Laughing

Sometimes you just have to laugh for no reason until you start to cry and fall on the floor. Sometimes that is the result of a TV show on ice cream while your family looks at you like you've lost it. Good times. 

Utah

I just got home from a wonderful few days in Utah. I spent most of my time in Salt Lake City for my interview, but also explored a bit. My flight in was a little crazy, with lots of turbulence and a diversion to Provo to re-fuel since we were unable to land on multiple attempts due to shifting winds. We sat on the plane while they got more fuel and filled out all the paperwork and then made the quick hop up to Salt Lake City. I was a little late to my dinner because of that, but only really missed the drinks and mingling portion, so it wasn't a problem at all! The next day was my interview, which was great. The hospital seems like a great place to work and the program seems to prepare residents well.

After the interview stuff was all over I explored downtown SLC a bit, mostly by walking around the mall and the Temple Square area. I had dinner at a place called Blue Lemon, which I found extremely appropriate! The temple was quite pretty with the whole area decked out in Christmas lights. I enjoyed walking around!

This morning I got up and rented a care for the day. I went to the Olympic Oval for a trapeze class, and then drove into Park City to check out some of the ski resorts. I had lunch at Deer Valley, which was quite nice! I then went back into SLC to drive around the hospital area one more time, since I had been shuttled there and back yesterday, and then checked out the local Whole Foods of course :)


Overall a really nice trip!

It's TAG DAYS Time!

Its that time of year again, time for TAG DAYS! This year we are reaching out to family and friends, so if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to our cause you can follow the link below. Last year we raised $75,001 to help various (carefully selected) children's organizations within Washtenaw County, Michigan, and we are aiming to surpass that total this year! We won't know the official total raised until March, but every donation, big or small, helps a TON! Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer!

Go to www.TagDays.org for more information about Galens Medical Society and to learn about how to donate online or via mail. Thanks for all your help; the Galens membership and the children of Washtenaw County are very appreciative!

Back in the Mitten

This week I am back in Ann Arbor. I flew in Friday and went to the Michigan-OSU game yesterday. Needless to say it wasn't the best day of football I've had in the Big House as we got pretty slaughtered. It started out okay, but after a roughing the kicker penalty early on the team kind of lost their spunk. Oh well. Stanford and Cal sure made thing interesting with close games that went right up until the very last play, when each went for the game winning field goal down by one point. Luckily both kickers made their respective field goals and each won by 2 points on Senior Day at Stanford and in Berkeley. Good time. Today and tomorrow are days with really nothing to do, Tuesday is my first transitional year interview in Detroit, and Wednesday kicks off Tag Days, the annual charity drive for the student group for which I'm on the exec board. Fun times.

Last game in the Big House as a student

SoCal Trip #1

I had my first California interview today in Southern CA and it went really well. The program really surprised me in a positive way and I had a really nice time. It seems like a great environment and the people seem to be people I would be very happy working with. It will be interesting to see how this match list ends up in February!

Traveling with Lemon and Blue

Yesterday was the big day I've been preparing for... my flight across the country with my pet rats! I had everything in place and had called Delta Cargo about 5 times to ensure everything that needed doing was done. Luckily everything went really smoothly! I dropped them off at the cargo facility at DTW, went to the terminal, took my flight, and then picked them up at cargo in San Francisco. They survived the flight and didn't seem to be overly stressed out, which was good. Grandma and Grandpa picked us up and we survived the traffic out of SF as well! Lemon and Blue seem to be happy in their new cage in my room in CA. Max doesn't notice them and Koa isn't sure what to think, but he's so focused on the fact that I'm home and he's getting love that he doesn't pay them much attention either. It's nice to be home in CA and I'm sure they will appreciate missing the cold winter in our dining room in Ann Arbor!

Getting Ready to Head Home

Today is all about preparation. I am doing a TON of laundry, cleaning, and packing to head to California tomorrow morning.  I took out months worth of recycling I swear (we accumulate so many boxes its ridiculous), and now we can walk into our utility close once again. It's amazing how fast everything adds up. Yesterday I also went to Joann's and got some fabric to make some cage liners for Lemon and Blue since they are coming with me to CA! I also needed a hot glue gun to fix their airplane carrier so the wire mesh I had taped on with gorilla tape would stop unsticking over the fiberglass mesh. I think everything is all squared away now, so yay! Just have to finish the laundry so I can pack. So much more to do, but luckily its only 2PM!

7-2

Today was the Michigan-Rutgers game, my second to last game as a student in the Big House. I got there a little late because I was cleaning, but the rest of the game was fun. We won by a lot, so the game itself was fairly boring, but always fun to hang out with friends in the Big House. We are now 7-2 and remain in 3rd place in our division of the Big Ten.

Also, Stanford crushed Colorado and remains the only undefeated team in conference in the Pac12. Go Card!

Unfortunately, I left a lot of my online class to do this weekend, so tomorrow that's what I'll be doing all day. Fun times!

Just Hangin' Out

The next week and a half are really uneventful for me so I'm just hanging out here. I spent today figuring out how to safely get Lemon and Blue on the airplane to California with me next week, and I think everything is almost worked out. Fun times. Otherwise just waiting to see if any other programs might extend me an interview and I'm preparing for those that I have scheduled. Tomorrow I have a meeting, which is the only thing I have left to do in the A2 area for the next month. Crazy!

ASA, Orange County, and First Interview

This last week has been a busy one. After finishing Emergency Medicine I flew to San Diego to attend the annual Anesthesiology conference. There were a bunch of sessions for medical students and opportunities to meet program directors and residents, which was awesome. I also got to learn a lot about Anesthesia and got some cool free swag. I even won a signed copy of Miller's Anesthesia, which is essentially the bible of Anesthesia. That will be awesome for stating out my career in a year and a half when I've survived intern year. I'll probably still buy his Basics book to read first though, but it was SO excited to win!

After ASA Dad and I went to Orange County for 2 nights. We didn't do too much, but had a nice time doing random things. I had to stop at Starbucks for an hour to get online for a lecture for the online class I'm currently in, so we went to Balboa Island and got a really quick lunch and he explored while I did some learning. After watching lecture I got a frozen banana, which is exciting is you've ever seen Arrested Development. We also saw some nice homes, beaches, did some shopping, and spent some time in the hot tub at the spa at the hotel (the St. Regis is super nice!).

Yesterday morning we got up REALLY early and I flew back to Michigan. It is a bit colder here for sure, but luckily not too bad yet! I had my first interview today here and it was really great. This program sets a really high bar to compare other programs against. Now I'm watching the Cal-USC game and doing some online class work until it's time to go to the interview day dinner downtown. Fun times!