Cookie Monsters

Ok, I know... I have so been lagging on my posts lately. Don't hate me! I will be working on catching you up on the past couple of weeks tonight and tomorrow. You'll here about my trip to Arizona, the rest of Nick's visit, my trip to New Hampshire, the rest of Lisa's visit, and a wonderful surprise.

Friday marked the completion of 25% of my residency... I can't believe it's already the end of September. I finished my quarterly self-evaluations I'm required to do as part of our residency accredidation, and I was shocked at the number of ways I've grown professionally and personally since this process started. Even so, I'm glad my residency isn't over- I still have a long way to go.

After sleeping in today (and when I say sleeping in, I mean sleeping in), I went over to Lorna and Craig's for dinner and football. (Yes, shortly after waking up, I went to someone's house for dinner. I don't know how it is possible for someone to sleep for 14 hours straight, but I can assure you that it can be done.) Lorna is a pharmacist who works in the office under the same umbrella but in a different department, and she has been wonderful about making me feel at home. She lives just about 15 minutes away (if that) with her husband, Craig, and their two kids, Calleigh (almost 4) and Colin (a big 2). We grilled out for dinner and just spent time talking, relaxing, and sharing stories. I brought a giant cookie shaped like a football over to their house to have the kids decorate with me... aren't they adorable?

Calleigh helping me with the cookie

Our final masterpiece (Craig and Lorna both went to Pitt)

In typical male fashion, Colin was only interested in eating the cookie, not decorating it

When you live on your own, it can be easy to forget about "family life." No, I don't forget about my family. I just forget that some people don't have the luxury of doing whatever they want whenever they want. I will enjoy this lifestyle while I can, but it's nice to have a surrogate family to take care of you once in a while, too.