Tick Tock

This is going to sound totally cheesy and cliche.  But this past week I have realized how insanely quickly time seems to be passing.  On my way to work I looked at my car registration sticker and realized that we might no longer be in New York when I need to have it renewed.  By a long shot. 

Then I looked at my car inspection sticker (April), and it hit me that things are going to be crazy different in April of next year.  We will already know where we are going for residency for the next 5 years.  And we might already be packing.  I just can't believe it.  I remember being told that medical school would fly by, but I thought there was no freaking way.  Wrong!

In a matter of months, Mr. Snoop will have applied to residencies.  In a frantic effort to control my world, and we all know how much I love to do that, I took a page out of my girl Keely's book and made a gigantic spreadsheet organized by state.  For Mr. Snoop's specialty of choice, he will apply to a minimum of 50 programs, God help us.  In case you are wondering why, the specialty he wants to go into is very competitive and there are typically only 2-3 spots per program.  So the spreadsheet it absolutely necessary so that I can keep track of where everything is. 

Mr. Snoop has already applied to one of his two away rotations, and I am so anxious to hear back.  As usual, I can't wait for the next piece of news--where/when he'll go for the away rotations, when the application process starts.  I'm trying my best to just be present in this particular moment in time and not think too much about the next steps.  Patience is a virtue that I don't have, right?

Mrs. What?

Look what Mr. Snoop and I saw on a license plate at a stoplight a couple of weeks ago. 

Only in New York (or New Jersey), y'all.


Maybe it was Carmela Soprano! 


I'll refrain from my usual commentary on the state of our roads and other infrastructure (abysmal) + the high taxes we pay and where exactly does all that money go?  Mostly because I like pink shoes, not concrete shoes. 

skunk

I don't know if I've ever shared about the wildlife in our yard on here.  We live on a main road in what are essentially the suburbs of NYC.  So you'd think there wouldn't be lots of wildlife around.  Wrong.

Spring has most definitely sprung here in Nueva York. And so have the animals.

Our (tiny, itsy bitsy postage stamp) yard is like a freakin disney movie.  We regularly see:

- chipmunks
- a gazillion birds
- squirrels, brown
- squirrels, black
- bunnies
- skunks
- groundhog (used to live under our fence.  RIP, dead on the aforementioned main road)
- deer
- raccoons

So basically think of this,

source

Except that all these creatures poop everywhere and eat my plants.  They do other things too.  One of which we just experienced.

Mr. Snoop and I were startled awake early this moring by the sounds of loud screeching and squealing.  It sounded bad, y'all.  Our cats have been known to wrestle on our bed in the wee hours, but this was clearly not them.  Mr. Snoop did a quick assesment and found that the ruckus was coming from outside. 

Fast forward two hours later when we wake up and were flattened by the overpowering stench of skunk.  It was unreal.  Granted, our house is one large room plus a bedroom consisting of a grand total of about 500 square feet, but the whole place REEKED.  I've smelled some skunk in my day, including outside our house, but nothing like this.

Even my cheerios tasted like skunk, y'all.

I had to go to a doctor's appointment first thing.  I was paranoid that I smelled like skunk.  So I apologized to the receptionists.  They sniffed me.  I was right. 

Then I got back in my car and it smelled like skunk.

Now I'm pretty sure my office smells like skunk.

Any animal experts out there who can explain this?  Were they mating?  I really hope not, because it sounded, um, violent.  Fighting over a mate?

More importantly, how can I make them go a-freaking-way?

Weekend!

As you've probably heard on the news, it has been unseasonably warm here in New York.  Like breaking heat records warm.  You know I'm loving every second.

It was in the mid 60s this weekend, so Mr. Snoop and I went outside and got. it. done.  Mr. Snoop is on his Family Medicine rotation, hence the use of weekend + Mr. Snoop - hospital in the same sentence.  You may or may not know that Mr. Snoop is quite the little gardener.  So much so that he has his very own gardening knee pads.  Sometimes I wish his fraternity brothers read this blog, since it is sort of an endless exercise in embarrassing Mr. Snoop. 

Behold:

Did you know that Mr. Snoop and I continually plan ways to embarrass our future children?  These gardening kneepads usually figure prominently in those plans.  As do super dorky songs that we make up.  Sometimes these songs have dance moves.  It's hard to be so awesome.

That pic shows our porch pre-clean up.  We have a teeny tiny adorable postage stamp sized yard and a little front porch.  So my job was to clean the porch and outdoor furniture.  I vacuumed the snot out of the cushions, did plenty of scrubbing, and spray painted some cheapy chairs we have.  The results:

(I need to string up the lights)

Much better in black, I think.

Now I plan to spend plenty of time outside with a margarita enjoying this weather while it lasts!  Come on over and stay a while :)

To all of your 4th year folks... Happy Match Week!!!!!  

May 23, 2013

The other night, Mr. Snoop and I were talking about his sister's graduation from medical school this May and the logistics of getting there.

And that's when Mr. Snoop dropped this bomb:

"My school emailed me our graduation date but I deleted it."

WHAT.

No.  He.  Didn't.

Mr. Snoop's graduation date from med school has thus far been on par with other myths and urban legends like Atlantis, the Loch Ness monster, and alligators living in the nyc sewers.  The fact that it might actually be real was heretofore unheard of.  Naturally, I lost my ever loving mind that he had not only deleted the email, but emptied the trash folder.  Mr. Snoop could not understand why I was flipping the eff out. 

He is lucky to be alive.

Thankfully for him, upon receiving my panicked text message, my fellow medwife Keely came to the rescue.  As did some of our female med student friends.  I note that they were female because let's be honest, I think all of the guys had the same reaction.

May 23, 2013.  At 5pm.

Happy girl

Lots of things are making me happy today.

We're getting a hint of spring here in New York, and it is thrilling.  It was 53° when I woke up this morning and it is supposed to hit 68° today.  My office windows are open and I am loving the fresh air.  A celebration is in order, so Mr. Snoop and I have plans for a frozen yogurt date tonight.

Also, I found this in our yard on Monday:

It's going to drop back down into the 40s over the next few days, but I don't care because daylight savings is this weekend!  The sun might even set after 6:00.  No freaking way. 

...and I'm wearing my coral pants. 

Cute angle, right?  Super flattering.

What's that?  A shoe that doesn't cover up my entire foot and require socks?  Yes, I am wearing flats today.  Sorry that you have to see my horrid winter foot skin.  No amount of fake tanner can solve that problem.

And then there's this guy. 

My little bitty pink geranium.  Which is only little bitty compared to its gigantic friend in my other window. 

Happy thursday, y'all!  



Grocery Shopping in New York

Now I know that grocery shopping may not be the most delightful experience anywhere, but I've got to tell you that grocery shopping in New York is a full contact sport.

The aisles are super narrow, people are super aggressive, and there is a super lack of cashiers so the lines are super long.

And then there's the parking lot.  Which you often have to pay for.  On a recent trip, I went back to Mr. Snoop's car (the white subaru below) and, Behold:

Someone had ever so kindly parked their shopping cart into Mr. Snoop's bumper.  How sweet.  I just had to document it, because, really?

Please keep in mind that the place where you park the grocery cart was like 3 spaces over.

Flash forward to two weeks ago.  I was putting my bags in my car.  I see a man.  He's also putting his bags in his car.  Then... wait for it... he takes his cart and you guessed it, starts parking it in the empty spot next to him.  In such a way that whomever tries to park their car there will be unable to.  Since Passive Aggressive Kindness is my specialty, I say:

"Oh, do you want me to take your cart for you?  I'm taking mine over (gesturing to the place, 5 spaces away, where the carts get parked) there right now."

Angry New York Man: "What?!?"

Snoop: "Do you want me to take your cart for you?"

Angry New York Man: Gets in his car, slams the door, and speeds away.  Leaves his cart, duh.

[Side Note: When we lived in Nashville, there was this guy who would walk his dog in our parking lot (he didn't live in our complex).  It was a gigantic dog and it made correspondingly gigantic poop.  Which he never, ever cleaned.  So one day, I see him coming.  I  suddenly have to check the mail.  His dog takes a gigantic poop.  He starts walking away.  I say: "Oh, did you forget a bag?  Here, let me get you one." 

He cleaned up the poop after that.  So, you see, Passive Aggressive Kindness is my thing.  End of Side Note.]

Is your grocery store a war zone or is it just me?

Target Finds

In the interest of being a good friend, I have to tell you what I just found at that great treasure trove known as Target.  I've been coveting the colored cropped skinnies that are all over the place.  Like these:

from pinterest, where else

I was at Target today getting massive amounts of toilet paper for work so that the kiddos can roll each other up and pretend to be Lazarus on Sunday.  Yes, I really wanted to share that with y'all.  Anyway, in the black hole of Target, I found these babies:

found em here



Not bad, right? Especially for $22.99.  They fit really well for me and were true to size.  Since I have an unhealthy obsession with white pants, I grabbed a pair in white as well as coral (sorry about the bill, Mr. Snoop).  It sucks to love white pants as much as I do in New York.  You can't wear them til after Memorial Day.  They also have yellow, khaki, green, and stone blue.  I considered the yellow but I just don't have the girl cojones to pull that off.

Now, these are not the crayola-colored, skin-tight skinny jeans that have been all over the blogosphere.  I tried those on a few weeks ago and I'm pretty sure I'm still regaining circulation.  These guys are khakis and have more of a slouchy fit.  Not slouchy at all really, just slouchier than cutting off your blood supply.

You better believe I will be rocking the pink ones as soon as the weather warms up enough to allow it!

And now a completely unrelated question: When do you begin decorating for Easter?  We're nearly a month out.  Too soon?  Discuss.