quiet season
it happens every year: beginning around december 20th, the hospital starts to just get . . . quiet. things begin to move more slowly. the parking garage empties a little as some [lucky] people head off on vacation. and all of the sudden, the pager stops beeping quite so incessantly. christmas magic!
it’s surprising, in a way. working at a hospital, we deal with emergencies — not anything that you’d necessarily expect to be impacted by something as trivial as the date on the calendar or a superfuntastic holiday coming up. but maybe holiday endorphins have healing properties, or the promise of pReSeNts! pushes our diabetics just a bit so that insulin is not forgotten. after all, no one wants to spend their holiday in the pediatric ICU dealing with DKA.* [including me].
don’t get me wrong — not everything shuts down. the NICU, for example, is pretty much the same as it is any day — apparently premature babies don’t get the memo about santa for at least a few months into post-gestational life. and therefore i will be getting calls about hypoglycemia and thyroid problems and adrenal insufficiency. but it won’t be anything unmanageable, and sometimes coming into a hushed holiday hospital is almost a little bit . . . cozy.
so i actually like this time of year, and i have worked every christmas since 2007. we don’t really celebrate [unless you count traditional indian takeout], so i feel it makes sense for me to let others who do have a wonderful holiday. and i don’t work new year’s, so it’s a fine tradeoff for me.
* DKA = diabetic ketoacidosis = acute illness that happens primarily in type 1 diabetes in the context of not having enough insulin on board for whatever reason [insulin pump failure, a forgotten injection or 3, underlying other illness].
new food find
public service announcement: if you see this peachtree pimento cheddar spread at your grocery store, you should buy it.
i’m certainly not proclaiming it health food . . .
the stats wouldn’t be bad, but the idea of a 1 tablespoon serving is laughable once you taste this stuff
ingredients pass muster, though!
this is not a official ‘review’; i just bought this on a whim at whole foods last weekend. but seriously: SO GOOD! super-sharp cheddar flavor, just the right amount of saltiness, and piquant pimento pieces strewn throughout — you can’t go wrong. i ALMOST just had some for breakfast. [not quite though, because i have a sunflower seed butter addiction. but almost.]
in other news/links
♥ if i were actually training for something again, i would be all over this training diary designed by two professional runners [lauren fleshman and roisin mcgettigan]. so pretty + motivating.
♥ love this poem on the moment found on repsych.
♥ i am obsessed with these angora baby booties:
my sister sent me this picture, but isn’t sure she’ll have time to make them! AGHGHGHGHGH!
♥ recipage [developed by the lovely emily of daily garnish fame] is now free! i’m thinking of starting to use it — partly just as an organizational tool for myself.
♥ quick business note: if you entered the spa gift card giveaway, i have been notified by blogher that the winning number [they pick it] will be sent to me on january 3rd.
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12.21.11
workout: nada. [tuesday i did 3.01 mi at 10:15/mi]. i’m starting to have some back pain — thumbs down. perhaps i need to amp up the yoga . . .
dinner: an easy clean eating recipe from the jan/feb issue:
pork and carrot curry
probably would have been ‘cleaner’ without a million of the above-pictured crackers with pimento dip beforehand, but oh well.
espanol: check. reading: sorta check [i did it at work].
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