We can't wait to get there!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
We're on our way!
Today there was yet another lobster bake lunch for residents and their families. I didn't go in order to do some packing, but Mike took Claire. Tonight, we had dinner at an attending's house and I heard reports of Claire dancing around at lunch singing "I'm going to Canada, CA-NA-DA!" She is very excited, and Mike and I are too. I did a little previewing by searching around Flickr for some Lake Okanagan Resort pictures, and I found some great ones, originally uploaded by onababy. There is definitely a chair in the first picture with my name on it.
We can't wait to get there!
We can't wait to get there!
We're on our way!
Today there was yet another lobster bake lunch for residents and their families. I didn't go in order to do some packing, but Mike took Claire. Tonight, we had dinner at an attending's house and I heard reports of Claire dancing around at lunch singing "I'm going to Canada, CA-NA-DA!" She is very excited, and Mike and I are too. I did a little previewing by searching around Flickr for some Lake Okanagan Resort pictures, and I found some great ones, originally uploaded by oanababy. There is definitely a chair in the first picture with my name on it.
We can't wait to get there!
We can't wait to get there!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Ferry Beach
Tonight we caught the sunset at Ferry Beach. It was beautiful. Click the picture to see more on Flickr.
Working in the Basement
We're still working in the basement. Our pace has obviously slowed quite a bit since Jim and Teresa left, but progress is still being made. The ceiling is completely up in the biggest room and now it needs to be painted. We still have to put the ceiling up in one other much smaller room (future weight room for Mike? Wheel room for throwing pots for me?? We haven't decided.)
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Fishing and Lobster.
Yesterday, while Mike was enduring hour after hour of computer training, Claire and I went fishing with Jason, another resident's husband. They have done some pretty cool deep sea fishing, where you get in the boat, drive out into the ocean for about 70 miles and then use a whole salmon as bait. They have caught everything from sting rays to sharks to 240 pound Halibut. Yesterday, however, we just fished off the beach. And we only caught one striper, a kind of bass. It was definitely the biggest fish I have ever caught, but not big enough to keep. We were rained out a bit in the morning, so we missed the prime fishing time, one hour before high tide (happy hour), but we're planning on going out more next week when the tides come in during the day instead of the morning and night.
Claire and I both had a blast.
And today was the Emergency Department Lobster Bake. It was kind of rainy, but we still had a great time. The highlight was definitely lunch.
Grilled corn, potatoes, lobster and clams. They also had chicken, steak and hot dogs, but for some reason those just weren't as popular. There were more lobsters and clams than you could eat. I didn't think to take a picture of the mountain of lobsters before anyone started eating, but Mike did get this one after everyone had finished.
It was impressive, and I believe there is a similar event on Wednesday. We are definitely enjoying ourselves so far. We have gotten together with the interns (incoming residents) many times already, and it is a better group of people than I could have hoped for. Everyone is so much fun. Its going to be a great three years!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Claire Fashion Set
I thought Monnie came up with a great idea in a recent post. A collection of pictures featuring Claire and some of the outfits she has put together. As I was sorting through picking my favorites, I realized I could probably make a similar set of entertaining pictures featuring outfits Mike has put together. Its pretty clear where Claire gets it from. Click the picture for the full set.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Happy Father's Day, among other things.
Happy Fathers Day! Claire and I woke up before Mike did this morning and rushed to make him a card. When presented with it, he was completely confused because he thought Father's Day was next weekend. Surprise! That and completely forgetting what day of the week it is happens when you've had the past three months off. Well not really off, but without more formal work, because work we have. In the arena of home improvements, first of all, this glass wall is gone. 
I don't know what in the world the past 50 years of owners were thinking keeping this thing around, but it took us less than 24 hours to take it out. This picture was taken while we were looking at the house, the wall was down before our moving truck even showed up. It was a massive eight foot wall of glass separating the front door (you can see the window near the top through the glass) from the dining room. Basically it took up space, and was kind of ugly. We thought it would be easy to remove, but a little like Eric's boating experience, things didn't work out like that. I really wish I took some pictures of the entire process, I really do. I'm kicking myself for it now, because they would be priceless. But I couldn't because I was busy ducking and covering as Mike took The Wall down. What it came down to was our decision to get the floors redone, and the realization that if we didn't take the wall down before, there would be a strip of unfinished wood in the middle of the floor, or worse, a glass wall. So Mike gets out a hammer and some yellow rubber latex cleaning gloves and just goes at it, smashing the wall and taking small pieces out, one at a time. Neighbors could hear the wall coming down, and Mike quickly earned a reputation. I was afraid I'd meet the Emergency Medicine staff a bit early, but Mike actually escaped with only a few minor cuts. And then in the end, we found out the entire hardwood floor was built up around the glass. So we traded the wall for a eight foot hole in the floor. Fortunately for us, the sanders had some extra pieces of matching wood and our neighbors had the tools and know-how to put them in. Now we have a beautiful floor that you can't even tell once had a hole in it, and a dining room that is much bigger. See the remaining piece of wood going down the green wall? Thats what is left, and its built into the baseboard, so it stays, and is a nice reminder of how nice it is to have all the extra room.
Then we did a lot of painting, I mean A LOT of painting. It looks like I'm going really fast in the picture, but in reality, I wasn't. We painted all the trim and all of the doors. They were are dark red stained wood, and now they are white. It took a lot of primer and a lot of time, but the end result is fantastic.
And then Mike and Jim worked very hard on the basement, and made an incredible difference. Here is a before picture, again with the previous owner's stuff:
And some current pictures. Can you believe that this is the same basement, same angle? It has turned out so well. We have some carpet to put in, so I'll have to update everyone when its in an even more finished state.
And I still don't really have any pictures of the upstairs and its new paint, but I will soon. Today was a busy day. First we had a birthday party which was complete with bouncy house, pool and bubble machine. Claire had a blast. Then we had the incoming interns over for dinner, and had a really great time.
Plus, we have been hitting the beach about every other day. Its been so nice, and there are so many beaches within 10 minutes, its hard not to go for an hour or so.
I don't know what in the world the past 50 years of owners were thinking keeping this thing around, but it took us less than 24 hours to take it out. This picture was taken while we were looking at the house, the wall was down before our moving truck even showed up. It was a massive eight foot wall of glass separating the front door (you can see the window near the top through the glass) from the dining room. Basically it took up space, and was kind of ugly. We thought it would be easy to remove, but a little like Eric's boating experience, things didn't work out like that. I really wish I took some pictures of the entire process, I really do. I'm kicking myself for it now, because they would be priceless. But I couldn't because I was busy ducking and covering as Mike took The Wall down. What it came down to was our decision to get the floors redone, and the realization that if we didn't take the wall down before, there would be a strip of unfinished wood in the middle of the floor, or worse, a glass wall. So Mike gets out a hammer and some yellow rubber latex cleaning gloves and just goes at it, smashing the wall and taking small pieces out, one at a time. Neighbors could hear the wall coming down, and Mike quickly earned a reputation. I was afraid I'd meet the Emergency Medicine staff a bit early, but Mike actually escaped with only a few minor cuts. And then in the end, we found out the entire hardwood floor was built up around the glass. So we traded the wall for a eight foot hole in the floor. Fortunately for us, the sanders had some extra pieces of matching wood and our neighbors had the tools and know-how to put them in. Now we have a beautiful floor that you can't even tell once had a hole in it, and a dining room that is much bigger. See the remaining piece of wood going down the green wall? Thats what is left, and its built into the baseboard, so it stays, and is a nice reminder of how nice it is to have all the extra room.
Then we did a lot of painting, I mean A LOT of painting. It looks like I'm going really fast in the picture, but in reality, I wasn't. We painted all the trim and all of the doors. They were are dark red stained wood, and now they are white. It took a lot of primer and a lot of time, but the end result is fantastic.
And then Mike and Jim worked very hard on the basement, and made an incredible difference. Here is a before picture, again with the previous owner's stuff:
And some current pictures. Can you believe that this is the same basement, same angle? It has turned out so well. We have some carpet to put in, so I'll have to update everyone when its in an even more finished state.
And I still don't really have any pictures of the upstairs and its new paint, but I will soon. Today was a busy day. First we had a birthday party which was complete with bouncy house, pool and bubble machine. Claire had a blast. Then we had the incoming interns over for dinner, and had a really great time.
Plus, we have been hitting the beach about every other day. Its been so nice, and there are so many beaches within 10 minutes, its hard not to go for an hour or so.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Working.
Well the rain has stopped, and that is HUGE news for us. Over the past five weeks, Maine has gotten more than 40% of their average annual rainfall. So its been wet, but its nice to know that much rain is not typical, we've just moved here during a record-breaking month. We're just lucky.
The painting is finally finished, and now Jim and Mike are making some huge progress on the basement.
Having Jim and Teresa here really has sped things along in a big way. I swear Jim was off the plane for 57 seconds before he was doing this:
And as of today, this is an 'old' picture. The kitchen isn't baby blue anymore, its a lovely shade of green.
The painting is finally finished, and now Jim and Mike are making some huge progress on the basement.
Having Jim and Teresa here really has sped things along in a big way. I swear Jim was off the plane for 57 seconds before he was doing this:
And as of today, this is an 'old' picture. The kitchen isn't baby blue anymore, its a lovely shade of green.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Well, we're not in Wisconsin anymore.
Yesterday I actually talked to a girl who had never heard of Brett Favre. Granted, she was not a football fan of any kind, but never heard of Brett Favre? I've never heard of anything so ridiculous.
Except today, while I was getting my paint mixed. One of the employees was talking about her previous job at a bank and the time she locked one of her co-workers inside the vault. I don't know much about how vaults work, but she said it has a mechanism that when you close and lock it, you tell it when you will be opening it and then it won't open until that time. So she closed and locked the vault right before a three day weekend, and then heard some muffled yells from inside. They had to call a locksmith (maybe not, but I wouldn't know the title of the job) to come and cut a hole in the door in order to get her out. Another thing about vaults that I didn't know is that they are ventilated and have a supply of food and water just in case something of the sort would happen. No bathroom though, which seems kind of cruel. Anyway, the locksmith had to come from New York, and there was a blizzard so he couldn't fly. The girl ended up being locked in the vault for about 24 hours. Now that is crazy.
Except today, while I was getting my paint mixed. One of the employees was talking about her previous job at a bank and the time she locked one of her co-workers inside the vault. I don't know much about how vaults work, but she said it has a mechanism that when you close and lock it, you tell it when you will be opening it and then it won't open until that time. So she closed and locked the vault right before a three day weekend, and then heard some muffled yells from inside. They had to call a locksmith (maybe not, but I wouldn't know the title of the job) to come and cut a hole in the door in order to get her out. Another thing about vaults that I didn't know is that they are ventilated and have a supply of food and water just in case something of the sort would happen. No bathroom though, which seems kind of cruel. Anyway, the locksmith had to come from New York, and there was a blizzard so he couldn't fly. The girl ended up being locked in the vault for about 24 hours. Now that is crazy.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Happy Birthday Mike!
Today is Mike's birthday, and we spent it having a blast at Old Port Festival. We saw a parade which I thought was awesome, but Claire was a bit unsure of. 
To be fair it was very loud and some of the things featured would definitely be a little scary for a kid. But she bounced back quickly when the Cold Stone Creamery was handing out free samples of their ice cream cake.
We had some pretty amazing food and saw some concerts. Claire took a train ride all by herself, and then let mom and dad come along for a trip down the slide.
Mike then went back for another concert by As Fast As, and while he was gone Claire and I made him a German Chocolate Birthday Cake. Then we ate dinner and went to James and Yanna's house, new friends of ours, and co-workers of Mike's. They had a birthday cake waiting for Mike and we had a great time drawing free hand maps of the United States. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but try it. It is hilarious to compare maps with everyone else and then with a correct map . Its also really interesting to compare maps drawn by people form other parts of the country. Okay, so we're a bunch of geeks, but we have fun. And, James and Yanna are getting married on Saturday in California. Congratulations!!
To be fair it was very loud and some of the things featured would definitely be a little scary for a kid. But she bounced back quickly when the Cold Stone Creamery was handing out free samples of their ice cream cake.
We had some pretty amazing food and saw some concerts. Claire took a train ride all by herself, and then let mom and dad come along for a trip down the slide.
Mike then went back for another concert by As Fast As, and while he was gone Claire and I made him a German Chocolate Birthday Cake. Then we ate dinner and went to James and Yanna's house, new friends of ours, and co-workers of Mike's. They had a birthday cake waiting for Mike and we had a great time drawing free hand maps of the United States. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but try it. It is hilarious to compare maps with everyone else and then with a correct map . Its also really interesting to compare maps drawn by people form other parts of the country. Okay, so we're a bunch of geeks, but we have fun. And, James and Yanna are getting married on Saturday in California. Congratulations!!
Claire the Cutie
Today we were walking along Exchange Street at Old Port Fest in Portland. No one remembered where the car was parked or even where to start looking. I took a wild guess...the stars aligned...and the car appeared after our next turn. Very proud of myself, I asked Claire, "Claire, who's the man?" she replied knowingly, "Daddy." A second went by before she asked "Daddy, who's the GIRL?" Laughing, she answered her own question, "Mommy and Claire!"
Just another reason that girls rule.
Just another reason that girls rule.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
All About ME
Haha, clever, huh? I liked Alex and Maigie's post about Oregon when they moved out there, so I thought I'd do one All About Maine.
Population in the year 2004: 1,317,253
There are 41 people per square mile. (In Wisconsin, there are 98 people per square mile, and more specifically in Waukesha there are 3,000)
The people who live here are called 'Mainers'.
Maine has 3,500 miles of coastline, 6,000 lakes and ponds and 17 million acres of forest.
Portland is the biggest city (population: 63,882 in 2004) and Augusta is the State Capitol.
The state animal is the moose.
The state bird is the chickadee, which is featured on the general license plate, which Mike and I now have on our cars (By the way, registering your car in Maine is quite a bit more expensive than in Wisconsin).
Pine trees are popular. Maine is The Pine Tree State, the state flower is the White Pine Cone, and the state tree is the White Pine. A Pine tree is featured on the license plate as well as on the State Flag along with a moose and the state motto 'Dirigo' - 'I lead'.
Maine Products include:
Blueberries - 98% of the nation's low bush blueberries are from Maine
Lobsters - 90% of the nation's lobsters are caught off the coast of Maine
Potatoes - Maine is in the top three potato producing states in the country.
Tourmaline - Maine is one of the best places in the US to mine tourmaline (also the state mineral), and samples from Maine are in museum collections around the world. Tourmaline is found in every color of the rainbow, and Maine mines set the standard for non-chrome green colored tourmaline.
Tides: There are two high tides and two low tides every day, each separated by about six hours. So it goes high tide, low tide, high tide, low tide, all with about 6 hours between them. The time of high tide occurs about an hour later every day. So if high tide was at noon today, it would be at about 1pm tomorrow, give or take. The newspaper prints tide charts along with the forecast so you can plan your beach outing. I had no idea about most of this.
Climate: Maine summers are cooler, highs top out around 80 degrees. Our neighbors tell us its very rare for temperatures to get to 90, but not so rare to have some 50-60 degree days thrown in. Fall colors begin around October 1st and we hear they are spectacular (so plan your visits, everyone!). Winters are cold, but by no means Wisconsin Cold. Average temperatures bottom out around 15 degrees. Maine gets quite a bit more snow, however.
Maine actually can be hit by hurricanes. Over the past 360 years, Maine gets about one hurricane every eight years. However since 1960, the average is more around one hurricane every two years.
Interesting stuff!
Population in the year 2004: 1,317,253
There are 41 people per square mile. (In Wisconsin, there are 98 people per square mile, and more specifically in Waukesha there are 3,000)
The people who live here are called 'Mainers'.
Maine has 3,500 miles of coastline, 6,000 lakes and ponds and 17 million acres of forest.
Portland is the biggest city (population: 63,882 in 2004) and Augusta is the State Capitol.
The state animal is the moose.
The state bird is the chickadee, which is featured on the general license plate, which Mike and I now have on our cars (By the way, registering your car in Maine is quite a bit more expensive than in Wisconsin).
Pine trees are popular. Maine is The Pine Tree State, the state flower is the White Pine Cone, and the state tree is the White Pine. A Pine tree is featured on the license plate as well as on the State Flag along with a moose and the state motto 'Dirigo' - 'I lead'.
Maine Products include:
Blueberries - 98% of the nation's low bush blueberries are from Maine
Lobsters - 90% of the nation's lobsters are caught off the coast of Maine
Potatoes - Maine is in the top three potato producing states in the country.
Tourmaline - Maine is one of the best places in the US to mine tourmaline (also the state mineral), and samples from Maine are in museum collections around the world. Tourmaline is found in every color of the rainbow, and Maine mines set the standard for non-chrome green colored tourmaline.
Tides: There are two high tides and two low tides every day, each separated by about six hours. So it goes high tide, low tide, high tide, low tide, all with about 6 hours between them. The time of high tide occurs about an hour later every day. So if high tide was at noon today, it would be at about 1pm tomorrow, give or take. The newspaper prints tide charts along with the forecast so you can plan your beach outing. I had no idea about most of this.
Climate: Maine summers are cooler, highs top out around 80 degrees. Our neighbors tell us its very rare for temperatures to get to 90, but not so rare to have some 50-60 degree days thrown in. Fall colors begin around October 1st and we hear they are spectacular (so plan your visits, everyone!). Winters are cold, but by no means Wisconsin Cold. Average temperatures bottom out around 15 degrees. Maine gets quite a bit more snow, however.
Maine actually can be hit by hurricanes. Over the past 360 years, Maine gets about one hurricane every eight years. However since 1960, the average is more around one hurricane every two years.
Interesting stuff!
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