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!!!