groundhog day and wild animals

in case you were unaware, punxsutawney phil saw his shadow, which means we will have 6 more weeks of winter. in the process of obtaining this information, i happened upon a very informative website about phil, which taught me the following random facts:

1. Punxsutawney Phil is the only true weather forecasting groundhog. The others are just impostors. [sorry Birmingham Bill, apparently you are a fake!]

2. There has only been one Punxsutawney Phil. He has been making predictions for over 120 years! He gets his longevity from drinking the "elixir of life," a secret recipe. Phil takes one sip every summer at the Groundhog Picnic and it magically gives him seven more years of life.

3. After Phil emerges from his burrow on February 2, he speaks to the Groundhog Club president in "Groundhogese"(a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle). His proclamation is then translated for the world.

when i was in the 3rd grade, we lived in Pittsburgh, PA (but BOO STEELERS -- all of my family is from Philadelphia -- big rivalry!). Punxsutawney was one of my spelling words, and I will ever remain loyal to the creepy little all-knowing meterologist rodent.

in other random animal news, i got henry to take me to the zoo on sunday! unfortunately, the birmingham zoo is in a sad state at the moment. many of the animals were "hibernating" [you can't fool me, i know alligators don't hibernate!] and the zoo itself was in somewhat disrepair. in any case, we got a few good shots of the animals that were out. it was a beautiful day too!


spectacled langurs


who you lookin' at?


well-trained sea lion


new arrivals: sleepy kangaroos!


what a fun afternoon!

radio and naughty cat

so the other night, henry and i were at circuit city (which is going out of business in hoover = awesome sales) and we found this ipod radio remote on sale for $29 ($49 on apple.com). i absolutely love it. i'm a big talk radio fan, and i listen to NPR pretty much all the time. and that's the one thing about my ipod classic i wish it had -- radio. so, this does the trick. it's an FM radio receiver. woot!

in other news, our kitten fuzz figured out how to get herself INSIDE THE COUCH last night. we still haven't figure out all the details... we were sitting on the couch and felt a bump. our other cat, millie, was sitting behind the couch peering curiously under it... and that's when we realized, holy cow, fuzz must be inside? so we up-ended the couch and discovered a hole in the felt that covers the bottom. we felt around, tried to use the kone vacuum to scare her into jumping out... all to no avail. at some point she managed to climb from under the seats to the back of the couch, and then we didn't hear any noises. for a split second, we feared the worst. had we squished our cat inside our couch?! augh! it was at that point i retrieved my handy-dandy pen light from my white coat and flashed it into the couch. in the back corner i saw a little white paw. i grabbed it and started dragging her out! i mentioned to henry once or twice during this whole ordeal it felt like a very poorly carried out c-section (ha!). in any case, we got her out safely. then we used cardboard and electrical tape to try and prevent it from happening again. hopefully. oh man. always keeping us on our toes. :)

Rx: humility, #90, 1 po TID.

i loathe self-righteousness. you are no better than me. i am no better than you. there are people i look to for advice and example, but not one of them is 'better' than me. and not one of them, no matter their station, has a reason to act self-righteously in response.

although i generally consider my relationship with my God to be a private affair, i will declare that i am learning more fully each day why the Lord our God loathes self-righteousness and pride. because it's laughable and horrifying at the same time. because it destroys the image of the person who displays it while simultaneously enraging, frustrating, or humiliating the witness. most simply - because it's a lie. your superior attitude is a lie.

here's wishing my job as a physician allowed me to prescribe an ounce of humility three times daily... and that people would swallow it.

eats.

happy Chinese new year! it is the year of the ox, which is my year! (and henry's too! and anyone's born in 1985... or any multiple of 12 before or after :D). henry and i devoured a scrumptious dinner at his parents' house last night, and his mom loaded us down with some extra turnip / rice cakes for dinner tonight. YUM.

henry and i recently dove back into the world of cooking (there was a lazy period after coming back from Taiwan), and it's been so fun whipping up delicious eats. we picked up some trout this weekend and baked it yesterday for lunch... yumyumyumyumYUM! (i like food, did you know?) if only i could figure out how to cook without making such a mess of the kitchen...

post post post

so for christmas, henry got me these terrific Tovolo popsicle molds. we used to have something like it growing up, and hey, sometimes you're just craving a juice pop. i poured in some orange juice last night, and voila!










this afternoon, i had a delicious popsicle. and honestly, nutritionally, it was just a glass of orange juice. wham-bam!

in other news, henry and i have recently begun looking for a new apartment. our lease is up in april at our current apartment, and we're not thrilled about the idea of renewing it here. it's pricier than we realized when we signed the lease, and after living here, the location could really be better. apartment-searching is an exciting business, but it's also tiring and disappointing. a number of places we've already looked at are "perfect... except for ____." and that blank generally includes something like a front door. (ok, so most places have front doors, but it generally is something like central air conditioning which is a mustmustmust in the deep south.)

med school is, well med school. it's been a journey. things have finally calmed down a bit since first year... i've figured out the (awful) pace and put my body on cruise control. second year has seemed more managable because of this. for reference, we are currently in the last week of endocrinology, about to start reproductive medicine. after repro, it's 6 weeks of review class / independent study for the USMLE Step 1 exam (*cue Star Wars deathstar music*). this exam consists of precisely 337 impossible questions to stump already worn out 2nd year medical students who just want to pass and start their clerkships. the questions are drawn from any and everything from the first 2 years of medical school. it's the 1st of three exams we take to be lisenced as physicians to practice medicine in the US. needless to say, i think of this exam as infrequently as possible to avoid panic attacks in public places. ohmanohmanohman. moving on...

our new kitten fuzz and 8month old (still-thinks-she's-a-kitten) millie are finally getting along! internet sources and various acquaintances (including the vet) told us it might take months for them to become playmates, but they have discovered they like each other after only a week and a half. they sleep together in a little cat bed on our study desk, lick each other, wrestle, chase each other, eat at the same time, and generally enjoy each other's company. they really are a joy. [millie snagged the bed for herself in this one.]










in other random unrelated news, henry took me to atlanta last friday to check out the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention) museum. i am a big nerd, but if you know me even fairly well, you probably understand what a HUGE deal this was. i have wanted to be a virus hunter / doctor / epidemiologist / person-who-gets-to-wear-a-biohazard-suit-to-work fanatic since i was approximately 11. the museum was small and there was no one else there... but we did find a biohazard suit. it was amazing.










and now you are updated on life! ...sort of. :)

the kitties are starting to become friends! last night they held hands. :)










currently, i'm sitting in lecture, streaming live video from DC of the inauguration, and attempting to update my blog. i might come back to the latter. laterz!

state-side... back in school... with a new kitten.

taiwan was incredible! i'll have to write about it soon ... or for pictures with descriptions, visit my facebook albums (1-4). :)

in other news, we have a new kitten! we call her fuzz. we got her as a pal for millie, but they aren't friends yet. fuzz is super curious about millie and not a bit afraid, but we think millie is feeling either jealous or defensive of this new creature in the apartment. we've consulted some experts and are currently engaged in "operation let's-not-start-WWIII." i'm sure they'll be friends eventually, it just may take some time. fuzz purrs like a maniac... that's gotta win millie over at some point!

here's a picture our new little green-eyed beauty. she's even cuter in person.