Sunday, July 20, 2008

A Little Extra Olympian Love

So I'm having a lazy Sunday, not feeling so hot, so not feeling guilty about alternating my ACLS reading prep with lots of TV. AVP was on and I love watching Kerri Walsh and Misty May about as much as I love watching anything. But my favorite part of the match had nothing to do with volleyball. After championship point (killer kill by Walsh down the line), Misty turns to the camera as she usually does to say hi to the folks back home. She says, "Hi everybody back home" with the double hand wave and then starts to say something else that I caught only the tail end of because the crowd was so loud. Replay allowed me to read her lips:

"Hey Abby Wambach, I hope you're feeling better. Keep your head up. Stay strong."

Awesome. I second that sentiment. I'm gonna try for a surfthechannel.com movie now, provided my internet works. And then back to analyzing cardiac rhythms and dosing vasopressors.


P.S. Went to Pettit's for the first time this morning. (How is it that my sister, who's been in Omaha all of a year, has been to more Omaha landmarks that I have?) Let's just say it was the most amazing way to start a Sunday. I had a raspberry bear claw with glazed almonds on top followed by a German Chocolate magical pastry with coconut pecan frosting filled with some sort of bavarian cream or something. Half for breakfast, half for lunch so I didn't make myself sick. I could have something new from there every week for a year and still not try everything. Seriously mouthwateringly delicious. Yes, I just said mouthwateringly.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Game Day

A few pics of the day:

The defense prepares for a free kick















The signs that got us on the jumbotron















A few of the girls warm up ---->

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

USA USA USA (pronounced oosa)

Yes my friends, I did in fact get the chance to watch my many talented idols play in person. Things conspired to put a damper on the experience--the 8 hour drive awaiting me after the final whistle, the raw memories of a 4-0 slaughter, the 100-degree heat, sitting behind what turned out to be the wrong goal, the pathetic optical zoom on my camera--but nothing this monumentous was going to disappoint.

We arrived early enough to get brilliant parking next to the few tailgaters, and waited outside impatiently for the gates to open. The comments on our signs began early and we had to clarify that while 129 is an impressive number for caps, it was in fact the number of international goals Kristine Lilly had scored (her caps are well over 300, despite the baby bump that interrupted this year). We brought along goals #100 and #101 just in case, but alas, they would not be needed. Once inside the gates, the field was remarkably empty, but when the team assistants started bringing out the ball bags, we knew greatness would surely follow. Sure enough, we got to watch from directly overhead as the USWNT processed out from the locker room and onto the scorching field for warm up. The aforementioned camera did little justice to capturing the pre-game routine of soccer icons Abby Wambach, Christie Rampone, Hope Solo, and Kate Markgraf (accompanied by an attractive mask), nor the up-and-comers Natasha Kai, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, and Lindsay Tarpley (all landmark players in their own right). Not wanting to distract the players, we quietly snapped our shots and then started to head back to our seats. Laura tried to catch Wambach's eye with our clever support for hitting the century mark, but that woman is all business. I wasn't as subtle as my parting scream of "Hea-O" turned Heather O'Reilly's head. When she saw the sign sporting her nickname, she gave the oh-so-suave head nod. Awesome!

Eventually we had to take our assigned seats. They weren't great seats for watching soccer necessarily because we were directly behind the goal and thus small portions of the field were obstructed by the net and crossbar. However, they were great seats for seeing players up close. Like the agony of Natasha Kai after running down a rebound on the goal line and trying to cross it for a certain goal, somehow coming up empty handed. She still got raucous cheers, don't worry. They were also apparently great seats for getting on the jumbotron. Twice. If anybody was watching ESPN, we were the girls shown right at the end of halftime with the two coolest signs in the park. Seriously.

At first I was only slightly disappointed with the game, seeing how tired and hot the players looked and trying to figure out why our midfield looked a little haphazard and discombobulated at times. Then I found out later that Brazil was playing with 5 midfielders. 5 fast midfielders and 2 lightning-quick forwards. That would tax even the world's best. So I didn't feel so bad anymore. Plus, they won. Granted it was not Abby Wambach's 100th goal, and it only came about because a Brazilian defender misplayed Wambach's cross, but A-Rod made them pay for it with a beautiful finish. And there was some excitement throughout the game, a couple of yellow cards, some really bad not-calls, some near misses, dangerous set pieces, etc.

I'll get some pics up later so you can see the players in all their glory. And me with my signs. But I've rambled enough for now.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Breathing easy...for the most part

Reasons for sighs of relief today:
Abby Wambach did not score her 100th goal. Still thinking up cool sign ideas for the game next week.
OPPD is not disconnecting my power.
I survived the first week of residency (it was really only three days, probably shouldn't count).
My furniture fit through my door.
The fireworks did not keep me up last night.
I have plans for tonight that do not involve sitting by myself watching one of my three TV channels.

Reasons my weekend isn't as good as it could be:
Despite only being three days in, my residency is a little overwhelming. I have to choose topics for my Grand Rounds and my research project within the next couple days.
I had to drop $50 on scrubs and a lab coat. Not cool.
I have to review Biostats today. More severely not cool.
I haven't figured out how to get Fox on my TV.
Still not sure if I can get off for Brady's wedding. Don't think I'm scheduled to work for Marie and Bobby's.
Checked the Creighton soccer schedule last night. Only gonna be able to make about half of the home games. Stupid staffing.
My bank account is protesting the purchase of my bookshelf. The one piece of furniture I deemed mandatory, to show off all my lovely novels in my attempt to mimic my grandparents' house, may have to wait until my first paycheck. Boo that.

All in all, not too bad I guess. Until I get about a page into Biostats, and then I might vomit. Cheers.
I reserve the right to make this blog as worthless to read as I feel like, and also to write as infrequently as I deem necessary. Just thought I'd let you know since I finally decided to share my blog.