Show and Tell

What's a Chapstick to you? It's been years since I used Chapstick but I bought one the other day (for my chapped lips, of course). The feel, the look, and smell of it brought back nostalgic memories for me of my first year in America. That was almost two decades ago and I was nine. I first came to the US during winter time and I remember being intrigued by this little thing that kids at school had in their pockets and used on their lips. I thought it was a neat thing and wanted one for myself. . .when I smelled the unique smell of Chapstick today, it's as if I was nine and encountering a new world for the first time all over again. How powerful is the sense of smell on memory!

Ladies, have you deposited in your Bone Bank lately? I listened to a presentation on osteoporosis recently and it reminded me to take calcium more regularly. Most women just don't get enough through their diet. Asian and Caucasian women are more at risk due to their smaller frame. In fact, women who weighs less than 130 lbs. are not puting enough stress on their bones through daily activities to sustain their bone strength. I know myself and most of my girlfriends do not weigh over 130 lbs. unless heavy purses and pregancies count! I have a hard time remembering to take pills daily so these yummy chocolate chews (20 cal/each) are a excellent way to get your calcium for the day. Just two chews per day will do. And since calcium should be taken with food (and Vitamin.D) for better absorption, the chocolate calcium chew is an espcially clever idea!

Speaking of bone health, I took up jogging (aka. weight-bearing exercise) recently. With the help of hubby, I downloaded some fast paced dancing/techno/trance music (bpm 140's-170's) onto this cute and tiny iPod. The weather was perfect for jogging, high 60's, the sun was out yet cool enough so I'm not showered in my own sweat. The music was the best, I felt like Hermes, with wings on my feet! Can't wait to do it again!! But unfortunately, the weather has been in the chilly (and unbearble) 30-40's after that initial day of jogging. I know this is outdated enthusiasm, but I think the iPod is the coolest thing since cell phones and Google!

And finally, "quiero hablar espanol." Before I started riding the train for this month, I was listening to these medical Spanish CDs in my car. It was more productive use of my time than listening to NPR, although sometimes I choose to drive in silence and solitude and ruminate over my day's conversations, enounters, and thoughts. But when I'm not in a pensive mood while driving, learning Spanish is a great! If I go to UT Southwestern's FP program, I will be faced with 70% Spanish-speaking-only patients in the clinic. Ikes!

Parkland

I started my second to last rotation this week, geriatrics medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital in downtown Dallas. BTW, Parkland ER is where JFK died after he was brought in for gunshot wound. His assasin was also treated and died there. I do home visits/house calls with the geriatricians, see patients in palliative care, make rounds on the floors, go to the VA and attend geriatrics grand rounds. Virtually everyday I'm somewhere different, and have been confused out of my mind with parking and finding clinics. This is a huge campus, the size of a large university, right in smack of downtown Dallas. Everything is supposedly within "walking distance" but you better have good walking shoes! The various hopsitals and clinics are connected by huge underground tunnels and I'm always brushing shoulders with the hordes of people when I walk down the hallways. There are just tons of people in Parkland Hospital, it feels like I'm in a cramped busy airport than a hosptal. They do have "information people" that do nothing but sit on a stool at corners of the halls and give directions! They have been super helpful and some know me personally by now.

On my first day, it took me half a hour circling the campus until I found my designated parking garage, then it was another half a hour before I hiked to the clinic a mile away. At end of my day, I could not find my car anywhere, I remember parking at the very top of the five-story parking garage but my car was not there afterwards! I called hubby and told him in Chinese that I think my car's been stolen. "What? Towed? T-O-W?" I said, no, "tou la," which means "stolen" in Chinese. I seriously thought my car's vanished! By this time, I was walking to the campus police department. "Are you sure you didn't park at another garage?" asked the policeman, "you know, on my first day working here, I lost my car, too and they had to take me in a police car to look for it." So, that's what we did, two uniformed men and their patrol car, very very nice people and helpful, I might add. It turns out I parked my car one level below from where I thought I parked! I was very relieved, and I'm glad my car wasn't "towed" or "tou la." Yeah, felt a little stupid, too but got my first ride in a police car, though.

On a brighter note, I'm giving the whole driving thing a break and riding the commuter train now. Super convenient, avoids the traffic, no weather issues, and only 20 minutes. The station is 5 minutes from our apt and the train stops right in front of the Parkland ER! I feel very urban. I eat my bagel and peole watch!

Day of the Last Interview

I had my last residency interview today. Yea!!!!

Here's me being flippant before heading out.

Getting a last look in the mirror.

***

I'm so happy to be putting away this suit for another 3 years when I'll be interviewing for a JOB job. Well, I hope I'll get to wear it again unless the fashion drastically changes or if my girth increases by too much in three years! On a more serious note, I have some heavy thinking and decision-making to do in the next few days as to how I will rank the programs. I will be doing a lot of praying, consulting people especially hubby, weighing pros and cons, throwing dice, etc. . .update later.

Making the Best out of the Unexpected

I came home this afternoon to find that we had no electricity. I walked over to the apt office and was told to check my breakers inside and then the maintenance guy will check them outside. I thought nothing of it and left to go grocery shopping thinking that by the time I get back, the electricity will be fixed. But I was wrong. By this time, I knew I needed to call TXU (electrical company). The only problem is I didn't have my phone, I just happen to have left it at work today! I hurried to the office and it was already 5min past their closing time of 6pm. I knew someone was still in there and I pounded the door until they opened. Hubby wouldn't be home for a couple more hours and I asked to use their phone. It turns out TXU turned off our electricy for non-payment. There was a mix-up with our on-line automatic deduction plan, really no fault of our own. So 20 minutes of talking and being on hold later, they promised to reconnect the power but it might be midnight before it gets done. I thought of the 10 bags of grocery in my car spoiling by the minute. Why do unlucky things always happen in tandem??


I lit up all the candles I could find in our dark apartment. Hubby came home soon after. "Oh, what's going on? Why so romantic?" Always a funny one, hubby is! After butting heads with the TXU people some more on the phone, we headed out for dinner and picked up more candles. It WAS very romantic, our small apartment all lit up! It's like Valentine's Day came early. Hubby started to settle down to do some reading by candlelight and it reminded him of one of those stories Chinese parents tell their children about an ancient Chinese scholar who save every bit of money just so he can buy lamp oil for studying. Just as I was accepting the fact that I couldn't take a shower tonight (no hot water) and that I'll have to find an alternative for alarm, the refrigerator started humming and the light came back on! I felt just a pinge of momentary regret for having to blow out all my pretty candles, but a small price to pay for a hot shower!

Finally putting our old wedding favors to some use.

Now I know what all those holes are for!

What's in your freezer?

Up to today, if you asked me what's in my freezer, I wouldn't be able to tell you! Paul has been the one shopping mostly and stocking up our freezer. He's always been the better cook of us two. He's fond of making soups, especially pork rib soup with daikon and bak ku teh (pork with tea/herbs soup). Paul also likes to make chicken curry and anything with seafood. He likes to make meaty dishes trying venison, duck, etc. while I'm more comfortable with vegetable cooking. Recently, however, there's been a switch in the household. I've picked up the responsibility of grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning. I had always thought I'm too busy with a mindset that I need to be either studying or thinking about studying with my time. I realize that it no longer has to be true this year with my time being so carte blanche outside of rotations. Hubby is now the one taking a class and spending his non-work time studying and doing homework. It's been great knowing that I can lend support for him in ways of making hot green tea or bringing chocolate treats for him during study sessions. I'm also cooking more and more and hubby is very grateful about it. It truly makes me feel more like a wife! It use to be on the weekends, the first thing we do after waking up is asking each other the question, "where do you want to go for lunch today?" Now, I've gotten in a habit of whiping up a meal for two in no time! My cooking is far from great and much of it is still a trial and error. The stuffing and chicken casserole did not work out very well last week but my Chinese cabbage with shrimps and scallops today was delicious!

So, back to the freezer. It use to be a formidable and uncharted territory for me, I didn't know what was way back there and I didn't want to find out! But today, I finally got up the nerve because I was willing to conquer whatever I find there. I found two packages of frozen tomatoes bearing the handiwork of my mom. She must have given them to us during her visit last month. No problem! They will make a good and easy "tomatoes with eggs" dish. I have already taken care of all the frozen eggplants last week. There were also packages of meat-looking things, one was a bass hubby bought from Hong Kong Market and there was another wrapped up and cut up fish with no identification. I think it's another present from my mom? How can I cook it not knowing what kind of fish it is? It should be interesting.

Helplessness

Hubby said that Kitty followed him into the bathroom this morning and after his shower, Kitty jumped into the bathtub and started to drink the bath water! She's never done that before! In fact, she hates the bathtub due to her profound dislike of baths.

Later that morning when I was feeding Kitty, I realized her water bowl is not there! I had put it on the counter yesterday and forgot to put it back on the floor for her! Kitty must have been so thirsty to be drinking bath water! Bad mommy me for overlooking this.

I realize just how helpless cats are, and how much they are at the mercy of their people and humans in general. It's not like they can communicate their needs verbally, and certainly can't take money to get themselves food if they are hungry. Sounds like babies, doesn't it? In the words of a friend, "dogs and cats are like little children that never grow up."

A Shopping Saturday

Paul dropped me off at the mall in Dallas today before he went to his badminton games. I felt the itch to go shopping this weekend. My goal is to catch the winter sales and stock up on clinical attire for my intern year as I don't plan to have shopping time as an intern. I'd say it was goal accomplished! The one question going through my mind shopping today was, "will this look good with my white coat?" I avoided the teenager stores (Forever 21, etc.) and junior sections as not to be tempted to buy cute tees or more jeans. I have enough of those things and since I spend 90% of my time wearing "work clothes," it's where I need to invest my shopping money from now on. Here are some of the "harvests" from NY&Co, Ann Taylor's and Macy's.

My first cowl neck sweater. Many turtleneck sweaters were on sale, too but they usually make me feel too hot indoors so I didn't buy any.

The traditional striped dress shirt. I'v got several already in various colors and stripped patterns. They are a staple to my wordrobe since they are wearable for the hot summer months and the winter time.

Adding some pizazz to my line of boring khaki/black only pants. From L to R, grey pin stripped, light brown plaid, and "wool-like" cotton pants.

And finally, no nonsense pumps with a touch of heel. This is about as high as I can go with heels walking all day in the clinic/hospital. I wish I could wear the tall stilettos and high-heeled ankle boots I see some female residents wear but my feet just won't allow it for longer than a couple of hours. Even with these small heels, I have to alternate the days with wearing my super-comfy-almost-orthopedic-yet-dressy shoes. Ahh, fashion comes with a high price! I pick comfort over fashion, though when it comes to work.

A Card.

I received a card from Laurel today. I love it when she sends cards for the small occasions in life.

Watermelon, my favorite fruit. And it says, "A life without love is like a year without summer." -Swedish Proverb-

Nice quote.

Isn't It Ironic??

I was driving one day and saw a car with numerous bumper stickers. One of which said, "Guns Don't Kill People, Drivers With Cell Phones Do." I looked at the driver through the windows, and what was he doing??! Talking on a cell phone!!

Eggplant Supper Stew Recipe--a keeper!

My mother gave us bags and bags of frozen cooked eggplant. This might sound like a strange thing, definitely not found in any Wal-Mart freezer section. Well, let's just say my parents had a huge eggplant harvest in their garden this past summer. They are always giving away their fresh veggies by the baskets to their friends or neighbors, and still they have tons of tomatos, eggplants, green beans, etc. left at end of the season for freezing. I was getting very tired of eating these frozen eggplant by stir frying with onions and garlic. The dish is never as good as with fresh eggplants anyways. In an attempt to clear out our freezer and to make frozen eggplant more appetizing, I found this following recipe:

Eggplant Supper Stew
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Eggplant-Supper-Soup/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 pound eggplant, diced
3/4 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup sliced celery
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian diced tomatoes, drained
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry macaroni
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion, beef, and garlic until beef is evenly brown. Drain grease, and mix in eggplant, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Pour in beef broth. Mix in sugar, and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through.
Mix macaroni into the soup, and continue cooking 12 minutes, or until macaroni is al dente. Mix in parsley. Top with Parmesan chreese to serve.

It was quite good! Tastes like a beef stew. BTW, I used way more oil than the recipe asked for; I cooked the veggies in ample oil before adding broth. I omitted the macaroni, parsley and parmesan cheese. Hubby suggested that I use chunky beef next time instead of ground beef.

I had it with baguette bread and hubby had some over his brown rice. This is a very good left-over food which is good since I made a whole pot of it. And best of all, this was a great way to use up the frozen eggplants! So, I'm ready next time mom stuffs our freezer full of eggplants!