Yet again, we have water in the basement of our horrible, horrible little house.  Anyone know how to burn a house down and not get caught?

Josh worked nights the past two weeks so Gabriel and I did another trip to Oregon.  Josh did some things while I was away.  First was to call and leave me a message on my cell phone (and he knows I never have it turned on) that he was off to purchase a Wii and this was my last chance to stop him.  I received the message too late.  The second odd thing; Josh joined Facebook.  I feel as if I hardly know this man.  He owns a cell phone, has short hair and now, Facebook. 

So when Josh is not busy writing random notes online we play on the Wii.  I like the pinball game, hate the MarioKart wheel and Josh purchased the dance game for me (somehow making the Wii a gift for both of us argument in the phone message) which Josh played last night because, "it's a video game." 

Nothing quite like the Shelburne Museum.  The woman who started the place liked to collect buildings.  She would tear them down and then rebuild them on this large piece of land she owned.  Kind of makes other hobbies seem dull in comparison.

Vermont has reached peak season around here, meaning the trees are full of beautiful color as they get ready to die and fall off, leaving things bare for the next six months.  While fall has always been my favorite time of year I have a hard time not thinking about the long, dark winter to come.  However, before that we've been trying to be outside a lot even in the colder weather.  Gabriel does not care what the temp is outside and Josh just wants him to destroy things out of doors instead of messing up the house. 

Josh has taken a few days off work while his grandfather is in town.  We've had dinner together a couple of nights and Josh went with his grandfather, his mom and step-father to Shelburne Museum today.  On Friday during Gabriel's nap Josh & I made salsa with all the hot peppers grown over the summer.  Since we used most of the peppers it is too hot for me to eat but Josh assures me it's great.  He just finished up submitting a large research paper for a meeting next May in Sweden.  Going to be a few months before he finds out if it gets accepted and he can go but his new passport is all ready. 

One way to tell that fall has arrived is all the kiddy activities start up again.  Gabriel started up tumbling again last week as well as the library story hour and a very large playgroup.  He is still pretty shy around other kids but I don't think it will last.  However he has a jealous streak a mile wide.  Last week I was holding someone's five-month old for them and Gabriel looked at me and started to cry.  No sound, no screaming just a crushed look with tears running down his cheeks. 

I have received a lot of flak from the few people I know about not being a member of Facebook.  I have a long list of reasons for this, but to make up for it I joined LibraryThing which is more up my alley.  Though Koski informed me it was a place for people with no social skills.  (my friends make me feel good about myself) Anyway, I am very pleased.  I have managed to list all of my books online and start organizing them.  Yes, only a book nerd would find this interesting but I love it.  So if anyone cares.. http://www.librarything.com/home/AngeleDawn

Best of all there is no 'friends' count;  I can assume everyone loves me.

It was my mother's birthday this weekend, and Angele had been planning to make some special cupcakes for several months.  Mom is a big gardener, and so you see why she had these in mind for a while.  They turned out pretty well I must say.  People keep saying that Angele should open a cupcake boutique.  While I have no doubt that would be successful, since we were up until 11PM finishing these they would have be be sold for astronomical rates to make it worthwhile.  I even helped with these a little- I piped the signs.  Dig it.

Just a quick note to say that I was on call at the hospital and had a day that is the stuff of legends:

 

8:30:  Day starts out with a bang- two patients in the ED from a hot air balloon crash.  By itself this would be worthy of a story.

10:00:  Motorcycle accident in the ED.  Spend about 45 minutes delineating how one is able to break nearly every bone in one's face.

11:00:  High speed car crash in the ED.  The human body has 24 ribs.  This patient had over 30 rib fractures.  It is generally a bad thing when the outside world communicates with large portions of the lung.

3:00:  Trauma alert via pager:  Incoming trauma patient- bicyclist hit by SUV and then run over.  This one didn't turn out to be much though.

7:00:  Thinking that soon the day would be over.  But no, the coup-de-grace has arrived.  Just when I thought all forms of transportation had been exhausted:  Pager:  Trauma alert: Incoming plane crash.  Oh yes, plane crash.  This one took me about an hour beyond when I was supposed to leave.  The coincidence?  Pilot a maxillofacial surgeon.  With the worst jaw fractures I have ever seen.  Among other things. 

 

Of course these were interspersed with the usual run of the mill cases, but all the day was missing was a boat crash and it would have been untouchable in the history of call.

Gabriel and I just returned from Oregon on Monday.  We spent a weekend in Long Beach, Washington for the Kite Festival.  The weather was great and Gabriel loved his first camping experience.  I loved being at the beach, I miss living close to the ocean.  I also took a few hours (minus child!) and did some shopping.  Grandparents are wonderful.

Josh had a good time with us gone.  He played in a softball game for the local church and is unable to lift Gabriel now due to pain in his elbow.  Also he and Chris recently planned and purchased tickets for the next 'male adventure.' A trip to Chicago this December to watch a Packers vs. Bears game. 

This is what I do when Josh takes Gabriel to the playground for a few hours.

I often do not add anything to our site because I don't feel we have much exciting stuff to say.  But I'll try to come up with something, or at least a rundown of what we are all up to.

Joshua: In the middle of working four weekends in a row.  Overnight call is no fun but he is coming close to being done with call as a resident.  In the 4th year radiology residents stop taking call; I believe Josh finishes up in October. This weekend is the radiology department softball tournament. This was Josh's idea. The whole department, residents, doctors, techs and secretaries, will be playing. Luckily they all have good health coverage. Also Josh has convinced his program director to purchase a pinball machine to be placed in the department. A road trip is planned for September to pick it out.  Finally, next Monday Koski comes into town for a few days and as Josh says, "he's taking leave of his parental duties for awhile."

Angele: Besides the usual work and Gabriel care I have been doing some work for the local foodshelf.  While being home with Gabriel is wonderful it does tend to numb the brain after awhile so I am trying to find a few outlets.  I am starting up a gleaning program which I am excited about even if everyone else thinks I'm a little strange.  The goal is to get any extra food from local farms and pass it out to people who could use it.  Lots of times farmers have leftovers in their fields they can not sell/use so I am building a group of people who will go to those farms and actually glean straight from the field.  I am having a really good time and farmers here are very nice and interested in helping.  The only other thing I've been doing is canning with a friend of mine.  We made strawberry jam recently and did pickles last weekend.  We have plans for more jam and some tomato sauce.

Gabriel: Has a little cold at the moment but otherwise is good. Loves to eat corn on the cob and last night crawled all over Josh to get bites of his ribeye.  The weather has been hot so we've been to the town pond a few times.  G has no problem walking right in up to his shoulders, no fear at all of the water.  Though he freaked out over his first bubble bath last week.  Wouldn't sit down until I moved all the bubble to the other side of the tub. Newest discovery, the step stool.  He figured out about a week ago that if he moved it around the house and stood on it he could get at things.  Now he carries it around everywhere.  Gabriel is also loving the newest toy, a little lawn mower. 

So I guess that's our life.  Pretty quiet.

The man, spirit crushed, reached his arms to the heavens and asked, "Why God, what have I done to offend you?"  God shrugged his shoulders and replied, "All Jaguar owners must be taught the lesson of faulty electrical systems."

I am sure that those of you who read this already know, but I have been very remiss in keeping the blog updated.  I matched to do my neuroradiology fellowship a couple of weeks ago at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.  I was very happy about it, as it was my top choice.  Baltimore was not my favorite location of the places I visited (and certainly not Angele's either) but it was I think the best program and all things considered was the best option.  Whether or not it is a fair fact, the reality is that in medicine the name of where you did your last training is what people associate with you and there aren't really any names out there better than Hopkins.  Now we are considering what to do next year: sell the house?  Live in the city or the country?  Stuff like that.  Since Angele wasn't the most excited about Baltimore, I am going to take a back seat to the housing selection and go with what she things will be best.  We will be there for two years, so at least Gabriel won't start school there and that won't have to be a consideration. 

 

 

It has been very rainy here lately, although it is nice this afternoon.  I sat out on the new deck in our borrowed new patio furniture and drank coffee this morning.  It was lovely. 

 

Gabriel had his 18 month doctor's appointment yesterday as well.  He is still a giant baby- now off the chart for height.  I am not thinking that is going to last.  Weight is at the 50th percentile.  I am hoping that does last.  Well, not the American 50th percentile I guess.  His height, while interesting, makes for some chaotic days.  He can reach everything and get onto everything and thinks it is loads of fun to do so.  He had his first ice cream last week- a few spoonfulls of peanut butter creemee from my new favorite place up the hill that serves 24 flavors (I had banana!).  He seemed to enjoy it.  Tonight we are headed over to my mother's place for ribs.  Maybe he will have his first rib.  I will have to bring the camera- it is a momentus occasion. 

Things have calmed down here slightly.  Josh's attitude towards life has been helped by going golfing both Friday and Saturday.  Tonight is the end of year Radiology Party.  As Josh just finished up being Chief he should get a nice gift.  Usually it is some piece of Vermont art so I am keeping my fingers crossed it will be something nice.

With the great sadness of earlier in the week there was no room to talk about the Eric Clapton concert.  It was amazing and we had great seats.  He played a little bit of everything from Clapton rock to Clapton blues.  At the end of most songs he would then just pick away at his guitar for awhile.  Clapton and his guitar, well, no words really come to mind.  Lets just say I was a little puddle of happiness.  The man is a god.

I am putting up some pictures of the new deck.  It does look really good.  Not sure about furniture yet, could be awhile before we want to whip out the credit card again.  Poor thing cries out in fear each time we open up our wallets. 

In a time of plenty, when the stores were filled with grain and each was adorned with gold and silver, the owners sought to expand their kingdom by adding on a deck.  And so the prodigal carpenter was retained.  Each passing day the owners were well pleased with the work of the carpenter, and it was good.  At last the time came for the owners to journey to a far away land on a holy pilgrimage to see the great musicians.  On the day of their travels, the carpenter cried out to them that a great wellspring had arisen from the earth below the very spot of his labors.  Upon inspection, the owners found it to be true, and the waters would pour forth with great vigor upon the running of the washing machine.  At this same time the mistress of the palace decended to gather what stores had been laid in the washing machine only to find the floodwaters had risen and the tides lapped at the carpeted basement.  Then there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth.  The wise carpenter surveyed the land and proclaimed in a loud voice "Woe to those who would dig a dry well, for those who inherit their lands will suffer such travails."   And the owners saw that it was true- for the torrent of the faithful washing machine and the vibrations of man's machinery had laid ruin to the dry well, which was in great disarray. 

 

Then the owners cried out unto the mighty clan of plumbers and their call was heeded.  The great chieftain of the plumbers showed them great mercy promised to send one of his brave young warriors to the kingdom on the following morn.  With heavy hearts, the owners departed for the long journey. 

 

Feeling full with spirit upon the end of the grand concert, the owners set off on their seemingly endless path home.  The dawn's rays shone down upon them as they trudged back to the palace.  But in this time of great troubles, there was no rest for the weary.  For soon the brave plumber arrived.  He greeted the wise carpenter with vigor, for they knew that both had reached a promised land.  He set to work in an effort to reroute the floodwaters.  With great anticipation, the owners gazed on his construction.  But alas, as the final pipe was layed, and the waters resumed, there arose from the kitchen sink a great putrescence, an abomination of septic sludge.  And the palace was filled with it's stench, and all who were near were stricken with terror.  And then there was another great wail and a gnashing of teeth.  For the valient plumber had underestimated the ineptitude of the builders who in days long past had used cubit upon cubit of crooked and narrow pipe.  Down through the ages these faulted pipes had lain dorment, clogging with the wastes of the tribe.  And now that they had burst forth in great fury, the owners once again cried out in agony for relief from the reclusive septic tribe. 

 

The septic man was a wooly man, adorned in disarray.  His work was short, and he too greeted the others in friendship, having also come to partake in the feast.  He pried the hated tube open, and released the flood waters.  But alas, it was not without great sorrow.  For in the release a great plume of filth and stench had burst forth into the stables of the palace, causing another cloud of putrescence to fill the air.  

 

But then all was done.  The brave plumber, wise old carpenter, and wooly septic man gathered their goods, filled their pockets with gold and silver, and departed.  The owners, tattered and bedraggled, were left to the mop and the broom.  There was great abundance of Lysol, and the master of the house gave thanks that at the least his great chariot had been absent from the stable at the time of the cataclysm.  And as they cleaned, the heavens opened and a great rain began to fall, as though the heavens also wept at the endless sorrows of the age.   

It has been pointed out that the blog has been falling behind (by one of the perhaps 3-4 people who actually look at it), so I am here to give a brief update and post some pictures.  We are having our deck rebuild right now since the old one was threatening to fall out from under my BBQ, and that should be done by the end of this week.  Last night we went to my program director's house with a few other friends from work and watched the hockey playoff game, grilled some meat, played ping-pong and drank a little too much (me, not A and G).  Kristen's house is very kid-friendly and Gabriel had a nice time playing on her kid's toys outside, watching their chickens, and generally getting to run around.  Angele made a batch of her becoming famous cupcakes in honor of the Penguins vs Red Wings game (see below).  They turned out quite well, although if a diabetic person ate them it would result in sudden death.  We are growing lots of peppers again this year, even though we had planned on not really doing that again.  But they were irresistable.  In 17 days the fellowship match happens and we will find out where we are officially going after next year.  Will be nice to have that finalized.  Anyway, enjoy a few pictures.

 

 

At long last I am done traveling for a while.  In the last few months I have been to Virginia, New York City, Connecticut, San Francisco, Wisconsin, Baltimore and two separate weeks in Washington DC.  Two weeks ago I was in the capital for the American College of Radiology meeting which was  lot of fun, and then last week in DC again for the Association of University Radiologists meeting where I finished my term as steering committee chair for the national chief resident organization.  Hooray!  Not that it wasn't fun, but I am glad to have a little time to relax.  I submitted my fellowship rank list a few days ago, so now all that is left is to wait for the match on June 24 to see where we will be.  I will refrain from publishing my list just in case some random person in the programs searchs the names of their applicants.  Anyway, Angele is in OR for the week so Pablo and I are just laying around watching baseball and catching up on sleep.  Maybe playing some golf.  Here are a few pictures from the recent travels.

Spring is finally here.

This is the expensive outfit that Joshua just could not live without. Gabriel is required to wear it every other day.

Took Gabriel to his first Easter Egg Hunt yesterday.  Considering it was snowing less than a week ago the weather was very nice, cold wind and all.  He was probably one of the youngest kids there but seemed to enjoy himself anyway.  He understood the point of finding the eggs and picking them up but the dropping them in the basket was a bit much.  We'll have to work on that next year. 

I am in NYC this week having interviewed at a neuroradiology fellowship at Cornell on Monday and tomorrow I am headed to New Haven to interview at Yale.  Which left me today to have a chance to do a little sightseeing.  Having never really spent any time in New York City I walked around all morning just getting a sense of the place.  My feet hurt now.  But I walked from the south east side to Grand Central Station and then back to have lunch at Blue Smoke- a Manhattan BBQ joint run by a trainee of my hero, four time Memphis in May Grand Champion Mike Mills.  It did not disappoint.  For those of you who followed the BBQ Odysee of last summer, let me say that the pulled pork here was as good as any we had in the south.  Of course, the atmosphere was much more Manhattan (high prices, lots of people in suits and ties, etc.), but it was a great meal. Then I spent the afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of art.  That is a very big place- more than I could see in one day really.  So I hit the highlights of what I like- lots of really old Egyptian and Greco-Roman artifacts followed by more modern paintings by Picasso, etc.  Have a look at a few pictures.  Oh, there was a great exhibit of medieval armor and weapons too.  Sweet.