Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Here's the satellite image of Ernesto as he sits right off the coast, slowly moving northward. I've gotten a few calls from concerned family worried about the weather here. Well, most of them were from my Dad, but a little while ago, my brother, Austin, called on his drive up to Indiana, where he goes to college. Basically, all we've gotten so far is rain. There are occasionally gusts of wind, but mostly it's just been sprinkling for most of the day. So far, the flooding isn't too bad, but the big puddle I photographed here is slowly accumulating, and I suspect will get very large before the day is over. The rain did pick up a little while ago. Unfortunately for me this coincided with the time the coffee shop where I was studying decided to close for the day worried about the weather getting worse. So I had to walk home in a steady rain. Thankfully, I was wearing my Marmot Precip jacket, which is this great, lightweight raincoat that keeps me very, very dry. At lea...

One of the most used wedding gifts I got (besides our dishes, I guess), is this great cookbook called How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. (I'd add a link here if my computer would let me paste the amazon page. Sadly, it's not to be.) Almost any recipe I'd like to know how to make is in here. Dinner Rolls? check. Guacamole? Double Check. Pad thai? Yes, even that. My husband even enjoys reading it. The beginning of each section has an informative part that talks about basics of whatever section you are in. Many recipes also contain variations at the end, so it is a good way to learn how to modify recipes based on what you like or have in your kitchen. One of our favorite recipes in here is quite simple, but very tasty. It's called Onion pasta with linguine. Basically, you cut up 5 or 6 onions in thin slices. Then put them in a warm, dry skillet. Cook them, stirring often, and they will slowly give up their liquid and begin to turn brown. This takes 20-30 minutes. W...

Charleston, the beloved city in which we live, was basically built AT sea level. Thankfully, unlike New Orleans, it is not built below sea level, but as I write to you I am sitting at approximately 22 ft. above sea level. And since this is one of the oldest cities in America, the drainage system is not exactly what one might call "state of the art." Unless possibly you are referring to the old colony formerly known as "Carolina," which was first settled in 1670. It was possibly state of the art then. All that to say...when it rains in Charleston at high tide, you get floods. Thursday morning it rained right at high tide and parts of downtown were flooded all day. The photo above is of Hwy. 17, a major thoroughfare through Charleston, and the water was that deep almost all day. Traffic was horrendous, and there were cars stalled out everywhere. The parking lot at Jeff's bank was so flooded they actually considered closing the bank since it was hard for anyone...

For about the last two months I've been pretty good about going to the gym regularly. I started with a week or two in the cardio room, mostly on the stationary bike. Then I got back into swimming. I love swimming. I swam a lot in seminary, and I've recently remembered how much I enjoy it. But alas, today the pool was closed because of a "chemical imbalance." I've had a few friends claim the same thing, and its probably for the best to stay away from the pool on days like this, I don't want to be there when it has a breakdown. So Aubrey and I were both forced to go back to the cardio room for our workouts. It poured rain all day, so doing something outside was not an option. I got back on the stationary bike today, and suddenly it all came together, and I realized why I like swimming so much. Its the perfect workout for introverts. There I was in the cardio room. It was pretty busy today, with the rain and all. People chatting all around me, Anno...

Ok....so today I heard probably the best medical school anecdote that has happened to someone I know. My friend, Anil, is just finishing up his ER rotation. The other night, he went in to see this patient, a lady, who came in with some back pain and basically just mild abdominal discomfort. A trauma had come in around the same time, so most of the other nurses and the residents and doctors were all involved with the trauma. So the lowly fourth year gets to go and see the non-emergent case. He starts asking her lots of questions, thinking maybe she had some kind of urinary tract infection. All of a sudden, during the interview, she grabs her stomach, moaning and crying in pain, and says something like, "I'm really hurting. Can you look down there?" (I guess she had put on a gown or something.) So Anil obliges and takes a look down at her nether regions. And he sees something. First he thinks, "Is that a prolapsed uterus?" And then, "No. OH MY GOSH it's a...

One freezer item I have found I always want to have is frozen bread dough. I buy whatever brand I can find at the grocery store, but here is a good option. This bread dough is extremely versatile. I usually thaw it out during the day and then make either regular pizza or the dish my mom made that she always called pizza bread. (Think Calzone.) Monday night, I had some leftovers I wanted to use for dinner. These included: cooked chicken with greek spices, feta cheese, pesto leftover from when I made these , tomato sauce, and some veggies. (Now you are probably thinking that this seems like a very random assortment of things to use in one meal, but trust me, it can be done.) So around lunchtime, I got out the frozen loaf and let it thaw and rise. During this time, I studied, read some blogs, and even went to the gym. By the time I got home, the bread was thawed, had risen, and was ready to use. So I made pizza. On one third I put the pesto sauce and cut up some tomatoes I just brought ba...

Normally in the afternoon these days, I like to go to the gym. During the fall and winter, I'm much more likely to go run, but this summer has been especially hot, so I've been doing most of my working out indoors. Today, when I got to the gym, I saw that the gym was closed all afternoon today because of faculty convocation. (Why they have to close the cardio room, I'm not sure, since I don't think any part of the convocation will involve elliptical machines or treadmills.) So instead of going to the gym, I thought, "It's not THAT hot out here. I can run in this." No. Bad, Aubrey. I just got back from one of my hottest runs ever. Ugg. I wanted to take a cold shower, but around here since it's so hot outside that the water is really only cold for the first 3 minutes or so. Then it just gets lukewarm. It was so bad, when I ran into a friend from church who was shopping with her 7-month old daughter, I swear the baby looked at me and thought, "what ...

Jeff and I had a great weekend....we went up to my parent's house in Seneca. We figured we should get up there while we can still go out on the boat. We had a great time. We got to go out both saturday and sunday. And Jeff learned how to waterski! He did very well. I did a little wakeboarding and tried to learn how to slalom ski. I actually was able to drop a ski and stayed up for a few seconds, but that was it. We have video evidence, so hopefully I can figure out how to post video and all of you can enjoy watching a few of my good falls. We are hoping we can go back up before it gets too cold to go out on the boat, and get some more practice. I am still here at my house doing lots of studying. Yesterday I got so antsy I decided to walk to the gym, when normally I probably would have driven. But I really needed to stretch my legs. Plus I was so sore from getting pulled around behind the boat that my muscles needed the loosening. I'll be glad when all this studying is done. The...

Yes, that is my husband....and yes that is him standing next to a ferrari. We went to a wedding downtown two weekends ago and parked behind this car. Jeff, who's not even much of a car guy, (considering the 1986 nissan pickup he has driven since high school) got kind of excited on seeing the ferrari. So I took his photo. Isn't he handsome??

So right now I'm in between rotations. I am certainly enjoying not having to get up early and being able to get stuff done around the house. But I've decided it is not good for me to sit in our house all day working on the computer. I don't think I'd be a good employee at a place where I have to sit and stair at the walls all day. I've been going a little crazy. Plus, thanks to Jeff, I've had a sore throat and runny nose, and that isn't helping anything. Maybe, like him, I have too many biotics. Today I got out. It was quite nice. I went to the fabric store and got some supplies for a new craft. I'm quite excited. I'll post more later. I also went to the library, which is always a treat. I sound like some kind of old maid....first the fabric store and then the library??!? Oh well. I guess I've always known I was a bit nerdy. One of my favorite games is Scrabble. I also got a dictionary one year for Christmas that I'm pretty sure was my favor...

Apparently I have too many biotics in me. I went to the doctor today for a hacking cough that I've had for the last week, and he prescribed me some antibiotics to get me back down to a normal level. You see, under normal circumstances, you should have enough biotics in you to fill up your legs, and about up to your belly button. But sometimes your biotics get out of control, and they start to fill up more of your body than they should. When they get up near your throat it makes your throat hurt, this is because your throat is not used to biotics. Today my doctor was pushing his stethoscope thingy all over my chest, I think he was trying to determine just how high up the biotics had gotten. My body has been doing its best to restore the balance on its own. I've been coughing a lot, to try and expel the extra biotics. And my nose has even joined in the fight, occasionally sending an army of mucus down my nasal passages into my throat to do battle with the biotics. However...

Over the weekend we took advantage of the offer of a free suite at the Embassy Suites up in Columbia. It was included as part of a Family Medicine Interest Day that Aubrey was attending. The whole conference was free, and since only Aubrey was going to the workshops, I pretty much got a free ride the whole way. I hung out in the spacious hotel lobby all afternoon leisurely reading my book and watching ESPN on the big screen TV. I did, however, attend the residency fair in the evening. I'm always quite torn about the residency fair, it draws me in, but also pushes me away. I love it, but I also hate it. You see, the fair is right at dinner time, after a long afternoon of sitting in the lobby not attending workshops I'm quite hungry. And they supply food. Right in the middle of the room is a long table filled with delicious appetizers, little fried chicken wings, eggrolls, things on pieces of bread, etc. And all around the outside of the room are booths advertising reside...

We came home from our little overnight trip to Columbia to find hundreds of house flies in our kitchen. Or at least one hundred. I have no idea how they got there. It's like something laid eggs somewhere and they all hatched at once. Seeing them, I made myself some cereal for lunch, pitifully called for Jeff, pointed at the window where they all sat, and left the room. I can hear him in there now hitting them with a rolled-up newspaper. Feels sort of like it might have felt in caveman times (if there ever were such a thing). The interaction would have gone something like this: "Me eat. You hunt." Although I guess the animals might have been slightly larger.

I just ate the same thing for 4 meals in a row. (4 in a row?!?) Yes, that's right. I made quiche for dinner last night, and it looked good at breakfast, so I had it then. (I mean, eggs, cheese, mushrooms, spinach, onions and peppers? Of course it looked good.) Then I met Jeff for lunch where we both had quiche. Then since I didn't feel like cooking anything, and since we had so many leftovers (I actually made 2 quiches last night because I had enough stuff.) we had it for dinner. Tonight I was also in a funk. (Not on account of the quiche, at least, I don't think so.) I sometimes don't know exactly why this happens. (besides the fact that I'm a fallen sinner and am prideful and not thankful and unloving and.....I could go on for a while) My dear, dear husband handles my funks really well. But I did get mad at him for basically no reason. So then I had to pray, because sometimes I like to stay mad. Thankfully I serve a God who can help me get un-mad. And then I had ...

Another quick works-for-me tip. This past Sunday, I helped make food for a baby shower at church. We have a young, seemingly fertile, church and so I am often bringing something to help with showers. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and so I am never out of ideas for bringing some sort of dessert. But when I have to make a savory dish or appetizer, I do not often know what to make. I don't have tons of time, but I want it to be something good, not just chips and dig. Or veggies and dip. (Both of which I like, but showers somehow feel more festive.) So this week I discovered the perfect shower food. Perhaps I'll call them Pesto Tomato bites. Or maybe someone else has a better name: Buy 1 or 2 loaves of the french baguettes from the bakery section at the grocery store. Slice in ~1/2 inch slices. Also buy and thinly slice roma tomatoes (or other tomatoes, but roma tomatoes fit well on the bread.) Also buy (or you could make it, I guess, but it probably would be a lot of work) the pr...

Well, since I gave away most of what I made last week, I thought I'd go ahead and share some photos of my fun projects that I've been working on. I got the idea for this from Rebecca over at View from a Prairie Box . I made stencils from freezer paper and ironed them on some white onesies and got some fabric paints and went to town! I used some clip art from my computer, some stencils I found in a stencil book from the library, and some stencils from this website . I made a few other things, some of which still need to be mailed. :) Plus I made a pregnancy tank top for Melanie that said "Covenant Child" and had an arrow pointing down at her belly. :) Ah....reformed humor. Almost as good as seminary humor. :) Or medical school humor. :) Sometimes, I crack myself up.....

I had a short chat with Tim Keller this evening. Last Sunday Aubrey and I were strolling Downtown Charleston in an attempt to see the inside of some of the historic churches. We were going past St. Michael's, and Pete who is the assistant to the rector noticed us walking up, me wearing my Covenant Seminary t-shirt. He knows people at Covenant, so he struck up a conversation with us. He was quite friendly, and mentioned off hand that Tim Keller is in town, and worships at his church when he's here. We had actually already known that Keller vacations in Charleston every year, and in order to make it 'vacationy' he stays away from the PCA churches. So in a shameless bit of nerdy theological PCA star chasing, I went to the evening service at St. Michael's tonight while Aubrey was at a baby shower. He was there. It's an Episcopal church dating from the 1700's. Pete showed us the pew that George Washington and Robert E. Lee worshipped in when they visited. ...

There are lots of bike riders here in Charleston. No surprise, really, since this city is totally flat, full of students, and has a large lower class population. The bike riding habits around here are often quite interesting. As someone whose husband always make her wear a helmet while riding down here and a future doctor who sees the effects of head trauma, I was amused/horrified one day as I was riding home from work to see a girl riding her bike. At night. WIthout a helmet. Riding the wrong way up the road. All while TALKING ON A CELL PHONE. I don't think she could have done anything to make her ride less safe unless she had been drinking beforehand and was simultaneously trying to smoke some weed while she rode. And don't even get me started about people crossing the major 6-lane highway we live right beside. At night. While pushing strollers. But my downstairs neighbor commented yesterday about how she has been keeping track of the strangest thing she has seen someone ca...

Tonight Andrew and Melanie come back! They are coming into town for a wedding, and Andrew will stay through Sunday, while Melanie will be here in SC for another week! Of course, everyone is excited about the coming baby so there are going to be a few showers for them both here in Charleston and up in the Upstate where we all grew up. I'm just glad to get to hang out again with everyone. Plus, on saturday, we are planning on going to Hominy Grill for brunch, one of my two favorite restaurants in Charleston. The new rotation continues to be great. Yesterday I met for about an hour or so with the chaplain, just kind of talking about theology and visiting patients, then i got to go home. And today I'm at the library waiting for him to call me to meet him somewhere to go and visit a patient. I've started studying for Step 2 of the Boards , so a few hours at the library should do me some good. I've never been much of a "library-studier." During college and especia...

Well, after two days on my new rotation, I'm finally feeling like a fourth year. So far both days I have finished up at noon. And today I'm not starting until 9. It is 8:30, and I'm still wearing my pajamas. (Although I guess if I want to be on time, I probably should head toward getting dressed.) It has definitely been good practice in learning how to work in the spirituality questions during my interactions with patients. Hopefully by the end of this, it will feel more natural and just a normal part of my questions that I typically ask patients, especially if they seem to be particularly stressed or sad. I probably should go and get dressed now, since it's almost 8:40. Even as a fourth year, being on time is still a priority.