Early afternoon. Fan turned on high to combat the Chicago summer heat. Lounging in a pair of shorts and a tank top, nursing a cup of high-octane coffee while I work up the motivation to do something other than NAP. You'd think it was the weekend for me, but no; it's MONDAY. The patient load is extraordinarily light on this service (at least today), and at 9AM (after about four hours of rounding, lecture, ect.) our residents told us to go 'study', that they'd page us if anything happened worthwhile, and if we DIDN'T hear from them, to go home at 4. I'm telling you, it felt like fucking CHRISTMAS. I had to stifle the impulse to SKIP outta there.

I promise you, despite the way it might sound, I'm not miserable. I'm about half-way through my Ob-Gyn rotation, and it's organized in such a way that we spend two weeks each on three different 'services', or flavors of Ob-Gyn practice. I was on labor and delivery the first two weeks and LOVED it; I could work a 16 hour day and not bat an eye-lash, be back bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5AM the next morning. (P.S. where the hell does that expression come from? Whenever I hear/ say it I conjure up images of the cartoon squirrels from Sleeping Beauty.) My second two weeks are being spent on Gynecology-Oncology, which deals with cancers of the female genital tract and is essentially a surgical specialty. If I've learned anything in the last couple weeks, it's that I have zero interest an surgery; even if I DID, my personality is not 'surgical' in the least. I'm not suffering by any means; the medicine is still cool, and I've followed some interesting patients. But at the same time, when they set me free from a day in the OR, I'm certainly not HEARTBROKEN. Next up is Uro-Gyn, which is more of the same, but I have some lectures and whatnot that fall on those days, so it won't end up being a full two weeks. Lord have mercy. :-)

All in all, although I've enjoyed this rotation, I'm pretty sure my future doesn't lie in OB-Gyn. It's just too darn surgical. Scratch it off the list of career possibilities. Next up is Peds, and what a freaking cliche I would be, peppy blond pediatrician, but Peds is definitely in my top three possibilities for a future career. I suspect I'm going to like it a lot.

In OTHER news, and much much happier news, I just got back from a surprise visit to Shane in Maryland! He had NO idea. I pretty much got a bug up my ass on Thursday morning that I wanted to see him, bought a surprisingly cheap last minute flight, and flew into BWI on Friday evening. Bekah, wonderful woman that she is, picked me up from the airport and dropped me off on base, where Shane was bowling. He had his back to me when I walked in, so I went up and grabbed his ass. Like full palm squeeze action, NOT something he could miss or ignore. God bless the man, he's so loyal to me, he turned around looking ready to slug someone, male or female, only to be confronted with my smiling face. HIS face was PRICELESS. He says "I'm imagining things," then, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?" and hugs me. It was a great start to a great weekend, which I think did worlds of good for our relationship. Long distance sucks; you really have to find things to hold on to, to carry you through when things get hard. This weekend was one of those things I'll hold on to.

He comes and visits again on August 14th. CanNOT wait. :-)

Aaaaaannnddd it's time for my nap. Being a third year is f'ing awesome. :-)