"Universal Law #2. When God closes a door, He opens a window & then it usually rains & the water damage is a minimum of 2 times as much as your highest estimate." www.storypeople.com I thought this quote was humorous since my dad, stepdad, and husband all work for State Farm Insurance.

Here are some new pictures from this past weekend. We walked about four miles from our apartment, over the walking bridge to Roosevelt Island. It is a small island between Queens and Manhattan. It is about 98% residential with only one Starbucks, two restaurants and a grocery store. It felt almost like a college campus complete with an athletic facility.... The weekend was gorgeous. There was also a street fair near our house complete with funnel cakes, Mister Softie ice cream truck, karaoke (someone was singing Kentucky Rain by Elvis, funny), and all kinds of cheap merchandise. We had a great smoothie these guys were making with fresh fruit.

I have two days left of psych, thankfully. I know my sister, who works as a nurse tech in psych, but I can't imagine doing it... Granted, as someone who wants a family, the hours are great and the residency is short. However, I just do not like it as much as other fields of medicine....So if I can through a test tomorrow, my last night of ER call, and Friday morning, I will be home free!!!! I have a week off before I start Hem/Onc. My in-laws, Sharon and Jimmy, are visiting Wed-Sun of next week, and they have never been to NYC. It should be fun. We are going to see Grease one night. JT and his dad are going to a Yankees game, so his mom and I may go to another play that night....

Well, I am going to go! The Cubs are actually on TV, finally, tonight and my favorite player is pitching....Carlos Zambrano.... Plus, Detriot and Boston are coming on too... What a night for sports!

~Natalie

I made a little progress working on the blog last night. I did get frustrated. I guess it is a good thing I did not go into graphic design or web design. All of those HTML codes and crap are so annoying. There are so many symbols and letters and codes. I even tried to use tutorials and things of that nature. I wanted to learn how to do it so if at any time I felt like it, I could make changes. My friend Emily has been blogging for two months and can change her blog at will, whereas I, who have been blogging since nov 2005, can't figure out much of anything...... She fixed the header for me....I am just going to make at the assumption that is one of the many reasons God gives us all many many gifts.

Speaking of gifts, this is my last week of psychiatry....What is the gift you may ask? Time flying!!! I know in most areas of life, we want time to slow down, but in this rotation, it could run out just as fast as it wants. I do have a test on Thursday for which I have been studying. The director told us he does not like to give A's in the rotation, which is irritating and silly.

To celebrate Memorial Day but save money at the same time, we are going all out.....heading down the street to the Memorial day festival on Broadway here in Astoria. We don't even have to go into Manhattan....maybe I will take pictures.....I hope everyone has a great day off!

~Natalie

So, as you can see, I am trying to learn how to do my own blog. It still is not great and I apologize for that. I am also not very patient with it, making the task very arduous and annoying. So you may see some periodic changes but I am trying.

FLEET WEEK




Well for the Memorial Day weekend we contemplated doing numerous things....going to Washington DC (too pricey), driving to watch the Cubs play in Pittsburgh (too far and too pricey), West Point (not far, but gas is $4.15/gallon)....so we decided to stay in town and go to fleet week. What is it? Well two big naval ships docked on the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan. They let you walk through the ship and onto the upper deck. As you can see below, they also let you hold big guns!!! We had a great time! Our friends Lindsey and Brad went with us and afterwards we went Dave and Busters for drinks and a few arcade games.... Arcade games are a whole other things for me and JT because we are so competitive. I will be honest. JT beat me at basketball and SkeeBall. But, I won the Nascar driving game and the motorcycle race, you know the ones where you move with the vehicle. OH, and btw, that gun weighed 28 pounds and it was longer than I was tall!!!

A Louisville Thing

A Louisville Thing

Okay, so this won't be funny to people who don't live in Louisville or haven't visited it, but it's really funny if you understand it.... I stole it from another blog I was browsing through.... It was worth the theft.

You know you're From Louisville When...
Your "International" airport has only one passenger flight that actually leaves the 48 contiguous U.S. states. It is also the size of the average mall.

The in-state sports rivalry is paid more attention to than the national championship.

You live in an area that occasionally gets considerable snowfalls, floods, and tornadoes... but has no capacity to deal with any of the above.

You pronounce the name of your city different than anyone else you've heard.

You think the rest of the people in Kentucky sound like hicks.

When you think " Kentucky " you don't automatically think horse racing or fried chicken.

You ask your doctor for an allergy cure and he tells you to "move"

You've shovelled 10+ inches of snow and worn shorts in the same week.

When people ask what school you went to, they don't mean Vanderbilt, Yale, or Harvard; they mean Ballard, Male, Manual, Trinity or St. X.

You know what the Bambi Walk is.

Your last ten vacations were in Panama City or Destin.

You make an emergency run to Kroger for bread and milk at the first sighting of a snowflake.

You've lived here for years, yet somehow you get hopelessly lost each time you attempt a shortcut through Cherokee Park .

You're convinced turn signals are useless options on a vehicle.
You hold up traffic to let a motorist you don't know into your lane.

You give directions based on landmarks that no longer exist or street names that have changed, but your directions never confuse any of the other Louisvillians

You have never been to the Derby , but wouldn't miss the Oaks.

You call in sick to attend the Oaks and spot your boss - who also called in sick - at the next betting window.

When introduced to another life-long Louisvillian, you spend the first part of the conversation finding out how you are connected. It's never as many as six degrees of separation - usually three will do it.

You think a pervert is someone who would rather have sex than watch basketball.

You've built a shrine to Rick Pitino in your basement.

You can read about Rick Pitino in at least three different sections of your newspaper.

You think the rest of the world knows what Benedictine spread is.

You think the rest of the world knows what a Hot Brown is.

You have never eaten fish that wasn't fried.

You think the whole world puts spaghetti in chili.

You want another bridge built over the Ohio River , just so long as it doesn't cut through YOUR neighborhood.

You've experienced a "salt storm" after a two-inch snowfall.

You're still whining that Dillards took over Bacon's

You're still calling Bashford Manor Mall a Mall and it has been
gone for 7 Years.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Louisville.

So I have been a bad blogger, which however, is good for me because that means I have been busy. On Monday, Wednesday, and the last few Fridays, JT and I have been running. I work late (till 8) on Thursdays. This past weekend was exceptionally busy. Friday night I went to dinner with my friend Eunice to a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan. On Saturday, JT and I took the train to Stamford, Connecticut to pick up the car he bought. It is a 2003 Camry with only 30k miles. It was a pretty good deal, especially because of the age and it is fuel efficient seeing as how gas prices are crazy. This a picture of it in the show room. I really like it and JT is happy about it.
Anyways, I will try not to wait as long before I post again! Have a great week!

Yesterday.....
Patient R.L. : "oh honey, you are just so smart" (said as I was putting together a 100 piece puzzle that was missing 13 pieces.)

Two hours later
ER clerk: "Oh, you all must be the candy stripers since you are dressed in black and white."

So, I went from being brilliant in eyes of my schizoaffective patient (mix of schizophrenia and bipolar) to being a candy striper..... NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH A CANDY STRIPER....but really, just because I am wearing black and white (black slacks, white short sleeve button up with a black sweater)????? Oh, did I mention I was wearing an ID that says MEDICAL STUDENT...

Oh well! We are going to a Yankees game tomorrow afternoon with my friend Lindsey and her husband Brad. She found bleacher tickets for 15$. JT is really excited and it should be a really fun day! Have a great weekend!