A White Christmas

Christmas was a little different this year, but Mom did a great job shipping food, decorations, and stockings out to Colorado before the trip to keep a little tradition alive. We still had our tomato dill soup (which Brandon somehow got through security at the airport) and ham on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day was made complete with beef tenderloin, green beans, and Sister Schubert rolls. Brandon and I got a Canon S90 to replace our broken point and shoot, Sarah got a purse, Catherine got a bunch of stuff including DVD's such as Arrested Development and The Hangover, and Blake got some Southern Mississippi tumblers. Mom and Dad are in the midst of getting a complete master bathroom remodel . . . including a massive jacuzzi tub, heated tile floors, built-in towel warmer, and a huge shower with multiple shower heads and jets.

Greetings from Beaver Creek, CO

We are in Colorado for Christmas this year! We are having a wonderful time with the whole family. There was fresh snow the night before last for our first day of skiing yesterday, and some more snow last night. Yesterday was great . . . temperature around 30 degrees (but very overcast skies as it was still snowing). This morning was a little colder, 0 degrees on the top of the mountain, but beautiful blue skies. The day was topped off by Sarah's visit to the ER at the base of Beaver Creek for acute mountain sickness (she is doing much better now). Here are a few pictures from the last two days.
Merry Christmas and more posts to come!

Beach Pictures and Update

I finally have a completely free weekend to catch up on errands, bills, and blogging! I thought I would post a few pictures from our trip we took to the beach at the end of July. It was a great little getaway and the water was as pretty as it has been in years. The pictures aren't exactly the best quality (I just took my little camera), but they captured the trip.
Sarah, Brandon, and Dad doing oyster shooters (an oyster floating in vodka with a splash of cocktail sauce . . . gross!)
The whole group at dinner
Brandon being sillyThe guys and their cigars
Brandon continues to enjoy his job and will begin working nights in about a month. We are also trying to figure out a way to pay for him to go to the International Stroke Conference in San Antonio next February. He will hopefully be a podium speaker - presenting research he did in college on strokes (in front of 2000 people!). He will also get a first-name publication out of this work . . . which is a lot more than I can say about the research I did this summer. Anyway, it looks like the hospital he is working for will fund part of the trip, which would be great.
As for me, I am all done with psychiatry. The rotation was interesting, but I am not sure I am cut out to do it as a career. I am really looking forward to my 8 weeks on internal medicine. It will be tough (every 4th night in-house call), but I know I will learn a lot.
Everyone be sure to cheer on the Crimson Tide when they play Virginia Tech on September 5th (I, of course, am on-call for this game!). We are excited that football season is here!

New Orleans

Last weekend I had a great trip to New Orleans to celebrate Leah's 21st birthday with Brandon's side of the family. Considering it is July (normally scorching hot temperatures) and the forecast was rain the whole weekend, we had great weather. I had not been to New Orleans since I was twelve, so it was neat to go back. Here are a few pictures from the trip.
We all rode the mechanical bull around 6PM when the bar was empty so none of us would embarrass ourselves. [Note: The following picture was taken when the bull was NOT in motion . . . after the first tilt Lynn was gone]
At dinner on Bourbon St.
We had breakfast at Brennan's, which was fantastic.
Our charming waiter making bananas foster in front of our table
Saturday night on Bourbon St.

I think my little camera did a decent job, despite having been dropped in the lake at Brandon's bachelor party in October. Brandon is continuing to enjoy his job and is excited about having a guys weekend at the lake in a few weeks. Brutus has added low calorie salmon omega-3 treats to his list of dietary restrictions after I spent yesterday morning cleaning vomit off of my rug and sheets. As for me, I am about to enjoy one last getaway (to the beach with Brandon and my family) before I start my psychiatry rotation on Monday. I even got assigned to be on-call the first day of my very first rotation!

Brutus Graduates

After a less than stellar performance in his test, Brutus "passed" obedience training. I think in the older, tougher world of dog training (when Susie and Dolly were going), he would have been coming home with a certificate of participation. But we are proud of him anyway. Catherine and Brandon both joined me last night for the test and graduation.
This is our class . . . a wide variety of dogs and individuals
Brutus with his graduation cap
Brutus with his reward
He wrapped up the evening by having his first accident at home in months! Oh well. I guess he was exhausted and the thought of going down the elevator and out to poop island was too much to bear . . .

Swim Meet in Charlottesville

My mom, Catherine, and I are in Virginia visiting family. Last night we got to go to a swim meet and see Michael, Rachael, and Clare swim. They all did great! I was very impressed that they use a long-course pool for summer league swimming.
Here's Michael getting ready to swim the breastroke leg of the medley relay.
Rachael on the side of the pool watching relays (it was so nice not to be roped off from the side of the pool like I am used to)
Clare getting ready for the 25 free
Clare looking happy after her swim
Michael diving in, second from the left
Rachael swimming butterfly (for the 25's, the kids swam to a rope in the middle of the pool)
Michael swimming butterfly
Rachael looking cuteMichael and Pearse
The thing that struck me the most was how laid back and happy all the kids were. It was a far cry from the meets I am used to going to. It was what summer swimming should be . . . fun.

Fun Day at the Lake

This past Sunday we went out to the lake to see Brandon's family. His Aunt Lynn, Uncle Larry, and cousins, Anastasia and Daria, were in town from Ohio. We had a great day and enjoyed seeing family we do not get to see very often. We went swimming, kayaking, and tubing (even Brutus - minus the tubing). The day was even capped off by a covert fishing operation (too long a story to explain here, but Brandon made the easiest catfish catch of his life). Enjoy these pictures!