Pontificum Scriblerus

Has this ever happened to you?? You know it has. You just know it. Own up. I am especially familiar with this one: And not necessarily in the feline species.

I think it's winning. The pregnancy, I mean. I've been coasting along, with an "see? it's not so bad" kind of attitude, despite occasional gripes about blisters on feet, but lately, I think it's taking over. The other day I went home early from work because I thought I was having contractions. After sitting around for two hours, going, God, this is SO uncomfortable, regularly every 5 minutes, it dawned on me that maybe these were the famous Braxton Hicks? I called the OB office, and was instructed to go home, drink a big glass of water, and lie on my left side. Yes, Please! I tried to sneak out unseen, but got spotted by the secretaries, and soon the news had spread, and panic ensued. Typical. WHO WILL COVER THE INVALID PREGNANT GIRL WHILE SHE IS GONE? Meanwhile, it escaped people to try to find out what's going on, and if I'm actually gone for good, or just enyoing a doctor-sanctioned 3 hour afternoon nap. So, now, everyone thinks I might be having ...

When I was little, we used to go away for the summer to this little town in Latvia, called Kraslava . It was located on the banks of the river Daugav, outside the larger city of Daugavpils. I have no idea who picked it and how, but I remember that it was a year when we had no summer plans, and it was June 7th, and we were still in the city, which was unacceptable for any family of class. Next thing I know, my grandmother, her sister and I were aboard a very civilized sleeper train on our way to the Baltics. My other experience with trains was a few years prior, when I traveled on a train with no water while overflowing with food poisoning, so this was quite a nice change. The Baltic republics, during Soviet times, were the closest thing we could get to going "abroad," ie outside the USSR. We stayed at the town hotel the first couple of nights, and ate at their restaurant, ate romantic and sophisticated things such as "beefsteak," and "schnitzel," and...

I've been playing around with pictures. I want to post them. Bear with me. The first shot is the original, and the second is doctored up. Which is better? Beach Beach, through rose colored glasses. Flowers in the dark. Santa Monica sunset Brighter sunset And this is just because.

I applied for GI fellowship knowing that chances were we might end up elsewhere, as in, Baltimore or Chicago, or even Albany. So, the fact that I got a spot in the area was actually a huge win. But that didn't keep me from crying about having to give up our cozy little apartment in Boston and make the move to Out Here. I work Out There, and Out Here is much closer than Boston. Ironically, initially, I gave up and said, let's just go for it... let's just live Out There too - at least, in my anticipated misery (and was I right!), I can be very very close to work. We poked around Out There's "luxury rental communities," but they were pretty depressing. They were mostly cardboard boxes with guilded decorations, and the only "luxurious" thing about them was the price - albeit, still cheaper than Boston. Out Here was a breath of fresh air. It was a sturdy solid construction and lacked that cookie cutter little box quality most "rental communite...

I'm an egocentric little girl, and I'm the first to admit it. I see the world mainly through Sasha-colored goggles, and tend to assume that everything has something to do with me. While often, it means I get a high from reveling in the sunshine of attention from - well - everyone, it's not always a good thing, as far as my self esteem and well-being go. I'm the type of person that will say, Why is so and so upset, are they mad at me? And then, I'll spend hours worrying about what I did to make it so. This, along with the fact that I continue to stick to the notion that no one REALLY cares about anyone... But before I continue. About my theory on caring. I do believe that no one really cares about anyone but themselves, and maybe one or two other people. I've discussed this before, I must have. It's the main dogma on which I pretty much base my entire existential crisis/critical existence. I've had arguments before about this. Kind-hearted folks...

Part of Obama's healthcare plan is a provision that employers with more than 50 employees have to provide a private and secure place, other than a bathroom, and free from intrusion from the public and other employees, for breast feeding and pumping for new moms in the workplace. I had no idea about this, but when I found out, my first reaction was a healthy skeptical snort, especially based on my experiences as a female physician here at this institution. This is the place that made the 9 month pregnant resident cover some guy on vacation. This is the place where a person from a position of power told me that "as a woman, you need to learn to read capsules because it's not physically challenging, and you can do it as well as anyone." (Implying that as a woman, there are some things I can't do as well as anyone?!) Also, where another female physician, one that has three kids of her own, told me that if I need a snack after 12 hours of work, I need to run, or e...