wyn157

BMW

2009-07-31T15:04:00.013-04:00

BMW = dreamy. i've been eyeing the BMW 335Xi for months now. it all started last winter when i noticed a red coupe in our parking lot; it was so cute! then my eye started wandering to lexus and infiniti as well. we even went to a few dealers. we priced out a 'stripped down' BMW 335Xi, lexus IS 250AWD, and infiniti G37X. the lexus and infiniti were about the same price, and the BMW was $8K

toronto

2009-07-26T10:20:00.002-04:00

despite still being in the middle of moving, we spent the last 5 days in toronto. gopooh spent most days at the conference, but he did play hooky sometimes so we could hang out more. we were there in 2005 so we didn't feel pressured to do all the touristy things. instead, we hit the art museum b/c most of it was under construction last time. and then we went to the CN tower at night; we

shocking news

2009-06-28T10:14:00.002-04:00

2 days ago, i found out that someone gopooh and i have known in the medical circle for 4-5 years has committed suicide. since i no longer get the residency emails, i initially found out he'd died from facebook, of all places. i logged in yesterday, and in my news feed on the main page, i saw a post on his wall from a mutual friend that sounded slightly... off. so i clicked on his profile to

renter

2009-06-20T12:35:00.003-04:00

we may have found someone to rent out our place in michigan! it actually happened really fast. our realtor dragged her feet about putting it back 'on the market' b/c she was trying to work something out w/ a selling price, but we wouldn't (and couldn't) go any lower than our minimum. that's why it's called a minimum, after all. then 2 days after she listed it as a rental, she got contacted

michigan economy

2009-06-10T22:22:00.003-04:00

so let me tell you the story of our condo... the one we tried to sell. we put our condo on the market for the value of our mortgage, and we put down 20% when we bought it. imho it's a really nice place -- end unit, 5 minute walk to all the restaurants/stores, hardwood floors, granite counter tops, big master bedroom (we didn't find any condos w/ comparable master bedrooms in baltimore except

heart valve

2009-06-01T19:24:00.002-04:00

my close friend is having a heart valve replaced at umich's hospital. this particular friend has been through so much over the last few years... things i can't even imagine at this point... and now he has to have cardiothoracic surgery. crazy! i hope everything goes well.

kids

2009-05-27T22:01:00.001-04:00

we're nowhere close to even considering having kids at this point. somewhere between being a babysitter who wanted to be a pediatrician and finishing med school, i became someone who doesn't really like kids. gopooh never used to be that way, but i think my influence has rubbed off, b/c now he too gets irritated when kids talk at a movie theater or cry on planes. haha. there's been a little

31

2009-05-19T17:54:00.000-04:00

i turned 31 this past weekend. wow, i'm so old! :p gopooh was actually out of town saturday and sunday taking his oral boards, so i lounged around and watched movies on the DVR. then his parents stopped by on their way back from a wedding in pittsburgh, and we went out to dinner at mallorca. gopooh wasn't due back until later, but surprisingly, he managed to fly stand-by on an earlier flight

moving

2009-05-04T17:46:00.001-04:00

a lot of things have been happening recently, but the biggest thing is that we've decided where to move... baltimore! i have mixed feelings about the whole thing. on the one hand i'm glad it ended up being baltimore; it was my first choice based on location alone. i'm really excited to experience a new place, and hopefully a home that isn't so ghetto on the weekends. i never thought i'd end

tortola

2009-04-26T16:03:00.001-04:00

last entry on our trip! we also spent part of a day on tortola, one of the british virgin islands. it's interesting that desite being british, the dollar is the national currency! it was ok, but we only had a few hours to ourselves b/c of the ferry times. there was an 8am ferry that we had no chance of catching, so we took an 11:45am ferry. (we aimed for the 10:45am ferry but it just wasn't

st. john

2009-04-21T13:51:00.001-04:00

we spent a day exploring st. john. most of the island is uninhabited except for one side of it plus some scattered houses, so the beaches are all surrounded by trees. it's definitely very scenic. while driving around we stumbled upon a 'marketplace' that had very reasonably priced sushi; we wanted to try it but the timing didn't work out. we spent most of our time there on trunk bay. it's

sea lions and turtles

2009-04-16T11:09:00.001-04:00

on our anniversary we went to coral world and played w/ some animals up close. i love all these animal encounters, so when we go on trips gopooh purposely scopes out what's available. the sea lion swim was the equivalent of the dolphin swim we did in curaçao 2 years ago, w/ some differences. both took pictures and then sold them on a CD, but the package in st. thomas was way cheaper. for

alcohol and shopping

2009-04-13T21:46:00.000-04:00

one thing really noticeable about st. thomas was that alcohol was just sooo prevalent. it was literally everywhere. every restaurant offered some, and it wasn't uncommon to walk by several people openly drinking beer on the street. also, there were a lot of people drinking while swimming... we didn't know if they were locals who were used to doing that, or visitors who wanted to bask in the '

st. thomas beaches

2009-04-08T19:20:00.001-04:00

while in st. thomas we spent a lot of time in the water. we louged around on our hotel's beach, but we also drove around to others. magan's bay was known for its beauty, sapphire beach had snorkeling and occasional windsurfing, and coki beach was the 'happening' beach. gopooh really likes snorkeling, but after his blistering burn in thailand last year, he was worried about a repeat burn. last

anniversary

2009-03-27T12:06:00.000-04:00

we are leaving for st. thomas tomorrow. yea! after work today we're going back to michigan, because we're actually flying out of detroit. it's a hassle, but gopooh wanted to do it this way b/c each ticket was $200 cheaper. we'll hang out tonight, and have breakfast w/ his family tomorrow morning... and then we are on our way! these last 2 years have flown by. it's hard to believe that

back from interview

2009-03-18T22:11:00.002-04:00

well gopooh is done w/ all his interviews now. i flew out w/ him to a second interview in baltimore this past sunday through tuesday. the weather was dreary, but i still liked the area! my brother was coincidentally in town for business, and gopooh's cousin teddy lives in a nearby city. so on sunday we had dinner at a cute japanese restaurant w/ the two of them. :) a realtor showed us 5

where to now?

2009-03-01T13:23:00.002-05:00

things are still up in the air as far as relocation goes. when gopooh started his job search, he had very specific ideas of what he wanted... and is interviewing w/ 3 ortho groups in 3 completely different areas. baltimore, new hampshire, and palm springs. to say that we disagree about where to live would be putting it mildly. for the last few months, E has been making fun of me, because as

confessions of a shopaholic

2009-02-19T18:58:00.001-05:00

confessions of a shopaholic: (no, not the movie. not the book either.) on valentine's day, after lounging around in bed we decided to go to the outlet stores to kill time before dinner. well, we were there for 3 hours and did quite a bit of damage. ok fine, almost all of the damage was mine... *hangs head* first we went to coach, where i bought a pink 'swingpack' for our traveling so i

valentine's day

2009-02-14T10:08:00.001-05:00

yesterday i came home from work and saw a dozen red roses in a vase waiting for me in our kitchen. and then this morning gopooh handed me a gift-wrapped clutch bag from coach. awww, he remembered i had pointed it out a couple months ago and went back for it! for dinner tonight we're going to this place called johnny's in the warehouse district. it's only 2 blocks from our apartment, so we can

too much shopping

2009-02-01T10:22:00.002-05:00

ever since we finished residency and i started making more money, our purchases have increased. a lot. in december alone, there was our outlet mall shopping, my new vaio, PDA, and new boots. on top of that, we had the flight/hotel for LA. but the most out-of-character spending was the stuff gopooh bought in LA... first there was a burberry suit from saks fifth avenue... then the next day i got

nice MA

2009-01-28T18:49:00.000-05:00

we got 3 inches of snow last night and it continued to snow all day. when i left work a little after 5pm today i noticed my car had streak marks on the windshield. i was really confused for a few moments, wondering why it looked like someone had been driving it. but then my medical assistant, who was standing nearby, yelled "i cleared off your car because it had 3 ft of snow on it!"... the

compensation

2009-01-19T22:42:00.001-05:00

for my job i get compensated for miles, but the way the miles are calculated is weird. beachwood is my 'home base' even though i'm rarely there. it's 10 miles away but the drive sucks b/c i either have to take the local roads (w/ lots of stoplights) all the way, or go out of the way on a packed freeway. i don't get miles for going there, but when i work at a different health center i get the

palm

2009-01-13T21:35:00.001-05:00

after using my dell PDA for the last 6 years the battery life was such that it died if left uncharged while i was on vacation. so i decided to replace it w/ a PDA that runs palm OS, which is compatible w/ more free medical stuff. so i bought a palm t/x sometime last month but just got around to setting it up yesterday. i know, who the hell uses those anymore w/ smartphones on the market?

i passed

2009-01-09T17:30:00.001-05:00

i passed my boards. yay! *sigh of relief* i haven't been formally notified yet, but i randomly logged into the board's website during a lag at work today, and it said i was certified. nothing changes of course... i still have the same job and all that... but i don't have to worry about another standardized test for 7 years. or 10 years if i do certain modules... i think. whatever. i'll

back in cleveland

2009-01-05T19:07:00.002-05:00

we had a great time over the holidays. LA was going through a cold weather spell or smthg, since believe it or not, cleveland was warmer than LA for the first couple days! oh well, what are you gonna do. one day gopooh and i drove down to carlsbad to meet up w/ C & A and R & N. and another day we went w/ my family to santa barbara since none of us had ever been there before. other than

outlet shopping

2008-12-21T16:46:00.001-05:00

we went to the outlet stores yesterday and bought a bunch of things. we originally went b/c i'd liked a pair of jeans at the gap outlet in michigan. at the time they were on sale but they didn't have my size, so we figured we'd go to the one in ohio and see if i'd have better luck. well at this gap outlet the jeans were $40 so i decided to skip it -- they aren't that great after all. that

my new vaio

2008-12-14T22:24:00.003-05:00

i got my new laptop, and it is sweet! i ended up getting the sony vaio VGN-FW290, which is their 16:9 one. gopooh and i watched the prices go up and down until we thought we had it at its best price, then ordered it after thanksgiving. we shipped it to his parents' place, figuring it'd be more secure than having someone at our leasing office accept it. of course, as luck would have it, his

rewarded with a burn

2008-12-07T22:58:00.006-05:00

yea i'm done w/ boards! different ppl have different ideas of what's considered hard, but i don't believe in 'educated' guesses. it just seems like even if i narrow a question down to 2 possible answers, i pick the wrong answer more often than not. so i just mark all of the ones i'm not sure about and count them up at the end. for this test i literally had HALF of the answers marked. that

cramming

2008-12-02T21:30:00.001-05:00

it's now the end of the road; my boards are this saturday! my favorite study spot is the big handicapped table at the starbucks around the corner. there's an electrical outlet right there for my laptop -- i've been going through a 'comprehensive CD' for the boards. the table at the front of the coffee shop works too but the outlet is high up on the wall and my laptop's heavy plug falls out.

thanksgiving

2008-11-27T15:03:00.001-05:00

we are enjoying our time back in michigan (sleeping in our big king-sized bed w/ our super comfortable fluffy pillowtop mattress), and getting ready for thanksgiving dinner. there's going to be a huge amount of food, both american and korean. :) gopooh made the stuffing for the turkey and already dropped it off at his parents' this morning, and he also made me stove top on the side b/c it is

C's visit

2008-11-18T22:14:00.002-05:00

C was in town again this weekend for a tau beta pi event. unfortunately we didn't really do anything exciting. in fact it was the exact opposite. i have to take my boards in less than a month, and i haven't gotten any consistent studying done. most of that is due to being tired after work and my own laziness. i tell ya, once i got out of college my study habits went drastically downhill! ;)

new laptop

2008-11-10T21:22:00.003-05:00

i've been thinking of getting a new laptop for awhile now... like a year. i got my current sony vaio back in 2003 and it has done well for me, w/ only one 'problem' when it wouldn't load my user profile or any of my stuff. but now it takes forever to start up, open programs, and shut down. every time the thought of a new laptop pops into my head, i check out the new deals for a day or so, and

boards

2008-11-06T20:32:00.004-05:00

i'm taking my boards 1 month from today. i'm not nervous yet, but i am starting to think it was a bad idea to take it in december. after all, i had originally planned on taking it this past august, but due to the delay in getting my ohio medical license, i wasn't eligible by the deadline. i thoroughly enjoyed my 2 months off from work, but now i'm working full time and trying to study at the

bee picture

2008-10-27T22:37:00.003-04:00

this picture was one taken in LA. it was when we were at the getty museum. my dad was the one taking the picture, and as he was getting ready to take the picture a bee started circling around... and just as he pushed the button it flew in front of the lens. see that blurry yellow blob? that was the bee. i was going to delete it, but then decided i actually liked it. not b/c it's a nice

our trip to LA

2008-10-22T23:01:00.001-04:00

we spent a nice long weekend in LA, and i have to say, i could see myself living out there. it doesn't make the most sense financially for us right now; we want to save all that we can while we can. maybe when we're older though? we went to both the getty villa and the getty museum. we thought each place would only take a few hours, but it turned out that even though we didn't walk through

2008-10-10T17:48:00.002-04:00

i finally bought a new coat last weekend. my last fall coat was from 1999 and i wore it faithfully until now. slowly, one by one, the buttons had fallen off and had been replaced by the extra buttons on the sleeves... and then they had fallen off again. and i still wore it for the last year, using the belt to keep it closed in the middle. yes i am ghetto! i'd been eyeing this black and

dimsum with J

2008-09-29T23:01:00.002-04:00

yesterday we met up with J, an old friend of mine from high school. we both went to umich for college and kept in touch afterwards through sporadic emails and of course, facebook, but i think the last time i saw him in person was in college. 8 years ago! there is smthg nice about seeing a familiar face here. i mean, we get along alright. everyone's nice at work and then on the weekends we're

burgers & beer & breakfast

2008-09-21T22:49:00.000-04:00

we went to a restaurant called burgers & beer & breakfast in tremont today. yes that's really what the place is called! originally it was burgers & beer, but then they tacked on the breakfast part of it hehe. breakfast is actually what we were aiming for, but we got there at 1:05pm... and the door was locked. the breakfast portion closed at 1pm! luckily, it turned out that there was another

new job

2008-09-18T19:52:00.003-04:00

i started my new job this past monday. it's not bad so far, but i've only worked 4 days so i'd be in really big trouble if i thought it sucked already! this job actually works out perfectly for me... i was lucky to stumble into it right as i decided i should get my butt in gear and do some job searching! i have to admit, i doubted that it'd actually happen, since i had to have sooo many

EMR training

2008-09-04T19:49:00.001-04:00

i completed 1.5 days of EMR (electronic medical record) orientation between yesterday and today. it was great fun. NOT! it was like a flashback to this computer programming class in high school -- i was w/ it up until we were 'tested' on what we'd 'learned' and had to do everything ourselves, and then i realized how much fumbling i was doing. i was like, wait, HOW do i find that abdominal

being on my own

2008-08-19T12:32:00.008-04:00

yesterday while gopooh was taking his boards, i went to my old residency clinic. it's funny being back and seeing all the familiar faces. it was nice to be there and not have to work, but at the same time it was weird for that same reason; i was there just hanging around and chatting w/ ppl i used to work w/ on a regular basis. we had dinner with a whole bunch of residency friends at

the real world

2008-08-14T13:30:00.004-04:00

ppl ask how it feels to be done w/ residency, and y'know, it feels great. better than i thought it would! but there's some uncertainty that comes w/ that feeling too. in a way residency is a bit of a security blanket, b/c you know that for those set years you will have that same job, and the chances of you losing that job are practically zilch... unless you do nothing you're s'posed to or

in-laws' visit

2008-08-05T13:58:00.002-04:00

gopooh's parents came into town this weekend. on friday they took us to this restaurant along the lake. i don't even remember its name, but it's part of a group of 'clubs' that they belong to where only members and their guests are allowed. it's kinda weird. they belong to a club in michigan that comes w/ gym membership. at the one we went to, though, membership comes w/ boat docking

rock and roll hall of fame

2008-07-28T13:25:00.019-04:00

last week gopooh and i went to a spine conference reception at the rock and roll hall of fame. i'd been there before, in 2001, but didn't really remember anything about it. well lucky for us, the convention let us go through the whole museum for free. :) to be honest, i didn't get much out of it. i mean, so much of it was over my head. it was cool seeing things like john mayer's written

C's visit

2008-07-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

my friend C came into town to visit this weekend. we spent a lot of the time letterboxing. she's been doing it for awhile now, but i was only vaguely familiar w/ the pastime. it was actually really cool. we entered locations in my gps and followed its directions. some of the letterboxes were harder to find than others, but in the end i think we found 6 or 7 of them. an added bonus was that

bridal shower

2008-07-15T14:21:00.003-04:00

driving from detroit to chicago costs $3 in tolls. unfortunately it was $17 from cleveland! the whole drive was just 4 toll roads. i was kinda caught off guard -- i'd known that i'd have to pay tolls, but i didn't expect it to be that high! yikes. at least we don't make the drive that often... aside from that, the weekend went well. G's bridal shower went off without a hitch, and we

weekend

2008-07-07T14:59:00.002-04:00

we made our second trip back to plymouth this weekend. 2 weekends, 2 trips back to michigan! this tim was for gopooh's parents' anniversary. it was nice b/c we hung out w/ his family and also had ashoka indian buffet w/ some friends. guess whose suggestion that was! yup, gopooh's haha. he loves that place. over the holidays we bought a garmin nuvi 200W gps. circuit city had a sale for <

interview, apartment

2008-06-26T15:39:00.004-04:00

the apartment is ok in that it's spacious and has really high ceilings. it turns out that it's an authentic loft -- it was an actual warehouse at some point and they converted it to a building full of apartments. gopooh has always wanted to live in an authentic loft, but from this point on i'm vetoing any further lofts. this is mainly b/c of one thing: we have bugs! first of all it's hard

new car

2008-06-19T19:34:00.001-04:00

we got gopooh a new car! he'd been driving a 1998 toyota 4runner, and we traded that in for a leased toyota rav4 w/ V6 engine. despite it being an SUV, it still has decent gas mileage. i think the listed numbers are 19 city and 26 freeway, which make it essentially the same as my pontiac grand am GT and a heck of a lot better than the 4runner's average 19-20 mpg! getting the lease was such a

cocoa beach

2008-06-16T22:51:00.002-04:00

this past weekend we were in florida for F's wedding. there were gaye holuds on friday and then the wedding itself on saturday. the events were around west melbourne, but we decided to stay 15 minutes away in cocoa beach. it actually worked out really well for us b/c we left early friday morning and got there just in time for lunch. ahhh what were we going to do w/ all our spare time? :p

last month

2008-06-02T22:11:00.002-04:00

so this is my last month of residency. or more accurately, my last 3 weeks. (what could be better than using the last week as vacation?) whoo hoo! it's weird to think that in 3 weeks, i will be done. i've learned a lot but have been frustrated w/ the program a lot too. overall, i'd have to say that i'm glad my life took me this way but i'm glad to be moving on. mostly, it's weird to think

lolonya's place

2008-05-25T15:02:00.002-04:00

yesterday we went over to L & Q's new house for lunch. T & J were also there, so it was like a mini reunion! i love these ladies; it's hard to believe that we've been friends for 12 years. it's even harder to believe that all of us are now married, and T & J have 3 kids. crazy. i really like their house b/c it's so spacious. the downstairs is very similar to our place in that the kitchen

30

2008-05-19T20:26:00.002-04:00

i turned 30 this weekend. whoo-hoo! haha. no seriously, turning 30 wasn't a big deal. i don't know what all the hoopla is about 30 being the big turning point. my life feels exactly the same as it did 5 years ago... w/ some minor changes. :) i had a good birthday. first gopooh took me out to sweet georgia brown, a southern-flaired restaurant we'd always wanted to check out but never did.

fingerprinted

2008-05-09T16:54:00.003-04:00

i had to get fingerprinted for my new medical license, so earlier today i made my way to the plymouth police department. after paying the $5 to get my paw prints recorded, i was led to a room that had a counter, a ruler marked on the wall, and a fingerprinting area. as the cop was dipping my fingers in the ink, i asked him, "this washes off easily, right?" and he was like, "no it takes a

seattle then cleveland

2008-05-04T17:49:00.008-04:00

this past week was a busy one. wednesday through friday, i was in seattle w/ 3 friends for an osteoporosis conference. it was actually really good -- better than the diabetes one. we learned a lot more about how to interpret dexa scans... not the radiology reports, but the actual scans themselves... as well as more details on the meds. which one to pick, which bisphosphonate is no good, etc.

patong

2008-04-27T14:28:00.002-04:00

last entry on thailand! we spent one day at patong. it turned out that it was just like bangkok... congested w/ bad traffic and many stands selling stuff on the streets. and the hotels weren't even on the beach, since the beach was separated from the town by a very busy street. we had a good time walking around, but ultimately, it made us really glad we'd opted for nai yang beach. :) it

sea kayaking

2008-04-22T21:01:00.007-04:00

phuket is surrounded by small islands w/ gorgeous rock formations and caves. we wanted to fully experience some of this, so we took a day tour by the famous john gray's sea canoe. it started out beautifully. we went out on a boat to all these rock formations, and the tour guides rowed us gracefully through a whole bunch of caves. we took plenty of pictures and ate plenty of good homecooked

phuket

2008-04-20T22:26:00.005-04:00

the remainder of our trip was spent at the indigo pearl on nai yang beach in phuket. we chose nai yang beach as opposed to the more popular patong beach b/c of that reason alone -- it's populated but not too populated. we're not into the crowded beaches, y'know? as it turns out, i preferred the pools to the ocean. i've never been one to lounge around poolside, but there was just smthg about

kanchanaburi

2008-04-15T23:19:00.009-04:00

on our 1-year anniversary, we took a day trip out to kanchanaburi. gopooh had researched tour guides online and booked us on a tour w/ a reputable group. it was nice b/c it was just us, the guide, and the driver. they picked us up at our hotel bright and early, took us around the bridge over river kwai, on an elephant ride, to the tiger temple, and then dropped us back off afterwards. the

bangkok 2

2008-04-12T14:31:00.004-04:00

despite all of its beautiful sites, bangkok can also be sketchy. we were warned ahead of time to beware even of taxis, b/c they sometimes take you to certain places for commission. like my brother said that when they were trying to get to a chinese restaurant, the taxi driver took them to a different restaurant in the middle of nowhere b/c he knew the owner. the food was still fine, but still,

bangkok 1

2008-04-10T18:51:00.008-04:00

so, bangkok was definitely the most urban city of our trip. during the day we visited temples. i thought the coolest one was wat pho, b/c of the huge gold-plated reclining buddha. it was almost as tall as the building. it was pretty impressive, and it was extra cool b/c the temple was open to the public, whereas most of the others don't let you inside some of the buildings. and of course you

back from thailand

2008-04-07T20:50:00.005-04:00

well, we're back from thailand! we had a great trip -- it was a fantastic way to celebrate our anniversary. thailand is one of those 'in' places to visit right now, but surprisingly most of the tourists we came across weren't from the u.s. maybe the torturous flight there has smthg to do w/ it? i mean, we met these americans who are currently living in saudi arabia, and they said it only took

excited for thailand

2008-03-20T20:43:00.001-04:00

aagghh. i am so excited for thailand! it seems hard to believe that at this time next week, we will be on a plane across the world. this next week is going to go by sooo slowly. as some of you may know, our plan is to go somewhere every year for our anniversary. it won't necessarily be exact, since this time of year isn't exactly the optimal time to travel to many places (i.e. too cold for

immunizations

2008-03-17T19:13:00.009-04:00

in preparation for our thailand trip, earlier this month gopooh and i went to our travel clinics and got vaccinated up the wazoo. i'd already gotten my hep A shot, so i ended up getting the typhoid and flu vaccines from the travel clinic. yes, that's right. the FLU! i hadn't gotten the flu vaccine this year b/c... well, b/c i'm not sure i've ever had the flu as an adult... but apparently,

my parents are moving

2008-03-10T23:44:00.013-04:00

my parents are moving out of michigan after 32 years or so. to make a long story short, gopooh and i most likely will not return to michigan, b/c of better jobs elsewhere. knowing that began my mom's job search at other VA hospitals. she found the perfect job for her, b/c she'd be doing exactly what she's doing now, but she'd get a promotion. she applied, she got it, and now they're going to

denver

2008-02-16T14:23:00.008-05:00

i had a great time in denver. it was such a good getaway! i mean, i was w/ 4 girlfriends and stayed in the ritz-carlton. sure we were there for a conference, but the entire trip was paid for, and we still had our free time, so how can i complain? the only downside was that i wasn't w/ gopooh for valentine's day. it was funny though, b/c when my suitcase was all set in the corner of my hotel

hospital party

2008-02-10T17:47:00.005-05:00

last night we got all dressed up and went to st. johns golf & conference center for the hospital's anniversary celebration. it was nice to hang out w/ friends, and i like getting dressed up from time to time... but these hospital events all seem the same. do you ever get tired of making small talk w/ ppl you really don't care to talk to? yeah, that's how i feel. i've never been one for small

J's wedding

2008-02-03T14:13:00.004-05:00

my dear friend J got married last night. it's hard to believe, but he and i have been friends for 14 years. he was even my date to homecoming our senior year of high school. (or was it our junior year???) he's been through a lot the last few years, but he's pulled through like a champ, and i wish him only the best. :) and yes i did take more pictures than the 2 below, but i like these,

plymouth ice spectacular

2008-01-28T23:14:00.006-05:00

this month has sucked. that's why i haven't been updating. but it's been pretty uneventful, so... no great loss, right? anyway. every winter in plymouth there's an ice sculpture display called the plymouth ice spectacular. in addition to all the carnival food available -- yum! i love carnival nachos and elephant ears! -- they have, of course, ice sculptures. they're done by a whole slew of

happy new year!

2008-01-01T22:14:00.002-05:00

happy new year! can you believe it's already 2008? where did the time go??? we ended up ringing in the new year w/ a party at C & S's. we ate a ton of food, and some ppl had a ton to drink haha. we even had some fondue! unfortunately, despite all the time it took to get the chocolate texture and taste just right, we didn't eat that much of it b/c we'd already eaten too many other things.

merry christmas

2007-12-25T09:25:00.001-05:00

merry christmas! hope everyone has a great holiday. we've been having a great few days, especially since i've managed to have the last 4 days off w/o using vacation time. i need to work a half day tomorrow and a half day thursday, but then my holiday break (again, no vacation time used) kicks in until jan 2. we have a lot of things planned, so it's going to be a very busy week. but that's

holiday party

2007-12-15T14:32:00.001-05:00

last night we went to a holiday party that my program was having. in some way, we almost felt 'obligated' to go b/c i love the ppl i'm graduating w/, and i love hanging out w/ them. there was a ton of food, and i just couldn't stop my hand from grabbing those damn pizza rolls. i don't know what's wrong w/ me, but i have no self-control when it comes to food. i think i ate close to 10 of them

diabetes conference

2007-12-09T22:45:00.001-05:00

i just registered for a diabetes conference in denver in february. denver in february. it's going to be COLD! unfortunately, although it runs almost every month and sometimes occurs in nicer cities like seattle and miami, it had to be THIS one, b/c 5 of us decided to go together, and february fit everyone's schedule the best. :( the thing is, it's s'posed to be a great conference. and not

thailand

2007-12-06T22:20:00.001-05:00

the best news i got all day was when gopooh paged me at work to tell me he got the tickets to thailand. he almost -- but not quite -- had enough thankyou points to get one of the plane tickets for free. so we're using some of the thankyou points for our hotel stay in phuket. THAILAND, HERE WE COME!!! although our trip spans 11 days, we're only going to have 8 full days there. travel time

dinner and cats

2007-12-02T14:25:00.000-05:00

last night G had a bunch of us over for dinner and laughs until it got to be 1:30am and we were just too tired to stay anymore. we hadn't seen her new house before, so it was cool. she's bulgarian, so she included stuff that they eat in bulgaria, like lamb tongue and brain. i've eaten brain before... as a kid, when i didn't really know what it was... and i remember it being like noodles.

MGM

2007-11-21T23:35:00.001-05:00

gopooh and i had a 'family night out' w/ my parents and my brother tonight. we met up at pegasus, this greek restaurant in the greektown casino that my dad used to take us to when he worked at the renaissance center. i don't know what it is about that restaurant, but they make awesome lamb. delicious. i wonder what will happen to pegasus once the new greektown casino opens up. i mean, right

flat tire

2007-11-14T18:53:00.001-05:00

so sunday we went back for the car. it'd been 6-7 years since gopooh last changed a tire, and i... well, i've... seen it done once? maybe. so it wasn't fun. first he couldn't find the tools. then the whole thing was rusted on. then once he actually got it off, he tried to separate the tire from the wheel. i kept looking at it and going, "the metal part of the tire looks just like the metal

wine for the spirit

2007-11-11T15:38:00.000-05:00

last night was the annual wine for the spirit put on by the hospital. it's a formal event that raises money by charging $125/ticket -- we got tickets for free! -- and auctioning off a whole assortment of objects collected from staff and companies in the area. there's 'free' food and wine tasting, as well as some fancy schmancy wines for $5-30/glass. this was the 4th (and probably the last)

anniversary trip

2007-11-05T19:44:00.001-05:00

we've changed our trip next year from spain to asia, partly b/c of the rising costs in europe for americans, and partly b/c gopooh thinks asia is more exotic. exotic... hmmm... doesn't that description of asia sound weird, coming from an asian? we can take 12 days, including the insane travel time. now the problem is, where in asia. we want to go to bangkok, and play w/ wild tigers and ride

halloween

2007-10-31T23:14:00.001-04:00

i was working on a research project with E, so gopooh was the one who stayed home and handed out halloween candy. this weekend we'd gotten some butterfinger crunch bars, which are these really delicious wafer bars w/ butterfinger filling. or smthg like that. well, guess how many trick-or-treaters he got... NONE! where did all the kids go? downtown plymouth is a fairly young crowd. there are

san diego fires

2007-10-25T20:39:00.000-04:00

the california fires are crazy! i know that area tends to have these pretty regularly, but still... we found out monday morning that A's parents were safe but were actually evacuated. yikes. while we were there this past sunday, we celebrated a belated sweetest day w/ dinner at hotel del coronado on coronado island. we went there specifically b/c we'd heard that there was an amazing view of

san diego

2007-10-23T22:40:00.000-04:00

we got back from a great trip in san diego last night! i'm glad we decided to extend the weekend to make it a longer trip. the weather was just the way i like it -- warm but w/ enough of a breeze. aside from that, we enjoyed a morning at the san diego zoo. we actually did this behind-the-scenes tour, which basically meant that a tour guide drove us around the 10 acre zoo and let us go 'in the

going to san diego

2007-10-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

this coming thursday we're going to be going to san diego. a wedding's bringing us out there, but we decided to make it into a mini-vacation, so we're not returning until the following monday. neither of us has been there as an adult, so it should be cool. we like to go places that are new to both of us... once again, i'm not looking forward to flying. it just makes me sooo sick. i still

hanging out with friends

2007-10-07T19:51:00.000-04:00

C & N were in town for a wedding, so we went out w/ them last night. we didn't do anything huge -- just scarfed down dinner at mongolian bbq then played arcades at gameworks -- but it's always nice to hang out w/ old friends. it gets harder and harder to keep in touch w/ friends as we get older. i'm afraid that when i'm 50, i won't know anyone i currently know. between jobs, spouses, kids

where will we end up?

2007-09-25T19:57:00.001-04:00

i wonder where our lives are going to take us after next year. i mean, with gopooh's fellowship being only 1 year, we'll almost certainly be moving again after that. but we're either too indecisive, or too picky, b/c we have absolutely no idea where we would like to live. i'm pretty intolerant of heat, but if I'm sweating, then gopooh is downright melting. so austin's out, even though it

moving to cleveland

2007-09-18T23:12:00.002-04:00

we're moving to cleveland! yup, we the michigan-born-and-educated, are actually moving away. it's kinda sad, b/c although michigan isn't all that great, it's our home. and for some reason i'd just always thought we were a staple here. but alas, it's not meant to be. the reason we're moving is b/c at the beginning of the month gopooh was offered a 1-year spine fellowship at cleveland clinic

brides.com

2007-09-14T18:10:00.000-04:00

a few days ago, i got a voice mail from a writer for brides.com who said she was assigned to do a story/photoessay on our wedding. she already had some pictures from our photographer but wanted to set up an interview to go over some details of the wedding, or smthg like that. when i first heard the message i thought it was sooo funny. but after thinking about it, it's kinda cool! b/c of our

chicago weekend

2007-09-10T23:08:00.001-04:00

this past weekend in chicago started out poorly, with us getting stuck on I-94 for over 1.5 hours for an accident that closed all lanes. that caused us to initially push back, then cancel, our dinner reservation at everest. the worst thing of all is that we still got charged $75, b/c that's what our credit card was charged when we first made the reservation online. UGH! but i gotta say, the

5 year anniversary

2007-09-03T22:56:00.001-04:00

happy anniversary... now go get the ladder! five years ago yesterday, gopooh and i went on our first date. and yesterday, to celebrate our special occasion, we got locked out of our house! as we left for our bike ride, we closed the garage door, slid the remote opener underneath as usual, and then proceeded to ride for 45 minutes. afterwards, gopooh went to the front to open the door as i

corrupt profile

2007-08-30T23:32:00.000-04:00

a few days ago, my computer wouldn't turn on. well, technically, it started up just fine but wouldn't load anything. the desktop was empty, the background was gone, and it kept saying smthg about a corrupt local profile, so basically it was the same thing as not turning on. after several restart attempts i started to panic. the D: drive seemed to be intact, but the C: drive definitely was not

bicycling

2007-08-23T22:30:00.001-04:00

last saturday afternoon we went out and bought new hybrid bikes. neither of us had ever owned a hybrid bike before, so we were eager to test them out somewhere other than the parking lot of d&d bicycles. the weather has been really gross though: either super hot, or rainy and humid. finally on tuesday we got a sliver of time after work, so we rode for just 20 mins and then jumped in the shower

tire problem

2007-08-14T22:23:00.000-04:00

smthg is wrong w/ my car tires. this seems to be a recurring problem w/ me and my cars. i don't know what the deal is! when i was 16 i drove a geo prizm. it gave us a good 9 years, but at the end the tires started to leak air. actually, let me rephrase that. the tires started to deflate. suddenly and rapidly. one day they'd be fine, and the next day i'd have a flat tire. i remember one

vacations for next year

2007-08-01T19:56:00.001-04:00

gopooh and i are planning on going somewhere next march and/or april, partly b/c we want to go somewhere (duh) but also b/c we want to try to take a yearly trip around our anniversary just the two of us. we don't want to spend too much money, but we don't have a set budget. we're willing to spend some dough to have ourselves a good time, and i guess as long as the trip justifies the cost, it's

dog killer

2007-07-25T20:16:00.001-04:00

as most ppl know, i love dogs. love love LOVE them. i don't know vick's first name, and i don't know how he is as a football player (although gopooh said his team was giving him one last year to prove he's as good as they once thought), and i don't care. i think he is so evil, and i think he should rot in hell. seriously, i do! i've pretty much always been iffy on the death sentence. i

smart car

2007-07-22T17:25:00.001-04:00

we saw the 'smart car' at the ann arbor art fair yesterday. it is sooo small. remember, i'm only 5'3". (its edge is cut off on the right b/c there was a woman and gopooh cut her out of the shot, but you get the idea.) we'd thought it was out in europe but not in the u.s. yet. but C thinks she saw one while she was driving to michigan friday, and we definitely saw one today. it

jackpot party

2007-07-15T08:07:00.001-04:00

last night gopooh and i went to the casino. recently while he's been playing craps i've had this infatuation w/ one of the slot machines, jackpot party. i don't know why i'm drawn to it, b/c really, there's nthg special about it. you try to get 3 'jackpot party' icons to get to the bonus. then the bonus is a screen full of 30 or so unopened presents filled w/ coins, but a fifth of them will

sleeping on the floor

2007-07-11T20:11:00.001-04:00

i woke up around 4:15am with gopooh's pillow on my stomach. now how did that happen? did i grab it out from under his head? did he throw it at me? in any case, i took it and put it above his head; he said thanks and we went back to sleep. when my alarm clock went off an hour later, he told me that he slept on the floor. i didn't believe him, but he kept insisting on it, so i asked, "did

cedar point

2007-06-26T23:03:00.001-04:00

i took a personal day yesterday so gopooh and i could go to cedar point. this was after that kid got her feet chopped off on a ride last week, so needless to say, we opted out of the power tower this year. ;p we had a lot of fun. for some reason -- maybe b/c it was monday? or b/c we just plain lucked out -- the lines were awesome. we rode millenium force twice, top thrill dragster twice,

sunset in curacao

2007-06-19T21:22:00.000-04:00

i love these pictures. they were taken from our deck in curacao at sunset. our balcony overlooked our hotel's private beach. can you imagine what it must be like to see this every day?

frozen food

2007-06-14T21:52:00.002-04:00

gopooh and i always go grocery shopping together, even though he does all the cooking. i go partly b/c it's what we've always done, but partly b/c if i didn't, he'd probably come home w/ a bag of chips every time or smthg. haha. whenever i see an old man buying only frozen food, i have to point it out to gopooh and tell him how sad it is. and he always points out that if he were single, he'd