Winter wonderland?

Apparently, it was time to snow. And snow it did. About a foot and a half. It took me an hour to drive 2 miles to my dental appointment yesterday. And then, when I drove home, I got stuck trying to turn around in a neighbor's driveway. Brilliant.

After an hour of shoveling my car out, a man drove by and asked if I wanted him to snow blow my driveway for $40. Okay, yeah, $40 is a lot. But...it honestly would have taken maybe 6 hours to shovel my driveway, and the thought of that made me want to cry. So I paid the man. And it was sooooo worth it. Also, when he gave me his card, it became very clear that he was newly unemployed. So I felt good about it.

Here's Brandon taking a sledge hammer to the layer of ice under the snow post-snow blowing. See the area to the right? It's a ditch. It's FULL of snow. A lot of snow.



Also, knitting! The Tangled Yoke is on hold while I wait for a US 0 circular to arrive from KnitPicks. In the meantime, I made Pecan Pie from Knitty.



The little teal bit at the bottom edge is a hem I knit out of Malabrigo so that I have soft yarn against my skin instead of Noro or whatever that gray yarn is (I don't remember - bought it freshman year of college). Also, on Ravelry, the edge looked like it curled a lot, and I didn't like that. I still have to sew in the ends and block it something fierce. But I like it! It's my first adventure in Noro and my first beret/tam.

Also, don't ask me how much ricotta I've eaten in the past few days...it's too embarrassing. I blame Costco.

Progress?

In less than four months, I will be a doctor. Sure, people call me "Doctor" already (usually followed by, "You gotta help me...the pain" since I'm in the ED), but it isn't true. Soon, it will be. That's....weird.

There are things that I do now, kind of without thinking about it, that I would never have dreamed of doing four years ago. Things that even one year ago, my hands would have been shaking as I reached to do them. In one ED shift, I performed a pelvic exam on a woman who was in a lot of pain, did rectals on multiple constipated infants (sorry, babies!), helped splint a guy's broken hand (after he punched it through a window - brilliant), and threw all my strength into chest compressions on a man who I watched die moments later. When the old, substance-dependent guys thought that telling me I was pretty would help them get more pain meds, I was more firm, more confident with them than I used to be. I wasn't scared.

I fully expect to be terrified on my first day of internship. They say you should walk in on your first day ready to do a Cesarean section start to finish. Right now, I think I could. I've first assisted - found the fascial planes with my fingers, reached into the uterus and found a small head. But I don't know. I think I'm ready to be a doctor. I know that, with time, I'm going to be a great doctor. But right now, it's kind of scary.

Frozen inertia

Um...I'm done? Brandon is still on the east coast, and he had one more to go, so I'm not quite to the celebrating part yet. But I think it feels good. Now, it's time to do what I do best: go crazy neurotic with the organization of data and opinions of each program. Because it is time to rank (aka judge). Somewhere, they are all ranking (judging) me, but I get to rank them as well. Ahhh....

If only there weren't dishes to do and ER lecture to go to tomorrow morning...

Back to reality?

Apparently, I only have one interview left. And it's here in Cleveland. Yeah, that means I'm done traveling. Done. The suitcase goes back into storage!

However, it also means I have to start doing that whole working-in-the-hospital thing starting tomorrow. I'll be on Emergency Medicine for the next four weeks. I picked the hardest hospital to do that rotation at, mostly because I want to have an appreciation for what B will be going through next year. Yeah, they're limited to 60 hours per week (we're 80), but the random shifts seem draining. We'll see.

Also surprising: we're getting married in less than four months. What? When did that happen? Apparently, I need to start figuring some of those details out, at least if I want people to, you know, be invited or eat cake. Whatever.

Take that, flight industry

As of today, I am officially done with flying for interviews.

I still have three more, but two are in Cleveland and one is driving distance. Score.

Of course, I couldn't have the last flight be uneventful. So, I booked a flight that would be canceled upon my arrival to the airport. And then, US Airways booked me on a (better! direct!) Continental flight...that left in 30 minutes. I jogged down to the Continental ticket stand, got my boarding pass, jogged back to security (rolling suitcase and giant interview "purse" in tow, still in my suit and heels), and proceeded to learn that I got to have extra security since I had technically just bought my ticket. And then, the TSA guy thought that flirting with me would make the situation better ("Why the extra security? Apparently Continental thinks you're special...but I think you're beautiful." Wink). He was wrong. He also kept insisting that my Tangled Yoke was crocheting. I may have overly firmly explained the one hook vs. two needles issue. I kind of took all of my interview season/flight frustration and focused it on him as those minutes ticked by. Luckily, Rochester's airport is pretty tiny, so I was able to run to my gate and make my flight. And be home by 4:00pm!

Ooo! Two big wedding things have been figured out! We now have an officiant and a honeymoon! Both are awesome. I'm giving our officiant a chance to tell people before I announce it publicly, and, apparently you're supposed to keep your honeymoon secret? So, I guess I'm not telling you. At least here. If I actually know you and you want to know, I'll tell you. Because I'm bad at secrets. And I've already told a lot of people. I'm too excited. Here's a hint. Can you guess (and no fair telling if you you know)?

Resolution of sorts

So, I have this camera. And I use it to take pictures. And then those pictures sit on the camera for months on end and never make it to the blog. Oops. So, I've decided that my resolution this year is to work on actually making the transition from camera to blog.

Like so.

Here is the seasonal knitting. I finished the Anemoi mittens in Midway airport (you know...thus running out of knitting for that trip). They aren't blocked in this shot, and they probably never will be. Because I am always wearing them. The corrugated rib on the wrists is really too tight, but I can squeeze them on. And I love the colors.
Here is an FO from about a year ago, the After-Dark Robe. It was too tight in the shoulders for me, so I never wore it. Handknits are meant to be worn, so I gave it to my 17 year old cousin this Chrismas (also earrings and an iTunes gift card). She's adorable in it.
I didn't knit this one, Jenny did. Mom knit Dad a color work pirate hat, so Jenny knit him this matching scarf. He's the most stylish computer guy ever.
Fastest sweater ever! I heart US 13s! Except, I really don't. They hurt my hands. My friend Laura had this yarn made for me in Montreal. You pick these individual plies to put together to make one multi-color yarn. She knows my colors. This is the only pattern that was close to guage with this yarn, so Cherie Amour it is. It's wearable, but it's not my all time favorite fit. I feel like it flattens the chest and widens the waist. But the color is good.
And, lastly, Brandon's neck warmer. He picked out the yarn himself, Plymouth Alpaca...mmmmm... The pattern was made up as I knit.
That's all for now. I've still got at least two FOs that need photographing, three that need felting or buttons or something, and one project on the needles. Not too bad.

The year can only get better

Wow...to say that was my worst New Year's celebration since...um, ever, would be accurate. No real worries. I still have Brandon and kitties and knitting and family. But I am kind of sick of being told that other people are allowed to treat me a certain way because I am more accomplished and that I should just be the bigger person. It would be nice if everyone was supposed to be respectful of everyone else. Maybe that's my New Year's wish.