Day in Review - Father's Day

Less than five full days before the first year of medical school is over! Can't wait until I have some free time. Or will I have any free time? The summer is already looking pretty full. I'm doing the Curriculum Ambassadorship at more than full time beginning July 2nd, then scaling back to part-time once I start working at the Chinese Hospital at the end of July. I'm considering asking my consulting contact for some part-time work. Toss in getting ready for the baby, trying to learn enough Chinese so I'm not a complete idiot in the hospital, and working out a preliminary USMLE study plan, that's not a whole lot of time to be goofing off, lounging around with the PS2 or some other pointless distraction.

But it's not bad. I think it's better to keep busy, as long as the things you do are always a little fresh. Working a bit will feel nice to contribute to our finances, while working in the hospital will go a long way towards making the clerkship year a lot more comfortable. And what greater motivation will I have to learn Chinese? Chinese-speaking patients, plus a son on the way who will probably learn more Chinese than me by his first year.

I'm on track on my weight goal. I believe at the beginning of the year, I was around 220 lbs. My goal was to get to under 200 by the year's end. I also set up some short-term goals; that I would be at 210 by the end of the first year of school, 205 by the start of the second year, and then 200 by Dec. 31. Well, as of today, I'm at 209.5 lbs. So that's very encouraging! But I must admit, it's hard to block out hunger signals. And it's definitely not that easy to lose weight.

Going back to the summer, one thing I've wanted to do is make a list of all the fun things I want us to do, whether short-term or long-term, whether urbane or outlandish. Some of those common things include getting out to an A's game, going to a U-pick fruit orchard, heading back to New China Tofu. Other things included going to Italy (I hear Santorini is nice), Japan, back to China and Hong Kong of course. Then there's also going back to Michigan, see Mom and Dad, and welcome Uncle Lawrence and his family. I hope I can manage that this summer, maybe towards the end of it. I want to be there for my family and friends.

But coming back from the dreamy recesses of my brain (they've never told us where the region of creativity is, but I'm guessing it's in the frontal lobes somewhere), I should get back to studying. I hear the signature cracking of the sunflower seeds by Yu, and will go bug her for a bit.

Oh, and Happy Father's Day, Dad!