Busy Busy...

Working at the Med. School, show opening tomorrow, lots of application essays to write...updates soon, I hope!

Phone Geek

How we spent our Monday with no power. I claim no credit for this one whatsoever. Expect lots of screaming.

We're gonna turn it on...

So, after 45 hours, our power has been restored. The remnants of hurricane Ike blew through here on Sunday night (right at the beginning of the Steeler game) and knocked out power for over 100,000 people in the Pittsburgh area. I don't know if it's because 1/2 the crews were already en route to Houston, or what, but it took two days to restore our power, and they're saying some people may not get it back until Friday. The kids were off of school yesterday - they went back today with power in 1/2 the building - not sure if they were using generators or what. We played lots of board games and Barbies, and I threw them outside frequently, althought I did NOT use the phrase "get the stink blown off."
We lost all the food in the fridge/freezer, although fortunately there wasn't much in there to begin with. We didn't have any way to cook anything anyway. If asked what we missed most, I'm sure the kids would say the computer, Don would say the TV, and I'd have to toss it up between the internet and my coffeemaker in the morning. At least we had water, and the temperature has been comfortable. In fact the weather has been beautiful. I went running (walking) today up the BIG hill and the road was actually closed, but I went up it anyway. There were three trees fallen on top of wires, on that road alone, that hadn't been cleared off yet. Weird. The storm on Sunday was actually quite cool too - there was no rain, just lots of wind. It was hot in the house, so Don and I went outside for awhile and looked up at the full moon and the clouds just streaking past it as the wind roared around us. It was breathtaking. And candlelight for one night was fun. By the second night it was starting to get old. And by today, we really needed to do some laundry. (I had three days worth of running clothes in there - stinky!!!)
So we're back in business now. Yippee! S -, it was fun to read about your amusement park adventures. We took the kids to Canobie Lake a couple of years ago. It's a nice little park. M and J - hope you're both getting/staying healthy. L -, where are you?

One of my weird jobs

For those of you interested, here's a humorous article describing some of what I do at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical School.
http://www.slate.com/id/2169480/pagenum/all/
Although I haven't actually done the physical exams yet, it's coming up later in the fall. So far, I've only done interviewing skills, where I don't actually have to "gown up". This week I did Nicotene Cessation training on Monday, today and Friday I have training for Psychiatric cases (OCD and Schizophrenia) and tomorrow I have appendicitis. It's been a tough week. : )

Some marketer did his job

From a "Children's Place" magazine ad:

Just after "don't-forget-your-sweater"

and "hurry-the-bus-is-here" and "pick-you-up-after-soccer,"

a small but familiar hand waves goodbye

from inside a moving bus and the world stops

for just a second.

value every moment

Wow

So tonight was pretty amazing. One of Don's on-the-side clients gave us an invitation to an opening night at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Don couldn't go, so I went with my friend, Deb. There was a reception beforehand, with (complimentary) hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and drinks (I had Yellowtail Shiraz.) They gave us a (complimentary) planning calendar with the name of the Playhouse on the front. Then we took our two (complimentary) tickets to the show, which happened to be Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, directed by HIS SON, Rob Miller, who was there, and gave a short talk before the play. The show was exceptionally well done. The set design was simple, but very effective. There was a two-story "house", made out of wire mesh, and filled from floor to ceiling with stuff - a sled, a tricycle, and old washing machine, a dresser, a filing cabinet, etc. Different parts of the house would be illuminated at different times, but the only functional parts were the kitchen area downstairs, and a bedroom upstairs. Then surrounding the house, were towering stacks of windows, representing the encroaching apartment buildings around the house. The only functional window was where the musician sat, playing an oboe, an alto flute, an acoustic guitar. The acting was spot on, and the only drawback was the cigarette smoke from the actors onstage. It got a little annoying at times, but it wasn't enough to detract from the evening.
Then I took my (complimentary) parking pass, retrieved my car, and drove home.
Lovely evening.

Happy Birthday, Cinderella

My baby is 5 now. Fully fledged five, happily going to kindergarten, riding the bus, planning her life. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, her first answer is still "Tinkerbell, because then I can fly". But now she has also added "Policeman" and "President" and "A Mom, so I can tell everybody what to do." (Ha.)

Her dalmation-princess birthday party was a success - it was beautiful weather, so we opened up the pool and that takes a lot of game-playing pressure off of me. Although we did still hunt for plastic bones in the yard, play pin-the-tail and the spot on the dalmation, and musical dog-dishes. Granny made a terrific chocolate and vanilla cake with white icing and chocolate chip spots, and we had our dalmation pinata. She LOVED all her presents, especially the dalmation Webkinz, the Little Mermaid styling head, and all the Barbies. She's been playing with her new toys all weekend, and there wasn't one that she seemed disappointed in, with the exception of the socks and underwear given to her by us. Although, it was Hannah Montana underwear and that was pretty cool.

She's headstrong, this five year old. She knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it. I taught her the word kleptomaniac this weekend, because we always know to look somewhere in her room when we're missing a hairbrush, or a mirror, or a flashlight, or the kitchen timer. She's like a magpie - feathering her nest with shiny things that catch her fancy. She's volatile - either joyfully buzzing around the room with shiny accessories flashing, or bursting into tears because we've asked her to eat her waffle. Not many shades of gray with her. Only the new hairs that sprout on my head after each confrontation.


I'm so grateful to have this healthy, happy, spark in our lives. She keeps us laughing, and dancing, and always hopping to stay ahead of her.

Happy birthday, Cinderella.