Robert Langdon = Tom Hanks

I'm currently reading A Lost Symbol by Dan Brown right now and can't stop picturing the main character as Tom Hanks. I even hear Langdon's quotes in Tom Hanks' voice. Ugh. I guess it's one of the downfalls of having books in a series made into a movie before the series is complete. Oh well, at least Tom Hanks did a great job in the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. I just like to have my own images of characters, not Hollywood's vision.

Kind of related, I think Tom Hanks is one of the best actors of my era. No matter the role, he executes it with perfection and never falls into a stereotype.

2009 Resolutions in Review

Since it's the last day of 2009, I figured I'd review my resolutions from this year and see how I did. Hopefully tomorrow I'll take the time to post my resolutions for 2010, but I'm still developing them.

1. Lose 5-10 pounds - Looking on sparkpeople.com, I'm exactly one pound less than this time last year. I'm ok with that, at least I didn't gain any over the year.
2. Workout 3 times a week - Overall, I think I completed this one. I had knee surgery at the end of August and that definitely has been motivation to do my PT at least 3x a week. I'm slowly getting back to pain free elliptical and biking. I'm hoping to start running again in 2010, we'll see how the pain is.
3. Learn digital photography with my new dSLR - umm, my food photos have improved, but this is definitely still a major work in progress.
4. Maintain bikini line and shave legs more often - yeah, umm, I'm still lazy on this.
5. Read at least 25 pleasure books in 2009 - exceeded this goal, woo hoo! I read 55!
6. Go to church weekly/redevelop my faith life - I am truly in a faith crisis. Hoping to work on this in 2010 too. I did not go to church weekly. I went to mass the fewest times ever in any of the years of my life this year.
7. Less clutter and more cleanliness - we'll have to ask Joe about this one. I'll stay I think it's going to be a constant work in progress for my whole life.
8. Improve communication with Joe (more of what he needs to work on, but I'm not perfect either, so it's a joint resolution) - We had 9 weeks of long distance this year, I'm pretty proud of our communication then. Still room for improvement on both parts, but we definitely had more communication this year.

Bought the Ninja!

I guess you can say I'm a sucker for kitchen appliances. Ok, maybe that's an understatement...I LOVE kitchen stuff! A couple of weeks ago I saw the infomercial for the Ninja and they chopped onions with ease. I ran off to try chopping onions with my magic bullet, but it didn't work =(. Yesterday I picked up my Ninja from Sam's club. I've only used it on peppers and onions. I used the mini prep container. I definitely didn't start crying when it chopped the onions, but it minced more than chopped. I have to play around with it to get the constistency I want, but it's definitely better than chopping onions myself!

Of course I can do more than just chop onions with my Ninja, but that'll have to wait until the New Year.

Snow Dog!

My hubby would say I'm not a dog person, but I just think there are different degrees of dog people and I'm towards the very bottom. I've definitely enjoyed having my parents' dog around.

As I mentioned earlier, my parents received a ton of snow this past weekend. My brother took Bella, their shitzu, out to play. She had a ball until she couldn't walk. The snow had formed huge balls and stuck to her fur! We gently tried to pull the snow balls off, but it didn't work. Up to the tub she went for her 3rd bath in 3 days. She likes the snow a little too much. Oh well, I guess she knows she has owners to clean her.

Interview Week in Review - 3

Yes, I know this is a little late. Whenever I get on the internet it affects my brother's videogaming, so I'm trying to be a good sister and do most of my internet stuff when he's not on the game.

Miles driven: Approximately 600
Hours driving: 9-10
States visited: 2
Interviews: 3
Programs I absolutely loved: 1
Programs I liked and with which would totally be happy: 1

Nothing too exciting happened this week in terms of funny stories, etc. I'm very glad interviews are over. Not because I don't like meeting people and interviewing, etc, but the travel is exhausting. I'm not the type of person who can live out of a suitcase. I used to think it would be amazing to be an airline stewardess so I could see new places, but I don't think I'd like so many hotels. I digress though. Now that interviews are over, I'm more stressed about the match. I'm really not trying to get my hopes up on certain programs, but it's hard. I'm also not trying to think about the logistics of looking for housing, a job for Joe, moving, and all that entails until Match Day. I kept telling Joe we couldn't really make any plans until Match Day because we don't know where we'll be, so I now I have to listen to my own advice.

Leave it to Dad!

Dad's always been a handyman and I just have to toot his horn right now. Yesterday Baltimore received about 20 inches of snow. Dad loves storms like this so he can use his snow blower. About 3/4 of the way into the storm (5:45pm on a Sunday), the wheel of Dad's snow blower broke. Between closing time and the storm, no stores were open to buy a replacement part. My parents have a large driveway and Dad wanted to snowblowe my great grandfather's house too. Needless to say, Dad was determined to fix the snow blower. After multiple mumblings to himself, he decided to make a wooden wheel. Yes, a wooden wheel. Dad said overall it worked well enough to finish out this storm. Dad said the only major problem was the wooden wheel iced and he'd have to thaw it out. I think it's quite impressive either way!

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks everyone who entered the giveaway! The winner is, drum roll please, Katie! Comment number 5. I discovered Random.org and it was so easy! I just typed in the number of comments and voila, the number 5 popped up.

Thanks everyone who participated and Happy Holidays!

I made it to 50!

One of my new year's resolution for 2009 was to read 25 books. Around June I decided I'd count audio books too. I reached 25 books in August and decided to up my go to 50. Drum roll please, today I finished my 50th book! Woo hoo! I wasn't a member of Goodreads until July and didn't record every book I read in 2009 on there simply because I forgot what a couple were. However, based on my Goodreads list, only about 11 books of the 50 were audiobooks. I think that's pretty impressive for a medical student.

I'm not sure if I'm going to read as many next year for several reasons. I want to focus on learning photography since I neglected that resolution this year. I also will start my intern year in the middle of June, which will leave me with very little, and I mean very little, free time.

I hate cutting onions!

Practically every one knows onions make your eyes water when you cut them. I guess I'm more sensitive than most of the population because I truly start crying when I cut onions. This weekend I saw an info-mercial for the Ninja. I don't have a Ninja, but my rents and I both have a magic bullet. I thought I'd give the magic bullet a try to chop the onions, but the info-mercial was right--it didn't work.

I've tried refrigerating the onions, but I still bawl. Oh well.

Giveaway!

So 12 posts ago was my 200th post. I wanted to do a give-away then, but realized I shouldn't spend the money.

So where is this giveaway coming from? I'm not shy. Mom's work had a regifting party...basically everyone brought something new they received but didn't want. Mom knows I like to cook, so she took the garlic press. However, she didn't know I already have this exact garlic press, so now I'm passing the joy onto you! And I love this tool, by the way!

It's brand new, so as long as you don't mind me regifting a regift, it's yours--well if you win.

What: Pampered Chef Garlic Press (not sponsored at all by Pampered Chef)
How to Win: Comment with your favorite dish that includes garlic. Recipes welcome, but not necessary.
Entry Details: Post a comment by Friday, December 17th 8 pm Eastern Time. I'll use some nifty computer program to draw the winner and post by Monday, but likely Saturday or Sunday.

Interview Week in Review - 2

This week I had five interviews in a row. I would not recommend this on anyone! People say it's exhausting, and it is. Truly though, I think it was the driving that got to me.

Miles driven: Approximately 780
Hours driving: Too many...I think somewhere between 13-15
States visited: 2
Interviews: 5
Programs I absolutely loved: 1
Programs I liked and with which would totally be happy: 1.5

So my excitement of this interview week...I caught a bagel on fire! I'm a bear without breakfast, so I stopped in the hospital cafeteria to get something. I put my bagel in the conveyor belt toaster and walk to the refrigerated section to get cream cheese. Another applicant was waiting to use the toaster as well and when I walked back she calmly says, "I think your bagel is on fire." Umm...YES! There were flames and smoke coming out of the toaster! I immediately turned the toaster off and found a cafeteria worker, but the rest of the day I was known as "the girl who caught a bagel on fire."

I'll never say I have a boring life at least.

This coming week is lighter than this past one, thankfully. I originally had another 5 in a row scheduled, but by the middle of last week I realized I couldn't do that again. I now have 3 interviews left total. I'm not going to lie, I'm excited to come to the end. I'm so so glad I've been offered interviews, but it's socially exhausting. The next tough thing is going to be working on the rank list. One step at a time.

Interviewing and my Knee

For the past couple of weeks, unfortunately my knee's been bothering me again. It's getting the dull ache I had before surgery. I haven't tried much cardio since being in Baltimore, so we'll see. Some of the hotels where I'm staying have gyms, so hopefully I'll be able to use them this week. I have been doing my exercises, but it's still frustrating. I've also noticed my knee bothers me with lots of sitting and since I'm in the car driving a lot, that's not helping. Ugh.

Interview Week in Review - 1

This past week marked my first full week of interviews away from my home institution. Unfortunately I can't go into much detail since the programs may stumble across my blog, but I want to share at least a little.

Miles driven: Approximately 400
Hours driving: A little less than 8
States visited: 3
Interviews: 3
Programs I absolutely loved: 1
Programs I liked and with which would totally be happy: 2

This week was my light week actually. Tonight I head to Virginia and spend 4 days in that state and end the week in DC. It's worth it though. I'm having more confidence that Joe and I will be closer to our family and friends come this summer, but we'll see.

Pediatrics residency interviews are fairly laid back compared to some other specialties. It's still a little frustrating though. During our interview day, the programs also try to sell their residency and always say, "we hope you choose us." That's the thing. Rough numbers here...so if the program is interviewing 400 candidates for 20 spots, there's not enough room for everyone to choose your program. Hence that's where "the match" comes into play. While I really like programs, I'm trying not to fall in love or get my hopes up too much so I'm not disappointed on match day. Just because I love a program, it doesn't mean the program will love me. So I'll keep trucking and interviewing and hoping the way Joe and I rank programs will be similar to how they rank me.

Ravens beat Steelers!!!

One of the great things about being in town is impromptu gatherings. Sunday, November 29th the RAVENS BEAT THE STEELERS! Woo hoo! My parents had my grandparents over for dinner Saturday night. Given the left overs and clean house I felt it necessary to have some of my girlfriends over to watch the game. (Ok, the guys were invited too, but all realized we needed a girls night, awesome.) It was so great catching up and watching the game together, even if we're adults now and need to leave at halftime.

Oh, and if you didn't see the game, it was awesome! Yay for our new kicker and pulling through in overtime!

I hear you God

I've been going through what I call a faith crisis for the past year or so. For months now I've felt I need to get back to my religion and work on my faith. It hasn't happened. On a interview last week, a physician saw I was involved in the Catholic Medical Association and our conversation led to suggestions to help me resolve my faith crisis. Tonight I was at applicant dinner for different program and had a wonderful discussion with another applicant about our faith, what it means to be Catholic, etc. I went to the dinner with the purpose to learn more about the program. Ends up, I randomly sat next to another Catholic and we randomly started talking about our faith. I've heard of moments when people feel God is calling them or pointing them in a particular direction. Right now, I feel God is screaming at me. Not a reprimanding scream, but a "obviously you couldn't hear my whispers, so I guess I have to get louder to show you I miss you" scream.

After having this random discussion with the fellow applicant tonight I realized part of what I'm missing in my faith life. Up until medical school, I was involved in faith-based groups outside of Mass on Sundays. These groups provided time for discussion, service, activities, etc. Mass was just an added benefit. Without the faith discussion with my peers, I feel distant, almost lost. I discovered more about myself and my faith through campus ministry than I have in Mass. Now I'm left with Mass and I think since Mass wasn't filling my faith void, I stopped going. Unfortunately, this left with no outlet (other than my actions and profession) to practice my faith.

I've been thinking my answer to resolving my faith crisis is finding my way back to Mass, but tonight I think I discovered that's not it. I need to find my way back to opportunities to discuss my faith with my peers. Hopefully, after that I'll be able to find my way back to Mass as well.