Another article running....
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Doubles with the Pros
Yesterday, I got play in a Pro-Am tennis match with two of the worlds best tennis players. Jimmy Arias and Aaron Krickstein (former # 5 and #6 in the world). I played with Aaron (on the right in the photo). It was so much fun...and so much pressure. There were about 250 people watching, we were being videos and the commentator was the worlds leading tennis coach, Nick Bolletieri. And, to boot....I was the only woman in a mens doubles match.
The pros took it a little easy on us amateurs, when they served, but these guys were so competitive, they weren't really taking it easy after the serves.
I had a few great net rally's, but the nerves really got me at service time. Very hard to serve with hundreds watching, serving against people who have won major titles and played the worlds best. At one point, I double faulted and Jimmy Arias (who is hilarious and a total kidder), said that he was sure something got in my eye and I should take another ball! I did, and managed to get it in.
Aaron and I lost in the tie breaker at the end 7 - 11. What a blast! My coach told me afterwards that after all that pressure, no pressure I feel in a match will ever feel bad again. He said it was great prep for my upcoming team matches....as I'm now on three official USTA teams.
Here's a bit of info on Aaron...of course now he'll have to add me to this list of people he's played against. He beat Ivan Lendl (world #1) in 1990, Michael Stich (world #2 and #4) in 1994 and 1991, Stefan Edberg (world #3) in 1988 and Boris Becker (world #3) in 1992, Mats Wilander (world #4) in 1984, and Jimmy Arias (world #5) in 1984 and Sergi Bruguera (world #5) in 1994. He also amassed wins over Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
His big claim to infamy is that at Wimbledon one year, he played Jimmy Conners and was up two sets to zero, and it was 5-0 in the third set. Seemed like a no brainer....but then he totally lost it, and he ended up losing the match. Yesterday, fortunately, he held up his end of the team!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Did someone request an epidural?
I am still doing my hospital rotation at Methodist but I spent November in the general OR and now I have moved on to labor and delivery! We put in spinals and epidurals for laboring moms who are delivering the natural way and for mom's delivering by c-section. Here is a picture of me giving a spinal to a mom who is pregnant with twins:
L to R: Paige, giant needle, pregnant lady's back
Eric's Bday
One of the other Columbia nurse anesthesia students, Eric, had his birthday last week. We started the night out at a karaoke bar in Korea town and then the plan was to go see an 80's cover band called Rubix Kube. Since the theme of the evening was 80's, Eric requested that we all dress accordingly. Chuck had a friend (Nick) visiting from out of town so he wasn't planning to come but then he realized that his friend was flying out from one of the NYC airports early the next morning so they made the trip! Sorry Nick, we aren't always that weird...
That pic doesn't do my leg warmers justice. We made a strong showing at karaoke but I had a cold coming on so we went home instead of going to Rubix Kube. Oh well, there is always next year. Happy Birthday Eric!
Shooting at the Lake
A few weeks back you may recall that Julie posted a 'guest blog' from her friend about a Shooting Party that dad and Jule had at their house. Well I was up at Put a few weekends ago and they had some leftover ammo so we set up a few targets at the lake so I could have a go:
Those targets never knew what hit them:
If you look closely you will see that the second target from the right (it was the red bird in the first photo) is flipped upside down because I ACTUALLY HIT IT! In fact, I had hit the red bird on the previous shot. In that photo I am hitting an even tinier target - the black diamond to the right of the bird. The wonders never cease.
Thanksgiving
Mom came up for Thanksgiving again this year! She flew in and, after navigating the subway from the airport to my apartment, met up with Katherine at her office. They had dinner and then, when I got off of work, we went to see the balloons being blown up for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade:
The next day we packed up all of our groceries and headed uptown to Emily's apartment to cook Thanksgiving dinner! Mom was referring to us as Meals on Wheels.
Every since Thanksgiving 2008 (my first Thanksgiving after graduating from college) mom has made the trek to wherever I am to cook a huge meal for me and my friends. We have since named this the annual Orphan Feast because she is cooking for everyone who can't make it home to their own families (they are orphans! get it?) I am happy to report that my old California roommates have carried on the tradition - they sent me an invite to their 4th annual Orphan Feast this year :) Here is a pic of our Thanksgiving dinner this year:
L to R: Katherine, Mom, Adeel, Emily
Not pictured: Paige, Eric
The day after Thanksgiving, mom and I took a monstrous bike ride up the Hudson River to the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washingtong Bridge. Then we headed up to Fort Tryon Park for brunch at the New Leaf. A few bloody marys later mom lost her geocaching virginity. That sentence sounds much dirtier than it actually is. I had a big test on Monday so mom spent the remainder of her visit hanging out with Katherine - I have no pics from that part of the weekend! (hint, hint, Mom)
TSwift
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