Taking time to stop, breathe, and savor the present moment.

I am sitting in one of our comfy green chairs, with the windows open and the ceiling fan blowing cool air across my face. G is snoozing in her stroller on the porch (yesterday she took a 3-hour nap there...I'm hoping for a repeat performance). There is bread rising in the kitchen and whole wheat dough in the fridge to be used for grilling pizzas later tonight. The dishwasher is humming in the background (an unfamiliar sound), cleaning Ball jars to be used to pickle zucchini from the garden.

This was a wonderful weekend. My parents were in town to drop my sister off for the start of her year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. My mom drove in a few days early to spend some time with G and let me tie up the last loose ends from my research year. My dad and sister arrived on Friday afternoon. We spent an hour or so walking around the neighborhood. G was in her element, showing off her running and climbing skills at the playground and her bravery on the big slides. We met K for dinner and ice cream, after which he and my sister took a trip to the garden plot while my parents and I gave G a bath and looked at pictures of doggies on the Internet.

My parents took off after breakfast the next morning, giving us the day to spend with my sister. It was really wonderful to spend some intentional time with her during a regular sort of day. My sisters and I live far apart, so most of the times that we see each other are at holidays or special events. There's a different sort of connection that happens when you get the chance to step into someone's everyday life. That's one of the things I'm most excited about for the coming year - getting to share ordinary moments with my sister in a way we haven't been able to in years.


Monday is my first day back on clinical rotations. I'll be starting with two weeks of outpatient clinics, which is a nice way to ease back in. After that, there will be 7 weeks on inpatient services, which will involve longer shifts and weekend hours. But I'm not thinking about that right now. Right now I am looking forward to making pizzas on the grill, and just feeling grateful for all that I am blessed with.