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2 Different Halloweens

I thought I scheduled this for 11/1 but then just noticed I put in 11/11* - whoops! I watched a "Young and Abducted/Murdered" special on E! this morning (really morbid, huh?) so maybe I shouldn't be posting that my husband is out of town...but as you can see, I have quite the guard dog. Sorry that you're getting a Halloween post a week late!

* As an aside, my birthday is 1/11/11 this year...ohhh yeah! And anyone who has an 11/11/11 birthday is even cooler!

My Halloween:

J's Halloween:

A little different, huh? My guy just finished his first week of a month-long away rotation in OR.  I've never been and would love to visit him using the generous donation of a friend's standby passes. (We never booked a flight for me because a) we didn't know his schedule far enough in advance, and b) we're poor. Fourth year is muy caro, y'all!) 

Since a) I probably won't be able to work out working remotely with my job while I'm there and he's working (and I don't want to burn vacation at the moment because I may end up needing it), and b) if I did make it up there I don't know how the airport pickup/dropoff would work with his schedule, it looks like the visit's not happening. 

I'm bummed because a) it's hard not seeing your spouse for a month (although total control of the remote control is nice) and b) depending on if I could be there on the days he was interviewing at some other programs in the OR & WA areas, I'd get to check out three of the potential-cities-we-may-be-living-in-but-I've-never-been-to. I'd love to have the opportunity to actually visit said cities so I could give real input on his rank list. (Though clearly my influence may not matter since he's scouting out places to build his dream house!)

What did you do over the weekend? Anything fun? I'm hoping coworkers bring in lots of leftover candy since I didn't have any this weekend!

Crazy 'Bout a Sharp-Dressed Man

My dear husband is flying out today for his first residency interview.

As I helped him come up with shirt and tie options for the dinner tonight and the interview tomorrow, I was thinking how awesome it would be to have a collection organized like this:

From this cool dorm room

Previous to his 3rd year of med school, J didn't have a lot of need for ties. Last year during rotations I discovered he really likes wearing ties (and dislikes wearing scrubs, which is the whole reason I sometimes wish I was a nurse/doctor/in some kind of medical profession, so I think that's a total waste).  Now whenever I'm at T.J.Maxx (which is a lot), I stop by the tie section and try to find one I think he'd like. (You can beat that most of them are around $10, compared to the $30-40 price tags still on many of them.)  

J's idea of organizing his small collection is laying them out on a chair in our living room...maybe I'll come up with a new system while he's out of town. I have this crazy idea that they should be located in his closet (some training will be involved), and I just need to figure out what will be best to use where they don't slide off the hanger.

Friction Tie Rack and Scarf Hanger, $7

via Houzz

I may even go wild and organize his closet so he can actually get to the ties. I need something to feel some control during this interview process where there is pretty much no control in where we end up! (Which has definitely

Fender Benders, Crawfish, Implosions, and Mean Girls

Friday I went to a "shopping party" at my SIL's house. (Someone brings in their merchandise, and the guests have wine and apps while browsing the wares.) Coming out of my no-shopping spell, this big spender got away with just this ring and a pair of earrings for $25. (The whole thing wasn't really my scene, which I'll explain later in this post.)

I purchased a ring just like this in New Orleans, but I can't find it...oops.

This one has different colored "petals" and is gold-toned instead of silver, so if the other one turns up at least they'll be different.

Saturday I spent the morning looking at handbags online (see? once I buy something I start dreaming about more), and then I let J drag me out for our traditional Tex Mex Saturday Lunch even though my allergies were out in full force. Perking up over chips and salsa (clears the sinuses!), we chatted about budgets and booking airfare for our Big Trip this summer, now that we've built up our travel fund and J has solidified that he has an off month in August.

After lunch, we stopped in a toy store in a tony shopping center to get something for our nephew's birthday, and in the process of leaving, this happened:

How? Before we backed out of our space, we waited for the car behind us to leave and for another car to pull into its spot. We then start backing out, and were almost completely out of the space when the car that had just pulled in also starts backing out. There are two things you can do in this situation: try and pull back into your space, or start honking your horn to get the attention of the other person to stop. Not having enough time to do the former, J started honking. Not hearing the horn, and apparently still not looking, the guy kept backing out, giving us this lovely dent.

The guy gets out of his undented BMW SUV and said, "Well, obviously we were both were backing out without paying attention."

Not finding this true, I replied, "Actually, we were almost out of the space when you started backing up. We were stopped and trying to get your attention."

He then explodes with a "BULLS#$@ LADY! If you're going to have that kind of attitude [insert rant here]..."

I spent the rest of the encounter in the car, incredibly annoyed and staying out of it. The man is at least 50, and he's going to yell like that? While I'm sitting there, two teenage boys get into their pricey SUV next to me and ding their door against mine. Seriously?! I'm right here. They didn't notice my dirty looks.

J told the BMW guy he shouldn't speak to a lady like that and the BMW guy apologized (yeah!) , and he offered to pay 50% of the repair, which I guess is something. He then went on to say that he just didn't understand why his backup sensor didn't beep to tell him he was about to hit us. (Try looking behind you and using your mirror, buddy.)

I cried the whole way home about the cost of fixing the dent - that's the cost of the plane ticket to the wedding we're going to in June! That's the cost of several nights' hotel for our Big Trip! No handbag for me, and I have been on a shopping ban months! (Er, except for some cheap skirts and sundresses from Old Navy. And the ring and earrings I bought the night before. But you know, I had to, my SIL was hosting the party.)

I am feeling better about it now; that's what emergency funds are for, right? I guess that's what I get for thinking I was finally going to splurge on a handbag! At least I got J to hold off on booking airfare for the vacay for a while. He's super excited to pick a place and book it right! now!, while I like to sit and waaaaiiiit for the best deal. (That's right, we don't even know where we're going! We're leaving it up to where we can find a good price on flights. We were originally thinking Brazil, but now maybe a Eurotrip? We're hoping to take two weeks. Suggestions welcomed.)

Saturday evening we said adios to Texas Stadium, which was being imploded at 7 the next morning. We meant to see the big event in person, but conveniently, the alarm didn't go off and we watched it on TV instead.

J having a moment

Goodbye, Texas Stadium. This is now a big, depressing pile of rubble.

And then we went to a crawfish boil. Where the nephew we had bought the toys for had already left to go to a sleepover. Anyway, crawfish are yummy. (And they clear the sinuses! My allergies were back in full force by then -- I don't think I have ever sneezed so much in my life. Unfortunately, I may have to spend the rest of Spring inside.)

So that covers the first three topics in the blog title. So what about Mean Girls? Well, the SIL that threw the shopping party the night before told us about a note she found in her closet that morning.

To give some background, most of the women at the party were moms from her sons' private school, and the conversation was very stereotypically Dallas. (Case in point: a woman with a diamond ring the size of her knuckle told a story about how for her third "section" -- it took me a minute to realize she was talking about a C-section -- she couldn't get the 1500 square foot private suite she had reserved since she went into labor early, and the woman in it wouldn't accept her husband's offer to write a check to switch rooms with her.) I used to feel more self-conscious in these situations, but now it's annoying more than anything. (Especially when I'm essentially introduced as poor because I'm putting my husband through med school.)

My SIL has an awesome home, and some of the women were trying on clothes back in her bedroom. While back there, someone ripped off the bottom of a Valentine's letter that she kept on the bathroom counter that her son had written her, and wrote something snarky along the lines of "we hate you for your closet; it really needs to be bigger."

So even when women are 40, they can still be catty and mean. Yes, she has an enviable collection of bags and shoes in a closet the size of my bedroom. (Too bad we're not the same size. Maybe I should see if she'll let me have borrow a bag?) So what? She also sacrificed a lot in the last twenty years to go through med school, residency, a fellowship, and then became a partner in a successful practice, so good for her to be able to enjoy what she earned how she sees fit. She's also extremely generous (I've been the recipient of her generosity many times), and it sucks that she invited people into her home that felt the need to be mean behind her back by ruining something that meant a lot to her.

How was your weekend? Hopefully it was filled with only pleasant encounters!

Goodbye, November

Whoops, I totally fell off the blogging wagon over the Thanksgiving break. I had a great break and am refreshed with some blogworthy ideas for December. I didn't meet my goal of posting every day in November, but I did have close to 40 posts, so I am letting it slide. I read somewhere that comments are like crack to bloggers, and I am so thankful that I am getting comments with more frequency. Please keep 'em coming!

What did I think of my break?

• Niece's dance-off party: awesome. (And yes, I was too self-conscious to participate.) The best moment for me was a toss-up between my seventeen month old nephew constantly jumping in trying to replicate his uncle's somersault and my pregnant sis-in-law spinning on her back break-dance style.
  
• Thanksgiving: yummy. (Missing dessert? Sad - darn you, cramps!; Missing helping to clean up? Mildly guilt-inducing) I forgot to do a post in advance of the holiday of things I am thankful for this year, so if you don't mind reading another one after the fact, I will post it later this week. I have so much to be thankful for.
  
• Shopping: guilt-inducing. The only items I purchased this weekend were for me, and I will probably return them. (I think I can find better versions of the short-sleeved sweater dress and the ruffled cardigan.)
  
• Friends' engagement party: fun. (Almost) makes me wish I could do it all over again. No worrying so much about the budget and people-pleasing this time!
  
• Meeting up with The Hubs's high school friends: always great. He went to a small, all-male school, and I love how close they are. And how they always hug hello and goodbye.
  
• Putting up the Christmas tree: Victory is mine! We didn't get around to putting it up last year (shocking!), so I was determined to do so this year.
  
• Relaxing and Napping with The Hubs: fabulous! He worked several days of 14-hour overnights at the hospital before the break, and we were both having a hard time of it. (I actually cried at work over some frustration coupled with the comments of an insensitive coworker. Googling "med school spouse" helped.) He had off Thursday-Sunday, and it was so, so nice to get to be our "normal" selves.

How was your Thanksgiving break? Did you score anything on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? I'm wishing there was a Cyber Week, because I couldn't even tell you how many emails flooded by inbox today with ONE! DAY! ONLY! DEALS! I didn't look at any of it.

Did NOT Need to See THAT

This may be put a bad image in your head, but it is Baby Week. I was flipping through J's OB-GYN rotation packet to look at his schedule when I accidentally came across a very graphic PowerPoint slide of a baby crowning. Definitely not something I need to see again.

That is all. Happy Tuesday!

October = Beach Time?!

I mentioned in a previous post that The Hubs is off doing his pediatrics rotation. He's 7+ hours away in Corpus Christi and has been gone 2 weeks now (4 more to go!). The newness of watching whatever trashy TV I want has long ago worn off, and it's been difficult having real conversations over the phone when he's not on call or studying or writing a paper...or exploring the beachy town (lucky duck).

This weekend, I'm flying standby to see him. I probably won't be heading to the Corpus Christi Bay, but will meet him somewhere between Texas and Mexico, where we will spend the weekend with some of his housemates at his parents' place in SPI. I've never flown standby before, so I don't know what to expect. Double cross your fingers for me that I make it there (and back on Sunday!) so that I can be here:

source

Where I should wake up uber-early to experience this over the Gulf of Mexico:

source

But will most likely watch it come back down with drink in hand over the Laguna Madre:

source

The Hubs is flying up next weekend for TX-OU, and then I'm going back one more time Halloween weekend...and then he'll be back in no time. (I learned after the fact that he probably could have sold this coveted rotation for $500...instead we'll be spending that visiting each other...d'oh!)

B-T-Dubs, I found the last two images on Panoramio. It's like the photo feature on Google Maps, but much cooler to navigate. I could spend a lot of time on here exploring the world.

Have a wonderful weekend!