Turns out I didn't need it (three diet sodas sufficed nicely ;). . . I had my first day @ Children's w/ patients. Started out a bit rough: Philip sweetly rolled out of bed on his day off and drove me down to the metro so I wouldn't have to walk in the dark/cold. Usually, I take the metro, change from blue to red line and then get off at the station closest to the hospital and hop on a shuttle. I realized half way through my trip this morning (I was sitting there 60% asleep and then was suddenly VERY awake) that there were no shuttles due to the holiday. Dang, I should have just driven (though this would have left Philip stranded for the day which wouldn't have been nice for him). Not entirely sure what to do, I got off at the Pentagon and called Philip back (he had, of course, fallen back asleep. poor guy!). After rousing him from his peaceful slumber a second time, I asked if he could pick me up at the Pentagon station and drive me the rest of the way. In his wisdom, he advised me to just metro farther into the city and take a taxi the last bit of the way rather than waiting 30+ minutes for him to get through traffic to reach me and then driving another 30 min to the hospital. He was wise. I hopped on the next train and continued into the city. Taxi ride was only $6, and I got there in plenty of time.
We saw our first family for the first session of the research study. It was exciting to start the "real" thing. I'm loving the pediatric hospital environment a LOT. I definitely feel at home (I can successfully navigate to West Wing 6th floor research to East Wing Oncology!). I ended up clocking over 10 hours today (hooray for holiday pay. . . not hooray for the possible speeding ticket we may or may not have gotten on the drive home --- good thing it was "time and a half" - by the time all is said and done, I'll have, well, "time")
We had good weekend. Saturday we went downtown and studied/read at Starbucks. Sunday we had Sunday school, church, small group after church, 3 hours at home, Sunday pm small group. All in all, busy but very enjoyable. I rested well last night feeling that I had adequately managed my time/academic load on Friday & Sat.
Tomorrow I observe my first intake at the University clinic. After that, I will join two of my (wonderful!) peers in facilitating discussion about self esteem/self concept in Social Psyc. Fascinating subject as my classmates and I grew up in the "self esteem" revolution - praise only but don't hurt anyone's feelings. I definitely can tell in my own self and see in my classmates some of the backlash from being raised in this culture (competitive, distracted by grades, somewhat risk averse, turn answers into questions [unless you are sure you are right or will be the best or will win, etc. etc.] etc.). I'm going to lead disco on a lot of what I learned (material from the book Nurture Shock) that I found absolutely FASCINATING in one of my Cambridge lectures last March.
Last week I sat with my classmates Stephanie and Megan in Starbucks discussing the readings for the week I just wanted to pinch myself. It was beautiful: having intellectual conversation that was FASCINATING with two very lovely ladies over coffee/frapp/tea/beverage of choice. This is my dream.
I keep pinching myself scared that I'm soon going to wake up.
1 comment:
Sounds like you are "having the time of your life." You packed a lot into your Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day. I bet that was a terrible feeling when you first realized there was no shuttle. I tell people that you and Philip have gotten very good at "thinking on your feet" especially when you are traveling. My Monday was invigorating also, mostly due to the cold January Minnesota day. I was hauling beans to the elevator at the request of Monsanto. So, I did my contribution towards feeding the world for another day.
Love to you and Philip, Mom
P.S. Lorraine says you sure must be brave to live in Washington, D.C. (actually she says it several times during a visit)
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