resolution countdown: #9, book larnin’

alternate title: no one wants a dumb doctor.
which one of these january issues is not like the others?

oh pediatrics . . . some splashy cover graphics might help your cause!
last year i resolved to read more, and i did. for a month or so. but the past several rotations, my academic commitment has been abysmal. i think my roadblocks have been a combination of:

■ burnout/senioritis. let’s face it — i’ve been at this whole education thing for a long freaking time. it’s only natural that there are ups and downs to my motivation, and i’ve just been in hanging out in a bit of a knowledge valley lately, if you will.

■ complacency. i’ve always scored well on the yearly in-training exam. honestly, i think it’s more my test-taking ability coming to the rescue than actual mastery of the material — and my score actually plateaued this year. it was still a fine number, but i think that may be a signal that i need to stop coasting and work a little harder. the REAL boards are just 10 months away, and failing would be rather mortifying (and extremely expensive . . . think 3 DSLRs).

■ overeagerness to specialize. it’s hard to convince myself to read about, say, sports injuries when i know i’m going into endocrinology. but i need to remember that i’m still in residency (for the next 6 months!) and this is my last chance to obtain that general pediatrics knowledge that could come in handy someday (and will certainly be tested on the boards).

so: resolution #9 is to recommit to reading and studying. since this is rather vague, my specific goal will be to do 5 reading/studying sessions of at least 30 minutes each week (although as boards and fellowship loom closer, i’d like to lengthen the time frame).

i will be accountable to this goal in my posts, so look for exciting pediatrics-related facts in the bottom section. january is adolescent month, so be prepared to learn alllllll about contraception and STDs. fun!

i ♥ staycation
yes, i miss seeing family in miami (our traditional new year’s week custom . . . last year there was even turducken!!). but josh and i haven’t gotten to just relax and chilllll together for a long time now, and so i’m really glad we’ve decided to just spend this minibreak hanging out at home.

he had one last night shift to work yesterday, so i busied myself with domestic affairs. delicious domestic affairs, such as:

sausage-red pepper-ricotta calzones + millet muffins!
mmmmmm . . . millet-y crunch. these muffins originated at philadelphia’s metropolitan bakery and are a family favorite.
messes + successes: not all of my calzones came out so cute. oops!

and speaking of cute
anthro has released a whole bunch of new things to drool over! i have decided that my strategy will be to put them ALL in my shopping cart just so that i can patiently watch to see if any of them go on sale.
sale-stalking is my only option because i am not about to drop this kind of cash, moonlighting or no moonlighting! here are some of the items contributing to this (outlandish) sum:

emmer corset. maybe not the world’s most practical garment, but enticing nonetheless.
close-up of the print. is that . . . wheat?
tic tac toe blouse. aaahhhh, i reaaaaally like this one. i can only hope it makes it to the sale rack!
there’s just something i like about this jacquard drape jacket.
sugar-on-top makes me think of ballerinas. in a good way.

today
is going to be another relaxing mishmash of domesticity + just living life in the slow lane. we are going to see up in the air and go somewhere fun for dinner. hooray for staycation!

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12.29.09

workout: 6 miles outside. i think it was in the mid 30s — and honestly it felt so good! i can’t believe i’m saying this, but i think i actually REALLY like cold-weather running. after the first 10 minutes or so, my body had plenty of warmth, and moving just felt easy. average pace 8:46/mi.

culinary corner: a super-late lunch (so that josh and i could eat together before his shift)! this calzone looks structurally sound, but it really wasn’t. my problem was that i tried to make them smaller (this one is half the size of the ones shown next to the muffins above) and this turned out to be much harder than i thought — i’m not all that experienced with dough, after all.

the recipe for the dough is from sara moulton’s sara’s secrets for weeknight meals (great cookbook, by the way). the filling recipe is on the sidebar — but BEWARE, because it makes A LOT — double what i needed for the amount of dough! i am going to make more dough and then freeze a bunch more calzones (and perhaps gain some much-needed dough-manipulating practice in the process).

in line with my food resolution for sustainability, i chose local and organic sausages and organic dairy to make these calzones. maybe a few $$$ more, but worth it. and the recipe made A LOT, so the overall cost isn’t so bad!