This is Your Life on Psych

Good morning, Grady!

Whoa.  I have been majorly blog-slacking this month.  

You might think this is because I am on a really hard and intense rotation... but you would be wrong.  (Well, intense is definitely accurate, but not because of long hours or some crazy call schedule...)

I am on psychiatry right now, and life is good.  So good, in fact, that I have been way too busy taking advantage of the relatively normal working hours to play that I have not stopped to do much of anything else over the past two weeks.  Have no fear... there is a lot to say about what I have seen so far on the rotation, and I am taking plenty of mental notes.

For now, though, and without further ado, here is a small glimpse of life on the psych rotation.

~ ~ ~

Morning sunlight on the Emory campus.

The weather here has been crazy lately.  Around late afternoon/early evening, dark clouds gather and the skies open up, unleashing enormously fat raindrops, thunder and lightning to awesome effect.  I personally love a good summer storm, so I have been enjoying it, even though it has meant canceled workouts or braving the deluge most days, wiping down muddy dogs every time they want in, and a few hours without electricity here and there.

Last Wednesday, there was a torrential downpour just in time for our getting out of a full day of lecture.  I happened to be wearing my favorite sandals, which were most definitely NOT made to get wet.  The pounding rain subsided to a sprinkle after a few minutes, but the streets and sidewalks were already rivers.  

There was no way I was going to ruin my sandals to make it to the parking deck.

I checked with my friend Naomi, to make sure it wasn't completely crazy of me (I mean, we are on psychiatry; it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion about these things) and she confirmed this as an acceptable decision.  

So, I took my shoes off and just went for it, walking a couple of blocks to where my car was parked, totally barefoot.  And it was awesome.  The summer rain washing down the scorching Atlanta sidewalks turned the gushing water into warm rivers that contrasted with the cool raindrops soaking my shoulders.  I strolled past plenty of people who gave me quizzical looks, but I was having too much fun to care.  I used to run around barefoot in the summer all the time, and getting my feet wet in a summer storm took me right back.  Life, people.  It's all about the little things.

Stop judging me.

This rotation is six weeks long, and among other reasons to kick back just a little, the clerkship director is very big on self-care.  In fact, we have to write a short paper - a letter to ourselves - on what we have learned about self-care during this rotation to turn in at the end, and he then mails our letters to us during our intern year after we have graduated.  Cool, right?  Anyway, so I figure all of my extracurricular activities right now also count as educational.  :)

I have been working out every day, going to yoga classes, enjoying dinners with friends, kicking ass at trivia with my FitWit buddies, putting on red lipstick for girls' sushi night, salsa dancing for the first time in forever (twice last week!), even getting in a little pool time with a good book.  And it. Has. Been. Awesome.

Also, I know it can be totally annoying when you open a website and the music is on auto-play and you have your volume turned up and then it's really embarrassing when you are in public (or even worse, a library or a lecture), but I do sort of miss my little playlist feature.  I really liked picking out a new song for every post, matching its feel to my mood and the post's content.  For some reason it doesn't play embedded in blogs anymore, but if it did, today's music selection would be Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen.  It makes me happy.  I also love this song because it reminds me of my sister, even though we have never talked about it together... we don't even have to, it's just the kind of song I already know she loves.  Cheesy?  Yep.  Do I care?  Nope.

I have even done some crafting!  Haha... I tried out this make-your-own workout shirt idea from Pinterest with an old 5k race shirt that I never wear.  Cute?  I dunno... jury's still out.

Speaking of exercise, this past Saturday morning I competed in the 1st annual FitWit Games!  (Sort of like a very, very, small-fry, local version of the CrossFit Games, I guess.)  Anyway, it was super hard but really fun.  I don't remember the last time I was in an athletic competition.

There were five separate events, and we competed grouped by gender and age.  Jaclyn, the girl next to me on the bar and fellow Midtown camper, won the whole shebang for women under 40, and I tied for third.  The pic below is from our timed pull-up hold.  (Oh, and before you make any cracks about my outfit, the Midtown crew decided that we were wearing team uniforms and that our theme was AMERICA.  Hence Jaclyn's and my coordinating red, white & blue and matching armbands.  Yeahhhhh team spirit!!)

Afterwards I joined friends for a delicious brunch at Le Petit Marche... awesome meals after a hard workout have got to be pretty much the best thing ever.

Followed up later that evening, of course, with more good times with friends.  And maybe a few adult beverages.

To (mental) health and happiness!  :)

Gratuitous doggie cuteness: Izzy snuggling with her pal Luna