Anatomically Correct Halloween Sweets

It’s almost Halloween!  Due to that and the fact I was in a baking mood.  I put together these lovely beauties. 

They are both Martha Stewart creations (1) and were surprising simple to make. Note: the brain ones call for some kind of difficult Martha-ifed icing.  I decided that regular butter cream was good enough and just made that instead (2). 

I did these not only because of the obvious proximity to Halloween but also as a tribute to my flag football boys.  As Team Mom, I am obliged to bring a snack and felt like these cupcakes were not only seasonally appropriate but also added an additional educational anatomical element (3).

Well they must have been a good luck charm because the kids guys actually won.  However, Mr. MedSchool finally did himself in and hurt his hamstring.  He has been limping around the house and turned into a pitiful mess.  He has declared that he won’t be able to play next week (4) and has been downing Advil like they were tic tacs.  Ohh… the pains and pressures of professional (school) Athletics.  Next thing you know they’ll be asking for a raise (and by that I mean an upgrade to Capri Suns and twice the baked goods).       

1. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/brain-cupcakes , http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/skull-madeleines

2. Butter and Powdered Sugar Martha…not everything has to be difficult 

3. And a constant reminder to the guys that they really needed to be studying…not pushing each other  around and throwing a ball.

4. Yeah, we’ll see if pride plays out on that one. 

Holiday Season Happiness

It's official, the holiday season has started. I know that Christmas is 2 months away but it seems like Halloween starts a two and a half month long stretch of events (1).  I love this time of the year but have you noticed that the other parts of the year don't have nearly as many holidays?  I mean Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years all in about a two month span?  This time even gets 8 Charlie Brown TV Specials, starting with: 

• It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• The Making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
• It's Christmastime again, Charlie Brown
• Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
• I Want a Dog for Christmas Charlie Brown
• Happy New Year Charlie Brown!

(No these are all real and you can look them up (2).  Too bad it's too late for "It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown." (3))

Although I do feel bad for the doldrums in between President's Day and Memorial Day (4). I guess that if we didn't have the dry holiday spells, then we wouldn't appreciate this fun time of dressing up, visiting friends and eating food.

1. and increased caloric intake
2. Ahhh... wikipedia. So many uses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peanuts_media#TV_Specials 
3. Not kidding about that one either, aired March 1976
4. Really, whoever thought working people didn't need a holiday for 4 months...was crazy

Pricing Paint and Mad Negotiating Skillz

So this has been my weekend:

Paint colors, trim, crown molding… We have had a whirl wind housing adventure this past week.  As you may have read, I recently got a job.  Because I am now gainfully employed, Mr. MedSchool and I decided to see if we could get preapproved for a loan to purchase a home.  Due to the first time home buyer’s tax credit, if we were to buy, we would get $8000 in cash money (1).  However, this means that we would have to close on the house by November 30^th.  After getting preapproved and speaking to our loan agent, she informed us that we would need to have a contract on the house by October 30^th in order to ensure we close by November 30^th. Normally this would have been fine.  However, we are told this on October 15^th, giving us 2 weeks to find a house. 

After a bad Realtor experience before we moved to Small Town, South, we decided to do this “on our own” and purchase a home for sale by owner.  Things that we did not take into account:

1. We only had two weeks find houses ourselves, set up appointments and then go and view the house and fit it in to our busy schedule.

2. We know nothing (2) about purchasing a home.

3. We don’t have the greatest negotiating skills (3).

 So we went and saw a few houses on our own over the weekend.  Then on Monday, Mr. MedSchool informed me that he didn’t think he could do this on his own (4).  I had somewhat gotten the gist that he might say this after I overheard him speaking to his dad, who had just sold his house, on the phone.  “What you need an attorney?  Why?  Closing costs are how much?”  Needless to say, our loan officer had suggested a Realtor who could “work fast,” and Mr. MedSchool had already called her.

Our new Realtor, Amy, was perky and upbeat.  She was young but knew her stuff.  We set up to meet with her on Thursday to look at houses.  We were lined up to view 6 houses.  We trudged through several houses that we would be happy with but weren’t overjoyed with any, until house #4.  We walked into the 3 bed room/2 Bath, brick ranch style home and we found love.  First off, finding 2 bathrooms in a town full of older homes was pretty much impossible (5).  Secondly..a newly renovated kitchen was the stuff that dreams were made of.  We did go and see a couple of other houses that day but knew that #4 was our number one (6).  We went back at the end of our tour of homes to look again, just to be sure.  We put in an offer and signed the next afternoon.  We did feel a little risky because our offer was $2000 under the list price, which had already been dropped $8000, and we asked them to pay closing costs.  We waited about 3 hours, planning out our next counter offer but then we got an exited call from Amy. They had accepted our first offer! (7)

We cracked open a bottle of wine (8) and celebrated our victory (and our Realtor’s mad negotiating skillz). So barring any horrible issues that the home inspector may find, we will be bonafide homeowners on November 25^th.

So back to our weekend, after looking at the house again…we came to the realization that it may need some minor tweaks.  Paint…garbage disposal…new front door.  So Mr. MedSchool and I made a quick trip to Home Depot to price items.  Do you realize home much doors cost…seriously? $500?  Mr. MedSchool, pointed out that it is the first impression that someone gets of your home.  To which I countered that a $300 door would make a good impression, and I could blind company with my new $200 Marc Jacobs dress which I could also take away from the home, making good impressions throughout the neighborhood (9). 

We also priced paint.  Now I LOVE color and bright décor.  Mr. Medschool, however, is a beige kind of guy.  However, he bestowed free range of painting upon me because I had never been able to paint a home that we have lived in (10). 

Anywho, we have 4 weeks to come up with paint colors and Google “How to install crown molding.” I am sure that may interesting “do it yourself” posts will come in good time.  So look out.

1.  Thank you Uncle Sam!

2. And I mean nothing

3. Somebody call William Shatner .. Priceline Negotiator (musical theme…)

4. I wish I had recorded it too.  He admitted he couldn’t do it on his own .. this may never happen again. Oh well.

5. And one thing we have learned over the last few years is that our marriage doesn’t work without 2 bathrooms…it just doesn’t

6. Oh I kill myself…hahahaha

7. Yeah for desperate home sellers!

8. Who cares it was only 3pm.  It’s 5 o’ clock somewhere.

9.  How’s that for negotiating? 

10. He’s gonna be sorry for that one when he sees the lime green guest bedroom

Team Mom

So as fall has come and the weather gets cooler, it is time for the time-honored tradition of football.  Sure we have our passionate Saturdays of college football and lazy Sunday afternoons watching pro games.  However, it seems that the most exciting football time of all comes on Tuesday evenings, when my husband's flag football team plays.  


Mr. Medschool has always been a violent intense player.  He puts his heart and soul (1) into his game.  Let's just say the morning after the first game, Mr. Medschool had "unexplained" bruises all over his ribs (2) and a hurt knew.   


Now of course I begrudgingly dutifully go to every game, not only to cheer on my man but also as my position as "Team Mom."  Each week I bring my baked goods and Capri Suns to the game for the kids Med School guys to enjoy.  

Here's a manly (3)  picture of the team.

Identities have been disguised to protect the innocent (4) ... and I think they kinda look like the blind guy from Star Trek.

1. and body 
2.  Most likely from the times that he flew through the air and spearheaded another player in order to get the ball...no that is not legal in Flag Football
3. Aww they grow up so fast
4. Ha...like any of them are innocent!

How'd You Fit so Many Y's in that Word?

So this week's medical word of the week has 3 Y's (1), and is also the most unique (2) vocabulary word so far. 

Brachydactyly

Mr. MedSchool's Definition:  Abnormaly short finger(s)

Real Medical Definition: an inherited, usually dominant trait which literally means "shortness of the fingers and toes" (digits)

And as a special bonus, Mr. MedSchool sent me a picture as well!

1. and as Mr. MedSchool put it, 3 Y's how can you beat that?

2. Nice word for weird

Orange Suburst in a Can

Being on a diet is never fun (1). However, the hardest part of the Thrive diet is you cannot drink dark colored sodas aka Diet Coke.  After living off of diet coke for most of my adult life, I needed to find a caffeine substitute, stat (2). Then I remembered a little drink that some of my friends reintroduced me to this summer (3).

Diet Sunkist.  It is like a burst of sunshine! A burst of sunshine that happens to be one of the 10 most caffeinated sodas on the market. I would suggest that you pick some up. It reminds you of your childhood ... a carefree, happier, more hyper time of being.  

1. Unless you get to go on awesome grocery store tours. 
2. Been around doctors too long...using medical terms
3. Thank you Roddas

Fat Bus to the Grocery Store

So Mr. Med School has a test coming up on Monday… meaning he would be splitting his time between the library and the anatomy lab this weekend.  Because I would be a Med School Widow this weekend, I decided it would be a good time to go and visit my parents in Hometown, South.  My mother has been bugging me for the past few months to come and visit(1) and because I wouldn’t actually have contact with my husband this weekend, why not go for a visit?

So after work on Friday I hopped in my car and drove up to Hometown, South.  Friday night consisted of family dinner and Friday Night Football (2).  However, for Saturday my mother had something special planned for us.  As you may recall from an earlier post, my mother has been on the Thrive Diet, and as a part of the Thrive plan, you can go on a Grocery Store Tour! On this tour the “Guide” will point out some of the best vegetables and other items to eat (3).  Now being from a more rural area (4), I assume that people don’t tend to read fitness magazines or check out Health.com (5) as much as I did in Big City, South.  So it is not surprising that they would need someone to walk them through the grocery store to show them what veggies had a lot of fiber and which of the meats were leaner. 

However, what was the most entertaining to me was the “Guide,”  Ellen, who was much too happy to be up so early on a Saturday (6), told us antidotal stories about her struggles and would quiz us by holding up a broccoli and asking “Now what do we call this?”  “Exercise on a stalk!” says a very eager follower.  “Wow that is right!” says the perky guide, who goes on to tell us about the time that she ate an entire bag of broccoli instead of exercising (7).  As we made our way through the grocery store learning about foods that would put us on the “Fat Bus” and foods that would help us to burn fat calories, I noticed that the other store patrons were watching us.  And why wouldn’t they, with about 10 people in our group and a leader speaking like a tour guide?  However, the craziest part was that this tour took 2 hours. Two hours? I mean I love to grocery shop and take my time going down each aisle, but I never spend that much time in the grocery store (8). 

My weekend did wind up well, and it was good to see my family.  I came home to Mr. Med School, who wished me well, took our coffee maker and headed back to the library.  Continuing the Med School Widow theme, I just got a text message wishing me sweet dreams.  I guess I’ll see him tomorrow when this is all over.     

1.  And when we’re going to have kids but that’s a totally different story

2.  The best thing about that game was that I could leave whenever I wanted. Unlike when my high school boyfriend played football, and I had to stay at the game from beginning to end, rain or shine.

3. And she cruelly pointed out everything that you couldn’t eat as well

4. Think PeopleofWalmart.com

5.  Plug.

6. Yeah it was 8:00am but still, it was Saturday

7. Just in case you were wondering … asparagus is an Elliptical on a Stalk.  Wow how clever…

8. Except for Sam’s one time when I got lost in there…

Just Bob Yo Head

So I have been in a dancey (1) mood this week so the Medical Word of the Week has to do with keeping the beat.

Sternocleidomastoid Muscle

Mr. Med School's Definition: Muscle in your next that lets you turn your head to the side.  If you put your head on your chest…its that big muscle that sticks out.


Medical Definition: A paired muscle in the superficial layers of the anterior portion of the neck. It acts to flex and rotate the head.


In short it's the "bob yo head" muscle. (2)


1. No it's not a real adjective but it should be
2. You laugh but Mr. Med School will never forget that muscle 

You Put Brandy in These?

As stated before, I love to bake.  However, with the current diet du jour, I don't need to eat the things that I bake so work, Mr. Med School's friends or tailgating buddies are often the beneficiaries of my food.  For this past weekend's game, Mr. Med School and I went up to tailgate at our Alma Mater.  I decided to make a tasty treat that I had seen recently on the Martha Stewart Show (1), Martha's Perfect Sugar Cookies (2).  Martha's recipe called for all of the normal ingredients .. butter, sugar, flour, brandy, baking powder...wait Brandy?  Since when do you use that in cookies (3) ? 

Anywho, they came out really well if I do say so myself.  Especially after I figured out that my cookie cutters were still in storage (4) but that just made me get creative.

They ended up good although I did have an interesting time trying to write the players names on the Jersey cookies (5) but for a first try they looked pretty good, and I'm told tasted great!

1. Yeah when I was unemployed and worshipped daytime television
2. Ahh but isn't everything she does "perfect" http://www.marthastewart.com/article/cooking-school-perfect-sugar-cookies-and-royal-icing?
3. Seriously Martha's done time... I have the feeling she's adding liquor to a lot of her recipes since that span of her life
4. Yes, I do own cookie cutters, about 50 to be exact.  Just in case anyone needs a cookie shaped like a pumpkin, school house, train, dog, sail boat, I can arrange that for you.  
5. Thank God all of the recognizable players have short last names!

Who are These People and What I am Doing Here?

So I must apologize for my absence.  This week has been slightly crazy to say the least as I try to slide back into the world of the working.  So I started my new job last Monday, not sure at all what to expect.  My first day went well. I was very productive and got to know everyone in the office pretty well (1).  However, for the first three days, I wasn't exactly clear on what was going on.  You see I was told I was "helping with marketing (2)," which is pretty vague.  However after long talks with the designers and account managers, I finally figured it out.

I also discovered quite a few other perks to working in a small agency.  First we have a kitchen full of food (M & M's, granola, goldfish, pretzels, mini candy bars, and other brain food) and a fridge of sodas (3). I get the feeling that this will be a fun office because not only do we have a foosball table and an air hockey table but while rummaging around in the kitchen the other day, I discover a half of a handle of tequila underneath the sink (4). Finally we have an office pet.  It's a cat, that lives in our office.  Apparently it's our owner's cat who lives in the office because the cat and their other pet, a dog, don't get along (5).

Overall I think that it will turn out okay (6).  I am finally getting my feet on the ground and ready to start running.

As for Mr. Med School, he is doing well, just adjusting to me not being around all the time.  I think that Santiago (7), his Cadaver, is taking my place (8).The Cadaver Count for this week was 9 hours, which was less than the 12 that he spent last week.  We'll see what this week hold but an upcoming test tells me that he, and Santiago will be very close this week too.

1. There are only 12 of us in the office, it's not that hard to remember 
2. Seeing that we are a marketing company...doesn't everyone "help with marketing"
3. So how's that diet working?
4. Must mean people are working late nights...
5. And apparently she doesn't get along with anyone else because I'm told she bites 
6. Seriously, let's face it, I'm just glad to have a job at this point
7. Yes, literary allusion to Old Man and the Sea...don't ask, Mr. Med School has already been informed that he is a nerd
8. But he'll never be as good of a cook ... hahahaha