Thursday, September 28, 2006

Finally.

I finally got my sticker. Turns out that in Maine, you have to have your car inspected yearly. And it turns out that if you don't, you can get a $200 ticket. I didn't find that out personally, but I've heard enough "I know someone who..." stories to believe it. So I finally got my car in, and it passed (whew). I'm kind of curious as to what they inspected. I asked, and got a general answer about emissions and fluid leaks. I don't really understand how the program works. I get the idea is to make sure cars are road-worthy, and I think its a good one. And obviously it does work, since its been in place since 1999. But just about any garage is able to do an inspection, and its common knowledge that some places pass cars more easily than others. What stops a mechanic from finding a 'problem' that he can charge you to fix? Sure you can get a second inspection somewhere else, but pass or fail, just getting the inspection costs about $20. Seems like you could really get stuck, if you had an older car and not a whole lot of money. I'm also curious as to if, because of vehicle inspections, there are fewer broken down cars on the road, or fewer accidents due to the car malfunctioning.

In any case, I'm set until next year.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

It's MY Birthday!

When Claire woke up today, she was a little concerned she didn't have a birthday present for me, and we had the following conversation:
"Mom (tap on the shoulder). Its your birthday today, but I don't have a birthday present to give you."
"Thats okay Claire."
"Maybe we can go to the toy store...and you can buy ME a present instead!"

We never did make it to the toy store, but we did have to go to the mall to pick up some longer jeans for Claire. While we were there, I saw Bath and Body Works was having a great sale, so we stopped to get some hand soap. Claire walked around the store, looking at everything, and then finally came running up to me.
"Mom! I found the perfect thing for your birthday!"
"Really? What is it?"
"Look!" taking it out from behind her back. "Will you buy it for your birthday?"














Of course.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Its that time of year again.

Today Claire and I met some friends at an apple orchard for a few hours. We spent some time picking apples, but mostly Claire and her friend Ava ran through the long grass and laughed when they got tripped up and fell over. It was the perfect fall day.










































And after, we went Halloween costume shopping. I hadn't really asked Claire what she wanted to be until today. I had no idea what she would come up with.

"Alright Claire, what do you want to be for Halloween?"

"Hm.... I want to be... Like my DADDY!"

And as luck would have it, we found just the thing. And in her size too!















And also, Happy Birthday Jim! Hope you had a great day and felt all the birthday wishes we were sending your way. I think Claire sang "Happy Birthday" about 27 times, and wore her green party dress for the occasion.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Retreat at Rangeley

This past weekend was the annual retreat for the emergency medicine department in Rangeley, ME. We had a great time, to say the least. The weather was perfect. Beautiful sunny days ended with amazing sunsets and the night sky was full of stars. Let me tell you, life as a resident sure can be difficult, and here is the proof:

First off, the drive up was beautiful. I don't think the fall colors were out in full yet, but it was still amazing. There were a few scenic overlook areas. This picture was taken near the Appalachian Trail at Saddleback Mountain.














We stopped to do some apple picking on the way to the camp. (Camp is New England lingo for 'cabin', but that isn't accurate either. I believe a 'cabin' in New England is what someone from Wisconsin would call a 'summer home'.) Apparently, as far as apples are concerned, this season has been really hard on orchards and harvests just aren't like they usually are. We still enjoyed it.

























And when we got to the camp we spent our time relaxing until we had to come back home.










































Friday, September 08, 2006

3

Happy Birthday, Claire! We had a great day today. This is what it looked like:

Streamers hanging in the doorway and a 'Feather Party' in the background.



















Favorite Breakfast: Daddy's French Toast with Sugar on Top.



















Children's Museum. Petting and feeding baby goats (they were only 9 days old!)














Rock Climbing



















Lobstering



















Making Music



















The Main Event














Silly Stringing Mike (great present from Jim and Monnie). Claire probably picked off half of it by the time I got the camera.














Most definitely a successful birthday.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Lobstah.

My parents and my Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose are visiting this week. We've been doing our best to show them "The Way Life Should Be".

Before:





























Aftah:














No complaints so far.