As it should be

What could make day 11 of 19 in a row at work bearable? Oh, only the magnificence of a gold medal. Vindication. Pride. Teamwork. Passion. Heart. Courage. My girls stepping up when it mattered most and making the big save, the big tackle, the big goal! I could write all night about the joy it brings me, but instead I'll post a few of my favorite pics from the day's events and head to bed.

Way too early

Just sitting here at 4:19am (hey, that's my birthday), watching a little soccer. When I first woke up, it didn't look like the game was online. It just showed the Sweden game and I was like, oh well, too bad, I guess I get to sleep another 3 or 4 hours. But no, it's posted and now I am watching. No excitement yet, at least not enough to really get me awake and alive (and alert and enthusiastic).

I'm still just so exhausted from the week. Lots of hours at work, lots of work from home, lots of early mornings and very little sleep. [sidenote: good save Solo! nice grunt too] I hate being this tired. And of course, I probably could have slept through the game and not told anybody and they'd all assume I'm still my avid fan self. I may still sleep through the second half.

I wish I could be more coherent. That would make for a much better blog. I also wish I could remember all the funny quotes from this week. Stuff like "You're gonna die. Ha, just kidding, but your [GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL] hiccups are gone." Wow, what a beautiful hit from Lloyd. Upper netting from outside the 18. Anyway, the hiccup comment was after one of my patients had been prescribed prn Baclofen for hiccups and then another pharmacist said she had been asked the day before what the doctor could order for hiccups on a different patient and she had told them something else. And we were joking that you could write the order "scare patient prn hiccups". Hence the death sentence.

As a side comment, the NBCOlympics commentary on their streaming video is lousy. About like the commentary on Mary's state soccer game. I'd much rather read the commentary from ussoccer.com's MatchTracker. But it's not posted. Seriously, my brain is mush. I'm gonna stop writing now. USA USA USA!

Grace for the day

Or week, or whatever:
+++ Had a great week on OHSCU (oncology/hematology special care unit), training for my staffing shifts and getting used to things before starting my oncology rotation tomorrow. The pharmacists were great and allowed me to kind of take over and run the show which boosted my comfort level immensely. I pretty much staffed by myself on Friday, with the occasional (or frequent) question for the real OHSCU pharmacist who basically got to just hang out for a day. I finally feel like I'm getting used to the hospital and starting to get into patient care which was the whole point of the residency anyway.

+++ The fam was in town for a brief not-quite 20 hours. It was so great to go to Mass as a family (well, most of us anyway). I commented to my dad that during the processional hymn, the song hit a high note, and my mom and dad and I all sang the same note which happened to be about a note-and-a-half flat. What a gene pool! Dinner at Olive Garden and breakfast at VI topped off the weekend, and I even got leftovers and an iPod out of the deal.

+++ I rearranged my furniture. This may not seem like a big deal, but you should've seen it before. A large living room and sparse furniture doesn't mesh well, and the TV was about 20 feet from the couch. Now I think it's about 12-15 feet away, the room looks much cozier, and I have a consensus of where to hang all of my pictures. Also on the furniture front, I finally bought a bookcase, and I'm so excited to have it all put together and functional so that I can get rid of the stack of boxes currently housing all of my bookshelfy things.

+++ I'm reading "What's So Amazing About Grace?" and finding lots of extra graces in my week for having put forth a tiny bit of effort into my spiritual life. The homily last night fit so well with what I've been reading in the book and discovering throughout the day. It's like God knows what He's doing or something. :)

+++ I'm finally driving my new car---named Stella---and I really like it. Stella was the family consensus, especially after discovering it was my great-grandmother's name. We always just called her Bobo and I don't know that I ever knew her name. Glad I went with that great-grandma name instead of Wilda. Poor Wilda never recovered after I let her bird Pepe out of his cage. If I decide the car needs a boy name, I'm going with Emerson, which was my great-grandfather's name (Wilda's husband). Coolest name ever! I'm still taking suggestions on a vanity plate for my car. So far, leading options have to do with Colorado (DNVRGRL) or me being a pharmacist (PHARM Z; DR ZAP), or something like that. Please help!

+++ Mary's naming the Seadoo "Phyllis" which I think is hysterical. Not really a grace for the day, but I thought it deserved a comment.

Okay, I have to go now so I can continue my nosocomial candidiasis research. I have to get a good chunk of it done before I work out this afternoon (right now exercise is scheduled for 3pm because Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is on TBS at that time, and I have to have good TV while I run). And I have to do laundry. Yuck!

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.

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 ---->

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.

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.