You'll see some of the pics that just didn't make the cut for the monthly updates, like this one where Tess was jealous that Roxy got a new bed
You'll also see a new project where I've been going through old pics of me or that I took as a kid, and restoring them. This was after my junior prom. Damn I used to be a hottie! LOL
You'll also see pictures that are a continuation of my family photo restoration project. Here is one of me and Grampie Campbell.
Plus a bonus of upgrading to pro is that you can go all the way back in the archives to find gems like this. For Christmas 2006, Roxy was not even a year old and kept stealing Tessy's gifts. You can see the silent pathetic protest in her eyes.
The whole March -in like a lamb, out like a lion- thing is totally true. The last few days of March, it was gorgeous and in the 60's. First few days of April, we get snow! It melted as soon as it hit the ground, but still... its the principle of the thing. But Tess is clearly unphased.
We got our new puppy BB early this month(more in the post below), and here she is nesting on a blanket thet got pushed over onto an end table. She and Roxy just run & run together in the backyard, and she is always stealing Tessy's toys right out of her mouth. She also has been a little thief, finding and shredding anything resembling a sock, stuffed animal, or paper product. But she really has been the sweetest puppy ever, always so happy to see us when we come in the room and cuddle with us at night.
Dan came to visit for Eoin's 40th birthday surprise party. One of the ways they kept eoin busy was to go scouting for turkey season. I stayed at home making my red velvet cake balls & chocolate chip cheesecake, so Josh took this. Here is Dan playing on the interwebs on Josh's phone in the treestand. Eoin ultimately ruined the surprise, so we went out to Mexican and got drunk on margaritas instead.
Jeff, one of Josh's old gunsmithing school buddies flew in from Utah for a week for turkey season. They both bagged a bird! What I learned from the week= Michelle woken up at 4am x 1 week= tasty turkey dinner! Oh, and btw, can you spot the hidden shiba?
Jesse flew into STL from Phoenix for OMS3 testing, and we made a weekend of it. We got together with Katie, where after the obligatory Applebee's run, we pretty much turned into 12 year old girls, gossiping and braiding eachother's hair. No joke, I did their eye makeup for them. Isn't Katie friggin adorable?
That night we went to Charlie Gito's with my parents and they sat us at Mr. Gito's table, us being VIP's and all. We sampled the calamari, the original toasted rav, and a trio of gelatos. Then, in VIP style, us ladies headed to the Hustler Club before crashing at Katie's parent's house. I took Jesse up to Kirksville the next day.
I also wrote and edited 4 mini-episodes of the OMM Office for Skit Night… y’know, like The Office… but the office I work in. It was interesting wrangling all the docs and making them act this out, considering no one in the office has ever seen the show. Only took 3 days to film and 18 hours to edit 
I also dressed up and performed live at Skit Night as Susan Boyle. Wrap your mind around that. Crazy hair, eyebrows, walk and everything. I’ll post video once the DVD comes out.
Welcome our new puppy Beatrix Kiddo...aka BB!
She is a 4 month old half husky, half shiba inu mix. Bethany found her...a breeder was selling them outside Walmart in Springfield MO.
So far the pups are all getting along swimmingly.
She seems to have the Tessy gene for sleeping in various super cute ways.
And the Roxy genes for being a ninja and a shit disturber
So weight loss update… as you might see by the ticker on the side of the page, I am down 22 pounds.
At the beginning of the fellowship, I was sad to leave Denver and Josh behind (he couldn’t follow me back to Kirksville for 3 months) and I had to study for boards. Translate “study” as sit in one place for 6 weeks eating whatever you be delivered or heated up in under 5 minutes. So naturally I packed on the pounds
So the weight loss has been slow going, with occasional jumps. It was easy to get from 165 to 158 by just eating normally and moving around again… but it took seemingly forever to get past 153. I stepped up my game by walking everywhere and getting enough sleep for once. I jumped down to 148 about a week later. I hung around there for another month until I started doing kickboxing, then was able to drop 4 more to 144. Now I’m stuck again. But at least it’s at a good spot. I can fit in all my clothes, a lot are a little baggy actually. Others are noticing a difference. Most important, I can look in the mirror and feel comfortable with what I see.
At this point, it almost seems selfish to not just be satisfied. The enemy of good is perfect, right? After all, I totally blame the South Beach Diet for getting up to the 140’s. I was 138 and not happy (ohmigod to down to 138 again!), so I tried the diet. I got down to 131 and then ate 1 carb and blew up to 145. Since then 145 has been my plateau.
Well, the pursuit is to be healthy and happy. I am already happy, so check that off the list. And its not that I am UNhealthy, but I am not exactly in peak form either, know what I mean? My weight is still a little overweight for my height and my bodyfat is definitely too high. I work out maaaaybe twice per week and as much as I am “interested” in being more active, I haven’t pursued any of it. And I am more than a little embarrassed by my stamina. I’m at a stage in my life where I feel I should have this figured out…I’m almost a doctor for chrissake. As Oprah said about her weight, I can’t believe I am still talking about this after all these years!
So here’s the plan because I believe things happen when you let the universe know your plan, or at least the blogging community.
1) Lose 10 more pounds to get down to 135—This will bring my BMI in the middle of the normal range for my height. Any less and I start looking like a stick… I like having a little bit of a booty!
2) Lose 5% body fat—This will bring my body fat into a normal healthy range, and maybe I’ll finally be able to see those abs I know are hiding under there.
3) Workout 3 times per week—Its unrealistic for me to be a “get up at 6am to run everyday” kind of person, but working out at least 3 times a week is something I can stick with the rest of my life
4) Do something “active” for fun every week—Again, I don’t see me training for a marathon, but there’s no reason why I can’t do a 5K fun run, or take the dogs for a long hike at the park, or play a couple games of racquetball on the weekend. Every activity will be fun, make me healthier, and a little more confident at the accomplishment.
Zach (another OMM fellow) and Jamie are due to have a baby girl in the next month, so we threw them a baby shower on March 4th. Bethany made chili and I did salad, and then between us had like 3 deserts. We go them a tandem stroller and pretty pink dresses for Easter, which their daughter Lily is seems to approve here.
The second weekend in March I came down to St. Louis for the Advanced Pranic Healing workshop. It was a great, rejuvenating weekend with some great friends like Katie M, the Mikes, and Chris. The first lunch we had was at an Indian place, and it was so good, I stuffed myself and totally forgot to take a pic. The next day we trekked across a giant field and climbed a stone wall to get to Schnucks.
Aww, the beginnings of spring. We've been seeing more green stuff in the yard, and its been so nice, a couple days a week we're able to leave the door open for the dogs to wander in and out,
The third weekend in March we went to Chicago to visit our friend Ben. We were either at his place chilling, at our hotel chilling (in a dog hair-free bed!), or having some excellent food. Again, too delicious to stop and take a pic, but it included sushi, pho, and of course, pizza!
The last week of March Josh came down to the AAO Convocation with me (its an OMM thing). The conference was a little disappointing, but Little Rock was surprisingly nice! Its a cool river city like St. Louis, the weather was nice, and there was some pretty fun stuff to do. The first night we had an authentic Italian dinner at the hotel. The next night, Dr. Kuchera (AAO bigwig) took a bunch of us out to sushi. On a lighter day, Josh and I explored the city. Then the last day we went to the President's reception.
Though it wasn't the best conference I've been to, there were some bright spots. I am a member of NUFA, the fellows organizaiton, so I got to go to select NUFA forums. In this one, Drs. Kuchera, Crowe and Farnum (pictured here) gave us a private talk about the thoracic inlet. Dr. Farnum was in my previous Founder's Day pics, and he is amazing, still practicing in his 90's!
As always, the pups loved being at Grandpa's and are cute in general.
1. I dyed my hair blonde all through highschool. I stopped after being a waitress at Steak n Shake where people kept treating me like a blonde ditz. As a brunette, my tips went way down but people stopped talking slow to me.
2. I decided early on I’d either go for medicine or Broadway. I decided on medicine because I didn’t want to live in New York and I figured I could always sing and do musical theater in my spare time. Can’t really do medicine as a hobby.
3. I secretly judge people on their spelling and grammar. But I’m not a nazi about it. I only call them out if its medical. Probably a remnant from being a pharm tech for 6 years. Plus wouldn’t you want your doc to know how to spell the drugs they are prescribing?
4. I was in show choir in highschool. It was called Maroon Majic. Despite us being “maroon”, we wore bright red sequence dresses with matching red underpants. Performing with them was one of the funnest things I’ve ever done.
5. The other funnest thing was singing barbershop. My highschool boyfriend’s group almost never let me sing with them and my best friend started a group without me. I am still bitter to this day. Seriously.
6. On that note, if I go to an amateur night and don’t perform, or go to a club and don’t dance, it causes me physical pain. I love medicine, but I regret that I don’t have more opportunity to be creative.
7. I am extremely near-sighted. I can only see things clearly that are an inch or two from my face.
8. Tequila makes me happy.
9. I put either ketchup or horseradish on just about everything. Sometimes both.
10. I am not religious or black, but I love Tyler Perry plays.
11. I was naturally super skinny my whole life. I used to wish for curves. Now I have them, and I hate them. I think I just wanted the boobs.
12. I was in the best shape of my life when I was training for the Air Force but then they unceremoniously dropped me due to “my eyes” even though 3 specialists said my eyes were healthy and would not be a hindrance to serve. I have HATED working out ever since.
13. Because I hate working out, I have to bribe myself with a trashy magazine to read while doing cardio, or a banana-pecan smoothie afterwards.
14. I have 10 active nicknames. My mom’s side of the family calls me Shellbell. My highschool facebook friends call me Shellface or Muppet. My dad calls me Baboo, because I call him Dadoo (remember on Animaniacs…”can I call you Dadoooo?”). My girls call me Micahihi because that’s what popped up on Jesse’s cellphone with word assist after she typed in M-I-C. Josh’s friends call me Doc, as in “What’s up Doc?” The fellows call me Mitchell. Only my closest friends are allowed to call me Big V. And my husband calls me Honeybunny, which he got from Pulp Fiction.
15. I think OMM should be taught in highschool to everybody. Then maybe by medschool, we could get to the hardcore, “magical” stuff
16. I also think we should all learn how to handle a gun and balance a checkbook.
17. I’ve been watching a lot of Big Love, and its had me thinking that having an extra wife around could be darn convenient. Built in babysitting and I’d get the bed to myself every other night. I don’t know why any man would sign up for it though.
18. I have all my kids names picked out… just need to have them. I think pregnant women get a little kooky in naming with the hormones and all, so I wanted to be prepared.
19. I love photography, but I am not really interested in spending all the time and money in learning how to use the various lenses and filters, etc. I will continue to be queen of the point ‘n shoot
20. Josh and I fell in love with the mountains while in Denver. I understood how people could be a “ocean” person, or a “city” person, but I didn’t get how some could consider themselves “mountain” people. Now I get it. I will forever consider it one of the best years of my life. I hope we can go back West someday.
21. I’ve decided that sandy beaches are in my near future. We MUST take a vacation this year or I’m gonna go batty. I haven’t had a vacation since my honeymoon to Maine.
22. As much as I appreciate my dad and hubby spending my birthday with me, every year I wished to have friends that would throw me a party. It just seemed like every year, I had to beg people to come out with me to my birthday dinner. The best excuse for not going out with me was “I have a really nice salad waiting for me at home.” The streak was broken last year with Jesse & Katie and some homemade blueberry cheesecake icecream
23. Yes I like women. They are pretty. Though I cannot resist a man who can do pull-ups, build me a shelf, or sing Billy Joel. Or is named Johnny Depp.
24. I am pretty much a dude when it comes to movies. I’d take a movie with Bruce Willis blowing up shit or aliens fighting vampires over a romantic comedy anyday. Hell, my favorite movie is The Fifth Element, and on our first date, Josh & I saw The Fast and The Furious.
25. I didn’t post earlier bc I was in Chicago, and now I put this up to tide you over until I get back from Little Rock. Woo! Pictures in a week!
The Betty Ford Clinic and the Peds rotation in Indy have not confirmed with me, and I still need to throw in one more 2 week rotation somewhere (suggestions appreciated!)…but here is my 4th year schedule:
June 15-19
Vacation- Get Josh ready to leave
June 22-26
Vacation- Josh & I in Hawaii!!
June 29- July 24
Inpatient Psychiatry- Tripler AMC, Honolulu, HI
July 27-31
Addiction (shadowing)- Betty Ford Clinic (!!), Hollywood, CA
Aug 3-28
Family Medicine- Darnall AMC, Ft. Hood, TX
Aug 31-Sept 11
Vacation- possible Josh basic graduation OR insert 2 week rotation
Sept 14-Oct 9
Family Medicine- Eisenhower AMC, Ft. Gordon, GA
Oct 12-23
OMM elective- Karen Steele (!!), WV
Oct 26-Nov 20
ER-NERMC, Kirksville, MO
Nov 23- Dec 4
Vacation- Thanksgiving & possible Josh AIT graduation
Dec 7-18
Dermatology- NERMC, Kirksville, MO
Dec 21- Jan1
Vacation- Christmas & possibly insert easy STL 2 week rotation
Jan 4-29
ICU-NERMC, Kirksville, MO
Feb 1-12
Pulmonology-NERMC, Kirksville, MO
Feb 15-Mar 12
Tentative: Pediatrics or Peds Psych- Indianapolis, IN
Mar 15-19
CONVO- Colorado Springs, CO
Mar 15-26
Pharm elective- ONLINE
Mar 29-Apr 23
Neurology- Kirksville, MO
DONE WITH ROTATIONS!!
Apr 26-May 14 Pack up
May 14= 26th birthday
May 15= GRADUATION!
May 17-28 Trip to Bangor, ME—hopefully…ladies?
JUNE MOVE
JULY START INTERNSHIP
I’ll keep you updated on any changes, but this is the confirmed final schedule. Excited!
OK, I’ve kept you in suspense long enough.
Josh is joining the military.
Normally gunsmiths can expect to make at least $40,000 in their first year. However, when Josh got back from school, the job he had been promised for the last 2 years evaporated. Said they couldn’t take one more on the payroll. The local gunshop gives him some extra stock work, and he has a small local following of docs who he does a lot of gunwork for, but not enough to make a living. He had hoped to open a gunshop, but banks in the area aren’t exactly taking risks on new business owners, especially since we might have to pack up shop and leave in a year for my internship.
So after weighing our options, Josh has decided to go military. Probably the Army. The Navy is wooing him so hard though that he feels its worth it to at least entertain the idea. But he is planning on doing MEPS this month for the Army and honestly, the Army seems like a better fit. On one hand, he would get the exact job he wants as a small arms specialist, while the Navy would probably have him be a general machinist. On the other hand, he is pretty much required to spend a year in Korea at some point or could be deployed to Iraq immediately, while with the Navy, he would have to spend a max of 6 months on a boat every 18 months…and that’s the max. Apparently you only need one machinist per boat so…pretty good odds of not being gone a lot.
Wow, looking at that, you’d think… holy shit, why not the Navy? Well, he went to school to be a gunsmith, so working with boat equipment instead is a pretty big difference. The Navy could also make him do an extra 8 months of training for nuclear reactors since everything they do is nuclear now. FUN. The Army works out better with my career too. There are more Army residencies that would meet my needs, and if I didn’t do an Army residency, there are plenty of DO residencies near the bases.
And career satisfaction is really what this is all about. Sure, if the economy was great and people had tons of money to spend on getting their guns refinished or professionally repaired, he probably wouldn’t do it. But, it is by no means not the only reason. He tried to join the Marines out of highschool, but realized the day before basic he really wasn’t mature enough at the time to take orders and stop partying. We then both considered joining the Army before medical school, but we were newlyweds and didn’t want to be apart for the 6+ months of basic and AIT. Now with a little education under his belt, experience with being away from home, and my flexibility in my 4th year…now just feels like the right time.
But the BIG question… am I joining too? At this point, my answer would be “only if I must.” I had at one point seriously attempted at joining the Air Force, but they turned me down due to poor vision (which is so stupid, my glasses are thick but my vision is easily correctable…its not like I’m gonna be a fighter pilot for chrissake). So obviously I am not averse to the idea, but I am not going to try to join right now with him. For one thing, sure, I’d have to join to do the residency, but civilians are allowed to rotate at Army hospitals and participate in the military match, so I don’t have to join just to be considered. If I don’t match or don’t like where I match, I can say nevermind and then do the DO match. If I already was military, I would be stuck wherever I matched. For another thing, there is one program in Georgia that would actually contract me as a civilian. I’d get the perks of military like good pay, no malpractice, benefits) without the downsides like basic, deployment, or wearing the lovely uniform.
So OK, with the reality of Josh leaving for 6 months for basic and AIT setting in, I’ve had to plan accordingly. Which was part of the reason I didn’t want to mention it before… a) Josh still hasn’t signed on the dotted line for the military so it felt weird (and still does, like a jinx or something) to talk about it like it is 100% settled… and b) the question that comes up after you announce something like this is how are you going to deal? Well, I’ll be fine, but it will take some finagling.
And let me break right here to say that this is totally OUR decision. He did not make the decision one-sidedly and then leave me to figure out how to deal. We have spent hours upon hours discussing our options and what would be best for BOTH of us. For example, he was originally going to leave early April. We quickly realized that that is not enough time to get ready to leave me alone for 6 months (and certainly not for 18 months, after all, there is always the chance of Iraq deployment). Plus right now I have my evenings free, so I would be really lonely with him gone. So we decided he would wait until July to leave, after my fellowship is over and have 4th year rotations to keep me busy.
OK so back to what I was saying … before all this went down, I was hoping to do some out rotations at possible residency programs, but I was going to do the absolute minimum because it would be expensive and it would be a lot of time away from home. But since he’ll be gone anyway, and he’ll have a good paycheck, I can afford to spend most of the 6 months doing some exciting out rotations! I didn’t want to talk about it until it was done, but today I submitted my schedule to the dean, its been approved and I will post the schedule… tomorrow! Bwahaha! Mine is an evil laugh!
Then, what to do with the pups in the months we are both gone? This has been a BIG hindrance on me announcing anything because it is not at all resolved. (Its not that no one can help, its just none of this military stuff or my 4th year schedule have been definite until today, and I didn’t want to ask anyone until I knew for sure. So…surprise!) I have a few options though that I am working on. One is getting a roommate, maybe a 2nd year med student, who could watch them in exchange for reduced rent. Another is having a group of med student doggy sitters to take a break from student housing for awhile to come hang at my house, sleep in a comfy bed, take baths in a real bath tub, and play with cute pups. (Sounds weird but I did that exact thing my 2nd year for a 4th year couple gone on out rotations together.) Or I could see if my dad & stepmom or other relatives could take them. I will hopefully be seeing them this weekend, and if not, then certainly the next, so I can discuss it with them then.They love having them visit for a week or so, but it would be committing to take them for months. Roxy can be a handful, so that’s a bit of a tall order.
And about him getting stationed where I’m matched? Well, I should know where I’ll be matched before he has to submit his list of stations, and with an excuse like his wife is doing a residency there, he would probably get it. Though we are VERY seriously discussing him doing a voluntary deployment to Korea. Wait, hear me out… it sounds scary, and if nothing else, like a VERY long time to be gone, which it is, but it has a lot of benefits. For one, he’d get his first choice of where to be stationed when he got back, so I could match wherever I wanted and he would be able to go there. For another, if deployment is inevitable, why not do it now while he doesn’t have kids to leave behind or while I will be super busy doing 4th year and internship? Lets be honest… I’d barely see him anyway. Helloooo… I’ll be an intern, by definition the hospital owns my soul. I could do my thing, he could do his, and when he got back, we wouldn’t have to worry about a random deployment. And speaking of which, if he did get deployed to Iraq, it is at least winding down and the job he would do would not have him on the front lines. We haven’t committed to doing this, but when you see it all laid out, it makes sense, doesn’t it?
Alright, I think that’s enough for now. I could go on and on about this but its already a lot to digest. Its going to be hard, and sorry it couldn’t be something more fun like me being pregnant or winning the lottery, but I ultimately think this is really good and exciting news.
And good God, yes, I will post my schedule tomorrow. Get off my back woman!
The fellowship has been a pain in the ass. For any of my bosses or colleagues who may read this, it is not the “fellowship” per se. It is the fact that 4 fellows are crammed in a little office and must navigate each other’s schedules, personality quirks, and inner-battles with the fact that we got into medicine to specifically NOT work in an office job.
Without going into detail, there is a lot of friction in the office. I try to stay neutral, but occasionally I get drug into the negativity and take sides temporarily. I don’t mind calling someone a bitch when they have been one… I consider it a gift of honesty, and would appreciate such honesty from others. I can take the lumps. Probably why Josh and I get along so well. But I hate saying it behind the person’s back. This leaves me feeling… icky.
In such a tense environment, I found myself wilting. I was uninspired for awhile, hence the lack of writing, and feeling drained. I found myself snapping at people and being very condescending. My weight loss went from easily 2-3 pounds per week to 1 pound every other week, maybe. I woke up at 7am everyday, but didn’t get out of bed until 7:45pm… so filled with dread to start the day was I.
But then I remembered my energy techniques I learned in a Pranic Healing class back in December. Oh did I not mention that? Well, that was intentional. I figured if people hear that I took a course in healing through “energy”…(where you don’t even touch the person!).. . I’ll forever get crazy stamped on my forehead. So yet another excuse emerges to the lack of blogging… but hear me out…
There are certain “levels” of OMM (osteopathic manipulative medicine) knowledge. In your first year, you learn musculoskeletal, where you can by then end of it treat most mundane aches & pains. In second year, you start to delve into the visceral, where you learn to manipulate the autonomic nerve system. But then there is a third level, one we don’t teach. You will only see this at an OMM conference, or in the OMM clinic, or in the rare instance in lab where a doc will non-chalantly do something, for lack of a better word, magical.
What do I mean by magical? Well…for example… the doctor correcting you on your neck diagnosis by just touching your patient’s ankle… or fixing an inhaled rib by simply laying his hand near the rib, without any apparent form of treatment other than the laying of the hand.
To learn this magical form of treatment was the main reason I took the fellowship.
After a few months in, I felt like a lot of major questions had been answered in my mind. Some came from just learning the anatomy better. The next step was studying the diaphragm relationships and fascial patterns of the body. Then I was exposed to treatments we don’t teach to students, like ligamentous articular strain, point myofascial release, and neurofascial release. Lastly, I have come to realize how sleep patterns and psychological stressors manifest in the body. The breadth of knowledge I have acquired is astounding for such a short time.
However, I was still noticing gaps. Like how did the doc just seem to KNOW what was wrong by looking at them lying on the table. Seeing them walking around, I could understand, because people demonstrate their pains in how they carry themselves…but just lying there?! I made it known that these gaps in knowledge officially bothered me, and by showing my openness to whatever the answer was, the magical docs felt comfortable confiding their beliefs, and thus I was referred to the Pranic Healing class.
Now, I have desperately wanted to write about this, but it has taken a long time to find the words for what I have learned. So here it is… with a small primer: “Energy” can be described in many ways. It can be taken literally as it is taught in class. It can be taken extra-literal by quantifying it scientifically as “our electromagnetic resonance.” Others can assimilate the idea when talked about as “peace/stress” or “negativity/positivity” or “negative and positive emotions.” Spiritual people can understand it as their “spirit” or “soul.” Religious people who externalize God can see it as “His spirit” or “divine energy.”
Whatever you may call it, I believe we are all talking about essentially the same thing. And that is that everyone gives off an “energy” that can influence your own. I experienced that all too well in the fellows office. You feel the tension when you walk in. And its so draining! At the end of the day, you can’t help but be tired and cranky. So I have been applying some of the energy cleansing techniques once I get home.
I could go through the actual steps of cleansing and cutting the negative cords, but that would not convey the essence of the treatment, which is that we need to forgive and forget. Can you imagine the peace you would feel by deciding to forgive all the drama and just leave it behind you before you go to bed?
There are also meditation and self-healing treatments, but really, these are moments when you focus on your needs. In your crazy busy life, if you could just slow down, silence all the noise in your head, you would be confronted with everything you are trying, intentionally or not, to drown out. Whether it be something physical, like a mild ache you never noticed… or something emotional, like a comment someone said that’s been quietly bothering you… you can acknowledge it and finally deal with it before it steamrolls into an illness or a rift in a relationship.
I have been applying it at work where I can. I can feel it when another fellow is pissed off or a student is stressed out. They are giving off a bad vibe, negative energy, or whatever you want to call it. It used to make me feel uncomfortable… then stressed and cranky like they were. There are “stress hygiene” techniques to shield against this, but the point is that you can acknowledge another’s mood without having to react to it. Just because they are in bad mood, there is no need to let their negativity seep into you and get you all agitated.
With this knowledge, some of my questions have been answered. When you walk in a room, and you are paying attention to the energy the patient is giving off, then you can glean information about what is bothering them. As for how I can apply this…well there are a hundred more questions right there, the pursuit of which could label me a little kooky. But that’s ok. If it’ll help patients, I’m willing to get the odd looks and be labeled a kook. I can take the lumps.
I went back to Dad's the first weekend of February for a Pranic Healing workshop. I had just been home the weekend before, but I did not get nearly enough of any of these food groups the first time. It was a wonderful, spiritual, peaceful weekend at the Stillpointe center, which is conveniently only 10 minutes from Dad's.
Roxy was of course ecstatic to be back visiting Grandpa. She only makes this face with him. I was pretty excited too because we were able to go do the stuff we didn't get to last time... liking go to Maxwell's (sorta Italian place but not really) and our usual, Red Lobster. Don't judge, this is the best Red Lobster in the country, literally!
Its hard to pinpoint exactly what we did for Valentine's day. Rather than doing a whole day together, we sorta did a sparse 3 day weekend celebration. Friday night we went out to our favorite chinese place an talked about life...some future plans we'll soon reveal (not pregnancy, geez guys, why do you always go there?) Then Saturday afternoon, he played video games while I would read him the funny stories from Cosmo, a tradition back from our first year of dating. Then Sunday night we had a porksteak challenge... all toppings were good but GOOD GOD the hoison sauce was amazing! We proceeded to stand over it in the kitchen and pulled off chunks until it was devoured.
Nearing the end of the month, its been cold, but not THAT cold to where I would be confident to go stand out on Spur Pond. But all month there have been at least 2 groups of fisherman out there. The day I took this, it was 28 degrees but it had been 50 most of the day. I didn't have the camera then but when it was 50, there were 12 groups out!
