Super Syd!

Here she is! Our gorgeous little baby Sydnie Jolene Nelson. She's already a month old, born on 9-21-2011. She weighed 6 lbs, 9 oz and was nearly 21 inches long. At our one month doctor visit, she weighed 8 lbs, 13 oz, so she's growing well...as you can see in the progression of pictures. We are predictably, blissfully in love with baby girl. She's an angel, sometimes sleeping 6-7 hours at night. We are spoiled, but so is she!

Paco puts the smack down

Now that our ambitious Dr. Nelson has begun his residency, he's more official than just an intern, however, he's still the new guy and subject to abuse. Por ejemplo: he spent the month of August up at Westchester Medical Hospital Center in Valhalla. The chief resident put him on call two days in a row, and then every third day/ night for the entire month. Its a high trauma month, meaning they get extreme cases from all over the county, nearly 24-7. Consequently, he didn't get much sleep and was logging nearly 100 hours a week. Working over 80 hours as a resident is against the law, so he was basically set up to fail, no matter what he did. He agonized over the situation all month. Should he lie about the hours? He'd done some of that at Brooklyn and at St. Luke's, but the difference was how much the chief resident cared about him... and the fact that he was hoping to get into those other programs, thus more likely to take hits for the team. At Westchester, the chief brazenly didn't put himself or the other chief resident on the schedule. At all. By dumping most everything on Peter, and not seeming to care, the chief had clearly communicated his interest in cruising through his final year by abusing the underlings. Peter, though, was pushed to the edge, and finally said something to the program director (who was unaware of the situation b/c he works down in the city full time and doesn't provide much oversight up in Valhalla). Everybody had to report their hours personally to the director and he had to approve the upcoming months' schedule. Mission accomplished. Feathers were ruffled, but Peter remained unmoved and happy with his choice. Oversight will increase and the other underlings (called GPR's = General Practice Residents = basically ppl just out of dental school who have to do one year in a hospital to get their dental license in NY) received a copy of the law from Peter to prevent future abuse. When the chief finally stopped giving him the silent treatment and the stink eye, Peter asked him, "are you mad at me, or are you mad at yourself?" Ouch. Someone got SPANKED!
Isn't it disturbing to think that there are senior residents with years of experience trying to get out of working (ie. attending to vulnerable patients with oral/ jaw problems) by passing it all on to the new, inexperienced residents? Wow, this whole world is changing my paradigm on healthcare.

Anything Goes

Ah, the price we pay for cheap theatre tickets.

Yesterday morning, I got up at 5:30am, took the 6:03 train to Grand Central Terminal, walked to the Steven Sondheim theatre (4 blocks) , and got in line (6:49am). I was the 2nd arrival and the girl ahead of me got there at 6:30am. Yikes! Another girl joined us at 7:05am, and others trickled in over the next couple of hours. By 9am there were 25 people. At 9:30am a guy came out and announced that there were only 9 "rush" tickets. That means that only a handful of us early arrivals were getting tickets. Yippee! At 10am when the box office opened, I bought my two for $30 each. Last row on the upper level. I texted my friend Sara, told her we were on and went to work. Exhausted. Seriously, what was I thinking!? 7 months pregnant and my feet ached. It was hot and humid morning, and I didn't get much sitting or walking time while in line - mostly just standing. Ugh. Oh well, my energy recovered as the day went on and by 6pm, I was excited about the show. Met Sara for a quick salad and the show started at 7pm.

Anything Goes was excellent. No wonder it won the TONY for best revival. Sutton Foster is extremely talented - her dancing, singing and acting were all superb. Joel Gray was darling and so funny! The tap dancing numbers were explosive. "Blow, Gabriel, Blow!" When we got out at 9:40pm-ish, I ran to the train station to catch the 10pm train to Yonkers. What a day! I do not regret the "price" I paid to see this show, esp knowing that when Sydnie comes, my ability to do things like that will be limited!

"Very Passionate about Ward Clerkdom"

So, the new ward clerk says to the outgoing ward clerk: "What was the name of that former clerk you were talking about who had the great system of keeping track of things? I'd love to talk with him about some ideas." To which the old wark clerk responds: "His name is Peter Nelson. He just moved to Yonkers. He is a super friendly guy and very passionate about ward clerkdom, so I think he would love to explain his system to you." Awww.... ain't it the truth. Thats our Paco! [The above quotes were taken directly from an email exchange].
Peter and I moved out of a very large ward in Manhattan to a very small branch in Westchester county. On a good Sunday, there are 30-40 people at church. In RS, we have about 8-9 sisters total, including the presidency. We combine with EQ regularly for the third hour, about 50% of the time. We haven't gotten callings yet, but we're speaking in two weeks. This will be a new and different adventure for sure. And if Peter finagles correctly, he may get to employ his passion for ward clerkdom in our new branch. And that, for Paco, would be "livin' the dream."

Pictured here, he is taking a break from oral surgery & clerkdom to enjoy the park adjacent to our old digs.

Over-advertising

Friday, August 5, 2011
Dear Great Courses Customer Service Department:
Last year, I made one purchase from your company and since then, I have been inundated with marketing & advertising materials. I am happy with my product, and I like and appreciate what your company is all about.
However, I think you should know that the excessive amount of advertising I have received literally pains me – as it wastes paper and cheapens your products. It saddens me to see so much paper being wasted and the environmental consequences. Further, there’s a desperation communicated in the repeated outreaches to “capture” me back as a customer. I would have much more respect for your company and your products if I received significantly less advertising. Again, its excessive, desperate, wasteful and repulsive. Your over-advertising has turned me off to your company and your products, rather than the effect I’m sure you’d wish it to have. In all honesty, at this point, the more you advertise to me, the less likely I am willing to purchase anything.
Kindly note my request to be removed from your mailing lists, your email lists, and any other list I may be currently on (niche/ marketing/ target individuals, etc). I know where and how to find your products and will reach out to you on my terms when I am ready and interested in making any further purchases.
Best Regards,
Allison Nelson

Blueberry Picking in CT

Went blueberry picking at a farm in CT last weekend. Peter was on call all day Saturday and he had to stay at the hospital the whole day, so I figured.... play date w/ girls! It was a 2 hour drive north. I was on "Laela duty" in the back seat; I got to entertain 11 month old Laela, the daughter of my friend Kamilah. I think you'll agree with me that she's beyond adorable.

We leisurely picked for 3 hours. Sarah got 20 pounds; Kamilah and I picked 10 pounds each. $2.50/lb. Not bad. We snacked a few as we went along... they were big, fat and fresh. Peter was in heaven when he opened the fridge and saw the box waiting for him.

I think its going to become an annual tradition!

Cause We Don't Play

Moving is one of the most stressful things a person can do. Peter and I have moved five times in our first six years of marriage!? Yeah... the only good thing about moving is that one must purge one's things and thoroughly clean one's environment. And sometimes things go smoother than others. This last time around was a doozy.
All the things that went wrong:
1. Our realtor was 2 hours and 11 minutes late for the appointment to get the keys on the Friday night before the move. Excuse me!?
2. Our movers were two hours late late b/c their truck broke down on moving day
3. B/c our movers were late, we surpassed the 5pm deadline for using the elevators in the new building
4. The Board President came by to introduce herself at 6:11 pm and threatened/ promised that we would be fined $1,000 for surpassing the elevator deadline of 5pm... b/c as she said, "cuz we don't play." Whatever that means. We'll be quoting her for months and laughing through our tears.
5. The moving company required a payment of cash only (how did we miss that?!) and we had to make a desperate, last minute trip to the ATM, only to be rejected by our daily maximum allowance. We had to talk them into taking a personal check
6. There was no fridge in the apartment, although we'd been asking about it for a few weeks
7. We iced our condiments in the cooler for three days until the fridge finally arrived, which is a little bit embarrassing. And then we threw them out anyway because, well, EEWWWWW...
8. We discovered that neither bathroom has a single electrical outlet, a fact that that seems impossible to have overlooked in retrospect...
9. The ceiling fan in our bedroom has no switch, no remote or no little pully thingy.... Mgmt says this is not their responsibility
10. The oven was dirty; we're required to have 80% of our awesome wood floors covered with "carpet" asap; and the man above us moans every 75 seconds as if he's being tortured or has fallen off the bed and can't get up (ear plugs are the best way to survive the nights). Its tragic, but we've heard someone conversing with him (a nurse?), so we know he's not alone.
Apart from the above mentioned items, this apartment is big and beautiful and we LOVE it. Our address is iconic NY: We live on Bronx River Road in Yonkers, NY. We have two bedrooms and will have a nice nursery for baby Sydnie come October. And about that $1,000. We are so not paying it. We will fight back. And we will win. Cuz, seriously lady, we don't play.
Pictures coming soon!!!