Lately-- October

So here's what we've had going on this month.

- Mr. Snoop and I went to Hill Country in the city to watch WVU beat Texas. Sad face. Hill Country is a bar/bbq joint in the city that makes real Texas barbecue. They even have LoneStar, Shiner, and sell mini blue bell ice creams. The mini blue bless are like $4 a pop. Seriously, gotta love New York. But it was fun to go on a little date and get a good taste of home.

This excursion was such a treat. It hasn't really been possible to be spontaneous like that in the last 3 years of med school. I am loving that aspect of 4th year.

- I finally put out Halloween decorations. Midway through October. So we'll only get to enjoy them for like 2 weeks. Oh well. These past few months have flown by so quickly and have been so busy that I constantly feel like I'm playing catch up. Woo was really excited about the decorations. He would spoon this vampire for hours:

- I got new running shoes. I really hate to spend money on shoes that are utilitarian rather than fun. But it was time. Since Mr. Snoop has been back, we've been doing trail runs. I don't run trails on my own, for good reason, I learned.

On Tuesday Mr. Snoop and I were doing 5 miles on a trail we recently found (thanks Emily!), the Old Croton Aqueduct. There are always lots of people out there and it seems super safe. Apparently not always. Mr. Snoop is faster than I am, so he runs ahead. At one point, I saw a man dressed in workout clothes with a dog talking to two women ahead of me. He flagged me down and told me that he runs a gym around the corner. Last week, one of his clients was followed on the trail and she ran into the gym. The guy following her pulled a 5 inch knife. Fortunately this man was there, and the bad guy ran off when he saw him.

So this good samaritan and his wife began warning their clients. Turns out 4 more ladies had been followed on that same section of trail. At all hours of the day. So scary. Goes to show that even in picturesque suburban NYC you are never totally safe. Needless to say Mr. Snoop and I will be running elsewhere.

Such a shame, because there are not tons of running trails up here. But I am so thankful for that kind man. He was stopping all the women and warning them.

- In more light-hearted news I was running on said Danger Trail and not paying attention. I took a good tumble. Of course it was literally at the halfway point in the run so I got to run 2.5 miles with a bloody knee:

Gross, right? Does that make me a hardcore runner now? The blood even dripped on my shoes. The bruises are pretty fantastic, too.

Pinterest Turtles

While Mr. Snoop was gone for two months, I crafted my little fanny off. Pinterest is so marvelous for unrealistic inspiration. This project, which I made for Jeremy's 8 month old housemate in Texas, was one that I found there. Here's the pin:

Source: makeit-loveit.com via Emily on Pinterest

And here's mine:

So mine looks a little sad next to the example. Ha! But I'm no expert seamstress, and it's for a baby, so I doubt that he will care. Really, I dumpster dove for the fabric. It came out of one of those little sample books. Don't worry, I washed it all. Someone left it at the dumpster behind my work so now it is mine! I've gotten a lot of mileage out of those sample books: beanbags for work, doll mattresses for a friend's children, and now they are becoming turtles and burp cloths.

Now that I've made one, I will probably make another for my sister-in-law, who is expecting a girl in December. She has issued a fatwah against the color pink, so I'll have to control my extremely girly instincts. While we're at it, any ideas for a big brother gift for a 2nd grader?

This.

Source: fuckyeahtx.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Yep. Pretty much covers it. Plus Taco Cabana.

He's Back!

Mr. Snoop, reunited with Shammy Boy. Shammy Boy is not loving the improvised cat-bjorn, but I promise you that he has been floating around the house on a cloud of happiness since the return of his favorite person.

That's right! Mr. Snoop is back! For good! Where did he go? He spent over two months in the great state of Texas. Late July and August were spent in an away rotation at a program he loved and September was a research month at a big cancer center in Houston. We are so grateful to my aunt and uncle plus my cousin and his wife for hosting Mr. Snoop these past two months. I know it made his time away from home much easier and lots of fun. Not to mention cat-filled.

In July, right before these past two months in Texas, Mr. Snoop was doing a rotation in the city. Which meant he was leaving before 5am and coming back at around 9pm. This month, he is on a well-deserved more relaxed rotation. So I actually get to see him for the first time in like three months. Which is marvelous.

What's next? His application for residency is turned in, so in about a month and a half he will begin to hear about interviews, hopefully! We also have lots of October-type fun plans this month, since there is a chance this could be our last New York fall.

PS: He came back to New York with cowboy boots. Can we now say that the Texan transformation is complete?