Happy birthday to Mr. Meowgi!

I'm not at all a pet person, but Mr. Meowgi turned 10 this weekend and it does make me smile to think of him as a 10-year-old kitty cat.


Mr. Meowgi is a great cat. He's sweet, affectionate, smart and curious. He's also incredibly naughty, loves people food (butter, olive oil, cheese, bacon, asparagus, peppers, whatever... he loves it all) and meows for food sometimes just to be a punk. 


Mr. M is B's kitty through and through. B was Mr. M's mama since he was adopted (by B, our friend Katie and me) in August 2002. He ran away once and B almost worried himself silly. Of course Mr. M sauntered back and refused to ever spill the beans about where he was. That's how that kitty is -- sneaky and full of love. 


But he's sweet. He is snuggly almost anytime you need a snuggle. He's fun and playful. He's friendly to strangers. He's a perfect companion when you wish to nap or cook.


So, happy birthday MM!

Best things - Summer school edition

For the sake of sharing, here are some of my most favorite things these days:

• Backpack folders, which my mom cleverly found for me. These are basically vertical file folders. They are awesome for organizing things in a backpack and this semester I've got everything lined up when I need it. 
• My Sigg water bottle -- I tote this almost everywhere I go to get myself as much water as I need. I'm trying to be more focused on hydrating myself and less focused on caffeine, at least after my morning cup.
• My Tervis tumblers -- These are the best non-sweaty cups for coffee in the mornings, water, and even an evening cocktail. Plus I get to show off my Illini pride, Cubs pride or Bears pride too. 
• Samples -- I'm jetting from school near the lake up north, OB clinicals downtown, mental health and peds clinicals in Maywood and other stops along the way so it's nice to have some sample size lotions and sunblocks along.
• Our ice cream maker -- This machine makes many a yummy treat, including strawberry sorbet, strawberry ice cream and non-strawberry things (but we don't make those, because we are mad for strawberries this time of year). We love it.
• Ginger beer -- Which is NOT beer, but more like root beer. It's spicy and delish with a splash of rum (for a Dark & Stormy) or vodka (for a Moscow Mule). Summ-a-riffic. 

10 Miles - Done!

Today's Soldier Field 10-Miler was forecasted to be hot, hot, hot!


But the weather forecast changed, as usual, and it was cloudy, cool and breezy for at least 7 of the 10 miles. The sun snuck out for the very end, but not so much it bothered anyone. 


I felt pretty good, though I did walk a bit here and there. My time wasn't great, but I can't expect a lot from not training very well. I need to make running a part of my routine -- every few days! That's the plan for the next few weeks -- this will get my legs stronger, my stride better and my muscles ready.


At the very end I felt like my muscles were done, but I kept moving. I thought to myself that if I could handle everything else in my life in the last year or so that I could keep running. I listened to great songs on my iPod. I kept moving as fast as I could. I ran across the finish line -- smiling on the Jumbotron with B cheering me on!


Anyway, finishing 10 miles -- in a beautiful way or not -- feels awesome! 

Ready to run, ready to learn

I've spent time in all my clinicals, met all my teachers and instructors, made new friends with my new group, commuted for the first time in my life, and got three new nametags.


This hot, windy day and the arrival of my textbooks means I need to keep this post short. But here are some reflections on this wack-wack-wacky week:

• OB is tough. But it's also great. I think I've handled the biggest hurdle which is walking through the floor where we were when we lost the baby. I told my instructors that OB might be a little difficult for me sometimes. My professor told me that maybe I'll feel empowered by the experience so that is going to be my goal. I'd like to take my clinical experience as a chance to see how challenging pregnancy is, how much assistance is possible from good healthcare and how possible a healthy baby is for us. We'll see how all this pans out.
• I might get to see a circumcision! And I might be able to give a newborn some vaccinations! Awesome!
• The VA is ridiculous. Paperwork gets lost, strange protocols must be enforced inconsistently, and very friendly veterans say hello in the hallways. I like that the VA feels like a community. I despise that I waited for a full two hours this week (in two separate sessions of waiting -- there are two steps to this process) for a name badge. 
• Mental health is so strange. But since crazy people are all over the place, it's a fine idea to learn about how to work with them. 
• Weird lesson: On locked psych units patients wear scrubs. This is extremely strange when your brain associates scrubs with nurses. I almost said aloud, "Jeez, these nurses are weird." That would be because the people in scrubs are patients -- mentally unstable patients who can't leave the floor. 
• Pediatrics is terrific. My clinical instructor knows her stuff and is getting us some awesome experiences. Today we got to walk around the floor, see the playroom (amazing), and take a math test. I got a 100 percent on the math test -- yay! And loved the pediatrics floor. 
• Commuting to start at 7 a.m. and to leave Maywood at 2 p.m. isn't terrible, but it's still a serious amount of driving. 
• I'm so excited about this crazy semester -- even though it will be completely nuts -- three clinicals a week, lots of travel, lots of work -- it's going to be great.
• And, I run 10 miles on Saturday! Whoa!!!

No sleep 'til NATO

It is of very little consequence to B and I that there's a huge international meeting in Chicago.


We've heard more sirens than usual this weekend, and there were some protesters nearby (but not so close we noticed) at Mayor Rahm Emanuel's house, but all and all this is a nice quiet city weekend. 


We took a wonderfully long walk today (almost 6 miles!) and stopped for a beer at Murphy's Irish Bistro. It's been hot so our fans are coming out of hiding and the cats are lounging most of the day. 


Tomorrow I'm finishing up the last bits of things I wanted to do before school started. The first week of summer semester promises to be not-totally-insane so I'll be able to finish stuff then too, like donating the sacks of stuff in my backseat that should be given to a good cause, rather than sitting in our house taking up space. 


We heard some loud noises just before 9 p.m. tonight -- hopefully President Obama touching down in his hometown! What a city!

Snappy Snappers!

There's nothing so terrific as a baseball game on a beautiful day. 

Notorious M.O.M. and me! Not a huge crowd for a Tuesday night game after an afternoon storm.

The bell lady and Snappy! She's been cheering on the Snappers with this school-teacher bell since 1982. 

Snappy and me!

There's beer, merriment, competition and fresh air. We saw the Beloit Snappers -- on College Night. We had cheap tickets plus $1 hot dogs and $1.50 Leinenkugel Honey Weiss (what a great summer brew!). The Beloit Snappers have oodles of fun between-inning games, an old lady who rings a bell and a terrific mascot - Snappy! What fun!

Rock Cut Run

I love Rock Cut State Park!


Frequently on my visits home, I go there for walking, hiking and running. This time I took a terrific run around Pierce Lake. During the run I saw some geese (ugh!), fishermen (no fisherwomen) and two bicyclists. It was beautiful out so I took quite a few photos along the way!

I thought this was a duckling, but sadly it was a gosling. Gross. 

Yellow flowers down the hill to the lake! Lovely!

Trees! What a beautiful day!