I recently received this lovely little award from Alicia. That combined with the fact that I actually finished an object for the first time in...a really long time has prompted me to post.

In order to accept this award I have to answer the following questions with only 1 word answers…

1. Where is your cell phone? Floor
2.Your hair? Brown
3. Your mother? Home
4. Your father? *love*
5. Your favorite food? Peanut Butter
6. Your dream last night? Interview
7. Your favorite drink? Grape
8. Your dream/goal? Surgeon!
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Knitting
11. Your fear? Scrambling
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Fellow
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something you aren’t? MD (yet)
15. Muffins? fattening
16. Wish list item? iPodTouch (I almost said iTouch but that just sounds dirty)
17. Where did you grow up? Massachusetts
18. Last thing you did? Study
19. What are you wearing? Jeans
20. Your TV? on
21. Your pets? none
22. Your friends? Rock
23. Your life? Crazzy
24. Your mood? Prickly
25. Missing someone? Yes
26. Vehicle? Wagon
27. Something you’re not wearing? Glasses
28. Your favorite store? Payless (Shoes of course)
29. Your favorite color? Eeyore (the blue part of him)
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Thursday (pre-interview drama)
32. Your best friend? AEES (combos rock)
33. One place that I go over and over? Hospital
34. One person who emails me regularly? Nobody (I'm a crappy correspondent)
35. Favorite place to eat? Conrad's

I will not tag people due to a lack of motivation...consider yourself tagged if you want to do the meme.

Knitting:

So, I finally finished my Dark Cowl. I started it at the end of May for some mindless knitting while studying...and now many months later I have finally finished it.

I initially planned to knit until I ran out of yarn...but I decided that it was already getting awful tall and thought better of it. I haven't decided if this means that I'm going to cast on for another project or whether I'm going to just work on my WIPs for a while. I'm leaning toward WIPs but I'll be checking out the Ravelry Queue.

Med School:

I have just started the interview process for residency. I'm applying for General Surgery with the plan to do a fellowship in something at the other end. One interview down...14 more to go! The knitting should be allowed to pick up again soon...I have another big test (Step 2) on 12/31 and then after that I should be home free! This is going to be a long year...but totally worth it. Which reminds me...I'm gonna have to change the name of the blog soon :P

Cute:

This was just too cute not to share with all of you...my mom picked it up at Hallmark a while ago. Perfect for when my hands are freezing...which is pretty much all the time :P

2

Today is my second blogoversary...
Here's to more frequent posts and many more years...

Where Does the Time Go?

Hey! Is anyone still reading this thing? Sorry about falling off the face of the earth there! The combination of crazy rotation schedule and busy personal life has conspired to make me really bad at posting...but I didn't die or anything...I swear...

The knitting front hasn't been too exciting. I've been plugging away on my Denise Scarf and Dark Cowl. The Show-off Socks have not been reclaimed from the frog pond...and the yarn may be coming back to life as a different pair of socks, I haven't decided yet. I haven't touched my Dorky Socks...but thinking about working on them a bit tonight while I try to convince myself that it's time to go to sleep. I have no pictures to show you because I'm impossibly lazy...or at least that's the best explanation to come up with right now. I've been thinking a lot about what I want to knit lately too...I find myself simultaneously wanting to knit lace and use heavier yarns so that I feel like I'm making more progress. I think I may strike a sort of balance by have two projects at either end of the spectrum going once I finish up the current contenders. I've been looking at a couple scarves...I feel like a triangle shawl is a bit too much for me to tackle at this point in time. I've struggled with lace patterns in the past so I feel like I should work my way up slowly and not make it into something that makes me want to cry... I also have a bunch of projects in my queue for worsted weight yarn etc, I just need to pick things that aren't scarves for a little while...especially not cabled scarves...

As far as school...I start my next rotation, a sub-internship in General Surgery tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous since I'm basically auditioning for the program and I really loved it there...but I think it'll all be fine once I get a better feeling for what's actually expected of me. I wish I knew who my housestaff was going to be...that would make me feel a lot better...but I'll find out soon enough.

I'd say that I'll try to be better about posting...but I think we all know that I don't have too much control over that. Happy knitting all!!!

On a happier note...

I got an award! The lovely Dorothy gave me this:


RULES you must resend this to 5 bloggers and you must tell 5 things about your crafts you like the most...what inspires you to make home made gifts...

What inspires me?

1) I take great joy in finding gifts that are well-matched to a person. Making gifts for people gives me so many more ways to accomplish that. I have been known to see something that is *perfect* for someone in March and pick it up for them for Christmas because I know that they'll love it.

2) Knitting is soothing. If I'm too jittery to sit still or have too many things going on in my head, a little bit of knitting goes a long way to making me feel better.

3) Making beautiful things makes me feel proud of myself. Sadly med school is generally not conducive to pride/confidence...it's just the nature of the beast.

4) Knitting is productive. I start with a pile of string and I end up with something that will keep someone warm...pretty awesome if you ask me.

5) Knitters are awesome. The people I have met through knitting are some of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met.

I nominate:
1) Alicia
2) Bea
3) Cosmicpluto
4) Anne
5) Wendy

PS: I'm feeling much better now that I got all that off my chest earlier.

Stress and Frustration

There are quite a few things that are either stressing me out or frustrating me right now. Let's go down the list shall we?

1) My grandfather is dying. He has been in some form or other for years now...but he's now in hospice, unable to swallow and therefore unable to eat, and he has a DNR order that includes no tube feeds and no IV nutrition. My Dad called me earlier today and told me that there was an estimate that he had 12 hours to live (who said this or when it was said I don't know) and that I should stay in Springfield and study etc. and wait to come home until the funeral. I know I need to study, and I know that my grandfather was incredibly proud of my going to medical school and would want me to focus on that...but it doesn't make it any easier.

2) I had my mid-rotation evaluation Friday. I'm doing well for the most part with a current grade of High-Pass. But apparently someone made a comment about my needing to cover up my chest more. I'm bothered by this on a few levels. The way I was given this feedback was rather hurtful, basically implying that I am a faithless, godless hussy who walks around all but topless. I am very self-conscious about my weight and my figure and generally don't show that much in the line of skin because I don't feel very confident about myself and generally have the feeling that no one wants to see that nastiness...so being told that I'm not covering up enough is frustrating. And then there's the part where I have a hard enough time finding clothes that fit, finding out that I am failing to look professional really bothers me. So this feedback has basically left me in the place where I just want to crawl into a hole and cry for a few hours. The ironic part here is that just about all of my friends when I had gotten similar feedback before (from a woman who felt that mini-skirts with fish-nets and 5-inch stilettos were work appropriate) were very emphatic that I dress very professionally and that they couldn't believe I had gotten than feedback.

3) My weight. I started on an OCP (the pill) in January or so...one of the ones where you don't get your period for 3 months. This seemed like a great idea since I tend to get pretty anemic and tired with my period and getting it less frequently would therefore be inherently awesome. Now we all know (well maybe not all of us but it's a well known side-effect) that the pill can cause weight-gain. I've been fighting my weight for years, admittedly unsuccessfully, so it really shouldn't have surprised me that I've gained 15 lbs over the last 5 months...but it's upsetting me nonetheless. This also ties into #2 since my boobs would be smaller if I lost the weight and therefore would not be the issue that they are turning out to be. So I've taken a page out of Alicia's book and joined SparkPeople. I'm hoping the combination of food journalling and quick daily work-out videos will help me have some more success. And then there's the part where I'm gonna come off the pill...because I'd rather get my period than keep getting fatter...and I don't think that's unreasonable.

4) My sock. I started my Show-off socks according to the pattern by CO 65 stitches and just knit happily along...I was just about to the end of the arch-shaping and decided to try them on...I can barely get them on. So they made a visit to the frog pond and I'm going to try again CO 75 stitches and see where that takes me. In the meantime I think I'm going to make a cowl with some nice thick worsted weight yarn...because that's a lot of stitches to rip out.

So yeah...I'm beyond stressed right now...kinda tearful...and struggling to concentrate on studying. I really just need this week/month to be over. Hope you're all doing better that I am! Happy knitting!

Labor and Delivery

So the two weeks of vacation are over...one week of OB/Gyn clinic done and now I'm starting my week of Labor and Delivery. Saw my first delivery today...simultaneously the coolest and most disgusting thing I have every seen. The baby's face as the rest of her body was coming out was about to crack me up. As for the rest of the day...kinda boring...but that had more to do with the fact that there was an ER resident there today to make up his deficit in deliveries so he got all five deliveries on the low-risk service for the day.

As for knitting...there's been some!! Shocking I know. Mind you what I've been doing has been mostly in the realm of simple stockinette...but still. I finished my mom's mitts...which is good because it means she'll have them for when it gets cold again in like November. I also started on a new sock...I'm calling them Show-off socks because I basically picked the pattern to show off the yarn. Yes I am aware that I haven't finished the last pair of socks yet...but I needed something that was simple so that I could knit and read at the same time in the library and the Dorky socks were just way too fiddly for me.

Five weeks left of being a third year...kinda scary...then two weeks off before beginning a string of sub-internships and audition rotations...w00t. On the plus side I don't have to wear anything but scrubs for like the next three weeks! Alright...off to read about fetal heart monitoring so I don't feel like a total idiot tomorrow. Happy knitting folks!

Spring Cleaning

Today I took out my stash. Quite an undertaking. I used my trusty ball winder to compact things a bit so that my yarn and notions all fit inside my two plastic bins and baskets. I donated some stuff that I will never use to the local trash can...mostly because I've never heard of any yarn-donation-type programs around here. In other news: I may actually have a sweater's worth of yarn in Cascade 220! I doubt I have it all in one color...but I might be able to do some yoke detail or something to make it all work.

Innywho...been doing some knitting too. My mom wanted some flip-top mittens after seeing the ones I made for my aunt (her sister).My mom has taken some pity on me as you can see...no fingers. The yarn is very very soft...I'll have to root around for the ball band but I'm pretty sure it's Patons Decor. I've started the second mitt, finished the cuff while watching Prisoner of Azkaban on TV last night. Once I'm done with that I'll take care of the tops...good stuff.Tomorrow afternoon I have two meetings...both of which make me slightly nervous. The first is with the Dean of Students to talk about how realistic my goals are and see if she has any advice for me as I get ready for next year. The second is with the Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Tufts...he's the man who'll write my "Chairman's Letter" for my application next year so I kinda need to get to know him a little bit. There is a small part of me that is terrified that I'm going to be told that I have no chance of getting into a General Surgery residency...I'm trying very hard to ignore that part. Alright...time to go to sleep...untangling hanks of yarn is hard work!! Happy knitting all!!!

Staycation

What is a "staycation," you ask? Well...it's kinda like a vacation...but instead of going anywhere you just stay home and relax. Staycation's are great for a variety of reasons: they're essentially free, you have time to do all the little things you've been ignoring, and you have access to your entire stash! No more worrying about what yarn/needles to bring! I am currently enjoying the start of my two week break that comes with my elective block. So far I've finished a pair of mittens and started on a scarf, and started reading House of God (everyone's been telling me I have to read it...I got it for Christmas and I'm finally getting the time to read...so far I love it). Another added bonus is that I have time to write a real blog post!

So now that I'm back home I really have no excuse to not give you some FO and WIP shots...well...except for the part where the rechargeable battery on my camera lasts about 30 seconds...but I plan to rectify that by buying a new battery when I'm out later today for my doctor's appointment. In the meantime I will take one picture of each thing...which is more than I've given you in a long long time.

First I give you my first BSJ. I finished this about a month ago (feels like much longer than that sadly) and sent it off to Dorothy for her newest little one. She posted about it here but it's high I time I give you pictures.
Dorothy of course sent me a lovely thank-you-note...which of course made my day when I got it like a week later (hooray for living an hour and a half from home!)
Next up is the hat I made for my aunt. I was looking for something simple enough to be wearable by a non-knitter but still complicated enough that it was still knitterly. I found this pattern (rav link) and went for it. So far I've opted to not make the little band...we'll see when I finish up with everything else for this lovely winter set.
Then there are the mittens. Flip-top mittens with cables and fingers. They are very loosely based on this pattern (rav link)...I think I used it mostly for finger placement and some clues on making the flap more-so than anything else. I still hate fingers...I might hate them less if I had shorter DPNs...if I find myself making lots more of these I may break down and buy some.
And finally there's the scarf. I'm using this pattern (rav link), I think it goes with the hat and the mittens rather well.
So what else am I up to? Well...on the weight loss front I have not been a very good girl. Lots of bad eating choices that resulted mostly from the fact that I was tired and wanted fast and tasty more than healthy. Then the part where I wasn't keeping track of my weight led to a special kind of snowballing that only I am capable of.

While I'm home on staycation there's going to be a lot of working-out and exercising going on...I hope to be back in the negative by the time I start up again.

On the school front things are going well. I've pretty much finalized my schedule for next year. I did manage to get the Radiology rotation I wanted, but still not luck with surgical intensive care. What is my schedule?

• July - General Surgery at Lahey Clinic
• August - Transplant Surgery at Tufts Medical Center
• September - Honors General Surgery at Newton-Wellesley
• October - Family Medicine in Wrentham
• November - Radiology at Caritas Good Samaritan
• December - VACATION!! aka studying for boards and going on interviews
• January - Anesthesia at VA Medical Center
• February - Pediatric Surgery at Tufts Medical Center
• March - Gastroenterology at VA Medical Center
• April - Emergency Med at Caritas Good Samaritan
• May - VACATION!! aka prepping for graduation and getting ready to move to where I matched

I'm going to miss my Neurosurgery rotation. Good people that were lots of fun. They've invited me out to dinner with them when I get back for my OB/Gyn rotation in a couple weeks. Hopefully I won't be on call so I can go. Alright...this post is plenty long. Happy knitting all!!

Success!!!

I really wish I was kidding...I've been trying to post here almost all week but for one reason or another my computer and network are conspiring against me to prevent me from accessing the Blogger site. I could see my blog...but I could not log into blogger...it was just really odd. But in any case...I have successfully managed to log in and start a post.

So what's going on? Well, on the knitting front I've managed to knit the hand portion of both mittens that I'm making for my aunt. I also started working on the second Dorky sock. You do not get any links right now because the hospital network seems to be under the impression that Ravelry is spyware. As far as these things go I feel like I'm getting a fair amount of knitting done...but that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I have little else to do in Springfield at this point in time.

As far as med school, the eternal time suck that it is, this rotation seems to be going very well. I don't get to do as much in the OR as I would ordinarily like...but I have to respect that 3rd year med students should most likely not be allowed too close to people's brains and spinal cords. Just one more week and then I have two weeks of vacation!! Admittedly in this one remaining week I have to give a 15-20 minute PowerPoint on Shaken Baby Syndrome and take an exam...but two weeks of vacation is hard not to get excited about. Yesterday I got my schedule for next year...so far so good! There are a few things I would like to change around, like not having any radiology or ICU rotations but hopefully some will open up as the year progresses.

Alright folks...I should really get back to making said PowerPoint about Shaken Baby Syndrome. Happy knitting to all...hopefully next time I post I'll be able to give you all some pictures!!!

New Beginnings

Today I moved back to Springfield for another set of rotations. Three months of internal medicine are behind me with a paltry bit of knitting that I can't even show you because I'm not sure that the recipient of said knitting has gotten it yet. I did manage a small bit of knitting over the weekend in between packing and meeting up with people and lunch and such things. But I forgot to pack my camera so I can't even take advantage of all of the windows in my room and take some pictures for you. I know...I am a bad knit-blogger...but med school is totally eating my life right now.

Speaking of med school, I just submitted my rank list for the lottery for next year's rotations. I've decided that I'm going to go for General Surgery internship and residency so there's a lot of surgery planned for next year. I got a very good number for the lottery so things should turn out at least half-way decent (I'm not even going to try to explain how the whole system works because the computer science majors in my class tend to find the algorithm "elegant" and other such words that mean "way too hard for anyone else to figure out."

As for right now? I'm starting my Neurosurgery rotation tomorrow...hopefully it'll be lots of fun. Baystate is a trauma center and the main referral hospital for western Mass so that should help keep things interesting at least. Alright...time for all good little med students to get to bed. Hope you're all having a lot more knitting time than I am!!

Whoh...where'd I go?!

Where did the last month go? Seriously! My medicine clerkship is more than half over...I find this more than slightly terrifying since that means I have another shelf in less than 6 weeks and I've barely started studying. Speaking of my medicine rotation things have been going pretty well. Outpatient is over (which in my mind is awesome) and I'm on my third week of the wards. My team is awesome, my resident has taken to calling me "rock star" at just about every opportunity. He is sufficiently impressed with me such that as of tomorrow he's going to start treating me like a Sub-I (I admit and take care of the patients on my own with only the resident coming by to cosign all the orders and double check me, no intern involvement at all). I don't know how much of my readership understands how odd this is for a third year student...but trust me...it's weird. I'm not going to lie...it makes me a bit uncomfortable, but more with respect to how appropriate it is for me to be doing this as a third year than my ability to do it well. I guess I'll find out next week when my clerkship director is my attending :P

In weight loss news...there hasn't been any. In fact there's been weight gain. This is what I get for eating pizza from the cafeteria on a semi-regular basis. I need to be stricter with myself as far as eating the lunch I bring goes. Part of my plan includes not having money with me (can't buy lunch if I don't have money!).


Knitting news...well there really isn't any. I was trying to make two baby sweaters...but realized pretty quickly this wasn't going to happen...so I amended my plans to one sweater, two sets of booties, and a hat...babies will be born before this gets done...le sigh. I'm not going to show pictures so that recipients who might read this blog won't get a sneak preview...also because I'm too tired to go dig out my camera and fight with lighting to get good pics.

Alright...it's time for me to read a little bit more about working up chest pain and then head off to bed. After all, my instructions when I was sent home this afternoon were to rest up for my big day tomorrow, my first day as a Sub-I. Happy knitting all...I hope that you're all knitting more than I am.

Update

Yep...lost about 4 lbs since the New Year...hope I can keep it up!

In knitting news...the hat is finished. I have failed you and have not managed to take a picture of it despite the fact that it's been finished for almost a week now. I have started casting on for the first baby sweater. A BSJ of course. This is for a non-knitting friend so I'm using some non-gender-specific acrylic that will survive a bit better (I hope). I plan to make some booties too.

In med school news...I've started my Medicine rotation in outpatient clinic (think like a run-of-the-mill doctor's office). Lots of colds and coughs with a few physicals on middle-aged and elderly men. The physicals are kind of painful in their own way...if I ever have to do a prostate exam again (which I'm sure I will before my 4 weeks on outpatient is over) it'll be too soon.

My parting gift to you? The fortune I got today when I met a friend for lunch in Chinatown: "In order to discover who you are, first learn who everybody else is. You're what's left." It's just too odd to not share with as many people as I can :P