December was busy...

And I have been awful about blogging.



Christmas preparations and catching up on two rotations worth of autopsy reports really limited my free time.

I found that I like writing clinical histories, but I feel less sure of myself when writing up the PAD. It is much easier when there is a readily identifiable cause of death and much more tedious when there is not... I'm sure it is one of those things that gets easier with practice. I'm still intimidated by doing the microscopic part of the diagnosis, but it isn't something they throw us into without any help. I will find out in mid-January when I go back to autopsy.

My week at Duke before the break was pretty good. I had a nice variety of complex specimens and felt pretty good about my comfort level with them.

But that is all done now and I've been enjoying a nice Christmas week. My mom has been living with us for two weeks, which meant that 5 out of 7 of the people in my immediate family were in Hillsborough so we had Christmas here this year. My husband came up last Friday and my sister just started a new job this year and as the newest employee ended up being the one to cover Christmas (the downside of being an OB/GYN is that you can't exactly schedule when doctors are needed) so we had to make do with phone calls and mailing presents in advance. It was strange before the break when people asked me if I was going home for Christmas and I pointed out that I basically live here now... It is different for other people who have extended families and roots elsewhere, but for me Durham (well technically Hillsborough) is home.

I spent some of the start of my break in Asheville visiting friends and wandering downtown, then my husband and I went on a post-Christmas mini-trip for two to Raleigh. It was nice to have quiet time and the freedom to wander around downtown and explore. We hit up the Edward Munch exhibit at the art museum and my husband found a new favorite bar, The Raleigh Times, which had an extensive beer menu, extremely friendly bartenders, and an interesting interior layout (they have a history of the building on their website). We have plans to go back to the art museum with the children at some point, and maybe check out the state history museum as well. As close as Raleigh actually is, we're spoiled and it seems like such a chore to drive the extra 20 minutes when Durham is so close and there are so many things to do here.