New House, Inside

Before I really get going with residency and probably blog less frequently I thought I share some of the updates and pictures from the house that we've been working so hard on:

The living room when we moved in.

Jon and I put up a chair rail and repainted the room.

Another angle on the living room. The door you see exits to the dining room.

The woodstove we had put in the family room.

The main bathroom - This was so much work taking down old wallpaper and painting!

Kitchen

Sydney's new room.

Sully

With some mixed feelings we took the plunge and looked for another rescue dog. We really missed having a dog in the house and realized that the new house was such a great place for a dog. Although we knew we could never replace Lou we wanted to open our hearts to another pup in need of a home.

We felt an "older" young dog was the best situation as Jon and I are starting our residencies and settled on a black lab mix from Tennessee that is about 6 months old whom we named "Sully." He's been with us for about 2 weeks and settled in really quickly. He's going to be a large dog and is kind of clumsy with his huge paws and wiry body but such a love!

He has some wierd behaviors such as going beserk if Syd rides her scooter and kicking dirt behind him whenever he goes to the bathroom. He really makes us happy despite his peculiarities!

Erin's nups

While Erin and Darcy have plans for a large wedding in Ireland (August '08), they decided, for practical reasons, that a civil ceremony now was appropriate. So on June 16th in the Boston Seaport area Erin and Darcy had a small ceremony. The day was gorgeous! We're so excited to have Darcy as an "official" family member and he can finally stop kissing my dad's @#$. Seriously though, well done guys - we love you!

Erin gives last minute directions to the "ring bearer."

The ceremony with the couple flanked by parents.

The big kiss.

The beautiful bride with a beautiful backdrop.

The husband and wife with thier sibs, sib-in-laws, and niece.

Wildlife Sitings

While on our trip Sydney and I saw lots of inte

resting wildlife. Above is a photo of a female turtle that we saw in the bathroom. How do we know it was a female? It was in the Ladies room. This is the list of our sitings:

1.) Salamanders/Newts (caught one!)

2.) Leopard Frogs (caught one!)

3.) Snakes

4.) Blue Heron

5.) Black Bear

6.) Snapping Turtles (bathroom and on the pond)

7.) Minnows and Fish

8.) We tried to see a family of foxes that were denned near our campsite but they didn't come out during our stake-out.

9.) Red squirrels

Monadnock

We decided to go across NH to climb Mt. Monadnock before the end of our vacation week. This climb was Sydney's 4th time to the summit (first time was age 5!). She enjoys hiking much more when there is a goal, like the top of the mountain. We also really enjoy the climbing above the timberline. This time up we started out behind a group of teenagers from city-year. For most of them it was there first time on a mountain. They were all very impressed with how quickly Syd was making the climb to the summit as she passed the group. We had lunch at the top but it was actually starting to rain and the clouds looked ominous so we didn't stick around as long as usual.

Feeling strong as we head out from the parking lot.

Syd gets a little tired - the summit is in the background.

The angle of my shot does not over-exaggerate how steep this rock was.

The top!

Camping - Bear Brook and the "Big Scare"

We were really excited about our camp site here in NH because it was really remote - it didn't feel at all like a campground. There were very few campers in the park since it was mid-week and early June adding to the natural feel. There was a little more to do at this park - definitely more trails, better swimming areas, boat rentals etc. and we really enjoyed our stay here...well most of it. The mosquitos were ridiculous - the ranger said it was in part from the wet spring and in part from it being early in the year.

There seemed to be butterflies everywhere in this park.

As you can see building castles was an important part of our trip. This one is called "Port Seymour."

We spent a great deal of time just floating around on this raft together. We also took the canoe out one windy afternoon.

Part of the hike around the lake featured a boardwalk through the swamp which we thought was really cool.

Mom and Syd one night at BB around the fire. If we were hanging out at camp we pretty much had to have a fire going to control the mosquitoes.

About half-way done the hike around the lake.

I have to admit - I was a little wary as a woman camping alone with her daughter and I was a little on edge the whole time - sort of in a hyper-vigilent mode. The second night of our stay it was about 9:45 pm. We were finishing up our last set of s'mores when I heard something large lumbering towards us through the pitch black woods. I was pretty scared because we were so far from the ranger station and no other campers were anywhere near us. I didn't want to convey my fear to Sydney, though, so I had her hold the flashlight while I calmly threw our sleeping bags in the car. My plan was to get in and lock the doors for the night! I then shined the flashlight in the direction of the noise and saw a pair of reflective eyes about 5 feet off the ground! Just then the ranger came by to say good-night to us - as they did everynight before leaving the park(good timing!) and I explained that I heard a large animal. He shined his light toward our tent and there stood a big black bear!

We slept in the car that night.

Black bears are really shy and no threat to humans but Syd was spooked. I was actually relieved it wasn't a strange person - that was my initial fear.

Anyways, the park gave us a voucher for 3 nights camping because of the bear visit but I'm not sure I can get Syd to go back.

Camping - Otter River

The next few blogs will be from our trip. Sydney and I went camping for a week in Mass. and NH. Jon joined us for two nights as well. We stayed at Otter River State Park in Winchendon, Ma and then Bear Brook State Park in mid-NH. Apparently, all state parks must be named in the pattern of "animal" + "body of water." We loved sitting around the fire each evening and spending our days hiking and swimming - we did have a little scare which I'll write about soon....

Sydney stands by her "drip-castle" on Beaman Pond at Otter River.

While the water was still a little cold there was plenty to do beachside.

"Sally" was our salamander that we caught and kept until the boys who were using salamanders as bait left the pond. I brought along a book of amphibians and reptiles and Sydney was really interested in looking up the frogs, salamanders and snakes we saw.

This was a fine trail, but somewhere along the way I realized that Sydney just wasn't enjoying herself. When I asked her about it she explained that she didn't see the point of hiking if there wasn't a mountain involved.


Sydney and Jon at the campsite at Otter River.

Mommy and Syd roasting something over the fire at Otter River - its either hotdogs or marshmellows.

Whale

Sydney and I have been away on a camping trip so we're a little back-logged on blogs but we'll catch up (and the blogs will be interesting!).

A couple weeks ago we went out with my dad to a "marine sanctuary" off the coast of provincetown in my dad's boat. We left very early in the morning and had a blast.

My dad filets a bluefish (that I caught!) for bait for his lobster traps. Other bluefish (we caught 5) got grilled for lunch. In the sanctuary you are allowed to recreationally fish but commercial fishing is prohibited. Later in the day we pulled my dad's lobster traps and brought home 6 lobsters which also became part of our lunch. The past 3 years, since my dad has had his recreational lobsterman's license we've been spoiled with more lobster than we can stand all summer long.

Sydney stocks the boat with cookies from the marina store before boarding for our 6 hour trip.

The most exciting part for me was when a Minke whale took an interest in our boat. These are smaller whales that travel solo and are found all over the world.

The Minke whale is known for its curiosity and interest in human activities and this whale certainly fit that bill.

The whale repeatedly circled the boat and came up so that its eye was just out of the water to observe us. After about 10 minutes he/she decided we were boring and swam away. Sydney dubbed the whale "bubbles." It was so cool!

My dad's boat is so much fun - and he's always looking for someone to take deep sea fishing or lobstering so please let me know if you ever want to go out.

Graduation Ramblings

So, we're doctors finally. Jon and I graduated on Sunday in a surprisingly boring graduation ceremony. The graduation speaker was the Nobel Laureate from UMASS Worcester, Craig Mello. I have to say that speech was a little less interesting than I expected. He seems to be more of a "power-point-thesis-defense" kind of guy rather that a "thoughts-on-life" kind of guy. Anyways, thanks to our family members who came out and shared the day with us, despite the dreary cold weather.

The following reflections are entirely my own - obviously Jon's experience with Medical School and his path there were different than mine. I was overwhelmed when I thought about the number of people who have been guides and mentors to me on my way here - so many people helped me to be able to pursue this profession and i'm so thankful. This is going to be a long entry so either settle in or surf elsewhere......its refreshing to be able to reflect on my path without any residency program or reader in mind.

My dad certainly fostered my early interest in the natural world. He talked to me about all sorts of plants, birds and animals and I remember being surprised when I was little to find out that he was an engineer rather than a marine biologist or the like. In addition to this, he really taught me to be analytic in my thinking and ask both "why" and "how" about everything ( and I think this habit has started to annoy my husband.......)

My mom's contribution was totally different from my dad's (surprise surprise..) and I have her to thank for telling me I "didn't have a choice" about going back to college after Sydney was born - which sounded totally impossible to me at the time. When I later told her I was thinking about graduate school and then medical school she was the only one who, without flinching, said I should go. From as early as I can remember she has had total confidence in my abilities and completely supported my aspirations...something I didn't understand until I had a daughter.

I have to pause and thank Mike for being such and excellent dad to Sydney and supporter of my career. He's moved three times to remain close to Sydney while I pursued higher education. Not to mention all the times he's left work for sick child days or did more than his share of childcare because of an upcoming test or a night on call. I remember when Sydney was about two someone asked her what daddies and mommies do and she said, "Daddies rock babies to sleep and mommies do homework." The statement made me sad and happy at the same time. Besides fatherhood, Mike has been a great friend to me especially when the going was tough.

Now, college seems like a blur to me. I know caring for a baby and working so much made my experience unique. I'm so grateful that I got into pre-hospital emergency care during college. In addition to being a really convenient way to make money, it really planted the seed of a medical career in my mind. Also, if you are looking for interesting people hang out with EMTs sometime.

George Wade is an important person in my personal history. I think of my time in graduate school as being completely happy. I loved what I was doing for work and school - it was so intellectually satisfying and it was not so overwhelming that I didn't have energy left for my home life - in fact, in George's lab, we were expected to blur that line. Children were welcome in the lab and, reciprocally, science (and hamsters!) certainly followed me home. Beyond this, George went out of his way in several instances to ensure that I was accepted at UMASS Medical - although he did try to talk me out of Medicine!

Meeting Jon was certainly a distraction during medical school, but I think he's definitely made me a better doctor. NOT because we study together or work well together (we actually have totally different brains!) but because my life at home is richer with him in it.

Of course, to Sydney is where I must direct most of my gratitude. If she had not been such an innately kind, flexible and creative person we could not have taken this journey together. I used to tell myself that she would be "stronger" for having seen me pursue my own goals in life and to see me feel fulfilled by my career but I'm not so sure that's true. There were so many times that I felt revived and re-energized to come home to her. I've witnessed her displaying kindness towards others that makes me want to be a better person. She's also a total ham and keeps laughter in our home. Being a parent puts everything into perspective and that is such a gift. There were certainly times my classmates were "stressed" about something that seemed kind of silly in the bigger scheme and I think Sydney has helped keep me focused on that bigger scheme. Really, everyday of being Syd's mom is better than the one before.

Thanks, Syd, for being by my side all this time - you have become a really lovely person.

There is no feeling like doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. I couldn't be happier - Thank You.

Graduation Practice

Apparently, Tizzy doesn't take this very seriously!

Family Tree

I found this picture in the study last night. Look closely at Ciara's picture (Erin's daughter-to-be).