

Adult A, "Look I found the zebras, well half of them." (See Okapi pic below)

Adult A "We are finding these giraffes!!! .. You think they hang out in the antelope house?"


Adult B "I think we're going to see some okapi copulate...is it twisted that I'm waiting for it"

Adult B "They're so cute!"
Adult A "No, I've seen 'Kangaroo Jack' they are not cute they are evil evil creatures"

Small girl, "They look like Bambi, my tummy hurts. " (never even took a pause between thoughts)


Adult D to her husband and the Blue jay in the cage, "Hey, look at you....you're massive ... if we can train ravens we can train Jays... can we get a Raven...and a blue jay?"

Little brother " What are they eating?"
Adult E "Watermelon." (father walks away)"
Big brother "That's frozen water."    (FYI, it was frozen water)

Bonus-
"I don't have to die in a cornfield tonight, the Backstreet Boys are not 40."

30 ain't half bad

   The dreaded day came and passed and I'm amazingly not twenty something. 

Still alive and breathing (about five pounds heavier after all the celebrating).  Still the occasionally "What have I done with my life?!?" moment, but all said and done 30 --- didn't kill me.  This is thanks, in no small part, to the best friends and family that a girl could ask for.

Honorable mention to a girly who makes me feel old every time the fact that she's younger than my baby sister comes up.  She gave me one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received for my birthday.  It was about the time, planning and absolute caring that went into the gift. A thirtieth birthday survival kit of sorts, and it was totally personalized. It was not so much the gift itself as the fact that it helped me appreciate those things I have accomplished. (Mind you all of this reflection was after almost having a Sheldon/Amy Big Bang Theory Tiara moment)  I've spent the past 12+ years in pursuit of my career, and that has taken me through many stages.  Undergraduate, Medical School and now Residency.  Each of these tosses your prior life in the air and you are left to gather the important pieces and move forward.  It can be quite exhausting to be shuffled from place to place and group to group.  You are often left to wonder if you will have a "normal" life.  One of the disconcerting things is having yourself or your friends spread cross country with little time left to nourish past friendships. The ones that are important will stick with you and be there for you.  The new ones are sometimes just as wonderful as those you've known your whole life. 

What does this have to do with thirty? Well, It also made me realize that even if I wasn't doing the same things as the average of my generation I was indeed doing something worth while. I have all the important parts.  The friends, the family and most importantly my own unique life experiences that make me what I am. I wouldn't trade them for anything. People who know me well might think that's crazy, but it's true.

No experience or lack of experience in my life is worth giving up so that I can meet arbitrary milestones by an arbitrary deadline.  I will get there on my own path and in my own time. 

Crazy lady on the train.

This past weekend I took a fantastic trip to Chicago to celebrate my 29*th birthday and unfortunately put my boyfriend on a plane back home.  The details of the weekend are many and include butterfly habitats, nature museums, conservatories, and lunch with an April fools day birthday boy and his new fiance. All those were great, but Sunday was an amazing half day followed by an exorbitant amount of emotional energy spent in an attempt to not be "that crazy lady on the train."

The morning involved sleeping in, being a disgustingly sweet affectionate couple and eating waffles at Waffles (highly recommend clicking if you are in Chi-town).  But, then the afternoon came with the realization that everything would change for months? Years?  The beginning of a long distance relationship with an eight hour time difference....(insert tiny sarcastic 'woo hoo').

Following the train to brunch was the train to the hotel followed by the train at the airport which took me to the city train who's final destination was my Amtrak train home. I would later view this as 5 chances to not be the crazy crying girl on the train.

The first two trains brought little challenge to appearing no more than my baseline crazy. I had the pleasant company of my guy.  The third train I am afraid was the toughest.  After two missed trains secondary to my inability to say goodbye at the airport I finally scrabbled to a back corner of the crowded airport shuttle train and my puffy eyes and red cheeks gave me away to the very sweet elderly woman seated next to me.  She simply stated, " You must need a hug" as she simultaneously wrapped her arm around my shoulders and gave me the sweetest little peck on the forehead.

Note: There is definitely an age limit below which this would not have been socially acceptable...but she appeared to be nearing 180 years old, so she was safe.

I spent the next few minutes tucking my head so that the rest of the shuttle couldn't witness the "crazy girl."  After climbing out of the shuttle at the last stop I began down the maze of airport basement to the Metra.  Quite a long walk.  Enough to clear my head a bit, or suppress the crazy, as it were.  I boarded the waiting train in anticipation of it's departure. (This is a stop at the end of the line where many trains often switch routes, and this particular one had not yet announced itself as a Blue line train.) As I sat waiting a few silent tears fell, but I was alone and didn't care.  As people began to board a few of them stopped to ask if it was indeed the train to the city.

Note: Despite popular belief among many strangers in many situations I usually have no clue, but apparently have a trustworthy face so strangers ask me random stuff all the time.

A lost looking, middle aged couple asked this question and as I glanced up to confirm it was indeed the appropriate train they gave me the head tilt puppy dog eyes of concern and empathy.  Failed at not being the crazy lady two trains in a row.  Oh well, I was running fifty/fifty at this point I still had a chance to pull ahead once I got to the Amtrak.

45 minutes later I arrived downtown and walked the short quip to Union Station.  Met with a less that helpful customer service lady who apparently has no knowledge of general good business practice, but I digress. So, as opposed to letting me board the unfilled train which was leaving in fifteen minutes I waited for the later (sold out) train. This gave me two hours to meander around and witness what seemed a never ending population of those disgustingly sweet affectionate couples.  I survived, boarded my train, propped my feet up on my bag and closed my eyes for a nap. (You can't look too crazy if you're napping, right?) I was at an advantage for my last train...there was a definitively crazy lady seated a few rows ahead of me; by comparison even my sniffles would have seemed normal juxtaposed with her cursing and loud complaints about how one of the helpers should have to carry her tiny duffle bag because she "just got (her) nails did."

3/5 ain't bad.  After you give me the bonus points for allowing a stranger to kiss me on the forehead and not strangling an Amtrak employee I figure that's a passing score.

Strawberry Shortcake Revelations

Not a food blogger, but I had to share!
Made a special trip to Sam's Club last week for Strawberry Shortcake supplies.Yes, I eat enough of it to justify Warehouse quantities. BUT I'VE BEEN DOING IT WRONG! As I checked out the over eager, nearly over talkative cashier expounded about how she thought Strawberry Shortcake was too dry and she added a bit of milk to her's. "I don't drown it or anything."
Nearly 29* years of making this meal. (Yes, I use it as Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and occasionally dessert) And never had I thought to add a bit of milk to the bowl. So, after her very exuberant explanation of her process and reasoning I thought I'd give it a try. Over the past week I've tried a few different combinations.
AND NOW I HAVE THE PERFECT STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!
1. Slice four to five standard strawberries. Into the bottom of the bowl.
2. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar or Splenda. (I do this first so they have time to get a little juicy.)
3. Slice off a tenth of an angel food cake. (if you make your own and want to get fancy add a package of lemon jello mix before you bake it.) (I'll use any excuse to incorporate lemon.)
4. Place angel food cake into bowl and spoon the strawberries over top.
5. Add 1/4 cup milk (I like vanilla soy milk)
6. Top with whatever you consider to be an exorbitant amount of whipped cream.
TADA!
7. Share with those you love.
8.They say, "Thank you."
6.5 days.

30 years minus seven days.

One week until my 29*th birthday.  So far I'm coping well.  (Not an entirely true statement.)

This looming event brought up a recent discussion of Adult "Developmental Milestones."  Everyone has their own set of things they had planned to accomplish by their thirtieth birthday.  It's different for everyone in a few aspects, but most people give a variation of the same top four.

1. Be married.

2. Have a career.

3. Have children.

4. Buy a home.

Not necessarily in that order, but a general consensus is that people would like to have accomplished at least two of these....if not all, and most do.

Personally, I'm a bit below the standard deviation for these amongst my peers.  I'm not saying I'm not a successful person.  I'm well on my way to a career, but there is still some uncertainty.  And...well.. that concludes my steps through the adult milestones.  It's silly to judge oneself based on their peers, but frankly what the heck am I going to judge myself on otherwise?

I've also recently been informed that the dreaded big 30 is a bit cultural and this birthday isn't as frightening in other countries. Who knows what makes this a big deal for me, but I'm offered no solace by this "cultural" definition. Maybe it was Sex in the City that ruined my outlook on the beginning of the fourth decade of my life. Maybe it was growing up in a town where most people have "been there done that" by the time they are thirty. Maybe it's the estrogenous ticking time bomb of knowing that my eggs are frying and mutating at an exponential rate. Or it could be that little noise people make when they say "Oh, you're turning thirty." (You know something comparable to that sigh of sadness when you give condolences after a pet dies.)

My conclusion..I shall turn 29* gracefully next week and put off the big 30 until I hit the 50th percentile of my peer group for developmental milestones....Think of it like holding back a child a grade level because they need more time to learn their multiplication tables.

11 days until I ship my favorite Eur/asian back to a land where 30th birthdays don't come with life evaluation and little old ladies asking if you are barren (obviously the only reason you wouldn't have kids at this point.)

More Random On Call Thoughts for Teddi

1. Person A,"Why after a month of having a symptom do you come into the emergency department on a Saturday night?"
Person B,"I don't know, slow night at the strip club?"
Person A,"It's an elderly man."
Person B,"His favorite stripper had a night off?"
Person A,"Sounds plausable."
Half hour later.
Person A,"What's our assumption on this one, symptoms for three months, young female?"
Person B,"We found our stripper!"
Person A," I think your answers say a lot about what you do when you have a Saturday night off."
Person B,"Someone has to put those girls through Med School."
2. Why do people feel the urge to point out that I am pleasant on the phone...are they insinuating I am unpleasant in person?
3. Only time I've between psyched about "Spring Forward". I lose an hour of CALL, hopefully not that hour of sleep I might have gotten though.
4. It's amazing that people can not see the reasoning behind my slight jealousy of the "stay at home mom".
5. DOGS ARE PEOPLE TOO! (lmao, from a passing by patient in the hallway)
6. Patience is a virtue, patients are not. (quote from a referring doc.....I have no idea what it means)
7. Where the heck do people get all these pallets on pinterest?
8. I just wrote the word "the" and had to stare at it to see if it was spelled correctly. (and people call me Dr.)
9. I could be perfectly happy being a photographer, home flipper, home stager, interior designer, personal chef, or florist.....or chipmunk trainer.
10. I do not understand the current sock monkey obsession. (just a random fact)