In The Car Again?!

After returning from our road trip Friday, it was time to get back in the car Saturday to go to Lansing, Michigan where one of Ari's college friends was getting married. Tom and Sarah picked us up early and we were on our way... relieved that we didn't have to drive! The drive there was uneventful, but filled with expensive tolls (ugh Illinois!). We also got to pass through the very scenic Gary, Indiana. Finally we arrived and checked into our hotel. Luckily, we remembered there was a time change so we had plenty of time to get ready... unlike some of our friends. We then walked across the street to the Sheraton where Amanda and Nate's wedding was held. It was so awesome to reunite with all of Ari's college friends: Jason, Jenny, Dan, Amber, Karen, and Andi. We also got to meet the newest member of this group Jen, who is Jason's girlfriend and the mother of his soon to be son. The ceremony was a record 7 minutes long and then it was time to party!! We all had a great time (some more than others). After the wedding was over many people still wanted to go out, but Ari and I pooped out. We were really glad we had after the stories of the adventures that were had in downtown Lansing... I am leaving this out of the blog! We all met up for breakfast, except for Tom who was paying for all the fun he had the night before. Finally, we were able to get him in the car. After a 45 minute pit stop at a rest stop he felt much better and we were on our way back home... to stay!

Road Trip!!

This past week Ari and I went on a Midwest road trip to visit many friends that we had not seen for a very long time. First stop: Iowa City, IA. We went there to visit Bob and Gwen, friends from medical school, and their three kids Eric, Charlotte, and Layla. We had not seen Charlie since she was a baby and she is 3 now! Layla is the newest addition just born in January. We had so much fun catching up on their lives and of course playing with Charlie who has SO much energy.

Next stop: St. Louis, MO. We had a full itinerary in St. Louis.

Monday night we had dinner with Tracy, my mom, and John

at a winery in historic St. Charles call Little Hills. Our food was

delicious but the service was awful! Tuesday, we took my mom

out to lunch, did a little shopping and then headed to Busch

Stadium for the Cardinals v. Pirates game. We met Laura, Tim,

and Audrey there. It was doubly special because this was Audrey's first Cardinal game! She was all ready in her Cardinals gear and was very lucky to see a victory. She did amazing; the fireworks didn't scare her, she shared lots of smiles, and she made it though the whole game! At the game we also had to meet up with our friend Grant who was in town visiting his brother and Mrs. Bennish, an old family friend, got to meet Ari for the first time. Wednesday, Ari went to work with Dr. Crane while I went to have my teeth cleaned. Dr. Crane is an emergency medicine doctor turned sports medicine guru who does cutting edge therapy on joints and tendons. Ari had a great time playing in his office for the day and injecting people! I did not fare as well at the dentist's office. Chris was so nice to fit me in for a cleaning, something I had been neglecting since the start of residency. She so nicely told me that I needed to step up on the flossing. Then Dr. Weber came to take a look... when he took his explorer and it stuck in one of my teeth, I knew that was a bad sign... my second cavity! He asked me to come back Thursday for some fun with the drill :( Mom and I then were off to the little cafe across the street for some lunch. Wednesday night Ari and I met up with another medical school friend, Holly. We got to see her fun apartment in U city and then went to Cicero's for pizza, a favorite hangout of mine during high school. Afterwards, we made it through a couple of rounds of dominoes before calling it a night; Holly was post call and I had a date with drill! Thursday morning it was back the the dentist. My cavity was so shallow I didn't even need Novocaine! Once I was fixed up, it was back in the car.

Third stop: Springfield, IL. Okay this was only a pit stop but we did get to enjoy a sub at one of our favorite sandwich shops in medical school: Head West. The hippies were the same and the subs were still delicious! Fourth stop: Peoria, IL. There we met up with Tim and Michelle our friends from med school and their two adorable daughters Elizabeth (3) and Lauren who is one and a half. After playing doctor for a little bit we went to meet Dave and Amanda, more med school friends, for dinner. We had a great time catching up with everyone and then went out for ice cream. We spent the night with Tim and his family then got back in the car and finally drove home. Our kitties were so glad to see us!!

Peds Prom

Every year the pediatric department puts on a dinner dance to acknowledge their appreciation for the residents and we affectionately call it Peds Prom. We look forward to it all year because it is one of two days that all nearly 80 residents are let out of the hospital at once with fellows and staff covering all the patients. Okay, we also like the free dinner, drinks, and dancing! This year was more fun than last, probably because it was held in the spring instead of winter. Everyone is starting to celebrate the graduating class's accomplishments and get excited for where they are heading to next. So after a lengthy cocktail hour, we sat down to dinner. All of the carnivores enjoyed their meals but unfortunately Ari and Melissa (Grant's wife) got the short end of the stick with the vegetarian meals... not so yummy. During dessert a couple of awards were given to staff that have worked at CHW for more than 25 years and to some residents and fellows for research projects. After dinner, the real entertainment began. Many residents and staff hit the dance floor when the band began to play. I will keep them anonymous... you wouldn't probably know their names anyway, but let me tell you some of the staff were really gettin' down. It is so funny to see the docs who seem so serious and driven at work let their hair down. I still think there should have been a dance off. At about 11pm, we were exhausted and the on-call residents had to go back to the hospital... I didn't say they got 24 hours off!... so we retired home.

Fun to Play

The team we played in kickball last week summed it up best, "You guys are really fun to play but aren't that good." So we still haven't won a game this season, but you wouldn't know it by looking at us. We all get out there and have a great time, no one gets aggravated when an error is made, and we cheer like crazy. That is the point isn't it? After this week's game we headed across the street to O'Brien's for food and libations... though I don't think anyone really needed more libations after Jess's punch.

The Next Big Move!

It is official! As of 11 am this morning I matched at Cincinnati Children's for my hematology-oncology fellowship. Most of you have followed my trials and tribulations during the interview process and probably had to listen to me stress about my rank list. After much discussion, however, between Ari and I we knew that Cincinnati would be the best next step... maybe not the best place to live out of my choices but definitely the best from a career point of view. I was absolutely blown away by their program, they have everything I want: high volume, great research, and great mentors. The emergency department at the university is ranked in the top 5, so hopefully Ari will find what he is looking for as well. Kris, another peds resident, matched at her first choice as well at the University of Wisconsin.

For the big day, Ari surprised be by putting flowers in my mailbox at the hospital. Then I was excused from neurology clinic to wait by the computer for my match to appear. I was glad to share my good news with everyone at journal club this afternoon. The real celebration took place during NICU call. Yep, on call on match day. We made the best of it though... Jackie brought sparkling grape juice and I brought a cookie cake and all the on call residents and fellows ordered chinese food. Then I got even more flowers! Mom sent me a beautiful bouquet to the hospital. So now all is quiet and I am going to try to get some sleep... we'll see how that goes.

Tailgating... Part 2

We had so much fun tailgating before the Brewer v. Cardinal game on Tuesday, we decided to have and encore on Friday. They were giving away terrace seats for $6.50 and hot dogs and small sodas were $1. That really drew the crowds and about 12 of the peds residents plus spouses. Aaron was in charge of buying the tickets and we found out when he picked them up at will call that he had bought all individual seats... none of them were together!! So we all got in the park and found a section that had a big group of seats together, which was great until the group showed up in the fifth inning (who doesn't come until the fifth inning?!) We went a section over to get more seats together. In the next inning, our previous section was named "The Party Section" and they all got balloons and tshirts and Bernie came over to party with them. Ari and Andy were very disappointed... maybe next time boys. Before I knew it, it was 9:30 and I told Ari we had to go. I was on call in the NICU the next day and had to be up at 5am. Stay tuned for more baseball adventures!!