beccaboo1223's Xanga

In 5 minutes

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:59:42 GMT

I will be free to get into my freezing car and drive my tired ass home. I never update this thing b/c I only do it when I'm working and so then they are boring entries!

But I did get to go to Indiana this past Sunday for an interview and I got to see my friend, Jenny's adorable children! They made me a scrumptious dinner which I will attempt to recreate myself tomorrow and they let me hang out and play with them for a couple of hours. It was so fun. Kids are so refreshing. Her boy, Logan, is just a doll. He just has his own personality and it was so fun to see. Really made me wonder why we're waiting so long to have some of our own...but, then I went to my interview on Monday and remembered why. I want to take care of bald kids with cancer, so I might need to wait a couple more years before bringing a bouncing baby into the world. Interviews are going well by the way. With each one, I really feel like this is something I might actually get a chance to do. It's becoming more and more real. We'll see though. The match is a crazy, mixed up thing and I might not luck out. But apparantly, I've heard there are more positions than there are applicants, so this might work out to my favor in case I need to scramble(which God willing, I will not have to do!)

That's about it really. Interviewing, doing ER shifts, preparing for spring(the groundhog saw his shadow so it should be coming soon, I think!), trying to see people and have fun, and studying for my boards. I have a hellish week coming up in March where I take a call, take the boards, and then fly to Portland! Yikes!

Ok, my reliever is here. Off to bed!

working....

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 05:44:23 GMT

again....trying not to fall asleep while i wait for blood gasses...love my job. have had one interview so far. loved it. have another one this week. i'm so excited. this could possibly happen for me! of course, it would mean moving which is scary and sad, but exhilarating all at the same time. we could be out of here for a couple of years--imagine all the people we would meet and the things we would do...

have been on 2 planes so far in 2007 which is probably my least favorite thing to do. and have about five more plane trips planned. i'm going to need some sedation at the end of all this...

bear game sunday--have you heard???!!! ;) to celebrate, i will sing what i know of the bear fight song

bear down, chicago bears; you've got to fight for your right to victory. Bear down, chicago bears. put up a fight with a might so fearlessly. We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your t-formation. Bear down chicago bears, and let'em know why you're wearing the crown; you're the pride and joy of illinois, chicago bears bear down!!!!

holla!

oh happy day

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:33:26 GMT

well, i stink at this thing. i forget to update it all the time. or maybe it's that i have nothing too interesting to write about b/c my life is bland.... NOT!

anywho, finished a month of picu and still am alive to tell about it. it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be, but it wasn't good either. oh well. this year is flying and i'm happy about that. i got my applications out one week before thanksgiving--of course. so now all my stuff can get put aside and forgotten about through the holidays. i'm glad that they are out of my house, but now i'm having anxiety b/c i'm wondering when i might hear something. oh, i hope i at least get a few interviews! it would be so devastating to get none. i would feel very badly...

enough sad talk, had a great thanksgiving with the fam. spent some time with both sides which is always nice. it's very important in life to be as fair as possible, i think. and this is no where more true than with family. i don't believe that is a grammatically correct statement, but i'm tired and working, so i don't care. blue had an exceptionally good time hanging with the doggie cousins. i don't think he much particularly enjoys other dogs, but the important thing is that he no longer attempts to kill them. only growls intermittantly if they take toys he wants, which is basically all toys! but he's doing much better with other dogs. still don't trust him too much, but he's learning. i think he knows he's loved b/c he's changed so much since we got him seven short months ago. he's much happier in the suburbs too which is always fun to see. and of course, he is more playful when there are rugs around, so yet one more reason why i can spend more money we don't have! ;)

my friend tim and noel are expecting their first little one in just a couple short weeks! the first of my friends to have a baby! craziness! we're not grown up enough yet! ;)

ok, i have to go. children are demanding my attention--like i try to save their lives or something...

i'm just kidding btw, in case you don't have a cynical sense of humor such as my own...

toodles!

oh, next entry, which will be next year at this rate(!) will have pics of my fabulously decorated condo in chicago which my dh and i did all day yesterday! i love the scent of pine!

Marathon and Pumpkin Fotos!!

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 23:18:17 GMT

my pumpkin is supposed to be the "eye" guy from monster's inc! i think it turned out ok! :)

not the best marathon pics, but i have more coming from other people. these are from the end where i was wrapped like a baked potato!

my great friend ali ran 8.5 miles with me! i had to stop and take pics of all the people i knew! :)

pre-marathon pasta dinner with the fam! getting a new kitchen table--holla!

Happy Halloween!

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 18:54:11 GMT

hello. it's a quiet day here today, which never happens, so i am taking full advantage and catching up on all the blogs i read and basically wasting my brain space! and changing the colors of my blog--blue is better, no?? :)

anyway, had a lovely day yesterday and half of the day on saturday. (the other half of saturday was spent here at work). aaron and i had the whole day together with absolutely NO plans which is so rare now a days! we took blue on an hour long walk which required him to sleep the rest of the day away! and we bought ourselves a brand new kitchen table and chairs so now we can get rid of the college ghetto stuff we have in our nice house! so it will be exciting when that gets delivered around xmas!

i have to post some marathon pics and of course, my pumpkin pics! my pumpkin actually kind of turned out how i wanted this year, which never happens b/c i'm "craft-tarded", right timmy??!! it's supposed to be the monsters inc guy that billy crystal plays. i will post them and you can tell me what you think.

so it was a normal day yesterday and i value those so much now b/c i don't get many of them. my floors are all clean, the laundry is done, and i actually made food for dinner. so all in all, it was a great day. not to mention we had the extra 60 minutes from daylight savings! has to be one of my favorite days of the year! :)

i'll post the pics, hopefully tonight. and if i can get blue into his costume, i'll post those too. i really need to start having some kids--poor blue is my baby right now!

ciao!

I am a Marathoner!!!!

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 02:59:31 GMT

it's over! i finished! i did it! i completed my very first marathon. and it was awesome! i was soooo nervous the day before. i barely talked to anyone, i think, which is highly unusual for me. ;) then the morning of, i was ready. i was focused. and the weather was awful. totally unexpected. i had no idea what to do. i threw out my planned outfit due to the weather, then by the time i got to the race, changed my mind and changed into what i had worn for the past 10 months of training. i certainly was not going to jeopordize all of my hard work for some stupid chafing from new pants!

so like a fool, i wore shorts and a t shirt. and froze my patoodies off. but wow, what an experience. first of all, it took me like 15 minutes to even get to the start line b/c i was way back in the slow group! but to be with all those people, running like fools for no good reason, was awesome. and the crowd was great. it was so nice to have people out there, cheering you on even though they didn't know me at all! i had my name taped on my shirt so random people would yell out my name and tell me how good i was doing. this, by the way, does good things for the ego! ;)

so poor aaron's knee gave out at mile 14 which is amazing. he did a lot more than i thought he would be able to do with that bum leg. so i think he was pleased with himself. a half marathon is nothing to sneeze at! and ali joined me then at like mile 14 which was the best. since the best part of the race was basically the beginning and the end! so she ran with me for 8.5 miles! which is a long time and was so appreciated! i just talked to her and we ran along and it really made those dreary miles speed by. then my dad joined in at mile 23 or so and ali jumped out. and he ran with me for a while which was also wonderful. i could say that i didn't notice how bad i was feeling at that point, but come on! it was mile 23-i was feeling some pain!

the last 2 miles are a blur. i think i was just so numb, from being cold and from hurting. there is a freaking hill on the last mile--can you believe they ended the course on a hill! i swore the whole way up which was not very sportsmanlike, but hey, i just ran 25 miles and you have me trucking up a freaking hill??!! nut jobs! anyway, the finish line was the best thing i've seen in a long time and afterwards was even better. they give you this big aluminum sheet and everyone walks around wrapped up like baked potatoes! and there's so much food and drink, and BEER! that was the best part. i took my champion picture with a beer in one hand and my medal in the other!

all in all, it was probably one of the best experience of my life. i would recommend it to anyone. i started out 10 months ago and couldn't run more than a mile. and i just completed 26.2 in 5:15. that was a 12 minute mile which was what i was expecting to do. and i'm happy with that. i did take two potty breaks, and one waiting for my dad, so that all adds things up! but the main thing was, i set a goal for myself, a big one mind you, and i met it. and while i was running, i felt like i could meet any goal i put out there. and i would do it again, crazy as that sounds. but only if my family and friends come to cheer me on. b/c that was the best part--having certain miles set where i knew people would be and seeing them was crucial to completion!

so i'm thinking my next goal will be a smaller one, like a half marathon or something... but you never know, you might just see me again at the start line on oct. 7, 2007! stay tuned!

birthday blues

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:14:14 GMT

so the birthday has come and gone...almost a week now. it was not the best day in the history of my birthdays. i treated myself to some dunkin donuts that morning and came out and saw a really shitty car sitting in my parking space. turns out it was mine. i had gotten hit where the car was parked overnight and had lost the headlight on the driver's side. so that was a 240 dollar bday present i wasn't looking for. and then i got a cold, so that lowered my spirits even further. but aaron made me a fabulous dinner so that helped a bunch and he bought a nice bottle of rodney strong wine which also helped!

i don't know why this birthday was so hard for me. i guess i feel like 27 really is "late" twenties and i'm that much closer to 30! which stinks. :) and i think that, before my career took the path that it did, i felt i would have kids by now. and while i love being married, my clock is starting to tick and i'm getting that baby itch that i never understood so many people having! but for now, i'm content with blue bear and aaron and will continue to consume vitamins like they're going out of style since this developmental rotation has instilled the fear of God in me for all the craziness that can occur in a child's life!

the other big news is that in 4 days i will be a participant in the chicago marathon. i'm so nervous i could throw up! i never thought i would get here, honestly. when i started this adventure way back in january, i couldn't run more than one mile. seriously! i don't know what i was thinking, starting my "racing" career with a damn marathon! but here i am, 10 months later, 1 week away from having completed the longest run of my life(20 miles!) and 4 days from completing the longest run i will ever do! i've discovered through this process that i actually really do enjoy running. i loved being outside so much and being right on the lake. but even when i was inside on the track, running around it 80 times to complete 10 miles, i was still pretty happy. it's a big sense of accomplishment, running that much. and it's even bigger b/c it's something i did not think i was capable of, in the beginning.

but even now, four days from it, i'm still not sure i'm capable of doing it. it seems like such an insurmountable task. and of course, in the back of mind, i'm always thinking that people have DIED doing this! but i just want to finish it. i tell myself that i don't care how long it takes me, i just want to make it across the finish line before they take the whole race down! i didn't think i could run 5 miles and i did that. i didn't think i could run 15 miles and i did that. i certainly didn't think i could run 20 miles, but i did that too. so i guess another 6.2 isn't that much when you look at it! ;)

i have learned through this process though, that you can do anything you put your mind to. a lot of life really is a mental game with yourself. there were times where i beat myself down for being slow or being too lazy to run and tried to talk myself out of completing it. but then there were also the times where i talked myself through it and made it to that next water fountain. and there were days when i was dog tired and still got myself out there and put my mark on the road. i've learned i'm a lot stronger than i thought i was and capable of surmounting seemingly impossible goals. b/c even if i don't finish on sunday, i will have given it my all, training through an 80 hour work schedule and thunderstorms and cold days and extremely hot days. and i think i can take what i've learned from these 10 months of training and apply it to other aspects of my life. like this fellowship thing-another seemingly insurmountable task. but as my kindergarten teacher once said, "becca's a plodder. she just puts her head down and plods her way through". well, i've plodded my way through college and medical school and currently residency. and i'll plod my way through this marathon sunday, and through the mountains of paperwork required for this fellowship. and hopefully, in the end, i'll finish both and come out on top.

here's to bib number, 14023--may she finish under 6 hours 30 minutes!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:38:19 GMT

i'm a bit down lately. i'm not sure why. i think it's the looming applications over my head. they are just sitting there, waiting to be done. i'm not sure why i'm so not into doing them. probably b/c once they're done, that means they're mailed, and that means someone else will be making a decision about what my future holds. well, i just philosophized my way through that one. that's it though. once they're mailed, i have no say in whether i'll get a spot or not. this is another aspect of my personality, that while it has aided me, annoys me--my need to control everything. and if i don't get it, i'll be so disappointed and feel dumb. but i guess people move beyond that too...

also, another reason for the down attitude, is my birthday. for some reason, this year, i am just not excited about it. i'll be 27. that is 3 years to 30. thirty years old! oh good god. i'm getting old! and i don't have a baby yet! and i'm not even mature yet! this is fretting...

the plus however to birthdays, as much as we may or may not want them to come, are presents and i got some fabulous ones this year. thanks family! ;)

i ran 20 miles on sunday. 20 freaking miles. who can believe that?! i kind of don't, but i know i did it b/c my body told me so. i couldn't believe i did it. i was actually planning to never run that run in training, but somehow i got dragged into it by the hubby. who didn't finish it by the way secondary to the knee issue.... which was really too bad b/c running that long by yourself is very lonely. anyway, i will be happy in 2 weeks when it is all over. and i will hopefully be able to cross that one off the list of things to do before you turn 30! :) just kidding...

off to work on the applications that i really do not want to do... perhaps the dog needs to go on a walk.... yes, a walk....

boo

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:11:54 GMT

it's amazing how good you can feel about life and yourself in general when you get sleep. i feel like a normal person. it's weird. i've been 1 week without call and i am happy, i have a positive outlook on life, and i'm getting stuff done. it's bizarre. maybe this is really how adulthood should be! i just haven't had a glimpse of it so far... now barring any disasters, my next call won't be until next sunday. this is presuming that my friend doesn't go into labor and have baby tonight or nonsense such as this! but we'll see...

i even feel good about the fact that i bombed my yearly inservice exam. i had to have "the meeting" with the program director. which really isn't that big of a deal since everyone has to meet with her and she's nice and doesn't make you feel stupid or anything. i'm just no good at standardized tests. never really have been. and especially being out of school for a year now, working over 80 hours a week, and not studying a lick outside of work didn't help either. they are wondering if residents today are dumber b/c of the 80 hour work week...like maybe we all would do better across the board if we worked the unlimited hours of the past. i wonder too... i wonder if it's too easy now and we expect to be coddled. but then again, like i said, i'm feeling happy and optimistic and i'm currently working a less than 40 hour work week! so probably, i think it's still ridiculously hard and craziness. i wonder if anyone has done a study to see if there are less medical errors created by residents since the new work hours went into place...now that would be interesting to see...

i'm addicted to the last kiss soundtrack. if you haven't heard it yet, get it. fabulous. very mellow. very "tragic". the movie itself was pretty good and interesting. makes me glad i married who i married though.... the guy in the movie is a dog!

anywho, i joined facebook. can you believe this?! my brother in law and husband talked me into it. like i need more things on the internet to distract me! but i found all my fun cousins in college and get to see all these pics of them and my other brother in law doing nutty things. it's actually kind of fun. we also lurked around myspace a little last night. didn't like that one as much. but we found our ex's. which is always interesting. mine is the same, i think. aaron's is in japan singing or something. she actually wrote in her profile that she wants to move to OUR neighborhood when she comes back and drink one of OUR favorite beers at one of OUR favorite neighborhood bars! it was spooky! makes you wonder how much of other people you dated are in the one you eventually end up with... we're nothing alike except for the drama, although my drama is slightly more funny and less serious than hers, at least in my opinion. in stories i've heard, she's sounds a bit like a nut case. hopefully, she doesn't know my name and isn't reading my blog! ;)

must go think of something inspiring to write about why i want to work with kids with cancer that also isn't cheesy...this is a challenge....

GREY'S tonight! (i'm so embarassed that i'm watching this show--the medicine is horrific, the drama is cheesy, but man, those doctors are HOT!)

adieu

i must have....

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 22:40:35 GMT

the MOST boring blog site in the world! it has been almost a week since my last entry! i suck. oh well. my life is just not that interesting to write about every single day. kudos to those who can find interesting things in their lives to put on the internet for all to see, every day!

we went to galena over the weekend with our greatest couple friend, beth and jeff! i love them. they are so much fun. they are probably the only 2 other people on earth i can spend an entire weekend with and not get sick of(this is excluding my hubbie and some family members, of course) :) we discovered that while our dogs can coexist together in the same mini-van and the same car, they are not destined to be best buds. i'm pretty sure comet kicked blue's ass and made him his bitch, but to his credit, blue did put up some of a fight. he has spent the entire day today sleeping! going to galena wipes him out! he could barely finish his breakfast this morning before he had to go take another nap! but despite the doggie drama, we had a fabulous time. the weather was fantastic, the trees were starting to change, and the shopping! oh, i bought way too many door hangy things that are "seasonal!" but i don't care. i like to decorate.

and of course, the main focus of the weekend(for me alone, anyway) was the ohio state/iowa game saturday night. if you missed it, you didn't miss much. unless you are a buckeye fan, in which case you would not be reading my blog anyway, since i do NOT associate with you crazies! so alas, it was a very disappointing day for hawkeye fans everywhere, but win some, lose some. i will try not to let it ruin the rest of the season. on a better note, the bears won, so at least i got to watch one team that still knows how to play another good team and actually win!

and today, i had the day partially off. again. love this rotation. would think i would have more to write about, wouldn't you?! and what did i do with my glorious day off, you ask? well, i ran 15 miles! it was nuts. it took up basically my entire day. and now i am limping around the house like an old woman. but i did it. i ran all 15, with of course, some walk breaks. and i don't have to run tomorrow since i ran so much today! yeah! and the marathon is so close and it will soon stop taking over my life! seriously, this is a lot of work, training for this thing. and i haven't even been that religious about training for it. b/c i find it offensive to have to work out for over 1 hour on the weekends! for fun! so this will be my first, and my last, marathon, god willing i finish it. we'll see how the knees go...

so that's all for now. i have to start putting more pics up. i'm not very good at that either...

toodles!