This Christmas

I did not expect much from Christmas this year. In fact, I was even avoiding and dreading it since I know it'll be just another work day for me. I had no Christmas cards to send, no gifts to give, no gatherings to attend and our home was totally void of holiday decor. But Christmas turned out to be special anyway. I came home early from work since all non-essential activities were cancelled at the hospital. Hubby and I ate at Tokyo One for lunch. Then we took Hiro to othe dog park and had a long walk around White Rock Lake. So, I'd say we had a rather untraditional Christmas, but it was so nice anyways. In the future, I'd love to totally immerse myself in the Christmas spirit. The Christmas tree, the holiday photo cards, gifts for friends, holiday parties, Christmas church service. . . eggnog, mistole, tinsels, etc., the whole nine yards.

~*~

Christmas day was a gloriously sunny day, a gift from God. Here are some pictures taken around our apartment. Yes, I know the pictures to follow are so canine-centric, but Hiro in his Santa suit is the only holiday effort we have to show for.

Hiro all aglow


"I'm flying!" Look at his ears all up like a rabbit!

It's fun to run.

Santa sighting.

Today is the first day of my week-long vacation. I was so happy getting off work today, like, singing a silly song, swimming in bed, and chasing the dog for no reason -happy. I look forward to visiting Arkansas, shopping a ton, sleeping in, spending time with my mom, watching movies, taking pictures, meeting friends' new baby, playing with dog. . .oh gosh, I wish I had more days off.

This Cursed Monday!

Bad things happen in threesomes, I am convinced. . .

1. I was stuck in a traffic jam for 3 hours on my 15 minute commute home!

2. Hiro pooped on the carpet!? Okay, so he's 98% housetrained.

3. Found out I can't attend the resident Christmas party because I'm on call that evening.

I am still fuming. . .

Cute, cute, way too cute!!

"If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. *clap, clap* If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. . ."

Okay, but if you're not happy, forget the song and claps, skip on over to www.cuteoverload.com. I'm on call tomorrow, :( but I was cheered up once I saw these pictures.

Ahhh, seeing pictures of cats make me really really want one. I'd love to have the meow of a cat around the house again, their small paws making biscuits on my stomach and their purring putting me to sleep. I told hubby tonight that as soon as we buy a house I'm getting a cat again.

Also check out http://www.stuffonmycat.com and www.stuffonmymutt.com. If these pictures don't make you laugh then hmm, I don't know what to say except something's seriously wrong with you!

New Month, New Moments

A new month also means a new team, new resident, new co-intern and new attending. And this month promises to be a very promising one. First of all, I love my co-intern, an anesthesia intern whom I worked with in October as well. When I think of S, I think of calm. She's African-American with a great sense of style and a head of hair to envy. She must live with a hairstylist or something because her hair is always amazing. One day she comes in with dreadlocks, another day with a bun, then the next with a updo in a head wrap. As for me, my hair is always the same, tied back with a rubber band. I must get to the bottom of what's her tress-rific secret. Ha, I love that pun!

Second of all, my resident in December is the super-great CK. I worked with her in July, yep, she was my very first resident in my very first month of internship. I couldn't have asked for a better resident during the overwhelming "First Month." What's more, CK gave S and I the day off today!!! Just like that, CK said, "we are on call on Sunday, so why don't you take Saturday off and I'll see all the patients." Oh my gosh, I had to ask, "are you sure?!" I was afraid if I said too much, CK would change her mind!

I hardly knew what to do with myself today. I slept in, of course. After hubby went to his Saturday class and usual date with badminton, I went shopping --just for work clothes. (Any new clothes in photos are loot from earlier shopping trips of months past). I picked up a couple of new sets of scrubs and a new white coat. When it comes to scrubs, there are name-brands, you know the Calvin Kleins of medical wear, and then there are the no-name brands of the Target variety. Even Grey's Anatomy and Katherine Heigle now have their own lines of scrubs and white coats!! Back in summer, Malini and I visited this little uniform shop (Scrubs-N-Chef Uniform Depot on N. Stemmons) hidden in a half-abandoned shopping center. The store owners are an old Indian/Pakistani couple. Although not a glamorous place to shop, but for only $16.99/set, I have discovered that the scrubs I bought there fit very well and have stood up to the test of time and frequent visits in the laundry machine. So today I went back for more and also picked up a generic 37" white coat. I have discovered that the life of a white coat for an intern/resident is 6 months, at most. My white coat is my single most frequently worn piece of clothing and after several months, it just won't wash clean anymore. It's rather nasty looking and probably colonized with every hospital germ there is. So I was really glad to see a new whiter than white white coat today and decided to get my name and speciality embroidered on it in the store. Unfortunately it was seriously botched!! The lines are lope-sided and a little too high. I didn't realize this until I came home. Maybe that's why the Indian lady gave me some free scrunchies!

As for what I did rest of the day. . .I cleaned up our home a bit and took some frivolous photos.

Mixing the old with the new:

Cropped black jacket with 3/4 sleeves and ankle boots are these seasons trends, but the tee and jeans are last years.

Black n' white jumper dress, black tights and ankle boots.

My new tan cold-weather boots with last year's jacket and jeans. These boots have been "in" for the last couple of years, but I love them, perfect for the snow days.

My new favorite outfit these days b/c it's super comfy: mini jean skirt with black leggings, and black flats.

New work clothes: the ever popular ciel blue scrubs and my new crisp white coat. Even in this poor picture, you can see the screwed up embroidery.

November No More

November would have been a very monotonous month if it weren't for Thanksgiving. You know, work, home, sleep, doggy, husband, etc. We had settled into a perpetual routine, right down to when the dog pees and poops. Then my parents came here for Thanksgiving and broke up the monotony, in a very good way, of course.

Let's see, on Thanksgiving day I was post-call and basically greeted my parents in my jammies and went to bed until dinner. Hubby and my mom cooked our Thanksgiving turkey and untraditional fixings. I gave myself the permission to have the weekend off. I was already off from work, but I let myself off of ALL work. I didn't lift a single finger for the whole weekend. Somehow my family accepted this unspoken agreement of my total laziness and the three of them cooked and served. Not that I think I deserved it in someway, maybe I just took advantage, or maybe I was just tired. Before my parents left, they had cooked enough to stuff full our whole freezer and then some.

Whenever I've been able to get off at a decent time this month, I've been driving to a neighborhood across the highway to take walks with Hiro. It's a bit of hassel to drive off for a walk but somedays it's worth it. I feel like I'm "borrowing" the neighborhood since I don't actually live there. It has to be one of Dallas's most expensive neighborhoods with the prime location, huge houses, lovely old trees, nice seasonal decorations and professionally maintained lawns. There's also a little park with water fountain, ducks, and several inconspicuous stands that dispense disposable doggy poop scoopers. How cool! However, what's not conspicuous is that it's a largely Caucasian neighborhood. Any "foreigners" are the dark-haired nannies on the playgrounds looking after little blonde children and the lawn manicurists driving in their "lawncare" pickups. When I skip across the highway back to my neighborhood, I'll always see people waiting at the bus stop or walking down the sidewalk with grocery bags in hand. My neighborhood is mostly apartments buildings and condos, one of which was a Katrina housing. I see people of all colors here. This is also where we have a homeless man sneaking into our condo building at night and have frequent reports of auto thefts. The other neighborhood has their own police force in SUVs while we have a neighborhood watch group online. Their neighborhood have Oriental rug stores and boutique cookie shops and we have a bar and Condoms To Go store nearby. I only write this because I can't help but notice the differences! So this is America where the racial, social and economical divides are still so evident before my very own eyes. Part of me would like to think that this country has progressed more than this but I'm a bit disappointed to see it's not so. It seems like in America, the rich today tends to be rich tomorrow and the poor stay poor perpetually, Asian immimgrants notwithstanding. Keeping-it-in-the-family style. I really don't have an organized point to make. I'm no social commentator or political scientist so I'm sorry if you think I'm going anywhere deep with this. I'm just a lay person making an observation. Oh yeah, no where near do I see many Asians around me, except for the international students who, like myself, temporarily take up residence where dwelling is affordable and the drive is convenient. By and large, settled Asians like to live in subburbs on the outskirts of Dallas where houses are big, land is abundant and cows are nearby. True Texas style. I am jesting just a bit but ha, joke on me, as hubby and I will probably be one of those people someday. The pull of my ethnicity!

I also want to mention that on my semi-regular walks, I've met some dogs and their owners. For one thing, Hiro is too friendly and insists on greeting every living thing that we pass, both the two-legged and the four-legged. And the other thing, dog owners tend to be friendly and like to stop and chat about their dogs. Funny how we usually exchange dog names but rarely our own. I've met a man and his schnauzer named Drowser, a female nurse with her pomeranian named Dinky, and another lady with a black short-haired mutt named Shadow. I'm grateful for some doggy interaction for Hiro and bits of useful doggy advice for myself.

Bye bye November, until next year.

Doggy Galore

Hiro is now 5 months old.

The sad puppy look.

Playtime is a dog's favorite time!

Hiro is smiling, can you see? I know he doesn't have lips, but that's a smile!

It's like he's a different dog!

Hmmmm

Agggg, almost the last day of November, and only 2 posts??! How did this happen?! No siree, it can't be!! I'll be back with another post tomorrow, as for now, sleep beckons, otherwise I'll be kicking myself as I yawn through the day tomorrow.

The NEW Golden Rule. . .

"Those who have gold rules."

Isn't that terrible?!
Cynicism is infectious, as hubby replied.

November November

I just got off call a few hours ago. My days are no longer known as "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday", etc. To me, my "week" is divided into:

Call Day

Post-call day

Post-post-call day

Pre-pre-call day

Pre-call day

Call day. . .



It's Novemeber already! It's been almost four months since internship started for me. It felt like just yesterday that I started as an wide-eyed intern, and yet we are already one week into interview week for next year's intern class!



And lovely weather it's been. Perfect weather for walking Hiro, who's getting a lot of ohhh's and ahhh's from people he meet. One lady was driving, stopped her car, and got out to ask me what kind of dog Hiro is and the "if you don't mind me asking, how much. . ." Paul and I both have taken up training Hiro, mainly fun tricks and commands. He is half poodle and the circus-performer in him is coming out! He can sit and shake hands (his paw, my hand) on command, he stands on his hind legs when asked, and just yesterday (while I was gone), he mastered "roll over." Next up: play dead and bark on command. Since we are doing amatuerishly okay with training Hiro, it's making me think twice about taking the time and money out to get professional dog-training. I am going to take some new pictures of Hiro soon as he is growing up so fast!



This is also a sad month for us. My little Kitty is no longer with us. We finally made the decision to put her down. The decision was no short of a Sophie's choice for me. We had made up our mind on a date to take her in but at the last moment, I backed out. I just needed more time. I felt part relief and part grief when it was finally over with. I still remember the day she tentatively walked into our door onone cold December night and then soon decided she wasn't ever going to leave again. She was a little hapless stray but our sweet serendipity.

No Title Entry

I'm feeling a whole lot better and more optimistic this week. I just needed a couple of days off. That was not too much to ask for in life is it??! Amazingly, our last call was relatively light which meant I was able to wash my face, use the bathroom and eat (things that come second to patients in the ER) . . . and my clinic schedule had a few no-shows which meant I got out in time. Perhaps God was looking out for me:) Also, with hubby's help, I rearranged some furnitures at home that's both more functional and feng-shui. Okay, I don't know about the feng-shui part, but it works, okay?!

One thing I haven't managed to fit in my life is study time. I'm suppose to read about my patients every night, do questions for our monthly exam daily, and regularly read the medical journals that come in the mail. Oh yeah, and do research project on the side, as in "outside" of our 80-hr work week. Sometimes, I just meditate on the incredulousness of all the expectations around me. It's all just a little too much for me. I've got the dog, the cat, a husband, a home to take care of after work. I'm already not shopping, exercising and I hardly socialize, yet, I just don't have enough time in a day.

In light of this, a friend asked me recently, "why did you get a dog? how do you have the time?" I so appreciated her question, I thought it was very intuitive of her to ask. With no time for essentials like sleep and pray, why did I get a dog at this time? The simple truth is I had no idea how much it would take to take care of a puppy! Sometimes you learn the lesson after the fact. Luckily, I feel like I've been bailed out. Not only is hubby helping out so much with Hiro, he's a natural at being a dog owner/lover. I appreciate it since it was principally me that wanted to get the dog in the first place. And with Hiro being toilet-trained, that helps out a bunch, too!

It brings up the question in me, if I knew the EXACT consequences of every decision I make, would I still have made those decisions? I wonder how many experiences I'd have missed out on? Should all our decisions be perfect? Should we aspire to a life that always go according to plan? I mean, if I knew how I felt about medicine today, would I still have decided to become pre-med in college? If I knew how marriage is really like on some days, would I still got married? And the puppy, if all the work was revealed to me beforehand, would I have taken him home?

In my opinion, thinking too much is a sure way to kill an experience. It's like being at the mall, if I think too much about a purchase, I probably wouldn't end up buying anything at all. Or if you are skydiving, right before you jump, you start to think about what you're really doing, then how can you jump after that?

I'm not saying we shouldn't think before we proceed, but there are those of us who err on the side of thinking too much. Of course, bad decisions in life are inevitable. But I don't think regret does anyone any good most of the time. I used to know someone who said his goal in life is to have no regrets. That could mean you avoid making decisions so no bad OR good decisions are made, or you learn the art of making lemonade out of lemons in life. Perhaps it's true what they say, "nothing worth having in life comes easy." At end of the day, I'm still glad I'm a doctor, married and a mommy to a puppy. So that's my life in a nutshell. Although I'm constantly trying to fit more in a nutshell than it can hold.