Roll Call

[Flynn]

It's been great catching up with everyone!

Ok -- us.....

We had a great summer. Took a few trips and July - September DH had AWESOME hours. It was a big treat.

DD and DS will be three and one respectively in October and I can't imagine where the time went!!!

DD started pre-school in the fall and it's been a good fit. It's two and a half hours twice a week. Just enough for both of us. DS and I do some errands or fold laundry and it's amazing to me how "rested" I feel when I only have to focus on one for a couple of hours. I'm pleased with the school and the adults in charge. DD is VERY into the Disney princesses as of late -- although I'm not sure HOW? Her friends have influenced this as well as her books. Cinderella is her favorite and her "I'm potty trained" treat was a pair of glass slippers. She LOVES those. It's pretty funny.

DS started walking between ten and ten and a half months!!! PHEW. Now at almost twelve months old he's a wiz with the walking thing and gets into everything. He ADORES his sister and cracks me up. He was weaned at about 11 months which I am really enjoying! He went straight from me to a sippy cup and the transition was smooth.

One of the reasons DS was weaned at 11 months is I was able to go for a weekend with some friends of mine all by myself! It was AWESOME. I left Friday and got back Sunday night. I haven't done anything like that since I was a mom almost three years ago for different reasons. It was good medicine for the whole family.

Now we are hot on the job trail and it's been very underwhelming. DH has done a fantastic job beating the bushes and the couple interviews he does have are a credit to him being resourceful -- not due to anything else. We thought we could "look" in about 65% of the country but with the limited jobs out there, we now will look in areas we originally did not want to look. Kind of depressing but he'll find something and we'll be ok. I'm not too worried oddly enough and it is still surreal sometimes when I realize this is our last year of training.

DH started nasty hours again today -- so I imagine I will be a bit more active than I have been on the boards lately!

I guess that's about it! I am in a good place and hopefully I can sustain it when I solo parent for the next 6 months! UG.

[DCJenn]

Hello All-

Let's see- not too much excitement from the DC group this summer. Basically, we continue the adjustment into parenthood and it's been a blast. Nikolai is doing really well. He's still on the bottom of the growth/weight charts but heck, he was 9 weeks early AND living in a Russian orphanage- so he's got a lot of catching up to do. He's running and climbing and into everything. The crib will have to go sooner than we thought, as he has just about figured out how to climb out. Once he gets about another half inch of height, it'll be all over. He completely understands everything that we tell him and he's speaking some words to us as well.

My beloved continues his last year of peds neuro fellowship and we are looking forward to this part of the journey being over. However, as one of his friends like to remind us, attendings don't get 80 work week limits. We won't know where the Army will be sending us until December but unless it's Hawaii or Germany, we'll be selling our house here.

I started teaching a few Stroller Strides classes every week, and am now up to teaching MWFSa. It's a lot of planning but it's nice to have a little paycheck every two weeks!

We just returned from California where Nikolai met his other side of the family. (and once again, an unprepared juvie got herself knocked up. What is it about his family?)

My parents moved in July and we LOVE their new house. It's got a great view of the Chester River in Maryland- right where the Chesapeake Bay meets the river. Awesome to sit and watch the sailboats.

Life is stable and we're exhausted most of the time. Basically, it's just that waiting game thing. Medicine=Hurry up and Wait.

Jenn

:chat: I've really enjoyed reading all these posts. What fun to hear about everyone's lives. I just spent nearly 2 weeks out of town (with prep time) & I am feeling very out of the groove of things.

Only 270 days to staffdom!!! We have just received word from our Army coordinator that DH will be stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY (on the TN border - 30 mins to Nashville) next July '06. We are happy since that was one of our top 3 picks. We are also thrilled to know so early in the game where we will be. Being from AZ & now in TX, the kids are excited they will get snow for the first time.

After 2 years of homeschooling, the kids are back in school. DD has begun middle school and is learning what other 12 year-old girls are like...ugh!! She is adjusting well, however, and likes going from class to class. 8 yr-old ds is struggling with the transition from homeschool to sitting still & conforming in public school. I think the challenges have been good for him, however, & he is improving day by day. 5yr ds started Kindergarten & I was so worried about him. Unfounded fears it turns out, since he now has a confidence he never exhibited before. 4yr ds is in preschool three mornings a week which gives me enough "me" time to take a breath.

I have turned to twice a month massages & it has helped my health conditions tremendously. Now, if I could only afford a housekeeper..... DH had a conference in LA last week and I was able to go with him sans kids. While I really didn't like downtown LA, I loved not competing with the kids for attention from my hubby. We even did Disneyland without the kids! They weren't thrilled when they found out. They had a good time with Gma, however, getting away with things they wouldn't otherwise have.

That's about it for us. DH has a week of leave in October & Christmas off so we have some things to look forward to besides counting down our last year of residency!

Sara

[Amiens]

It's been craaaazzzy!

1. Moving/Traveling- As everyone knows we moved from Seattle to Boise this past summer. Now that we are much closer to our families- 4 hours to my parents and Matt's extended family and 8 hours to Matt's parents- we did quite a bit of traveling over the summer. I think for about a 2 month period we were gone every other weekend for one reason or another. Matt took his boards in July and passed. I attended a convention with Stampin' Up! and was pretty much away from my 2 children for the first time-- although I did see them at night before they went to bed as they were staying with their grandparents. We also attended 2 family reunions- 1- for Matt's siblings- there are 6 of them; 2- for all the Fowlers- that was fun to hang out with Matt's cousins who are the same age as him.

2. Baby- We are expecting another very active boy, who remains unnamed at the moment. We are looking to induce the first week of December, about 2 weeks before my due date. I will find out on Friday what the doctor thinks. We are thinking she will be supportive.

3. My kids- Emma (3 1/2) and Brigham (2) both started preschool at what we thought was a good preschool. Brigham has some separation/social anxiety issues, but what 2 year old doesn't. It's been interesting dealing with this as Emma never has had a problem leaving us. Anyway, the first preschool turned out not to be such a great place, as 1) we tried to doing the drop and run technique with Brigham, and by the 4th day he was screaming in the parking lot- no no don't make me go. 2) Emma informed us that "Mommy, Daddy, I don't like this place. It's not very fun, please don't make me go." Needless to say, we had been having a not so comforting feeling about the place and pulled both kids out. Emma also had started a co-op preschool, where I with 6 other moms rotate teaching the kids in our homes. Emma is attending the co-op preschool 2 1/2 hours, 2 days a week. We also found a new preschool- where both kids can attend at the same time- I really wanted something where I could have a few hours a week to run errands by myself, etc. while the kids received some socialization. Anyway Emma will be attending the new place 1 day a week for 5 hours, and Brigham will go 2 1/2 hours for 2 days a week. Brigham started today at his new preschool and he did awesome.

Brigham blows me away with his speech- he just turned 2 and is putting together 10 word comprehensible sentences. Emma isn't a slacker, and with her reading more and more will tell me about things she has learned in her library books- for example she told me all about ants the other day. The two of them are really excited about their little brother, and keep asking how much longer, and when can he come and play, etc. They have their favorite name, and we will probably go with that name.

4. Matt's job- he loves it. He's glad he chose anesthesia. I am getting more relaxed about life. I actually don't mind when he calls me and asks "Hey so-so asked if I would want to take some hours from him. Can I stay a bit longer?"

5. Me- I had a hard time the first week the kids were in preschool, but now I am finding I get so much done. I am actually prioritizing my time better. I am in the process of organizing our office. As far as goals I have set for myself- trying to expand or find out what my talents are. I am having fun with it.

Crystal

okay...

Moved from VA to WI, with a car, a 24' truck stuffed with our life, 2 cats, and 2 kids. Enough snacks to feed a boy scout troop for a week. It lasted 3 days.

Got here... on Fri aug 5th. 970 sf of space for 2200 sf of stuff. Place wasn't painted. I hope they didn't return the cleaning deposit for the previous tenants. Apparently a 7 month lease is too short to paint for, and the tub was stopped up...which I discovered as I tried to clean it so the boys could bathe. Dh gave them spongebaths while I had a melt down.

Got the truck unloaded, took stuff to neices for storage that day.ILs took stuff to their house for storage on Monday, and over the course of the week we moved stuff into the basement storage locker. Totally moved in by the 10th.

We get WI drivers license and stuff.

Went to my neices to pu the boy's fall clothes about a week later and ALL of the new stuff I had bought on ultramegaclearance at The Children's Place and Gap were gone. I hadn't even bothered taking the tags off. The hand me downs were still there. I dont' know if it happened in teh 5-10 minutes the truck was left unattened or if neice or her boyfriend took them. Commence with 2 weeks of depression, desolation, angst, homesickness and crying. Decide that my memory of friendly midwestereners is false. Call all my VA girlfriends and cry at them. Meet Madison friend at park and feel better. Spend time with DH's aunt and uncle in nearby small town. Love them.

Go nuts dealing with long distance closing. Figure real estate agent isn't calling because its going smoothy. It goes smoothly, Credit Union tries to suck our toes because we have money now.

DH studies a lot.

Sept begins.
Tim starts school. TIm likes school. Tim's school doesn't get fax from old ped so we have to redo that. School nurse copies his immunization records per my request. School nurse rocks!
Have to get up and walk Tim to bus at 7:50. Did I mention we live in WI now? Have to pu Tim from bus at 3:10, which means bundling up Henry too. Walk to bus stop now takes 15 minutes. Its about 100 yards away.
Tim makes friends with neighbor kids.

I get a bike because DH is convinced I need to get some exercise to reduce stress. I have my first new bike since 1981, when I got my blue Free Spirit 3 speed from Sears for my 12th birthdyay. I am almost 37 and own a red and silver women's Fuji Regis 7 speed. I ride through the nature conservancy after supper and feel better.

Med School does stuff...picnic with kickball, picnic with live band and competiton against law school. Dh wins at arm wrestling. Lots of yelling, feel old. White Coat Ceremony. Wonderful Aunt takes noisy Henry out and we feel bad because she didn't get to see anything. The alumni serve punch and cookies.

Go to corn maze with ILs and sil/bil. Enjoy their company. Spend weekend at ILs and feel better.

Henry smacks into butcher block table and gets scalp glued together.

DH studies a lot.

Oct.
Got a "steam" vac to clean the carpets because I am tired of removing dirt as thick as felt from the vacuum filter. Empty charcoal colored water 7 times in main room, 2 each in bedrooms. House smells much better. Redo main area today...only gray water this time. Will redo on Friday again, hoping for pale taupe water.

Go to library story time and feeling like I am intruding into a hs clique. Might find another storytime.

Continue searching for 3 bed condo in current school district that will yeild a $500 or less mortgage payment each month. Might need to do 2 bed. Miss my house.

DH studies a lot.

[spotty_dog]

This summer I started training to race bicycles. I entered my first race in May, and won my first race in June. July was mostly focused on our Vermont trip with cycling friends to play in the mountains. At the beginning of August I was hit by a car on my way to work. The resulting broken wrist interfered with my training schedule to the tune of being off the bike for two months. I was therefore unable to enjoy the riding during our next cycling vacation to Colorado (mid-August), but I did get to hike and hang out with my in-laws! I'm back on the bike, as much as the short days will allow anyway, and in the gym trying to regain some strength and fitness.

DH did his acting internship in the ED in June, electives and vacation in July, vacation for the month of August, and he started OBGYN in September. The schedule wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared -- doesn't hold a candle to surgery, plus he's taking it a little easier now that he's a fourth year and his grades mean bupkiss for his residency apps! Not to say he's slacking, but he's basically focusing on the stuff he will need to know in the ED. So we're fairly low stress, and now that I'm riding again, we can enjoy weekend bike rides together which is always fun.

In two weeks he goes to Fresno for an away rotation. He'll be gone for a month, and I won't be able to visit him. He'll come back in late November just in time for us to turn around and go to Alaska for Thanksgiving!

Apps went in at the beginning of September, and we're now waiting for a bite. Nothing yet, and we don't expect anything till November, but my paranoid side keeps popping up and screaming, "He won't get any interviews and will match here in Cleveland IF you're lucky!" I'm getting fidgety, thinking about everything that's going to happen when we learn where we're moving: we need to look into the feasibility of buying a home, I am going to pick up a temporary job (job searching UGH!), and chances are we're going to start trying for a baby within a few months of the move. Of course, that hope is complicated by the certainty that intern year will be hell on earth for our relationship, as has been asserted here time and again...but a girl can dream. If that plan changes, I'll try to get some prereqs out of the way so I can apply to teacher education school.

At the moment I am privately cheerleading for Portland's OHSU program. Big name, well funded program. Name recognition and connections for the Oregon attending position we're aiming for. Reputation as a "cushy" residency with relatively easy hours. Just an hour from my SIL and her family, fiveish hours from my in-laws, a direct flight from my parents. And...well, let's just say that every time I think about the International Rose Garden I burst into tears of homesickness. The only con is that it's reputed to be a little light on the major trauma -- but honestly, how much penetrating trauma is DH going to see in his future rural practice?

I wouldn't mind Sacramento (DH's top choice) or Denver; Fresno would be OK and I could even handle LA or Oakland, and Phoenix sounds pretty neat. I am still intrigued by Charlotte, NC but I am not too excited about some of his other apps, which I think included Georgia, Missouri, maybe Indianapolis and Salt Lake City?

So yeah. Plugging along, trying to maintain a basic level of competency at my job despite my apathy, and to stay invaluable during a time of layoffs and cutbacks. Fall is on the doorstep, and it's a season I love (fireplaces and apple crisp and apple cider and sweaters!) but the newly discovered cyclist in me is dreading the approach of another Cleveland winter. Fingers crossed it's the last one.

Glad to hear everyone's well, thanks for letting me babble.

[Phoebe]

It has been fun catching up with everyone. I feel like more of a lurker here lately because I haven't had much time. This summer has flown by for us and I can't believe it is already October.

This summer the kids and I were pretty laid back while DH had crappy hours due to his group members taking vacations. We managed two vacations, one sans children. Our trip to Charleston, SC was wonderfull and it made me want to move there (until hurricane season). However, during our trip DH's back problem flaired up sidelining him only for him to have his grandmother die mid-week of our vacation resulting in his early departure and me to drive home to Indiana alone with our kids.

September went by fast with school starting and both my daughters having birthdays (4th and 2nd). I went to my hometown and attended a college football game with two of my best friends which was a blast. Last weekend, we got ambitious and threw a Dora birthday party for my kids which they seemed to love. College football has been on every weekend and thankfully, my husband hasn't had a heart attack yet due to the roller coaster season of his fav. team.

DH's joe woes continue as he prepares for the boards. The group is in major transition as one doc is out on bedrest and two more have licensing and Visa issues. DH was set to move from the main hospital to a smaller NICU two miles from our house by the end of the year which may have been better for our family. However, just yesterday he found out that leadership was changing and the move would be pushed back and DH may not be going afterall. So now we endure the time left before DH's board exam at the end of the month and brace ourselves for what happens to his group since he found out 90% want to leave. He has a job prospect in my dream location open for next summer pending him passing the boards. Needless to say, I have bitten all my nails off while trying to remain adaptable to his ongoing saga at work. I am still waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel since he is starting his third year out of training.

The TTC game is on the fifth month now, but we remain hopeful. I am spending this fall trying to get my kids on a good schedule and trying to get sleep. My older daugther has been having night terrors so I am racking up 5 or less hours per night lately. I am a tired mommy.

Jennifer

[Meenah]

It is nice catching up with everyone. We have been busy as well. I decided to go to graduate school, I am at Seton Hall University in the Graduate Nursing Program.. I am in the Adult Nurse Practitioner program. It is a little overwhelming, but I am in my second semester already. I continue to work three to four shifts in the ER or Endoscopy units Dh has been working hard as usual. Our ICU was changed to a "closed unit" run by four Intensivists, one being my DH. His time is divided between the office practice (Pulmonary/Internal medicine) He is also studying for boards, only this is the 10 year recertify!!!! Critical Care Boards have to be taken every 10 years, and that is him!!!!! He is "grandfathered" for the Pulmonary and IM boards. He loves his work and still works 60plus hours a week.

The kids are all in college and doing well. Rachel, my stepdaughter actually finished and starts her first job next week. Alex (stepson) was here all summer and went back to school in Florida. My daughter Caroline is in Boulder, CO and loves school and snowboarding. Amy is the only one here. She has decided on nursing school. She works as a nursing assistant for a group of surgeons and goes to school at night. She is only 20 minutes away and we study together!!!!
So my 40s have turned out to be busier than my 30s!!!!!

Luanne