The Day After

A picture I just came across (on my camera, of all places) of me and Marc, the afternoon after the wedding. I still have on a LOT of make up, as I neglected to wash my face after the wedding, or to take a shower the next morning. That's just how I roll.

And, Susan - name the date, and I'll meet you in Florida :)

I Dream of....

...Disney.

I haven't been to Disney Land since July of 2009:
Check out my intensity. I totally rock at the Buzz Lightyear ride.

And I haven't been to Disney World since December of 2007:
Christmas castle!

Anyone want to join me? Bonus points if we can do Disney AND Harry Potter world (or whatever that is called)

Say Yes to the Dress: Sisters!

A few weeks ago, I was able to go home for a short (like 24 hours short) trip to do some wedding dress shopping with my sister. Melissa is getting married to her own Mark (awesome name) in July. It was great to be able to see my little sister try on some dresses as she prepares to become an extraordinary bride herself. And, I was lucky enough to be there to see the dress that she ultimately chose. Woo-hoo!

I got some fun pictures of the day, and finally got around to loading those onto my computer today. It inspired me to go back to my own days of trying on dresses to compare. We're awfully similar...

If your name is Mark, you should leave now. But if you are Marc, you can read on. Subtle, but very important distinction. (I won't actually post pictures of the dress she is going to wear, but she will be shown in white...)

We had a pre-dress meal:
February 2010

February 2011. Apparently, being a bride makes Melissa more genteel.

We smiled a lot:



We tried on dresses with pleats:



We pretended the dresses were eating us/we were melting:



We frequently adjusted the dresses:



We had fun with the trains:



We tried on dresses that weren't quite our style:



We even had the same reaction to the same dress:



At the end of the day, Melissa found her dress at this store, while I thought long and hard about getting this one:
but ultimately went another direction.

Now, all that's left is seeing Lindsay try on dresses!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Having a pint of Guiness and a chocolate chip cookie to celebrate

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Bring Me Pi!

It is March 14 - aka "National Pi Day." You know, for 3/14, like 3.14, the first few digits of pi. Which, if you'll remember from school is a number that has something to do with circles. And is a number celebrated by nerds and geeks everywhere. I'm not totally certain what the exact appeal of pi is. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the number, which is universal for ALL circles, NEVER ends! Computers have calculated it out to over a trillion digits. A trillion! It is like the Girl Scout song - a circle's round and has no eh-end, except here it is Pi is about circles and has no eh-end.

Anyhow, in honor of National Pi Day, I've decided to make a list of Totally Useless Super Powers. Not that it has anything to do with pi, or circles, even, but useless super powers are totally geeky/dorky/nerdy, like the love of pi.

Useless Super Powers
by, Brenna

1. The ability to levitate Pringles out of the can
2. The ability to fly, but only in an eastward direction
3. The power of invisibility, but only to babies
4. The ability to change the font of any printed material
5. The ability to win every game of Solitaire
6. Laser snot
7. Knowledge of every plot twist
8. The ability to pull off any fashion accessory
9. The ability to draw a perfect circle (ha! I got circles in there!)
10. Being impervious to tongue scald burns
11. World's strongest ring finger

That's all I've got for now.

What Totally Useless Super Power would you make for yourself?

Shadow Man!

Got to do a little wine tasting in Sonoma County today with some great friends. We had to try wine at the castle! BTW, castle wine isn't any better than non-castle wine.

Here's a picture Tom was taking of his shadow. Heidi, Dana and I snuck into the background.

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Natty Gann Says...

...bed's taken. Better find some place else to sleep.

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Invasion of the Bed Snatchers!

For many reasons, I wish I had a perfect memory*. Not the least of which would be the fact that it would allow me to remember all the funny/awesome or even tragic/depressing events of my life. As it is, my memory is pretty shady and selective.

For instance, earlier today, I related the story of how my neighbor used to trace around the lines of coloring books super dark, then fill in the area lighter, and how that drove me crazy, and how I yelled at him from coloring that way in my coloring book when I was seven. But, for the life of me, I couldn't tell you who I shared a locker with in any of high school (if anyone).

The point of the reminiscing, is that I feel like I should write more. When I look back at blog posts of olde, I am instantly transported back to the setting I was writing about. It's like a time travel machine, and it is awesome. The same is true with journaling, but I'm as sporadic with that as I am about actually writing in my blog.

Well, I have decided that, for today at least, I am going to write about my day. I have been hesitant to do so for fear of violating HIPAA - the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which figuratively ties our lips about referencing anything that could possibly maybe sort of let someone else figure out what patient you may or may not be referring to.

Thus, I cannot write about: the really cool diagnoses I've seen; or: the mother who got her kids mixed up for almost a whole day; or even: the multiple complaints/rants I have about various situations I have been in in the past year and a half. So rough! I'd like to write about it more, though, so I'm going to try.

Today started out like any work day. I got up, got ready, drove to work, hoping the entire time that I wouldn't walk into a hectic service. I logged onto the computer to see how many patients I would have, saw 7 (not so bad for March), then did a double take at one of the names: Hortensia (not actually Hortensia, but an equally old-lady sounding name that doesn't quite have that 'so-old-fashioned-it's-cute' sound to it). Then I looked closer, and realized that Hortensia was 83 years old. I looked even closer at the list, and saw that 3 of the 7 patients were over 40 years old.

Adults! On my floor! NoooooooOOoOOOoOOOOOOOOO!!!!


They've been threatening to put adults on the pediatrics floor forever. We moved to a new, bigger (and much, much, much nicer) floor in December. We always knew they intended to put adults on the floor when the hospital was full. And last night, it happened.

Now, for those of you not familiar with the difference between pediatrics and adult medicine, let me tell you one important thing: Adults are not just big Kids.

Thankfully, I am a pediatrician, and can gleefully ignore the presence of over-18s, but the poor nurses are not so fortunate. And oi. vei. This has been quite a day.

See, Hortensia is not only 83 years old. She's 83 with about EVERY medical problem known to man, on lots of medications, and for all intents and purposes, completely non-verbal.

Here's an SAT question for you.
Which of these pairings is wrong:
A. Pediatric Nurses and non-verbal infants
B. Pediatric Nurses and non-verbal adults with a billion co-morbidities

If you guessed B, you're right! If you guessed A, you annoy me.

Anyway. So that has been my day so far: hearing people complain about adults. And they're totally right! They chose to be pediatric nurses for a reason. Adult patients are annoying! And stinky! And I wish I was in charge of the world, or at least this hospital so that I could make things right.

Add to all of this - now I have 3 pediatric patients I have admitted (I sent 2 home first) So now we're almost full, and I can't technically admit any more patients until we get more nurses in here, which might not happen. Which means I'll have to close pediatrics (say no to any more admissions). And for me to close pediatrics, I have to call the nursing supervisor, the shift administrator and the hospital's Chief Operating Officer. No kidding. All because there are stinky adults on my floor!

I'm a tad annoyed.

And apparently, I really wanted to remember this...

(I'm re-thinking the writing about my day idea)


* Has anyone else read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series? You know how Lisbeth Salander has a perfect/photographic memory, but she's all weird and ashamed by it? That alone led me to believe her character was down-right crazy. Photogenic memory would be awesome!

Rock the Fanny Pack

I find that some days aren't very picture worthy. Case in point: today I got up, had coffee, did laundry, went for a run, groomed the cat, worked on my closet-turned home office, and started making invitations to my sisters bridal shower. Hmm. Maybe the invitations are picture worthy (really, they are going to be super cool), but that will have to wait!

Instead, another blast from the past. Me, 21-ish years ago. In my head, the math originally worked out to 11-ish years ago. Then I realized that I was incredibly wrong, and I'm actually 10 years older than I think I am. Sigh. I bet I could still rock a fanny pack this hard, though. Oh, yeah. I'm a Fanny Pack Rock Star.

If you look closely at this picture, you will realize that not only am I wearing a fanny pack in the traditional 'round the waist' location... See it? Oh, yes. I have a fanny pack on my wrist as well. Double Fanny Pack Rock Star!!



Incidentally, for those of you who know the story: I believe this picture was taken mere hours before my toenail was brutally ripped off my toe. Which hurt. A LOT. By this door:


Don't believe me? Here's proof:

How to be...

28 weeks pregnant... with twins! I had a great time this past weekend at the baby shower of a friend and former co-resident. I hope that whenever I get around to being 28 weeks pregnant, I look as good as she does!

Lots of baby presents - in pink, and in multiples of two!

Cute cake!

Lindsey and me.

Lindsey and Amanda.

An Ode to Purple Scrubs

I have worn many scrubs in my life
In which I've had pain, and anger and strife
(Though not all days are a dud)

From my medical school's "jade" green
To residency's blue, with tangerine
(Or maybe that was blood)

But now that I'm a "grown up" doc
Who gets paid to work round the clock

I don the color once meant for royals
As I examine babies and lance some boils

And I remind myself every day:
Nothing rhymes with purple

After A Run in the Rain

This is mostly a reminder to myself that I can run outside in the rain for an hour and barely get wet! Rain is not a good excuse, Brenna!

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Happy Hour

I was actually able to make the monthly "First Thursday" gathering of some of my female Sacramento friends today. Unfortunately, not many other people were able to! My friend, Karen, and I had the whole place to ourselves. It was a neat place too (with good happy hour deals)! Check out the mood lighting:

Hey There, Lonely Orange

This is a sumo orange. It looks vaguely sinister, like a normal orange that has bulked up on steroids. But it is so lonely. Won't you give it some love?







Pink Yarn loves Orange!
Happy orange!

(I may be slightly sleep deprived at the moment)

An Unhealthy Dinner, Made Unappetizing

Some pictures I took with a "retro camera" application on my phone of my dinner tonight. If I'd only seen the pictures of the food, I most certainly would not have eaten the chicken strips and sweet potato fries. Unfortunately, I did not see only the pictures. They tasted much better than they look.