Interviews complete...now what?

January 2012 will forever be remembered by me as the month that wasn't. Why? Because I was constantly on the road. Six interviews in three weeks in six different cities! I now am way too familiar with the Midway airport, as most my flights went through there.

One positive aspect of interviews is that I got to catch up with friends I had not seen in a while. It was great seeing Kevin, Mike, and Christine (she is a new friend) in NC, Jenn and baby Zoë in Chicago, Jenny and Karl in Rochester, Kirk in Philly, and Rizwan, Kristin, Aaney, Chris, and X in St. Louis. I am so lucky to have such great friends and colleagues!

Another benefit of my travels was tons of time to read. I will say that the turn off everything with a power button policy on airplanes is annoying, but I was still able to finished quite a few interesting books.

Here is a list of some really good reads:

The Fault In Our Stars: by John Green

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Catherine the Great: A Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goodrick

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

I would recommend any of these books.

Now that all the travels are done, I am left with the difficult decision of where Matt and I will end up next. I originally thought this decision would be easy, but now everyday I find myself rearranging "the list". Every site had pros and cons, which leads to lots of second guessing. This is a MAJOR decision and I am stressing out tons. I have until Feb 22nd to make up my mind, and I think it will go right up to that date. After that I will have to make peace with my choice, and see what the Match has in store for me. I guess the good thing about all of this is that with all places having strong pros (& cons), I think I could be happy at any of the sites.

Paralyzed by exhaustion

Not a great headline to start my 3rd decade on earth with. Yesterday I turned 30th while at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego, CA. Everyone was great, and this meeting was HUGE! I am exhausted because I have been traveling pretty much non-stop since last Sunday. Here is a brief recap.
Dec 4-6: Travel to Nashville, TN to check out a program and catch up with some Minnesota MD/PhD grads. This little city has a LOT more to offer than just country music and is someplace that would not be a bad choice for me career wise and personal wise.

Dec. 6-7: Chicago, IL. I got to see little Zoë Hofsommer and her beautiful mother Jennifer for a few hours after arriving. The rest of my Chicago experiences was a little bewildering. Was VERY happy to land in Minneapolis a little early

Dec. 8- Minnesota interview Day #3, a nice little breakfast. Followed by running through ASH presentations and redoing slides. I got to go to orchestra to have a little fun, then more packing for myself and Matt for ASH

Dec 9-today: Fly to San Diego. Sunny and in the high 60s. Sunglasses and sunscreen required:) The convention center was VERY large, and the meeting was spread out a long distance. Felt like track shoes should have been required in order to get from one session the next. I did get to meet some very nice people from institutions I will be visiting, and got to catch up with some old friends who have left Minnesota. Many thanks and appreciation to David Knorr and his fiance Katie Hill for helping me ring in my 30th in style at Cafe Sevilla. The sangria, tapas food, and flamenco music was perfect!

Starting tonight I have to hit the books BIG TIME to study for boards. I also have my normal writing of a hundred thank yous and attempting to send out Christmas cards, etc.

Long hard year

Wow, almost a year since I updated. I could probably spend hours updating on a month-by month basis, but tonight, let's stay in the present.

I am now rapidly approaching the end of my journey. Two advanced degrees in eight years seemed liked a million years back in 2004, and now it feels like time has barely passed. I applied for residency positions, much in the same fashion as I did in 2003 for MD/PhD programs. Applications are nerve wracking, as no one likes the sting of rejection. I guess I am blessed as I was offered interviews at 10 out of 16 programs I applied to. This week I started the interviews.

My first interview was appropriately at the place where I am most at home, UMN. Despite getting an awful cold I think the interview went well. Minnesota is a great place, which is why I have been happy hear for the past 8 years. The question now is if I should spread my baby bird wings and fly to coup, or stay and build on to an already strong foundation.

My second interview was about as 180 degrees opposite to Minnesota as you could get, the Big Apple, NYC. Mount Sinai is a great program. Over my academic career I have interacted with their faculty and students at various conferences, and I was always impressed. The program continues to impress me, and I highly enjoyed the interview. Needless to say, I felt like a bit of a novelty item at the interview, as I was the only applicant one person had ever met from North Dakota. Thank god I memorized that Peggy Lee was from Jamestown! Who would have guess that piece of trivia would come in handy. I consequently read through the Wikipedia "celebrities from ND" page today in case this comes up in the future....

Now I am back in my humble home nursing my sore throat, aching joints, and runny nose. Next week finds me traveling to Nashville, TN (Vanderbilt) and Chicago, IL (Northwestern). I am excited to go see these programs, but to also catch up with old friends in both locations.

It is going to be an excited two months, and at the end of it all Match Day. I will not write on the pages of this blog which program will be 1,2,3, etc as I am #1 a bit superstitious, and #2 trying to weight this major life decision carefully. As far as I can tell so far, the interview process is mostly recruiting, and ultimately the Match helps balance personal choice with institutional preference. Therefore, as I travel many thousands of miles in the next few months so stay tuned for more briefs.

300th Post!

Just noticed that this will be my 300th post!

I am in lab waiting for people to get back for a seminar. It is strange that after next week my time in this place will be limited. This building has been a home away from home for the past four and a half years as I toiled away on my thesis project. I have had many highs and many more lows sitting at this desk. Weird....

It looks like I will be making paella for Christmas Eve. I wish I would be at home eating my Mom's cooking, but paella is so good that it might come close to substituting. Bonus: it gets me out of socializing somewhat! Ok, that is a bad though, but a long weekend in Fargo gets to be VERY long with more exposure. Having distractions helps decrease my blood pressure and is good for everyone:)

Well, the Christmas card are out, the Christmas tree is up (and decorated to be kitty safe). The last step is to do some baking. I vow NEVER to make homemade peppermint patties again, but I am going to try a Christmas log recipe. Wish me luck at creating tasty cookies!

Long busy fall

My Aunt Sherry recently posted on her blog that it had been a whole month since she had written. That made me recall that I have long neglected this poor blog. Once I resumed medical school all my free time was devoted to studying (to remember what I forgot), or sleeping. I am so grateful that Matt, Karen, Mom, Jenny, and the rest of my family and friends are so understanding when I drop off the grid for a while. The transition back to medical school has been frightening, but I have realized that the student who haven't taken the time off are just as intimidated as I am. Having my PhD helps me realize that medical school really isn't that hard, as they always spell out the expectations. Graduate school was this vague hazy series of events that luck and hard work made happen.

Once again it is December. The cities are getting dumped on with snow. This is the most snow we have had since I moved here, and not an event I want a repeat of anytime soon. My poor little Christmas decorations are buried in snow, and I may have to wait until spring to retrieve them. With the storm Matt and I are snowed in, so he actually helped me with the Christmas cards while we watched the NDSU Bison playoff football game on my laptop. I chose a simple card with no letter this year, it saved some time and $$$. Poor Tommy had to suffer more humiliation for the photo:) Look for it in your mailboxes sometime soon

December/Christmas time is always a little hard for me, because I really miss my father. We were the "Decembers", ie we had of birthdays ten days apart. This year I get to spend his birthday with my "lab family", which should help make the day seem a little cheerier. We then head to Fargo for the holidays. It is always hard for me to spend time there, as my heart is really 100 miles down the road with my family. Christmas is the only time I see some of my Dad's family, so missing it is hard, especially when I know some of them may not be with us forever.

Ok, off the sad topics. Matt is really busy with his two new classes this year. I would say he is probably spending more time studying/working in our office than I am right now, which is a big change of pace! Poor Tommy is quite bewildered by this:) This spring I have a fairly brisk schedule, and Matt adds coaching to the mix. This means that we will be orbiting each other most of the time. Hopefully our poor condo will not suffer too much. I hope to do a few intense projects this spring to cosmetically fix Matt's bathroom and our hall way. Anyone what to help?

Well, it is time to feed Tommy. Since he started this new kitty food, he REALLY lets us know when he is hungry!

Merry Christmas everyone. I will resolve to write more in the New Year!

Working one final weekend here in the lab. I officially graduated from my PhD program last Friday, but the reviewers of my lab paper don't really care:)

I had such a great time over last weekend celebrating my degree with friends, family, and co-workers. I have been so blessed by the people in my life.

DEVO Cat Listening Party

This makes me smile:)
Hectic few weeks ahead. My poor cat probably will not even know who I am!