El Paisa party!

Last night, Holland and I went to El Paisa in West Salt Lake a.k.a. "the Mexican karaoke place." There was no Mexican karaoke last night but there was an awesome band and everyone still spoke Spanish. Here is Holland very happy with a "cantarito," which is very similar to a paloma - Holland's favorite tequila cocktail from Mexico. A paloma involves tequila, lime juice, salt, and grapefruit soda. Holland has had a very hard time finding one that is as good as the ones where we stayed in Guadalajara. The catarito is similar, it just involves some orange and lemon juice in addition to the lime juice and grapefruit soda. It was very good and he was pleased.

And it came in this great little terra cotta urn!

Here is me, with the closest thing there is to a real margarita in Salt Lake City:

The molcajete! A large stone bowl with shrimp, steak, chicken, cactus leaves, jalapenoes, and onions all heated to a very high temperature in a juice of tomatillo and cheese. It serves at least two (if not three or four) and is awesome! We had lots of leftovers.


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Happiness

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The plant is not doing well

I'm pretty sure it's almost dead and I don't know why I couldn't fix it! =..(


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Real Person Monday

I realized last night as I got ready to go to bed that I hadn't done a real person thing for the day. I took a short nap and thought I could pass that off. But I feel like it needs to be something deliberate - not just relabeling something I would have done anyway.

So I was like well, I can write in a journal. Then I thought, why not read my devotional? I used to do things like that all the time. So I pulled out a devotional book, spent 2 minutes reading, and voila! I'd done something positive in my life.

I then proceeded to scribble about two paragraphs' worth of grumpy stream of consciousness in my journal before I gave up and just soaked in the bathtub.


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An ill-fated skiing trip

The forces of the universe are conspiring to keep me from getting in adequate ski time before the season is over. Last weekend there was the "pull" situation (which I'm not talking about). This weekend, Holland was out of town in Big Sky, Montana, skiing with some college friends that he hadn't seen in years. The anti-lock brake light on my car is on and although it is braking just fine, I feel a little nervous driving it up the mountain. So I couldn't drive myself Saturday and no one could drive me. But I was like oh well that's fine, I'll lie around and be lazy and later I'll clean my house. My friend Ann and I had planned to go Sunday so I thought that would be fine.

So we leave today, then just as we're starting up the mountain I realize that I left my boots at home, so we have to turn around. When we get there it is W-I-N-D-Y. The lifts are swaying and the snow is stinging our faces - but I'm excited anyway! Then on our second run, Ann dislocates her shoulder and has to be driven down the mountain on a snowmobile by a ski patroller.

I still managed to get in a few runs but disolocated shoulder = still not ideal. Here is a photo of Ann, feeling much better after having her shoulder put back in, sling in place and "Personal Belongings" bag in hand!

So skiing was my "real person" thing today. I won't bore you by catching you up on last week. This week my goal is to make my "thing" interesting every day.

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Just like Paddington Bear eats!

Holland made citrus and orange marmalades using fruits he brought back with him from visiting his grandparents in Florida. The first batch came out too watery but he was able to reheat it and add some pectin and it came out quite good! I'd there is one rule of jam-making that I have learned, it's that if there is a question of whether or not to add pectin it is always best to err on the side of pectin.



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Born This Way

Ugh, it's freezing in my house! The weird thing is that it's gotten significantly warmer (read: 50-60's during the day, 30-40's at night). It's like the warmer it gets outside the colder my house feels, despite having the heater set at or above what is usually is. It's all relative I guess.

Sunday...let's see, what sort of "real person" things did I do on Sunday? Sunday was not a particularly fun day because just as I arrived up on the mountain and pulled my ski boots on, I got a call saying I was getting "pulled" into the hospital. Being "pulled" means that you get called in to a busier rotation such as wards or ICU from your previously scheduled easy clinic day or weekend off. Usually it's for someone who is sick or has a family emergency, etc. It is never fun. This one was for a different kind of situation and fortunately it was only for a few hours. It still made me feel sour for a little while.

I guess the real person thing I did Sunday was I cleaned my house and inched perilously close to getting caught up on laundry for the first time in like six weeks. I don't know if cleaning my house counts or not though because it's really not what you want to be doing with your precious days off. Every time I clean my house I get so bent out of shape and swear up and down that I'm going to hire someone to do it. But I think everyone who knows me knows that it's highly unlikely I would ever be content to let someone else clean my house. It just has to be done the right way and of course there is only one right way.

But then, what's more important - house being cleaned the right way or not having to clean the house on my day off and get all in a bad mood?

Yesterday (Monday), I had a nice homemade dinner (given, it was because Holland cooked it) and a glass of wine.

Today I talked to my grandmother on the phone.

Now I'm going to read my book in the bathtub and go to sleep.

My Lenten Project

So, I actually managed to go to church for Ash Wednesday...although that might have been the first time I've gone in at least a year. I know, horrible, right? But I went this week. Holland was out of town in Palo Alto, CA for an Infectious Disease fellowship interview at Stanford. I've been feeling sorry for myself a little more than usual because night float (which is what I've been on for two weeks - 12+ hours a night, 6 nights a week), particularly at the hospital where I was, is one of the more unpleasant rotations. This inspired my Lenten project - I'm going to do at least one thing every day that makes me feel like a real person. Residency can be really isolating and, frankly, dehumanizing if you aren't careful. I think I've started to see myself as existing outside of normal humanity. Like I'm not a normal person like everyone else. I feel like I've lost a lot of what was good and kind and unique about me.

I feel like the people who survive residency most intact are people who just kind of float along the surface of things. Not that they don't do their job. They still fully do their jobs and are good doctors. But they somehow keep their minds from drowning in it. I think they keep a broader field of vision.

So anyway, that's what I'm doing for Lent. Holland laughed at me when I told him because he said that wasn't giving up anything and it sounded like just doing nice fun things for myself for forty days. I told him that it did too count for Lent because it's going to make me a better person.

Here's what I've done so far:

Wednesday - Went to church

Thursday - Went running while the sun was still out (!)

Friday - Ate Mexican and then came home and slept in

Today - Watched episode after episode of Say Yes to the Dress and I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant. Hey, it's something a normal person would do! But I'll try to make it more worthwhile in the future.

I'll keep ya'll updated.

Morning after snowstorm

I've been working nights for two weeks. Now that I'm back to a more normal schedule, my body is extremely confused. I came home from clinic yesterday afternoon at five and fell asleep. I woke up at midnight, ate a sandwich, and took a bath before going back to sleep at 3. Then I woke up at 6:30. This is what happened while I was holed up inside (I'm told it was 12 inches):



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