Claire's New Shoes

Here is Claire in her snowshoes. Beautiful girl.

Sheila on Skis

Sheila and I went to Shawnee Peak for "Monday Night Madness" and had a blast. Here are a couple pics from the lift.

The Restrooms at Flatbread

Tonight was the last incoming resident dinner at Flatbread. I always enjoy these dinners. Good conversation, good food, and a night out of the house. Claire likes to go for the desserts and for the bathrooms. The bathroom walls are covered in chalkboards, so you can go in and add your own little touch to what is essentially a very large mural. Claire loves it. And its interesting to read or look at what other people put up. So tonight I took note of what was drawn on the walls, and then asked Mike if there were chalkboards in the men's restroom. There are, and we compared notes about what was written on the bathroom walls. In the girl's room, there are a lot of names written in really fancy cursive or other artsy font, pictures of flowers, people's faces, happy birthday wishes and so on. I know the pictures we took are terrible. We only had the camera phone. Sorry. If they were clearer, you'd see a flower in the center and a face towards the bottom of the first picture, and a peace symbol, hearts, stars, names, and 'happy birthday' in the second.
















In the boys bathroom, guys wrote the names of bands, phrases about killing people with chainsaws, some x-rated drawings, swear words and so on. And they didn't stick to the chalkboards, as you can see in the last picture. Thats just marker on the wooden walls (by contrast, in the women's bathroom, there was a specific jar for chalk, and all the chalk was in it. Not sure that would be the case next door in the boy's room). So in the first picture, it says 'Limp Bizkit' and 'Linkin Park', the second is of a cowboy? a man in a sombrero?, and the third is the chainsaw killer phrase, which I won't re-type.
























So. Interesting, huh? Like a little sociology expirament. I think it would be fun to have weekly pictures. Too bad I didn't think of that at the beginning of the incoming resident dinners!

You Never Know

Being married to Mike, you just never know whats coming next. Ever. The most recent example happened tonight. Mike called on his way home to tell me he would come home and eat before his class. What class? A dance class. What kind of dance? Why, break dancing, of course. And when he got home, he showed me a little bit of what he learned. Impressive, really. See for yourself. In one of the pictures, you can see Claire trying to copy him.

Snowshoeing in Style

Yesterday we went to Libby Hill to do some snowshoeing. Libby Hill has a great set of trails which lead to the back of Little Sebago Lake and they are perfect for x-country skiing or snowshoeing. Claire fell asleep on the way so I made her a little bed-in-a-sled (trademark Mike Halberg).

Skiing the Northeast

Over Christmas I also picked up some skis from my brother Jim and last weekend I took a trip with some friends to Sunday River. There were about 70 trails open and the views were fabulous. I haven't been on skis in years but it came back eventually and next time I definitely want to bring Sheila and Claire.

Bradbury Mountain with Snowshoes!

This Christmas Sheila and I got snowshoes from my parents and have been itching to use them. Today we got our chance and headed for Bradbury Mountain. The trip was beautiful and Claire did great in her new sled. By the time we got to the top it was dark so the pictures are a bit dark but it sure beautiful and serene in person!

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Tonight Mike worked until midnight, and I got lost in a few 'This American Life' episodes while kinda-sorta waiting for him (silly, I shouldn't do that). About an hour before he got home, Claire shuffled out of her bedroom, squinting, and said,
"Mom? Is it 10:00?"
"No, sweetie, its not 10:00"
"The Children's Museum opens at 10:00. Will you wake me up at 10:00?"
"Of course I will."
"Mom? I had some sunshine in my eyes, but I got it out."
"That's great."

A Regional Thing?

I was listening to an AM radio station yesterday, and there was a discussion about screening callers to make sure weirdies don't get on-air. One of the hosts was telling a story about a time that his call to somewhere was screened, and the question they asked was "What are four of the five Great Lakes?" All of the hosts (three of them) went nuts. I had to listen for a bit, because I didn't know if they were all up in arms that the question was too easy or too difficult. I quickly found out they thought it was ridiculously difficult. They were comparing the question to something from the SAT or Jeopardy. They weren't even sure there were five Great Lakes, and even discussed the possibility that the screen was that if you DID know four of the five lakes that you were (obviously) a weirdie, and thus not allowed to talk on-air.

I thought this was hilarious at first. Of course people know what the five Great Lakes are. But maybe its just Midwest or Great Lakes Region knowledge. Or maybe only people from Wisconsin or Michigan think this is an easy question. Maybe the radio hosts were right, and I'm the weirdie! So, with most of the people who read the blog being Midwesterners, do you know the five Great Lakes?

not the world I grew up in

Today Claire correctly used the word 'download' in a sentence.

As in, while showing me an online pbskids game she likes, "Mom, this is where you click for games. This one means music, and this one is for movies. But they need to download so you have to wait."

Night Shift

I am currently working overnights. Typically residents work five overnights followed by a day off and tonight is my fourth night. I like working nights because there are always a couple good procedures needed and wait times are usually short so patients are in general happy. Last night I had a gentleman who slammed his finger in a car door (ouch!) and broke the last bone in his index finger. Here is what you do...

1. Remove the nail.
2. Burn a small hole in the nail and set it aside.
3. Stitch the cut on the nail bed.
4. Slide the nail back into place making sure to tuck in the end.
5. Put two loose stitches in the nail to tack it down.
6. Splint the finger and bandage it up!

All done!!!

Hockey

Last night I covered the Falmouth Varsity boys hockey game. I was a bit nervous being the only doctor there, but everything went well and the game was actually pretty fun! Here are a couple pictures.

Conversations With Claire and Two Stories

In the car:
"Mom, is Old McDonalds food healthy for you?"
"No, it isn't."
"...I didn't want to hear that."

Playing Go-Fish:
"Its your turn, Claire."
"Mom, show me my options on your cards."

Claire over-hearing one of Mike's surgery stories:
"Dad? How did you open up his belly?"

"One day there was Claire walking in the woods. She was looking for breakfast. And then she found a bunny rabbit. He was eating a carrot. Claire said "Hi Bunny Rabbit!" and the bunny rabbit said 'Hi Claire'. So Claire went the other way and she used an airplane to fly over the woods. Then she got home and walked off the plane. And she got home. She lived at her home. She ate some oatmeal for breakfast. The End."

"Once there was a Princess. Her name was Claire. She liked to play outside. And she climbed a Wall of Bones (inspired by the Madison Children's Museum, see below). And she climbed and climbed until she reached a window. And she opened the window and she was outside! And she saw a hot air balloon and she got on and she fleeeewww through a window and gave her dad and mom a big hug. Thats the end."