Under the Weather

   You literally could not ask for more beautiful weather here in Charleston and I have been stuck inside for the last 3 days suffering from some sort of beastly cold/laryngitis/bronchitis combination. I am pretty grateful that this is the 1st upper respiratory infection I've had in over a year. I am used to having them 2-3 times yearly, seems that working in healthcare makes it is unavoidable. I work with immunocompromised patients and they tend to get bugs that the normal population is able to fend off.

   As soon as I stepped foot in a regular physician's office last week for an orthopedic appointment, the next morning I woke up with what I thought was allergies. Then over the weekend it escalated to a full blown epidemic. I've unfortunately had to stay home every day this week so far; I can't see patients because I may get them sick and I also have no voice to be able to talk to them anyways.

  I've been trying a bunch of different home remedies but now I've resorted to antibiotics. It is funny how people think because I can prescribe medications that I can call myself in medications. This is not the case. I happened to have some antibiotics from a previous illness that I am using. Number one rule of antibiotics is always to take them til they are gone, and I admit that practitioners are some of the worst patients. I seriously dislike tea which seems to be the remedy everyone is pushing on me, so I got honey lemon green tea and added more honey, more lemon and sugar to make it go down. I hope this at least helps my voice so I can go back to work tomorrow.

  Although these few days off have given me a chance to pack up my apartment some more. I am moving to a larger apartment in the same complex and I am getting a room mate. I do like living alone but I am all for saving some money and getting out of my debt quicker. She is a new graduate from interior design school and I can't wait to live vicariously through her, because interior design was what I wanted to do if I didn't go into medicine. We'll move at the end of the month and I'm trying to wrap my head around how much stuff I have accumulated in the last 1.5 years.

  I am going to go back to watching one of my favorite movies, "Everafter," drink my tea, and pack up more of my apartment. Happy Spring time, enjoy it for me!

+AMDG+

Joy

There are some days that even when someone has said something hurtful, been rude, or something sad has happened you are still left smiling because deep down you know you are Loved. An all consuming Love that only comes from the Father. I have to say it is one of those days today... no one should be able to steal your Joy away from you. Joy is an inner peace, it is hopeful, it is complacency. Just a thought for the day, I grew up learning this mnemonic:

J- esus

then...

 O- thers

then...

   Y- ourself

The formula for true Joy.

+AMDG+

A mile a minute

I really couldn't sum up the way my life has been up recently but that it has been going a mile a minute. I can't complain though, I'd much rather be busy than bored. I have been to a couple of weddings, go figure I am always going to wedding so no surprise. I haven't had a whole lot of time off recently, I decided to take my two required holiday call days in the same month of January. I successfully went to 4 oyster roasts in 5 weeks time. Watched an absorbent amount of Football, Basketball, and most recently the Master's tournament. My precious father turned 60 years old in February so I was able to go home for his birthday party. I have 5 more weddings to go this year and now that the weather is nice here in Charleston I am looking forward to spending a good many days at the beach. I spent Easter holiday here in Charleston, I was fortunate enough to witness several friends come into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil mass. I started dating a really wonderful guy here in Charleston so I try to spend as much time as I can with him, since we both are busier than bees. I am also so happy to say I will have 2 new nieces/nephews this year. My sister in law is expecting girl #2 in July and my sister is expecting baby #3 (gender unknown yet) in September. Always exciting to see your family grow!

I will be heading to NYC in 2 weeks for my grandparent's 61st wedding anniversary, so all of my siblings will be there minus my oldest brother. I can't wait to see everyone again and to celebrate a lifetime of love between my grandparents. My brother and sister in law recently went to Paris for 10 days, jealous I know, and I am so excited to catch up with them, see pictures and share in some of the French wine they brought back. Not to mention see the cute baby bump sported by my sister in law. My sister is always on the slender side during her pregnancies so I don't expect to see her pooching out til 25 weeks lol. Life is good and God is soooo Good to me. No life is perfect and without struggle but I just can't be thankful enough for the beautiful life I live and for all the wonderful people in it.

Happy to be me

I love the days when you get in a conversation with a person and you come out it feeling so blessed to have been part of that person's life or just to have shared that moment with them. And not only has it happened once but very often within the past 2 weeks. I can't talk much about my interactions with my patients but I did see a very pleasant mid aged woman that had a kidney transplant a few years ago who was now a bilateral amputee and was missing several fingers due to long standing diabetes and non healing wounds. This woman lived by herself, and did everything by herself. She cooked, cleaned, even took the bus to the grocery store by herself. She told me she was going back to school so she could get a job and better herself... and she was learning how to walk again now with special prostheses. She told me she went through a lot and yes it was hard to see others up walking around and not having to be stuck in a chair but she also told me that God had a plan for her and she trusted that. She was still alive and she was going to be as normal as possible, and that people didn't need to feel sorry for her.

In the medical world you don't always have a lot of time to spend with your patients, but I just couldn't interrupt this woman when she told me her story. I was on the verge of tears just because of her attitude towards life and her witness of her trust in God's will for her. I walked out from that room with my heart smiling. God disguises himself in the lowly, the abandoned, and the poor. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve others in my line of work. Some days it feels more like a burden than anything but I like to think about what G.K. Chesterton said, "To love means loving the unlovable..or it is no virtue at all." It just seems to put things into perspective, that it is easy to love those who are nice or who are most like us but those aren't the people who need our love the most.

I think we all need a reminder of why we are here, and how can we share the blessings we've been given with others. I am so grateful for the Love of Christ in my life and I hope to share it to everyone I encounter because He is my reason for living and for serving others.

+AMDG+

Why Now?

It seems that I have not been able to catch a break this past week at work and the week ended just as horribly as it has been going. I realize that I shouldn't be complaining since I have a good job, food to eat, and a roof over my head but today is one of those days where I can't seem to pull myself out of the pit. In addition to staying late at work the last few days of this week and dealing with sometimes social nightmares at work, I have been thinking of Ben. Every ounce in my brain knows that it's not good but for whatever reason my heart has healed enough from the hurt to no longer have the pains in forefront of my memories of him and now the good takes precedence.

For the first time I looked at pictures that were taken while we were together. I deleted all of the ones we had together but I kept several of places we had been and of me at those particular places just because new places are always special to me, especially with someone you care about. I miss Tahoe, I miss the cool mornings and evenings and the pleasant days. I miss Ms. Charlene the widow at St. Francis's that I was friends with; she provided me with much advice and wisdom. The sunsets and sunrises were to die for, not that Charleston hasn't had spectacular one's since I've been here but there is definitely something extraordinary about Tahoe. I miss the small town and trips "into the city." I won't forget how normal I thought it was that there was a bear in my backyard or one crossing the street. I miss the snow, and when I mean snow, I mean SNOW. The softness and peacefulness after it snowed, and believe it or not I miss shoveling it (more likely using the snow blower).

I know it probably doesn't help me at all to state all the things I miss about the place but I feel for some reason it will help me get through what I'm feeling tonight. I am not shy about who reads this because this is mainly for myself, just to get the things I want to say out so they aren't left festering inside of me. Why all of this stuff comes and goes in waves, I don't know, but I do know that for the most part I'm better. Lately, things emotionally have been a struggle. It feels like things are all unraveling at the seams in multiple aspects of life, but one thing I know is that I have some amazing friends. Although the friends I have made here don't know the specifics or much about what happened in my last relationship that ultimately led me to be here in Charleston, they know me after having gone through all of it and love me even while i'm still going through some of it.

God is truly Good. After I always get everything out of my system I am constantly reminded of what I have left after you take everything else away... Hope. Hope because of Christ. I have nothing of my own, everything I have been given comes from God. Time and time again I fall victim to these feelings of depression or rejection but when these feelings come it really comes down to how you deal with them. Jesus longs to give me healing, if I would only pour my heart out to Him when I'm hurting. We often look for self healing because we are prideful, not wanting to admit to others we are hurt and to seek healing from outside of ourselves. There are times when the only way healing can occur is to flesh everything out and to keep our hearts open so that Jesus can fully fill the void we are feeling. This reminds me of a great quote by Dr. Peter Kreeft...

"Your heart is like an infinitely large hole, and only God is big enough to fill it."

How often do we try to fill up the holes in our hearts with empty things? I feel lost at times but I have to remember that God has a purpose for where I am right now in my life, even for these periods of spiritual dryness and for the instances of weaknesses. It's a matter of how we handle them and allowing ourselves to grow from them. No more sadness tonight. God is Good, all the time. All the time, God is Good.

"Don't get upset with your imperfections. It's a great mistake because it leads nowhere - to get angry because you are angry, upset at being upset, depressed at being depressed, disappointed because you are disappointed. So don't fool yourself. Simply surrender to the Power of God's Love, which is always greater than our weakness." - St. Francis De Sales

+AMDG+

Strawberry Fields Forever

Guess I should finally get out of this posting rut but to tell ya'll the truth I've just been going a mile a minute and when I slow down, I end up crashing hard. July has been one busy month starting it off with being on call at the hospital, boating, 4th of July celebrating, Riverdog's games, the birth of a friend's baby, 4 weeks on inpatient service in the hospital ( worked ~ 200hrs this month) impromptu dance parties, visiting my family back in Augusta, old college room mate reunion here in Charleston, helping a friend plan his engagement, olympic's festivities, my birthday, and of course trying to find some time to sleep in there. I figured I'd give ya'll some photo highlights of what I've been up to recently. Can't believe we are only 1 month into summer and still have so much more to go. I am looking forward to my brother and SIL possibly coming to visit over labor day. It seems that they are the hardest to get in touch with and get together with. Busy lives for themselves in NYC.

 My friend Gary and I at the Charleston Riverdog's baseball game 

Jamiel, myself and Hannah on Caper's Island on 4th of July 

 View from Waterfront park downtown overlooking the Cooper River Bridge in Mt. Pleasant

A new life for wonderful friends Jacob and Kristen. John Michael Whelan born 7/7/2012. 

 Family time in Augusta, my niece Maris 14 months.

My old college room mates Erin on left and Lori on right @ Sullivan's Island beach. 

The roomies and I outside of Magnolias after a wonderful meal there

The wonderful newly engaged couple, Bret and Gloria.

Bret on one knee, proposing on Sullivan's Island. Ocean beyond the rocks. Of course she said "yes!"

Me and my new friend Brittany, she was here in Charleston shadowing our department for an internship form Houston. Sad to see her go this week. 

The gang, minus some in the kitchen... Wine, Cheese and Dessert Birthday party. 

Me getting sang to by friends. ghetto birthday candle provided by Jamiel, lucious red velvet cheesecake provided by Ms. Maggie Lally. 

+AMDG+

Creamy Chicken Bake

I thought since I went grocery shopping last week, it would be prudent to use up several of the perishable items before they go bad. I am really horrible about that. I have no idea what nights I'll be home and what nights I'll be out, it all depends on my mood half the time. Whether I feel like I want to go eat out with friends after work or if I'm not all that hungry after work because I had a big lunch. Anyways I decided to have a friend over for dinner and I decided to make what I consider comfort food. Some creamy, something with wine, and anything with pasta. I first made this recipe for my sister in law Madeleine a few years back when her Aunt was our dinner guest but for some reason had just been sitting in my inbox since then. I added a thing or two here and there but the recipe is very simple and turns out perfectly.

Yield: 6-8 ( if using regular sized breasts)
Main Ingredient: Chicken
Cuisine: American

Tags: Main dishes, Poultry, Cheese, Parmes, Chicken, Cream, Butter, Garlic, Parmesan, Wine, White wine, Dinner, Spring, Comforting

Ingredients:
4 whole Chicken Breasts ( i  used 4 thin sliced chicken breasts)
4 slices Swiss Cheese (I used the pre sliced kind and broke them in half)
1 10-oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/4 c Dry white wine
1 c Herb seasoned stuffing mix (or crumbled ritz crackers ect similar)
1/4 c Butter; melted
Garlic powder; (opt.)
2 tb Parmesan cheese; (opt.)

Instructions:

Arrange split (if using whole chicken breasts), skinned and boned chicken breasts in a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Top with cheese slices. Combine soup and wine; stir well. Spoon sauce evenly over chicken and sprinkle with crushed stuffing mix.

Drizzle butter over stuffing. If desired, sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 to 55 minutes. I baked for 40 minutes for 4 thin sliced breasts and it turned out perfect.

I then decided to make some risotto to put the chicken over and let me tell you, risotto has a special place in my heart after traveling to Italy. Seems like anything you put over in with it, will soak up that flavor. I like how risotto isn't sticky and its not very grainy like rice. Maybe I'm just not a master at cooking rice but risotto is easy and simple and tastes good with just about everything. 

I topped off the meal with some baked asparagus, nothing special. Just salt, pepper, and a little bit of lemon juice for tenderness. Baked on 350 for ~ 15-20 min. I wasn't keeping very good track of the timer, I just put them in when the chicken was atleast halfway done. 

Sorry, no gourmet picture. I'm not good at taking pictures with my nice camera while I cook but I used my cell so pardon the poor quality. ENJOY!

+AMDG+