I'm sitting at the dining room table of a friend's house in Cary; she and her husband have gone to Greensboro for the evening (she's a CPA and there's some sort of event taking place there), and I volunteered to stay with her four-year-old daughter, Isabel. And what a charming child! Only about twenty seconds of shyness when I first walked in the door, no separation anxiety whatsoever when Mommy and Daddy left, and good as gold throughout the entire evening, with no whining or drama about anything at all. She had every detail of her evening routine down pat, from flossing her teeth to taking her multivitamin, and seemed to enjoy prompting me through it all ("And now you wrap the towel around me and pick me up like a baby and drop me on my bed and say 'boom!'"). The part that melted my heart was bedtime, when I was asking her how she wanted her lights to be (bedroom light off, hall light on, and bedroom door cracked, for the record), and she showed me, then sat up in bed and said, "And now you give me a hug and a kiss and tell me you'll see me in the morning." Which I did, and she promptly laid down, snuggled up with her blankie, smiled, and closed her eyes... and I have not heard a peep out of her ever since. Easygoing as can be... and absolutely adorable. *sigh* It was really nice to be able to just hang out and play with a child for a change, without the obligations of having to get him/her to stand on the scale, do a vision test, lie down for vaccines, etc.

In other news, I got an email from Duke today confirming that they have received my CASPA application... and linking me to their supplemental application!!! I didn't think I was going to get that email for another three or four weeks, but I got it today! It's pretty long -- sort of a less complex version of CASPA, to tell you the truth -- but there are only two additional essays and they're both very short. And after I submit it all, the only thing left will be the MUSC application (which is separate from CASPA, and will be available on July 1st). The process really is almost over; the ball really is almost in 'their' court! I am so stoked.

Also, L and I are going to Charleston this weekend to (a) spend some time with our friend Christine, (b) tour MUSC's PA program, (c) possibly go to the beach, and (d) eat the (supposed) world's best fried green tomatoes, among other escapades. Should be fun. I'll keep you posted.

Today was my last day of work for 'my' doctor until he comes back from his trip (running a marathon, among other things), which kind of stinks. I really like the routine we've established (ha, sort of like Isabel, I guess... LOL), not to mention just plain liking him as a person, and will be sorry to spend two weeks 'bouncing around' from doctor to doctor the way I did when I first got hired. It's more difficult when you don't know exactly what's expected of you... or exactly what liberties you can take (i.e. ordering vaccines ahead of time, going through baby questionnaires with parents, making 'executive decisions' as to what kinds of sore throats do and do not warrant a strep test...) Ah, well, maybe it'll be good for me. :)

I am so freakin' tired you wouldn't believe it. I haven't gotten to sleep until almost 1:30am for the past two nights, and it's catching up to me; I was hopeless today. Pretty much the only reason I'm sitting here typing this is so that my friends won't come home and find their daughter's "responsible adult" babysitter passed out on the couch in a puddle of her own drool. :)

Aha, I hear the garage door. Time to go home...