Man, it's frigid here in the OC. And by frigid, I mean it got down to 49 in the sun today. Felt like SF. I know I'm being whiny since I grew up here, but it's actually nice, feels crisp when you go outside.
Been working 8-12 hours a day on my last week off on this symposium we're planning for the emergency department. It's at the Doubletree in Orange and we're expecting 150 California med students. www.socalsymposium.com is the website, I did not design it, but the pics and logo are mine, placed by my web genius/resident friend Warren.
Yesterday was a really fun day. Worked hard all day at my adopted desk in the emergency department office, then the department invited the med students to happy hour at El Torito. They bought all the appetizers and beers. Contrast to me getting asked to leave the Internal Medicine Department Xmas party at Bucca di Beppo even though I was the registered "+1" of one of the residents. Guess what field of medicine makes me feel more welcome?
Then had a wine and stinky cheese party at my friend Jill's, she transported wine and cheese in her trunk from Napa last week and had a bunch of people over to partake. Very nice, and good company. Then went to Tia's with Mat and had some beers and played Bocci in the dark. Fun times.
Hung with the nieces today, got dinner and they stayed up past their bedtime watching Pirates II because I was passed out on the couch. Weak, my 9 and 11 year old nieces are harder core than me.
Good news: The Fever is back. We are currently rehearsing for the 2007 UCI School of Medicine talent show. On the set list: Don't Stop Believin' (Journey) and a new original. That's right, if you're near the 92617, come on out. I'll post more info when we get the date, it's in March. Hopefully we won't suck by then.

Let's just call it 4, OK? And I walked part of it. Hey, it's been a while. 

*Drip. Drip. Drip.*
That's the noise of my brain leaking out my nose. It smells.
So it's been a month and a week or two since I last entered my life into the record books. Since then, I finished inpatient internal medicine, which turned out to be one of the best (and most dramatic) experiences in med school. Flew out to Vegas for a baller-status weekend celebrating my friend David's last days as a single man. Caught up with all the old friends from HB, hit the Blue Beet, went to a Palermo Cr. progressive dinner party, hung with the brother/family, did Christmas and an amazing dinner with Mom n' Pops, and gave the Honda some exercise going up to SF, where I convened with most of my best friends for a great week of eating, drinking, celebrating New Year's, and enjoying being NOT in Orange County. Also saw my two great friends Nicole and David tie the knot in Berkeley, so got to hang with all the good med school kids and have a mini-reunion with the bachelor/bachelorette part crew from Vegas. As I drove home I felt the strongest urge I've ever had to leave this place. Hopefully that will stick when it's time to apply to residency.
Also did some extracurricular work for the emergency medicine group, went to Club Vegas to celebrate Gracie's birthday, saw (some of) NOFX at the House of Blues Anaheim until Kladney re-dislocated then relocated his kneecap, forcing me to use my connections at UCIMC's ER to get him morphined-up and immobilized in about an hour.
What else?
My brother is moving the family to Sisters, Oregon, which is near Bend which is near....nothing. It'll be good for them all I think, but sad that my nieces are not 5 minutes away anymore.
And I'm broke. These past 3 weeks sucked a lot of cash from my wallet. I am now basing myself at home, eating at home, making my own coffee, running short missions out into the world where I attempt not to buy anything, and living off of Christmas gift certificates.
Next up: One week left of freedom, plus some more work on all the extracurricular crap I purposely overextended myself with, maybe some movie-watching, some attempted weight control so I don't have to buy bigger pants, some brain fortification to relearn the month of internal medicine that I still have to know since the most important exam of the year is not until mid-March, and then a month of outpatient (clinic-based) internal medicine followed by a month of family medicine. 8-5 schedule with weekends off but much busywork. Then the big EM symposium we're all busting our asses for is Feb 10.
Things to look forward to:
-Hopefully getting some good grade results pretty soon here...
-Trying to get Dustin down here for his favorite holiday: St. Patrick's Day
-Emergency Medicine conference in VEGAS
-Bay to Breakers (email me or Mat if you want to be part of the greatest alcohol-carrying manpowered float SF has ever seen)
-Psychiatry because it's easy and it's my last rotation of third year (but that's after OB-Gyn, which is after the 2 months of outpatient stuff, then I'm a FOURTH YEAR)
-Knowing that I can live in basically any city in America come 2008, and figuring out where that city will be :)