Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

You can tell Lucy's thinking about it... Before.... After... Not bad, eh? I didn't even realize the grass was still so green under there. Raking turns out to be harder work than I remember it as a kid. I have the blisters to prove it. This is after all, the first time I've really had to rake since fifth grade. Back then we had a whole bunch of deciduous trees in our yard, and the raking task was monumental. Then we moved to California, where fall meant temperatures dipping into the 80's, and Sportscenter coming on after dark so it didn't conflict with playing outside time. Then we moved to Colorado, where the first snow usually hit the ground before the first leaf, so raking was sort of inconsequential. In St. Louis I lived in an apartment as people got paid to rake my leaves for me. I guess that in Charleston leaves did fall on our yard, but, well, we didn't rake them. I think its because the leaves actually looked better than what was underneath. Bu...

I was thinking today about how some people work out of their car. I've never actually known anybody who does this, but car ads on tv occasionally give the idea that people do this. I guess they just walk out to the garage in the morning and spend the day sitting in the car. Personally I prefer offices with more leg room. Anyway, it got me to thinking about what it would be like if Junior was my office... I've been having some personnel issues lately. Just this last week my clutch decided to reduce its hours to part time. This came as somewhat of a surprise. Sure, the clutch and I have not always had the smoothest relationship. There have been occasions in the past where I have over worked him, and he ended up in the shop. But still, I thought we'd resolved all that. Now out of the blue he decides he's not going to work all the time, just whenever he feels like it. Of course, this issue with the clutch is just the latest event. It seems as though morale has be...

When I was young, my teachers used to tell my parents that I spent too much time staring out the windows instead of paying attention in class. Apparently Lucy takes after me in this regard. One of her favorite activities when I'm studying in my office is to sit and stare out the window. About 5% of the time there will be a dog, squirrel, kid or something else outside that she is looking at, but mostly she just stares and dreams about who knows what? Even as I am typing this very post she is sitting just like this... Conveniently for her, the window sill is at the exact right height for her chin. Just what is going on in that little head of hers??? Visions of cats with twisted ankles who can't outrun her? Trying to decide if the neighbors swingset is really as fun as it looks? "Seriously Dad, will you stop flashing that camera at me? It's distracting."

Here's a funny one of Jackson....It's good to see him so comfortable in the kitchen.

Yesterday I got an email from my mother-in-law asking Jeff and I to send her our Christmas lists. Then I realized it's almost December. This means Christmas is coming. (Trying not to hyperventilate.) I have no idea what I want for Christmas, and even less an idea about what to get everyone else. I'd love to have another Christmas filled with mostly handmade gifts, like last year , but I fear this new schedule might not allow it. As much as I love Greenwood, the shopping scene here is pretty much horrible. (As in we do not have a Target.) Any websites out there with good, unique ideas for gifts? I'd love to hear some suggestions so I can do a little shopping from the comfort of home...err... my call room.

Yesterday, as in Thanksgiving Day , our medicine team admitted a patient with the last name Pilgrim. Seriously. Now we just need a Noelle on Christmas, a Love on Valentine's Day, or a Groundhog on February 2. It could happen. There have been stranger names around here....

I want to post a short list of things I'm thankful for. Although, I'd like to do it without getting all bogged down in that deep, heartfelt stuff, just simple, shallow things I'm thankful for. So if you're family, or a friend, or a blog reader of any sort, know that I'm thankful for you, even though you might not appear on the list by name. I'm thankful for.... 1. the taste of woodchuck cider. 2. the feeling of coming home after being away. 3. the fact that my dog squeaks when she yawns. 4. the fact that my in-laws have satellite tv. its good to veg out for a while, and just enough to make me glad I don't have satellite tv. 5. the anticipation of going to bed when I'm tired (like now). 6. my library privileges . 7. my BibleWorks software. 8. any good pun. (who am I kidding? any pun at all) 9. anticipation. 10. cookie dough. Interesting. Despite my desire to post a nice shallow post, its hard not to mention all the other more significant w...

I am sitting in my parent's house in Seneca writing this post. In Seneca because my dear, sweet grandmother fell yesterday and broke her hip, and my parents could no longer travel to Iowa to have Thanksgiving and Birthday celebrations there. I hate that they can't go. I hate that Grandma broke her hip. The only glimmer of light in this cloud is that now I get to spend the holiday with family. My last call night wasn't bad, and I was able to discharge most of my patients this morning, so my upper level resident gave me the day off tomorrow. That's TWO whole extra days off this month. For free. My Grandma is doing well after her surgery this morning. Thankfully, they were able to repair her hip using only epidural anesthesia and didn't have to fully put her under. She is extremely confused at the hospital. She's with it enough to know that she does NOT like using a mask to give her oxygen, and does NOT like the taste of the pills she has to take. Earlier tonight s...

In addition to my normal digital alarm clock with its horrible electronified beeping loudness and glowing red numbers, I have discovered I now have another alarm to help me wake up. Our sweet dog , Lucy , has learned that when my alarm beeps and I hit the snooze and roll over, it is her duty to make sure that I get up so that she can get her early morning run . (We did finally cave and let her sleep in our bedroom, since the garage gets cold at night now.) She trots to my side of the bed with her collar jingling, pushes her fuzzy, ticklish snout next to my face and gives me the "nuzzle," followed shortly by the "wet-nose nudge". Which does awaken me slightly better than the beeping. If an appendage is sticking out, she feels it is her duty to make sure that appendage gets a good cleaning before I get out of bed, in case having a dry, and apparently dirty toe was keeping me from standing up. Sometimes, though, she has to resort to more serious methods. In additio...

...Is how this month on medicine is starting. God has been very gracious to me so far in that my friday call was a " no-hitter "!! and I slept (in between floor call pages) from about midnight to 6:30(!!). This is very, very unusual for medicine months since a typical night is probably 4-5 admissions. Or 8. So my one very stable patient that I had before I was on call I still have, but no one else. But I'm on call this Tuesday and this Saturday, both of which will probably be exceedingly busy days. So I'm trying to enjoy this relaxing time before my list starts to look ugly. The only time I've been sad about my job is when I realized that while I have to stay here in Greenwood this week, the rest of my family is meeting in Iowa to celebrate Thanksgiving and Sam 's 1st Birthday. Sniff. But we do have what should be a fun time planned with all the other residents who are staying here in town on Thursday, and I know there will be TONS of good food, including the...

One of the drawbacks of going into Christian Ministry/Theology as a career is the general paucity of good nicknames. Joel Osteen is known as the "Smiling Preacher." Lame. Apparently Martin Luther was lovingly referred to as the "Fearful Philosopher." Boring. The best nicknames tell you something about the person, but also roll of the tongue easily. I think if you want a really good nickname you have to go into either the Mafia or sports. Sports tends to be the safer route. Golfers tend to become animals, as in "the golden bear," "the walrus" "the shark" "the goose" and of course Tiger. However animal nicknames are a dime a dozen. I prefer the more creative nicknames, Ernie Els is "The Big Easy." Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff (mixing a bit of the mafia theme in with a sports nickname). But the best of all is "The Big Unit." There is however, one professor at Covenant who breaks the mold. Somehow Dr. Ha...

Three unbelievable quotes from an article on Fox News about posing nude and in various states of undress in playboy: About the photos: "They're very tastefully done," Ebbert told The Associated Press on Thursday. "I don't see anything wrong with the female body." She said her boyfriend supported her decision, but "the most hesitant one was my dad." (I should hope so.) "This was beautiful and classy. I don't see why it would affect a professional position," she said. !!!! All I have to say is that I do not think the phrases "classy" OR "tasteful" can be used to describe anything in any magazine that is sold in a brown paper wrapper.

Aubrey's observation of the colder weather has not gone unnoticed by our local trees, who have dutifully donned their fall garb. To be quite precise, fall sprung last weekend, while Aubrey and I were away in St. Louis. Before we went, some trees had turned, and the weather was a bit cooler, but still, when we got to St. Louis, we both commented on how much more fall-like it was there. But when we got home, mysteriously, all the rest of the trees had turned colors over the weekend. We both noticed it almost as soon as we got back. See...? This was our spring backyard (when we were still house hunting)... This is our fall backyard... Sadly, not all our trees "peaked" at the same time, else it would have been really even more beautiful. Still, we are enjoying our nice distinct Greenwood seasons. Its amazing that we only moved three hours from Charleston, and yet the climate is noticeably different. This is the best fall I've had since I left St. Louis four year...

I have NEVER been a morning exerciser. Never. I was not one of the girls in med school who would get up at the crack of dawn to go to the gym before class. I was the one who would hit that snooze button just one more time before rushing out the door with a wet head, not having enough time to dry my hair. I still sometimes do that, but ever since I became a resident, I regularly get out of bed at 5:15 (give or take, since my snooze button still works) to go RUNNING before work. I almost don't recognize myself. It was below freezing this morning, but I am proud of myself since I still got up, pulled on a fleece jacket in addition to my running tights, and left the house while it was STILL dark to go and run. We're calling it another personal victory .

Jeff and I had a great time in St. Louis at the wedding. I did, in fact, eat a fox treat sundae (raspberries, macadamia nuts, and hot fudge) from Ted Drewe's, in spite of the fact that Sara's reception was a dessert reception with LOTS of very tasty treats made by her mom, and included a big table full of all types of candy. Because the thing you need to eat most after eating cake and then candy and cookies is a big bowl of ice cream. But here are a few photos from the wedding.... (Sorry, Sara, that none of these are very good. My camera has issues when it comes to taking pictures inside. Flash=no good, without flash=blur) Coming in.... Going out. I promise it's Alex and Sara, even if you can't tell. It's Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Brown! The Seminary girls...minus one Tracy.

At least a personal one... I've made several attempts in the past to perform an LP (lumbar puncture) on children. So far I have been completely unsuccessful at getting any kind of fluid back. Tonight, I did one and got fluid on the first try!! Exciting, for me. Probably not as much for all of you.

Too. Many. Patterns. Not. Enough. Time. Must. Breathe. And then start sewing.

I just could not resist posting these Halloween photos. After all, the only sure-fire way to make an exceedingly cute little boy even cuter is to dress him up like a leopard.

The best way to raise your blood pressure, I just discovered, is to arrive at the airport and realize you do not have your wallet. You know, the one that contains the all-important photo ID which is absolutely necessary for getting anywhere close to boarding an airplane. Not surprisingly, I quickly tore through all our bags looking for it. It was nowhere. I begin having visions of being stuck in St. Louis for an extra day, of missing work and making things difficult for everyone I work with. We finally get in touch with the rental car company's St. Louis Office after being transferred around several times, and they take our information and look inside the car we had just returned. It was there. Then they graciously send it with the driver of Bus #7 to the terminal so we can get it and get checked in, saving me from having to plead and bribe my way onto a plane with no ID. I get my wallet back and realize that the Good Samaritan Hertz Employee who found my wallet decided that his ...

You haven't lived until you've had to change your entire outfit (including putting on panty hose!! and a nice dress!!) in the front seat of a car. In the dark. Because, after all, you wouldn't want anyone to see you change.

..is the kind of man who writes a 25-page exegetical paper on a passage in Daniel when a 15-page paper would be more than sufficient that uses the words "chiastic," "Isaianic," "hapax legomena," and "sapiential" and then turns in said paper THREE WEEKS EARLY because he was so excited about the material that he just couldn't stop writing it. I love that man.

In only two short days (or one long call day) Jeff and I will be in St. Louis!! We're going to Sara 's wedding and are very much looking forward to seeing friends, visiting the zoo (hopefully), and getting a fox treat sundae at Ted Drewe's . Now I've just got to decide what to wear.....

My first giveaway was pretty fun, if for no other reason that I got a LOT of comments. And I mean a lot. I think the next highest number of comments we had on any previous post were about 7. That was probably more than all the comments we've had on all our posts put together. I think 129 will be hard to beat in the future, unless I suddenly become a lot funnier. But the name randomly chosen from among the commentors was... Wei-Ting!! Whom I don't know. But am looking forward to hearing from. She will get one handmade softie of her choice. Perhaps the next time around I'll have something else to give away.

This is what I learned at work today: Do not take Clorox (or any other cleaner for that matter) and pour it out of its bottle and put it into a cup, especially not a sippy cup that actually belongs to the not quite 18-month-old who lives at the house and may actually be able to reach the cup and get a drink. Apparently the majority of accidental ingestions of cleaners occur because they were put into a bottle or cup where they don't belong. This is what else I learned: Clorox (surprisingly) is not actually that bad for you. I mean, I'm not recommending that anyone go out and drink it, but the kind that people have around the house does not really do that much damage. (Who knew?)

My call last night is what we refer to here as a "no-hitter." I had NO pages from about 9:00pm until I awoke around 6:20. Not a single beep asking me to give someone sleeping medicine or tylenol. There were no 3am admissions. Just about 6 or 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. On an uncomfortable bed with two very flat pillows. It was great.

Since I was post-call, I did not have the time or, more importantly, the mental energy to think of a costume idea. But I do have some great pics of our nephew Sam in his costume. And some new photos of our other nephew, Jack, and his sweet little sister Ashlyn. Plus I felt I needed something a little happier to follow up yesterday's sad post. I know you can't look at these photos and not smile: I mean....the face!! and the hair!! The proud big brother. He has ears!!! and a tail!