Doctor Doctor

In about 3 hours, Doc and his fellow classmates will again join together and take the Hipocratic Oath, only this time they will be attired in traditional academic regalia and be hooded as they receive their diplomas.

It seems like just a couple months have passed since their white coat ceremony when they first made that same oath and began this journey. Doc has some of the finest people I know as classmates, and it has been an honor to get to know them as they've studied their brains out these past four years.

So naturally I can't sleep. The only other time in my life that I have felt this crazy combination of excited/happy was the night before our wedding...random, huh?! I'm just so proud of Doc, and all that he has accomplished! It's been a zany, difficult, happy, painful, exciting and successful road this past four years. And it's going to be more of the same for the next six or seven. But I'm so glad we've come this far as a family.

Doc is going to be a neuroradiologist. The path from here to there begins with today's graduation ceremony, followed by a transitional year at a local hospital, followed by four years of radiology residency at a different local hospital, and then a year or two of fellowship in neuroradiology. So for the foreseeable future, he will be training and working crazy hours just like the last four. But he'll be helping people and learning vast amounts of information that will bless countless lives. And he loves this stuff! I've never met anyone who was as passionate about learning as Doc is (well, except for maybe my sister. Maybe.)

Some people have asked why I call him "Doc" when he isn't actually a doctor yet and it's because I'M A COMPLETE NARCISIST. But as my sister always reminds me, he already is a doctor. He earned a Ph.D. in biology and anatomy years ago, and then taught medical school in New England before deciding to become a physician.

For some reason we didn't really celebrate that accomplishment-which is too bad because it was a lot of work. He didn't even attend his graduation ceremony. I think we might have already moved by the time it took place. But not this time! We're doing it up in fine fashion. Partly because this whole week has been a series of award ceremonies and banquets, but also because yesterday was Doc's birthday!

He had an award banquet last night, and when I found out about it, I coordinated with the people in charge to present him with his birthday cake when they gave him his award. It worked out perfectly because alphabetically, he was the last recipient of the evening, so when the dean called him up, he announced that it was also his birthday as the cake I'd made was brought out and everybody sang to him.

Doc and the dean after the ceremony.

It was awesome. And a total surprise for Doc. We were delighted that his parents, our kids, and my sister and brother could join us for the event. It was a fun night.

Close-up of his cake

When we returned home, the MOTHER OF ALL CANDY CARDS was waiting for Doc. I made a little video of him reading it which I'll post when I get a chance, but here's a photo of it.

Candy Card

Well, I best get ready for this day. The butterflies in my stomach don't really make sense to me; I'm not the one walking across the stage! But never again will we have a day like today. I'm so happy for Doc, and so proud of him. And Doc, when you read this (yes, he actually does read my blog and all your comments even though he's never left a comment himself)...WAY TO GO! You're simply amazing and I love you!

Grateful for:

1) The Enormous Village who have helped us get this far.

2) Generous friends who let me commandeer their home for 2 days while working on the cake and card. Wouldn't have happened without everything you did!
3) People everywhere who work hard to be the best at what they do. Don't you love how they make the world so much better?!

Enjoying The DR

This past week, thanks to the support of one of my angel friends who watched the kids for us, Doc and I were able to get away for a little "honeymoon". This summer we celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, but Doc will be knee-deep in rotations, without so much as 40 straight hours off work by then.

So since he had a break between his last class and graduation this coming Saturday (!), we took advantage of the super-awesome deals I get through my job, and, using money Doc won for a paper he wrote, spent 5 days at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. It Was Heaven!

I've already documented the trip in my journal, but since ya'll won't be reading that, there were a few things I thought I'd share here.

First off, I believe marriages would start off better if all newlyweds could have a get-away like the one we just had. I wish we'd had something like it 20 years ago...what a way to begin your life together! We're of the (increasingly rare, old-fashioned) mindset that you wait till you're married to live like you're married, if you follow my meaning, so it really was a big change for both of us. Knowing what I know now, I'm going to strongly encourage my kids to make sure they plan a real honeymoon when they marry...I'm a believer!

Anyway, with no domestic responsibilities to worry about, we spent hours together, just hanging out at the pool, in the ocean, taking moonlight walks along sand so soft it was almost like talcum powder. We ate when we felt like it, slept when we wanted to, went boogie boarding, snorkeling, or sailing on the catamaran, stayed up late, star-gazed, read books, enjoyed afternoon "siesta's", and had lots and lots of good talks. It was a great re-connect and re-discover each other week, and I'm so grateful for the chance to experience that with Doc.

The resort we stayed at had a few surprises. First, it really was ALL inclusive! You could literally eat and drink 24-hours a day, as much as you liked. Having food available whenever you wanted...with no dishes or prep or cleaning up? Wow! And no worrying about carrying cash around for tips...they were already included. Nice.

We were also surprised at how very international the resort was. For the first time in my life, I felt like a minority as a U.S. tourist. People were speaking every language under the sun. Lots of guests from Russia, Europe, South America, Africa. Neither of us anticipated that we would be the only Americans we'd cross paths with there. Even after they found out we spoke English, they didn't necessarily guess "USA" for our country. It was crazy. And Awesome!

Being such an international destination, there were different standards of...ahem...swimwear. Suffice to say, my kids would have been somewhat horrified by a number of them, and I confess I never did quite get used to that part. But everyone was friendly, and it was a perfect week. The weather, the water temp, the landscaping and The Beach (beyond amazing!!!)...simply couldn't have been improved upon.

One weird thing: there was almost NO critter life there! Save for fish in the sea, I think I saw 4 birds and one frog in terms of wildlife. No bugs, geckos, lizards, roaches, etc. It was strange to be on an island not teeming with crawlies and creepers. Not that I minded, mind you (though I did wonder if they've just poisoned the jeepers out of the area. Ewww!)

When our time in paradise was over, we weren't too sad because we had an overnight stay in Manhattan. We met my aunt and uncle whom I adore for a lovely dinner and too-quick visit, after which they left for their home in the country while we stayed in their amazing apartment in the city. It really has to be seen to be believed. (Neighbors include Paul Simon and Lorne Michaels. Yeah.)

We arrived home to happy kids who were glad to see us, but not homesick or pining away at all...which I'm SO thankful for! How lucky to have a friend watch them that they feel completely at ease with.

Grateful for:
1) Shelah
2) D&K
3) The chance to enjoy the DR (pun intended)
4) The fact that this is my last week eVAH as the wife of a full-time, unemployed student.

Arches

Pictures of our trip to Arches National Park this past weekend. It was simply amazing! If you haven't been, do yourself a solid and put it on your bucket list. I'll definitely be going back.

Grateful for:
1) Safe drive in a comfortable car.
2) My bed, after sleeping in a tent last night! :-)
3) Inspiring scenes. This place was beyond beautiful.

Bunch's Recital

This was a busysuperawesome weekend. More on that later, but for tonight, I give you Bunch's Piano Recital Performance:



Grateful for:
1) Talents. For the joy they bring us throughout our lives as we work on them.
2) Teachers. They really are unsung heroes.
3) Supportive family. Bunch's grandies spent 3 hours driving to be at her recital tonight.

Change

Change is hard for a lot of people. But change is also necessary and good in many many cases.

Yesterday I went to a salon to get my hair colored and highlighted. I'd been feeling like I needed a change in my appearance for a while, and while color alone would have been a little different, when the stylist mentioned that a cut was included in the price, I dug deep ala Steve Martin in Roxanne and told him "Cut it off!"

Much as I dreamed about having fabulous hair to my waist, that has never been a possibility for me. It just doesn't grow fast enough, and when it's beyond my shoulder blades, it's not that healthy. I've conceded that having an attractive style should trump having long hair that doesn't usually look that great (without a LOT of fussing. And perfect weather conditions.)

When the stylist was finished and handed me the mirror, I was very happy with the outcome. Nothing like a make-over to invigorate the soul! I waltzed home to my kids, who knew I was getting my hair done, and when they saw me Bunch thought it looked awesome. But Gator took one look at me and said it was "horrible". He told me he hated it. "You don't look normal!" He started to cry, and literally carried on in a for the next few hours till he went to bed. It was really bizarre...even for my beloved little anxiety boy.

Gator doesn't like change. In fact, most change essentially terrifies him. He was beyond happy when Doc matched here for residency, because the thought of moving had him nearly undone. He doesn't like to change his clothes, hates all schedule changes, hates getting older, loathes movies about change such as 2012 (end of days stuff), dreads friends moving away, learning new subjects in school, meeting new (potential) friends, trying new foods, and, apparently, apparently his mom getting a new hair style.

This morning he did apologize for being rude and treating me poorly last night, and we are back to normal again (I hope!). And I did make him change his underwear before he left for school.

Parenthood. Gotta love it.

(here's the horrible, no good, not "normal" new hair)


Grateful For:
1) Affordable, talented hair stylists
2) The chance to parent Gator. He definitely keeps me on my toes!
3) New bicycle I got to ride bikes with Gator to school in the mornings. (He hates the bus!) My bum will adjust eventually, right?!

My Favorite Things

We don't often have fresh flowers around here, but they are some of my favorite things. The bright colors and exquisite details of the different varieties just make me happy, and I've needed the little boost they offer this week especially.

Watching my kids grow through new experiences is another one of my favorite things, and this week Bunch experienced her theatrical debut as one very happy nun in her school's production of The Sound of Music.

They did a excellent job with it...far better than the plays I was in during junior high. Her school has a top-notch drama teacher, and our schools are happily known for having abundant parental and community involvement and support. All the kids worked very hard and it was such a good experience that Bunch is thinking next year maybe she'll audition for one of the leads.

Below is a shot of the playbill with signed autographs from her fellow cast members, along with the flowers she was given. Thanks Bunch for brightening our home and our lives...you are beautiful...the Deep Beauty kind of beautiful ♥




Grateful For:
1) The goodness of my children
2) The goodness of my spouse
3) The goodness of people everywhere. I'm just grateful for goodness.

Yesterday was TEAONUI

Teaonui [tay-ow-new-ee] ~ noun
A Tahitian given name meaning "Dawn of an important day".

Teaonui is my darling nephew's middle name, but it also aptly describes yesterday.

For anyone who has any doctors or future doctors in their lives, I recommend reading "An Insider's Guide to the Biggest Week in Medical Education" which explains Match Day with great humor and clarity.

It was a very busy day too...which is why I just now added a photo to yesterday's post. Between the Match ceremony brunch and the match dinner in the evening, we picked up Bunch and Gator from their schools and took them to a frozen yogurt shop. After allowing them as many toppings as they liked (we never splurge for toppings), I asked if they wanted to enjoy their yogurts first before we told them the news. "NOOOOO!" thy both insisted. So Doc laid it out: "We're staying here. For all of it. We're not moving at all."

It took a moment to sink in, but they were so happy! Both had assumed we were moving for sure.

At the ceremony when Doc first opened the envelope, any disappointment at not matching at our 1st choice in Boston for the coming year was immediately tempered by the fact that we knew our kids would be thrilled about staying put. Especially Gator. He's been praying for months and months that we wouldn't have to move. Bunch had a more adventurous attitude about it, and was looking forward to parts of it in a way, but she's very happy to just stay here, too.

When we read the letter, I confess that tears sprang to my eyes. Part of it was probably just relief. Relief at knowing our future and having the ability to make plans is huge. And in that moment, my huge mental "Thing's I'm going to Have To Do" list just simply evaporated. No packing. No finding renters, or a place to rent, planning the details of two transcontinental moves in a year, or dealing with utilities, registering for schools, finding music teachers, doctors, dentists, etc.

But a tiny bit of those tears was due to the things that won't be now, either. Like living near the ocean and the amazing natural beauty of the area (I watched the sun set in Boston on Tuesday and rise there on Wednesday morning and was filled with peace and anticipation about more moments like that). Or getting to know the friends I made there better. I really liked them.

And my WORK! I was SO excited about not commuting by plane to get to work for a year. To have the luxury of just getting in my car and driving 20 minutes to the airport when I need to be there was so appealing. Especially after last weekend when I had to leave a day earlier than planned to make sure I'd get there because of canceled flights the next day, and then my flight was canceled, so I was scrambling to find ANYONE with an empty seat to any southern California airport that I could jump on. Ten hours after leaving home, I finally arrived, exhausted at the Orange County airport.

A dear friend offered to let me stay at her place, but she had to work early, so she enlisted her boyfriend to pick me up and drive me to LAX for my flight the next morning. We were about 40 minutes from LAX, in the far left lane of the 405 freeway, when there was a tremendous BANG and this happened:



After quick silent prayer and heartfelt plea for help, a tow truck arrived in record time, a kind stranger at the tire store offered to drive me to Long Beach airport, and from there I hopped on a shuttle to LAX and made it before the plane arrived.

All that just to get TO get to work.

It's not like that every time obviously, but you can imagine now why I was looking forward to just living at my crew base for a year.

But apparently we're meant to stay put, and I'm fine with it. Doc will have a much harder year at the program he matched into...it was his last choice out of all those he interviewed with in terms of the program, but he ranked it 2nd because it's here, and unless we lived by a crew base, moving would only make things harder for all of us. So we'll work it out, month by month, and soon we'll be looking back on the next year just like we have these past four years, and wondering at how fast it passed by.

As for today, it's the first day of the rest of our lives here. Time to run a few errands that I've been putting off, and then I think I'll start finally turning this house into a home. Our real home. More on that later...

Grateful for:
1) The kindness of all the people I met in Boston last December. I'm sad we won't get to be neighbors and better friends.
2) All the happy support we got yesterday. A special thanks to each of you bloggy readers, known and unknown, for all the feedback and good wishes. You're the best! ♥
3) Since we're staying, and thanks to Doc's parents, we're going to get new carpet!!! Goodbye nasty, ripped, stained, dirty, snagged carpet that I've just always tried to make peace with.

And The Actor, errr, DOCTOR Goes To...

Utah (transitional year) and Utah (radiology residency)!

We're stayin' put for the rest of our kid's childhoods. More later...

Grateful for:
1) my son's anxiety over possibly moving not actually resulting in vomit last night
2) my potential "to do" list just got a whole lot shorter
3) how ecstatic our kids were when we broke the news.

Changes Afoot

The past few days I've been caught in the crazy storm disruption messiness plaguing the airline industry. Not only has this winter been wrecking havoc with travelers, it's been exacting a high toll on the employees of the industry seemingly every other week. The people are worn out. It's like a battle most days, when hundreds of angry, displaced, impatient and disappointed customers are lined up in front of you and there's little you can do to make them happy. I feel pretty bad for gate agents, reservation agents and ticket counter crew members. Just remember when you're flying, they're doing what they can, as fast as they can, and it's not their fault. Because when flights are diverted or canceled, crews and planes are out of position and illegal to operate flights (we have federally-mandated minimum rest requirements governing how long we can be on duty), and everything is just insane.

But I'm home now, glory hallelujah. And things seem to be settling back down. During the trip my passport disappeared, which is causing me some stress. I just booked a trip for Doc and me to the Dominican Republic in May to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, as well as his graduation from medical school. So if it doesn't turn up right quick, I'll have to expedite a new one before then.

On Monday while I was away, my daughter was invited to a birthday party by A BOY for the first time. I knew this day would come, but I didn't expect it to hit just yet. I've met The Boy before, and he is a nice enough kid, and a lot of her besties were also invited too. They were heading to a roller blading and fun-center type place with his parents and siblings, so I was okay with it. But the party was the next day (!!!), so I wasn't even here for it. Bunch wasn't sure what to get him, so I suggested making a candy bar card, and by golly this is what that darling kid of mine came up with:


(note: I cut off the to/from lines for in case there are any SERIAL KILLER STalKeR types reading my blog).

Word is the party was superfunforeveryone and they all had a great time. I haven't seen my darling bunch yet...she's at rehearsal for the school play and tomorrow is dress rehearsal so I'm sure she'll be running late tonight. If you're in the area and want to see what is purportedly a WAY AMAZING production of The Sound of Music, despite that itis junior high, email me for info. Tickets are just $5.

And finally, the biggest change is that we are now down to mere hours, almost MINUTES, (it's actually 15 hours, 41 minutes and 23 seconds from this moment) till we find out where we'll be living for the next 5 years. I'm excited.

I made homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner...and yes, it's green. If you boil pasta in green water, it soaks up the water and turns green. And the sauce was easy enough to tint as well. I love my St. Paddy's Day celebrations and hope you've all had a lovely day.

I'll post The News tomorrow!

Grateful for:
1) Delta getting me on their flight to SLC today.
2) The sunset with all my favoritest colors last night.
3) Seeing the sunrise over the atlantic ocean this morning.

Who Needs Toys?

Gator truly has one of the most imaginative minds I've ever encountered. He's always coming up with something.



For example, who else has ever designed BINDER CLIP WARRIORS?



Capable of wielding MIGHTY Weapons.
(Is not the pen[cil] mightier than the sword?. And who can withstand the crushing weight of The Ball?!)



As his soldiers organize themselves, they prepare for a MIGHTY BATTLE.



Against...the Evil Paper Clip Army!
(Take pity on them...they don't stand a chance.)



Gator is the Great General. The order and discipline of his troops is impressive.
(Much more impressive than the usual state ofhis bedroom, I might add.)



Watch out Lego...Office Max might just take over your market-share.

Grateful for:
1) Creative kids. They surprise me regularly.
2) Laughter...especially the spontaneous kind.
3) My Dentist and dental insurance. I'm still numb up to my eyeballs, but in addition to a new crown, the two chipped and stained teeth I've been bothered by for over a decade are now flawless.