This is just a quick note. My aunt Pam told me she was having trouble leaving comments on my blog. I know MOST of you don't comment even if you do read it. However, if you have had trouble leaving a comment, will you please email me and let me know so I can get the problem resolved. Thank you.
nataliehenderson21@yahoo.com

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend. Here in New York things are much the same. It is cold with no snow but the wind is biting.... We have not done too much this weekend. We went to the gym on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday we did this basketball like ab thing.....I can't really explain it but I can tell you that it hurts to cough, laugh, basically move today. We went to church today. Ironically the guy who spoke is the grandson of the pilot JT's grandfather fly with in World War II. What a small world?

Now check out these two pictures I got in my email today. At Christmas there were holiday shoppes at Union Square. A man and his wife design cartoon NYC t-shirts for little kids. We loved them, so we sent one to Stella, my friend Emily's daughter. She is sporting the shirt nicely. Though, I am not sure about the silly face is making.


I hope everyone has a great week. Stay warm. Let me know what is going on with everyone!

I figured I should at least post something since, as JT pointed out, the new blog design nor his new job got any response.....

Not much is going on with us. Just another week. IT is freezing here. SO cold....

Here's a funny NYC story for you....Yesterday JT and I were coming home around six thirty in the evening. We were at the F train station (we joke that it is the F-ed train, no offense). We look on the track and there was smoke coming from the rail....After looking more closely, it was an aluminum tray like the ones you get with take-out Mexican food...with the food still in it. The heat from the tracks against the aluminum caused severe smoke. Of course, rather than investigating the situation, the powers that be in the station decided because there was something "suspicious" on the tracks, no trains could stop and no one could get on the train.....So we had to go home a different route but it was something that would only happen here....I guess it is not as comical if you were not there...Oh well.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. I hope it warms up this weekend. Maybe we can do something outside, finally. Miss you guys and hope that maybe someone, one the 112 that have stopped and seen the sight, will maybe post a comment or something. It is really our only connection with a lot of you. Have a good one.

I know I posted about an hour or so ago, but I wanted to post some great news. JT got a new job, finally. His days of counting cash at Old Navy for twelve hours during the holidays with slews of middle age women and fashion school students are over....no more sweater folding or jean hanging.......As you can see from my familiar logo, he got a job at State Farm Insurance working for an agent in Manhattan. The agent's office is on the Upper West side, a very nice area of town that is only about 30 to 45 minutes by train. State Farm is close to my heart because, as many of you guys know, my dad has been with the company for over twenty five years and my stepdad, Bob, as been an agent for several years himself...My sister and I grew up as State Farm babies, right down to the SF bib on our first birthdays.... So it is only fitting that my husband is now working for them. We are very happy and wanted to share our great news! If anyone needs life insurance, they know who to call!!!! ;-) Have a great week~

I hope everyone is having a great beginning to their week. Mine actually starts tomorrow because like I previously said, I had today off. Tomorrow is the beginning of week 7 of my internal medicine rotation. We are assigned new attending physicians to follow around. I am hoping mine does later rounds (so I don't have to leave the house at 6:20), but I also I hope I learn a lot more. To be completely honest, I am thus far disappointed in my IM rotation. I am going to have to study a lot to compensate for the minimal teaching I have received this far. I will give the doctor a bit of a break since it was the holiday season, and we were out of the hospital for 4 days. I just will have to step up my game come test time to make up for the disparity....I am, though, looking very forward to my family medicine rotation in the Bronx, which is supposed to be a great teaching and learning experience. I will have to work two weeks of nights.....and those who know me, you know this will be a bit of a struggle...

I wanted to share two great recipes I made this weekend. First, I made a low calorie BBQ chicken pizza. Take a wheat tortilla and put it the oven to toast it for 5-6 minutes....evenly spread the BBQ sauce over the tortilla, sprinkle cheese and slivered red onions on top and then add grilled or baked chicken cut into chunks to the top. Finally sprinkle fresh cilantro on the top and bake it for ten minutes on 400. It was delicious! And for a cheap and easy dessert......take a graham cracker, break it in half, spread cool whip on it, make it a sandwich and freeze it!!!! It is so yummy, cheap, and low in calories!

We did not make it to the museum today. We went to exchange the DVDs and it was so cold, 0 degrees as a matter of fact, that we could not stand to be outside a minute longer. It was SOOO cold. We took a nap (a nice treat of a day off) and I spent the afternoon cleaning up my closet and such....again not a surprise to those who know me. Though to my defense, since being back from Dominica and with JT, I am much improved. Speaking of Dominica, I apologize for those days of hating the heat. I would love to just feel that warmth for a split second on a day like today. I must say, I do miss that place some days....not the occasional and miserable loneliness but the the warmth and local friends and simple way of life and the fruit and freshness..... With that being said, I am happy to be moving on, seeing the light at the end of the med school tunnel, being closer to my family, and of course, being married again....

My friend Emily called me today and said I should be a "tele-doctor" since she explained to me that her daughter had an itchy, pink, and crusty eye....I said "she has pink eye, go to the doctor" She said I should just take phone calls and be paid that way....what a life that would be....the life of a pathologist ;-) Check out Stella's eye..... though I appreciate Em's compliment, I might get a bit bored just looking at pictures and never talking to anyone face to face......

Well everyone, have a great week! I will keep you posted if anything exciting happens here in the big city, which is unlikely. I hope you like the new blog. I have added the counter so I can see how many of you come to the site. Now, just leave a hello or something like that. I would love to hear from you guys! It does make me want to write more often, to be honest, when I know people are out there and enjoying!!!!

Again, have a great week!!! Stay warm. Also, check out the links to the right of some our friends....especially Sarah and Patrick's blog. She is suffering from a rare ovarian cancer at twenty seven years old, had a complete hysterectomy, and is undergoing chemo....all this just a year after adopting a ten year old boy. It is nice to read their blog and see the strength they get from God and each other. Also, their are some others you would enjoy!! And if any of you keep a blog, send me the address, I love to browse when JT is watching politics or random basketball games!!!!

Here is the new one! I hope you like the new blog!

Hi everyone! Well the next time I post, the blog should be changed. I am so excited about it. The girl did a fabulous job in my opinion. I was torn between lots of colors (which I went with) and a neutral black, white and green....Anyways, I chose what I did and love it. JT was in charge of updating the name. Cute, I think. But like everything else, I am sure someone will not like it. OH well, it is my blog (our blog) and I am happy with it.

I don't have that much to say today. I am hanging out alone today. JT is, of course, working and I am stuck watching football alone. I did go to the gym after JT got on the train...it was pretty empty except for all of the treadmills. It is too cold to even walk outside much less run. It is 26 degrees with twenty mile an hour wind so I don't know what it feels like, 8 degrees is what is says....but it is SOOOO cold....the coldest day yet despite the sunshine.

I have tomorrow off and surprisingly JT does too....so as of right now, our intentions are to visit the Museum of Natural History, return a view DVDs I got Jt for Christmas and go for a walk....I am still on a mission to see the castle in Central Park....With this being said, if it is freezing, the park might be out of the question.

Have a great week!!! I look forward to hearing everyone.
~nat

I hope you all like the polls. But really, that many people watch ER. I can't stay awake to watch.... Any ideas for polls??? I am not sure yet. Please let me know what you think they should be...

I just want to warn everyone...The blog is getting ready to change. I found this girl who "pimps" your blog and they rock. She is working on my design and it should be ready in a few days. I hope to have it up and running soon. I can't wait. This is what I have been looking for!

I have this weekend off and JT does too, as far as I know. (we know he has fri and sat....but not sure about sunday) We hope he has Sunday off so we can go to church, watch football, and go for our run. That is about it for our weekend....go on a walk/jog in the park, stay warm and watch football and college basketball.

Have a great weekend!
~nat

Well today kind of stinks....JT has to go to work. Normally he has Sunday off so we can go to church and enjoy the day, ie watch football, but not today.... I guess I will have no excuse but to study.....which I need to start doing again. We have to take two more board exams during our clinical clerkships and for those, I need to study even harder to make up for what I did not learn before. Anyways.....so if you read this, and you are having a lazy, bored day, give me a call and we can chat while I watch football alone. I am going to run soon and do my workout (since yesterday was a bad day of watching football and being oober lazy..... The diet and exercise are going pretty well....Like last year, JT is doing better with the running than I am. After Wednesday, I was so tired from work I felt like it was a workout to just be still. I will do better this week....I must do better this week. I am saying that as if the whole week was a wash...which it was not. I did very well with my lil diet. I did find a helpful website. Compared to the seventy dollars a session at the gym, I am using Jillian Michaels' website (the trainer from the Biggest Loser) for 16$ per month. It has great, kick your butt, workouts set up in a circuit format....It is really tiring so that is on the agenda for today.
Well, I am going to go and hang out with JT before he goes to work!
Have a good week!
~nat

Since I wrote the post this morning....we did go for a run. I run faster when I run with JT because he is always ahead of me and I hate to be beaten. It said it was 42 degrees outside but it did not feel like that in my lungs....I really felt it. It is supposed to snow tonight.....possibly more that six inches...They have said that before so we will see. Ok, again, have a good weekend/week.
~nat

Presidency 2008

I must preface this by saying, first, that I am a conservative, both morally and politically. However, the main issue for me in this upcoming election is not one of moral concern or even one that is politically involved, but it is health care. Going into the medical field, I have a great fear of the Democratic party's outlook on a socialized medicine-like restructuring of our health care system. This would, in essence, make us like Canada or other nations, in that, yes, basic medical care would be paid for by the government. However, let's say that you get sick and need an MRI. These tests and advanced treatments, even in life threatening conditions, maybe require waits of weeks to even months and may not be paid for except by you. Even more than this, under their way of thinking, we say that "Oh, everyone will have their health care for free and the government is paying for it." But aren't we just taking the money we pay now in health care and now giving it to the government to supposedly pay for the health care. And for me, as a future doctor, in a socialized system, incomes for doctors are seriously diminished..... With that being said, I am not in the medical profession for the money, but I must, at some point, pay off my loans and build a life.

So that is my most important issue in the upcoming debate. I know some will say....I can't vote for Romney because he is Mormon. Are we really to that point in our country where we, as religious people that get mad for people not saying the pledge because "God" is in it, will persecute a man in words and ultimately judge him on the shear fact of his religion. Will the church he attends on the Sunday affect how he guards our borders....probably not. However, the fact that he indeed does have faith in God, despite our theological differences on the basis for that faith, will definitely influence his voting in instances requiring the aforementioned faith. I do not say this because I intend to vote for Romney. I am not sure who will earn my vote, but it will be with much thought and consideration that I give it out. I just wanted to make the point that if we want to complain about one thing, can we really judge another?

I welcome your differing opinions or additions to this post, even if you want to do so anonymously.

On a lighter note, I will add that JT and I went running in New York's Central Park at the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. So now, to put it like a normal person.....we ran around this big lake in the park with really awesome city views on all sides! It was a lot of fun and just wanted to share it.
Have a great weak and I look forward to hearing from you.
~nat

I really wanted to use today, the day of the New Hampshire primary, to do the discussion on the Presidency 2008. However, I forgot my glasses in my white coat at work and can barely see right now....so I will do it tomorrow. I changed the polls...so please vote, at least for fun. It is anonymous.
love ya
~nat

Moving to New York has brought about two interesting changes in my dear husband. First, I have gotten to eat sushi, and he LOVES it! He first tried sushi in Dallas at Sushi Samba, but it was not the best sushi I have ever had.....however, he thought it was pretty good. Since being in New York I have been pushing him to try different sushi restaurants with me but he as persistently denied me until this weekend. We planned to head to the city to a small restaurant called Yama in Union Square, but decided to stay in Astoria for the day. We took a walk around the area and found a small Asian fusion and sushi restaurant on 31st Ave and 38th St here in Astoria called JJ's. I had JT try seaweed salad, which I love, and edamame (steamed soybeans that are yummy and healthy). After that, he picked two rolls and loved them both. I had him get one tempura roll, which is fried, and one regular or "raw" roll. And surprisingly he liked the regular roll better. It was called the Astoria roll. It was a typical roll filled with crab meat and avocado and topped with seared salmon and a tasty sauce.

Though JT has always loved to read, since being here, he has been broadening his horizons.......from all history and sports non-fiction to literature and plays and novels..... He just finished "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway and is starting a "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. He also recently finished "The Kiterunner" by Khalid Hosseini, and we saw the movie recently thereafter. These readings are all juxtaposed to his past favorites such Phil Jackson coaching books, Michael Jordan biographies, and The Lone Survivor about war and politics. I like this change, the former English major in me coming out. I, too, have been reading my spare time. I just finished "What Remains" by Carole Radziwill. She was the wife of Anthony Radziwill, the nephew of JFK and Jackie O, thus John Kennedy Jr's cousin. She became best friends with John Kennedy's wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Sadly, after the Kennedy's died in the plane crash, her husband died three weeks later of cancer. The book is a memoir of her marriage and friendship, of happiness and tragedy. Though sad, the book instills an appreciation for the here and now. It also reveals the side of the Kennedy's and her family that one would not anticipate. A good read.... I am going to read "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams.....it is a short play. But mainly I am reading it because the play is going to be on Broadway in February and we want to go see it. I am also going to read "The Other Boleyn Girl" mostly, again, because I want to see the movie by the same title coming out this spring starring Scarlett Johannsen and Natalie Portman. With all this being said, I should also clarify that I do read school books as well but do not think you would enjoy titles and descriptions of books like "The Washington Manual of Medicine and Therapeutics."

Our running started today.....the preparation for the Derby half marathon. We did a total of about three miles today but only ran a little over a mile or so. There is a park about a mile away called Astoria Park. It is along the East River with a Manhattan skyline view. There is also a track there. It was nice today, around 45 degrees or so. Tomorrow is supposed to be close to sixty but JT works late and I work early so we have to run on our own. It is much more fun this year running together as opposed to last year running alone in Dominica, but I must confess that the Dominica heat was better to run in than the New York cold.

Well, I am going to go finish watching the Chargers and Titans game with JT. Thanks for voting in the polls....I like the honesty of someone telling me I should lose weight. I was just wanting to see if anyone would say as much....it took a set to do so. I will write on the topic that wins the poll in a few days! Have a great week! Love you, everyone.
~nat

Happy New Year everyone! Today is January 2, 2008. Isn't it strangle writing 2008? Though isn't it weird changing the year every January 1st? I guess so. It is very cold today in New York City. It is thirty one degrees and the wind is blowing fiercely. Snow flurried about this morning but nothing to really speak of as it did not stick and the sun is deceptively shining right now. Tomorrow is supposed to be even worse topping out at only 23 degrees.

I am at work right now. We finished our rounds at eleven this morning and that was followed by a lecture from the program director. I have the rest of the day to "learn" so I plan to make use of my time. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for us. I have rounds in the morning followed by an hour and a half lecture after which I am attending phlebotomy certification. Not that any of this is important.

Jt and I went to see The Kiterunner last night. I must say it as good as every says it is. I must add, though, that the book, for those who have not read it, fills in the gaps and details nicely that movie must omit for time's sake. Anyways, read the book and then watch the movie. I highly recommend it. You will truthfully be a better person for doing so.

Have a great day!
~nat
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.
Ralph Waldo Emerson