I Love Him More Than Mac N Cheese

   We must have met one of the first days of orientation for med school.  I say it like that, because I don't distinctly remember when or how we met.  During orientation, we were meeting 95 other classmates, so that all blurs together for me.  Funny enough, BF remembers exactly how we met.  It was one of those first few days of med school orientation, and BF introduced himself to me, just like to any of our other classmates.  At the time, we were both in other outside-med school relationships coming into that year.  BF recalls, "you were really stuck up, and seemed like you were not interested in meeting me at all," and so naturally, he didn't care for me.  I, on the other hand, was indifferent.  

   Fast forward through the first two years of med school.  We were acquaintances, not much more than just classmates.  We eventually ended up in the same circle of friends, though not super close with each other.  We each went through a couple additional flings and short-lived relationships in the meantime, never really being single at the same time.  

   One fateful evening, our shared circle of friends planned to dine out at a really expensive restaurant for a special event they were having.  At the last minute, everyone flaked out except me, BF and our mutual friend L.  At dinner, I complained about my latest fling, and how I expected more (love) out of a relationship.  BF agreed, and talked about how he expected the same thing, but hadn't found it yet.  L sat at that dinner table, and watched as sparks flew.

  The next day, I had lunch with one of our other friends, E, who I told, "You know, I'm tired of looking for something.  I'm just gonna sit back, and if something comes to me, that's fine, but I'm gonna take a break."  She replied, "Well, I actually may know of someone who's interested in you... and it's someone in our class."  I was like,"WHAT! WHO?!"  I had absolutely no idea who it could be.  And for whatever reason, BF had just never crossed my mind in that way.  She told me it was him, and she got the "go ahead" from me.  And the next day he called and asked me on a date.  We spent the next week flirting on gchat in class, and going on a couple dates in the evenings, but by the end of that week, which was the third date, we were inseparable.  By inseparable, I mean we spent every day and night together after that.  Even during finals.  Even during boards.  Even during clerkships on third year.  So, then we just eventually moved in together.  And here we are, a year later, living together, with two cats and a puppy, couples-matching next year, and amazingly happy.  

   BF is my best friend, who takes care of me, supports me, loves me and stands by me, and I couldn't ask for more.  Here's to love.  May you appreciate it if you have it, may you find it if you lost it, or may you discover it if you've not yet met it.  

***

   And here are some random pictures of our anniversary weekend extravaganza! 

Anniversary Dinner

Puppy got tangled in a bush

Puppy LOVES pinecones

Puppy fast asleep at Auntie J's House

My boys :)

I Love Crazy Old Bats

Pieces of flair on one of my preceptor's doors

    One of my favorite parts of primary care has been working with the geriatric population.  I just love old people, because they're a bit kooky, and they've gotten to the point in life where they don't care what anyone thinks anymore.  And sometimes they're just so sweet.  I had this elderly Asian woman one day, who was just so precious.  She told me that she wanted to see me again, and as she left the appointment, she gave my preceptor and I hugs, saying, "I love you."  

    I even like the demented elderly patients too.  When asked what we could do for her, one 90-something-year-old woman replied, "How do you get rich?"

Resident: "I wish I knew the answer to that ma'am."

Lady: "What would you do if you got rich?"

Resident: "Well, I'd probably spend more time with my family.  But I would still want to see patients too."

Lady: "Well, if you figure it out, call me."

   I love it when they get sassy.

Moments Of Gratitude

   I had already planned to write this post, and then I just happened to see Your Doctor's Wife's most recent post.  What a coincidence!  It must be a gratitude-type-of-day!  

   Since I've snapped out of my mental funk I was in a couple months ago, I've gotten back to being mindful and conscientiously appreciative for all of the things in my life.  It's so much easier to be happy when you just take a second and think about all the things you have to be grateful for, especially the simple ones.  I decided to even take it one step further and start a "journal of gratitude", in order to have a chance to really cement some of the things I'm thankful for - and I'll take any chance I can to get crafty/artsy!

   One thing I was reflecting on the other day, that made me smile while thinking of it, was a moment I experienced while on OB/Gyn.  I'm actually surprised I didn't mention it in one of my posts.  I was on a night shift, and I was heading down to the ED with two of the senior residents to see a consult.  I got along really well with both of them, and they really took me under their wing that night.  Anyway, we were walking down one of the various extremely long hallways of the hospital, just chit-chatting, and the chief resident grabs my arm and the other resident's arm.  Next thing you know, all three of us are skipping down the hallway, with our arms linked, giggling at how ridiculous we were being.  It was awesome.  It was just one of those simple, silly moments that just makes you feel warm and fuzzy. 

   Puppy training is going pretty well for the most part.  We have our good moments and our bad ones. Overall, its hard to stay mad at Melvie for too long because he is so damn cute.  Somehow, I seem to love him more and more everyday.  I was feeling all giddy tonight because he fell asleep on me as I was on my laptop on the couch.  It doesn't seem like a big deal, but I was really happy because that is exactly why I wanted to get a dog.  For moments like those.  (And then to make things even cuter, he was pawing my keyboard as I was typing this.  I think he knew I was blogging about him.)

   And on that note, I somehow managed to spill red wine all over my white macbook as I was writing this, lol.  Cheers, and goodnight!

Medical Mondays Blog Hop!

   Hey everyone!  Welcome! It's that time again - time to explore more medical-related blogs.  Head on over to Your Doctor's Wife to check out all the bloggers that linked up!

   So the other day, I was working with an attending in primary care, and like many attendings do, he asked me, "So, have you decided what you don't wanna go into?"  I have never heard it asked that way before, and I thought it was an odd twist on the typical, "What specialty are you interested in?" that most attendings/residents ask us malleable med students.  If you are new to my blog, then you probably don't know: I am super gung-ho about OB/Gyn.  So when he asked me that question, I politely answered, "Well, I guess (I don't want to go into) anything other than OB/Gyn."  Then he went on to scoff about how "self-assured" of me it was to say that.  Dude, you asked!

   That set the tone for the rest of the conversation.  We happened to be working with a lot of geriatric patients that day, so he goes on to talk about one of his colleagues, and how old she was when she had her baby, so maybe I'll work with geriatric patients at times.  I felt bad for one of the female residents who then awkwardly admits, "Oh, I'm 39 and I'd still like to have a child." He then proceeded to go off on some awkward mommy-issue-rooted rant about how women shouldn't have children any later than 40: because then "they don't get to spend any time with their kids or grandkids because they die too soon." He talked about how his mom died when he was 29, so "she missed out on my life and meeting her grandkids."  Then he boasted about how his wife had their youngest child when she was 37 because of this very issue.  

   I think it's really easy to determine how women should or should not raise families when you are a man, because you totally know what you're talking about, and you totally know from experience.  What particularly pissed me off was the fact that he shut down that poor female resident with his stupid rant.  If he would have taken time to actually listen to her, he would have realized that she has been married for many years, has been busy pursuing a career in medicine, so in attempt to be responsible has been waiting, and finally is ready to have kids.  He would have heard that she actually has been trying to get pregnant for a few years now, but it doesn't happen overnight.  

   I've gotten to the point this year where I'm tired of getting walked all over every day as a med student, and then getting graded on how well you lie on the floor after being walked on.  So I decided to say something to this attending, because he was out of line.  I said, "You know, unfortunately these days, if you want to pursue a challenging career, especially one in medicine, many women choose to put that part of their life on hold, and end up having to have children later."  It wasn't a profound statement by any means, but he looked sort of dumbfounded, and then realized his audience - and shut up.