Estoy tarareando.

The silver Honda has successfully managed its first road trip!  There are now multiple skittles lost among the crevices in the carpeted floor to prove it.  Thursday evening Amy H. and I packed up and headed South on 95. New York. New Jersey. Then Delaware and on into Maryland.  We were very blessed to be able to stay with Barry and Doreen Steffen for our weekend trip to Washington DC, arriving at their house late Thursday night.

Friday Amy and I met up with Katja and Matt, both whom are in DC from Germany for the 30th International Congress of Actuaries.  They had come a few days before the Congress to enjoy the city. 

 

View looking West from outside the Library of Congress.

 Library of Congress

 Library of Congress

Amy H. looking out of the Library of Congress West towards the Capitol, Washington Monument and The Mall

 In a few weeks the Capitol Rotunda is going to be closed for a period of about 2 years to complete a restoration project on the dome.

Side note about the Capitol.  The four of us, Matt, Katja, Amy and I, were consistently at the right place, at the right time, talking to the right person. All four of us were able to join a tour at the last minute AND obtain passes for the House Gallery. 

 It only took us three attempts to successfully get the Washington Monument in the background!

 Looking East down the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument.

 Lincoln Memorial.  Airplane compliments of the close proximity to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Looking North from the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin towards the Washington Monument and the White House.

 New Executive Office Building.  The Japanese Cherry Trees are supposed to be blooming at this time.  The Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing.  Only thing missing....the actual cherry blossoms.  The trees are protesting the harsh winter we've just emerged from and are not quite ready to grace the Spring with their millions of delicate pink blooms. The tree in the above picture is a Magnolia tree with a few blooms opening up

 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  L to R: Me, Amy, Katja, Matt

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

On Saturday the skies had opened their rain clouds with a steady provision of wet precipitation, but we were not to be stopped.  Amy and I met Katja and Matt downtown once again, and then we were joined by Abhijeet in the afternoon.

 We went up the Tower of the Old Post Office.  A unique view of our Nation's capital enveloped in wet fog.

 Arlington National Cemetery

 Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

 

Thankful for our umbrellas. L to R: Amy, Abhijeet, Matt, Katja

 

On Saturday evening, our most gracious hosts, Barry and Doreen, offered to have everyone for dinner.  Even when we numbered 5 in total.  Incredibly gracious.  And so thankful for them, as we sat around the table and allowed the conversation to take us well into the night.  First row L to R: Abhijeet, Barry  Second row L to R: Matt, Katja, Amy, Doreen, me

 L to R: Amy, Katja, me, Matt, Abhijeet

 L to R: Me, Amy, Doreen, Barry

On Sunday, Amy flew home to Illinois from DC.  I attended church in DC and then found myself on 95 North headed home to NY.  Although...I did allow myself a quick stop over in Baltimore.  Why not?  Just a meander through the streets, and a short stop at Federal Hill for a photo overlooking the Inner Harbor.

 Samuel Smith standing guard at Federal Hill Park.  Notice anything about the flag? 

Federal Hill Park. Baltimore.  Overlooking a part of the Inner Harbor.

And just in case you were wondering....I did take many more pictures than are here posted! ;)

Hasta!

Estoy una hospedadora.

It's Spring Break time for schools in the US!!  And that means visitor season for me!! Woohoo!  I get to be doubly blessed this week!
First, Amy Hohulin is visiting from Bloomington.  She's with me in NY for a few days then we'll head down to DC.

 

 Amy Burrito.

 
Second, some of my Maier cousins are out for a family vacation!  They are staying in Queens, but we met up and had a great time enjoying each other and the city on Tuesday!

 

The Maiers in Central Park, L to R: Me, Marcus, Heidi, Gretchen, Ben, Patty

 

The Maiers + Amy in Central Park looking over Wollman Skating Rink, L to R: Patty, Amy, Gretchen, Heidi, Ben, Marcus

 Mid-Manhattan Library, the Rose Main Reading Room.  

"A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." - John Milton

Photos/video were taken at The Big Piano in F.A.O. Schwartz.  You can use your imagination for that though!! :)

Hasta!

Estoy en mis rodillas.

It's official now. I matched in General Surgery - Preliminary at NYMC/WMC.  The most common question that I am receiving from people is, "so, how do you feel?"

 Honestly, perhaps a bit stunned.  That it's real. 

 

  Imagine you're hiking a mountain.  There's no trail to follow just the trust of the general feeling that you're still headed up.  No view to see or to help get your bearing as overgrowth and wild nature envelopes you against the face of the mountain.  Sense of timing is lost and you don't bother to try to find it again. And then suddenly you step out of the forrest.  Doubled over panting, trying to catch your breath, you begin to look around. Piece by piece the view becomes whole.  And quietly looking out, your heart rate begins to slow.  Your breathing returns to normal. You notice the sun starting to warm you deep within. And the awe at the realization of where you are standing brings you to your knees and tears to your eyes. If you want to look in that direction, in the not so distant future you feel the journey which awaits. The mountains, in their own way, perhaps even more daunting than from where you just emerged. And you will go, but for a moment you just stand there. Bewildered. Amazed. Humbled. You throw your arms wide open and belt out, "How Great Thou Art"

Lisa's office is catty-corner from mine.  She made a celebratory chocolate cake for everyone in the office! De-Lic-Ious!

 Esther, myself and Ana excited for cake!

 Andrea is the secretary for the Neurosurgeon I work with. Both the Neurosurgeon and Marini were excited to hear I matched at Westchester. Their opinions ment a lot to me.  Indirectly, their big smiles told me they were happy to continue working with me.  (Or at least I made that assumption, though...it was just an assumption).  But you hardly see Marini excited unless he's talking about stepwise regression or statistical significance.  The fact that I can continue with my role in all of this research, granted to a much lesser extent, is a definite blessing of staying at Westchester.

These three are the trauma registrars. Val, me, Brian, and Mary.  They do amazing work, are incredibly helpful, and are very, very patient with us.  On multiple studies we've asked them to pull data from the trauma database, and inevitably then go back and ask them to do it a second, third, fourth, etc... time as we figure out the specific variables we need.

Patrizio! Research coordinator and friend!

Dr. Blood couldn't make it for a piece of cake.  He sent flowers.  I think it's been too long since he has made it to a clearing on the mountains he's climbing.  

A year ago, on the evening following Match Week, I was sitting in this very chair trying to look at my future with courage.  Here I am tonight doing the exact same!  So much has changed, and nothing has changed.  This journey, this adventure, of walking with Jesus is so FULL.

The Great Adventure by Stephen Curtis Chapman 

Saddle up your horses

Started out this morning
In the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head
Of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle
Try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible
And I read about me
Said, I'd been a prisoner
And God's grace had set me free

And somewhere between the pages
It hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me
And I heard somebody say, "Let's go"

Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure, yeah

We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all, we'll find that
This is the greatest journey
That the human heart will ever see

The love of God will take us far
Beyond our wildest dreams, yeah

Oh, saddle up your horses
Come on, get ready to ride

Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure

Come on, this is the great adventure
Saddle up, saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through God's amazing grace

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
 
Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.




Hasta! 

Estoy Matched!

Didn't really want to go to the hospital today, on Match Day, so I went to Jersey instead.
Explored Princeton, NJ.  Palmer Square.  Princeton University.

 Cheryl Ryan and myself. At Princeton.

And it was about now that I stopped being able to feel my feet. So we moved into Small World Coffee to wait for the news.

 

I matched!! News is still sinking in!! It's hard to believe after so long!  I find out on Friday where! Praising Jesus!
Psalm 113:3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.

Hasta!

Estoy compartiendo la musica.

I thought I'd take the time this evening to share two songs.  I must first confess however, I do have ulterior motives for doing so.  You see, I like both of these songs very much.  I would say of all songs they probably take the #2 and #3 spots for single songs that I will spontaneously decide I want to listen to.  I will then go to YouTube and listen to whichever song of the two on repeat a couple....or more....times.  And then move on with the day once again.  However, that being said, I can not put my finger on why I like them so much.  I usually connect to music through lyrics, but in these cases don't actually have any personal connection to make with their messages.  So then could it be the musicality, the harmonies... I've really been thinking about it too much lately which is where the 'ulterior motive' enters.  If you have the few minutes to listen....what is the common factor shared by these two songs?   I'm hoping if a common ground is reasoned between the two perhaps it will lend explanation to why they make me smile.

This first song is Care by Hudson Taylor.  I've been listening to these two Irish brothers make music since before they were Hudson Taylor and instead just Harry and Alfie sitting on the couch in their living room.  I really enjoy all of their music, Care, although for some reason I've yet to discover, bubbles to the top as one of my favorites.





This second song is Asi by Il Volo ft. Eros Ramazzotti.  In Spanish, the theme is perhaps the risk of love about the emptiness, the vast expanse that is left when love leaves. 



Even if there is no discernible common factor, well then, perhaps you can just enjoy them too.

Hasta!

Estoy orando.

Esther is one of the Fellows from Spain who is with us for the next couple of months.  They have a phrase in Spain, "Matas a un gato y te llaman matagatos." Roughly translated meaning that it only takes one event for a nickname/reputation to be made.  I said 'roughly' because I entered at the tail end of a conversation the other day when Esther was trying to translate it literally and all I caught was "we... will.. call... him... KillCat!"  Much laughter was had by all!

I went to CT this past weekend. Packing up to leave the hospital early on Friday, so I could make it before the Friday afternoon traffic going East on 84 was at its worst, the Fellow from Turkey, Kazim, approached asking what I was doing.  It still takes a bit of patience to successfully communicate, but he is improving his English slowly.  So speaking as basically as I could he soon understood that it had something to do with 'church.'  He immediately brightened when he understood 'church.' And in his broken English I think he was asking me to pray for him.  I must have assumed correctly because one of the first things he asked me when he saw me yesterday was, "You...pray...me?" Of course I did Kazim! :) hmmmmm, did a door just open?

Hasta!

Estoy descuidada de las naranjas.

Left my boughten bag of clementines in the check-out aisle today. :(
I hope whomever was after me had prayed for a bag of oranges this morning. :)

Hasta!

Estoy darme cuenta la importancia de comunicacion.

I know the importance of communication.  I know it, but that doesn't change the fact that I would really rather avoid it.  For example, it can take, at times, excessively long for me to make a simple phone call.  If given the option to email versus make a phone call, in the past, I'd immediately go the way of the email.  If I were to analyze it....in writing I can figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it before I actually say it.  If communicating verbally, the mouth is open and before I can figure out what I want to say syllables are tripping on each other on their way out.  In short, I'm much less likely to make a fool of myself in writing...although, I suppose, even writing isn't fool-proof.

Anyways, I say 'in the past' not because my verbal communication skills are improving, but because people don't always respond to emails or even texts.  So, you have to call.  Or, even more efficient, you have to go knock on their door.  Communication is vital when working on a team.  I know this.  And yet, I still failed, a really rather embarrassing fail caused by my own lack of communication. 

Last Thursday, Marini brought it to our attention that an important deadline for abstracts was Saturday.  He wanted an abstract from me for something I am working on with a Neurosurgeon.  Trouble was the Neurosurgeon and I had never formally talked about when we'd ever put this particular research into an abstract for submission.  So I took care of that communication ASAP, the knocking-on-the-door/face-to-face kind of communication.  Put together an abstract and presented it at the research meeting that afternoon. Marini had two things for me after that. 1) Change the patient inclusion data  - which would change all of our results, so it had to be refigured. 2) If the abstract was accepted who was presenting -  Which I hadn't thought of prior so simply agreed with Marini that the Neurosurgeon would as he was first author.  I figured I could just clear it with him later.  Well, Priority was #1 so I worked on that first and told myself I'd get to #2 before I left, which....never happened.  And then I had the HBOT class for 5 days.  And then I kept making excuses for not following through with #2.  And then it was the Thursday research meeting again.  Marini comes in, sits down and informs me that he had talked with the Neurosurgeon that morning who 1) had been unaware that he was listed as presenter and 2) had no intention of going through with such a presentation should the abstract be accepted.  I did the only thing I could do.  I took immediate responsibility for the lack of communication.

Thankfully, what could potentially have been a rather severe reprimand somehow turned into a joke instead.  About an hour later when the Neurosurgeon joined the meeting, the subject was revisited and the joke continued providing everyone with laughs once again.  If I joined in with the laughing at all it was very nervous laughing. I still can't quite comprehend how they laughed, when it was such an obvious failure on my part.  I do know that I can't let it happen again.

Communication People!!! 

Hasta!

Estoy pensativa.

I am now Certified in Hyperbaric Medicine!  Will that ever come in handy??? No clue. Not a one.

Approaching the course I was actually excited to return to the classroom setting.  I was excited that upon entering the room that first day someone was going to hand me a great big 3-ring binder which would include 2 rarities.  Those rarities being 1) a schedule of the next 5 days telling me when and where I'd learn what, and 2) the complete educational content of the full 40hrs laid out in hard copy form for my studying pleasure.  And then even more exciting, they weren't going to just hand me the binder and say have at it, but no, they were first going to take the time to explain everything to me. 

Unfortunately, my excitement did not last.  I was quickly reminded that though it is very nice to have information explained, the classroom tends to the tedious and monotonous.  I can't remember the last time I would yawn sooooo much, despite an acute increase in caffeine intake.  I was rather ready to be done when it finally came time for the final exam today.  So when a packet that size-wise was tilting the scale on huge was plopped down in front of me, I may have, might have, rolled my eyes. But whach'ya gonna do? 1) Check the attitude  2) Take pencil in hand  3) See just how fast you can possibly get through it

I shouldn't be so hard on the course! :) It was the classroom approach that I struggled with in the end, not the subject.  The content is actually really interesting and I enjoyed learning more in an area which up till now I knew very little.  For example, I have a much better understanding of the mechanisms and indications for hyperbaric oxygen.   In addition, I have a much better understanding of scuba diving.  Quite a bit of the course was spent calculating decompression tables, etc.  So I don't know if it'll ever happen, but if I ever go diving I can now do so without getting bent in the process!!  :)

Hasta!