Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Day at the Fair



For two weeks, we talked to Oliver about the fair and all the fun things to eat and see, and we kept trying to coordinate with neighbors when to go, and finally got a chance to go TODAY! After a good nap, Oliver, Nich, and I rushed to get there before we had to pay to get in. DARN! didn't make it, so $16 plus $5 parking and we were ready - stroller, camera, bottles of water, sunscreen, and cash in hand. BUT...the food was barely ok, the vendors were warning us not to drink the water because of a "funny taste," the rides were way too expensive and several of them broken, the air was a mixture of trash and something sticky, it was 10,000 degrees outside, and the animals were gone, being switched out from week one to week two. After a good 40 minutes of trying to find something fun, we decided to leave, heads hung in defeat...until we saw the kids' barn! Walking in, we found all kinds of beautiful tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, and pumpkins kids had grown. Immediately the fair-food in my stomach harden into a greasy, fry-batter rock. Ha! Going in further, we smelled the distinct smell of "money" (as they call eau-de-manure in cow-towns) Cows! Pigs! Chickens! Sheep! Goats! Perfect!

Oliver had a blast and we spent a good hour hanging out with the animals that say MOO, BA-A-A-A-A, Bock Bock, and MA-A-A-A!


Oliver's first encounters with non-dog/cat animals


Excited, Oliver spent a lot of time pointing at the animals and saying a combination of "Gee" and the sound the silent animal was supposed to make. I think he was WAY excited to see that the things he'd seen in books were REAL!

Getting more comfortable...


The youngest goat let Oliver use his back-end like a drum


Oliver and the Goat video...




So worth it!

Residency Where?

Well that's no good. Blogger isn't letting me upload any pictures! And this is my chance while Oliver's asleep and I don't have 1000 other things I need to be doing! Grrr.

But on another note, I'm happy to announce that Nich is getting emails back about all kinds of residency interviews...and one from a hospital that only has 80 interview spots for the 400+ applicants! I am so proud of him!! Not that we necessarily want to move to that state, but cool none the less! November is set aside for him to be all over the country and state interviewing, so should be fun! I've been a single mom for September while he did an away rotation in Temple. I am so glad he loved it so much, but that was tough! A big shout-out to my awesome mother for coming in to help me with Oliver for over a week! Yay for Omama!! I am also excited Marian is coming in from Australia to hang out with us for a WHOLE WEEK! I can't wait!! Haven't seen that girl for over 2 years, and Oliver's never met his cool Auntie Marian, or shall we call her Auntie-M?

About Residency Interviewing: One thing we were prepared for...all the money it's going to cost to have Nich either fly or drive out everywhere and stay in hotels...What I wasn't was the $1,000 it cost to even apply to 39 programs! $400 for Texas and $600 for others. And that's not even near all of them, that's just Texas and surrounding states. Holy cow!!! Time to ask for another loan, like, NOW! Sheesh!! For an ER program, the "magic numbers" are, 30-40 places applied, 10-12 interviews, 99.9% chance of placing. Nich's Step 2 scores came in today, and it's a GOOD day! He was so nervous about checking...you know that stomach-drop, bowels-emptying feeling? Yeah, that was him 20 minutes before the scores were posted! I am happy to say that he should have his pick of residencies, at least that's what I think, ha! Come on interviews...keep a-coming!!

Ok, the baby's up and it's time to go the fair! Bringing the camera along, and here's hoping next time I sign in, Blogger's photo center will be working!