1.24.2010

Match Day - Round 2


Match Day 2008

It's hard to believe it is already interview season again for Dave - it feels like we just did all of this! Dave is smack dab in the middle of interviewing for nephrology fellowship, which he will begin in June 2011. Unlike the residency match where we found out where we were moving a mere two months before we needed to be there, this time we get to know for a whole year where this next step will be taking us. So, just thought I'd go ahead and list our potential residences for the next 2-3 years (or longer, who knows??)

You may find the Bains clan living in...(in no particular order, of course)

1. Charlottesville, VA
2. Baltimore, MD
3. Durham, NC
4. Chapel Hill, NC
5. Winston-Salem, NC
6. Birmingham, AL
7. Atlanta, GA

As Dave is only about halfway through his interviews, he currently does not have any sort of rank-order list. Luckily, I visited most of these places with him during residency interviews so I have not been accompanying him this time around. I feel like we are really torn about where to move...we love living in Charlottesville but with Baby Bains on the way I do feel like I'd like to be closer to our families. However, with that said, I also want Dave to do his fellowship at the best possible place! We'll find out in June where he matched...so stay tuned!

1.20.2010

Winter Wonderland

It has been way too long since I last updated our blog - where does all the time go? So forgive me while I back up a few weeks to get caught up...

I have to share some pics from the snowstorm we got before Christmas. Now, being from Alabama, I feel like we definitely live in the North now that we are residents of the state of Virginia. However, I would say this area is about 50/50 on the North vs South debate over the location of Virginia. With that said, when Mother Nature dropped 2 feet of snow in about 24 hours, the city of Charlottesville completely shut down! So maybe we are in the South after all. The snow started on Friday afternoon around 3:30pm and didn't stop until sometime late Saturday night. I skipped out of work the moment it started with the idea that I would get home and be warm and snuggly on my couch to watch the event. I was so excited! Fun things like this rarely happen in Alabama and I was ecstatic about the idea of playing in the snow. However, my excitement quickly turned to hysterics as I tried to make the drive home. We live about 15 miles from the hospital down a 2 lane road that has lots of hills....and the snow was falling so fast...and STICKING already! Everyone else had the same idea to leave work early (gotta get to the grocery store for milk and bread, right??!!) so the traffic was horrendous on top of the fact that everyone had to drive about 10 miles an hour on the suddenly icy roads. So I'm sitting in miles of traffic watching the snow ever-building on my car, the road, the grass...everywhere!!

And then my tires start to spin on the ice and I realize I've never driven in weather like this...

...and we didn't buy 4 wheel drive for my 4Runner because we lived in Alabama where you don't deal with this kind of thing...

...and (GASP!!) my gas tank says I have 30 miles left until empty...

...and (CRAP!!) my cell phone is beeping low battery...

I'M GONNA DIE!!

So with my last few seconds of precious cell phone life (of course I don't have a car charger...who needs one of those?) I frantically call Dave who is home asleep on the couch post call - completely oblivious that it is even snowing. I'm going to blame all these pregnancy hormones running through my body for my frantic, crying phone call. In the end, as the phone is dying, Dave is reassuring me...mentioning something about "if you start to slide, turn the wheel into the slide" (WHAT??!!) and then the best words I've ever heard "I'm putting on my shoes and starting to walk...I'll find you". THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! So I continue to creep along, hands gripping the wheel for all I'm worth, until finally about 45 minutes later I see Dave walking down the side of the road. My savior!!! My hero who walked 5 miles in the blizzard to climb in to the driver's seat and drive me the rest of the way home.

Well, almost home. About a mile from our house, the last hill we needed to traverse was so slippery we just couldn't make it up. We left the car stranded on the side of the road along with almost every other person trying to make it home. So pregnant, in paper thin scrubs and tennis shoes, I trekked up the hill with my hero for about a mile until we reached home sweet home. At which point we had to climb over a fence to get in the backyard. By this time (did I mention it is 9:30 pm by now??) the snow is already up to our shins and we are SOAKED by the time we make it home. And I have never been so glad to see my house. Or so hungry.

The last of the snow just melted this week!! I have never been so glad to see grass again. I'll be fine if I never experience that much snow again...

Needless to say I never even got out in the snow to play the entire weekend. It was a beautiful sight but the beauty wears off quickly when your fridge is empty and there is no way to get out of the driveway!! The city of Charlottesville finally got it together by Sunday afternoon and started plowing, but it took several days for the roads to be anywhere close to normal again.

So maybe Virginia is in the South ;)


Syd enjoyed the snow, but would only walk on paths Dave had already created

Dave and Syd trekking through the snow

The backyard - the first hump is the grill, the second is Dave's car

This is what I saw when I opened the back door...luckily all that snow didn't fall in the entryway!!

View from the front door