Photo Update

So I've been busy! Amazing how earning a living does that to you... Work still has its growing pains, but it's getting better for the most part. I wonder how long it will be until I feel fairly competent. At least my surgeries are going more smoothly now. I still seem to get the difficult ones here and there, but nothing goes wrong, they just take extra time.

In other, more interesting news, I'M AN AUNT!! I haven't gotten to see Makenzie Leigh yet, but she arrived on July 16th. Here's a picture of the little darling.

Awww.... She's so adorable!! The jury is still out on her hair color. Mandy's is red and Chris has dark dark blonde, but Kenzie's looks more brown. Maybe she's taking after my Mom. Ryan and I hope to see her for my birthday, since I actually get the day off.

I went to a Chicago Fire game on 7/12/08 with Ryan, Karen, and Trevor. I must say, it was a lot of fun. Never having been "into" soccer, I wasn't expecting to have an awesome time. And trust me, the awesomeness only BEGAN with the free Blanco bobble-head figurine. Here's some photos:

So this guy was a really TERRIBLE sideline official. He kept calling offsides when it was clearly fair play. Several fans threw things at him, and we all cheered when they did. My own display of anger is to post his blind butt on my blog. Can anyone explain to me why what appears to be grey support hose are part of the officials' attire??

Ryan and I celebrating the 2-1 victory!! Note that he's not wearing his glasses. That's because in our excitement over the nearly last-minute victory-earning goal, his glasses fell off and one lens popped out. (The screw has come loose and resulted in this before, but not in a stadium where it was rather hard to find all the pieces.) I ended up driving his car home until we could use my repair kit to put them back together. It was a fun night!

Then, on the 16th Ryan and I met up with Tom in Oak Brook at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummmmmm... It was great catching up with him before he made the big move to St. Louis. Walking around the area and talking later, I came across this interesting sight:

Note that if you cover up the "Y" is says "Michigan Blos" (MI blows.) This proved 2 things to me: 1. Even some MI people are aware that MI sucks and 2. VW Passat sedan owners are perceptive and highly intelligent.



And finally, Ryan was visiting on my day off 7/23/08 and brought over some photos to sort through. Walter decided to help.

I'm not sure how doing his "beached whale/baby harp seal" position on top of the pictures was helpful, but he was quite pleased with himself. Trust me, he's on a diet. This position just makes him look way fatter than he actually is. Ok, time to go be an adult and get some important things done. Comments are great free birthday gifts! Or do something on Facebook for me!

June, Job and Jamba Juice

You should all be jealous that you didn't go to Warren Dunes in Sawyer, MI to spend the last weekend in June. Ryan, Josh, Becky, and I all had a great time! The weather was great for our day at the beach. We had an awesome weekend of camping and cooking over the fire. It was the perfect little vacation, although I think it made me want to start work less...

I'm told that an update on my first week of work is expected. Here is the summary: New vets are bound by Murphy's law to spontaneously lose the ability to have problem-free surgeries upon being hired. I am no exception, but it all worked out okay in the end. Made for a rough first day, though. I'm not sure when the "surgical curse" will wear off, but judging by my fellow new grads I have a couple weeks left with issues... When a new grad is hired, the practice will suddenly be too busy to show said newbie where much of anything is located. Yes, the cabinets and drawers are labeled, but the small print doesn't help much when you have 4 walls worth of potential starting points for your search... Basically, it was an overwhelming first week, but it's steadily getting better. I still have a ton to learn (medically, standard procedure-wise, and logistically), but I expected that. I'm getting so I no longer have a nervous knot in my stomach every time I pull into the parking lot. The staff and other doctors are all nice, and the facilities are mostly brand new, so it's a good learning environment other than being rather busy. The shifts are often really long (12 hours, plus paperwork and calls), so being busy helps the time go by faster. I'm starting to get used to snarfing down a quick lunch at 2-ish, although I'm not a fan of the "lunch hour on the schedule means jack diddly" thing. In short, it's a good job, but not too good to be true. I'll grow into it eventually.

So I've been meaning to write a reflection on a recent visit to Jamba Juice. It was my first time there although I'd wanted to go for ages. I was in Naperville with Mom and Evelyn when I got my chance. Here are my thoughts on it: 1. I am too old to go to Jamba Juice. Everyone there (and it was crowded) including workers was early high school age or younger.
2. Their all fruit smoothie is decent, but like anything good for you, could have been sweeter and I'd have enjoyed it much more.
3. I'm so glad I was never part of an "in-crowd" growing up! I saw this girl (appeared to be late middle school age) outside Jamba Juice alternating between sipping her smoothie and sharing a dramatic story with her friends. She was trying so hard to be cool in front of them that she looked STRESSED. I think her friends were unaware of how un-natural her convincing display looked to a non-groupie. I was only convinced she was insecure. I've said it before and I'll say it again - you couldn't force or bribe me to go back to middle school.

K, that's all I've got for now. Comment away.

ADDENDUM: One more problem with being very busy yet having new hires all over the place: No chance to sort out my Professional Liability Insurance yet... Needless to say this is stressing me out, especially since I can't afford the premium right now. They're supposed to reimburse me anyway, so maybe I can get them to pay for it. In the meantime, I really hope I don't get sued!! Prayers are appreciated.