Unclutter My Life, Please

Courtesy of Peter Walsh for Unclutterer.

The past seven years of my life have been spent studying, working, studying, working and recently trying to raise a baby. It is safe to say that in this mix my domestic life suffered. Oh, don't worry about the marriage part, I have the most loving and patient husband ever. I'm talking about cooking, cleaning and just plain having a routine.

You'd think that after nearly 7 years of being married, we'd have some semblance of a routine. But it seems like everytime we've got something under control, things change on us. Take for instance my schedule. Every 1-2 months my job duties and hours change. -THAT is the life of a resident. To make matters even more complicated, a growing boy adds extra variety. One day you can leave him in the bouncy chair while you make lunch, the next he's flipped it over and is trying to crawl.

I realized we needed a set routine the other day when I was running up and down the stairs in only a towel while trying to find baby's shoes & food, and my white coat, and Daddy's phone. I forgot to mention the shades were drawn and we have HUGE front windows, so this must have made for an entertaining show.

In the next week I hope to come up with some organizational tips that will streamline my life, if at all possible. And as I always say, if it works for Resident Mommy, it will probably work for you, too.

I'm BAAAAAACK!

A monumental time.

I have a year's worth of experience being a mother! Can you believe it? One of the quickest lessons I learned was that you can't juggle it all. Hence the HUGE gap in posts.

During my absence from the blog world I took my 16 HOUR board licensing exam and faced several other trials that I can't even get into here. I have lamented my choice to be a resident and mother at the same time, but I wouldn't trade my son for anything. As I spent many long days at the hospital, lost countless hours of sleep, and missed meal after meal I questioned my career choice, too. Then something happened yesterday. . .

My adult cousin choked on her food at the birthday party.

I was sitting at another table enjoying my meal and having fun mommy-to-mommy discussion when I heard: "HELP HER!!!" I turned around to see my family swarming around my cousin who was in obvious distress. Here is what happened next, in step-wise fashion:

1. I think "Is this really happening? People over-react all the time!"
2. I approached my cousin quickly to judge for myself.
3. I can hear my name being yelled to do something, anything.
4. Iasked my cousin if she can say something, anything.
5. She puts her hands around her throat and shakes her head desperately.
6. I think "Ohhhhh man, this is REAL."
7. "Call 911!" I tell them.
8. No one moves, everyone (30+) is staring at me.
9. My cousin is turning blue and remains silent.
10. I think "She's going to die. I'm not in a hospital. I can't page anesthesia."
11. I tell myself "All you can do is what you've been trained to do."
12. People keep staring at me.
13. I think of all the children around and tell God it would be cruel if tragedy were to strike here, in front of them, and on my little boy's birthday.
14. I perform the Heimlich maneuver three times.
15. My cousins gasps for air and begins to speak.
16. I make sure she's OK.
17. I sit back down and my uncle says "That med school tuition was worth it!"

I Am Not Dead

But this blog is close to expiration, no?

I will resurrect it when I'm done studying for Boards (June 8th), thanks for your patience. . . and prayers!

This is What I do When I'm Stressed

OCD much?

I painted the backdrop of those shelves black and organized my books by color. I think it's better than doing drugs, and such.

Full view of the fireplace/bookshelves can be found here. If you're curious to know what that white pile is in the hearth, it's my white coat from intern year that I plan to burn very soon.

Had Enough?

I was having this conversation with a friend:

Friend: I'm coming out and telling people now that I'm going to do a fellowship.

[A fellowship is at least one more year of training AFTER residency. For those of you keeping count, that's about 25yrs of education.]

Me: Oh, good for you if that's what you want to do.

Friend: How about you?

Me: I feel like I have to choose between doing fellowship and having another child. These eggs aren't getting any younger.

Friend: Yeah, you're right. That's the reality of the situation. If you're going to do fellowship, that's gotta be your main focus for that year or two.

Me: Didn't you want to have another one?

Friend: Yes, I'm going to try and crank one out while I'm still in residency.

Me: Good luck with that, too.


Does it bother anyone how unnatural this child planning business is for female doctors? What about this idea of being 'in school' forever?

My YouTube Picks

Meet my babysitters.

I am guilty of sticking my son in this, placing a laptop in front of him and playing the following videos so that I have time for myself. Enjoy!

• Sesame Street with Feist singing 1-2-3-4


• Sesame Street with Nora Jones singing "Don't Know 'Y'"


• Mister Roger's 'Good Feeling.'


• The wedding aisle dance (my boy loves this for some reason)


• Fantasia's Pines of Rome & the third part live by Von Karajan.


• And for more classical tunes, Barry White's My First, My Last, My Everything.

Am I The Targeted Audience?

Always so cool.

There I was lying on my sofa feeling drained of all life and energy when a maxi-pad commercial comes on showing this beautiful woman jogging, presumably while she's menstruating. The next scene is of her showing up for rounds as a medical resident, after which she goes out for a night on the town with her girlfriends.


Really? All those months in pregnancy and breastfeeding seem silly now when I think about the joys to be had shedding my uterine lining. From now on I'll think of it as a career boost!