An update

It seems like I haven't really been blogging much lately. The last couple of weeks have been exciting ones. My mom arrived on Saturday, February 7 for a nice long visit with us. That morning was Ramy's consultation for his Lasik, so we did that in Sherman Oaks and then picked her up at LAX and went to eat at Cheesecake Factory. We went to church on Sunday and bought Rebecca's b'day gifts. That Monday (th 9th) was Rebecca's birthday. We went out for breakfast, took Rebecca for a haircut, and ate dinner at her favorite place, opened presents and ate homemade coconut cupcakes. It was also on Monday that we realized that the forecast for rain was not changing and that we better come up with an alternate location for Rebecca's party. After much searching, we settled on having it at a local pizza place, which worked out well. I worked on Tuesday and Wednesday, and my mom stayed home with Rebecca. Both Grammy and Rebecca enjoyed it. They have a mutual admiration society. Rebecca calls her "Gammy," which we have decided is better than "Geggy." Ramy also got a not guilty verdict on Wednesday on a big rape case, so I made a pound cake and two batches of orange brownies for him to take to work in celebration. On Thursday, we went to Redlands and had lunch with my mom's cousin Linda. Friday the 13th, we met up with Julie and Adelaide for lunch and shopping at Montclair Mall. That night, Ramy and I got to go on our Valentine's date. We had reservations at Ruth's Chris in Pasadena and had planned to go to the movies afterward, but we got stuck in traffic on the freeway and ended up not going.



Saturday (Valentine's Day), we all went out for breakfast and then we did some shopping and got ready for the party. Sunday the 15th was Rebecca's birthday party. This past Monday was President's Day, and it was the day of Ramy's Lasik surgery. It was coming a torrent of rain, but everything went well, and we were home before noon and he slept the rest of the day away. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked and my mom was here with Rebecca. Wednesday afternoon, we had Rebecca's 2-year checkup. Thursday, we met up with Julie and Addie at Victoria Gardens for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Both Julie and I were anxiously awaiting the match news to come and made plans for how we might react in either scenario.

Thursday night was a late night for me! We watched a movie, then I lay in bed and watched several episodes of the 10th season of Friends from my DVD collection. I fell asleep around 2 with my laptop beside the bed and the news hadn't yet been posted. Ramy woke me up at 5 to see if there was any news yet (there wasn't). We went back to sleep until I heard that I had a text message around 5:40. I knew it was probably from Julie and that it meant the emails were out, so I immediately checked and the beautiful news was there. Ramy was awake and at my side to get the email, and then I woke my mom up to tell her, and there was no going back to sleep then! My director of clinical training (who also happens to be my dissertation chair) called me to congratulate me around 7:30, and Julie and I shared gossip on the news we could get about our colleagues for much of the morning. We went to breakfast at Carrows and then went into Los Angeles. We went to the Jewelry District to get some pearls restrung and to buy my mom some pearl earrings. I love haggling to get better prices there! Ramy bought two fabulous new suits in the Garment Distict and got great deals (which made it impossible for him to pass them up!). We had dinner at Johnny Rockets and walked around at the Shoppes at Chino Hills last night.

This morning, Ramy went out to get his suits altered, and we took Rebecca to eat breakfast at Bravo Burger. Then I got my hair cut this afternoon, and then we went in search of a toy chest for Rebecca. We went to IKEA and then to two unfinished furniture places, only to find that they were both out of business! So back to the drawing board on those. Tomorrow is church and then a birthday party, and then the waiting will begin again. Monday is actually the official Match Day, because it is the day we find out where we were matched and when sites find out which interns they'll be getting. It will definitely be an exciting day!

I had expected that soon after finding out I had matched on Friday, the anxiety would ramp up again really quickly for tomorrow, but it hasn't. I'm excited to find out where I'll be going, but I don't feel nervous about it at all. I'll be equally thrilled with any of my top 7 choices, and actually any of the sites that I ranked are ones where I'd be pleased to spend a year. I'm also excited to find out where my friends and colleagues got matched and about whether our unmatched friends will find spots through the clearinghouse. I'm saying prayers that all of the people in our program who got bad news yesterday will have great internships become available to them through the clearinghouse. I'm sure the excitement is even greater for people like my friends Julie and Randy who interviewed at sites across the country. They'll be finding out on Monday morning where they'll be living for at least the next year!

You can bet that I'll again be posting the news when it comes in! Thanks again to all my wonderful friends and family who have said prayers for me in this process. To be a process designed by and for psychologists, it's a process that does terrible things to one's psyche! I'm so relieved that I matched and that I'll be graduating next year, God willing.