End of Summer Vaca and a Solar Eclipse

8.14
I've been on vacation this past week and it's officially over :( I am, however, finally starting my new schedule; I now have Mondays off instead of Tuesday. It'll be weird working 4 days in a row but it will be nice to have 3 day weekends regularly. It' not an OR long weekend but I'll take what I can get these days. I had a staycation this time around, with the exception of 3 days when I was in Maine. Last Saturday night, I hung out at the Goss residence after not doing much that day. Sunday, I went to Bellows Falls to see Cars 3 at the opera house with Dave, Heather, and Simone, stopping for pizza on the way. I stuck close to home until Friday morning, cleaning and doing things I felt like such as laying outside, making guacamole and cookies, bike ride, etc. On Thursday, I got a pedi and met some peeps for drinks and dinner at Jesse's. I got to the Tainter residence around noon and hung out with the kids for a little bit before her mom came to get them for the weekend. We ate lunch and chatted for a while before getting ready to go out for drinks and dinner with her friend Jill. Ended up being an intoxicatingly fun night (I may have done karaoke) that ended with the rest of my dinner and a large piece of amazing chocolate cake at midnight. Mike is a good DD. I felt much better overall because I stuck to beer, primarily. Saturday, we went out to breakfast and spent most of the afternoon on Elias' boat with Mike and Beane. We had a late lunch in Boothbay (after docking issues lol). We grabbed a pizza before heading home and had a quiet movie night after showering which concluded with yet another piece of  chocolate cake. Sunday was a lazy morning with breakfast sandwiches and some solid sun and pool time. We got ready and I packed up my stuff and we headed to an amazing waterfront restaurant in Harpswell for a late lunch and last meal before making the trek home. Traffic between the toll plaza and NH was stop and go so I didn't make it home to my kitty until close to 9 (with a couple stops). He was home alone for the first time with the exception of a 30 minute visit from Grammy on Saturday. Today, I did some stuffies, went for a bike ride, and got ready to return to work. I hope there's something good waiting for me.

When I left off last, I was starting an on call weekend. It wasn't bad. We got called in early Saturday morning for a stable STEMI (note to self, don't ever do anything with the xray system during a case) then followed with 2 floor players after a break. We came in Sunday morning around 11 (had to abandon my bubble tea trip) for 1 or 2 floor players then got paged back at 530 for a STEMI. Got to sleep Saturday and Sunday night, so pretty decent overall.

The following weekend was the first weekend since returning from Italy that I had available to go see Granny. I think I arrived around 4ish following a failed 2nd attempt to get a bubble tea for the road (closed for vacation). We chatted, had some cocktails and played Yahtzee for a while. Granny made beef stew and a perfect lemon meringue pie for dessert. I also got a picture from Pete of him and his new girlfriend. Seems like a good match! I hope it works out. I went home that night and don't remember much about the rest of the weekend except a bike ride on Sunday. I think my wheels need a tune up. On the 18th, we had a see you later gathering (good turn out) at Salt Hill in Leb for Michelle and Naz. The end of July is always sad because you have to say good-bye (sometimes see you later) to good residents/fellows.

8.21
On the 22nd, I went for a 6 mile run (first and only time so far this summer although I think that's going to change this coming Saturday because I don't think I'll be able to run after work this Thursday). I met Emilee and some of her friends that night at the Imperial for "birthday" drinks. We had talked about going out for drinks for my birthday but by the time this evening finally happened, that ship had sailed. Birthday is in the past therefore, this night just felt like a regular outing. I feel safe saying that I never want to step foot in that establishment ever again. I've reached the age when quiet nights in greatly exceed in desire late nights out involving alcohol. Plus that place is just heinous. From now on, only under special circumstances.

The last weekend in July involved BBQ fest at Harpoon on Saturday. I met Dayna and Mike there, we hung out, walked around, grabbed some beer and were soon joined by a friend of Dayna's from APD. We ate some delicious BBQ and chatted with Hodgman for a bit. We eventually went our separate ways and I made my way to WRJ around 730 for Kendall's graduation party at Amy's bar/lounge. According to Facebook, the event should have started at 7 but it actually was 9. I could have gone home but I probably would not have come out again. I decided to order a drink and ended up sitting there for about 2 hours before Kendall showed up. A bunch of her friends were there so we were able to squeeze in only a short visit. I also did a little dancing (event was DJ'd) and got to catch up with Amy and Mike before peacing out around 1030 (with a sweet party morsel courtesy of K). Kendall is leaving soon for Germany for a year on a Fulbright scholarship...who knows if we actually will hang out just the two of us before she leaves. The next day, I went to Ctown to hang out with H and S. We hiked Arrowhead, played, and grilled some dinnah.

So far, I'm enjoying my new Tuesday-Friday (as much as you can enjoy a full time schedule I guess). New eye candy at work helps a lot, too *wink, wink* It's really nice having 3 days off in a row. Normally, I'd be at work now but I get to be home and enjoy the solar eclipse today! Heading out for a bike ride shortly then my plan is to drink a beer on my deck and hopefully catch up with Sarg later. On Saturday, Dayna and I headed to Middlebury for Ciderstock. This year, Tribal Seeds, Pepper, and the Roots played. We pregamed at Stonecutters, got some food truck BBQ and made our way as close to the stage as we could get. Made some friends, had delicious cider, and danced to good tunes. Got pics with some band members. The trip home was uneventful until an owl decided to fly into Dayna's grill. I felt really bad for a bit then decided it was really funny. I hope it lived...just missing some feathers lol.

Heading to the rail trail...