the morning coolness that usually greets me on my walk to work from my car has been replaced by a foreboding warmth... another sacramento summer. already?! this year has gone by ridiculously quickly, though i suppose almost all chunks of time probably seem that way in hindsight. it's totally surreal though, planning for orientation events for the INCOMING interns... not to mention other life events, like the class of '08 LLUSOM graduation that we were fortunate enough to attend (no pics tho, forgot our camera :P) or my brother's upcoming college graduation, and of course- sharon and david's wedding?!! i can only imagine what the next "school year" will bring.
i started intern year at the VA on a substance abuse rotation, waiting in my little office for mentally ill and substance-abusing veterans to show up for their appointments... and it's also how i will end my *first* intern year. gotta love the VA, when i'm on a psych rotation that is... a nice, chill, outpatient rotation. it's definitely been nice to have some time to reflect on what i've learned, and what more i need to do to become the kind of physician i want to be- needless to say, there's a LOT. i'm starting to think that 5 years, though long, may barely be enough to time to learn what i want to learn.
but enough about work... here's what has been occupying some of my newly found time on this psych rotation: PHOTOBOOKS!! we recently got the digital copies of our wedding pics, which just happened to coincide with a promotion on mypublisher photobooks for costco members... anyhoo, we got a little carried away and created essentially copies of my original wedding album for our parents (though not as photoshopped and glorious as our original from the inimitable joe latter), then decided to make a "behind the scenes" album with cool "candid" shots, then decided- hey what the heck, we'll just make an album with "our story" including the engagement stuff and everything that followed, ending with the honeymoon. our books are currently on their way, so we'll see if it was ultimately worth it, but i was thinking... you know, i rarely print out my digital pictures and put them in an album, so why not create these books (especially at a reasonable price) for posterity?? anyhoo, feel free to click on the links for previews of the books i created... i hope you enjoy!
another subject that has been on my mind recently, now that i have time to think about it, is our lifestyle- namely, how unhealthy it has become. seriously, who knew it would be this hard to exercise regularly and eat healthily?! i was horrified to realize, looking back on this year, that we've basically adopted the "typical" poor family's diet- high in carbs, frozen foods, quick meals, eating out, ordering in... it's ugly. and the degree of my deconditioning is even more horrifying- just last year, i was running several miles without a second thought... now?! well, my waistline and extreme shortness of breath with ANY exertion are testament to the fact that it's been waaaaaay too long since i've done any sort of regular exercise. and irony of all ironies, my poor hubby- whom i've tried to fatten up since we started dating- has either maintained or lost some weight... which i blame on his inpatient medicine months, when i wasn't able to feed him properly :( in any case, i'm determined to make some kind of change- i've given myself some leniency this year, because it's "intern year" and it's supposed to be arduous and time-consuming, etc... but i cannot go two years without reclaiming the kind of lifestyle i want to maintain! so, here's a belated new year's resolution... or rather, a new "school year" resolution: LIVE THE WAY I WANT TO LIVE IN THE FUTURE... i.e. tasty but healthy diet, REGULAR physical activity, good sleep, etc. we'll see how it goes...
