As the director of the Duke Anesthesiology Residency Program, I am happy to welcome you to our blog and encourage you to send us questions or discussion topic ideas. I am an anesthesiologist who has specialized in cardiothoracic anesthesiology. My educational and academic interests include echocardiography and perioperative management/intensive care. In addition to being an anesthesiologist and perioperative physician, I am well-versed in the martial art of lurching for a marker, toy, or other thingy that rolled out of a child’s hands while attempting to load groceries into the car with my phone between my ear and shoulder advising how to approach a mini-crisis at work. When not taking care of critically ill cardiothoracic patients, I enjoy relaxing by taking children on an outing to get their flu shots or engaging in repetitive speech like “go to bed” and “do your homework” to help me forget I ever pursued an advanced degree. Seriously though, most of my time is wisely spent learning from my colleagues, residents, friends, and children to embrace the joy of life by living purposefully amid the chaos.