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! :)

A little R&R ...

Michelle & I recently spent a wonderful week visiting family & friends in NY. Our trip started off with a fun-filled trek to Manhattan where we caught up with friends in Central Park West. The weather was perfect for relaxing & schmoozing on the grass. Later that afternoon we headed cross-town to the Upper East Side to catch some roof-top scenery, and see Michelle's cousin Shoshana and her newborn son Gabriel a block over.



The following day we attended Mike & Lori's wedding at the Woodbury Country Club (literally 5 minutes from my house). It was awesome! We ate, drank and danced to our heart's content. Familiar faces were in attendance, including friends from college & my high school orchestra teacher! (first cousin to the groom's mother). We wish the newlyweds a liftetime of health and happiness ...



Monday was spent with family in upstate NY (Schenectady), where I hadn't been in quite some time. Always great to see the Meyers clan ... thanks to Uncle Bernie for treating us to a delicious Japanese dinner!

The following day was my father's 64th birthday. We celebrated with more delcious Japanese food at a nearby Osaka restaruant. I also got to spend some time with my aging french poodle, Coquette, who is sadly a shell of her former self ;-(

The rest of the week was spent relaxing, eating, relaxing and ... oh wait, more eating! :-) Many thanks to the wonderful hosts. Our batteries are now energized for the home stretch!

Moving Onward

Lots has happened since our last post regarding our move to Michigan. We made an offer on a condominium in a town called Novi (about 20 minutes from our hospital). Click here for a closer look! It's beautifully located in a private development, literally right off a golf course. A bit larger than our current place, with a full basement and carpet throughout. Visitors are welcome anytime! We're driving up there June 24th, closing June 26th, and officially starting work July 1st. Not much time to settle in, unfortunately, but we'll make do.

We also received an offer to purchase our home in St. Petersburg several weeks ago, very close to what we were seeking. For those of you who have seen our home, it's sad to leave behind. But we didn't want the responsibility of managing this property being 1,000 miles away. In all everything is working out according to plan. Next up is hiring a moving company ...

Doggie Heaven

Ginger remains a constant source of joy and endless fun. Michelle & I took her to the nearby Crescent Lake dog park early Sunday morning. She had a blast (as usual) running around in the dirt chasing other dogs, cooling off by laying belly-down in the mud. It's pretty much a given she needs a bath after such a workout (which she's not a huge fan of). Here's a pic of her panting away ...

She continues to love chewing on wooden furniture, eating toilet paper from the bathroom roll, and running laps in our house after having a little "accident." All in all quite a handful, but still a joy to play with and love ...

Summer is acomin'

Hi web-land. I appreciate the comments that people have been sending our way about the blog site. I'm glad, mostly, that it is keeping everybody up to speed. I get a lot of calls now because, "I saw the site ..."
Well, as you know we're in the midst of looking for places in Michigan to move and then selling our home down in Florida. It's tougher than we thoughts to coordinate all of the things that go into a move. A week ago we we in Michigan looking at all sorts of places to live: apartments, condos, houses. We're still up in the air.
As far as work is going, we are both getting very excited about finishing up our Internal Medicing residency and starting on a whole new adventure in Fellowship. We are taking our Board certification for Internal Medicine in August but will already be in the midst of our subspecialties. Mine (pulmonary & critical care) and Justin's (gastroenterology). Lots of fun stuff. We're really looking forward to meeting new people in Michgan and getting to know our hospital better. We're sad about leaving Florida ('cuz we love it here... sorry Justin).
In a few weeks we're going to be going to Justin's friend's wedding - Mike Fettner and Lori. We can't wait. Very excited!! Plus we're spending the whole week in Long Island with Justin's parents. Hopefully we'll be able to hook up with my cousins and some friends while we're up there.
Those are the highlights of the past few and the next few weeks. We'll keep you up to date.
Ciao!

Trimmin' Slimmin' Ginger

About every two months we try and cut Ginger's hair. Recently she's become quite testy in the process, especially her face and near her eyes. So I had to cut her facial hair first, before doing the rest. Before-shot: During-shots:

(She was very thristy at this point, and loved drinking from our kitchen sink!)









And after-shots:

Unfortunately the Benadryl we gave her before-hand (with peanut butter) did nothing in terms of sedation, so we had to bribe her towards the end with Cheerios & dog-treats. All in all a nice trim ...