Happy New Year!

Wow ... it has been far too long since I've posted anything.  Time has just gotten away from me!  The rest of November flew by with the onset of interviews and the holidays and that continued through December.  I'm sitting here at home now while DH is away in a hotel room prepping for his final interview tomorrow!  It will be such a relief to have the stress and anxiety of those ten interviews behind us.  But now a whole new stress begins; ranking the programs!

I feel like the last couple of months have been crazy hectic, but also filled with a lot of good moments.  We got to spend a lot of time with family over the holidays.  We got to travel and see different places while on the interview trail.  I got a new job!  Who knows how long I'll be in that position.  It obviously depends on where we match to, but they knew my situation going into it and I am more than relieved to have a much better work environment.

Looking toward the future is exciting.  In 9 short weeks and 2 days we will know where we will be spending the next 3 years!  I promised DH that we could get another dog after we found out where we matched, so he's looking forward to that.  We're contemplating whether to buy or rent a home for residency.  3 years seems so short to buy a place, but depending on where we end up and what the market is like, it may be worthwhile.  I feel like I'm done with apartment living.  It would be so nice to have a house with a yard for the dogs, and just some place that comes with more privacy than living in a complex with hundreds of other people.

Well, with DH gone, I think it may be an early night for me!  I'm going to head to bed with a good book and get a full 8 hours (or more!) sleep tonight.  :)

Halloween?

I've loved Halloween ever since I was little.  The dressing up & the candy made it one of the most exciting days of the year!  I continue to love Halloween as a "grown up".  But now it's because I love to see all of the little kids dressed up in their adorable costumes, and it's fun to decorate, and fine ... I admit, I still love the candy.  ☺  Every year I get so excited; put up decorations, buy enough candy to feed a small village & turn on the porch light.  The first year DH & I were married, we lived in a tiny little apartment set pretty far back off the road.  I didn't expect a ton of kids, but I thought I'd at least get a couple.  Nope.  Nothing.  Year #1 - a bust.  By the next Halloween we had moved to a different aparment.  This one was in a large complex and I knew there were plenty of kids because I could hear them running around, screaming and playing all day long.  So ... I stocked up on candy, put up the decorations, and ... 3 kids.  Seriously?  Does no one do Halloween anymore?  Year #2 - a bust.  The next year was pretty much the same story.  So this year, I didn't even let myself get excited for Halloween.  I mean, it's been a flop every single year.  So, I bought candy, but hardly any. One bag of DH and my favorites.  No pumpkin carving.  One measly decoration.  And no trick-or-treaters.  Not a single one.  How depressing!  I'm banking on the idea that Halloween regains its fun factor once you have kids.  Otherwise, I do fear that my Halloween spirit is gone forever.  ☺

Tagalong

DH has scheduled 4 far away interviews during over a 7 day period and is making one big trip of it, because this appears to be the most financially sensible way to tackle them.  I am tagging along with DH, mostly for moral support and to make sure he successfully gets from point A to point B without losing his luggage, forgetting something important, or getting lost in a strange city.  ☺  But I'm curious for some input on how to make a productive use of my time while in this cities where I potentially may be living for the next three years.  I plan to drive around and take in the sights of a new city ... get a feel for what life may be like there.  But are there certain places I should go/look into?  What about people I should meet with or specific questions I should be asking?  If you all have any ideas or suggestions, I'm eager to hear them!  I just want to take full advantage of being able to travel with DH to these places and obtain whatever important information we may need so that we can make an well informed decision when it comes to rank.

Oops ... I missed a few weeks!

Wow, where have these last few weeks gone?  We have now received interviews from 20 of the 29 residency programs we applied to.  So far we've scheduled interviews at 9 of those programs.  Now we're at the phase of making travel arrangements; booking flights, hotels and rental cars.  We are so fortunate that DH's parents have offered us their frequent flier miles to use.  So far I've booked 3 flights for only $12.50.  And most of the programs offer a complimentary one night stay at a hotel, so that is also saving us quite a bit of money!  However, DH is trying to knock out five interviews in one trip.  So, we still have to pay for all of the hotels in between interviews.  But in the grand scheme of things, the point is that this all could be costing us a lot more money than it is, and I'm completely grateful for that.  Now, f I could just somehow manage to get DH to stop stressing out about everything!

I don't have much room to complain, though.  Work is still stressing me out.  It seems like the weekdays go by far too slow and that the weekends go by so fast that they're practically non-existent.  I just don't enjoy any part of what I do anymore and can't wait to get out of here.  A couple people have left and I watch them leave with an intense jealousy, wishing it was me.  Alas ... it is not.  But on the bright side, only 21 weeks and 2 days until Match Day!  ☺

Is it possible for me to talk about something other than residency/match & work?!  Let's give it a try.  ☺

We have a 3 year old puppy who I absolutely adore.  She is a bit of a spoiled brat, but haven't we all been at some point?  I feel so bad because she has terrible allergies.  She constantly licks & bites her feet until they're raw and almost bleeding.  Her eyes are so red & she gets ear infections like crazy.  We've tried switching her food so many times.  It's been frustrating, because I don't know what to do for her.  But this past weekend, we took her to a new vet, and hallelujah!  I think we are getting somewhere.  She seems to finally be getting some relief from all that itching.  The downside is, now that she isn't occupied with the allergies & the itching, she has come to the realization that her life is rather dull.  This means that sometimes she thinks its fun to sit at the foot of the bed at 3am and whine for somebody to play with her, or feed her, or take her on a walk, or whatever it is she wants to do.  This = DH & myself not getting a good nights sleep & both being grumpy.  But at least we have a happy puppy again ... right?  ☺

So Excited!

Well, I've been checking DH's email like a maniac ever since we submitted.  (Obviously!)  So far we've gotten a total of six interview invites!  Obviously, I have nothing to compare it to, but I'm feeling pretty good about that number.  I certainly hope we'll get more, but six interview offers is a good start for the first week of having our application out there.  The most exciting thing, however, is that today we received an interview invitation to our #1 choice!  This was the one that we were sweating the most.  If we didn't get an interview at #1, it was going to be pretty disappointing.  So, needless to say, I am thrilled!  I still haven't gotten a chance to talk to DH about it yet.  (Stupid rotations and not being able to talk on the phone ... )  But I'm sure he will be stoked as well.  Anyways, I was just feeling giddy and had to spread the good news!  Admittedly, it does feel a bit silly to be so excited about something so small.  I mean, there is still a long way to go in the process; the actual interview itself, match, etc.  But this is the first step!  So doggone it, I'm celebrating!  ☺

Submitted!

DH's residency app was officially submitted on Friday afternoon!  What a relief to finally have that finished, out of the way, and submitted.  DH is planning to match in pediatrics and we applied to 29 programs.  I don't really have a grasp of whether that is too few or too many.  I have heard of people applying to as many as 75 or more programs, so I don't think it's too many.  But pediatrics is a less competitive specialty, so there's no need to apply to that many.  DH is fairly calm and laid-back about it, but I'm the nervous wreck.  I wonder if we applied to the right programs, if we applied to enough programs, etc.  I just need to calm down and wait for the interview invites. 

With the submission of the application behind us, we had a fairly relaxing weekend.  Lots of football, as predicted.  My husband is obsessed with college football.  I don't get it.  I mean, I enjoy watching football, but why do we have to watch so many games?!  Even teams we're not necessarily cheering for, we are watching just for the heck of it.  I don't get it.  I prefer the NFL, but DH thinks it's far less entertaining.  For some reason, I just randomly decided last year that I would be a Vikings fan.  Neither of us are from Minnesota, so it's a random choice, but it's fun to have someone to cheer for.  Though, there's not much to cheer about this season so far ...

Anyways, that's my ramble for today.  I'd better go check DH's email to make sure we haven't missed an interview invite!  ☺

Wife of a(n!) MD ....

Okay, okay ... I suppose it's time to address this.  My husband so kindly pointed out that it is improper to say Wife of a MD.  It must be an MD.  As I was about to argue this point, I realized he was right (I think ☺) and now am a little embarassed!  But I can't change the web address for the blog now.  So my slight grammatical error will continue to haunt me for the rest of my blogging days.  You all are so kind to have let me get by with it for as long as you have.  So, thank you for that!

Gotta love the fact that it's Thursday!  That means Friday is merely hours away.  Any fun weekend plans?  DH is hoping to get his residency application submitted (finally!) this weekend, if not before.  So, I'm looking forward to getting that done and out of the way!  I'm sure the weekend will also entail watching lots of football and eating lots of food.  ☺ 

One Hundred Eighty One Days ...

I've reached the point where I'm ready to fast forward past the next six months and just figure out where we're going to be and what we're going to be doing with our lives.  Can't it just be Match Day already?  Work is a stressful situation right now and I'm debating whether to stay where I am and stick it out, because we might be out of here fairly soon, or get the heck out of this mess and work at a new job maybe for as little as 6-8 months.  I feel bad applying to work somewhere knowing that it could be a very short-term situation.  But I don't know that I can handle staying around.  Anyways, the point of the story is ... it would be much easier to plan my life if I just knew what was going to happen on March 17!

Does/did anyone else feel like their life was in complete limbo until Match Day?

Eight Questions

I'm an avid follower of the Life of a Doctor's Wife blog and she recently tagged her readers to complete the Eight Questions game.  Here are the questions she posed and my probably less-than-entertaining answers.

1. Which TV character (past or present) do you most identify with?
Now, I watch a lot of tv.  A lot!  Why is it that I can't think of one character I relate to?  I guess if I had to pick one right now, I might say Lily from How I Met Your Mother.  My husband and his friends are quite funny and we are the only married couple of the bunch.  And sometimes the interactions between Lily and Marshall remind me of my DH and I. 

2. If you could swap out three of your body parts, what would they be - and who would you swap them with?
Let's make this easy: I would trade my chest, my stomach and my legs with any Victoria's Secret supermodel.  See?  I'm not picky ...

3. What is one thing about you - physical, mental, or otherwise - that sets you apart from everyone else on the planet?
There's probably not one particular thing that that sets me apart from everyone else.  But I do feel blessed to have the family I do, and no one else in the world has that besides me. 

4. Who are five people on your "laminated list"?
Ahh, the "laminated list" ... classic Friends.    I haven't spent much quality time thinking about this one, but I suppose I could come up with a few.  For some reason, I have a strange obsession with Matthew Morrison.  Robert Buckley would most definitely be on the list.  Maybe my childhood TV crushes like Brian Austin Green from Beverly Hills, 90210, and Scott Wolf from Party of Five.  And I think a sense of humor is quite attractive, so I'm going to throw Ashton Kutcher on the list.  Wow, that could not be a more random group of guys. 

5. If you could invite anyone to a dinner party - living or dead - who would they be?
Oh wow, this is a tough one!  So many options.  I'm going to go with ... my grandma.  First of all, if I could get her there, maybe I could twist her arm and get her to do the cooking instead of me!  She makes, hands down, the best food in the entire universe.  Also, she doesn't travel, so unless I make a trip home, I don't get to see her very often and as she's getting older, I'd like to spend as much time with her as I can.   

6. What's your signature dish?
Hmm, while I love cooking, I'm definitely not a refined chef.  But if company's coming, my default dish is probably a vegetable lasagna.  I'm getting hungry ...

7. What would you say is the top TV series of all time? (Caveat: It has to no longer be on the air.)
This is the easiest question for me, by far!  It has to be Friends.  Has to be!  I can't even count how many times I have watched that series; over and over and over.  And I never tire of it.  Chandler will always be able to make me laugh.  Love it!

8. What is your worst habit?
Is laziness a habit?  If so, that's it.  I am habitually lazy.  There are few things I love more than zonking out on the couch in front of the tv and doing absolutely nothing.  Mind you, I don't feel too good about myself after I realize half of a Sunday has gone by and that's all I've done.  But it's enjoyable in the moment.

Where to begin?

My husband and I have known each other since we were kids.  We started dating in high school and our relationship continued through undergrad. We (finally!) got married after we graduated from college in the summer of 2007.  So, I've been there through all of the pre-medical school stress including the MCAT, med school applications, interviews, etc.  I'm really kicking myself for starting this blog so late.  We have already experienced so much of medical school. 

The first year was pretty much just exciting because everything was new; new town, new school, new apartment, new marriage.  Second year was tough.  It involved a lot of studying and I began to realize how lonely being the spouse of a medical student can be.  Third year was really good.  With all of the classes and coursework out of the way, DH enjoyed being in the hospital setting and learning hands on.  It was fun to hear stories and see how excited he was.  Now, here we are in fourth year!  The final stretch!  Looming ahead of us are interview offers, interviews, ranking residency programs, Match Day, and graduation! 

Like I mentioned before, being a medical student's (soon to be doctor's!) wife can be quite lonely.  Especially when you don't live near family, as is our case.  In the middle of first year, I convinced DH that we just had to get a dog to keep me company.  In reality, it didn't really take all that much convincing.  ☺  I try to find ways to keep myself busy.  I do work, but it's just an 8-5 job that isn't all that important to me.  I really just want to be a stay-at-home mom, but rumor has it you have to have kids to qualify.  ☺  That's one of the things about this journey that has been the hardest, I think.  DH & I both want children so badly, but we keep telling ourselves it's smarter to wait.  At least until after medical school is out of the way.   

I guess this blog is just a way of keeping myself sane, and if there's others that can relate, then all the better!