Another first

Tonight Hubby and I are going to my first Stars game! He got tickets from one of the men he works with, so as soon as he gets home, we are headed out. It will also be my first time to ride the TRE, the local commuter train that goes between Ft. Worth and Dallas. We have a station not too far from our home, so rather than drive through the thick fog blanketing our area, we're going to take the train. I had been to a few IHL games back in Houston, but this will be my first NHL. I'm excited!

Tear

I started as senior on a new service on Monday. Last night was my first overnight call; I have five more left of these occurring once every 4 days (with the exception of 5 days off for Christmas), and after 31 hours at the hospital, I'm tired. Despite all the frustrations that occurred, I had a touching experience last night that reminded me yet again why I love kids so much.

Early in the evening, I did an admission on a patient that I hadn't seen since my intern year. I remembered that this patient's mother passed away about 3 weeks prior to our initial meeting, and I knew that Granny was now the primary caretaker. I re-introduced myself to the family including my patient's younger sibling that I had not met previously, and soon the family had me cracking up laughing over how hilarious the kids are. The younger child (who I'm guessing was around age 4 or 5) wanted to be the center of attention and asked me to do an exam with my stethoscope, so since I had a few extra minutes, I complied. As I placed my stethoscope on the sibling's chest, I explained that I was listening to the heart. The sibling looked up at me with beautiful, trusting eyes, and matter-of-factly informed me, "That's where my mommy is."

A lump caught in my throat as I looked up at Granny. She smiled at both of us, and I'm pretty sure she had tears in her eyes. This sweet child exuded such innocence and love; I couldn't resist giving out a hug before I left the room!

Electric

Last week my mother-in-law and I went Christmas shopping. Naturally our day included a stop at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (honestly, is any shopping day complete without a visit there?). One of my purchases was a small square squishy pillow that I can use both in the car and in bed.

A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and as I was repositioning the pillow, I noticed green sparks coming off my hand. I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it, so I went back to sleep. Early this morning, Sebastian woke up and started barking, so Hubby was sweet enough to free him from his kennel, allowing me to stay warm and cozy. As he climbed back into bed, I repositioned the pillow again; this time, I knew for sure I wasn't making up the green sparks! The static electricity from this pillow is amazing! I got Hubby's attention, and I'm know he saw the sparks too.

Had the room not been pitch black, I would have seen an incredulous look on his face in addition to the little sparks. I can only imagine the thoughts running through his head about how insane his wife was to be giving science lessons at 3 AM. He's so sweet to put up with my craziness. Now if I start explaining how to do medical procedures in my sleep, I'll know I'm in trouble.

Panic at the testing center

I'm in the middle of applying for my license to practice medicine in Texas. I already have my provisional license to practice as a resident, but now it's time to get the full meal deal. My wallet is over in the corner crying again as it has already cost me over $1000 so far, but it will be worth it in the end. Among the many hoops through which I have to jump is taking the medical jurisprudence exam. It's 50 questions in 90 minutes, and we can only miss 12 to pass. I studied for it a little during PICU night float over the last 2 weeks, but since I didn't really have enough time, I devoted the first day of my vacation (Monday) to hitting the books. By the time I left to take the test Tuesday morning, I felt decent about the test and just wanted to get it over!

The testing center was about 30 minutes away from our house, so I left at 7 AM to make sure I had plenty of time to sign in before the 8 AM exam. In order to take the test, I needed to show my scheduling permit from the board as well as two forms of ID that both had my signature. As I was sitting in the waiting area getting ready to check in, I peeked into my purse again. Permit? Check. Driver's license? Check. Passport? Check. Since I recently got my passport with my new name and photo back in the mail, I decided to look again and the picture and see how much it didn't look like me.

To my horror, the face in the picture looked like me ... nine years ago. I had grabbed the wrong passport! My old passport has my maiden name on it, and since my new IDs don't include that name, I knew I couldn't use the passport to prove my identity. I frantically began to look through my wallet, and to my dismay, not a single credit card was signed. As fate would have it, I only had a pencil in my purse, so I couldn't even sign a card. I could not believe this was happening to me, little Mrs. Prepared!

I began to pray for anything that would help me out. A few minutes later, I noticed that the man sitting next to me was holding an electrical book and possibly looked like some kind of engineer. I asked if he happened to have a pen I could borrow, and by a miracle, he did! I quickly signed the back of my debit card that has my photo on it and profusely thanked him. Five minutes later, I was called to the front and signed in with no trouble!

I was a little worried about the effects of the morning on my exam, but I had nothing to worry about. I passed with flying colors. I've jumped yet another hurdle in my path towards practicing on my own! Now my vacation can really begin.

I'm a stalker

I have to admit that I am an avid blog stalker. There are quite a few blogs I read regularly -- most of them belong to people I know (although many of them probably don't know I read their blogs), and quite a few belong to people they know but whom I have never met.

This weekend, I was shopping with the hubby at the mall. As I was searching through the petite section for a pair of jeans, I looked up to see a familiar face. My first thought was, "Hey, I know her!" I soon realized that I didn't actually know her; I just knew her blog. I thought for a brief second about introducing myself but realized how crazy that would make me look (especially b/c I couldn't remember who the initial connection was that got to me to her blog -- I now do remember). I'm just glad I didn't say anything stupid so that she wouldn't think I was a real stalker.

Sleepwalking

I'm on PICU nights right now. I hate it. I work 7 PM to 9 AM Sunday through Thursday nights for 2 weeks in a row (except that on Sundays I come in at 5 PM). It gives me the required 10 hours off between shifts, but I think it's safe to say that not a one of us thinks 10 hours is enough especially when you work 5 shifts in a row. It's only two weeks, but it's already been a LONG week plus a day. Last night I had parents of a very sick child get angry because of things that happened before I even came to work, and they took it out on all of us. I understand people react differently when they are scared, but to this non-confrontational person, having someone cursing at me and insulting both me and my hospital was very unsettling. To top it off, I'm going 48 hours or so without seeing my husband; this may not sound like a long time given how much time we used to spend apart, but now that I've gotten used to having him around every day, it's awful to go for 2 days without seeing him. :(

Six shifts down ... four to go. Let the countdown commence. I finish Friday around 9 AM, and then I start a 10 day vacation!! My plans include decorating for Christmas, finishing up my shopping (almost done!), and sleeping. Since I'm working Thanksgiving night, I'm making our own Thanksgiving meal on Saturday; the full menu hasn't been planed, but it will definitely include my famous brined and roasted turkey! I seriously cannot wait.

What is that smell?

When I woke up yesterday, I realized that the same muscle I pulled six weeks ago was feeling tight. Since I'd been on my feet for roughly 30 consecutive hours over the weekend and worked out on Monday, I decided to give myself the day off. I even tried a little Capzasin on it before I went to bed, but it's been REALLY tight today. It hasn't spasmed like last time, but it's been tight enough that I'm walking a little different and have really been uncomfortable. Hubby and I were out running errands tonight, so I asked if we could stop at CVS to get some medicine.

After looking at the ingredients in the creams, I ended up selecting the one with the most ingredients (which also had the highest concentrations of any of them as well). One of the ingredients happens to be methyl salicylate; one whiff of this stuff, and you'll be transported back to your grandparents' medicine cabinet. As I was putting it on, I made some crack to Hubby about being able to call me "Grandma," and we had a good laugh. He left the room for a few minutes, and when he returned, he exclaimed, "Honey, you really DO have that old woman smell!"

At this point, I don't even care. I have to say that the cream is working! My calf is tingling, and I can actually move my leg further than I've been able to do so for the last two days. If smelling like a Wint-O-Green Lifesaver is what it takes to be able to walk normally again, I will suffer through it!

The bubbly ...

I hate tapping big kids. By tapping, I mean performing a lumbar puncture on them. By big kids, I mean anybody over twelve months. This weekend, I took a hellacious PICU call (thirty hours with no sleep thanks to one child who kept me baffled all of Saturday night and most of Sunday morning). During the day, we admitted a teenager who presented with some very abnormal neurologic symptoms, and the decision was made to do an LP. Since I was not on the admitting team and was just helping out another resident, I stood by and watched as she attempted the tap. She was very confident and did a great job, but for some reason, she didn't get CSF. I was so not thrilled about trying for it; feeling for landmarks on a well-nourished 16 year old female is so much harder than feeling for them on a skinny two month old! I said a quick prayer, marked my spot, and went for it. With a few adjusts of the needle, I suddenly had CSF ... clear, beautiful CSF pouring into my vials. We measured an opening pressure, collected our precious samples, and quickly wrapped up.

A few hours later, we were running labs and vitals. Lo and behold, I had a champagne tap. :)

I needed that.

Zzzzz

Sarah = boring. At least my blog seems to make me look that way! I have actually been pretty busy with work but have had enough down time over the last week to make two delicious soups from scratch (crab & corn chowder as well as shrimp bisque), a pot-roast, and two baked goods (double chocolate cake with white chocolate-sour cream icing and cranberry-orange scones). Hubby and I had the opportunity to go out to eat with some sweet friends of ours at a great restaurant on Saturday night and again with another couple we adore on Sunday. We had a busy but great weekend!

I donated blood yesterday, and I've felt a little tired since then, but this feeling is totally worth it. I'm CMV negative, something a little uncommon by the time you're my age, so I get hit up by the blood bank every eight weeks since my blood can be donated to the little ones as well as to immunocompromised individuals. I haven't been able to give every time I'm eligible, but I try to do it as often as I can. I have a firm belief that since I have ordered so much blood for my patients in the last two and a half years, I should help to supply that blood while I am able to do so.

I love that the weather has started to turn cold. We've actually had to put our electric blanket on the bed! As my hubby likes to say, "yes, we are old." I'm curled up on our bed under my quilt and am about to snuggled up underneath the quilt and the electric blanket. Comfort awaits!

Amazing

We've been back from Disney World for a week, and I have to say that our time was amazing. We had SO much fun! I have a decent amount of pictures to post, but our internet was down at home for part of the week. I took the pictures to work only to find that the computers there block me uploading anything, and now that I have internet at home again, the pictures are still up at work. Doh! Work has been killing me; I've been there from 8:30 to 7:45 almost every day (Wednesday was only til 5), so I have had little time for anything other than work. Today and tomorrow I'll work noon to midnight, and Sunday I'll work 11 to 7:45-ish. I can't wait to be done with this month!!

Highlights from our trip:

• Meeting Mickey :)
• Riding some really cool rides
• Lines so short that we were able to walk onto many of our favorite rides or wait less than 20 minutes
• Waiting in airconditioning for most of the rides :)
• Laughing with Hubby at how silly we looked in our rain gear
• The Ecpot food and wine festival
• AMAZING sushi at a local restaurant recommended to us by a friend
• Getting to feel like a little kid again

When I can, I will post some of the pictures. Hopefully next month will give me more time to get things I need to do AND want to do completed!

Countdown!

Thirty six hours til Florida ... sixty hours to Disney ... I really don't know how I'm going to work a noon to midnight shift tomorrow!

Shoot me now!!

Last night started out on a really good note. Since I was working late again, Hubby grilled fajitas for us and even made a version of Chuy's creamy jalapeno recipe that I'd round on the Internet (very close to the real thing and SO tasty!). I went to bed with a full tummy, very excited about being able to sleep in the next morning; I was so tired that I fell asleep with the dog next to me (Sebastian isn't allowed to stay in our bed overnight). A couple hours later, I woke up with the sensation of having a large knife being stabbed into my right calf. I fell out of bed onto the floor and tried to bear weight on that leg, but the peach-sized knot that had formed in my calf forbid me from moving more than a step at the time. If Hubby had been out of town, I would have been screaming my head off from the pain, but as he was sleeping on the other side of the bed, I did my best to stifle my cries into whimpers and hobble into the bathroom where I could shut the doors and try to deal with this.

Moving into that room turned out to be quite beneficial. As the pain continued to increase, I began to feel worse and worse until all of a sudden, I was losing my dinner in the toilet secondary to the waves of pain washing over my body. I puked uncontrollably for a minute, and when it was all over, I brushed my teeth, drank plenty of water, and hobbled back into bed only to find a small Yorkie there just waiting for his mom to come back. I put the Yorkie to bed and dropped down into my half of the bed. Hubby, still barely awake at this point, made sure I was okay before we both gave into exhaustion and fell back asleep.

I didn't have another experience this bad again, but my calf still has a horrible knot in it. Hubby massaged it for a bit tonight, and I'm resting with a heating pad on my leg. I just hope this all gets taken care of before Saturday. Disneyworld can't wait! :)

My therapy

After the last eight weeks, I desperately needed a day off with no pressing responsibilities or to-do lists. I had a great massage yesterday followed by a quick, short-notice trip to visit my mother-in-law. I had planned to spend yesterday afternoon relaxing, but since we made the trip instead, I decided to use today for my relaxation today.

I spent the morning curled up with Sebastian watching Season 2 of Heroes. Since we missed the season premiere last night, I figure I had time to refresh myself on last season (thank goodness for DVR!). Now I've moved into the kitchen (bringing the laptop and the rest of the season with me) and have started on my own version of therapy -- baking. I trialed a new recipe for a dessert called Serendipity Deluxe bars (3 layers of deliciousness -- all from scratch!) and am waiting on my yeast roll dough to finish its 2nd rise before I split it up into rolls and do the 3rd rise. I'm also testing the new breadmaker to make a loaf of fresh bread for sandwiches. Knowing what ingredients I'm putting into my recipes appeals to me, and making all of these treats from scratch has been so fun. I have some flour left over from the bag I opened today that won't fit into the flour canister, so I think I may make some peanut butter cookies too in a little bit. :)

Hubby's not going to know what to think when he walks in the door tonight! At least I know we're having salads for dinner tonight; that will help counter-balance some of the yummy goodness awaiting us for dessert.

Go, Cowboys, go!!

This weekend my parents came to visit. Since Hurricane Ike wiped out a large portion of Houston, the wedding in which my brother was a groomsman was postponed, so he and my sister traveled to Dallas to join in the fun. We have had a blast!! The siblings had to leave this morning, but my parents get to stay until tomorrow. Right now we're doing what every good Texan family is doing -- watching the Cowboys game. It's fun to watch the boys get so riled up!!

The last two weeks have been long, and I have enjoyed these last two days off immensely. I have tomorrow off as well, so I am being blessed with an hour and a half massage (winning that gift card really paid off!), and then I'm probably joining Hubby for a quick trip down to his mom's to get some furniture out of storage.

Thirteen days from now, Hubby and I are headed to Walt Disney World -- my fourth trip and his first. He has no idea how much fun we're about to have and doesn't have a clue why I am so excited. I'm praying that no hurricanes come to ruin our fun, but no matter what, I'm looking forward to having time with him with no work to hang over our heads during our vacation. We've both been averaging 60-70 hours a week for the last few months, so this vacation will be very welcome!

Sister time!

I had the weekend off, so my sister came to Dallas to visit. We had so much fun! Saturday morning Hubby and I finished cleaning the house, and I took Sebastian to the vet to get caught up on his vaccinations. He sure wasn't happy with me that day! By the time we got home, Becca was already waiting for us at our house. It was time to let the fun begin!

The three of us (Hubby, Becca, and I -- not Sebastian) went to Chuy's for lunch since Becca and I were craving some creamy jalapeno dip. Unfortunately, they forgot to bring out Hubby's plate, and by the time his food arrived, we were almost done eating; at least they gave him the meal for free since he pretty much had to eat alone! (He did encourage us to eat so that our food wouldn't get cold while we waited on him -- so sweet.) After lunch we did a little shopping and bought tons and tons of red meat for our weekend feasting (my hubby LOVES beef in any shape or form). I made a yummy mixed greens salad with bacon and balsamic vinaigrette as well as fully loaded baked potatoes while Hubby grilled his signature filet mignon. Becca agreed with me that his steak is better than most steakhouses and stated it was the best steak she'd had in years. My boy can grill!! :)

Becca brought us genuine kolaches from the Czech Stop in West, Tx, so we had those for breakfast. Becca and I are half-Czech and extremely proud of it (one of my next goals is to learn to make kolaches from scratch like the ones my grandma used to make), and having the kolaches reminded me of being a little girl going to visit Grandma in College Station and having cream cheese kolaches for breakfast in her little house. After church this morning, we had steak and grilled onion sandwiches, and now that Becca's gone, we've begun a long afternoon of watching football. Go Cowboys! This weekend was just what I needed; I now feel better equipped for another twelve straight days of work.

Lack of sleep leads to random thoughts

Cardiology has been a pretty good rotation so far. While my call last Friday was way worse than my PICU calls, the day-to-day work has been easier. My interns are awesome, and I have even had great interns working with me when I'm covering other services! I had another long day at work today but at least got to see some REALLY cute kids in my clinic. I've worked 113 hours in the last ten days and will hopefully only work about 23 more over the next two before getting Saturday and Sunday off (isn't that sad that I just used the word "only" when describing that)?

I couldn't stop yawning while I was talking with my mom on my way home. She even asked if I thought I could make it home without falling asleep! I took an accidental nap on the bed with Sebastian sprawled across my shoulder, and when I woke up, I realized just how hungry I was. I grabbed a handful of ranch-flavored Goldfish crackers to tide me over, and I must have wiped my hand on my pants or something because Sebastian is going NUTS. He keeps trying to lick my pant leg and the spot on the bed where I put my hand down. It's hilarious!

I found out as I was walking out to my car today that another patient with whose care I was very involved passed away yesterday. That's three kids in four days. I didn't expect pediatrics to be this hard.

Hubby and I did some serious shopping this weekend. Several months ago, I lost the mixing blade to our breadmaker, so it's been out of use as I was having trouble finding a replacement part. This weekend I found the entire breadmaker on sale for only several dollars more than the blade alone by the time I factored in tax and shipping. Hopefully I will have time to bake bread again this weekend!!

I'm taking a big step by putting my blog address on my Facebook page. This blog has been a haven for my ramblings and is read by a couple close friends but more by people I wish I knew better (and maybe a few random people as well). I don't really know why I'm motivated to do this. It reminds me of something a friend once told me in medical school: "People just want to be known." Maybe that's part of it; I have a huge shy side (the loud side really is just a big act!), and I often feel like I have to put on a certain face depending where I am. I desire authenticity; I just want to be real.

Untitled #2

I hadn't seen him in nine days.

I hadn't checked up on him through the computer in three days. The last time I looked, he was getting better and moving closer to going home.

I found out this morning that he had suddenly gotten worse through another resident who didn't know him but had helped move him to the ICU.

I learned an hour and a half later that he had already left this world and was with his Creator.

Ten minutes after my discovery, I was holding his mom in my arms and whispering, "I'm so sorry."

Fifteen minutes after that, I was weeping in the stairwell.

Ten hours later, I'm still praying for his sweet family.

I'm hoping that it will stop hurting in a few days, but I doubt it will. I mourn his passing but rejoice for his healing; he will never need my help again.

Sweet sleep

Today was my first day off after working twelve straight days. I figured out I worked 140+ hours in those last twelve days, and sleeping in until 7:30 was such a treat this morning. Hubby and I cleaned the house this morning, I had my hair appointment at noon, and tonight I had dinner with one of my best friends from college who is now a vet back in Houston. It was a totally awesome day!! Tomorrow I get to attend church (a much enjoyed rarity!), and later we're having dinner with our pastor's family and a few other families who live near us. This weekend is breathing life into my exhausted soul.

Monday morning I start a new 4 week block; this time around, I'll be the senior on the cardiology service. It will hopefully be a little less intense than the PICU, and I already know most of the members of my new team and am really looking forward to working with them! I'll still work twelve days on/ two off for the 28 days I'm there; I already have a massage scheduled for the day after the block ends.

Right now Hubby and Sebastian are both sleeping away, and I'll soon be joining them. I love knowing that my alarm won't be going off at 5:15 tomorrow and that Hubby and I will get to spend quality time together where I'm not falling asleep in the middle of our conversations. Everyone needs a little break now and then, and I'm no exception.

Rainy day

No profound thoughts on this post ... I'm on the 12th floor again today, and it's raining so hard outside that I can't see anything but gray outside the window. I only slept about 2 hours on call Saturday night/ Sunday morning and then dozed on and off for about 4 more hours Sunday afternoon, so I could really use another good sleep to get caught up.

Hubby and I went to see his mom yesterday. Seeing her was fun, and it was even better to have the time to hang out with Hubby. Even though I slept most of the way there and back, just being together was great. I have really enjoyed having him back in town! I have loved cooking dinner for 2 at night and having someone there to laugh at the little things with me. This is the start of the 3rd week in a row that he's been in town, and I am loving every minute.

Alrighty, time to get back to work ... it never ends here in the PICU!

Miracles still happen

As I've said before, being a physician has strengthened my faith in God and pushed my faith to new limits like no other experience in my life. The intricacies of the human body remind me daily of how fearfully and wonderfully made we are, and I constantly marvel at His handiwork.

The last few weeks in the PICU have reminded me of that so much. We have had many sick patients who have not done as well as we have hoped, but we also have one patient in particular who has overcome incredible odds and is doing so much better than we could have ever predicted. Many people including me as well as many of the nurses and other providers have been praying for this patient diligently, and it's so incredible to see God working and restoring health in front of my very eyes.

Being able to participate in this patient's care has been such an honor. A family member thanked me today for all the work the team has done for this patient, and I was reminded of what I told this patient's mother (a fellow believer) a few days ago: "You know why [this patient] is doing so well, and so do I. God is the one who is healing."

I pray for my patients often, and I want to be more consistent at it. Doing so is a reminder of where my place is and what my role is, and I don't want to allow myself to get so easily caught up in the day to day rush of residency that I can sometimes forget that praying is one of the most important things I can do for my patients. I am simply a tool in the Master's hands, and my earnest hope is that He will use me as He sees fit to bring comfort, healing, or both to many families according to His plan. My post from almost a year ago still rings true in my heart.

Numbers

I have worked 106 hours in 9 days. I still have 3 to go before I have a day off. I have lost 1 patient but helped many more. I have dreamed about the PICU 4 times since I started this rotation last week.

I am tired.

Definitely back

I'm definitely back in the PICU. This time around, I feel that some of the kids I'm taking care of are even sicker than the ones I had last year. One of my patients is on both ECMO and CVVH and is hanging in the balance, so I have had a crash course in both of these over the last two days. Both of these are largely run by the fellows and attendings, but I'm doing my best to keep up with what's going on. I spent thirteen hours in the PICU yesterday and another seven and a half today plus an additional four in clinic; I'm tired of being at the hospital! I have another thirteen to fourteen tomorrow and at least ten on Thursday, and then I'll be there thirty hours straight Friday through Saturday. I will work again Sunday through Friday (no more overnight call during that period though) and then will have two glorious days in a row off. :)

Being the most senior resident on the team has been a very interesting experience. I have a sub-intern (4th year medical student) on the team, two second year residents, and one second year outside rotator, and since none of them have been in the PICU before Monday, they have been looking to me for guidance. I've actually surprised myself at times when I give answers I didn't even know that I knew. We had a new admission early this morning right before rounds, so with the help of the night float team, I did a quick history and physical in addition to seeing my regular patients. I didn't have time to print up my history, so I apologized to my attending that I was going to present off memory. When I was done, he gave me a huge compliment in front of the team by telling the med student, "Now that was a perfect history; Sarah told a story with that one -- something that tends to get lost when people have their papers in front of them ... great job, Sarah." I actually felt not on top of my game since I had been so rushed that morning, so when my attending complimented me like that, I got a much needed boost. Being that I'm back in the PICU, I'm a little more emotional than normal, so I'm surprised I didn't start crying in front of the team!

Knowing that Hubby will be back in town in two days for two months (yay!!) makes this month easier to bear. I also love having Sebastian home to greet me at the end of the long day; his little tail wags a mile a minute every time I walk through the door, and he makes me laugh with his silly puppy antics. My little family is my escape from the stress of the PICU, and I am so thankful for them!

Wakey wakey ...

I am done with nights for a bit! I have three days off, and then I switch back to PICU days for a month (only two overnight calls for the four weeks). To try to switch my body back to days, I'm going to stay up as much as I can today and sleeeeeep like a baby after a sushi date tonight. Poor Hubby has barely seen me this week; I left for work Sunday around noon, got home the next morning around eight AM when he was already working, and proceeded to sleep until five PM. I'd leave for work around 6:30 and be gone all night til eight the next morning every night through last night, so it almost felt like an out of town week for us. He was so sweet and grilled filet mignon two nights during the week so that I would be well fed for the night (hospital food gets old!), so that made me miss him even more. We decided to go out for a date night to catch up on everything that has happened this week; I can't wait!

Even though we didn't see much of each other this week, I was so thankful Hubby was here this week; I was part of a really sad situation involving a young kiddo earlier this week, and when that got combined with another stressful situation at work, I broke down crying in front of one of my favorite pharmacists. Coming home to a long hug helped my tears to dry and my spirit to heal. I already know that the PICU will have sad stories (as it always does), so I look forward to having his support close at hand.

On another exciting note, Hubby will be out of town for another week and then will be back in our own city for at least TWO MONTHS. There really aren't words to express how overjoyed I was when I heard this project came through. We haven't lived in the same city consistently for that long since we were engaged, so I am THRILLED. This project is such an answer to my prayers. As an added bonus, the project is coming when I should only have to spend four of those nights in the hospital. While they will be difficult intense months for me (PICU and Cardiology senior), having my best friend home at the end of the day will make everything more bearable.

Same old song and dance

My internet isn't working on my laptop at home, and even when I have been home, I have been sleeping for the last four days. I'm on my fifth night in a row of night float. I have a great team, so it has been bearable, but I am ready to be done. I get a two night break starting tomorrow, and then I just have five more nights to go after tonight!

If things will slow down a little tonight, my team is going to have a dip party. I brought fixings for guacamole, my intern brought hummus as well as artichoke and crab dip, and one of the second years is bringing cheesecake dip for dessert. Yum!! Having fun when you're stuck here at night is essential to survival, and tasty food sure doesn't hurt.

Hubby is scheduled to get home tonight, so I should see him in the morning when I get home. We're going to make fajitas again either Friday or Saturday night so that I can make my guacamole for him again (one of his favorite things in the world). Kroger had a huge sale on berries this morning, so I bought strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries to make a delicious dessert that also utilizes marscapone cheese and ladyfingers. I'll still be on night float next week, but he'll be home that week, so we'll at least get to see each other when I get home and before I leave. We're going to have good times this weekend!

(I know the font is messed up on this post, but the computers here won't let me adjust it. I will fix it after Hubby fixes my internet this weekend.)

Travel Size Comfort

My hubby is a frequent traveler, and before we got married, it became a joke among my family that everything in his life is travel size including his wife (we have a 12 inch height difference between us). A little over a year into our marriage, we adopted Sebastian, the best Yorkie ever, so we now have a travel size dog. Prior to getting our dog, I had done a lot of research on breeds and decided that I wanted a terrier; I was scared of having a big dog pulling me behind him down the street, and the terriers seemed to have such great personalities. I had originally selected a Norwich terrier but then found out that these dogs are ridiculously expensive, so our plan changed to a more easily accessible Yorkshire terrier.

Sebastian turned out even smaller than we expected; he still only weighs about four pounds and is small enough to pick up with one hand. Don't let the size fool you though; he is all dog! He loves to hide his puppy treats, and when he thinks someone is intruding on his home turf, he is quick to jump to my defense and growls up a storm. That being said, he's one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. We have 2400 square feet in this house, and he typically wants to be in the two square feet that is my lap. Unless he gets extremely fired up, he almost never barks (no yappy dog for me!), and he somehow always seems to know when I am upset or sad and sticks extra close during those times.

I started getting migraines on my thirteenth birthday. My worst experience with them was a period during the winter of third year of medical school when I got into a bad cycle of headaches and had to take some pretty strong medicine to break them. Since then, I've been blessed to have had the headaches space out, and when they come, they have been easily controlled. Today I worked from home, and this afternoon I was hit with a horrible migraine out of the blue. Many times I have auras before my migraines (vision changes are my normal auras), but I had no warning with today's headache. I put Sebastian outside for a bit and retreated to our dark, quiet bedroom. After about 45 minutes, the worst passed, and I was able to get up and leave the bedroom.

I think Sebastian knew something was wrong when I let him back inside. He's been extra sweet and has been glued to my side ever since I let him inside. Hubby's out of town this week, so it's just me and the puppy tonight. I remember our first year of marriage when I would be all alone during the week when he traveled, but now I have Sebastian. :) He may be just a puppy, but he provides 4 pounds of warm snuggly comfort and keeps me from feeling alone when Hubby is gone. Other dog lovers will understand; he is more than just a dog to me!

Outside my comfort zone

Last week I had the blessing to spend half a day in a clinic for refugees. As it was explained to me, these are not just people who have come to America in search of a better life; they are people who have been forced out of their homes by persecution and are here in America because it has been deemed unsafe for them to return home. The stories the clinic staff told me left me flabbergasted and reminded me just how naive and sheltered I am. Few of these people speak English, and many of them know no one else here except for the family members who have fled here with them.

By the time the patients are seen in this clinic, they have typically been in the country for a week or less and are being seen by a doctor because some flag popped up on their initial screening exam by one of the nurses. Frequently this complaint turns out to be something very minor such as a cold or a knee ache from five years ago, but sometimes it turns out to be something more. During my visit to the clinic, a patient returned to the clinic for the results of blood work drawn a few weeks earlier. It turns out that this teenage patient had a chronic disease that we were the first to diagnose. The patient had initially come for evaluation of a cough and had no clue that we were about to present dramatically important news.

Had this patient been born in America, we would have caught this disease when the patient was less than a month old. Although there is no cure, we would have been able to provide close monitoring as well as therapy to help deal with the symptoms of the disease. I honestly do not know what the future will hold for this patient since I have never seen this disease diagnosed so far along.

I'm guessing my attending figured that since I will be through with my training in less than a year, I was qualified to deliver this news, and she reminded me to keep it as simple as possible since the family had likely never heard of the disease. When we brought the patient and the parents back to the exam room to speak with them, we quickly ran into an obstacle. Like most of the other patients in this clinic, the family did not speak English; we were prepared for this and used a worldwide translation phone line that we have available. Unfortunately the language spoken by the family is extremely common in their home country but barely spoken elsewhere; my attending informed me that there are only two or three workers in the entire world that are employed by the translation line who speak both English and this language, so when they are not working (as was the case this day), we were just out of luck. We ended up figuring out that the father spoke a little of another language in addition to his native tongue, so we used a translator to speak that language, and the father then had to translate into his native tongue for his wife and child. The situation was far from ideal, but I hoped that we were able to provide a little help to them.

The entire experience left me speechless for several days. I started residency two years ago with minimal comprehension of Spanish; now I'm comfortable taking a quick history and answering simple questions in Spanish, and even when I use an interpreter, I understand the majority of what is being said. Working in this clinic was completely different. I didn't have an interpreter readily available, and most of my patients that day did not have any resources whatsoever. The clinic was located where it was because most of the patients would be able to walk to it, and we had to figure out ways to get the medicines we prescribed for the patients rather than just writing a prescription and sending them on their way. I felt like I was almost practicing medicine in a third world country, yet here I was in the middle of one of the biggest cities in America.

Even with everything I see on a regular basis, I still am sheltered from certain parts of the world. I get to go back to this clinic again this week, and I'm looking forward to having my eyes opened again to something new.

EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

I didn't feel like cooking tonight, so Hubby and I decided to make a fast food run. We're trying to keep Sebastian adjusted to riding in the car, so I carried the little guy out to the car with Hubby following behind us. As he opened the garage door, I let out what was apparently a blood-curdling scream -- there was a dead mouse lying in the center of the garage right next to my side of the car!! I touch disgusting things at work all the time, but seeing the mouse really caught me off guard. Hubby thinks the mouse died from the heat; I don't care why he died, but I am glad he wasn't alive to scurry up onto me!

I don't think I'll be going out to the garage in the dark anytime soon.

Happy 4th of July!

I've only been off nights for five days, so I'm still not fully adjusted to living normal hours. Hubby and Sebastian are both fast asleep next to me, but I'm wide awake; at least What Not to Wear is on. :)

I'm about to enter my longest stretch of time off in weeks; I had today off, won't work Saturday or Sunday, and don't have to go to work until Monday afternoon. This is phenomenal!! Hubby and I spent the day scrubbing the house from top to bottom; we are exhausted, but the place looks amazing. Tonight he grilled fajitas while I made guacamole from scratch ... soooo yummy with lime tortilla chips. We also enjoyed a lime curd tart that I made yesterday. After dark, we attempted to walk to the end of our street to watch a local fireworks display about two miles away, but some local geniuses decided that popping fireworks over parked cars and small children was a bright idea, so we left. Poor Sebastian couldn't take it outside; he did just fine once we got him away from the madness.

Tomorrow we're going to run errands, and I may try my hand at another new dessert if I can make a selection among several great recipes I've been wanting to try. All I know is that we are going to relax!

On a different note, I doubt that anyone from the military reads this, but on the off chance that someone does, I want to say thank you to all the brave men and women who are serving our country and to their families for supporting them as they serve. We appreciate your sacrifices and are grateful for all that you do.

I still got it!

I worked four hours in clinic yesterday, had a two hour break to run home and back to the hospital, and survived a twelve hour overnight shift in the ER as pit boss. When I got home today, Sebastian wanted to play nonstop, so I only managed to get about three and a half total hours of sleep today. I knew I'd be too tired to put on makeup when I woke up this afternoon, so I did my makeup as soon as I got out of the shower this morning. I don't think the makeup really helped because I still looked pretty scary when I woke up.

I had a hair appointment at my usual place in Coppell at 5 PM, so I had about a 30 minute drive to get there. I stopped for a strawberry shake at Sonic just to keep me full until Hubby gets home tonight, and the sugar rush helped to keep me awake. Whitney, my stylist, said I was "in the zone" and more out of it than normal, but I eventually walked out of there with an AWESOME haircut (pictures to come later when I don't look like a zombie). I stopped at Target on the way home to get dishwashing liquid, and as I was bending over to reach the detergent, I heard a voice behind me say, "Hello."

I looked up to see a young Indian man standing there. This part of town where I had stopped has a large population of recent immigrants from India, and I have worked with a few of them in the past, but I didn't recognize this guy at all. Our conversation proceeded like this:

Guy: "Hello, are you in college?"
Me: "Ha ha ha ... no, very far past it, but thank you for the compliment." (I go back to picking out my dishwashing liquid.)
Guy: "Oh, I am in college." Awkward pause.
Me: "Oh really, that's nice ... where?"
Guy: "I'm getting my associate's at *insert local community college here.*"
Me: "That's great! Good for you." (By now, I have my two bottles and am trying to turn around to walk off.)
Guy: "Do you mind if I ask you out sometime?"
Me: "No, I'm sorry; I'm married. Thanks anyways!" (I bolted out of the aisle as fast as I could at this point!)

I felt bad for the poor guy; I guess he didn't see my wedding ring. It was a nice little boost to the ego though; even sleep deprived, I still got it! ;)

Sleeeeeepyyyyyyy ...

I'm so tired; I have worked the last two nights in the ER and have one more to go tonight before i get a little break. A patient's dad asked me last night, "Who did you anger to have to work a Saturday night shift?" I responded, "The better question is, 'Who did I anger to work Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday night shifts?'"

The new goods is that I'm getting much better at LPs; I actually had one of the techs request me to be the one to tap a child last night because he "wants someone who's good at it." It was definitely a boost to my confidence, and hitting the tap on the first try didn't hurt either.

Now it's time for me to go throw on yet another set of scrubs, make a quick dinner for me and Hubby, and then head back out. Unfortunately Hubby will be gone by the time I get home tomorrow, but we'll see each other Thursday. It's just another week in the life of this tired resident!

From the inside out

I find being transparent exceptionally difficult. I innately desire for people to approve of me; therefore, I often feel as though I need to show only the "good" side of me. Paul reminds me that it's all an image and that it's only because of Christ that there is anything good inside of me.

For the past few months, I have really been struggling. I've been dealing with several painful things, and my response has been to shut down emotionally. If I don't feel anything, then I can't hurt when the painful parts come. While doing this can help me make it through an individual day, it has robbed me of my joy. Shutting down has definitely affected my relationship with God as it has become a moving through the motions rather than a developing relationship.

Being the amazingly faithful God He is, He hasn't left me alone or given up on me. He has nudged me until He has gotten my attention, and I am thankful He has been so gentle. I'm now working my way back to where I need to be. I'm sticking my neck out and knowing that I may get hurt in the process of life, but the reward far outweighs the risks. I cried for the first time in quite a while today as I listened to one of my favorite mixes on my iPod and spent sweet time with God this morning.

I know that my resolve will be challenged in the upcoming months as I face two weeks of ER nights with a pretty understaffed crew, two weeks of night float as the most senior resident on call in the hospital, a month in the PICU, and a month as Cardiology senior on the inpatient service, but I know God will meet me in my place of need just as He always has. Making it through these next few months will undoubtedly be more bearable with His help.

Birthday thoughts

I'm now five and a half weeks through my eight weeks in a row in the ER. Double ugh! In light of the fact that I feel progressively more brain dead after each shift, here are some random thoughts from this week.

• I had a great birthday. My mom sent presents in the mail before she and my dad left for Spain, and Hubby sent me flowers at work the day before my birthday (I was the talk of the ER!). I also didn't work for 2 days in a row, so life was great.
• While I'm talking about work, let me say that I am so over the ER. I only have eleven more shifts to go; they can't end soon enough.
• When children are seen in the ER, parents have the ability to call back and speak with a doctor if they have a question about discharge instructions or prescriptions. That doctor is whatever second year resident happens to be running the ER that shift, and I was that resident earlier this week when a mom called to talk to me. Typically the front desk takes a number down and has me call them back whenever I have a free moment since the residents are often in traumas or urgent situations; however, this time a new person at the desk put mom through to my portable phone without notifying me I had a "mommy call." As soon as I answered the phone, this mom told me, "Hold on a second" and then proceeded to place her order at Sonic. She then started to ask me her question but told me to "hold on again" and corrected the error in her order. Really??? After finally getting the story out and realizing this would be an easy problem to fix, I told her I was happy to help her but needed the number of her pharmacy to correct the issue; that's when she realized she didn't have the number to her pharmacy and needed to go home to get it. The call was priceless.
• Sometimes a popsicle can fix everything.

Reflection - June 3rd

I found out this morning that a few of our chronic patients have died over the last few weeks. I already knew about some of them, but finding out about one in particular has really made me pause today. I don't think I'll ever understand why things happen the way they do. I will never understand why some kids are born sick, why some healthy children are suddenly stricken with illness later in life, or why some healthy children end up with horrible parents that hurt them. My heart breaks for all of these sweet children. To be allowed to care for them in any capacity is such an honor. I will continue to pray for these families in their time of need.

Hanging in there

Slowly but surely, I'm recovering. I've felt well enough to work my two 12-hour shifts Monday and Tuesday, and I'll be going to my clinic this afternoon. I still can't really hear much, but my cough is MUCH better. I'm still very tired, but I'm definitely on the mend.

I have to give Hubby props for the extreme patience he showed with me this past week while I've been sick. He was working from home that week but still paused to get us meals and would bring me whatever I needed no matter how busy he was. He also dealt extremely well with my turning down his dinner ideas and requesting spicy meals (since I really couldn't taste much else).

Hopefully by the time I'm back in the ER in three days, I will be so much better that people will stop asking me if I'm okay!

On the mend

I am finally starting to feel a little better. I can actually breathe somewhat through my nose, and my cough doesn't make me sound like Doc Holliday anymore. :) My voice is still gone, but I don't feel like I'm knocking on death's door anymore. Yay!

Worse still

So just when I thought things were heading in the right direction, I got a new blow today. Hubby and I watched CSI last night, so I spent at least half the night dreaming I was at work but had to do some CSI-like things on one of my patients. It was truly bizarre. I woke up this AM with no voice but a slightly improved cough, so I decided to tough it out and go to work.

On the drive in, I began to regret the decision. I had no voice to order my regular coffee, but at least the Starbucks ladies had a vague clue what I was ordering. My checkout started off with, "This little guy needs an LP ..." which of course I proceeded to miss completely while I sweated profusely and snot poured out of my nose (I was wearing a mask, so no one knew). I then proceeded to pick up a chart for a 15 year old who busted his lip open at school when he tripped and his grill ripped his lip WIDE open. He actually had 2 grills (upper and lower), but his wise mother told him to kiss the grills goodbye after today's incident. With a little supervision from the fellow, I sewed up that laceration very nicely (if I do say so myself) and saw several more patients before finally admitting how awful I felt. I had another resident that I really trust look in my ears because I noticed that my right one was starting to hurt and that I was having a really hard time hearing out of it. Oh yeah, this pediatrician has an awful ear infection!! It's the second one I've had since start residency, both of them associated with horrible colds. My fellow resident wrote me a script for antibiotics, and I had it filled at the hospital pharmacy. The pain is actually getting worse, and I'm just hoping the eardrum doesn't rupture at this point (although I'd probably feel better if it did).

Around 2 PM, I finally called uncle and called my chief to tell her that I didn't think I'd make it in tomorrow. I was dragging all day today and honestly couldn't picture another day back at it, and by the tone in my voice (or lack thereof), I think my chief realized that I'd really tried but couldn't make it all day. She called another peds resident in the ER and had him send me home so that I could get some rest.

Now I'm back at home in my spot on the couch, orange juice in hand, waiting it out. Hopefully this will all turn around soon.

Worse

Last night was another night spent without sleep. Despite multiple doses of medicine, I still couldn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time because of my cough. This morning I still had no voice, and my sinuses are becoming tender, so with the encouragement of my hubby and my clinic attending, I called in sick today. I felt horrible doing it, but like my attending pointed out, I'm probably more sick than most of the patients coming to clinic today.

I've used probably half a box of Kleenex today, and despite having the ones with lotion in them, I still look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. When I was going downstairs to boil some water to make steam, Hubby wisely reminded me that we have a steamer he uses on his pants, so I've intermittently been breathing in that steam for the last few hours. It's actually making me feel better! I still can't really breathe out of my nose, and my voice is still nonexistent, but I'm hopeful that I will be on the upswing in the next ten hours so that I can make it through my twelve hour shift in the ER. If the day is light enough, there is a teeny chance I will get to go home early, but since I'm pit boss tomorrow, I'm technically in charge and may have to stay the entire time.

I haven't had a cold this bad in just about a year. I hope it doesn't come back anytime soon; I don't think I could take much more of this.

Ughhhhhhhh

I forgot to mention that I have been sick all weekend. It started with a sore throat Friday morning and has now progressed to a yucky hacking cough, fever, laryngitis, nasal congestion, and a still horribly sore throat. My voice kept getting deeper throughout work yesterday, and by last night I felt horrible. I couldn't sleep flat, so I spent most of the night curled up on the chaise lounge. Hubby woke up at 6:30 to start working, but I ended up sleeping in til almost 11:30. He checked on me around 10:30, but it took me another hour to muster up the energy to get out of bed. He suggested I go see a doctor, and (as usual) my response was, "I am a doctor." I knew this was just a virus, but I conferred with my dad (also a doctor) who agreed and suggested some supportive therapies to try.

Now I'm sitting on the couch relaxing with a Yorkie curled up next to me while Hubby watches some ridiculous movie on TV. We've ordered dinner in since I'm obviously in no shape to be cooking tonight, and I've already taken my first dose of cough medicine. I am scheduled to be in clinic tomorrow at 1 PM, and I really really hope I'm feeling better by then since cancelling my clinic that late isn't an option (my fellow residents would have to pick up the slack and see my patients). Here's to Chinese noodle soup and lots of rest before tomorrow!

Hilarity ensues

There is no way I could not blog about some of the things that happened today. My first shift back on days s-u-c-k-e-d. There was up to a seven hour wait during the day in the ER, and people were in all sorts of bad moods. That said, here are the two highlights of my day.

1) I needed to sew a 3 cm laceration on the forehead of a two-and-a-half year old. My attending decided the little guy didn't need to be sedated, so we "papoosed" the little guy (wrapped him up good and tight on a backboard). It took two fire fighters in training (they come to the ER to learn some basic skills) plus the papoose to remotely hold this child still. My attending sewed the deep layer and left me to sew the superficial sutures. The little man was not happy, and my attending started to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to distract him. He wasn't very amused, so she quickly switched to "Jingle Bells." I poked fun at her since it's May, and she told me, "Be quiet, that's the only other song I know!" The next thing I know, I heard these words over my shoulder: "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed ..." I almost died laughing as one of the fire fighters joined in singing the Beverly Hillbillies theme song to my little Hispanic patient. Priceless.

2) Later I was taking a history from a mom about her five-and-a-half month old who presented with nasal congestion. As I was running through my review of systems, she mentioned, "Yeah, I've noticed that his right ear smells like corn flakes or a burrito." I think I stopped dead in my tracks for about two seconds before proceeding on. Completely random.

There are still six weeks of fun to be had in the ER!

Did I really just do that?

I'm back in the ER for 2 months straight! That translates to 4 weeks of day shifts and 4 weeks of night shifts. My merciful chiefs have split up the nights so that I work 2 weeks of nights, 4 weeks of days, and then 2 additional weeks of nights. I just finished working four 12 hour night shifts in a row. By the time I count in checkout and the drive to and from work, I'm only home for about 10.5 hours each day. I have been tired but okay, but after work today, I came home and crashed. I've been go-go-go for the last four nights, and I am beyond thankful that I'm not bad for a fifth night in a row!

As a second year, I'm responsible for making sure the traumas and critical patients are covered. I was definitely terrified of this when I started second year, but I've now realized that I have sufficient back-up and have learned enough to feel comfortable working with the sickest patients. Our nurses, techs, and respiratory techs are AWESOME and help me out so much.

I'm working on becoming proficient in my procedures and have gotten to do a few laceration repairs and lumbar punctures (spinal taps) over the last several nights. We are supposed to be signed off on lumbar punctures (or LPs) as interns, so I have been "signed off" for a while and am allowed to perform them without being observed. Unfortunately, I have had a run of HARD taps for the last few months ... so hard that people with more experience me have not been able to get these taps either. I know that should make me feel better, but my self-confidence has been shot. The most frequently tapped patients are little babies less than 2 months old who are undergoing a work-up for sepsis, but we also tap older children as we see fit according to their clinical picture and our index of suspicion. My personal feeling is that the little babies are easier to tap due in large part that it's easier to hold a baby still than a big squirming kid still, but even in babies, performing a tap can still take a while even if you do everything perfectly. A few days ago, I tapped a four year old; while it took some time and a little help from our fellow, I still got it on the first stick! I have been feeling a little better about my ability after that.

Last night a 4 month old needed a tap, so despite my nerves, I set everything up and got the baby into position. I cleansed and prepped him and felt one last time for my landmarks. I slipped the spinal needle in where it was supposed to go ... and beautiful clear fluid immediately came out. The clinical tech who was holding the baby laughed at me when it was all over because of the look of joy and surprise that washed over my face. I was done with the entire procedure in less than two minutes, by far the fastest I have ever done and, according to the tech, the fastest he has ever seen done by a resident. The analysis of the fluid showed that it was a near-perfect tap and actually provided us with essential information in treating this patient. I was grinning ear to ear when I finished. I'm back, baby!!

I was still riding off the high of rebuilt confidence when my shift ended shortly after 7, so I expected to have trouble falling asleep later. Ha ha ... apparently the adrenaline wore off because after I showered and ate my first meal in 14 hours, I was asleep within 30 minutes and slept for seven hours straight. I'm extremely thankful that I have tonight off because tomorrow I will have clinic at 1 PM and will then work my 12 hour ER shift starting at 7 PM, and I still have more sleep on which to catch up. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow night's shift; I'm back and ready to roll!

The Big Apple -- Part 3

Wrapping up!

Friday

We had been tipped off by the concierge that if we wanted to go to Ellis Island, we needed to get there early. The line for tickets opens at 8:30, but he recommended getting there an hour early. When we got there, we were probably already about 10th in line, but the line quickly grew to over 50 people in a matter of minutes. I was glad we listened! Oddly enough, there's no actual charge to go to Ellis Island or Liberty Island, but there is a charge to ride the ferry. After we purchased our tickets, we stood in yet another line to walk through security prior to boarding the ferry. In further proof that my Hubby knows more people than I could ever hope to, he ran into another guy from his work while we were waiting in the security line. We finally made it on to the ferry and had an AWESOME view for the ride in. We stopped at Liberty Island first. An interesting (and important) fact is that a ticket on the ferry does not necessarily guarantee you entrance to the Statue of Liberty; if your ticket did not say "monument access" on it, you were out of luck. There was a little French lady who did not speak any English in front of us whose son had stepped out of line for a minute, and the park ranger kept trying to explain that she wouldn't be allowed inside the Statue. It made me sad that I didn't speak French! Her son finally came back, and when she realized that her ticket wasn't also for the Statue, she got mad! Oh well, c'est la vie. ;) We had to go through another security line to get inside, and once we walked through the museum, we had to walk up about six flights of stairs to get to the observatory at the base. No one is allowed up to the torch or crown anymore, but the view was still great. Hubby took some great pictures! After we finished on Liberty Island, we went on to Ellis Island; we easily could have spent the rest of the day there, but we were getting hungry! We decided that we wanted pizza again since it's just so different and delicious up there. We had Lombardi's for lunch - yummy! That night we decided to enjoy another steak dinner at Benjamin's Steak House. We then walked over to Grand Central Station before heading back to Times Square. We wrapped up the night by visited the huge Toys R US (there is a ferris wheel inside!) and heading back to the M&M store to buy some candy and a little souvenir for me.

On the ferry on the way to Liberty Island

He always makes me laugh.

Still another beautiful day

Having fun

Hubby took this.

He took this one too.

Saturday
We were worn out, so we slept in late and had Jamba Juice for breakfast. We had to leave the hotel by 12:30 to catch our flight, and since I was craving a burger, we decided to walk over to Ruby Tuesday's and get something nearby that would be quick. The ride back to the airport was not nearly as eventful as the ride over, and we made it through security so quickly that we had an hour and a half to wait before the plane took off. Hubby and I relaxed through the uneventful ride home, and as soon as we made it back to Texas, we drove for about an hour to pick up Sebastian from Hubby's mom (we told him he was going to "puppy camp" for the week). Our vacation was awesome, and I couldn't have asked for a better week with Hubby, but it was still so great to climb back into our own bed and go to our own church the next morning. Anniversary vacation 2008 was a success!

The Big Apple -- Part 2

Continuing on ...

Wednesday

We had initially planned to go to Ellis Island this day, but after our big dinner (and the wine), we decided to sleep in. :) It was wonderful! Since Hubby is a platinum member at the hotel where we stayed, we were able to partake of the hotel's complimentary breakfast buffet each morning. When we went down this particular day, we happened to run into one of Hubby's close business associates who regularly works in New York; after talking for a little bit, the Associate offered to take us out to lunch - yay! This only left us with about two and a half hours to walk around, so we decided to amble over to Central Park. That place is huge! We watched a group of high schoolers play softball, little kids riding the carousel, and a group of people setting up to film a scene for a movie or TV show.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

The tulips were amazing.

Strawberry Fields, a tribute to John Lennon

If you look directly over my left shoulder, you can see this weird guy who was dressed up like a wizard.

After Central Park, we met Hubby's buddies for lunch at Bobby Van's Grill; I was so glad I changed to get a little more dressy for lunch! We had the best steaks of our entire trip here (although I honestly do prefer Hubby's steaks -- my boy can grill like none other). After we finished lunch, we walked over to Rockefeller Center and perused the NBC gift shop for a bit; Hubby later ended up getting this t-shirt as a sign of his devotion to one of our favorite tv shows. We did a little more shopping, and I finally found a pair of black high heels that is narrow enough to fit my little heel. I was so excited! We were both getting pretty tired from all the walking and dodging, so we went back to the hotel for a nap before the evening. We had tickets to see Wicked that night, so we ate dinner at a little restaurant right around the corner from the theater. Can I just say that Wicked was amazing? WOW, I was so enthralled! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

Thursday
After breakfast, we wandered back to Rockefeller Plaza to watch the taping of the Today Show. We actually made it on TV! We got really tired of having this group of pre-teens screaming in our ears over Fran Drescher (the Nanny? really?), so we left and went back to Greenwich Village to get more pizza at Joe's Pizza. The restaurant itself is extremely tiny, so we took our slices and sat out in a little park across the street. It was yet another lovely day, so we had a really good time! Afterwards, we walked down to Ground Zero and looked at some of the historic buildings in the area. We were craving sushi for dinner, but unfortunately the concierge was out that evening, and the girl at the front desk obviously didn't know what she was talking about when it came to recommending sushi (she was sweet, but a boring California roll is not my idea of great sushi!). Thanks to my iPhone, we found Kodama and were able to have some very interesting rolls that I'd never tried before. After dinner, we went to Serendipity 3 for their famous frozen hot chocolate. It was good, but I have to admit that I was a little let down after all the hype (plus I was slightly annoyed that the waiter made us each order one as there was an $8.50 minimum per person -- I only drank about a third of mine, and I knew ahead of time I couldn't come close to finishing one!).

9/11 memorial

9/11 memorial

Like I said, these things were huge!

Our last two days soon ...

The Big Apple -- Part 1

I had to skip work today because the dreaded gastroenteritis has hit me, and I don't want to get all the Heme-Onc kids sick (I'm cross-covering for an intern this weekend). I've been pretty much useless today, so since I've had a nice little nap, I feel that I should do something relatively constructive like blog about our trip.

Sunday
Our plane was an hour and a half delayed in taking off from the airport, so we were late in getting to NYC. When we finally landed and got our bags, we took a car service from the airport to Times Square. Scary!! The driver talked on his cell phone and was yelling in Arabic most of the time, and I was so thankful that we had seatbelts on! He was definitely not paying close attention to the road, but we arrived safely in one piece. After getting settled in, we decided to walk around Times Square for a bit and ended up having dinner at John's Pizzeria; the pie was delicious, and Hubby got to have one of his favorite beers that he can only find in the Northeast. After dinner, we continued our exploration by foot and made stops at both the M&M store as well as the Hershey store. We finally got tired and headed back to the hotel where we slept like babies; I was really surprised how quiet the room was considering we were facing 7th Avenue.

The wind was crazy!

My boy loves chocolate. :)


Monday
We got up that morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed out for our Foods of New York tour. Our tour guide was very interesting, and we spent over 3 hours wandering around the west side of Greenwich Village and tasting all sorts of different foods. We had a slice of New York style pizza from Joe's Pizza, samples of fresh bread, pesto, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar from O & Co, a cheese/ meat/ bread/ olive sampler from Murray's Cheeses, chocolate-covered pecans and almonds sold at this really cool herb store called Aphrodisia, chocolate chip cookies from Milk and Cookies, Thai chicken dumplings from Lime, and a final slice of pizza from Bleeker Street Pizza. We also learned quite a bit about local history and architecture and had such a blast! After the tour was over, we walked over to Chelsea Market; unfortunately, we weren't able actually to visit the Food Network, but we did see some really cute shops. I would totally shop there if I lived in New York! We easily walked over 5-6 miles that day, so despite all our snacking for lunch, we had still worked up a good appetite for dinner, so we walked up to Hell's Kitchen and had dinner at Uncle Nick's Greek Cuisine. I had some of the best gyros I've ever had, and Hubby enjoyed some lamb kabobs while we were both introduced to Greek wine. So good!

Hungry at the beginning of the food tour

Bleeker Street Pizza was a great way to end the tour.

These cupcakes from Chelsea Market were precious!

Tuesday
Our anniversary was here! We spent the morning shopping; I managed to find three pairs of petite pants that fit me, and (joy of joys!) they were all on sale. I was so happy! :) Then we went to what we are now referring to as the biggest rip-off of NYC, the Empire State Building. We got suckered into this thing called the NY Skyride; it turned out to be a Kevin Bacon-narrated movie attached to an inside roller coaster simulator. I got extremely nauseated at the end of the ride and took almost 30 minutes before I felt back to normal. :-p After visiting the top of the building, we walked back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. We had dinner at this extremely romantic restaurant called One If By Land, Two If By Sea. Hubby had the quickly seared buffalo rib eye, the beef wellington, and the dark chocolate souffle with rocky road garnish; I had wild mushroom and Parmesan crumble, the cushion of veal with butternut squash and broccolini, and the warm chocolate tart. All of the food was absolutely amazing, and my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. We had an amazing bottle of French Bordeaux wine, and the service was superb. I will remember that dinner for a long time!

So in love

More to come shortly ...