Intern year...no words needed

Could be worse...I guess

I'm almost done with the first week of my internship, and I thought I'd put a few words in here about how it's been for those of you that I haven't had a chance to talk to in the last few days (that would be everybody except Anna). So the first day was Tuesday, and--all things considered--it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong...it was bad. Just not that bad. I started on pulmonary wards (that means inpatients admitted to the hospital with respiratory problems for you non-medical folks). I suppose the first day could have been a lot worse. I didn't kill anybody that I know of. And I only worked 12 hours. And my resident (again for the non-medicals this is my immediate boss) is really nice and helpful. His voice sounds like Seth Rogen, and that makes me laugh sometimes when I'm not busy crying.

Then, I had my first day on call a few days later. That day (or 2 days rather) really WAS that bad. It was horrible. I wouldn't mind if I never had to do that again. But I will....in 2 days as a matter of fact. Hopefully the next one will be better. I was up all night, with each of 2 pagers constantly reminding me (with their shrill, piercing electronic screams) that I am a slave. From just after lunch on Thursday to about 3:00am on Friday morning I didn't even have time to think. And I'm nowhere near efficient enough yet to have been caught up on paperwork/scutwork by the time things finally slowed down, so I spent the rest of the time until rounds on Friday morning finishing up paperwork/dictation/etc and crying and sucking my thumb in the supply closet. But, 30 hours after I arrived, none of my patients had perished (or if they did nobody paged me). So I guess it could have been worse.

So...that's it. Almost one week down, a little over 51 left to go. See you next June.

The End is Near

Well, the end of our time off is quickly approaching. Grant starts residency on Tuesday with a grueling rotation. We have no regrets because we have been living it up the last few weeks. These pictures are from a recent mountain bike trip just south of SLC. Sorry about the first one; we hung the camera from a sign post to get both of us...and only Grant made it into the shot. We have filled our days with sleeping in, sightseeing, house projects, and definitely taken advantage of the amazing weather. Just this week alone we've been biking, hiking, running, swimming, and Grant even tried to play soccer once (he almost died).

I have been interviewing for jobs, and in the mean time just picked up a part time job at Ann Taylor. It will be something to keep me busy while Grant is off saving lives. I have some other great job prospects...more to come on that soon.

We are definitely sad that our unemployed (but fun-filled) free time has come to an end. The next year will probably be rough, but the sooner it starts the sooner it will end.

Grant is stupid, episode 1

I've made it a decent amount of time so far in Utah without doing something stupid, so you all knew it was only a matter of time. This is the first blog installment of the "Grant is stupid" series. There will surely be more.

Today was nice outside...maybe 80 degrees or so when we decided to go for a bike ride. We hoisted the bikes on top of my car and drove a little way to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. "Grant is stupid" event #1: I forgot the camera. Now nobody will believe us now about how pretty the views were. The trail overlooked the entire valley from just north of downtown SLC.

After the ride, we packed the bikes back on top of the car and drove home. It wasn't even a long drive, so I can't use that as an excuse for forgetting that the bikes were up there when I tried to pull into my usual parking spot in the garage ("Grant is stupid" event #2).

Don't worry...the bikes are fine. Also, the condo is mostly fine, aside from a few dents right above the garage opening (hardly noticeable). What is definitely not fine is the Honda. There are two huge scratches/dents in the roof where two of the bolts dug into the top. There are two other huge dents on the sides where the roof rack towers were sitting. I would attach a picture, but I'm too embarassed.

I don't think I deserve to park in the garage anymore. I hereby relinquish my garage parking spot.

40 degrees in June

After enduring the chill yesterday (it was too cold to run during the day and it got down to 40 last night), we decided to work on the "backyard" today when it warmed up a bit. Below is a photo of the area before and after. We planted some sort of crabapple tree, two lilies, and some other flowers that we don't really know anything about. We could only do this because of our "gardening class" that we took last weekend. We were back in Little Rock for the weekend for the wedding of the Drs. Routon. We stayed with my parents, and we helped my dad make a little flower garden in his front yard. There's a picture of that below too.

Kitchen and dining room DONE!

After painting and unpacking and more unpacking, the kitchen and dining room are in working order! It is such a nice feeling to have one part of the house just how we want it. Grant has been working on painting the hutch that we use as a bar. He did a great job. It looks like a new piece of furniture. The kitchen has a huge bay window and when we took this picture the sun was really beating in. We are trying to finish up the living room next, and then the entire downstairs will be complete. Moving sure is a full time job!

New Guitar

Here is the happy new owner of a Martin guitar! This was a graduation gift from Grant's parents. It's a solid spruce top acoustic electric guitar with a wonderful smooth sound. We actually have room in this house to have a music room.

Repurpose

Lately, many of the home improvement shows have been using the term, "repurpose." This just means they take a piece of furniture that you already have and update or change it. That is exactly what Grant and I decided to do with our breakfast table.

The color of the original table really clashed with our new space. So we painted it! I think it turned out quite nicely. One home project done, only about 1,000 left to go!