#11

Joel just scheduled with school #11- Ohio State! This is in Joel's top 4 choices, so we're pumped about this one. He's pretty much going to be gone for a huge chunk of November interviewing, but then he'll have most of December and January just to enjoy himself with little Nathan.

Sleep Deprivation

After what felt like the zillionth time Nathan woke up last night (I actually lost count at some point)- I began to contemplate the evasiveness of sleep. I'm always tired. It's been so long since I've felt well-rested that I don't honestly remember what it feels like. I started thinking about it and for one reason or another I'm always running a deficit in the sleep column. I've been pondering just how amazing our bodies are that they can deal with such things.
Because I'm slightly sick and twisted, when I'm driving to work in the mornings and I feel like I've been run over by a semi, I chronicle my years of sleep deprivation.
I think I can trace it all back to Early Morning Seminary in high school. I was involved in too many activities with too few hours in the day. I would go on 4-5 hours of sleep a night and then usually sleep excessively on the weekends if possible. This extended to the college years- I pulled quite a few all-nighters trying to get assignments completed on time. Most of the time I simply went to bed too late and then had some required class early in the morning (one painful 7:30 am class comes to mind). The mission came along and that proved to be a new level of tired. By the end of my mission my body was giving out on me- I could fall asleep anywhere at any time. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. :) After undergrad I had 3 jobs at once and often found myself up talking to Britt for hours on end. We talked about anything and everything and yes, we were always tired. Then came Grad School. The all-nighters started again - although I will say that it started getting harder to stay up all night the older I got. I did still sleep in most weekends when possible though.
I think it comes down to a key flaw: I've just never been good at going to bed early enough to match what time I needed to get up. I try but it rarely if ever occurs.
I started teaching school and I spent hours doing lesson plans, putting together materials, grading stuff - you name it and I was up late doing it for school. And then I got pregnant.......Sleep becomes that elusive thing people talk about but you're not quite so sure exists. I was teaching, doing the musical, taking 2 college courses, had 2 callings in church - all while I was growing larger and larger. I thought I had won the tired award, but sadly I was mistaken. I had Nathan and at about 2 or 3 weeks the word "exhausted" took on a whole new meaning. I argue that a couple weeks of sleeplessness could break the strongest of individuals. And there is no such thing as sleeping in on the weekends anymore. In fact, I'm convinced Nathan gets up earlier on purpose.
One could argue that I'm continuing this vicious cycle by staying up to write this instead of going to bed. I'm just truly impressed with our body's ability to endure and function with such little rejuvenation. On that note- I think I'll try to catch some zzzz's before the all too soon morning arrives or Nathan wakes up (I believe Nathan will be the winner of that one....several times- which is how I got started on this whole diatribe of mine to begin with). Good night- happy sleep to you all.

#8, 9 &10

I've fallen a little behind- this week has been killer in so many ways it's not even possible to delve into all of the tumultuous details (yes, I'm still in quite a dramatic- woe is me- mood). Anyway, enough sob stories- the point is that Joel got three more residency interview offers this week and I haven't gotten around to posting them.......
They are Akron (OH), Buffalo (NY) & St. Christopher's (Philadelphia, PA)

#6 & 7

Joel heard from Rochester (New York) and Dupont (Delaware) today!! These were his top 2 choices, so we're thrilled. He could go to these interviews and absolutely hate the programs, but for now things are looking good. We've now heard from a program in every state we've applied, so this is great! It looks like November is going to be a busy month.

Pirates Beware

Today is international "Talk like a Pirate Day." There is an online pirate name generator (you can find anything online these days). Joel's name is Bob the Pink. Apparently they know about Joel's masculine acting past. My name came out to be Kathryn the Engorged.....are you kidding me? How did they know about Nathan?! Nathan's was Isaac the Badly Burnt. This raises a few concerns for me as a mother, but I'm not sure where to begin with that one.
Anyway, Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

#5

Joel was offered an interview today with Rainbow Babies Hospital in Cleveland, OH. We're still trying to figure out when to schedule this one. I think we may wait a couple days and see if we hear from some others first since it's not at the top of our interest list......... and so the maneuvering and strategies begin.

#3 & 4

Joel just scheduled his 3rd & 4th interviews- Syracuse &Penn State! This is getting to be fun! (Of course I say that because I'm not the one who has to interview)

Stina's Quilt-in-progress

Well, after a 6 to 3 vote (and Christina's approval of course) I put together the front of her quilt. She wanted something to wrap up in while watching TV- I think this is plenty big enough for that.

#2

Joel got his second interview request yesterday from VCU in Richmond, VA! Of course he's going to this one, because he loves Richmond so much.

Residency Interview Season has begun!

It's official- Joel got his first interview request today!! I thought we would be waiting a lot longer to hear back from residencies, but he's already heard from 2 schools. CHOP sent him a confirmation and said he'd be hearing from them probably by the end of September, and he set up an interview with Pitt for the first week of November!! YEA!!

Oh my GANGA! (aka- steal of a deal)

So we went to Kohl's to go shopping on Labor Day- Joel needed to get a suit that actually fit him for his residency interviews- and we came out serious winners! He found a suit he liked (I personally thought he looked quite hot in it, but that's just me). When the cashier rang up the normally $80 pants it said $8. I looked at it again and made a comment to Joel that I thought there must be some kind of mistake, so we asked the cashier to make sure the price was right. I don't want to pay extra, but that seemed a little too good to be true. Well, it turns out that it was red-tagged clearance, but was never marked so it WAS $8. We then had a 15% off coupon, so Joel's suit pants cost a total of.....wait for it..........$6.80!!!!!!!! (somebody check my math for me) With a price like that those are definitely the best looking pants I've ever come across!

Residency Time!

Joel officially applied for a Pediatric Residency today! We applied to 13 schools- 4 in Pennsylvania, 4 in Ohio, 3 in New York, 1 in Virginia & Delaware. Now we just have to wait for interview calls- probably starting in November. We're so excited it's ridiculous.