Thanksgiving 2012

Hey y'all. So we went to Texas for Thanksgiving. And it was a wonderful, much-needed break. Frankly, Mr. Snoop's residency application process has been sort of hellacious. And being the supportive cheerleader wife has completely wiped me out. Being back home was really nice. As much as I love my med school friends, it was great for Mr. Snoop and I to hang out with my Austin friends, none of whom are in the medical field. Nice to escape the "everything revolves around med school" world for a week. The trip was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.

We spent lots of time outside. After living in such a cold climate for 4 years, I've come to realize how good being outside is for the soul. Cheesy but true. My friends have a tradition of playing football the day after Thanksgiving. And before that, Mr. Snoop, Chris (my brother), and I did the Austin Trukey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was a nice, easy 5 mile run. Next year I'm going to get my act together and make us costumes. Here we are afterward:

We also went to the Texas / TCU game. Which was really quiet and we lost. Not unexepectedly, I'm afraid. Here we are with horns up, nonetheless. Chris pointed out that because of the shadows we all look like demon children from the mouth of hell in this picture. That and I really need a tan. See above about the outdoors being good for the soul.

Hey, at least our band is freakin awesome:

I'm back in New York but Mr. Snoop is still in Texas having the greatest time going hunting with the dudes in my family. He has an interview this weekend, which was originally Nov. 1, but there was this little weather event known as Sandy, so his flight got canceled. So in conclusion: I'm retiring my pom-poms for a little bit and allowing myself to be completely freaked out by this whole residency application process. Thanks for hangin' in there with us, in advance.

10K Update

Remember that? How I was training for a Halloween 10K? Well, Mr. Snoop and I ran it and had the best time. I have had some issues in the past with running, and doing this 10K totally got me over all of those. My goal was to run the entire thing (no breaks or walking), which I accomplished. Not having a set time to make and just enjoying myself allowed me to let go of all my "issues." It was so much fun. Since it was Halloween-themed and in the Halloween capitol of the universe, Sleepy Hollow, nearly everyone wore costumes. Some of them were pretty amazing. And oh yeah, the Headless Horseman was there! He even started the race.

Those of you who have known me for a looong time know that I dressed up as the Headless Horseman for Halloween one year (5th grade? 6th grade? Mom??). A little bit of foreshadowing on God's part, no? So here we are pre-race with the man, the myth, the legend.

Yes, our "costumes" were super homemade. But also super cheap. You can't see, but my socks said "eek!" in rhinestones, naturally. One of the best parts about this run was that everyone had their homes totally done up in Halloween decorations. And all the neighbors were out cheering us on, also in full costume. We really had the best time. No, we did NOT run together. I am way too crazy and Mr. Snoop is way too fast for that. This was Mr. Snoop's first fun run, can you believe it? Here we are after the run, not looking nearly as cute.

This is so sad and certainly cast a pall on the aftermath of the race, but someone died on the course. I found out a couple days later. So horrible and tragic. He had a heart problem, I believe. He was running just ahead of me, and though I did not see him fall, I was there right after. People were running backwards through the course screaming for a doctor. A doctor and nurse came right away, and it was right next to a local hospital, but it must have been too late. I felt so horrible, but I did not stop. I have nothing to offer, since people were already giving CPR. I would have just been in the way. So I said a prayer and kept running. Ugh. Guilt.

So aside from that awfulness, I am so glad I ran. And will definitely keep running as long as the weather allows for it. Which leads me to my other update...

SNOW. Already. Like 5 inches last night. I've already broken out the fleece-lined leggings. So grateful to have power and heat.

Sandy

Well, we made it through the storm. With more than a touch of survivor's guilt. We had flashlights and candles a plenty; a hurricane lantern; a battery operated radio; a cooler filled with ice; and pots, pans, and a bathtub full of water.

So at about 6:00pm on Monday, I looked outside and saw that our neighbor's giant, beautiful tree looked like someone was shaking a handful of cooked spaghetti. At that point, we decided to retreat with the cats to the basement. We live in a tiny, two room cottage. It was built in the late 1800s as a hunting lodge and is rock solid. So much so that though we live on a main road, you can't hear the cars. Well, we could feel our little house shaking from the winds even from down in the basement. It was really pretty scary. The cats were spooked and alternated between hiding inside the boxspring or trying to see out the tiny basement windows. The wind sounded like a 747 was taking off on our roof.

The next morning we woke up fully prepared to have a tree on our roof. We didn't. Our neighbor's spaghetti tree lost most of its branches, and they have another tree down. After all our preparations, we never lost power. We were so, so lucky. Living on a main road may explain how we kept power. We are so grateful. I know people who are still without power, 8 days later. The devastation is really pretty sobering, especially in the community where I work, which is right along the Long Island Sound. Not to mention Staten Island, where Mr. Snoop and I went on Sunday.

Last week was pretty much a wash. Since the town where I work is just now getting power back more than a week later, I did not work in the office last week. Mr. Snoop is on his ER rotation and saw lots of hurricane related stuff. The neighborhood where we regularly run is trashed. I did 4 miles yesterday and still there are wires down, trees down, trees on homes, etc. So sad.

What I learned

- If you don't have a plug for your tub, duct tape works just great. Better than a plug, even.

- So glad Mr. Snoop and I filled up our cars Sunday night. Since I did not have work last week, we still have half a tank each. I'm grateful for my little hybrid civic. 38 miles per gallon is pretty marvelous right about now.

- If Mr. Snoop and I stay in this area for his residency, we've decided that we will invest in a good generator and emergency supplies. Between the hurricanes and the nor'easters and the blizzards, people are constantly losing power/water here. The infrastructure here is just so old and they do not properly keep it up or repair it. I could go all political and talk about taxes, unions, etc; but I won't. We're just going to keep a supply of water and nonperishables on hand. I think you have to, if you live up here.

My work is doing another run to Staten Island to hook up with Presbyterian Disaster Assitance this week. Having been there on Sunday, I can tell you that they really do need your thoughts and prayers. Thanks, y'all.

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?