Home Improvement

So Michelle & I started the process of renovating the interior of our condo. First in order was taking down these hideous blue drapes and roll-down blinds in our common room. The previous owners decorated as if they were in the 1970's (our place was built in1994). Installing the new pleated and vertical blinds was tougher than we thought (probable metal behind the walls), but we persevered and finished our task. See the before and after shots ...

Next up was installing a shower door in our guest bath. As you can see, the previous owner was enamored with pink! Overall I think the doors are a bit more practical and classy ...




Next up is removing the laminate surfacing in our bathrooms and kitchen. We're looking at some granite options later today, and will hopefully get this project started soon. Stay tuned for some more pics ...

Puppy Love ...

There' s no getting around the fact how much we adore our "baby girl" Ginger. We're now getting used to the idea of letting her hair run a bit longer, especially since the temps have been under 60 at night. We didn't experience this in Florida until January, Michelle thinks we're in for a rough winter :-( ... but I digress ... anyways, enjoy these candid shots ... not much going on at the present, we're getting some contractor quotes for interior design work. Stay tuned for more details ...

Windy City ...

So Michelle & I survived the 2-day ordeal that encompassed our studies for the past several months: our Certifying Internal Medicine Examination. The test is offered once a year at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Chicago, so we flew in the day before and had a comfortable stay at the Radisson two blocks away (thanks Al!). Overall the test was quite difficult, 600 multiple choice questions that got harder as the test wore on. We won't know the results until November. We also caught up with several classmates from medical school in between, many are doing fellowship (pulmonary or cardiology); the rest are attending internists.

Michelle & I celebrated with dinner and drinks after the exam, catching up with our close friends from school: Patrick & Tochi who both live outside the city. They're both enjoying life in the midwest, we were up past midnight talking about all sorts of things ...










Our last day in Chicago was a productive one, we hit the streets early doing some local sight-seeing. Highlights included a nice view from our hotel roof-top, as well as public pilates & cool sculptures in Millenium park ...












With only a couple of hours left we caught a guided boat tour on the Chicago River. It was awesome, the guide was quite knowledgable of the city and pointed out all the major buildings along the city skyline. We also made in out to Lake Michigan via a "locking station" and saw even more of the city.













We made it back Saturday night and relaxed the rest of the weekend. We'll try and visit again soon under less stressful circumstances!

Bundles of nerves

Well, in a little over 48 hours our albatross will be completed (hopefully successfully). For those of you that have endured us for the last (well few months specifically), you know what we mean. Thanks again for the support. We hope that you will be praying for us.

All in all, things are not so bad. We have our health and each other. We know there are two huge support systems (aka our families) that are behind us. It's very comforting to know that. Really, thanks. And our friends... some of you will be with us for the main event going through it yourselves.

We'll write more on the flip side of this adventure. Hope all is well. We'll be back to blogging in no time!!!

One month down ...

So Michelle & I finished our first month of fellowship! Overall things went pretty smoothly, and we're slowly getting the handle on how things run in the hospital. I spent July doing endoscopy (mostly colonoscopies) while Michelle was on the floors, getting a handful of bronchoscopies under her belt. Our confidence will hopefully grow with each opportunity, everyone at work has been very supportive and understanding.

Not much new to report on the home front, Michelle & I are hunkering down with studying for our Internal Medicine Certification Exam, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. We're flying to Chicago for the 2-day test, 8/24-8/25. Hopefully we'll meet up with some med school friends and do some sight-seeing afterwards.

We will certainly do more exploring of the area after the test is over with, and have newer pics to put up. We also plan on doing some interior decorating (i.e. removing the pink bathroom countertops) when time allows. For now, enjoy the pics of Ginger after another "summer-cut." Notice her devilish red eyes, fortunately cataracts haven't set in yet :-)

Swinging back into things...

I am sorry to inform you that we don't have pictures to post at this time. The reason being -- we've been working pretty hard. We just finished week #2 of fellowship. I can report that we BOTH feel like we did at the beginning of Internship: overwhelmed!!! A new hospital, a new role ... it all adds up. There is also that stress of IM Board Exams next month coming up. :)

Justin started his fellowship on Endoscopy Service. So he finally is just doing one procedure after another. He has official pictures of his first colonoscopy/EGD on his own. I think we may frame them. :) Overall he is doing very well with the stres and, I think, loving every minute of it.

I was initally supposed to start on Anesthesia but now have been doing general Pulmonary Service. The attendings are great. Luckily we have a lot of help this month: 2 interns (actually quite on top of things), a PA (Susan) and a 2nd year Pulm fellow (Rich). So it's a nice way to eaaasseee into things. I have done a few procedures: bronchoscopy and thoracentesis but it's still slow going with that.

We're getting the condo together. There are projects starting to add up but for the most part things are off the floor, put away, and nailed to the wall. :) We finished our furniture gathering recently. Again, Salvation Army came through for us on some things (large mirrors to be exact). We're doing great.

We've met all our immediate neighbors and some down the street. Evening walks on weekends with Ginger give us a chance to explore the complex. It's beautiful with pristine landscaping. A very nice place to call home for now.

Take care everybody and we'll post pictures when we can. I couldn't help but post this one --->

Our New Home Place

So after graduating from residency, saying our goodbyes, and selling our Florida home ... Michelle, Ginger & I hit the road for 20-plus grueling hours of driving up I-75. Overall the trip went smoothly, and Ginger did pretty well considering she's not a fan of riding shotgun. We tried to sedate her with 5 mg of Valium before the trip, but it had a paradoxical reaction and made her worse(!). So we just toughed it out. We closed on our condo that Monday (with Ginger literally sitting in our lap during the signing), and started unloading our cars. Moving truck came Tuesday, and we started settling in after that. Right now we're back at full speed, having bought some additional furniture. The neighbors are friendly, the development is beautiful, and our backyard faces off a 9-hole golf course. Here are some house pics, look at Ginger peeking through our deck! Visitors are always welcome ...

Graduation from Residency

So Residency has come to an end with a commencement ceremony at the Bayou Club. So many emotions! First, we have finished a three year program and are moving on to further training. Then we must leave for Michigan to start fellowship, the next step. We leave behind a lot of friends and family. Overall graduation was great (better than I expected it to be). I was astonished to find out that I actually won a "House Officer of the Year" award - given annually with a plaque and $500. This award was totally unexpected. The next day we started our drive to Michigan. Here are a few pictures. More to follow at Grad 2006

Birthday Party for Maddie

We just got back from our first doggie birthday party that we attended with Ginger. Maddie (Sara's dog) turned 10!!! So we were invited to celebrate. There was doggie music, doggie cake, doggie games. It was GREAT! Maddie loved watching all the commotion.

The attendees were Murphy, Mattox, Julian, Ginger and the birthday girl - MADDIE DOWNS!! Good fun was to be had by all. I think Maddie fulfilled one of her dreams - she got back at a certain someone. Everybody left on good terms. :) Thank you Sara for throwing a great birthday bash. Ginger had a great time. Ginger had a chance to catch up with her boyfriend Mattox. They even snuck away with each other for a time... mostly play fighting though.

See more pictures soon at Maddie's Party

A weekend of elegance

So Michelle & I had the pleasure of seeing my parents for the 2nd time in two weeks: this time for a getaway vacation in Newport, Rhode Island. We flew last Friday into Providence where we were picked up and arrived at our comfortable establishment, Newport Onshore through Ocean State Rentals. I would highly recommend it if a large party is staying for a week or so: http://www.oceanstaterentals.com

Friday we pretty much relaxed and walked around town, which is close to the Atlantic Ocean and Narragansett Bay. A lot of wharfs and cute little restaurants, including this one dessert place that sells sweet fudge ... yummy! :-)

Saturday we hit the road for some serious sight-seeing, which of course involves touring "Mansion Row" on Bellevue Avenue. Many of these were constructed in the late 19th century, each structure has its own history (mostly involving the Vanderbilt family). Awesome ceilings, tapestries, marble flooring, and the like, all kept in immaculate condition (translation: no touching). Of course no inside pictures were allowed, so we had to suffice with some ground shots.



Later that day we had fun sampling wine at a local vineyard ...

... and then afterwards had a nice scenic Ocean Drive off the water ... very windy, btw!!

The following morning we toured some more mansions, but the big event that day was the wedding of a childhood friend: Nicole Gali-Alfonso. She and Brian Strope were married before close friends and family, with a a beautiful ceremony at a church in Middletown ...

and an elegant reception at the Blithewold Mansion in Bristol ...

Best wishes to the newlyweds for a healthy & happy future!!

This was arguably one of our most enjoyable vacations, and we promised we'd do something similar at least on a yearly basis. Sadly, this will be our last getaway vacation until we finish our Internal Medicine Boards in late August. Need to get back to studying!! :-)

The end is nigh...

Well, only three weeks left (acutally a little bit less) of residency forever. Wow. I can't believe all the time that has gone by -- seems like days not years. You never believe people when they tell you how fast time flies by. It makes me feel "old" to say that. Time really has been flying by. I think about our move down to Florida like it was last week. Since then, so much has happened. We got married, finished internship, bought a house, and a number of people have been born and have died... It's time moving on her very way.

So we're moving in a few week. The link we had up for the new condo in Michigan is no longer active. We'll have to send pictures a little bit later. It's going to be home for the next 3 years.

Ginger is constantly filling our house with joy. My grandparents have always had dogs. They are such a burst of energy and light. Even when she is acting terribly, I can't be upset with her.
We cut Ginger's hair again (ultra summer cut), but I'll spare you the endless pictures this time. She's adorable but looks more like a rat (chochina!). We're doing just about anything these days except studying for our upcoming Board exams. We really should start doing more of that! :)