#7QT: I Have Confidence In Me!

We're finally home and working off our colds... so I'm blogging away this headache post-putting bebe in her bed. Cheers to joining with Jen!

ONE

It's finally happened. Will's last residency interview. We've been talking a lot about ranking. He's been all over, and now it's coming down to what we want and what they're offering. The programs for emergency medicine are mostly similar; the differences really come down to shift hour lengths, research opportunities, moonlighting allowances, the level of trauma care, and location.

The last one is the one I struggle with - let's go on an adventure, says Will! I've been listening to a lot of Julie Andrews lately, and she's giving me a mantra to live by. Or, at the very least, a good reminder to have confidence in confidence alooooooone!

... Grace, in the mean time, is learning to blow more bubbles, drool extensively, sit, and help me grocery shop. We all have our own adventures, eh?

TWO

A week ago, we left New Orleans. Round trip was over 2k+ miles. We're burning our cars and never driving anywhere again.

Things to always pack on car trips:
- good book(s) on cd
- la croix sparkling water for me; gatorade for Will
-healthy snacks AND unhealthy snacks... because one can only eat so many kind bars.
-extra binkys for Grace
-extra everything for Grace
-pillow and sleep mask (if you're a light sleeper like me and equally desperate for a nap because "someone" has decided that she needs to eat every two hours starting around 3:30 a.m.)

Anything you can't live without? Besides the sound of Jim Dale's voice on the Harry Potter recordings?

THREE

Trip highlights included spending the weekend with Baldwin family members, the longest Hearts game ever, delicious food, hanging out with Will's college friends (and one of mine too!), seeing Will's alma mater, and having delicious catch-up time with dear Katie and her bebe {may we move close and spend lots more time together!}.

FOUR

And so it became clear, at Guantánamo, that the only work left for me to do was to heal my wound.
“What is grief?” I recently asked psychologist Steven Stosny, posing the obvious question I’d avoided for so long.
“It’s an expression of love,” he told me. “When you grieve, you allow yourself to love again.”
“How do you grieve?” I asked him.
“You celebrate a person’s life by living your life fully.”

-- "This Is Danny Pearl's Final Story" by Asra Q. Nomani, The Washingtonian

A beautiful, beautiful story and read; an ending to a modern tragedy.

FIVE

Newest favoritest food? Sweet potatoes. And wait for it.... roasted sweet potatoes with honey and cinnamon. Whaaaaaaaat. Eat your veggies, y'all!

SIX

Thank you, all you wonderful people! I was nominated for "coolest blogger" and "most underrated blog" at the 2014 Sheenazing Awards. Use your free will and vote here!

The Mirror Magazine got nominated too - "most underrated blog" and "smartest blog". Fist bump!

SEVEN

Julie driving, Will in the back seat, sitting next to Grace
Julie: What are you saying to her?
Will: I'm teaching her how to say my name ... say, "Your Excellency" Grace.
Grace:

Happy weekend!