The Big 3-0!

So the inevitable struck my lovely wife recently, her 30th birthday! We spent the night at home opening various cards & gifts, and diving into some delicious carrot cake:



That weekend we really celebrated in nearby Royal Oak. We started with an early dinner reservation at the trendy Oak City Grille restaurant. Later we were thoroughly entertained at the Music Theatre by the touring comedy group, Axis of Evil. Hilarious! These 3 have Middle Eastern descent and spent two-plus hours making light of the politics and turmoil overseas, with several jabs at our lame duck president! Go see them live or on Comedy Central if you ever get the chance. In all a fun night and something different ...

Return to the Sunshine State

Our pseudo-celebration of our 3rd wedding anniversary took place in Marco Island, FL (south of Naples). Michelle was selected to attend an ACCP Fellows Conference for 3 days, while I tagged along as a pool/beach bum. We checked in late Thursday at the at the Marriott Resort & Spa (beautiful, btw), and had some drinks later that night with a friend from work.

While Michelle attended a focus group Friday morning, I hit the pool-side early for some sunbathing. The weather was beautiful, warm and sunny in the high 80's with sandy white beaches facing the Gulf of Mexico. Michelle later joined me for some sun as well ...

Later that night we found a popular resort, Snook Inn which is off the coastal waterway. Rumor has it dolphins will swim up to you while eating, but this wasn't the case ...

Saturday was more of the same for most of us, although her conference lasted all day. No problemo, as a beachside surf & turf reception was put on by the convention Delicious food & open bar, we met all the "movers & shakers" of the pulmonary world.

Other random shots of the hotel (outside front and inside sand castle with the logo).

Didn't do much Sunday as it was raining most of the afternoon. Swung through Naples and strolled around the outlet mall in Ft. Myers before flying back LATE Sunday night :-)

Overall a wonderful trip and good chance to get away. We came back with a lot of color (and some bad sunburn peeling, yours personally) ...

April (Snow) showers?!

I kid you not, we got a decent amount of snowfall accumulation this Easter weekend. We were cheated with high-60 degree weather in the middle of the week, only to have a cold-front move in from the Great Lakes and drop white stuff over Michigan.











Ginger gets busy tinkling away, and then licks her chops after a job well done! :-)

Of course our trip to Marco Island, Florida this week couldn't come at a better time. More to follow ...

Happy Pesach

Michelle & I were guests for the 2nd sedar at the home of Larry & Naomi (cousins to Michelle's grandmother Marcy). Overall we had a wonderful time, almost 30 people were in attendance: including Larry's niece from West Virginia with their 3 children. Lots of reading, singing, and of course ... EATING. We left very well-fed, to say the least. Looking forward to breaking Passover with some veggie pizza ... YUM :-)

New friends ... not really

Michelle & I are house-sitting this week for a colleague from the Emergency Department at our hospital. She has two fur-ball cats, the above named Colby (also a darker, black-colored cat named Cocoa - not pictured). Ginger shows good poise on a leash, unfortunately the two don't seem to click that well!

Another candid shot of our baby girl ... always game for photo ops!

The 3rd Year Mark

Happy 3rd Anniversary

We just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary with a very low-key dinner just enjoying each other's company. I for one, am very happy to be married to such a wonderful, handsome, intelligent gentleman. I'm looking forward to every year afterward and each day. I'm glad that we're going to have some R&R next month (Florida). I'm going for a conference and Justin is going to be the spouse. :)

I LOVE YOU HONEY!

Ginger's new trim

So after previous blood-baths trying to cut Ginger's hair, Michelle wanted to give the nearby professional Petco groomers a try. An whoila! Overall they did a great job, we can actually see her eyes & face much better ... enjoy!

Purim Party Part Deux

Michelle & I decided to venture out towards the Palace of Auburn Hills (home of playoff-bound Detroit Pistons) and attend the annual Club Shushan Purim Party. Quite a good spread of food and drinks, unfortunately very clique-ish as we didn't really know anyone else there (except one of the sponsoring physicians, who we work with). It was fun to get out and socialize regardless ... Michelle enjoyed sampling of some free hand lotion :-)

Purim-fest!

Sunday was spent with Ray & Adrienne at their Young Israel synagogue. We attended their Megillah reading and were treated to a Purim party with several cute children wearing costumes. A delicious spread was on hand including falafel balls, pita bread, humus, and various sweets. The evening wrapped up with a movie showing commemorating the Jewish holiday. We're actually attending a second Purim party this week at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. Should be fun! Thanks again to our gracious hosts for a wonderful time, we look forward to visiting again real soon ...

Vegas Baby!

We recently coordinated with David and flew out to Las Vegas last week to have a mini-Zetoony reunion. Michelle was there last in October for a medical convention, while I hadn't been out in over a year. Our flight landed late Thursday after the usual delays, and we didn't go to sleep until midnight Pacific Time.

Friday we slept in and hung out at home. Later that night we went out for some dancing at the local Tuscany's lounge with Beth and some of her friends. In all it was fun & impressive seeing everyone strut their stuff on the dance floor!











We picked up David from the airport around midnight and slept in again (a running theme). Saturday was fun, playing tennis and using the clubhouse gym/pool facilities. Later in the day we met up with Mal, Marcy, and Cassie for some quality catchup. The day wrapped up with Dinner at Landry's seafood restaurant. I was so full I fell asleep after dinner, Michelle caught me in the act ;-)

Another visit from the Bears

So my folks battled the recent inclement weather conditions in Michigan and stayed with us for five days. Of all the things do delay their flight ... FOG! They were airborne for almost two additional hours and almost re-routed to Milwaukee before landing in Detroit. But in all they had a relaxing time, including free visit to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Lots of catching up, napping, and enjoying our newly discovered gas fireplace! They left in good shape and just in time, as we're heading out to Las Vegas to visit Michelle's family later this week. Ginger will be in good hands with a colleague from work ... enjoy these candid shots!

Just a bit nipply outside!!

The weather has plummeted to sub-freezing temps the past week or so, as can be visualized by our outside thermometer! Pretty crummy weather to say the least, nothing like staying warm inside. We even got our propane fireplace to work the other day, so we're pretty psyched about that.

Last night we were thoroughly entertained by the Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy showing at the Fisher Theatre in downtown Detroit. My program director was kind enough to give us two free tix, I even stayed awake the whole time! We'll have to catch some more showings later this year.

All is otherwise status quo since our last posting. Last week we went to the Novi Home Improvement show and purchased a 15-foot expandable ladder (something we've needed for a while). Michelle & I remain busy at work as well. She's back in the ICU this month, while I'm covering the GI floor service. My parents will be coming for another visit later this month, so we're looking forward to that ...

More white stuff ...

We've actually gotten a couple more inches of snow during the week. Kinda nice to see a wintery Michigan after all! Of course, Ginger likes to go out every hour and lick the white stuff to her heart's content :-)

Snow for Ginger!

It wasn't much, but Ginger got to experience her first decent snowfall earlier in the week. With global warming we're seeing little accumulation and balmy weather for Michigan standards. Maayybee we got an inch, if that :-) Ginger doesn't seem to mind, she's a trooper ...