Update

Do I have any friends left here? I feel sooo bad for not posting. It’s just that real life stuff has to come 1st obviously. Between work and visiting family and trying to exercise and trying to write a book and church there’s room for almost nothing else. Anyway, I don’t want to offer excuses really it’s just that I got out of the habit of writing here. I’ll see about getting back into it somewhat. it’s just that I’m trying to spend what extra time I have away from the computer. I’ll see what I can do.

Really anything interesting that has happened has happened since February or later. Actually that’s not necessarily true, but close. I went to see my grandparents for Thanksgiving, and I  saw Arun. It was like nothing had happened between us (like being broken up for 3 yrs?). I started wearing an engagement ring but then decided not to, much to the confusion of my colleagues. The ring was actually given to me by my grandmother. It’s a very nice ring. It must have been her mother’s engagement ring. I don’t think you’re engaged until you have a wedding date set, and we don’t.

It snowed on Christmas day, and I spent the day on call at the hospital. Not fun. Boring.

My dad’s cousin Sarah came to visit me in March. She wanted to see me in my "natural habitat" so she came to the hospital and we sat in the front lobby. As luck would have it (this NEVER happens), a former patient randomly appeared, gave me a hug and spoke to me for a few minutes. Later, I drove Sarah around the neighborhood. I got paged, answered the page, "This is Dr…" We later ate dinner at Gloria’s and Sarah would later tell my grandparents it was the best food she has ever eaten in a restaurant. Hmm. I’m glad I showed her a good time. I wish I were that easy to please.

I spent Easter with my dad and stepmom and some of her family. It was nice.

The first week of April I had to take Step 3 (final step!!) of the US Medical Licensing Exam. I am supposed to get the scores back on June 5th because of a score reporting delay. I hope I did ok.

By that point in April I was getting burned out. I had done cardiology in November, inpatient internal medicine (wards) in December, January, March. February I did ICU. April I did pulmonary, but I had to take Step 3 and I had a lot of nights as well. I finally took my vacation on April 25th-May 5th.

Vacation

I flew to New Orleans and visited some old friends, including Nikki, who if you remember, is my best friend from medical school. It was so good to catch up with her. I had dinner at her house one night. I also had brunch with her one morning at Surrey’s. I  bought a piece of art at the brunch place. I’ll post a picture sometime. Before seeing her, I also had fun going to the Chart Room, riding the streetcar, and walking the Garden District. I ate at juan’s flying burrito, Mona lisa’s, St. Charles Tavern, Eat Well, and the gospel brunch at House of Blues. It rained a lot so I didn’t go to Jazz Fest but it’s ok because I’ve been to Jazzfest at least twice before.

The very first place where I ate was Eat Well. I thought it was appropriate. It reminds me of when I wanted to eat local but also fast. Honestly, I was exhausted when I got to New Orleans.Part of my feeling burnt out involved me not sleeping well. I flew from Dallas at 6am and arrived in NOLA at 7:30. I had no car obviously so to save money I took a shuttle to a hotel then took the streetcar to Eat Well then I walked to my friend’s house. Then I slept most of the rest of the day. Later we went out to Chart Room ate at Mona Lisa’s and saw a burlesque show at a hotel ironically named The Saint. The hotel was beautiful. And so were the dancers. People walking down Canal Street could see them clearly and many stopped to watch.

The next morning I took it easy and took the streetcar uptown. I  ate at the St. Charles Tavern, walked the Garden District, stopped by Zotz for tea, and bought a couple of books on Oak Street. That night I had dinner with Van. She was going to  take me for drinks at a new bar which I have never seen but she had to take her roommate somewhere instead.

The next morning (Sunday) we did the gospel brunch. It was good except they were all wearing jerseys for some reason. That evening we went to Juan’s then Tracey’s and we caught up with a couple of the bartenders we know, lol.

Monday evening I had dinner with Nikki at her mother’s house. She lives with her mother. We were able to catch up and reconnect which was awesome. It’s interesting how Nikki’s life seems so much the same. During medical school she had a dorm at the school but spent most of the time either at her mom’s or her boyfriend’s house. When I left NOLA they were in the process of buying another house closer to where they work and they just moved finally. The new house is very similar to the old one. But I believe I like it a bit better. Nikki doesn’t have any rent or other living expenses, which must be lovely. My rent is $1,066/month. She is in psychiatry residency. She likes it. She works much fewer hours per week than I do. She is still "with" her boyfriend but they don’t define their relationship. They are monogamous however. The next day I saw her again and we had brunch at  Surrey’s.

Later that day I flew back to Dallas. I spent the night in Dallas then drove to see my grandparents. In hindsight a more economical plan might  have been to drive to New Orleans then to my grandparents’ then back to Dallas but I don’t think I could’ve driven from Dallas to NO as tired as I was. Anyway, it was good seeing my grandparents again. When I’m there it’s pretty laid back. I sleep a lot, visit with Arun, read, watch TV and work on my own writings. And of course eat home cooked meals 🙂

Love,

Julie