The Intern's New Year's Resolution

I am not a fan of "New Year's Resolutions" but perhaps that is just because I am contrary much of the time. I quite often like not doing what everyone else is tending to do it seems. I thought I was growing out of this childish trait though, but found that same feeling return when I decided to make some "resolutions" this last weekend. "Everyone makes resolutions and no one keeps them...", I thought. Well, no matter, I found that time has come for some and I am going to make them. What inspired this all??? A nice holiday break. Two weeks where I was away from Sacramento, away from the hospital, away from sick patients and surrounding by my friends and family and with time to simple 'be'.

I returned from two GLORIOUS weeks off on Jan 1st and restarted my life as an intern. I must say I probably had the best 2-week vacation any intern on the planet can ask for. I started it off with a drive from Sacramento to Seattle. I know the photo is a bit blurry (I have since replaced my iPhone 3G with a 3GS!) but as you can see I had 11 hours and 41 minutes of driving time to clear my head from the mashed up placed it was at after my first 6 months of residency. It was a good drive and I only spent $105 in fuel and produced 581 lbs of carbon according to my "EcoTrip" calculator on my GPS. (I wonder what a plane ride would have cost in both $ and lbs?) I chose to drive because I did need the time to clear my head but also wanted to bring enough gear for the Mt Baker cabin weekend I had planned with all my closest friends!

We rented a 4 bedroom ski cabin in Snowline near Mt. Baker and I spent the next 4 days with some of my closest friends and the new additions to the group (Colton & Jillian and one more pre-person still cooking!!). We ate, drank, played games, went sledding, skied and in general just spent time remember who and what is important in life. I returned to Seattle for another few days after that and was able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my close friends George & Kristin and their daughter Adela on Sea Breeze farm! After a few more days in Seattle I headed to Utah and saw my mother and then to New Mexico to see my father. I came home tired, but happy, and with new resolve to be more in control of my residency and to try and stop allowing it to thrash me! A new focus on inner health that will in turn radiate outwards I hope is what I hope to be posting about in the near future!