ScrappyDoc

Final Friday...

...of freedom. Now that sounds like that could be a movie title or something, maybe. Nick and I just got back from the gym, or rather, he got back from the gym and I got done with my intro training session with Satan. No, actually it was really good and it just proved to me how really out of shape I am. It was like an old school gym class, doing jumping jacks, mountain climbers, lunges, the plank (I thought of you, Bex), etc. I can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow ;)

I also posted the new pics of our place from yesterday. The floors are in throughout the main and upper floors and they just look great. There was actually a snafu with the actual floors that were shipped, because we had originally wanted the vertical grain bamboo because it shows less of the knuckles, but they sent the regular stuff on accident. We didn't know that until we went over to take a look the other day. This was one of those cases of accidents happening for a reason, because we actually really liked the way the floors looked and we were worried that the vertical would look too busy. All in all, things are really starting to come together.

Long day

One weekend of freedom left... now that is a little scary. We had the rest of our ED orientation today and it actually wasn't too bad. Our group is really fun and the program directors are too. They took us out to lunch at a great Indian restaurant and then we did some more computer training in the afternoon. They use the T-sheet system here (on the computer, of course) which is actually really nice. It will take some getting used to, but it should totally streamline the patient care process. I'll write more about it once I get my feet wet.

Tonight, the department chair threw a big welcome party at his awesome home. It was very fun, and so nice to meet some of the other upper level residents as well as faculty members.

On a totally random note, Nick and I got to pick up our embroidered (long) white coats today, and I also picked up my departmental scrubs. We were goofin around a little with the camera, but I thought these would make you guys laugh.

Fun china...

...and I'm not talking about the country here, folks. I was killing a little time today and surfed around looking for some dishes to register for, since I've only found one set that I really liked so far. I'm not quite sure how I got to this website, but they have very interesting china (or porcelain, or whatever...). You can check out all of there stuff at notNeutral. Below are a couple of my favs.

Oh, and my EM orientation and "Get to know you" dinner are tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to meeting some more of the upper level residents as well as the faculty. Unfortunately Nick has his anesthesia thing tomorrow night too, so we'll both be flying solo, but I'm sure they'll be plenty of opportunities for us to go to these things together in the future.

We're also stopping by the house and supposedly a ton has gotten done, so I'll (fingers crossed) have some fun pics to post tomorrow or Friday.

We accept...

...your counter offer!! So after a little back and forth, we've finally settled on an offer that we think is fair, and everything is underway. The inspectors are actually coming through today, the radon test is underway (hope that comes out within the EPA limits) and everything should be go to go. Our closing is set for mid-July (I think the 12 or 13th), which will be great.

Nick and I are heading to the gym (we joined Peak Fitness) to get a start on getting fit. Bye bye muffin-top, you won't be missed.

In other news, we stopped by the house again yesterday afternoon. Granite has been installed in both the kitchen and the bathroom, bamboo floors are being laid, more paint is up, etc. I'll post more pics at the end of this week.

I counter your counter with another counter...

So that pretty much sums up how the offer on the house with. We've finally accepted their second counter offer and are awaiting their signed contract as I sit here writing this. Hallelujah!!! With our prospective closing date of July 13, this means no double mortgage, which is truly a blessing. Money is tight as it is right now, so every little bit helps, and not paying another month of bills, HOA, mortgage, etc. is more than a little bit. In conjunction with our delayed move-in here in Winston-Salem, it looks like everything is turning out alright.

Nick and I stopped by the Emergency Medicine office today to pick up the swag they ordered for us. It was so nice of them to do that, we got really cool messenger bags, sweatshirts and polos, and I also got to pick up my books. They bought Tintinalli's for us (which is considered to be the EM textbook). I think we get Harwood-Nuss next year which is certainly a more advanced book. There was also an Emergency Ultrasound book and a variety of Tarascon's pocket guides, which are always good in a pinch. Oh yeah, and I also got a big hug from the residency director, which was very funny because it kind of caught me off guard. It was pretty cool to see how excited they were to see me again.

In other news, one of the soon-to-be second year EM resident is having all of us over for a BBQ this evening. We got together this weekend with just our class at one of the interns houses and that was a lot of fun. The rest of the week will be spent doing random stuff to get ready for my first day. We have our EM orientation on Thursday, and then a pool party at the Chair's house in the evening. Then a little break before my first shift on Sunday, which is 6pm to 2am. Not sure if that will be busy or not, but it sounds like ER has been crazy busy regardless of the time or day. Nothing like jumping in headfirst right? Fingers crossed that it goes smoothly.

Another offer on the house

We got a call from Anna yesterday evening with another offer on the house. Yippee!!! They came in higher to start than the other offer, and it looks like they've got all of their ducks in a row. We countered their initial offer and then they returned another counter, hopefully we'll be under contract today at some point. They're 2 docs who I am assuming are starting residency at Iowa and they want to close in mid-July. That would just be great, because it is likely that we will close about the same time here in Winston, and what does that all add up to, no double mortgage!!! That would fantastic. I'll keep everyone posted as soon as we know.

A few new pictures

Nick and I stopped by the house again today and took care of quite a few things on our to do list. We had Jim reimburse us for our expenses so far, walked through the house and looked at the paint colors that are up and finalized some design things with Shari. All of the paint looked great except for the master bedroom. Unfortunately, the brown is oddly reminiscent of a PB & J, without the J, or course. We picked a different, more brown, less gold color and they are going to try to get that up tomorrow and let us look at one wall to see what we think. We found out that Jim accounts for 4 paint color changes in each room, but hopefully we won't have to do that. As far as we're concerned, everything else looks great.

Other good news is that some of our doors have arrived, the bamboo floors are in the garage, waiting to be installed, the granite counter tops are being delivered tomorrow. There are a few other things that I'm not remembering at the moment, but Jim reiterated that he fully believes that we will be in there in 2 weeks. That brings us to July 9th. Obviously this is later than we wanted, but it could be worse. I'm sure as soon as we start work, the time will just fly. OK, time to get a little reading done before bed, don't forget to check out the new pictures to the right.

RayLen Vineyard

On Saturday, Nick and I traveled out of Winston-Salem to the Yadkin Valley to do some wine tasting. This appellation is actually just about 20 or 25 minutes away, but it was a nice treat and really felt like we got away. Nicholas had never been to a vineyard before so this was a fun new experience. And the Yadkin Valley actually has about 15 different vineyards, which is quite a bit for such a small area. We visited RayLen winery, which was lovely, and tasted about 10 or 12 wines. You can check out their website for some nice pics and more info about their wines. Our favorites were the Viognier  and the Category 5, which is a blend of cab, merlot and a few other things. The young ladies that helped us were so nice and one of them actually works as a research assistant in the Radiology Department at Wake. She gave us a bunch of info about good local restaurants and places to go hiking and whatnot. Here are a few pics from our outing.

Excited to quilt again

Not as though I am going to have a ton of time to spend quilting, but we do have a niece coming in September, and that might warrant a little time up close and personal with my sewing machine. What also got me excited was this new fabric by Heather Bailey, which you can check out on her blog here. Things have changed so much since I started quilting in 2000. Back then I felt very lucky to find a few women who were close to my age to chat with about fabric and whatnot, and now it seems like there is a whole movement of younger generation quilters pushing the envelope. I'm sure that probably comes off as silly for most of you, but for those of us who need to create to be happy, this is pretty big news. Some other designers that are making fabulous fabrics include Amy Butler, Erin McMorris, and Valori Wells just to name a few. If anyone knows of other fun and funky fabric artists please send those my way. On that note, it's time to go hunting around Winston-Salem for some of these collections.

What a difference...

...a day makes, 24 little hours. I'm not quite sure how the rest of the song goes but it doesn't much matter right now, because it is in fact a much better day. Although it started out in the wrong direction, things straightened themselves out nicely. The movers arrived in Winston-Salem today, but at the last minute Jim (our builder) decided that he would feel better having our stuff in a secure storage unit as opposed to one of the other condos. There are a grunch of people on the sight everyday and he said that he would be more comfortable knowing our possessions were under lock and key.

This then led to the quest for a storage unit large enough to hold all of our stuff (7900 lbs to be exact, which is about the size of a small orca, in case you were wondering). This took several tries but finally we found one big enough. Nick and I then pulled up some lawn chairs and watched the United crew unload everything. We were on the lookout for our box of medical stuff, since it would probably be good to start our first day of work properly equipped with stethoscopes, trauma shears and the like. I even whipped out some suture and practiced my one-handed ties. It's nice to know that muscle memory lasts, since I can't say the same for my brain.

Speaking of memory and brains, did I mention how completely freaked out I'm feeling about my first day of residency?? Nick and I were going over bugs and drugs yesterday and I really think I've forgotten most of what I learned in microbiology. That in turn caused a whole cascade of worry related to clinical medicine. I hope it comes back quickly and until then, I hope my attendings and senior residents are kind.

Back to the events of the day... we did a little laying out by the pool (maybe I can avoid starting residency looking pasty), a little reading, and also went and checked out some furniture. We've been looking for furniture for several weeks now, and we finally found some things that we like and can actually afford. We picked out bar stools, a scrapbook desk for me and a couch. I'll send along pictures when we get some. Tomorrow should be a fun day as well. We're going to go check out a winery in the Yadkin valley, which is about 30 minutes from here, and then Adam, one of my fellow interns, is having everyone in our class over to his house for snacks and drinks. I'm really looking forward to both of those!