resolution #3: get out!

embarking on adventures in 2011
somewhere along the line i became a bit of a homebody. i blame residency, because nothing makes you crave your own bed like being forced to eschew it for a dingy call room on a regular basis. but really: whenever i do manage to foray out of my lair, i have a great time!

family hike in raleigh this fall
furthermore, i have taken heed of the advice that several of you with children have given me, which is to really enjoy the freedom that comes with being a non-parent. i know it will be a million times harder to pack up and go on an adventure once there are l’il ones to tote along, so the time is now — to visit loved ones, explore our community, and not spend all of my free time hunched over my laptop either working or reading your blogs (even if they are awesome).

here it comes, all MICRO‘d out:

✰ measurable: i would like to embark on at least one adventure per week, when not on call. for our purposes, an adventure is defined as getting out of the house to do something fun or interesting. (come on, i know none of you pegged me for the skydiving type. baby steps.)

✰ inspirational: my goals are to have more fun (always a good resolution!), spend time with those i love, and to truly enjoy the free time i currently have at my disposal.

✰ concrete: i will, of course, report back on said adventures on a weekly basis.

✰ realistic: i feel this is realistic given my broad definition of ‘adventure.’ here are some examples:

smaller adventures:
➜ hiking
➜ the art museum
➜ a day trip to IKEA
➜ going to get a mani/pedi
➜ to concerts (like this one!)

bigger adventures:
➜ weekend ski trip (josh’s latest idea)
➜ traveling to see family and/or friends
➜ to the beach/mountains

for contrast, a trip to the dentist does not count as an adventure, unless they use a lot of really good anesthesia.

✰ obtainable: in our current situation, i cannot think of any reason this goal would not be obtainable. and keeping call weekends as times to hunker down, stay home, and get work done will provide a good balance overall, i think.

speaking of hunkering down
SN-OH EM GEE!

you would think that hot coals were falling from the sky the way everyone here seems to be afraid to go outside with a whole 2-3″ or so on the ground! i totally understand the hazards of driving on icy roads, but as you may note from the above picture — the actual driving surfaces remained quite clear, and i had no trouble at all getting around in my 10 year old VW golf.

i shouldn’t complain, because while i was brushing the modest shelf of snow off of the roof of my car, my attending actually paged to stop me from going in to do a consult. my very first fellowship snow day (i did the consult by phone instead — just had to leave that physical exam part blank!).

this gave me plenty of time to fool around in the kitchen. i started with sweet . . .

cranberry nut bread from simply recipes
i subbed in half whole wheat pastry flour to make this a more well-rounded bread designed with breakfast in mind, and it still worked nicely. i liked the bright tartness of the cranberries against the mild walnuts.

once that was cooling, i moved on to savory:

moleskine i diligently hoarded recipes in back in 2006
i actually remembered making these samosas years ago and thought they would be a fun project to take on while the blizzard (or not) raged on outside.

filling components: sweet potato, curry powder, mustard seeds, peas, onions, garlic
the dough is easy to make (just throw the ingredients in the food processor) and yields a crunchy crust with prominent cornmeal flavor.

the end result:

baked sweet potato samosas + sautéed kale
it was definitely a good day for me in the kitchen!

apartment therapy update:
yesterday’s challenge was to go on a media fast. i ignored it, because

a) i did it already

b) i didn’t feel like it.

so there. i did buy some more flowers, though!

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12.26.10

the longest short run ever: while i got a sum total of 15 pages yesterday (that is fairly normal for a weekend), no fewer than 6 of these came through while i was attempting to go out to run a whole four miles on our apartment treadmill. that is definitely a record pages:miles ratio, and not in a good way.

at least it sort of made my feeling like i was doing a ‘long’ run!