Birthday in the Hospital

So today is my 30th birthday, and I'm stuck working here in the ER. Thus far the day is going well, but I would rather not be here. I would much rather be someplace like this:

I know that I'm liking this kayak a bit too much especially considering it is a thing, and a thing I don't need at that. Please forgive my selfish materialism over my Christmas present. I pray I'll be better next year.

Well I must go back to work. Merry Christmas everyone!

Recent Life

Update on recent life:

[or for the full picture version: click here]

-Our baby continues his/her prenatal progress. We are grateful he/she isn't making Joya so sick these days.

-I just finished my Family Medicine Boards. I'm now back at work. Hopefully I will get good news in 4-6 weeks.

-The yearly joy of hanging out with my old roomates and friends each Thanksgiving took place in McConnells, SC this year.

-Joya's birthday was a lot of fun. We went out to a fancy restaurant in Atlanta and stayed in a cabin with some friends.

-Joya and my folks got me the coolest birthday gift in the world. A kayak. They gave it to me early because it is so nice out here in GA. 77 degrees yesterday-- so we took it out on a lake.

Well that's about it for now.

Happy Birthday, My Love!

A Baby!

A lot of people already know this, but Joya and I have a kid on the way. We look forward to the arrival a little person made of our genetic material sometime around May. We had held off on announcing in a public place (like a blog) during the early times since that is the risky period for the baby (also Joya was feeling pretty sick).

Joya finds it silly that people post ultrasound pictures, so don't expect to see any ultrasound on this blog. But as someone who has seen the ultrasound I can tell you the kid is healthy and about the cutest inch-long fetus around!

Gridbook Blog turns 50!

The Gridbook Blog is now 50 posts old. It was almost a year and half ago when I began this experiment of putting my private thoughts on-line in the form of essays.

I know that 50 posts isn't usually that big a deal in the blog world, but while I am by no means a prolific blogger, these posts really do capture the best of my heart and mind. It really is amazing to look through the archives and realize that this page has become an anthology all my significant thoughts. I doubt anyone has actually read all 50 posts (other than my wife) but it is good to know that I have these essays out there. The site has sort of become a record of my life's work.

With so many posts I have changed up the Table of Contents. I hope it will make it more easier to browse the essays. Let me know if you think the old table of contents was better.

And since I have so intimately tied my online identity to the type of paper I on which used to keep my journals (when googling the word "gridbook" 4 of the top 5 results go to my sites) I have decided to create a homepage: The Gridbook. It is a place I can link all the things I have on the web.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and linking. I'll stop tooting my own horn now.

An ER doctor

So it is odd that after 3 years of training for primary care I find myself suddenly an Emergency Room doctor. It certainly isn't exactly where I had expected to be. I had thought I might moonlight in an ER part time, but when I didn't find the right primary care practice to join here I decided to try out full-time in the ER.

I'm working in a little ER not too far from Athens. I'm learning a lot and it always keeps me on my toes. It really is a fascinating process taking care of people in an ER setting. I would say I am well trained for the kind of things I see in a small town ER, but the mindset of ER medicine (what could hurt or kill this person in the next 24 hours?) is a fascinating shift in thinking.

I don't expect to do ER forever, but I am enjoying it now. It is an excellent way to keep up my emergency and critical skills. I expect I will eventually find a primary care job. For right now I am keeping up my primary care skills by working in a free clinic here in town.

More news to come...

Pictures from Europe

So I finally got around to putting our best photos from the European Backpacking Adventure on line in a place people can see them.

Here are the albums:

Greece

Italy

Switzerland

France

Spain

We actually didn't take any interesting photos in Portugal. You'll just have to believe that we really went there.