Dork with a Capital D

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a big dork. No, not the movie version of a "dork" who takes off her glasses, pulls out her ponytail, and automatically transforms into head cheerleader. I'm the kind of dork who runs out of time playing Scattergories trying to come up with the most obscure Harry Potter references possible and has seriously considered throwing a birthday party for her cat. That in mind, I think one of the dorkiest things about me has to be how inappropriately giddy I feel this time of year.

I don't care that I've been out of school for over two years and will (likely) never be a full time student again. The end of the summer will always mean one thing to me - BACK TO SCHOOL. As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, I have an insane desire to purchase new sneakers and fill my good old LL Bean backpack with freshly sharpened pencils, 5 subject notebooks, multi-colored index cards, and brand new highlighters. And most of all, I yearn to walk across the picturesque campus of Boston College again with a stack of newly purchased textbooks and the chance to daydream about all the new things I have the opportunity to learn. I know, it's crazy, but so very, very true.

And that's why I'm a dork with a capital D.

Healthier Zucchini Bread

I love this time of year for fresh local produce. One of the most abundant items available right now at the farm markets and stands seems to be zucchini. As my little bug loves banana bread, I thought I'd give zucchini bread a try instead. Per my usual routine, I scoured my favorite cookbooks as well as Allrecipes.com for a good recipe to try. This is the top rated recipe from Allrecipes. Below you will find my modifications to make it healthier.

Modified Recipe (changes in italics)

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour
• no salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3+ tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup splenda
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini
  no nuts

Bake in two loaf pans (greased or sprayed with cooking spray) at 325 for 40-60 minutes. Enjoy!

Sunday Dinner

Well, not really. We had this for dinner on Friday, but it very well could make a simple and delicious Sunday dinner.

The story behind this meal is that I've been trying really hard to purchase only antibiotic free, vegetarian or grass fed meat. Now that Fresh Market has opened, this should hopefully be a little easier, but one of the only meats available at Hannaford when I went shopping last week was an all natural country style pork rib. After a quick google search for "country style pork rib recipes" I found this recipe. I can never stick with a recipe, so this is how I adapted it:

• I washed the ribs (just 1lb) and placed them in a pan coated with foil
• Instead of cooking spray, I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with pepper

• For the rub, I mixed together 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1tsp of cajun seasoning

• Then, I rubbed the mixture into all sides of the ribs

• Finally, I folded up the corners of the foil to create a pouch and baked for 60 minutes at 325 (I think it could have been cut back to 45 minutes if you have less time to let it brew)

• For the BBQ sauce, I made it exactly as posted on the original recipe, except I omitted the onion powder because I didn't have any.
• I opened up the foil packet after the 60 minutes and brushed about 1/4 cup of the BBQ sauce over the ribs and baked for 15 more minutes with the pouch open.
  
• I saved the rest for of the BBQ sauce for dipping with the meal.
  

And that was the end result!
I served the pork with frozen baby peas from Trader Joe's,
leftover sweet potato hash,
and some rice.

How to be a good patient

After spending the last three weeks working only in our outpatient clinic, I've decided that the general public needs a little education on what pediatrician's schedules really look like and how not to make our lives miserable

• On average, your physician probably has 30 minutes to see your child for a "routine" well child visit
• The sick visit that you request for your child is likely slotted for 15 minutes (or less)
• There is no wiggle room in your doctor's schedule - in other words, appointments are booked at 9am, 9:15, 9:30, etc.
• Just because you booked your kids for back-to-back appointments does not mean you can arrive at the second allotted time and still be "on time"
  
• If you arrive at 9:15 for your 9am appointment, you've now made it so that your doctor is going to be late seeing every single other patient on his/her schedule
  
• On the flip side, if your doctor arrives to see you at 3pm for your 2:15pm appointment, it's not because he/she was sitting around eating fine chocolate and chatting about the latest episode of True Blood. It's most likely because some bozo arrived late for their visit
• It's poor etiquette to book a late visit (that your doctor is sitting around waiting for) and then NO SHOW
  

While I'm on the subject of ways to make your pediatrician less miserable, please don't call the after hours EMERGENCY phone service for any of the following reasons (unless you want your pediatrician to reconsider the merits of a job at Starbucks over administering any further medical care to such a thankless populace):

• Routine medication refills - if your kid is sleeping comfortably and not having any symptoms, you probably don't need me to call in a script at 10pm for an inhaler that you aren't going to pick up until the next day anyway
  
• To complain that the office was too busy to see your child when you called at 1pm wanting an appointment that afternoon during peak flu season.
  
• To inform me that you think your child may have broken a bone, but aren't going to go to the ER because your other kids are sleeping
• To ask my advice on what to do because your child pooped a lot after eating a bunch of junk food
• To ask me to have your child's medical records copied to send to a new office because you are moving in a few months

Lest I sound like a jerk poking fun at some of the more ridiculous situations I've encountered, I have to say that it takes very little to actually make me glad I chose medicine as a profession. Whenever a patient takes my advice to heart or sincerely says "thank you", it makes my day.

Gettin' Crafty

That's right, the sewing machine queen that managed to fund many aspects of her wedding by slaving over piles of fabric and producing dozens of totes is ready to jump back into the saddle with a new and exciting project after a pregnancy/residency/new mommyhood forced hiatus.

This year I am planning to make my daughter's Halloween costume. Yes, I know that Halloween is over two months away, BUT my work schedule will explode from a 40 to an 80 hour work week as of September 2nd and I want to get a head start. I took advantage of a morning away from clinic to start browsing and get the creative juices flowing.

After a quick visit to my fav fabric mega-store, Joann's, I emerged with a plan to create the perfect costume for my blue-eyed, blonde-haired bug beauty - Tinkerbell! Simplicity sells an official Disney Fairies pattern, but I decided to get more creative (and practical). I purchased a really cute pattern based on the popular "pillowcase dress" silhouette and am planning to make the dress out of green fleece fabric (for warmth!) with some sparkle embellishments. I'll post my progress when I get started.

Here's looking back to last Halloween at the cutest bug you'll ever meet...

16 months

I've gathered that this is a common feature on a lot of mommy blogs, but I'll give credit to my friend Kelly of Life with Monster who I got the idea from - Thanks Kelly!

My Baby Bug at 16 months

• Bug weighs just about 22lbs which puts her around the 25 percentile where she seems to have settled out over the past 6 months.
• When Bug wakes up in the morning she can usually be heard "chatting" with her Build-A-Bear cat, Abby.
• Her favorite foods these days are watermelon, cheddar cheese, peas, carrots, corn on the cob, sliced ham, pasta with red sauce, chocolate, Trader Joe's cat cookies, and ice pops (check out Popsicle Mighty Minis, they are the perfect size for toddlers).
• Bug loves our cat moe. SO MUCH that I feel really bad for the poor thing. Whenever she can, Bug corners moe. and literally collapses onto her to give her a "hug." Miraculously, moe. doesn't scratch her and just rides it out.
  
• She is walking/running really well these days. One of her favorite things to do is to run around the house yelling like a maniac.
• Bug LOVES music and will dance to everything from the loud Phish music Daddy likes to blare all weekend to the silly lottery commercial with the teeny bunny rabbits.
• She recognizes The Children's Place and starts wailing the second I walk in. I guess that's her way of telling me I spend too much time there.
• I think it's finally over, but we've had a not so nice run of biting. Bug would snuggle up like she was cuddling, and then CHOMP into my shoulder/arm/chest leaving welts - ouch!
  
• Bug is not a tidy girl when it comes to eating. She throws her sippy cup splashing milk all over the floor and walls, hides food down the front of her shirt, and rubs spaghetti sauce/ketchup/yogurt through her hair.
  
• When Bug is getting sleepy at night she likes to pull and twist her eyelashes. It seems to soothe her and helps her fall asleep.
  

Breaking the silence...

I love to blog - share recipes, get my frustrations from daily life out, and talk about health topics that interest me, BUT I tend to get lazy. I think about a blog post that I want to make all day, and then the craziness of being a resident all day and mommy to a 16 month old crazy bug all night just exhausts me. Usually it's to the point that once the dinner dishes are washed, the toys are picked up, tomorrow's dinner is prepped in the fridge, and I've fold laundry/wiped down counters/tackled dust bunnies I am unwilling to even peel myself off the couch to take the five step journey to the sofa table that houses our laptop. For what it's worth, I'm going to try to post more often. And, after continuing to read many of my favorite blogs despite my own cyber-silence, I'll be trying to add some of my own regular features.

So, if you can handle the possible disappointment if I fail to tend to my blog (yet again), hang on as I start up again...