I feel like a giddy little kid.

So this weekend a girlfriend of mine came into town, and I ventured out 'on the town' for the first time. We had a great time. On saturday night, we went out for dinner and then were getting some drinks... Now, she works with a woman in Rochester who was like "omg you need to meet my son! He lives in CT!" and gave him her number. Well, since she was in CT, she called him. So he rounded up a buddy, and they drove an hour from New Haven to Hartford, to come hang out with these two girls they'd never even met. heh. But it was a lot of fun. They were, as she says, cupcakes. 'sweet and warm and impressionable, with a short half life.'

But even better was friday.
We went out, and then this friend of mine met us.... I knew him when I lived in DC, but hadn't seen or talked to him in >10 years. But then one day he popped up as a 'friend suggestion' on facebook, and lo and behold- he lives in hartford.
So, he met us out.
And- he's still totally cute.
And single.
And fun.
So we had a great night.
And he texted me the next say "that was really fun! Let's go out this week. Let me know what day is good for you."

And I'm so dumb that at first I didn't even realize- I think I was just asked out!

I told him I'd be in NY this week, but am coming back Sat. Then my friend took my phone and texted him "would a boy like you be interested in seeing a girl like me on, say, next saturday?" (which is way more boldly flirtatious than I could ever be) and he responded "a boy like me would DEFINITELY be interested in spending next saturday with you."

Aww.

Way too early to make anything of it.

But, exciting nonetheless. I can barely even remember the last time I went on a date.

So I was just driving home from work, through a seedy part of town, and saw some guy forcefully throw his empty Sprite bottle on the ground. Even worse, there was a big garbage can about 20 feet away.

It pissed me off way more than I expected. I really wanted to roll down my window and yell at him to pick up his fucking garbage, but he looked like the type of guy who may well pull out a gun and shoot me right there for saying that.

Fucker. I hate that guy.

Next thought:
I like my co-fellow. I liked him when I met him during interviews, and was looking forward to working with him. Was actually hoping he would be single and would be my soulmate. Alas, he is neither. He is dating some country singer with a kid, and he talks a LOT (almost exclusively?) about bodybuilding, and strippers. (apparently he used to be a semi-pro bodybuilder). He's from new jersey and shaves his arms. I think that says it all. ;) No but really, he's a decent guy and we get along fine and I think working together all year will be good- but we're not soulmates.
But so my dilemma is-
he has AWFUL breath. Like always. Maybe it's because all he eats is "muscle milk"- who knows.
but what do I do about this?
I offer him gum like constantly. To the point that I am running out of gum. But he doesn't seem to have gotten the hint.
Help! Any suggestions?

And final comment-
I'm going to NYC on sunday, and will be there til Sat. Any NY peeps (jess?) going to be around?

I think I am in Thai food withdrawal. haha. I miss having saigon cafe right around the corner- I will have to find my new local faves.

I'm settling in ok... haven't met anyone yet, but then again, I haven't made a single effort either. My boards are a month from today (ACK!), so I feel like I can't really justify doing anything but work/unpack/study for work/study for boards.

Work is going pretty well though. There's so much to learn... but everyone knows that and is super understanding and helpful.

I miss Buffalo though. I miss my friends. I miss knowing where things are... It's been revealing though. People that I thought were my close friends, have disappeared. My one "best friend" doesn't answer the phone, doesn't call me back... She has a new BF... I guess he has replaced me. Which I understand... sorta... except- she and I have been close for like 4 years. She's known him since April. If I ever do manage to talk to her, it's via text, and then it's like 'oh shit gotta go, [BF] is coming." It's almost like he doesn't 'allow' her to talk to me, which is SUPER bullshit and makes me want to kick his ass. She's a super cool girl, and should not be with some dipshit who dictates when she can use her phone.

So, I went home for the weekend. It was nice, except I ate way too much, and did not do any studying. But I did get to see my dad's pix from graduation. 5 years, and we only took like 5 pix. All nearly identical (and not great) of me and my mom... none of my friends/classmates... ah well- guess I should have thought of that at the time.

So here's a random photo dump.


my kitchen. Those boxes are all gone now, thank god, but that kind of sucked.



Sunbathing in my [parents'] front yard. I think it was raining in Buffalo at the time. ;)










5 very similar pictures of me and my mom at graduation. Didn't get any with Dad. :( They did take formal pictures, but I'm not sure how/if I'll ever get to see them.

and I figured I'd temper the vanity of posting 5 pix of myself all dressed up with 2 terrible pictures of me in my apt, thinking about packing. (not actually doing anything about it, just contemplating.)
The one makes me think maybe there IS such a thing as too tan... I look scary.

Hello. :)

Looking/reading about italian fest etc is making me jealous. Looks like everyone is having so much fun!

I finally got in touch with the kid I knew back when I lived in DC... And then I also saw the girl I lived with when I was there... It's been 11 years since I saw him. And probably 5 since I've seen her. So she invited me over for dinner last night, and said to bring him along. I was kind of excited 1- to actually leave the house and be social, 2- to catch up with old friends, 3- to spend some time with someone who actually lives here and might be able to give me some hints on where to go, etc and 4- to see this guy again. For all I know he's married with kids now, but, eh, so what. He was really cute ten years ago. ;)
But, at the last second he called and cancelled. Bummer. But said we'll have to hang out this week.

So I went to dinner alone. And we had a nice time, but it was super chill... burgers with her, her husband, and their son. Then we chatted until it was his bedtime, then I left. I thought about going to the bar near my house alone afterwards... but then decided to skip the calories and go to bed.

Today tried to do some errands, only to learn that this city is a GHOST TOWN on weekends. I tried to go to CVS... a major pharmacy, only to learn it's only open til 12 on saturday, and not at all on sunday. WTF?! What the hell kind of place is this?

But tomorrow I'm going to Ikea. woohoo, can't wait. Then maybe I can finally finish my last bits of unpacking.

I finally talked to my girlfriend K, for the first time since I moved, so now I'm not mad at her anymore. AND, she's going to come visit me next weekend. wheee.

Work is good. I printed up a report this AM... it's been 2.5 weeks, and I have done 58 cases already. For comparison- I did 168 during my whole final year of residency. Granted, these cases are, for the most part, much quicker cases, but still. It's good. :)

Oh, and on thursday at work I had a super hottie patient. 33 and a cop- busted his hand catching a 'bad guy'. So I took my time putting his cast back on so we could chat. ;) Too bad it's totally unethical to date a patient. But, at least it was fun for the day. And, I know I'll see him again in 2-3 weeks to take the cast off.

What else. My boards are in like 3 weeks. SHIT. I really need to go into super hermit mode and study non-stop. But, it's not happening. And then I have to go to NYC for the last week of July, to take a course for work. Which normally would be awesome, but it's just about the worst possible timing. Ugh.

And what else... I think Dan is going to marry his new GF. He told me she's moved in with him and they're 'very very serious'. The only catch- she's still married. Oops. Minor detail. I like her fine... she's... nice, sweet. Vanilla. I mean there's nothing BAD about her, but nothing amazing either. So I'm not exactly sure what he sees in her, but... whatever, guess it's none of my business.
But the thing that pisses me off, is that now he won't even talk to me. I mean yes, I'm not stupid, I understand that we can't be super tight. But I finally said to him "you know, she is a better friend to me these days than you are." And he said "well, sometimes it's hard to be your friend when I know you want so so much more."

Ugh, that made my blood boil. It was everything I could do to not say "oh get over yourself." I mean that's the problem?! he's afraid to say hello to me b/c he thinks I'm sitting here pining over him?!

Bleh.

I am so over him.

And finally... a picture my cousin sent of my little cousin... the last time I saw him he was maybe 7 or 8 [they live in Italy]. And that was in.... '92 maybe? In any case- he's not a little kid anymore! hubba hubba. Enjoy the eye candy.

So... I just finished my first full week of fellowship. And all things considered, it's going pretty well. Lots of work, tons to learn, but I'm making progress. And everyone is super nice.

And It's 3:30 on friday, and I'm home, and I don't have to be back at work until monday morning. What a foreign concept. Now just to decide what to do with this weekend.

I just found out that the best pizza place in the world (Pepe's, in New Haven), has a satellite branch here in Hartford. Pepe's is like my dad's favorite thing ever.

So, I just came up with a wonderful plan. I am going to go to pepe's and pick up some 'half-baked' pies [so you throw them in the oven for a few minutes when you get home and they are perfecto], and take them home and surprise my fam for dinner. Hopefully tomorrow it will be nice and I can go to the beach. Then maybe I'll come back tomorrow and hit ikea.

yay. I love my plan. Maybe next weekend will be Buffalo. :)