I think Joe likes BBQ...

I do 90% of the cooking at our house and I was gone for four weeks doing a rotation. While gone, I gave Joe a hard time about what he was cooking. I predicted lots of chicken tenders and pizza. Well, I think Joe had a chicken tender binge last week. Of the five plates in the dishwasher, all were covered with BBQ sauce. As Joe says, "BBQ makes everything taste good."

Let's Talk About My Traps

My trapezius muscles, that is. Everyone carries her stress somewhere, I carry mine in my trapezius muscles, the green in the image above. As much as I try to stretch them, they are almost always tight, I mean painfully tight to the point my shoulders are contracted forward. Yesterday I had a massage and the therapist said, "So, are you a nurse or a doctor? They're usually the ones who's muscles are as jacked up as yours." Close enough--med student. Unfortunately, she's not the the only therapist who's noticed how tight my traps are, especially as compared to my other muscles. Fortunately, massage helps loosen the muscles, but here lies the problem, massages aren't cheap. This year I enrolled in Massage Envy's membership, which gives me discounted massages, but it still adds up and it'll be one of the first expenses to go. I might just have to insist on Joe learning how to give me a shoulder massage :p

And some more rambling...although my traps get painfully tight, I'm fortunate they don't cause headaches. Thank goodness for small blessings.

Baltimore Gas Prices

For the most part, gas prices in Baltimore are about the same as in Omaha, but I can't get over the range of prices around the area. I usually expect the stations near the highways to be 10 cents more, but I've noticed that's no longer the case. Just driving about 6 miles to the Chick-fil-a today, I saw a range of 15 cents, with no real correlation with the highway. Come on gas stations, it's one thing to be a couple cents different, but 15 cents?!?! That just doesn't make sense and shows how much some people mark up gas.

And yes, I had to get one last visit to Chick-fil-a before going back to Omaha who hasn't been blessed with the yumminess of the establishment.

Displaced Ravens Fans

I think this might be my new favorite photo of Joe and me. I've been in Baltimore for the past 4 weeks doing a rotation at a local hospital. Joe flew in two weeks ago to visit and we were fortunate enough to go to a Ravens game while he was here. I was trying to correct the colors and somehow made the purple pop. I think I desaturated all of the colors but red, and somehow ended up with this picture. I really don't think I could do it again, but either way, I love this effect. Too bad the Raves lost that day. Oh well.

All things must end

So it seems my time in Baltimore has come to an end, at least temporarily. It was nice being back in the neck of the woods, but I realized I don't miss Baltimore. Don't get me wrong, I miss my friends and family in Baltimore, but not the city itself. I don't miss the pot holes, the traffic, the crime, the cost of living, and I'm sure there's more. I never thought I'd be sad to leave Omaha, but I think I will be. I'll get over it quickly though, don't worry.

I'm excited to fly back to Omaha tomorrow to get back to our home we established. I miss seeing Joe everyday and our little lifestyle. I'm doing pediatric cardiology next, so I'm hoping to have some more time to catch up on baking and reading. We'll see.

Sorry Bella

I'm staying with my parents while I do my rotation in Baltimore. When I arrived home today, I was greeted by Bella, the family shitzu. My brother's shin guard hung from her mouth and I immediately started reprimanding her for chewing our stuff. I attempted to pull the shin guard out of her mouth, but it wouldn't budge, so I pulled harder. Then I realized she wasn't biting down on anything--the velcro of the shin guard was stuck in her fur! I felt so bad! I didn't mean to try to pull her fur out. After calming her down enough to realize I wasn't going to try to pull her hair out again, I was able to cut the fur. Poor girl. I really thought she was chewing it and just wouldn't let go.

Funny Swine Flu Photo

One of my dear friends sent this to me and I just had to share. It's no lie that Swine Flu is hitting us hard, but at least we have the resources for this pandemic. I loved how this picture had masked on the other characters, because it's so true. We isolate all of our flu patients and I feel like I'm gowning for almost every patient on the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if stocks in hospital isolation gear have gone up.