The Dishes

    So, I decided  that a rather nifty challenge for myself, to battle the deadly sin of Sloth, would be to get the dirty dishes done every day at a minimum for Lent.   Some science has indicated that it takes approximately thirty days to form a habit and this is a habit I would like to cement.   I do the dishes on a regular enough basis, but that doesn't always mean every single day.   I'll admit it.   To bar myself from the luxury of not doing dishes some evenings would be to, somehow, make myself a better person.   

   In response to this plan, I have received the following reactions: 1) You're my kind of girl! (from a person who thought I meant I was giving up dishes, in the sense of NOT doing them, ever), 2) that's not...um...spiritual (from my brother and my husband), and 3) That sounds like a good idea.   I understand why it doesn't sound "spiritual" but I submit that this has been supplemented by some morning and night prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, and is also helping to improve my relationship with the virtue of perseverance and loosen my connection to sloth.  

     I do generally get things done and show up to work when required, even adding projects to my schedule.   However, I'm inordinately capable of doing things (such as blogging, reading, knitting, and watching British accents on the telly) that do not maintain my home in an immaculate state. I have read blogs and statements by priests who suggest that a surprisingly small number of their well fed, well entertained American parishioners accuse themselves of sloth and gluttony in the confessional.   Clearly, this is not meant to break the confessional seal, but to point out that it is very possible for certain sins to be so ingrained in the way we live that our consciences stay silent.   This Lent, I'm trying to do a very small thing to re-train my conscience and to recognize that even an act as small as doing the dishes so my husband doesn't have to is an act of service and self-giving.    

I just might be back...

     Well hello everyone....long time no, uh, see?   Does anyone still blog anymore in 2014?   Am I talking to myself?   I'll presume so and just keep it moving forward.    So, quite clearly, a whole lot of crap has gone down since I last committed my immortal thoughts to the Internet.   I'm this close...
   

Thanks, vinelandrotary.com!



   ...to being halfway done with pathology residency and I have knit a whole whole lot of things in the slightly more abundant free time I have now.   I live in a new city and have been very busy working and not making a particularly large number of fabulous new friends.   I have convinced my very good friend, by virtue of the Shangri-La style bliss my new residency has given me, that she ought to do the very same thing and ditch pediatrics for path, and she just matched.  *sinister laugh as I think about my most recent call weeks*
    
     What am I knitting right now that you might conceivably care about?   Baby things!   Woo!  Uh...wait...they aren't for me.   Two of my bestest friends are about to make me an honorary Auntie in May, one week apart, and thus the Knits begin.  I'll share pics after the gifts are opened so as not to ruin the surprise in case they read this somehow.   I've begun to improvise-"design" about half of what I do and so one of the two items is my own brainchild.   I'm behind my friend Crafty Doctor in this regard, but I like to think that this shows some progress in my skills, anyway.   I improvised a hat for my mother recently, to no little critical acclaim, and I'm looking forward to continuing in this path.   I've been knitting in this semi-serious way for about four years, so by the time I hit anything like the Yarn Harlot's experience, who knows what I'll be capable of.  

    I'm excited to be able to get back to writing.   I have a lot of things to talk about  from the recent past if "current events" ever get too boring, and I'm hoping to be fairly loose on the content.   Knitting, yes, but other passions will get their time in the spotlight.   Stay tuned for fun things like:
 - Why anything on television involving British accents and period costumes MUST BE watched. 
 - Why pathology is the greatest specialty no medical student has ever considered.
 - What it's like to be on a real hospital ethics committee.
 - Why I'm pretty sure my dad means it when he says he wants to start his own "think tank" and why I MUST be involved when it happens.
  Of course, it may be nearly impossible to write here without getting into what I think of as the good stuff...my politics, my religion.   Who knows.   Watch this space.