Hot Fun In The Summertime

Again, I've fallen behind on updating you on the happenings in Philadelphia. My latest trip was with Jennifer to the Jersey Shore. We went to Cape May, a quaint town on the tip of New Jersey. We stayed at a bed and breakfast and spent all day Saturday laying on the beach. Perfect weekend!

I also had to get in one last Phillies game before heading home. They were playing the Cleveland Indians and won on a walk off home-run. Awesome!

When You Got A Good Thing

Two weeks from this coming Friday I will be Dallas bound! I can't wait! While I'm sad to leave Philly and the people I have met here, I'm ready to get back to my Texas roots. I am so thankful for the opportunity to live on the east coast, but I know my heart belongs to Texas. Especially Dallas.

Needless to say though, I have not squandered my time here. Since my last update, I've got to New York City, back to Baltimore, and Hershey. This weekend Jennifer and myself are driving to Cape May...the Jersey shore!!! I'm ready to sit on the beach and do nothing and think about nothing. We figure it's our last hooray before we head off into different directions.

Here are a few pictures from my adventures...

The Guggenheim

Central Park

Fantastic musical!

Orioles vs. Red Sox

It smells like Chocolate when you arrive in the city

The Hotel Hershey

I’ve Got No Strings

Where to begin...

1. Atlantic City: Wow! What an interesting city. A little bit trashy, but I can check it off the list. I took the train to AC Friday night and stayed at the Tropicana. It was a really nice casino and right on the boardwalk. I didn't gamble, but walked the boardwalk and then went shopping in the outlets. I had seen pretty much all there was to see by Saturday afternoon, so I headed back into the city. That's about all there is to say about Atlantic City.

2. Mom came to Philly this past weekend. It was so good to see her and we went to so many different places I hadn't been to yet. Friday we went to Manayunk. It's a small neighborhood in the northwest. Sort of an artsy area with cute shops and restaurants. That night we went to the Phillies/Red Sox game. I just love Phillies games. They have such a great stadium and the weather was perfect. I also had my very first Philly cheesesteak. Not bad, not bad.

Saturday we got up and walked around the city for a bit, had lunch then headed to Longwood Gardens. Gorgeous! It's about an hour outside of the city. Amazing flowers! We came back to Philly a different route. We drove through Valley Forge (after getting lost a few times) and then went to the King of Prussia mall. Just a quick trip though.

Sunday we drove to Deleware to Winterthur, the DuPont estate. Absolutely stunning. We took a tour of the grounds and then walked through their house. Amazing that Mr. DuPont did most of the decorating and planning.

Monday we drove the opposite direction to the Amish Country. It was interesting to see how the Amish go about their lives just as they always have, even though towns have grown around them. Their farms are beautiful! We took a ride in a horse and buggy with an Amish man and were able to learn a little more about the Amish.

The Flyers are in the playoffs and it's been fun to cheer them on. The Philly fans are just a different breed. They are PASSIONATE! So, Monday night, we went to Fox & Hound to watch the game. We left early because I needed to go to Barnes and Noble. As we were walking home, we saw all of these police on Broad Street. It took me a minute to figure out that they were there to prevent a crazy riot. The fans here apparently go wild in the streets when their teams win. Well, the Flyers won and the town went crazy. We stood on the corner for about an hour just watching everything. We also talked with one of the cops and he told me all about the city. Not only did I get to experience the rowdiness, but got an education as well.

I was able to take Friday and Monday off to spend time with my mom. Needless to say, when Tuesday rolled around, I was not ready to go back to work. Four day week last week, four day week this week, and four day week next week. Not too shabby. And this weekend, I head to New York!

Wouldn't It Be Nice

Can I just go one week without something crazy going on here in Philly? So a few weeks ago, I had to run all over town to find someone to give me a TB test. I had to go through Thomas Jefferson's Family Medicine (read: The Parkland of Philadelphia) clinic as a new patient. What a beating. But at least the doctor that I saw was cool and just did my PPD and sent me on my way. I even told him thanks, it's been a pleasure meeting you, but I hope to never see you again. That weekend I went to Dallas, so while I was visiting friends at TSRH, I had the employee health nurse read it for me. Negative. Perfect. Except that she wanted everyone to get a chest x-ray to make sure there wasn't anything residual. So, I had that done at the hospital and never heard anything of it again. Until this past Friday. She sent me an email that said she wanted to review my results and that I needed to call her. If you got that in an email Friday evening, wouldn't you start worrying? I did and couldn't call her until Monday morning. I waited all weekend wondering what could have been the problem. Did I really have TB? Come to find out...no. But apparently they found an area of one of my lungs that was "hazy" and might be a sign of atelectasis. Meaning a partially collapsed lung. WHAT?! How on earth could I have run 10 miles last weekend in crazy heat and have a partially collapsed lung. So, I had to get another chest x-ray. How on earth am I going to do that? Well, I asked one of the fellows I work with if he would order it and he would except he couldn't read it for me. I needed to follow up with someone who normally read them. He would feel bad if he missed something. If it were a knee, he could do it, but not a chest x-ray. (Did I mention he's an orthopedic hand surgeon?). So, thank goodness I did see that doctor because I just called his office. He called me back Tuesday morning, put in the order and I could get it done. So, I trekked back to TJU, sat for about an hour and got yet another chest x-ray. When I was waiting to make sure they came out right, the tech asked me if I had any questions. Yep, just one. Does it look normal? I know she's not authorized to say, but still, come on. So we looked at it together and didn't see a whole lot of anything. But now I have to wait until the doctor calls me with the results. Except that I got one of the other fellows, who have access to the TJU system, pull up my x-rays and result. The report basically said it couldn't get more normal than that. Oh, and according to the ortho hand surgeon, my bones look good. That was about the extent of his comment on my x-ray.

This weekend I'm going to Atlantic City, so I just pray that everything goes smooth. I don't have a very good track record with traveling as of late.

Truth No. 2

So I had a rough day (or couple of days) and I had a case of diarrhea of the mouth on Friday. Between dealing with crazy patients and trying to please everyone, I sort of let all of my frustrations fly out of my mouth. It was actually good to get everything out and my co-worker/supervisor totally understood, but I know nothing will change. I have two months left and I'll just suck it up and treat my patients.

I had another great adventure today. I haven't had my hair cut in about 10 months or so. I never plan to get it cut, I just wake up one morning and want it cut. Right then! So, I started looking online for an Aveda salon. After my incidence in Baltimore, I'm sticking with Aveda salons. I actually found an Aveda institute where I could get my hair cut for cheap. Only it's done by students. Oh well. It will grow if they really mess up. I trekked over to University City and found the salon. When I checked in, I had to sign a waiver that stated that I understood that a student would be cutting my hair, not a licensed professional, and that I could be injured while getting my hair cut. WHAT?! Injured?! Wow. If patients had to sign something like that when a student was providing medical care, would anyone really want to be taken care of? Well, I signed my life away and proceeded to get my hair cut. There were some sketchy students there too. Luckily for me, a girl that looked like she fit in at an Aveda salon would be cutting my hair. I was basically getting a trim, so how bad could it really be? Not bad at all. And for $16, I'd go back. I didn't lose an eye either.

Gonna Fly Now

Broad Street Run...check!

This morning I ran the Blue Cross Broad Street 10 Mile Run. I was there along with 29, 999 other people. It was a very well organized run. The weather though was crazy! I felt like I was back in Texas it was so hot. The race organizers did do a very good job of having plenty of water and Gatorade on the course and they city even had fire hydrants spraying water.

Philly has a couple of great organizations that come out for this run. One is the Students Run Philly Style. Students from the Philadelphia school district train for several months and have mentors working with them. They train specifically for the Broad St. Run. It was very encouraging to see these students and their parents/supporters holding signs on the sidewalk. Many of the signs had a student's name on them and what they were able to accomplish having joined this group. The other group is called Back on My Feet. From what I understand it's a group for the homeless of Philadelphia. They meet during the week and run, with the goal of completing Broad St. as well. Another very encouraging group.

This won't be my only race in Philadelphia either. At the expo on Saturday I signed up to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon here in September. I also signed up for Rock and Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio. So I guess I'm committed. I'm excited to be back in Dallas to train with my RunOn group though! Lanie, want to make a come-back with me? :)

The Best Is Yet To Come

I have 9 weeks left in Philadelphia before I move back to Texas. I still have quite a bit left on my "Philadelphia Bucket List" but I've also been doing a lot of planning. I promised my list, so here it is:

My Philadelphia Bucket List

(completed)

1. 76ers game
2. Phillies game
3. Flyers game
4. Constitution Center
5. Liberty Bell
6. Independence Hall
7. Betsy Ross House
8. Elfreth’s Alley
9. City Hall Tour
10. Philadelphia Museum of Art
11. Rodin Museum
12. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
13. The Barnes Foundation
14. Franklin Institute
15. Museum of Natural Science
16. U Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
17. The Ben Franklin Museum
18. Mutter Museum
19. Pennsylvania Hospital
20. Eastern State Penitentiary
21. Kimmel Center for Performing Arts
22. Academy of Music: The Lion King
23. Walnut Street Theatre
24. Broad Street Run
25. Skiing/Snowboarding in the Poconos
26. Go Vertical
27. Ice Skating at Penn’s Landing
28. Aberdeen Dad Boat Regatta
29. Morris Arboretum
30. Longwood Gardens
31. Winterthur
32. Philadelphia Magic Garden
33. Rittenhouse Spring Festival
34. Philadelphia Flower Show
35. Manayunk Art Festival
36. King of Prussia Mall
37. Reading Terminal Market
38. The Italian Market
39. Cheesesteak
40. Monk’s Café
41. 4^th Street Deli
42. Morimoto
43. Continental
44. Café Victor
45. La Locanda del Ghittoni
46. Jersey Shore
47. Atlantic City
48. Manayunk
49. New York City
50. Washington, DC
51. Baltimore
52. Hershey
53. Valley Forge
54. Amish Country

So as you can see, I've got quite a bit to do before I move back to Texas. But, this is what I've got planned so far...

May 15-16: Atlantic City

May 20-15: Mom's in town and we plan on going to Wintethur, Longwood Gardens, Valley Forge and the Amish country

May 28-30: Possible trip to New York

June 12-13: Hershey, Pennsylvania

June 18-20: Cape May, New Jersey (the Jersey Shore)

July 2: Back to Dallas

An Affair to Remember

Well, I made it back to Philadelphia from Dallas...finally.

This weekend I went to Dallas to see family and to surprise a co-worker at Hand Camp. It was so good to be back home. I have been back to Texas since moving to Philadelphia, but I hadn't been to Dallas. I flew in Thursday night after work and it was non-stop after that. Friday I got up early and went and had breakfast with Brenda and Aaron before taking them to the airport. How lucky. They are going on a cruise! It was then time to get my hair done and let me tell you, I was so glad to be back at my salon. I have only had one person color my hair (no, I am not a natural red head) until I couldn't get to Dallas in February. So, while I was in Baltimore I had some other guy color my hair. Well, Tom wasn't too impressed. The guy had used permanent color on my hair and that is why I had roots 2 months ago. So Tom had to work his magic and then gave me my formula so that I can go to an Aveda salon up here and have them follow that recipe.

My next stop was Scottish Rite to have lunch with everyone. I miss my TSRH family and I was able to see a lot of people. Everyone kept asking me if I was back for good. No, not yet, but I will be in 10 weeks. Crazy! Next was back to Aveda for a massage. A much needed massage. I haven't had a massage in about 5 months and I felt like my shoulders were in my ears. It was fabulous!

Friday afternoon, I had to pack up some of my things because I drove to Camp John Marc to surprise Amy at Hand Camp. I had been planning this since February and had everyone keep it a secret from her. It was definitely a surprise. I got to camp about 7 or so. Amy was on the porch of the office when I got there so I started walking toward her. At first she just kept looking at me like "I know that girl." It finally all clicked and she realized that I truly was there. It was so good to see her and talk with her. I'm excited to get back to Scottish Rite and work with her again and apply all that I've learned in Philadelphia. Thanks Erin for helping to make it work. It couldn't have happened without you!

I spent Friday night and part of Saturday at camp before heading back to my parents house. I really didn't get to spend too much time with them before heading out on the town to celebrate a friend's birthday. Before going out I did get to run by my/Andrea's apartment. I miss it so much. It's a mansion compared to what I'm living in now. And I am sooooo thankful that Andrea is living there. Even though the punk still lives downstairs, I'm ready to move back in.

Sunday morning my dad wasn't feeling well, so my mom and I went to church by ourselves. I can not tell you how good it was to be back at First Baptist Dallas. The churches in Philadelphia are nothing like the churches in Texas. It was also exciting to hear about the new building campaign that the church is undertaking. Another thing I'm looking forward to when I get back. Mom and I then went to Uncle Julio's for lunch. Man do I miss Mexican food. There is none in Philadelphia. Well, no Tex-Mex. There's a pretty good place down the street from me, El Vez, but it's more fusion than anything.

After lunch it was time for me to head to the airport. My flight was to leave at 4:05, so we left my parent's house around 2:30. We were about a 1/2 mile from the house and I decided it might be a good idea to find out what gate I was going out of. Well, I noticed that our flight was already delayed 2 hours. So, back to the house we went. I took a much needed nap before heading back to the airport. At 6:05, we were up in the air. At 10:15 our pilot comes on the speaker with this announcement: "There are storms in the Philadelphia area, so we are in a holding pattern. We don't have enough fuel to stay like this for awhile so we may be diverted elsewhere. If that is the case, we will not be going on tonight. But, we will let you know soon what the decision is." What?! Excuse me?! Can I not have a trip that goes over perfectly? Apparently not. Well, here's how the rest of my trip went.

10:30p: They decide we are going to be diverted to Norfolk, Virginia

10:45p: We land in Norfolk, Virginia. The AT&T and Verizon networks are clogged with 200+ people trying to get in contact with family/bosses/travel agents.

10:50p: They announce that we will be shuttled to The Holiday Inn for the night and that we have to be back between 7:30 and 8 because our flight will leave at 9 in the morning. Oh, and the city owns the jet bridge and won't let us use it so we have to go out the back of the plane and down the stairs onto the tarmac.

11:15p: I get to the curb to find out that there is only one shuttle to take us to the airport. So, we wait.

12:30a: Myself and two others cave in and decide to share a cab to the hotel.

12:45a: We arrive at the hotel to find a line about 30 people deep waiting to check into the hotel.

1:15a: I get checked into the hotel and head to my room.

1:30a: Climb into bed, knowing that I'm going to get about 4 1/2 hours of sleep.

6:15a: Wake-up call.

7:00a: Taxi to the airport.

7:30a: Grande non-fat extra hot latte from Starbucks.

9:00a: Announcement: "Well, we are just waiting on the flight crew to get here so that we can leave for Philadelphia." What?! They were the ones that told us to be here between 7:30 and 8. Where are they?

9:30a: The flight crew arrived. They moved our plane to the gate were at, and we began boarding.

10:00a: Apparently there needed to be some maintenance done on our plane. Better safe than sorry.

10:15a: Take off toward Philadelphia.

10:45a: We land in Philadelphia. Finally.

11:05a: I get off the plane and get my bags.

11:20a: Board the Lady Liberty shuttle to Center City.

12:00p: I finally get to my apartment. After 19 hours of traveling, I was exhausted. So much for an easy trip to Philadelphia. But, I can check Norfolk, Virginia off of my Philly To Do List.

Fly Me To The Moon

Wow! That is all I can say about my evening. After work, Jennifer, Lauren (one of our co-workers) and myself went out on the town.

First Stop...Le Bec Fin

Probably one of THE nicest restaurants in Philadelphia. Well, we actually ate in the bar which is actually downstairs but feels like it's own restaurant. It's a French restaurant that is just fabulous. We felt very sophisticated to be eating there. The food was amazing as was the ambiance. We were even greeted by the owner Georges Perrier.

Next Stop...The Lion King

One word: AMAZING! Les Miserables has been and always will be my favorite musical, but this was just breathtaking. The costumes were outstanding and the performers made the animals come to life. I had goose-bumps several times during the show. People have been telling me for years to go and see this show, and now I know why. It is a must see.

It was just a wonderful evening. Now it's time to do laundry and pack. I'm super excited about my trip this weekend. What's even better is that it's going to be a long weekend. I'm flying out Thursday night and coming back Sunday afternoon. It's going to be nice to get away and even better to be in my final destination. That is if I get there. Imagine that. A weekend that I want to travel and mother nature is popping up to say hello again. Keep your fingers and toes crossed that my trip has no glitches in it.

Dancing in Circles

All I'm doing lately is playing catch up.

In keeping with my "one weekend here, one weekend away", I spent last weekend in Washington, D.C. My aunt and uncle have lived in D.C. as long as I've known them and we have made the occasional visit, usually when my dad has a meeting there in the summer. I actually was just there this past October when I ran the Marine Corps Marathon. In a city with that much to see and do, how could you possibly see everything in one trip? Or two? Even though I had just been there, I decided to go down, mainly because of the Cherry Blossom Festival. For two weeks the cherry blossoms bloom and there are all sorts of activities going on in the city.

Friday night I planned on taking the Amtrak to D.C. around 7:45. Five hours later, I arrived. Yeah, it's only supposed to take 2 hours. Max. When I got to the station, I saw a sign that said there were power outages north of Baltimore that were causing train delays. Our train was right on time, the only problem is that we had to go through Baltimore to get to D.C. The train came to a halt about 45 miles just north of Baltimore and didn't move for about 30 minutes. Jennifer was going to Baltimore for a meeting so I at least had some company and wasn't completely bored out of my mind. We had a lot of fun watching everyone walk up and down the aisle toward the snack car. While we were stopped, the train was on an angle and people kept running in to the wall. It was rather hilarious. Or we were so delirious that it made everything ridiculously funny. Once we started to move, we were again going at snail pace. We were able to finally pick up speed and made it to D.C. around one o'clock in the morning. I felt horrible too. My aunt and uncle had been waiting at the train station all night long for me. But they were good sports about it. Apparently the station there practically has a mall inside so they had been walking around all night.

Me and Jennifer on the train

Saturday morning I would have loved to sleep in, but I wanted to see and do all I could. I got on the Metro and headed into the city.

First stop was Einstein.

Then to Lincoln

the Korean War Memorial

the World War II Memorial

the Washington Monument

and the Capitol.

I had seen most of that last fall, but you can't go to D.C. without seeing those icons. When I was here in October, my parents and brother went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. But, since I couldn't walk around too much before the marathon, I didn't get to go. So that was the next stop on my trip.

There's no place like home

It's not easy being green

Julia Child's Kitchen

The next place I wanted to see was the National Gallery of Art. I started in the west building and was not that amused with the art. But, the east building had more contemporary art, and a bonus. They were having a special exhibit on my favorite artist, Mark Rothko.

No. 7, Jackson Pollock

Untitled, Mark Rothko

White and Greens in Blue, Mark Rothko

No. 9, Mark Rothko

Loneliness, Alice Neel

Aztec Josephine Baker, Alexander Calder

Field Painting, Jasper Johns

Piece of Beef, Chaim Soutine

(recognize this from Mona Lisa Smile?)

After visiting these museums, I decided to walk around and head to a different area. I walked up Pennsylvania Avenue. In all of my trips to D.C., I have never walked past the White House. So...

I then hopped on the Metro and went to Arlington National Cemetery. We visited this briefly in October. Most of the Cherry Blossoms in the city had already bloomed, but I got to see some here.

The Kennedy's

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Coast Guard Memorial

After walking around all day, I was pooped. I had dinner with my aunt and uncle and then crashed at their place. There was still so much more to see and do that I wanted to get up Sunday morning and go back into the city before heading back to Philadelphia. I went to the Holocaust Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the Arboretum.

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Wright Brothers

After a great weekend, I headed to the train station and back to Philadelphia. But first, there had to be a glitch in me getting back. Or two. Glitch #1: there was a train delay because they had to check out the engine on our train. I'm all for safety. Glitch #2: there was "activity in the area" and we were stopped on the train tracks for about 10 minutes. What does that mean on a train? "Activity in the area"? Was there a dead body? Someone threw themselves on the tracks? I'll never know, but I made it back to Philadelphia in one piece.

I had quite a busy week following my trip to D.C. Monday night I started playing in a softball league. The field is in the hood. There is no fence and there's a basketball court in right field so you have to be careful. This league also uses wooden bats. I've never swung a wooden bat. It was fun though and my team isn't that bad. It's not real competitive so I have to remember that.

Wednesday and Thursday I was able to observe at the Philadelphia Shriner's hospital. It is very similar to Scottish Rite and I had so much fun hanging out with Dr. Kozin. He is such a great teacher and made it a point to explain things to me. I hope to go back and observe before leaving Philadelphia. He did stir up some trouble in Dallas though. He is good friends with the surgeon I work with in Dallas and while I was there on Wednesday, he emailed her and told her I was there and that I was not moving back to Dallas, but staying in Philadelphia. Well, by the end of the day I had all sorts of emails and phone calls from my co-workers. I had to calm them all down because yes, I am moving back to Dallas. My flight is even booked. July 2nd I will be flying back to Texas for good.

What I love about the spring is baseball season. And being in Philadelphia, we have one awesome team to go and watch. So, Wednesday night I went with my TA, Holly to the Phillies/Nationals game. I was quite the game too. Gorgeous weather, great seats, good time! I then went back Friday night with Jennifer, Jason and Matt, one of the surgery fellows. Not so good weather though. It was raining, but bearable.

Me and Holly at the Phillies/Nationals game

Matt and me trying to stay dry at the Phillies/Marlins game

Jason and Jennifer

Jennifer and Matt

Me and Jason

Our attempt at a group picture on the subway

To end my weekend here in Philly, I signed up for a 10K. It was to benefit organ donation and it was held out at the Art Museum. They also had a 5K run and a 3K walk. I haven't been able to run with my Garmin so I have no clue what my pace has been. So, I started out in the 11:00's. At the halfway mark I somehow got a second wind and pushed ahead. I was running 10:30's and faster. I was actually feeling good too. So I ended up with a negative split and a PR. This was much first race since my marathon and my first race in Philadelphia. It was good to be back in races. Now I'm ready for the Broad Street Run!

Lucky for me, this week is only a 4 day week. I am off Friday as I am going out of town again. It's somewhat of a surprise though. So, next week I'll show you pictures. Let's just say I haven't been where I'm going in 18 weeks and I can't wait!