Back in West Virginia

Wow, time has flown by! We are now back in Charleston, West Virginia for Derek's last two months of medical school. Crazy!

We flew in Saturday night and our friends Pam & Todd Swanson were lovely to pick us up from the airport, cook us a wonderful Indian chicken dinner, and let us stay the next two nights at their house.





Monday afternoon we got keys to a student housing apartment which the school normally keeps for people who are interviewing there to stay in. Since interview season is over the student coordinator told us we could have the room for these next two months. It's called Dunlop Hall.

We weren't really sure what to expect and walking up the stone stairwell and into the smoke filled hall reignited my fears. We opened the door (with a lock that looked to be about a hundred years old and easily pick-able with a credit card) and were greeted with a fresh face full of smoke. If you know me, you know I practically hyperventilate when I smell cigarette smoke so the next scene that ensued was Derek and I frantically running around the apartment throwing open every window we could find. Yes, it was 35 degrees outside and snowing, but inside it was a cigarette hotbox - making the decision to freeze obvious and absolute.

Once I caught my breath we continued to investigate the rest of the apartment. I will say a few positives...it is very nice sized and has a TV with cable. It even gets Sports Center. Now for more negatives...it looks as though the bathroom hasn't seen a sanitizing clean in a good while, lots of mildew and mold all over the bathroom, the kitchen has a good amount of food splatter on the counters, refrigerator, and walls. The bed is a full sized, which is better than a twin, but much smaller than our California King that we are accustomed to!


I think Derek was very pleasantly surprised that I didn't melt down and instead simply said we needed to make a trip to the store for cleaning supplies and candles. We left all the windows open and headed out to Walmart to make some purchases including towels, sheets, and things to eat on.

As we checked out I was reminded of the feeling of being a freshman in college again. Our basket was filled with two bright orange plastic plates ($1), three bright green plastic cups ($3), silverware ($1 for 4 spoons, $1 for 4 forks, & $1 for 4 knives!), two towels ($2.50) that feel a little like sand paper, two pillows ($2.50), a pack of seven candles ($10), bananas, yogurt, granola, and lots of cleaning supplies. I didn't realize how much stuff you can get there for so cheap! Who knew that $2.50 pillows existed!? It reminded me of shopping with my parents at Kmart before moving into Franciscan Towers my freshman year at UCSB.

Since we got back late and spent the majority of our evening cleaning we didn't have time to wash our sheets. Derek, however, is such a smart man and left our two sleeping bags in our Corolla when we moved. We got them out, zipped them together, and made one big sleeping bag and viola! It was like camping, only inside on a mattress! It was actually pretty fun and by the time we were in bed I felt much more adjusted to our new home. I actually very much enjoyed my camping/cuddling time in our sleeping bags on our full sized bed.

Our next fun experience occurred in the morning when Derek got in the shower. He was in the shower before he pulled the knob to make the water shoot out of the shower head instead of the bath part and it came rushing out so intensely that he jumped a full two feet backwards in the tub. The water was spraying out similar to a fire hose and it looked as though the shower curtain was attacking him. I just stood there watching and laughing with my legs crossed so I wouldn't pee! He kept punching at the curtain which would then fly out of the shower and back in wrapping it self around him, all the while water spraying everywhere. I almost peed my pants watching. My favorite quote from him during all this, "well we sure can't complain about the water pressure not being enough!"

Derek is on his second day of Neuro ICU and it will be his most intense two weeks of these last two months. He has to be there around 6:45am until 7pm. It should get easier and he should have shorter days after these two weeks. We also get to find out where he's going for residency on March 18th! Pray for Oregon!! That's our number one choice! (Second choice is Mayo in Scottsdale, and third is Pittsburgh).