Fourth of July, 2007

Spent a damp 4th with some friends who live near Lake Ontario (on the Tug Hill plateau, where they enjoyed three feet of snow this past winter). It rained on and off, but we still managed to grill steaks and hotdogs, and roast marshmallows. Here's Caleb, enjoying the bonfire with two of our friend's three kids, Emmy and Tommy. (Caleb managed to burn his thumb while roasting marshmallows, but he's o.k., and obviously it didn't keep him away from the fire.)

Danielle update

Seems like this week has been very full.

Work is going well - I'm not feeling like a total idiot this week. Our first paper (on regional anesthesia) is going through the review process and Frank thinks it will certainly be accepted for publication. Most of the week I was doing data analysis for our second paper (on predicting anesthesia workload), which Frank is going to write up this weekend. Probably more importantly, I'm feeling well - I finally got through whatever virus was plaguing me after our trip to Cincinnati (Beth was sick last week too, and a cousin who was there).

We got a sitter last Friday night for my dept's annual dinner (for graduating residents). It was at a local country club with a really gorgeous view of the valley south of Syracuse. The food was decent and the speeches short. We sat with a lovely Vietnamese family, the parents live in Phx, whose youngest son was graduating and going off to a pain fellowship in Seattle. I was over-dressed (in a black velvet cocktail dress that a friend gave me) - I go out to these things so rarely that I forget how much times have changed. I have several dresses that would have been more appropriate - ah well, next year.

Larry worked last Sunday (Father's Day), so I took the kids to the YMCA across town which has a really stupendous kiddie pool (turtle-shaped slide, tubes spraying water - a real water wonderland). We had a great time and then had a late lunch at McD's. We went to the lake Monday after the non-dr-appt, it was a really gorgeous day. Tuesday we went to the library (rain threatening, so no swimming) - school ended this week and we need some books to read, since Caleb won't be bringing any home from school. He starts summer camp at the YMCA on Monday. I love it b/c it's a very active program and they really wear him out!

I left work early on Monday to take Caleb for his annual peds appt and when I got there, they had no record of our appt. Very annoying. Had to wait for Larry's work schedule to find a day to reschedule - I've used up all my time off at work (and then some, with trip to Cinncy, etc), so he has to do the honors. Our peds office in Philly had evening hrs three days a week, but here - none. The delights of modern suburban life. And our marvelous pediatrician is completely booked into July so I made an appt with the partner, who Larry saw once with Alana and who is completely acceptable.

Larry's sister, Beth and her husband Lee are visiting for the weekend (the first time they've been here). They're taking a little trip around the region (mostly NJ and here to see us), visiting and R&R before she starts work at her congregation in Wheeling (WV) in July. They brought their adorable bassett hound puppy with them that Caleb especially is quite enamored of. They agreed to babysit tonight (after Shabbat dinner) so Larry and I can get out to see a movie (I'm having withdrawal symptoms as I haven't been to a theater since Memorial weekend). We really haven't seen anything, so have many choices, but decided on Pirates 3 b/c if you've got a free sitter you should probably go see a ridiculously long movie, plus it seems like one that should be seen on the Big Screen.

Had to discuss various words for female private parts this week with Caleb. He was calling it "weiner" and that just seemed wrong (he got the term from his trouble-maker schoolmate Joey - he always gravitates to the naughtiest child in class and camp, and of course Joey will be at camp too, oh joy). He kept asking "what else?" but I couldn't think of many names, at least not that I was willing to tell him. I read an article a couple years ago about the various names that families use, but can only remember a few (I tried to find it online this week but couldn't). From that article, I liked "in between," which is what I've been calling it for Alana - as in, "make sure you wash in between." Apparently "vajayjay" has caught on from Grey's Anatomy. But we stick with the "correct" medical terms for the most part. He finds it hilarious - any words about the "private area" (what they called it when he took karate - a good fall back term). Farting is very funny too.

Hmmm, I can't end with that. I started taking the shuttle bus to work, from the stadium parking lot, as they're knocking down and rebuilding the old parking deck on campus. I think I'm saving quite a bit in gas each week, since the stadium is about half way btwn my house and work. Though I'm using up some of the savings with trips to lakes, etc, on the weekends. Still, any overall savings is good since gas hasn't been below $3 a gallon in this area for many weeks now.

P.S. on Larry - I forgot to mention that he finally had his Rolfing session (connective tissue massage) for his sciatica this week and found it absolutely marvelous; he has another appt scheduled. Maybe this is the silver bullet for his troubling pain.

Larry update

Things are rocking at TRH Watertown! Larry's store has had the top sales in the region for weeks now, over $100K in sales every week. They also broke their own sales record on Father's Day - over $27K in sales (that's a lot of loaded baked potatoes!) Larry's boss, Jerry, is planning to make Larry's store the regional training store (some may recall that Larry did his training at a store outside Boston) - this is a huge honor and Larry's really excited about it.

Larry finally got his motorcycle license and road his bike to work for the first time yesterday (Wednesday). He said it's a lot of work, and windy! On this maiden voyage, a bird flew into the bike and took off one of his side mirrors (a suicide mission, as it turns out). Jerry calls Larry "shadow rider" - that's the kind of bike he's got.Today (Thursday) is Caleb's last day of school and he gets out at 10:30 a.m. Larry is off, and they're having a daddy-son day with another father and son, going to lunch and then to see the new Fantastic Four movie. Larry is keeping Alana home from school tomorrow for daddy-daughter day, maybe to the zoo (not yet fully planned). A nice way to kick off the summer.

Graduation weekend

So we went to Cincinnati, Beth got her diploma (big scandal - her name was misspelled), and we got home last night - very late of course (Roxy was ecstatic to see us). It was a fairly painless trip, though I wouldn't really call it fun. Larry's lower back has been bothering him for months (sciatica), but, despite my repeated suggestions, has never seen a doctor. He finally went to the ER in Cincinnati on Saturday night and got a prescription for oxycontin. Needless to say, he was pretty cranky most of the trip.

Caleb spent every waking minute that he could in the hotel's outdoor swimming pool - thankfully the weather was cooperative - warm and overcast but almost no rain. Alana was in the pool quite a bit too - the shallow end was only 2 feet deep, which thrilled her, since she could touch the bottom. The kids and I went to the graduation ceremony Saturday morning late on purpose because it was expected to last over three hours and the kids would never behave for that long - Beth had told me the diplomas were given out "at the end," but it turns out, it was more in the middle, so we managed to miss her actual ordination. Oh well. The kids sat in the sanctuary for maybe 15 minutes and then we went downstairs where they had a break room set up. But the kids charmed everyone at the dinner Friday night and lunch on Saturday after the ceremony (Caleb helped with the Hamotzi on Friday night). Except for a couple of minor fusses, they were exceptional all weekend, at the events and during the trip there and back (better than Larry most of the time). It was nice to see Larry's extended family, but honestly, the highlight for me was watching the Democratic debate on CNN at the Philadelphia airport last night, while our return flight was delayed for an hour. Pathetic, I know.

I'm exhausted now (Larry kept me up both nights we were away and we were up late last night unpacking), and now I've got Caleb's BD party on Sunday (Larry's parents are coming for the weekend), and cupcakes to bake tonight for school tomorrow. I'll manage. It's raining today, so I'm hoping to get that out of the way and have good weather for the weekend.

Memorial weekend

We (the kids and I) had a great Memorial weekend. We took a picnic to a local park with friends on Saturday. The weather wasn't very good on Sunday, so we hung out at the mall - Alana and I rode the carousel there, Caleb got Transformers sneakers and spent the dollar he got from the Tooth Fairy at the dollar store (that tooth has been loose for ages and finally came out at school on Friday). And on Monday we went to the beach (at Lake Oneida) for the first time this year. The weather was perfect. We spent about three hours there, and I still had to drag Caleb out of the (very cold) water. Alana wandered around playing with various kids, helping build sandcastles and dig holes (I don't think I was ever that self-possessed, certainly not when I was three and a half years old). Unfortunately I didn't bring the camera to the beach, so there's no photos of this trip. Next time. But here's some other recent photos:

Caleb at soccer (the "action" shot is blurry, but still a keeper - he scored a goal that day and was super proud).

Alana perched on Daddy's motorcycle (don't worry, they didn't go anywhere) - you can tell she's lovin it.

And the last one - Alana got some lip gloss (which she calls "makeup"), I forgot where it came from, but she's obsessed with it - she thinks she looks so pretty with her "makeup" on and she carries it around in her pocket or her purse. What a little lady. (One other note on that picture - she often asks me to put clips or bands in her hair, but she usually takes them out immediately. That day she wore those pig-tails for at least an hour - very unusual for her.)

First picnic of the year

What a gorgeous day! We took a picnic lunch to Clay Central Park, just behind our housing development. Our next door neighbor friends came along - Jake and Maddie.

Happy spring!

As many of you know, we're in the middle of a big snow storm (well, we were this morning, it's over now). Caleb didn't have school today (Monday), which was sort of ironic, since it was supposed to be his first day back after *Spring* Break! Luckily (!) Larry couldn't get to work anyway, so he stayed home and played Mr Mom. We got about four inches of snow, but some areas nearby got a lot more (as much as a foot!) I think we broke the record for April.

People have been asking about how the job is going, so I thought it was time for an update. I'm into Week 6 and it's going well. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed for a couple of weeks, but I'm getting into the groove now. I was in Iowa last week for a training seminar. The kids stayed with Larry's mom in NJ. (I'm not sure who had more fun - grandma or the kids! I'm glad they had that time together and I'm glad the seminar coincided with Spring Break, or I wouldn't have been able to go.) I've also started working on a couple of projects, so I'm not feeling like a complete idiot anymore (which I defintely was, for awhile there).

I'm working closely with a very knowledgable consultant named Frank Dexter, which can be pretty intimidating. His area of research expertise (and personal obsession) is operating room efficiency, which, needless to say, is not my passion by any means. This article of his gives you a good idea of the kind of stuff he's crazy for:

http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/cgi/content/abstract/103/6/1499

Right now I'm working on projects that Frank has planned, but pretty soon I'll start working with other faculty members who are interested in other types of research questions, and that should be more fun. Already the dept chair is planning a survey on the hiring and promotion experiences of women, which is right up my alley. I should say that even though Frank's research area isn't my cup of tea, he's fantastic - a brilliant guy and great to work with. This job has a lot of potential, I could very likely end up with a faculty position at Upstate, which would be amazing. But I don't want to "count my chickens" or jinx myself, so more on that when the time comes.

Larry was out of town the first week of April - in Laguna Beach, California for the Texas Roadhouse annual meeting. Unfortunately, the meeting coincided with Passover, so me and the kids were on our own here. But we had fun. Sunday night (which was actually the day before Passover) I took the kids to a friend's house on for a seder that she and I and one other woman organized (the two of them more than me!) It was really nice, 7 families - 12 adults and 13 kids ranging in age from 18 months to 14 years. We used a very brief, very kid-oriented Haggaddah, and the menu was a real group effort (chicken, corned beef, roasted potatoes, salad, and about 8 desserts, including my special Passover flourless chocolate cake, and chocolate covered matzah, which I think was the big hit). We started early, but it was still a late night. Then on Monday we went to the synagogue for their community seder (about 180 people!) They did a good job - they had "goodie bags" for the kids, with crayons and coloring books, and kept things lively and moving along. The food was decent too (catered). Caleb had a second serving of matzah ball soup! We snuck out before the end, and were still late getting home.