All my bags are packed... I'm ready to go

Moving must be one of the life's most unpleasant tasks. There's just too much effort involved. I spent the last week packing away my things into boxes like it was 3D version of tetris.  Sure this wasn't necessary, but I thought it better to save on room and hence the number of boxes I would require.  What makes me even more annoyed is that I am literally moving 2.2 miles away (or 6 minutes by car) to my new apt at Einstein. Why oh why must it take so long to pack? I'm also the world's slowest packer.  I spend way too much time wrestling with what to keep and what to purge. Most people collect things... but i hate to admit that yes-- I am a natural born packrat.

Of the things I most hate to throw out are textbooks and class notes. You always "think" you'll need that random lab notebook with your report on how to make aspirin in orgo lab, but surely enough, the time will never come. The other thing I hate to throw out are my stuffed animals from when I was a kid. I can pass these along to other tots, but they wont find the same joy out of them that I did! They will be renamed and likely forgotten by their new owner.. so why put them through that kind of torture? In the end, I threw away most of my old academic stuff and kept my stuffed animals.  I figure one day, my kids will enjoy my damn stuffed animals... or at least I can pretend to pass those along to them. 

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go... but it's a little hard to say good-bye to the corporate life. I never thought I would say this, but working for 5 years is a long time. It's longer than college was.. longer than most things in life. I will miss having an income with which I can waste away at bloomingdales and I will miss going to Happy hours.  When you're a full time student again, does happy hour even apply to you?  I think it's a luxury only afforded to people who a.) can afford the drinks... b.) can leave their work behind at 6 PM... and c.) can get obliterated and go to work hungover...

So- since xanga has always marked all the milestones in my life, I figured I should write an entry about my feelings about embarking on my med school journey. I'm admitting that Yes i am scared-- scared that one day I might kill someone with my bad basic math... but I am extremely excited at the same time.  Someone ( i think bobby flay said this.. sadly enough).. that, "If you're passionate about something, you usually get scared... and if you're not scared about it, you're probably not passionate about it then."  Pretty good pearls of wisdom coming from a tv chef.

jalapenos....

Yesterday, I made guacamole.  Yummy guacamole that I make maybe once a week without any problems. Yesterday however, was the longest, most painful day in my life since I was born 26+ years ago.  Word to the wise, when working with jalapenos, ALWAYS ALWAYS wear gloves.  Never have I had a problem with these little badass peppers, but for some reason, they got the better of me yesterday.  I deseeded about 3 jalapenos  and minced them to place in my guac. About five minutes later, I start to feel a slight TINGLING sensation...  HMM.. strange-- I guess i should wash my hands thoroughly?...Washed them with lots of soap, but the tingling persisted. Ten minutes later, my left and right hand began to BURN... 1 hour later... my hands were on freaking FIRE. Literally i could not touch anything that wasnt an ice cube without me feeling like I had touched a hot burning coal.  I tried everything under the sun to stop the burning... I googled remedies that included all of the following:

1.) washing hands-- 10 times with soap

2.) Bleach!-- yes bleach!-- toxic shit but trust me, not more painful than jalapeno burn

3.) Nail polish remover

4.) Tomato Paste

5.) White vinegar

6.) Rubbing Alcohol

7.) Milk-- good for mouth- but does nothing for hands

8.) Yogurt

9.) Eye Makeup Remover

Finally-- there was some relief with the eye make up remover that is bi-phasic (oil & detergent all rolled into one). But it STILL burned.  So imagine sitting there for 5.5 freaking hours with your HANDS on FIRE.  I had to go to bed holding ice cubes packed in a ziplock bag so I could fall asleep without feeling like I was being burned alive.

It's amazing when you go through these moments... and realize what you take for granted.. (i.e Full use of your hands).  Oy

HK Rocks!

PR Rocks!

You know-- for 26 years, I struggled at the task of completely "letting go." I've always been stressed about something in life.. getting into college, graduating cornell, getting into med school.  But finally, for the first time in my life, I let it all go and it was freaking awesome!  I went to Puerto Rico with two girls : ada and cindy, without much expectations. "It would be a simple trip," I thought.  But simple does not begin to describe the amount of carefree fun we had. Granted we almost died on many occasions, but we came out unscathed.  I got like 6 hours of sleep in the 72 hour time span, but it was WELL worth it. 

First off, I'd like to give kudos to our new best friends: Phil, Robb, and Brad for making our trip what it was. Life is just so random sometimes and the people you meet along the way can sometimes be unforgettable.  Seriously- I have never laughed as hard in my life. Ada and cindy rocked too!-- so easy-going, adventurous, and such good travel companions.  In short PR was the bomb!

If you ever go to PR, make sure you go to the bioluminescent bay in fajardo or vieques- that was really amazing to see virtual firecrackers in the water. Vieques is really the best place on earth. Granted, it was a former naval base, but it has the most beautiful beaches on the world. We frolicked on the beach like we owned it-- so isolated and SIMPLY beautiful. 

Anyway-- here are some highlights of our trip:
Our first night there, Ada and I hit the alcohol hard: hence the shenanigans. We basically raided Robb's room and decided that we would do pole vaulting: sans the pole and sans the running. See-- Robb had this pole over his bed, that was used for this decorative canopy thing.  Ada thought it would be fun to sit on said canopy like it was a hammock.  Needless to say, this idea was not very bright.  Since there was a lack of runway space, Brad and Robb tried to TOSS Ada over the railing. And well, she fell and thankfully did not break her neck on her way down. Too bad we didn't get ada doing the jump on video though.

5 min later, I decided I would brave it and prove my acrobatic expertise. UMM-- when they hoisted me up there, there was ZERO momentum, so I basically hung there for 0.5 seconds and then plummetted down to the bed-- taking all the fixtures down with me. 

Robb actually has video of this stunt, but I will save myself from unbelievable embarassment.

Anyway--  ada puked that night and 2 hours later we had to get up to go catch a small commuter flight to Vieques, a small island off the main island of PR. Somehow I managed to get the girls up at 4.30 in the morning.  We almost didnt make it there, but SO glad we did.  We also made friends with our trusty pilot:

and saw beautiful views from above:

We then proceeded to rent scooters and almost died as the boys had to get used to driving them with zero instruction. We then proceeded to take some import car model photos as well.

After a rough start with Phil running Robb and I down with their scooter, we made it to our first stop: Navio beach, with some hidden caves where you can sit and chill. 

Then as per Phil's directing skills, the six of us finally did the pyramid. I think I might have been too heavy for Brad.

We then went to some mexican resto back near our hotel and relished in some fab food with some pretty potent margaritas:

Anyway, life is good. There were countless other memories: dying while we tried to kayak through the mangroves, almost missing our flight back home, figuring out the car validation system etc. All in all-  I pray I can still hang like that when I'm in med school-- it was honestly the best weekend ever.  (Sorry for the monstrous entry, but I had to record my time in PR well for posterity.)

El fin-- !!

Me lucky charms...

I love holidays that were designed with the goal of getting people totally trashed and hooking up.  Even though the snow was a pain in the ass and the bar was terribly crowded at first, our first NON bday informal "party" was pretty damn fun. We got out all our shits and giggles and managed to weasel a few people out who usually never come out unless it's a special occasion.  I think we might trick people to come out more just by making it sound like an "official" party with an evite and all. Here's some pics of the gay old fun we had.

[My fave novelty shot (and not just on st pattys day!)-- irish car bombs-- so magically dericious]

[kim, michelle, nina, yee, and karine]

[two whorish leps.]

Life is good when you've got great friends and lots of beer!