Snowbound Day 2

Ice prevents us from traveling, so we are enjoying another day indoors.  I've been puttering around the kitchen, baking bread and morning glory muffins.  It is a perfect day to pull out the stand mixer and food processor.  I found a decent recipe for broccoli cheese soup and we ate that with hot bread straight from the oven.

I am hoping to do some more knitting this evening, after working on some CME credits this afternoon. 

Since the sun is brightly shining off the snow and reflecting inside, I feel like wearing sunglasses in the house!

Snowbound

How awesome to awaken to fresh white snow covering the earth!  We had been adequately warned about the potential need to stay indoors today due to the winter storm.  Stopping at the grocery on the way home last night was rather interesting for a people-watcher like me; literally a few loaves of bread were left, milk was scarce, the lines were 5 deep despite all lanes being open, most people were in a resigned and contented state. 

Last night, we gathered with a French couple and some of their acquaintances to celebrate Chandeleur.  Traditionally on February 2nd, this holiday celebrates the end of winter and friends gather to utilize stored wheat in preparation for the new batch by eating crepes.  Our dinner consisted of galettes, buckwheat crepes in which to cook savory ingredients.  We then had crepes for dessert. Some had the opportunity to flip crepes themselves -- Troy seems to have good wrist action! An excellent evening overall, with wonderful hosts and an interactive, fun feast!   Unfortunately we missed out on another dinner invitation to Maximillians -- apologies to those of you who were there.

We are thoroughly enjoying an indoor day.  After a leisurely breakfast, I caught up on housework, Troy on homework.  We organized long-overdue papers.  AHHH, what a relief!   Our neighbor kids have been sledding down our hilly street and throwing snowballs at each other.

Minzie and Minah had their first solo overnight stay with Grandpa and Grandma, but obviously did well, confirmed by Minzie excitedly calling me early to tell me they were going to Chicago on the train.

Oregon Girls Rock

She's not bad, but you can watch the master here.

It's sunny here, what's it like up there?!

We're always harassing our northern neighbors about the nasty weather they have.  But here's an example of how tough it really is in the south.

Marathon Work Week

As some providers are out of the office, I am working all week, including today.  It's funny to be out of routine, and I realized by late this afternoon how much I need and look forward to my Thursday break.  Today's selection of patients mostly ran in the "overwhelmed with life" symptomology.  YES, it's January and YES, it's been a long winter.  It's nice to have a job where I can help another, though.

Follow-up appointment

Most of you know that two weeks ago I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, follicular subtype.  This particular lymphoma is indolent and slow-growing, which complicates the pregnancy slightly, but I am feeling great and gaining weight.  (Those of you who know me realize the oddity of my happiness at gaining weight!!!!) This afternoon, we returned to see the oncologist who reviewed my labwork (essentially normal) and the abdominal ultrasound.  There are lymph nodes in the abdomen which she would like to monitor with ultrasound every 8 weeks.  We will try to get as far along in the pregnancy as possible, depending on my symptoms and if the lymph nodes change, before considering any treatment.  Hopefully we can go through the full pregnancy, currently at 12 weeks.  I also will obtain a high-risk OB consult, just as a matter of course.  Thanks to everyone for your phenomenal support and encouragement.  We definitely have the most amazing friends and relatives!

Sleep less, sleep more

We enjoyed our dinner Friday night with some friends, a young couple who are renovating their house.  We learned we have much in common, especially as we discussed the joys and pains of construction.  We're excited about seeing their place, as the work progresses.  The time flew by and we didn't even know it was so late.

Saturday morning, some of us met up at a friend's house for breakfast.  Awesome buffet spread!

Troy had a meeting at his lab with a web guru, and spent a good portion of the day there.  We walked around in the beautiful sunshine after he was done, and soaked in some vitamin D.   Soon after supper, my eyelids drooped and I dozed on and off for 3 hours in my chair, finally going to bed and slept for 10 hours!   The ladies in meeting all nodded their head in complete understanding when I told them this morning.  This baby is rather on the demanding side, insisting on sleep despite me wanting to do other things!

Tough Job

Hey, it looks like Mansfield, OH is right up there with Raleigh-Cary, NC!

Updated office website

Look what airbrushing can do!

Phone

For those of you (named Mom) who've been asking for photos of my new phone, click here.

A la plancha

A couple ladies from my office and I adventured out for dinner at a newly opened restaurant in Cary.  Apparently Giorgio owns several places in the Triangle area and this one is his latest endeavor.  We enjoyed the beautiful ambience, good food (especially dessert) and table talk.  The olives were amazing, as was the bread.  Definitely leave room for dessert.

Weekend adventures

On Saturday, Charlene and I explored Durham.  We started at the farmers market, then headed over to an eclectic store called Morgan Imports.  We wandered into one store at Brightleaf Square across the street, but time limited us from browsing more as we were suppposed to meet Steve and Troy at Toast, a new paninoteca.
Then, Troy and I ran errands, and happened to drive by the new Meat House which is located within walking distance of our house.  They offered us samples of marinated steak tips to take home and also were grilling some on site, which we were encouraged to taste.  YUM!  

We enjoyed our Sunday, hanging out with Ken, Lorena, Kelly and Christian.  She fixed a yummy, yummy lunch.   We've also enjoyed our fireplace this weekend, courtesy of the guys lumber day.

And today, my new phone finally arrived!!  Poor Troy has been working for the past hour on updating my contact numbers on the new phone, and has had to call the company twice now.

Life is good...

...with a good book and a fireplace.

Wood Choppin' and Cheese Eatin'

We've been eating a lot of cheese around here lately.  Charlene and Youngin are going to have girls day out today while Steve and I go pick up some firewood.  I suggested they embark on a quest for some good local cheese.  We'll have to investigate what serves as good and local cheese in NC.  Considering the primary farm animals are chickens and hogs, this could get interesting!

Here are a couple options:
Celebrity Dairy
Lucky 32, a restaurant in Cary, lists some resources here
And there's always THIS great source for local, quality cheese (thanks, Google, you always know just what we need!)

Foodies and Water

This is just one of several episodes for foodies to check out.

Doh! *

This afternoon, after running errands and stopping at the office to drop of the beast (aka pager), I turned onto our street and saw Troy's truck parked on the curb.  I was so excited, wondering how he got home so early, if his class had been canceled, and why he didn't tell me when he called an hour before. 

Then, duh!  the realization hit that we had actually gone over to his school together this morning and I was supposed to pick him up this evening.

*Doh (Oxford English Dictionary, 2001 addition) -- Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish. Also (usu. mildly derogatory): implying that another person has said or done something foolish 

The cell phone dilemma

How do you decide which cell phone to buy?  My 3-year-old phone (courtesy of my brother) finally broke, and I've been forced to look at phones again.  During the past year, I have wandered in and out of "The Always Congested with Long-line Phone Store" and haven't seen anything that was better that what I have.  Therefore, no new phone.  But, last night, we stared at various phones and the nice salesman helpfully explained features of different ones. But more questions:  Will I really need all the doo-dads of their new high-tech, app-ready, expensive smart phone?  Is the additional monthly fee for the web-service worthwhile?  Are the cheaper phones any good?  Will I actually use it for more than talking and texting?  Which Korean company is a better one -- LG vs Samsung? 

In the end, I decided on a mid-range phone, made by LG.  Why?  Because it comes in maroon, has a decent texting keyboard and plays music if I want.  Of course, maroon isn't in stock and I now am waiting for shipment.  Did I make the right decision?!!  Dunno.

Gratitude

I've hung out in hospitals most of my adult life, just par for the course of my work.  The past several years, the growing trend of primary care is to utilize hospitalists for inpatient care, so my time "in-house" has been extremely limited.  This weekend, we decided to visit a dear patient of mine who was admitted at the university hospital.  WHEWWWW!  My calloused shell has definitely been shed because this hospital trip struck me deeply.  Aside from the rampant memories of being on-call as student and housestaff, I felt overwhelmed by tragic illnesses visible everywhere, from the lobby to the elevators to the patient rooms.  I'm definitely not thankful enough for my health. 

Found: Fun and Free Stuff

We had a good time in Raleigh today.  While walking on the Centennial Campus greenway we discovered the new disc golf course on NC State's campus.  We also had a beautiful, close view of a great blue heron perched on a branch along Lake Raleigh.  I picked up several free textbooks from the giveaway table (Hydraulics, Geochemistry, Wastewater Treatment, Differential Eqations).  On the way home I found a large street lamp enclosure along the side of the road that I decided to drag home.  I think it could be used for a future camera project.  Kind of random, but a good day!

Electronics

I've really enjoyed the last few days in the lab.  We've been struggling through some details related to a solar power supply for the camera we are using.  This week, however, I was introduced to the electronic gadget guru (learned the trade in the Navy, probably Vietnam era) in the Bio and Ag Engineering department.  Most of what he talks about is over my head, but it's been fun to start to catch on to a few circuits concepts.  Resistance, voltage, current, amperage, ohms - they all tend to get jumbled up in my mind, but it's actually really interesting stuff once I can visualize it.  I'm looking forward to talking about all this with Youngin's dad sometime.  He is a career electronics/radio guy.

Sometimes I've wondered....

what might be some interesting places to try.  This blog post of one person's 100 top triangle dining experiences answers my question!!

Clipping Along!

Youngin's first attempt at cutting hair.