dog days

Jack and I are, rather suddenly, now the proud (well, proud except when he FREAKS OUT WITH EXCITEMENT in Petsmart and everyone stares) owners of a 1-year-old energetic spotted mix named Ollie.  He's very good generally, though he's exhaustingly fond of playing fetch.  On the bright side, though, he'll play fetch with himself by rolling his ball off the edge of the couch, too, which is fairly amusing.

back, with an embarrassing story

So the other day I'm working in the peds ER, doing all sorts of peds-ER-related things... which mostly involve reassuring parents, and wondering why they bring non-emergencies to the Emergency Room where they have to wait 5 hours, instead of to their pediatrician where they have to wait maybe 45 minutes.  The world is full of mysteries.

But SOME Emergency Room visits are legit, such as the small child I saw next with a big deep nasty-looking cut.  Ouch.  Definitely needed stitches.  So the attending and the ER tech (both guys, which is vaguely pertinent) and I get everything ready, numb the kid up, and set about repairing skin.

ATTENDING:

[pulling back skin flap] Whew, this is a deep one.

EMILY:

[holding child's extremity still so attending can work]

Wow, it is. Yikes.

CHILD'S MOTHER:

[turns slightly pale and quietly leaves the room]

ATTENDING:

[begins to squirt sterile water under skin flap to clean it]

CHILD'S WOUND:

[begins oozing copious amounts of blood]

CHILD'S OLDER BROTHER:

[turns slightly pale and quietly leaves the room]

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

...Is it getting hot in here?

ATTENDING:

[lines up skin and prepares to suture]

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

...Um, okay.  Feeling kinda woozy.  This is not good.

CHILD'S FATHER:

[stoically watches from a corner of the room, arms folded]

ATTENDING:

[lifting skin flap once more and dabbing away blood]

Oooh.  I think that might be the bone we can see in there.  Or the tendon at least.

ER TECH:

[peers calmly at wound, shaking head in sympathy for child]

EMILY:

[also peers at wound, genuinely interested]

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

Wow, that's kinda cool.  I mean, not for the kid, but... OKAY, WHY AM I FEELING DIZZY?!  BLOOD DOES NOT BOTHER ME!!

ATTENDING:

[begins suturing]

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

What the heck, body?!  You can't go all vasovagal on me now!

CHILD'S FATHER:

[continues to stoically observe]

EMILY:

[surreptitiously leans on table in an attempt to recover without being noticed]

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

Must.  Not.  Be.  Nauseous.

ATTENDING:

[wields needle-holder with expertise]

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

Okay, fine.  I give up.  You win this time, autonomic nervous system.  I shake my fist at you!  ...Only not literally, because that would be weird right now.

EMILY:

[pulling off sterile gloves, sheepishly]

I um... this is kind of embarrassing, but I think I need to go sit down for a minute.

ATTENDING:

[looks at her mildly]

ER TECH:

[with mild concern]

You are looking a little pale.

EMILY:

[halfway out the door, almost running]

I'm really sorry!!

EMILY'S THOUGHTS:

Wow.  I am super-lame.  And apparently, super-girly... and not in a good way.

how quickly we forget

So after putting in a load of laundry and starting up the Roomba (my birthday present from Jack... which I love), I was preparing to wash a massive amount of dishes.  And I was thinking idly to myself how cool it is to live in such a time when machines can do chores for us.  I mean, back in the day, women would have to drag out their washtub and clothesline to do laundry, and it would take all day.  And most people still clean their floors themselves, with a broom or a vacuum cleaner, and it takes just way too long to be fun.

And then as I turned on the faucet, I thought, "Man, wouldn't it be nice if there were some kind of machine that could wash dishes, t..... oh.  Right."


(Also, here:  have a video of my Roomba in action, and be suitably envious.)

keeping busy

What have I been up to?

Knitting (of course):

Munching on Easter candy:

Trying my hand at making bagels (they were good!):

Doing seemingly endless paperwork for my residency program:

Preparing for a friend's wedding:

Baking cookies (chocolate chip meringue... yum!):

Getting ready for graduation (eep!):

Celebrating spring with fresh flowers:

sentiment

Apologies for the long hiatus (if anyone is reading this). Just here briefly to post this image, which is so true, and random, it makes me laugh.

whoops

So does this mean if I didn't bring a pet, I won't receive service? Wish I'd known that ahead of time...