Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Tell garden '09 is getting into full swing. Its a lot different than Tell garden '08 was. Partly because I was smart and planted things differently, partly because I was lazy and got a late start on my tomatoes, and partly because certain things are growing better and certain things worse than last year. Sadly, because of the late start it will be a few more weeks before we enjoy the rich red bounty of homegrown tomatoes. But I do have three new varieties going that we didn't do last year, so it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, here is tonight's bounty... the three on the right are cucumbers, a few green beans in the middle (yes, I did try to write our name with the beans), and a whole slew of zucchini. We're having trouble keeping up with the zucchini production. We've already eaten 6 or 7 of them in various preparations, and as you can see, we still have 7 in the kitchen, including this monster... Aubrey asked me to take a shot of the zucchini wi...

I've had a horrible week. I've been on call 3 times in 7 days, plus another extra work shift requiring me to be at the hospital until 10:30 pm. I'm on call now. I have been completely frustrated, stressed out, and exhausted this week. There is a lot that I don't understand right now. What to do when you feel like this? Try reading some John Piper . "Trust does not demand more than God has told us. And he has given us immeasurably precious promises that he is in control of all things and only does good to his children. And he has given us a very thick book where we can read story after story after story about how he rules for the good of his people. Let’s trust him and not ask for what our brains cannot contain." Trying hard to remember that today.

The ultra short edition... 1. I ate Thai food the other night... in Greenwood !! Ethnic food has come to town. It was delicious, fairly inexpensive, and h ere in town ! I cannot explain how excited I am to finally have good ethnic food here. Now if only we'd get a good bookstore, I could live here permanently. 2. I have felt so exhausted being back on call every fourth night. Did I feel this tired all of last year?? Apparently I've blocked it out. One more reason to be glad I'm almost a third year - just one call a month. 3. There is almost nothing quite as lovely as fresh peaches cut up, being made into jam. The yellowy-orangey-reddish hues are just stunningly beautiful. And tasty. Pictures (and recipe) to follow later. 4. I admitted someone to the hospital Monday night with blood pressure so high it could not even accurately be measured on our equipment. That means his systolic pressure (the number on top) was OVER 320!! I didn't even know that was possible. Miraculou...

Since I've been on OB again, I'm back on call every fourth night, which means my blog has been a little neglected. Since my post-call, pre-call brain can't come up with much of substance to write, I thought I'd post a recipe. I love dessert. A little too much. But in my recent kick of healthier eating I've been looking for some better-for-you sweet things to satisfy my sweet tooth. My most recent discovery is a fairly tasty frosting that is much lower in fat than usual. This week I used it to frost some chocolate-zucchini mini-cupcakes (maybe a post for a later day?) that were delicious. As an aside, this is not a pretty frosting. Your cupcakes or cake will not look like something from a magazine, but you can rest in knowing that you can enjoy them without feeling guilty about what they will do to your hips. Guiltless orange cream cheese frosting 8 oz. low-fat or fat free cream cheese 1/2 c. low fat cottage cheese 1/2 c. splenda 1/2 to 1 c. powdered sugar Juice and ...

1. You decide to make grilled chicken sandwiches for dinner. He thinks to whip up a little garlic-dill-lime mayo to go on top. (I don't really even like mayo, but that was perfect.) 2. After dinner, he realizes he wants to make some dessert. His choice? Crepes. That's right - he makes delicious crepes, then fills them with a smear of nutella and strawberries. This is easily the biggest benefit to having cable TV.

Just when I think I grasp a little of what to expect from the human body, patients come along and totally surprise me. Tonight, I delivered a sweet little boy - not too surprising. His mom, though, had to be induced because of pre-eclampsia, a dangerous condition in pregnancy that can result in seizures, stroke, and even death to mom, and numerous complications in the child. We made the decision to induce after a lot of deliberation this afternoon - she was only 35 weeks along, but seemed to be worsening, and we felt the risks of keeping mom pregnant outweighed the risks of preterm delivery. I started her induction this afternoon by placing a medication in her cervix to make it softer, so hopefully tonight I could start a second medication to open it. As I placed the medicine in, I knew, I just knew without a doubt, that this induction was not going to go well. Everything from her exam indicated that we might have a difficult time getting her delivered. I had already decided that eith...

I'm not sure who figured out that hazelnut and chocolate were the perfect combination, but whoever it was, I might should name my firstborn after them. It is easily my favorite flavor. The best cookies I have ever made and eaten? These right here . Why I never before thought to make Nutella Ice Cream, I'm not sure, but when I was looking for good ice cream recipes the other day, I was very happy to find this one . It was super simple - no eggs, no cooking, just a few ingredients to make a delicious, chocolately dessert. The recipe I found only makes about 2 cups of ice cream, though. Whoever only make 2 cups of ice cream? Not me. Or anyone else with the last name (or former last name) of Rampey. So here is what I did: 1 jar Nutella 1 c. sugar 1.5 c. heavy cream 3 c. milk. Mix all ingredients in the stand mixer, chill, and freeze in ice cream machine. I think it might be better to use warm milk or cream to help the Nutella dissolve in the milk better. There is another recipe I...

On our recent California vacation Aubrey and I added two more major league baseball stadiums to our list. I'd been to both of the old stadiums in San Diego and San Fransisco, but the new ones were major improvements. So for your enjoyment and mine, I thought I'd rank the ones I've been to in terms of quality of (my) experience. 1. Wrigley Field . As a lifelong Cubs fan this ranking might be accused of being subjective and emotionally based. Yeah? So? Wrigley is an awesome stadium. It was a downtown stadium before downtown stadiums were cool. If you're a baseball fan at all, a trip to the friendly confines is worth it. The beauty of the ivy, the experience of the bleachers, the hand operated scoreboard, the lack of jumbo-tron, the flags blowing out, Harry Carey singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame off pitch back in the day, the non-corporate sponsor based name, the view of the Sears tower, the historic marquee, Clark and Addison, Waveland and Sheffield, the major...

As if you didn't know already, I love doing ultrasounds. Tuesday in clinic, I had one of the most fun ones I've done yet. It was my first visit with this patient, a young Mennonite woman, pregnant with her first baby. I always like to do an ultrasound at the first visit, just so I can get a measurement and make sure the dates are correct. (I also do an ultrasound at almost every visit if there's time, mostly because I love to do it and it's good practice.) As I placed the probe on her belly, I was immediately struck by how many body parts I saw. I continued looking, more carefully, and counting. Two heads. Two bodies. Two placentas. "Well," I said, "You're having twins." She looked at me, shocked. "I've been worried I would have twins. My husband and I were joking about it yesterday." I pulled the machine around so she could see better, and took some pictures of the two tiny bodies. They were beautiful - moving a lot, growing well,...

Greenwood now boasts its own drive-in movie theater . Having never actually been to one, I was quite excited to check it out last weekend. We packed up some dinner, got some cash (they only accept cash at the gate) and headed out just before sundown. We parked, tuned our radio station to 106.1, and waited for the previews to start. They charge $7 admission per adult, but each week show a double feature, so you get two movies for the price of one. Our only complaint is that now that we are old, staying awake through two movies when the first one starts at 9pm is a bit of a challenge. That aside, being able to enjoy a delicious dinner from home, bring our own drinks, and enjoy the movie under the summer sky was quite a treat. We will definitely be going back. Ever since Toy Story , I always look forward to Pixar movies, and had been waiting for a good time to see their newest feature, Up. Thankfully for us, both Up and Night at the Museum 2 were this week's selections down at the dr...

In addition to doing lots of other fun things on vacation , I read several books. My usual way to find stuff to read is just to go to the library and check out some books that catch my fancy, but occasionally I'll have things in mind before going. The results are usually mixed. For example: I read Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and loved it, Lewis's Through the Looking Glass and thought it strange but good. In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason, though, was not really worth the time. My absolute favorite thing I read on the trip was actually something I picked up at the airport on the way home, having slightly miscalculated and not brought enough books with me. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is a well written novel that is entirely in the form of letters between the characters. I have read a few other books written this way, and find it to be fairly creative and interesting way to tell a story. It is not a difficult r...

On our flight to California, I was watching some TV when suddenly I heard an announcement overhead: "If there are any doctors on board, you are needed in the coach cabin." I looked over to the other aisle, and sure enough, there were several people gathered. I got up quickly and went over. A young woman had apparently fainted. She was lying down in the aisle, a flight attendant was giving her some oxygen. There were 2 other people there, as well. She apparently occasionally passes out. I felt her pulse, and took her blood pressure - both normal. I could tell she now mostly just felt embarrassed. Eventually, she got up and I walked with her to the bathroom. She really was fine. The flight attendants asked me several times if I wanted a cocktail. I declined. I really didn't feel like I had done anything. I got back in my seat, and then I had to do .... you guessed it... paperwork. I wrote down my name and address several times, as well as her symptoms. Apparently there is n...

I found out today a friend is pregnant. I was excited - her husband is a graduating third year, they are moving back to his hometown, and I really wasn't surprised. (It's odd how finding out certain people are pregnant bothers me more than hearing certain other people are pregnant. I can't really explain it.) I, of course, ask all the prerequisite questions. Do you know what you are having? She wants to be surprised. How far along are you? 16 weeks. When are you due? November 15. Then it hit me, hard. My smile faltered. November 15 was my due date. The one I quickly looked up on the pregnancy wheel at work one day, right after I saw that second faint blue line. And suddenly I was reminded again of all that I have lost.

We are home. I came back to work today and was greeted by a box full of paperwork to fill out. I love paperwork.

It's been a fun and tiring few days - another baseball game (Sacramento Rivercats), Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Lake Tahoe, and Napa Valley. All beautiful and fun, but we are ready to come home. Hopefully we'll see you all soon! Love, Jeff and Aubrey