Backyard BBQ

Due to my school schedule, I work just about every weekend. At my hospital we work 12 hour shifts, and the night shift is 7 pm - 7 am the next morning. And, before you ask, yes -- working night shift is hard. And yes, you could do it too -- you get used to it, although it still makes you EXHAUSTED. But I consider myself lucky -- by working Friday and Saturday nights, it means that I only need to work a night or two during the week to keep my full time hours, while giving me most of my weekdays free for school.

But every now and then I am lucky enough to have a weekend night off. It's a rare treat -- other than the weekends that I have taken off for finals, I have only been off three weekend nights this year. I'm not complaining -- this is the scheduled that I have picked, and it's only for a few years. Or at least that is what I keep telling myself...

I was lucky enough to be off the Saturday night before 4th of July. And nothing says "summer fun" quite like having a backyard BBQ. And it was hot and there were lots of bug bites. But there was also s'mores. And laughter. And fabulous company.

And it was totally worth it.

This is what Baby Kate thinks about our conversation topics



Clearly we weren't quite interesting enough



Bennett and Makayla



There was water fun to keep cool.



Garrett



And the hose on the trampoline. Which turned out to be the most entertaining thing ever.



It's official...he can't deny this baby belongs to him -- she has his looks AND his personality!

I'm Thinking of Changing My Name...

...to Grace.

Why, you ask? Well, allow me to present to you exhibit A:

What is that? Why that would be my left leg.

What happened to it? Well I fell down...clearly not very delicately.

What do you mean, what was I doing when I fell? I was walking attempting to walk across the parking lot. And I wasn't even chewing gum...or talking on the phone...or anything else. I was just walking trying to walk.

Clearly I look like I came out on the wrong end of a fight which I did, only the fight was with the parking lot, so I couldn't stay the way I was. Since I was already at school for the day (and I live about 30 minutes away), I decided it was best to just buy some new clothes at the bookstore (since it's a medical school we have scrubs for sale) and call it good. After all, I didn't want to keep explaining to people that I was just fine and not fatally wounded seriously injured once they saw my leg.

Although I did fess up to my difficulty with the very complicated task of walking mishap in the parking lot throughout the day, since it 1) explained my limp and 2) was funny. I mean really, when was the last time you saw an adult up and fall down? Besides, I go to school with people who are anxious and stressed, and far be it from me to rob them of the chance to laugh at someone else for being stupid laugh a little.

It is really unfortunate that no one was around when I fell - I not only fell down, but I was carrying my purse, my school bag full of my binder and laptop and papers, as well as a large diet coke and a coffee drink. Which all went flying...and everyone knows that once you are sure the person who fell down isn't dead it's totally okay to laugh. Heck, even *I* laughed when it happened!

This is what it looks like now -- although the picture doesn't do the swelling justice...it's like I have a golf ball attached to my knee. Which, as you can imagine, is outrageously attractive!

Or, put another way, it's a good thing I don't wear shorts very often...

You're Never Too Old For Pinatas

The secretary for the Bioethics Department is AMAZING. And we're all pretty sure that without her, nothing would ever get done.

So on her half birthday we decided that a celebration was in order...Deb Day!

There were decorations:

There was food:

There was cake:

There was a pinata!

And there were good times had by all. Proof that you're never too old for a little bit of pinata fun!