Vampire Diaries

February marks my last month on orthopaedics as an intern.  In an attempt to become more comfortable taking call, I had planned to spend this entire week on night-float with one of the 3rd year residents.  There is a single junior level ortho resident in the hospital each night to handle all of the orthopaedic consults and in-house patients.  You essentially work Sunday - Thursday nights from 5pm - 7:30am the next morning.  Unfortunately, my night-float schedule didn't exactly go as planned this week.  I worked Sunday and Monday nights, then had to work Wednesday during the day, then switched back to nights again on Thursday.  The end result was a very sleep-deprived Crystal with a completely altered circadian rhythm.  I've slept for a grand total of 26 hours (in increments of anywhere from 2 -7 hours) since Sunday morning.  Can you guess what I'll be doing this weekend?

In the midst of a crazy week, pictures like this kept me smiling.
Wish you were here to snuggle up and sleep with me this weekend, Bailey!

Aside from the crazy schedule and work politics, I learned a TON this week.  It's definitely intimidating knowing that come July 1st, that solo in-house resident will be me.  However, after this week, I can honestly say that I feel much more comfortable managing ortho patients and the whole system of patient care from ER to OR.

It's crazy how out of sync my appetite became this week without a normal schedule.  I essentially ended up eating whenever I got hungry, whether that was at 5am or 11pm.  I probably ended up eating less though because I never really felt hungry like I normally do before each standard meal time.  Here's what kept me energized:

Hummus toast and lots of fresh veggies

3am:  Crashing hard, more consults to see, and a freezer full of ice cream.
I don't remember the last time I had an ice cream sandwich.  Yum!

Seared tofu, roasted parsnips and carrots, orange

Mixed veggie salad, coconut chicken, and pizza toast

Seared tofu with mango BBQ sauce, butternut squash puree, and  chopped veggie salad

The most exciting food photos this week are of Veganomicon's Caramel-Apple Spice Cupcakes.  The resident I was working with on nights had a birthday this week, so it was the perfect excuse for me to bake.  If you don't own a copy of Veganomicon, then this recipe alone is reason enough to make the purchase.  OMG - these are AMAZING!!  They are incredibly moist and topped with a decadently rich caramel icing.  You'd never guess they are vegan!

The finished product, complete with hand piped frosting.

Workouts have been decent this week, considering the odd work hours and fatigue.
Monday: 5.5 mi endurance run
Tuesday: swim speed work, 1hr bike
Wednesday: 1hr strength training (kick-butt athletic conditioning class at the Y)
Thursday:  swim pull intervals, 5 mile run
Friday: 1hr 15min bike, yoga
That puts me at just over 6 hours of training so far for the week.  Plans for the weekend include strength, a long run, speed work in the pool, and a 2hr bike trainer session.

Time for some lazy couch time and movie watching.  Something tells me it won't take long before I'm staring at the back of my eyelids.