so what HAVE I been doing?

I am thankfully back from the land of night shift, until next fall...but I'll take what I can get. I'm not really a morning person, but I am DEFINITELY not a night person. I don't think I have ever felt so awful so consistently as I did while working nights. Days are much better.

John and I had a wonderful trip to see his dad in Vermont. The weather was cold but beautiful. Vermont is so scenic. Tons of rolling hills with old farmhouses, streams (this is the Green River), and the occasional random cemetery in the woods.

We went to the Ben and Jerry's Factory in Waterbury and on the way we (no joke) randomly stumbled across the birthplace of Joseph Smith. We stopped for lunch in a small town off the highway (as most towns in Vermont appear to be) and as we were driving into town we saw a sign with an arrow saying that it was 5mi to Joseph Smith's birthplace. Of course we pulled out our iPhones and investigated further...and it was true. So we went to check it out. However, we didn't get out of the car or make eye contact with anyone, just a slow drive by for some pictures.

The obligatory temple

And an obelisk serving as a monument to Joseph Smith, it's 38.5 feet tall, one foot for every year he lived.

After Ben & Jerry's, we checked out Stowe, since it was only a couple extra miles up the road...too bad we didn't have our skis.
We also went on a snowshoe adventure on about 2 miles of a trail that runs the entire length of Vermont. It runs across more than 200 pieces of private property and is only a winter-use trail (http://www.catamounttrail.org/)
Other things I did: read two books, beat John and cribbage TWICE (between John, his dad, and his brother, they probably have over 100 years of cribbage playing experience...I have less than two...granted we were playing on teams...John's dad and I still won), learned that maple syrup in my coffee is amazing, had the first (of three total) Christmas celebrations, went to a cheese factory and ate amazing cheese, and got lost in Boston after a snowstorm on our way to the airport after stopping for gas.

After I got home, it was back to work, and then I got sick, and was sick on Christmas. But I have since recovered and am now getting back into the swing of having a semi-normal work schedule again. Nothing terribly exciting has happened at work, just a few nutty patients with psychosocial issues that no one should have (much less make other people have to deal with).