F.Y.I.

I just changed my comments settings so now anyone can comment. (You were right about needing an account, Mom. Sorry.)

Fun Foods

Yesterday Anna decided that she didn't want any of the things we usually have for breakfast. So I let her pick from the cupboard what she wanted to eat. She chose corn muffins, and was really excited that I let her stand on the chair to help. (Usually she gets a great big NO! when I find her standing on a chair.) She loved stirring and putting the paper baking cups in the tin, but by the time the muffins were actually done, she was more in the mood for cheerios. It's just as well, less to do for dinner...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom! I just wanted to let you know how much I love you! Thank you so much for all you have done for me. You are such a great example to me of someone who tries very hard to live the gospel. I admire you so much for this! You taught, and continue to teach, me by example. You read the scriptures, you are charitable with your neighbors, you love your family, you follow the prophet's council prayerfully, and so much more. Thank you, thank you for your continuing legacy. I love you!

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Anyone who knows Jeff knows that he is a passionate person. When he sets his mind to something, there is no stopping him. He has amazing focus and drive. Who knew that this was actually a genetic trait? Anna has become a determined little thing! She finds a project and will work tirelessly to complete it. Her newest obsession: buckles.

Anna will spend as much as 20 minutes at a time working on various buckles around the house. (who knew we had so many!) She will then go back to it four or five times a day. The only problem is that she figured out how to put the buckles together, but she can't get them apart. It then becomes a very important, pressing emergency for mom to undo them as qiuck as possible so she can start working again. You might have thought Anna was excited in the video because she put the buckle together. Oh no, it's impatience because I haven't immedietly undone the buckle.

Her two favorite buckle stations are the running stroller, which (bonus!) is also fun to climb on, and the high chair. However, she still has not mastered her old car seat or bouncer. She found these in the closet the other day. They are a bit more tricky.

Who knew buckles could be so fascinating! I have to say, this proud mama is pretty impressed with Anna's dexterity.

Crazy Hair

I love that Anna's hair is getting longer, but sometimes it gets a little out of control. It's especially crazy when Jeff tosses her through the air.

Residency Interviews are Approaching

This section of the blog is mostly for my family, particularly my dad. He enjoys the play-by-play on my career a little more than most.
As most of you know, I am studying hospital administration (MHA) at Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU's health administration program is three years in duration and comprises two years of didactic (book work), and one year of experiential learning. The third year is the experiential part and requires I complete a 12-month residency in a hospital under the direction of a mentor. So, on November 2nd and 9th hospital CEOs (Preceptors), most of them VCU alums from around the country, will be coming to Richmond to interview students in my program for administrative residencies. The preceptors will serve as mentors to the residents.

The following is a list of preceptors/residency sites that have committed thus far. I'll update the list when more people commit. There are typically around 3o sites total.

1. Jeff Dorsey, President & CEO of HCA's Continental Division
(Denver, CO) http://www.healthonecares.com/
2. Scott Hill, CEO, Montgomery Regional Medical Center
(Blacksburg, VA) http://www.mrhospital.com/
3. Jess Judy, President of Lifepoint Hospital's Gateway Division
(Brentwood, TN)
http://www.lifepointhospitals.com/
4. Michael Freeman, Vice President, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, NC)
http://www.wfubmc.edu/
5. Edward Sim, VP of Operations, Baptist Health (Jacksonville, FL) http://community.e-baptisthealth.com/tools/facilities/baptist-mc.html
6. Howard Kern, President & COO of Sentara Healthcare (Norfolk, VA)
http://www.sentara.com/
7. John Duval, CEO, VCU Health System (Richmond, VA)
Views.vcu.edu/mcv/index.html

The sites in which I am interested are highlighted in blue.

Later, Jeff

Williamsburg Weekend

Jeff and I left Anna with Ben, Sarah, and Amelia while we took a little vacation to Williamsburg, VA.

We spend our first day at Busch Garden. It was such a nice break to do something that would have been quite difficult to do with Anna. There was hardly anyone at the park that day, so we were able to walk on to almost every ride. A couple of the rollercoasters made me a little nauseous. I must be getting old. Jeff took the cake on getting sick though. After riding a twisty, crazy rollercoaster, we rode a 3-D haunted house. We got off and Jeff was in a cold sweat. All the color had drained from his face. We had to sit down for about 15 minutes before doing anything else. I have never thought of Jeff as having a weak stomach! It was a good laugh. I guess we're both getting old. Our favorite ride was the new coaster, The Griffin. It was a 90 degree drop on the first hill! So fun.

Jeff with The Griffin and Lochness roller coasters and our river ride.

The Griffin Drop

The next day we made our way to Water Country USA. It was a fun water park, but I did kind of wish we had Anna with us. There were so many fun features for kids. We only stayed until about 4:00 and then had some fun shopping at the outlet malls. (At least I had fun...:))

Finally, that night we headed down to Norfolk/Virginia Beach area for dinner. One of Jeff's classmates is from VA Beach and she recommended Chick's Oyster Bar as a great local favorite. It was a blast! It was definitely a local crowd and the restaurant decor was not what it was famous for, but it was right on the water and the food was amazing. We had a hillarious experience with our dinner, though. We order the crab feast which included a crab soup, crab legs, crab cakes, and key lime pie. The soup was delicious and then came the crab legs, which were still attached to the crabs. We had some tools to extract the meat, but we were pretty unsure on how to go about the task. We finally had to ask our

waitress and apologize for our lack of coastal dining knowledge. Really what it boiled down to was cracking open the shell and sifting through the guts of the crab to find the meat. It was fun, but I think we'll try to avoid that dish next time. Too much work. It was a gorgeous night, and it will be one of those meals we remember for a long time.

In fact, we'll remember the whole weekend.

Notice the boat right behind Jeff