old pictures

I went home for the weekend to visit my Yiayia. I was able to look through some albums. This is Yiayia and Papou with yours truly!

I also found a picture that makes it seem as if i was born to be a PA. Christy was getting a check up with my Fisher Price set.

happy b-day merideth!

it is merideth's 26th birthday today! for those of you that don't know, merideth was my roommate in PA school. we chatted a little bit over the internet and decided to room together. she was less nervous about it than i was....she has had a ton of roommates.

it worked wonderfully...in fact, we never seriously fought for the whole 2 years! this was a pic from our annual Christmas party.

in fact, we travelled to Europe together and she "proposed" to me in front of the Effiel Tower...so funny!

we travelled to Peru after PA school. this is in front of Machu Picchu. merideth wasn't feeling too well this day....it was a bonding experience!

merideth works in pediatrics outside Chicago. she speaks Spanish every day and is dating a nice young man...i wish i could see her more often! have a great day Merideth!

2 weeks and counting...

i left for galveston super early this morning..i was on my bike as the sun rose. today really is a gorgeous day in texas. the high is 79 and the sun is out. when i started the ride at 7:15 it was in the low 60's. i really really hope the weather is exactly like this in 2 weeks...with a little less wind.

the ride was tough today. i was on the bike for 3 hours and boy does your tush get sore! the worst part is that the wind was blowing against me on the way back...not fun. again, spending that much time on the bike gets a little boring and then i start to slow down. at about hour 2 i was starting to wonder why i got myself into this situation.

then i had to get off the bike and do a cool down run for 30 minutes. this is primarily to help with the transition. try it sometime...even spending 40 minutes on a bike and running 5 minutes is an out of body like experience. i almost felt like i was falling forward...you don't have any good gauge of your speed. it is extremely odd. my theory is that if i can put through the first 20 minutes than I can do anything. i think the theory is going to hold. after that you get more of your stride and your feel less like an blundering idiot...but then you remember that you are running in bike shorts...so much for that self confidence!

i feel like i thought of a lot of things to share while riding...one thing is that i saw a lady in the walmart parking lot hit a cart while going probably 20 mph...i'm thinking she was texting and driving. then i noticed that it was a brand new car...bummer of a start to a gorgeous saturday!

hmmm...again, my mind fails me. april and i booked a flight to paris and amsterdam for about 6 weeks from now (at an AMAZING price) and i have my travel books next to me...i think i'm going to read now while sitting outside. happy weekend!

this week!

it is mid-way through march. i cannot believe it! i have learned something new about texas this week...absolutely everyone has spring break the same week. the drive to work was absolutely empty. so odd for the 4th largest city in the US! the good/bad thing is that a lot of physicians are out this week. granted, that means that i can't get the consults that i want...and we have a clinic of nearly 40 patients tomorrow since dr. varadhachary is out on thursday. 40 patients with serious diagnoses are a lot of people to get through in a day...we can do it though!

this is really my last big week of training for the half ironman. i have a total of over $2400 in donations and that is exciting. if you link to www.firstgiving.com/tri4pancan it doesn't show that much. i don't know why they don't include my checks on the online total. this morning i had a 2.5 hour routine to do before work started. it went pretty well. i think every workout is quite long but i also get 2 days off...that is incredible!

have a great night....i'm going to turn in soon! 4:30 is early on a consistent basis!

do you have a bucket list?

i have a patient that recently went on her first airplane ride ever. she is in her early 70's. i was so excited to talk with her about it last week. i just think that it is so neat that she is trying something new late in life. she said that she enjoyed the feeling of taking off and "banking". she then fell asleep. i told her that it was the perfect flight!

her husband referred the experience to the movie "the bucket list". now the things on that movie were pretty extravagent, but i like the premise of the show. a couple years ago when i was not having the best phase of my life, i wrote down a few things that i would like to do. i won't list them all here...i took 2 different approaches to this. i have a lot of superficial things and then some personal goals. take a look at a few of them:

-climb mt. kilimanjaro (that was the initial plan for this summer....boo jeff!)
-sky diving (done with my dad and sister in Hawaii)
-run a marathon
-visit every state
-practice medicine abroad
-have a life-long friend
-become mayor of a small town
-do a triathlon (first last april)
- learn how to play poker....it is something everyone always talks about...
- learn another language

that is just a sampling...i have a pretty big list!

houston chronicle

okay, so here is an overview from the houston chronicle today:

--the drug cartel is on the move in houston...yikes!

--the rate of prostitution is down due to the economy...but i still see evidence of it in my area

--of course, the economy

--galveston is ready to invite people back to visit after the hurricaine

--airline prices are taking a steep dive

now, there was a lot more in there...but the thing that was most interesting to me was in relation to the airline prices. so, we can blame the chronicle on this next idea. i might want to go to australia this summer. it would need to be at least a 2 week trip to make it worth it, but the ticket prices are the lowest i've ever seen. australia hasn't ever been high on my list---except to see the great barrier reef. my grandparents went there a number of years ago and had a great time. there are a couple things i need to check into though...the amount of time off i have, the average temperature, the average rainfall, the amount it costs to learn to scuba (i actually know that one already!)

hmm...something to think on.

a week for recovery

sorry i haven't been posting as much. when i'm in the pool, i think about creative things to say but by the time i get home from work i cannot recall anything that would be good to post.

last week was a recovery week and it was nice. who knew that 45min-1 hour work outs would seem so short. i'm within 1 month from the triathlon and i can't believe it! i am getting to the point where i'm ready to have it done with. i think the total amount raised for pancreatic cancer research is right about $$2300. on the website, it doesn't put in the amount that people have sent in with checks. pretty good for the first go around!

camillie and jai (2 social works at MDA) and i have started a pancreatic cancer support group. it literally just got off the ground....and some would say that it is big claim....but at least we have met. it is a start and it takes time for these groups to develop.

okay, i'm out for tonight. i'll think of something witty to post tomorrow...maybe!