It's a sunny day, and I feel great!

So I realize that lately my posts haven't told much about my life, and I guess that's really what this blog was meant for. Things have been about the same up at the hospital. Every fourth night call, admitting patients, discharging patients, sipping capaccino in medical records. While most of my colleagues on "wards" this month will change to specialty electives (e.g., heme/oncology, ER, ICU, cardiology), I will have another medicine ward month in August. And my second paycheck comes today! It is much needed, as rent is due soon, and I have the usual credit card bill for my extravagant Uptown lifestyle.

One encouragement is that this morning, several little things look better with my ICU pancreatitis patient. He's certainly not out of the woods, but I hope this is the first step of many on the road to recovery.

Took the time last week to make some home-made bread. Used my favorite bread recipe: asiago-rosemary bread. One of the best things for relaxation is spending ten minutes kneading bread. This is what I've never understood about the fancy Kitchen Aid mixers that do the kneading for you--the machine does the best part!

Overall I've been pleased with the balance I've reached in residency. Despite working right at 80 hours per week, I've been able to exercise a little, attend church, read for work, and do some fun reading, as well as spend time with friends. As I look out the window I see blue sky with cumulus clouds (see picture below, but substitute urban sprawl for the idyllic countryside).

I can't help but be in a good mood looking at this picture!

Oh, I watched Finding Neverland last night. (DISCLAIMER: Skip the rest of this paragraph if you haven't seen the movie.) While it was impressively done and had a great story, still I found myself disappointed with the fact that the marriage kinda fizzled. I was hoping for some sort of redemption there, but I guess Hollywood values the romance of James' emotional intimacy with the Davey family more than the boring task of restoring a marriage. However, the movie did reinforce number 7 on my "Things to do in Life" list: Live in the countryside of Scotland for a year. During that year I plan to drink a lot of tea, do some gardening, go for daily strolls, attend a little Presbyterian church, and read plenty of good books. In fact, this may have surpassed number 6 on the list: Be a small-town volunteer firefighter.