Bosom Sisters

My younger sister Meredith visited me last weekend (May 13-18). A glorious time was had by all... except maybe Peter who was lonely and jealous and had to study. :( Pobrecito. Here's what we did:

Friday: Saw the show "Lend me a Tenor." Very funny show with amazing acting by the men in this production. Probably too many sexual innuendos for my taste. Justin Bartha is darling!

Saturday: Stood in line for discount tickets, toured the southern tip of Manhattan (City Hall, Wall Street, World Trade Center, St. Paul's Cathedral, Trinity Church, Battery Park), then shared a pizza with my dear friend Sarah Fulton and raced to see the show "Billy Elliot." The show was good except for the underlying homosexual theme and the excessive swearing by the children. Disturbing how many ppl. find that so amusing - when kids imitate adult vices. On our way home that night, down in the 42nd street subway station, we happened upon a group of musical misfits who call themselves the "Meatles." They sing Beatles' songs and are pretty good, actually. They sell cd's and t-shirts and lectured us plenty on how often we should be leaving them tips. It was like a mini-concert! People were jamming out and singing along! One of the most enjoyable characters was a rather homely, portly fellow with no expression on his face who kept texting people or taking pictures or whatever... during their performances! And he was very serious about getting the crowd to clap when it was time to clap. I posted a picture of him (far right) so that you might imagine how much mirth he gave us.

Sunday: Went to church, then the Metropolitan Museum of Art, then enjoyed dinner at an outside cafe, then wandered along Riverside Park - the Hudson River.

Monday: Slept in, took a boat around the Statue of Liberty and to Ellis Island where we spent the next 5 hours. This is a museum that I HIGHLY recommend for anybody and everybody to visit. Wow. Later we ate dinner with Sarah Fulton at "Serendipity." Gorged out on an enormous chocolate fudge sundae, then roamed the city for a while and ended up at our aprtment to chat for hours.

Tuesday - Meredith left early, early and I slept in!

It was so fun to have her here. We've always been close, and I'm so grateful for the friendship that we share.

So, why haven't YOU come to visit?

The Dental Deck

So, Peter took an exam three years ago - The Dental Boards Part I - at the end of his sophomore year of dental school. This exam focuses on the academic portion of dentistry: biochemistry (gag), human anatomy and physiology, and a bunch of other -ologies. Bunches and bunches. So many so that there is a stack of flashcards called the "Dental Deck" to study for this exam. These cards are numbered and there over 1,100 of them! Yikes! And the dental deck costs up to $300 and is only about half of the necessary study material to succeed at said test. Peter did fairly well. Three years ago that is. He got a solid B. Unfortunately, his score wasn't as high as many oral surgery programs would like; they've been looking at this score at every interview he's been to over the last couple of years trying to get into a residency program.

So, this past Spring he made the decision to re-take the exam and try for a higher score. What an undertaking! What commitment! In classic Peter style, he's been focused on studying ardently for the past three months. He carries flashcards around with him everywhere and tries to internalize such lofty concepts as:

A presumptive diagnosis of classic hemophilia (hemophilia A) is made, and coagulation blood tests are performed. Which of the following is the most likely set of findings of coagulation screening tests?
A - Normal platelet count and thrombin time; prolonged bleeding time, prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT)
B - Normal bleeding time, platelet count, thrombin time, and PTT; prolonged PT
C - Normal bleeding time, platelet count, thrombin time, and PT; prolonged PTT
D - Normal bleeding time, platelet count, and thrombin time; prolonged PT and PTT
Answer - (C) Normal bleeding time, platelet count, thrombin time, and PT; prolonged PTT

This is one of 1,100 folks. Can you imagine having to take a geometry or an algebra test today? How much do you remember fom high school? Double UGH. His brain may have let go of a few concepts over the past few years... but he's doing his best to get it all back in there!

Peter takes the exam on Thursday, May 20. We hope and pray that it goes well, that he gets a higher as opposed to a catastrophic lower score this time around. Your prayers and good "chi" are greatly appreciated. Go Peter!

Yankees Game!

Peter and I went to the Yankees baseball game on Saturday, April 17. They played the Texas Rangers. It was my ideal way of celebrating the big 37 and the first day of his vacation. So, we splurged. $60 a ticket, but worth every penny, I told Peter. "This is why I work overtime!" Indeed. So, although I am a Diamondbacks girl at heart (yeah, we won the world series in 2002!), I can appreciate any baseball game.
I love the atmosphere of a baseball stadium. There are so many interesting people to watch, random spurts of dance/ techno music, yummy hot dogs and ice cream, goofy crowd cameras, etc. etc. And the game itself, of course. I think I love baseball games because I grew up playing softball, so I can relate on a very small degree. I played right field and often missed pop fly's or even grounders, but I always had fun.
Peter was a good sport and didn't ask to leave until the 5th inning. :) We compromised and left middle of the 7th.... to beat the crowds. The Yankees were up by 7, so we knew how it would end up. Good thing we did because the subway was already pretty packed.
The only sour note in our outing was a minor altercation on the subway. I leaped to a bench so that we could sit down on our 47 minute commute home. We got separated in my leaping, and Peter was about 3 seconds behind me. I sat down and a young girl (22-ish) told me to move over so that she could sit down. I said that I was saving this space for my husband who was 3 seconds away from sitting down himself. She freaked out and began yelling at me: "don't play with me or someone's gonna get hurt!" In shock, I remained speechless. She pinched my leg to get me to move over (my calf) and then plopped down on top of me! By that time, Peter had arrived and told her to calm down, that nobody was going to get hurt. He remained standing. In a weak attempt to pacify the situation , I patted her leg and said lamely - "you can learn to be nice to people. Someday you will." She freaked out again and yelled: "Don't touch me! Don't you play with me or you gonna get hurt!" What a wack job. Clearly, there was nothing to be done. We all left each other alone and she got off 10 minutes later. I'm still disturbed, thinking, how could I have handled that better. She was belligerent by nature and upset me that she would pinch me. Wow. True, I shouldn't have "saved seats" on the subway... but avoidance is the only way to survive some people and situations.
It didn't spoil our fun day at the ball park, though!

Moving to Manhattan!

Last week I went and checked out our new apartment on the upper W side of Manhattan. We will be moving in either end of June or early July. Its fantabulous! More square footage, more closet space, great location (4 blocks from Central Park and the Hudson; one block south of Columbia University), elevator, laundry in building, and proximity to Peter's work. He will literally be across the street from the hospital which means we'll see each other more often, even when he's "on-call!" Its such a blessing because its somewhat subsidized and although barely affordable, do-able. Thus, we're only moving five miles north of where we currently live.

A friend at work told me that every October there is a blessing of the animals at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine - located diagonally from our apt. building. Check back in 6 months for pics of that! From what I hear, ponies, turtles, dogs, and cats are brought before priests to be blessed. How random is that!? Looking forward to the crazy adventure that will be the life in the city.

If you're not familiar with the terminology and layout of this here parts, we already live in NYC, but in Brooklyn - which is one of the 5 boroughs that comprise NYC. The Bronx (peninsula), Brooklyn (SW tip of Long Island), Queens (NW tip of Long Island), Staten Island (an island) and Manhattan (an island) comprise NYC. Long Island is part of New York state, not NYC. Confused yet? When people say "the city" they are referring to Manhattan, as if Manhattan represented all of NYC... which it practically does. Thats where most of the action is. Manhattan has Central Park, all of the best museums, the financial district, Times Square, etc. etc. and eventually us. Brooklyn has Coney Island, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, and us! The Bronx has the Yankees stadium, Staten Island has nothing really, and Queens is famous for "Julie and Julia." If you want to visit the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, they are both additional small ilslands just SW of Manhattan island, so you have to ferry out to them. Hope that helps!

"And the Lord was with Joseph"

Wow, double wow, triple WOW! I love Joseph. All of them, but particularly right now I love the one with the coat of many colors. He inspires me profoundly. Last Sunday morning I read the Bible account (about 10 chapters) and I was deeply moved. I found myself openly weeping as I read of his struggles, his trials, and his tremendous opposition that was all overcome in the end with the help of God and the righteousness of his soul. He was sold into Egypt by his brothers and spent years in prison for crimes he did not commit (ironically it was by resisting Potipher's wife that landed him in the dungeon). But he was consistently faithful and the Lord prospered him. "And the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man. And his masters saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand." (Genesis 39:2-3). Later, in verse 21, we read that "the Lord was with Joseph and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keepers of the prison." Eventually after interpreting Pharaoh's dream of the upcoming famine, Joseph is promoted to 2nd in command, subject only to Pharaoh himself. He is given power over all of the resources in Egypt.
In the most dramatic scenes of the story, his brothers come from far away to obtain food and bow before him. Recognizing them, Joseph "sought where to weep" yet concealed his identity. Eventually, they had to bring Benjamin and Israel to Egypt, and when Joseph finally does reveal himself to his brothers, they are (naturally) "troubled at his presence." Yet he responds (Genesis chapter 42):
5 "Now therefore be not agrieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not."
He doesn't blame them, he sees the whole "misunderstanding" as the Lord's hand, and he goes out of his way to reassure them, to comfort them, to let them know that they are forgiven, and that he wants to be part of the family again. Can your soul get any greater than this?
I especially like the phrase "and the Lord was with Joseph" found throughout the story. What did he do to stay so pure, so focused, so righteous and worthy while away from his family, his religion, and home? He didn't have the Ensign, he didn't have weekly YM activities, or home teachers to check up on him... and yet "the Lord was with him." I have a lot to learn from Joseph. His example and character stand out as morally excellent, and he inspires me to be a better person. I dare you to read the account yourself and see how it affects you! I highly recommend it. The Lord was with Joseph... is he with me? Thats what I take most of all from this magnificent story.

2 out of 3

Last Friday, I had a job interview at the Ritz-Carlton at noon for the Amenities-Coordinator position. The hotel is located on the southern tip of Manhattan, and I've been there before, namely when I dropped off my resume last fall, not that any positions were open at the time. Well, they finally called me to let me know that there was a position available and that I should apply. So, I did. On interview day, I left my temporary job in plenty of time. I had studied the route, and I knew that the Rector St. subway station was nearby. The problem is, once you come out of the ground in NYC, you are always disoriented, and its the hardest thing in the world to determine N,S,E,W. So, my typical approach is to ask 3 people, because typically 1 person does not know what they are talking about and the other 2 most likely do. Bad formula, I know, but it has worked quite nicely for me about 87.5% of the time. Why I haven't bought a compass yet, I don't know. [Note: if you come to NYC, bring your compass.] So, for some reason the formula was way off last Friday, and nobody knew anything about up, down, north, south, the Ritz, etc., so basically I asked the wrong people and spent 24 minutes running around in high heel shoes, most of the time in the wrong direction! It was horrible. My feet still hurt. I had on a suit and it was drizzly out, so my hair got all mussed up. Nice. Some impression for the Ritz-Carlton. Well, I called the hotel to tell them that I was running late, and I finally got there 19 minutes past the hour. The interview was mediocre, and needless to say, they haven't called me back. Ever hear that song by Linkin Park - "In the end"? It comes to mind: "I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter." Oh well, the moral of the story: buy a compass, bring your compass, and don't rely on the 2 out of 3 formula, although I do have to say that if you're in a bind, its mostly helpful! :)

Dr. Nelson gets a job... with no help from his wife

Here's a cool story about our life here in NY and why we're so content to stay yet another year!
Peter applied to about 36 OMFS residency programs last fall. He got a lot of rejection letters, but very few invitations to interview. Many of these letters looked alike, and I admit that I just threw a bunch of them together in some "organizational/ work in progress" box to make our living room presentable for company sometime around the middle of October. I also admit that I didn't/ don't always get around to actively processing the stuff that ends up in that box. Having said that, let's fast forward to the last Sunday in October. I was home alone because Peter was on-call at the hospital and worked overnight. There I was, lounging around the house, reading a book or something when I had a distinct impression that I should really go tackle the stackle. So, I did. And what to my horror did I find? A sealed envelope from St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan containing a letter dated three weeks earlier to Dr. Nelson, inviting him to an interview the upcoming week! He should have booked it 3 weeks ago... ACK! I got up the courage to call Dr. Nelson and tell him about the letter, fearing the worst, not from Peter but for his "missed" opportunity. Miracles of miracles, he didn't get upset and didn't overly lecture me, he simply called the next day and there was still an opening for an interview. Whew! The interview went well and Peter liked the program. He interviewed at a few other places, none of which panned out. So now that Chicago fell through, UCLA didn't offer us anything, Brooklyn didn't work out, and we're out of options, St. Luke's offered Peter a position! We'll be moving to mid-town Manhattan in late June after which Peter will begin another one-year OMFS internship at St. Luke's (located by Central Park, Columbia University, and the beautiful Hudson waterfront). This was "meant to be" as far as we're concerned, and we're so grateful for spiritual impressions from a loving Heavenly Father who knows our needs and goes out of his way to bless us as we seek His will and guidance. Here's to hoping the Big Apple will rock this coming year! Yay!