After a relaxed rotation at the Beth Israel Deaconess, I am back at the VA. This will be my third straight year there for the holiday season since my ICU rotation during internship and again as a junior resident last year. Very little has changed with the parade of elderly men marching into clinic with familiar phrases like “Can you say that louder?” and “I don’t know why I’m here.” At home, we returned to the Fallout franchise through the wastelands of New Vegas. The familiar first-person role-playing game engine is fitted with new perks and dopplegangers of ghouls and super-mutants, promising yet many more hours of head-shooting fun. We did manage to break away this weekend and visited a friend in NYC for her daughter’s first birthday. The party at Flushing’s Dae Dong Manor was on par with most weddings we’ve been to, complete with chair covers, fresh flowers, custom guestbook, professional photographer, DJ, slide show, and to top it off, a lavish Korean luncheon buffet. Even with our stomachs filled to the brink, we drove further to NJ for another friend’s baby shower – this time for Chinese-American fare at China Chalet and a variety of pies. But alas, the mix of crying babies and too-much Asian food proved to be a health hazard when Melody caught a stomach virus. Despite an uncomfortable drive back, plagued by her need to evacuate the bug from both ends of her digestive tract, we couldn’t help stopping for ramen at Santouka (again) before returning home.

We awoke early this morning to beat the crowds at our precinct and cast our vote for mid-term elections. But while Pelosi lost her place at the speaker’s podium, other women of power entered our lives in the past few weeks. We recently embarked on CW’s new TV series Nikita. Starring Maggie Q in various stages of undress, the show is reminiscent of Fox’s Dollhouse series, with similar motifs including a covert organization with an underground training facility, an army of good-looking but brain-washed recruits, a computer genius with no social tact, and a smoking hot female lead who can kick anyone’s butt. Compared to Eliza Dushku, Q has a more mature persona, which unfortunately make her performance a bit stiff and less fun to watch. We also missed the layers of complexity that distinguished Joss Whedon’s series. Meanwhile, we also started watching the 4th season of 30 Rock on our instant-watch Netflix queue. Tina Fey’s nerdy but adorable mid-level manager Liz Lemon, along with the quirky cast of characters, have kept us company over dinner at home. It’s nice to see the actors settling more comfortably into their roles and the show getting more hilarious with each season.