goals

i have a few goals for the next couple months, once i get to LA.

1. find a fabulous pair of sunglasses... i have never splurged on sunglasses and i need a good pair now that i'll be living in a place that actually has a lot of SUN!

2. build my work wardrobe... i haven't done a whole lot of shopping over the years recently but now that i'm a "FELLOW" i need to have fabulous clothes and look even more professional. plus, the weather will again, be different, so i need sunny-weather appropriate clothes.

3. lose 10 pounds... my weight is mostly stable but it's been up and down by about 10 pounds in the last 6-8 years. this past half year, especially, i feel like i've given into my bad habits and cravings more than usual. i fell off the flamin hot cheetos bandwagon. i've been drinking more soda again. etc.

4. figure out a study schedule for the pediatric boards in october... this is supposedly a VERY hard test; with a significant portion of people failing it every year. i really don't want to fail.

5. develop my teaching skills... now i will have residents and medical students to teach! i need to work hard at this very important endeavor.

6. i'm sure there a lots of others that i'm forgetting right now...

"graduated" again

last weekend, we had our residency "graduation" dinner... there wasn't a real diploma involved or anything, but it was to celebrate the end of our general pediatrics training. it didn't feel like a momentous achievement, like medical school, but in a lot of ways, it means even more than just getting to write the M.D. after my name. i am supposedly capable of practicing general pediatrics on my own now! i feel ready... and yet SO UNPREPARED at the same time.

I feel even less prepared to be a fellow in hematology/oncology in just a few short weeks. i have no idea what this is going to be like, in a new hospital, with new residents, new everything!! so when people ask me "wow, you're moving soon, are you excited???" i'm not really sure how to respond to that! yes, i'm totally excited, but i'm so sad to be leaving Chicago and i'm terrified that i won't know enough to be a fellow. gosh, transitions are hard!!

We are packing up, slowly, but surely... selling off our furniture... the apartment is starting to look more barren. I'm in denial and it still hasn't FULLY hit me yet!

Here's our class photo... I am really going to miss all my friends and colleagues.

7 years

Summer of 2003, we took this picture after the summer research presentations. In the middle is our research mentor and friend... who has been amazing to us and who has definitely shaped me (and my career). She is a nationally-recognized expert in residency duty hours and sign-out communication. When I first met her, she was just finishing up her masters in public policy and we worked on one of her very first major studies, involving the effect of night float on intern sleep and fatigue.

I couldn't think of a better research mentor when it came to my current project on physician communication and sign-out effectiveness. So the picture below is one taken in front of my poster (my first!) at the 2nd Annual Pediatric Research Day. We've come a long way!

nearing the end

we had some time left on the meter a couple weekends ago and decided to wander about. we need to go to the modern wing of the Art Institute, before we leave. i love chicago. how i'm going to miss you!!! it's less than one month before we pack up our lives here and move... *tear*

i have always really liked the American Gothic painting... and this is a larger-than-life representation that we saw downtown chicago the other night!

the view from the new modern wing bridge...

the newest addition to the Art Institute! even the gift shop is worth going to.