Adventures in Boston

New House!

2010-07-03T16:21:00.003-04:00

We haven't said anything about it yet, because at first the negotiations weren't any fun, and then we have been busy getting ready for packing, but we wanted to briefly share how excited we are about moving into our new house! A Gallery is here, but here is one of our favorites:

From House

It has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a 2-car garage, and as you'll see, a pool. Scott is excited about the office, which is perfect for a new professor in that it has room for a whiteboard. It's more space than we need right now, but we hope to stay here for a long time, and grow into it over the coming years. We have plenty of room for guests, so please let us know if you are in the area!

(Note: the stuff in the house isn't ours; these were taken prior to closing)

Residency Graduation

2010-06-12T14:01:00.004-04:00

I know many of you have probably given up hope that we would ever post another blog, but take heart, I have finally found something that I feel is blog-worthy.

Yesterday morning was my residency graduation. Now, this is a little bit like kindergarten graduation because there is no new degree awarded. There are no caps or gowns, (which perhaps puts it even lower than kindergarten graduation). But like all graduations, it marks the completion of one phase of life and career, and the proverbial green light to go forward with the next phase. I was proud to watch as each of the residents and fellows with whom I have taken this journey walked up to the stage. I was also honored to have my husband, without whom I could not have done this, sitting in the audience to support me once again.

I have attached a video that Scott took as it was my turn to go forward and accept my diploma. Dr. Orfanos, our program director, said a few words about each of us, our future plans, our character, then chose a celebrity that he felt represented us. Everyone from Bono to President Obama was represented.

For me, this graduation is yet another reminder that our time here in Boston is fast coming to a close, which is bittersweet to say the least. As much as I want to hang on to this place and to the dear friends we have made here, I know that we have done what we came here to do, and to stay longer would be like stealing time away from what God has called us to next. Luckily, even though our move and the responsibilities of homeownership are fast approaching, I will still have some time when we get to Dallas before the real responsibilities of being an attending set in.

"What will you do with all your free time?" you might ask. We'll actually, graduation is not only a momentous occasion, but also a slightly anticlimactic one, because I still have to go to work next week, and possibly the week after. Oh well, the good news is that I only have two more clinic sessions until I never again have to have outpatient responsibilities. That's not to say that something may not change in the future, but for now, the inpatient setting is where I thrive.

Pie crust making tip

2009-10-11T16:06:00.003-04:00

(close-up, small-depth-of-field photo not available)

I love any food that comes in a pie crust -- pie of course, but also quiche and pasties. I'm always disappointed in the quality/price ratio of store-bought crusts, but I've also never been good at making them myself. They take a lot of planning, I never get the consistency right, and I can never get them rolled and transferred to the pan without making a big mess (and, usually, ruining the crust). But the other day I discovered a great trick that makes pie crusts much simpler and forgiving: plastic wrap.

You always read about rolling out the dough between waxed paper or parchment paper, but I've found that even these have a tendency to stick to the dough and ruin it when you try to take them off. But plastic wrap is flimsy and hydrophobic, a combination which allows it to peel off with ease. So it makes the rolling/trasfering part easy -- just roll the dough out on a sheet of wrap (or between two sheets), and then use a peel or some other large/flat thing to flip it into the pan (you can place the pan upside down on the dough/peel and then flip the whole thing). Form it to the right shape, and off comes the wrap!

However, there is another benefit -- since the rolling/transferring process will now be so easy, you have a little bit of leeway when it comes to the water content of your dough. If you get your dough a little too wet, then the layers of wrap keep it from sticking to the pan or the work surface. And if you get your dough a little too dry, then the wrap provides some structural support during the transfer, which reduces the chances of it crumbling!

Lobsterman Triathlon 2009

2009-09-20T22:05:00.007-04:00

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Morning and pre-race

Race day! We woke up early at 6:00, after a somewhat fitful night of sleep (due more to a thrashing toddler than to nerves). The weather was great -- high of 64, not a cloud in sight, and a bit windy (hey, you can't have everything). We threw on some clothes, put a pajama-clad Audrey into the car, and left our campsite. We ate breakfast at a small local place called the "Sunshine Diner," where Tara and I both had biscuits and gravy with eggs. After picking up my friend, colleague, and co-racer colleague Tobias from his hotel, we headed to the park where the race was being held. Even at 7:15 there was a line forming at the entrance, but we got in with little delay and found parking.

Having registered the night before, we were able to go straight to "Body Marking" -- a curious tradition where cheerful volunteers color numbers all over you in permanent marker. I couldn't help thinking that it must help them to identify body parts if one gets eaten by a shark, but it turns out the main reason is so that the timing crew can identify you as you leave the water. After body marking, I dropped off my bike in the transition area and laid out all of my gear on a towel. Then there was nothing to do for a while, so we watched the tide finish flowing in, changing our swim course from a muddy wasteland into ... well, something wetter. As the start time approached, we made a last-minute restroom stop, then put on wet suits and headed to the start location.

After a brief pre-race announcement program, the race was on! Well ... for the professionals, anyway. With 800 participants, people must be sent out in waves. First are the "elite" athletes -- those considered most likely to win. After the elites were the collegiate teams. Then men under 34. Then women under 34. Men under 42. Women under 42. Then highly-trained animals, and so on. I stopped keeping track somewhere in the middle, as the nerves kicked in at full throttle and caused the nearby porta-Johns to look suddenly appealing again. Wandering back to the start location, about 15 minutes after the start, I watched the fastest swimmers begin to complete the swim, and wondered if the race would be over before we started. Finally, however, it was time for the novice wave, and we headed out into the water with our blue swim caps screaming "newbies!"

Swim 1500m

Before today, I had never participated in an organized swim event. But as doing a triathlon has been at least a "pipe dream" for some time, I've practiced swimming on and off over the last five years, and could make it for a mile relatively early in my training. Still, since the swim is the only event in which drowning is a potential hazard, it was the event I was most concerned about initially. But a month or so ago I bought a wetsuit, and upon learning that I could essentially nap in that thing without sinking, my fears abated.

The triathlon had a water start, which means you swim a few meters out to the starting buoy before your wave gets sent off. It was during this swim to the buoy that I experienced the major technical glitch of the event -- my goggles were not working. With a sickening feeling, I remembered how Audrey had taken the strap off of the lenses several days earlier. I apparently re-attached it incorrectly, and it would no longer stay tight! With just seconds to go before the send off, I frantically tried to tie the straps into knots to keep them from slipping (as if I wasn't nervous enough!). But it was to no avail. The race started, and within five strokes I couldn't see. So I had to stop and work on them some more before I really started -- not the ideal start! (But Audrey, if you read this in the future, I promise that I wasn't mad, and I love you!)

The rest of the swim was less eventful by comparison, but still very challenging. I had trained on open water, in Walden Pond. This is a great place to train -- almost exactly a mile round-trip, and I had done it four or five times already. But Walden is warm, calm, and fresh. In contrast, the water on the coast of Maine in September is *cold* -- much colder than I expected. In addition, the wind made the water fairly choppy, and so we were really getting rocked around on the waves. As a consequence, so every so often you'd swallow a bunch of salt water, which is much worse than lake water. Because of these challenges, I never really found anywhere near a smooth rhythm, and felt like I wasted a lot of energy thrashing around the whole time. Still, I made it back to the shore without too much panic, which alone seemed like a victory.

Swim time: 32:32.

T1

Getting out of the water I could barely walk in a straight line, but I could hear Tara's voice calling my name, so I staggered up the hill toward the transition area. Wetsuits are hard to get off, and I eventually had to lay on the ground to facilitate the process. Then, being wet and still disoriented, I had a hard time putting on my biking clothes (socks on wet feet -- ugh!). Just before I finished up, Tara and Audrey came over to give hugs and encouragement, which was worth an extra 0:30.

T1 time: 6:38.

Bike 40k

The bike was the event I was least worried about -- I am no racer, but have done a fair bit of biking, including five week-long tours across Minnesota with my Dad. I had done a fair number of training rides, including several longer than 40k, and also a little bit of hill training. So even when I learned that the course had a few hills, I was never worried about finishing, and I thought the bike would be my strongest event. Overall it went well. I knew that a 10k run loomed, and so I was continually reminding myself to "save it for the run." In particular, I tried to rest a bit on the downhills, which meant I had some energy for the uphills and windy sections. My bike chain fell off twice (!), which cost me a few minutes, but otherwise there were no complications. So overall I really enjoyed the bike, and it went by quickly. Tara and Audrey just missed me at the bike finish because Audrey chose that moment to practice her potty-training. What can you do?

Bike time: 1:34:09.

T2

This transition seemed much smoother -- it's amazing what being dry and having a working sense of balance will do! Plus there was no wetsuit to make things complicated -- just drop off the bike, change from biking shoes into running shoes, and go. Still, I wasn't particularly fast here. I suppose, in retrospect, it was silly to spend two minutes changing socks. Also, that minute spent digging for my phone to send a text to Tara probably wasn't advisable. And by this time the gatorade consumed on the bike had worked through my system, and so one last stop at the porta-John was required. But I was having fun, my family was there to send me off, and I just wasn't in a hurry!

T2 time: 5:37.

Run 10k

The run was the part I ended up being most worried about. Although I ran track in middle school (an increasingly long time ago), I have always had problems with shin splints. For my run training this time around, I was armed with a bit more knowledge, and so I successfully avoided the majority of the shin pain with easy running and slow increases in distance. Even so, this time I had problems with my calves, which would remain sore for many days after the longer training runs. Consequently, I never even made it up to 10k during training, and I had resigned myself to probably having to walk a bit. However, I was thrilled to be able to limit the walking to the vicinity of rest stops, which were placed each mile. I would slow to a walk to grab and drink a cup of Gatorade (and thank the wonderful volunteers!), but was able to tun the entire rest of the course. And while my knees were by this time getting a bit stiff (they were already tired from the bike), I didn't have any problems with my calves. So I was very grateful, and although I was tired, I still felt good throughout the whole run. By the end, I knew I would be able to finish, and was able to just enjoy the experience of completing my first triathlon. By the time I finished, things were already winding down, but Tara and Audrey were there, which was more important than anything else.

Run time: 1:04:10.

Post-race analysis and Reflections

My total time was 3:23:04, for an overall men's rank of 309/333. As a first-timer, I was really, really happy with this result. Being most comfortable on the bike, I used the bike split as a reference point, and I was relatively happy with my time here, which worked out to an average of 16mph. This is not at all fast in absolute terms, but for me, on a somewhat hilly course, trying to save energy for the run, I was pleased. So I was quite surprised to find out that I had ranked lowest (308th) with my bike split! I ranked higher (291st) with my run -- which I had despaired of even finishing -- with a per-mile time of 10:16. And despite the goggle fiasco, and the challenging conditions, I ranked highest of all (255th) on the swim! So it was a huge encouragement to do well in two events that are relatively new to me. As for the sum of my transition times (330th), well, one can work on this. No more texting.

As we enjoyed free beers and not-so-free lobsters after the race, I tried to soak in all the new memories and the experience of the post-race celebrations. It was great fun to do the race, and the benefits of the training will be the best reward if I stick with it. I may be tired with sore knees today, but I'm still wearing my little "finisher's medal" with pride, and am already excited to starting thinking about an indoor training schedule for the winter!

Pictures

Night Before Carbo Load

Pre-Race

Mid-Race

Post-Race

Storyland

2009-08-19T20:38:00.009-04:00

Tara had a 3-day weekend this past weekend thanks to a colleague who needed to trade an ER shift. Plans for Mom and Keith to come visit fell through, but we still wanted to take advantage of this rare gift of extended time off. We thought this would be a great opportunity to explore some of what New England has to offer. Unfortunately, Scott had fallen victim to one of the usual plagues that Audrey brings home from daycare, so he wasn't of much use in the planning process. As Tara wracked her brain and the internet for ideas, she remembered a place that some friends had mentioned, a must-see place for toddlers ... Storyland!

We drove up on Saturday early afternoon. We arrived at our B&B at about 5pm, after what was in theory a little over a 3 hr drive became almost 5 hrs with traffic and the lunch stop. The place we stayed was called the Cranmore Mountain Lodge. It was a charming little inn run by a French Canadian couple. There was a pool, which we took advantage of a couple of times, and a family room with lots of toys and kid videos. Our last-minute booking got us a room on the 3rd floor with no air conditioning, but we survived with the help of a couple of fans.

Storyland is an amusement park designed for children ages 2-12. It is hidden in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The rides and other attractions are based on a nursery rhyme/fairy tale theme. For instance, Humpty Dumpty is kind of the main guy, the engineer of Storyland if you will. They have Cinderella's castle (along with the glass slipper and the fairy godmother's wand), teacups ala Alice in Wonderland, and live animals representing such rhymes as Baa Baa Black Sheep, and the Three Little Pigs. There were also smaller things to explore and play with, like a visual representation of 1, 2, buckle my shoe, and the old woman who lived in shoe (complete with actual old woman handing out stickers).

Audrey had an amazing time! Perhaps the highlight for her was seeing Humpty Dumpty in a live show. Included in the admission fee are several different little 15 or 20 minute shows. While you wait in line for the rides, there is a TV playing clips from each show, and Audrey caught a glimpse of one with Humpty Dumpty. From then on, all she could talk about was Humpty Dumpty. Unfortunately, the next show was not for another 3 1/2 hours or so. We filled the time with lunch, other rides, and a nap in her stroller (praise God!), until finally it was time to go see “Humpty Dumpty in a show.” The show was the kind of thing that I'm sure other parents can relate to as being a little painful to sit through for those of us over 5 years old. But Audrey was in heaven as she watched Humpty dance and sing and help out his friends Little Bo Peep and Jack and Jill!

Another highlight was Cinderella's castle, and meeting the real Cinderella! As soon as we got to the castle, she wanted to know where was the fairy godmother. We decided to defer that question to Cinderella, who simply said “she's not here right now, but she left her wand for you to see.” With that one settled, she then asked where the Prince was, and the best that Mommy could come up with was that he was at work, or perhaps at a battle. What do princes do all day anyway?

After a long day at Storyland, we a nice dinner of Wiener schnitzel at a German hotel/restaurant. Upon arriving home soon afterward, we all crashed. After we got Audrey down at about 8:30, Scott and I laid on the bed, only to wake up about midnight to realize we had fallen asleep still fully dressed! The next day we spent some time at the outlet malls, and drove home through the White Mountains National Forest on the scenic Kancamagus highway. Along the way we also stopped for a short “hike,” which I put in quotes because we have learned that you are lucky if you make it more than 100yards down the trail hiking with a 2 year-old. There are so many interesting things to see and an endless supply of rocks, sticks, and “cones” (pinecones) to pick up. It was nice nonetheless, and tired her out for a nice nap on the drive home.

Triathlon-bound

2009-07-14T13:02:00.003-04:00

I just signed up for my first triathlon! The Lobsterman Triathlon is in Freeport, Maine, on Sept. 19. It's an olympic-distance triathlon, which consists of a 1500m swim, 40km bike, and 10km run. Right now I'm doing about half those distances with some regularity, with about 9.5 weeks to train, so I've got some work to do. However, I have no aspirations of getting a good time, and am just looking forward to the exercise, the camping trip we'll make of it, and the lobster bake at the end.

Plus, it's a good excuse to take Audrey out in her bike carriage:

5 Years

2009-06-28T12:56:00.004-04:00

Friday was our fifth anniversary, and we did some fun things! In the afternoon, after Audrey's nap, we decided to go berry-picking at Land's Sake Farm, as strawberries are in season and neither of us had been in a long time. It was Audrey's first berry-picking experience, she really enjoying hunting for and picking the berries. There were many cries of "look Mommy!" and "I found one!"

Then in the evening, with a good friend watching Audrey, we went out to an anniversary dinner at Top of the Hub, a restaurant on top of the Prudential building in downtown Boston. The views were amazing:

The restaurant itself was nice, too. It was nice and quiet, with tasteful decor. The service was efficient and the food we had was really good. It all made for a very nice conversational dinner. On our menu choices were

-- Caesar Salad (boring, but all Scott will eat)
-- NE Clam Chowder (more delicate than Legal's)
-- Rosemary Chicken and a "Purple Rain" (Tara)
-- Shank of Lamb and a Cabernet (Scott)

For dessert, the options on top of the Hub were a bit too "foodie" for us, so we also made a quick visit to the Cheesecake Factory down in the main mall. A bit noisier than our romantic evening above, but hey, procuring chocolate in sufficient quantities is sometimes important.

(With a two-year old, we get out so infrequently that we always document the occasion)

Sundogs

2009-06-17T13:44:00.001-04:00

The day we arrived back from Wichita we saw a rainbow surrounding the sun, with extra bright spots on each side almost as bright as the sun itself. These are awful pictures (taken in a moving car), and you can barely make out the bright spots in the sky, but they at least document the effect. It turns out we were seeing sundogs, a really cool optical phenomena. It would be worth five minutes to look at some pictures and videos.

New Pictures in the 2-year album

2009-06-16T22:32:00.000-04:00

We were inspired by friends over our recent vacation to Wichita, and will try to update this a bit more often. In the meantime, there are a bunch of new pictures up at picasaweb, and we'll continue to add more over the weekend.

"Dinosaur"

2009-03-30T22:14:00.003-04:00

Tonight Audrey had a few memorable moments in a row. Tara has a bedside lamp with a pull cord, and Audrey enjoys turning the light on and off. So I left her in the bedroom playing with the light while I prepared dinner.

However, I hurried to the bedroom when Audrey started to cry in alarm. I found that she had climbed onto the bed (by herself, which is no mean feat), and was crying and pointing to the opposite wall in alarm. It was only her shadow, of course, and we learned about shadows in the fall (tears then as well), but this one was on the wall, and quite big. I said, "It's only your shadow, Audrey," but she was convinced otherwise and said, without prompting,

"No, dinosaur."

New Audrey Pictures

2008-11-05T18:27:00.002-05:00

There are a few last pictures posted to the 12-18 month album, and now a new 18-24 month album. She's growing up too fast!

Italy Pictures

2008-10-22T00:39:00.001-04:00

Some of our Italy pictures are now posted on PicasaWeb -- as always, all our photo albums are linked in the right column.

Florence I

2008-09-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was spent traveling from Cinque Terre to Florence. We stopped off in Pisa along the way to see the so-called "leaning tower." Too bad we don't currently have the capability to post pictures, but let's just say it was worth the stop. The tower is on a campus with a church and baptistry, so we toured these as well. After another freshly made deli sandwich, we continued on our way to Florence. The evening was spent getting settled into our hotel, doing our own walking tour of Florence, and enjoying our first pizza dinner here in Italy - very tasty!

Today was our first FULL day in Florence, and I mean that in every sense of the word. We woke up early for our 9am reservation at the Uffizi Gallery, the largest collection of art in Florence. The gallery is huge and amazing. It begins with primitive-looking religious art from the fourteenth century, and progressing through the almost 45 rooms which wind their way in a horseshoe shape, ends up in the eighteenth century, so you can see the advances in style and technique unfold before your eyes. And of course, there are some big names there as well -- It boasts work by artists such as Botticelli (including the Birth of Venus), Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Rafael and Leonardo Da Vinci. It was a mentally-exhausting, nearly 5 hour tour, but a rewarding experience.

We had lunch at a delightful little wine bar, or "Enoteca" that we happened upon. We sat with our sandwiches and shared glass of wine, then after much debate and some wasted walking, decided to go to the Pitti Palace. Here, we toured a portion of the science museum which is temporarily on display, which details the scientific developments that occurred in Florence under the Medicis, including the rediscovery of Euclid's works on geometry, original discoveries of Galileo obtained using his newly-developed telescope (an original was on display!), and various tools developed during this time used for navigation, astronomy, and engineering. Our ticket also allowed us to tour the palace gardens, which consisted of well-manicured lawns and shubbery, sculptures, fountains, and a terrace with a beautiful view. This was somewhat different from what we expected (no flowers), but was still a nice escape from the bustling, noisy city, and the mental effort required by museums.

Dinner was at La Trattoria Marione. A very charismatic waiter ushered us in, and convinced us to let him surprise us with two pasta dishes. We ended up with ravioli and spaghetti with meatsauce. Both were excellent, as was the €3 wine. We topped off the meal with Tiramisu.

After a short rest at our hotel, we were persuaded to drag our tired feet out one last time to visit a unique-looking exhibit on the Impressionists just a block from our hotel. This turned out to be a terrific complement to our Uffizi tour, as it picked up where the Uffizi left off. Starting from one or two neo-Classical paintings, it walked you through impressionism, with a focus on the techniques and technology used by the impressionists to create their paintings. It also let you in on some of the controversy surrounding their work -- critics said that this new style of painting looked like mere unfinished sketches. By the end, combinded with the Uffizi, it felt like we had received a miniature course in art history.

So all in all, a very long day (three museums!). But it was worth it.

Cinque Terre

2008-09-03T15:27:00.000-04:00

Despite last night being our first real sleep in two days, we woke up fairly refreshed at 8:00, had croissants and cappucino at the local coffee bar where we bought our phone card, and set out on our hike of the Cinque Terre. These five towns, part of a recently-established national park and World Heritage site, are connected by seven miles of hiking trail. Each town is set on a (steep) hillside by the sea, and consists of little more than a single narrow, uphill street, surrounded by colorfully painted buildings.

The first leg of the trail, from our "home" of Riomaggiore to neighboring Manarola, is called "la Via del Amore," after the young couples that frequent it. It is flat and easy, only about 20 minutes walk. In Manarola, which is prettier than Riomaggiore, we watched a short movie at the wine museum about the local dessert wine "Stracciatella." Evidently they have been making it for many centuries.

After a short walk around town, we continued on the trail to Corniglia. This trail was longer and slightly harder, taking a little over an hour. We got lots of great seaside views of the clear, blue-green water, and the amazingly regular boulders at the bottom. As we approached Corniglia, we skipped the nude beach (a decision, however, which we questioned somewhat as the day got hotter), and proceeded up the 384 steps to the town, which unlike the others is perched high on a hilltop. We bought a picture from a local artist camped at the bottom of the stairs. In Corniglia we ate our first deli-bought ham, (local) cheese, and (to-die-for) salami sandwich, which is a cheap, delicious, and fun way to eat lunch.

Onward to Vernazza! This section of trail was much hillier, much rockier, much longer (about 1.5 hours), and (due to the time of day) much hotter. Tara's flip-flops really got a workout on this one. This trail was more through the forest above the sea, so we didn't get as many views to go with our workout. We also passed an enterprising guy who set up a restaurant halfway along the trail, but since he wouldn't fill our water bottle we continued on. Eventually we made it to Vernazza, which was a little bigger and busier. We had our gelato of the day here.

We skipped the last trail segment, which is 2 hours long and even rockier than the previous one. Instead we took the train to Monterosso, which is the busiest and beachiest of the five towns. Having lost all of our posessions on the flight over, we were excited to find a few cheap clothes here -- a shirt for Tara and some shorts for Scott. After a stroll around town and some pizza focaccia, our tired feet carried us back to the train station to make our way home. Dinner in Riomaggiore was at a nice seafood place, with some amazing pesto linguini, swordfish with marinara, and a half-bottle of local wine.

We really enjoyed this day of our trip. The combination of hiking through the seaside scenery and strolling through small, tradition-filled towns was an ideal first day of our vacation.

(pictures to follow)

New videos

2008-08-25T09:57:00.002-04:00

Okay, more videos are up! I've backdated some of them so they show up in the proper order. To see them all, click on the "videos" link on the right hand side of the page, under "labels." Or just click here.

For me?

2008-08-15T09:56:00.000-04:00

Audrey teases.

Rocking Chair Madness

2008-08-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

Audrey also likes to play in the rocking chair.

Wastefulness

2008-08-02T13:31:00.000-04:00

I couple of things have contributed to this idea over the last few months. First, the recently skyrocketing price of commodities -- oil obviously, but also food. Second, the cyclically popular idea that there will soon be more people than the earth can sustain. And third, I've started reading Jared Diamond's "Collapse," which analyzes how societies can succeed or fail to overcome environmental challenges, and the consequences of that success or failure. The overall themes leading to this post are thus increasing demand for limited resources, especially food.

Now, something I've been thinking of increasingly over the last few weeks is that, while rich people can afford a doubling of food prices, poor people cannot. For example, while Tara and I are not overly wealthy, food accounts for only 5% of our monthly spending (rent and daycare are exorbitant in Boston). If that doubled to 10%, we would hardly notice. However, in poor countries many people spend the majority of their income on food. What happens to them when food prices double?

Unfortunately, while the poor suffer most from rising food prices, they also have the least control over them -- I think that rich countries essentially set the price of food. For, one of the greatest expenses involved in growing food is the fuel necessary to plant, harvest, and transport it to market. And it is rich and developing countries, with our ever-increasing demand for energy, that are driving the rapid rise in the cost of fuel, and hence, in the cost of food as well. (Note that I'm a fairly confident believer in efficient markets -- that is, for example, that the price of oil and food is more or less determined by supply and demand, rather than any conspiracy among oil companies.)

So the problem sounds depressingly complicated. But as I was doing the dishes the other day, I was convicted by the very simple fact that, in scraping some leftover food into the garbage, I was wasting food. And in cleaning out spoiled leftovers from the fridge, I realized that these, too, were wasted meals that could have been eaten. And what about meat? It's oh-so-tasty, I agree, but we eat far more than we really need, and it takes dozens of pounds of grain to grow 1 pound of meat (great article). Over time, these small acts add up, causing our contribution to global food demand to be higher than it otherwise might be. This undoubtedly increases prices by some not-insignificant amount, and we already saw that the poor suffer most for this.

So what can we do? Of course, in a nation where overconsumption of food is becoming a huge medical problem, it would be silly to advocate "cleaning your plate" if you're already full. But what if we simply put less food on our plates -- eating more, smaller helpings just until full, instead of piling the food on high initially (are you listening, Cheesecake Factory)? What if we diligently ate all of the leftovers in the fridge instead of letting them go bad? And while I have no desire to give up burgers and bratwurst, I could probably live with smaller ones.

Think about it.

Spanish Tapas

2008-06-22T21:51:00.003-04:00

Spanish Tortilla (a potato & onion omelet)
Gambas al Ajillo (garlic sautéed shrimp)
French bread & olive oil
Manchego Cheese
Chianti

So, I started off wanting some Manchego cheese, but Tara wanted more than that -- the rest just kind of emerged from the Spanish starting point. It really wasn't that hard -- things kind of pace themselves automatically. You slice the onion after starting the potatoes, and then do the shrimp while the tortilla is cooking, and it all finishes at abut the same time. It's a light and refreshing meal.

Grandma's Banana Bread

2008-06-18T22:04:00.001-04:00

A recipe from my late grandmother, preserved for posterity in that great repository of deliciousness, the church cookbook. This was also an excuse to try out the mini loaf pans that Tara persuaded me to order over the holidays (it took a lot of persuasion).

3 mashed bananas
0.5 cups butter
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. Milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar, then add bananas, milk, vanilla, eggs. Whisk together dry ingredients and fold into wet, stirring only enough to bring batter together. Pour into greased mini loaf pans, and bake at 375 until risen and golden on top (I'm not actually sure how long -- the recipe said 1 hour, but that got them a little burned).

Audrey's trip to the Hospital

2008-06-09T08:55:00.003-04:00

On Monday, Audrey had a trip to the hospital to get tubes put in her ears. Since about Christmas, she has been having a hard time draining fluid from her ears, which results in frequent ear infections. It also has given her some degree of hearing impairment, leading to a slight speech delay. So after several failed attempts to clear the fluid with antibiotics, her doctors recommended tubes.

Everything went well -- apparently it's considered a pretty minor surgery these days, and she was only in the operating room for about 15 minutes. They just poke a little hold in the eardrum, suck out the fluid, and insert a doughnut shaped plastic tube to hold it open. Interestingly, the purpose is not to allow fluid to drain, as we had thought, but to allow pressure to equalize between the middle and outer ear, which prevents fluid from collecting in the first place.

They allowed one parent to go down to the pre-op area with her, and be in the operating room until she fell asleep. Mommy was elected for this. They gave me (Tara) a pair of scrubs to put on before going down (size XL was apparently all they could muster up). We sat with a couple of other babies going for different procedures in the pre-op area, met with the anesthesiologist, said a quick hello to our doctor, then it was time to go into the OR. They put a little mask over her nose and mouth for her to breath in the inhaled anesthetic, and after a few seconds of fighting the mask, as any normal child would, she fell peacefully asleep. They escorted me out to go back upstairs and wait for them to call me when she was done. I just barely had time to tell Scott how things had gone and change, when before I knew it they were calling me back to meet her in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit, A.K.A. Recovery room).

They had warned us ahead of time that she would be a little "agitated" upon waking up from the anesthesia. Now this is a term that doctors, including myself, use often. Usually I use it to refer to some confused elderly patient in the hospital trying to get out of bed, pull out their IVs, etc., but I didn't really know what it would look like in a baby. Well, I found out as soon as I stepped off of the elevator and could hear my girl in the next room crying. She was wrapped in a blanket in a nurse's arms just flailing around, still with closed eyes. The nurse handed her to me, assuring me again that this was completely normal and to be expected -- it's just related to the disorientation babies experience after being under anesthesia. So I did my best to hold her, rock her and talk to her, but any attempts to calm her were really quite futile. We only stayed in the PACU a few minutes before going back upstairs to be reunited with Daddy. Daddy took over holding the flailing baby, and we managed to get her clothes back on, sign the discharge paperwork, and get on our way. She calmed down when we got outside, and crashed on the way home. After a long blissful nap, (for Mommy and Audrey), she awoke her usual happy self.

Many people have asked if we have noticed a difference in her now that she can presumably hear better. The answer is not quite yet. We expect that it will be a gradual process of catching up in terms of language development. We are in the process of looking into some speech therapy through a local early childhood intervention program. If she qualifies, then a speech therapist will come to her daycare one or twice a week and work with her. In the meantime, thanks to Aunt Diane Rush and a book about baby sign language, we are trying to teach her a few signs.

We thank everyone for their prayers and concerns through this experience. We are thankful it went well and looking forward to many fever-free months!

Italy Bound!

2008-06-02T22:59:00.002-04:00

This evening, after a wine-and-cheese dinner at home, we purchased plane tickets to Italy for the first half of September! (above picture is from a trip I took in college). We've wanted to do this for several years now, and will finally have the chance to go. Obviously, we are excited. Humorously, we also received our tax rebate/stimulus check today. Which is of course great. But it means that, from a cash-flow perspective, we'll be spending our "save the US economy" money ... in Italy.

New Pictures!

2008-06-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

In response to much ribbing for not posting in a long time, and many requests for more pictures, here is (a) a new post, which (b) announces that new pictures have been uploaded to our Picasaweb albums (available to the right). The 9-12 month album has been expanded, and a new 12-18 month album has been added.

Audrey has continued growing too fast -- we can't believe how grown-up she is already. She's walking (running, actually); playing on the kiddie swings, slide, and merry-go-round; feeding herself; and starting to talk a little bit. Unfortunately, she's also had many ear infections, and seems to have a hard time draining the fluid from her ears. This makes it hard for her to hear, and she's a little bit behind on speech development. But at this point, tubes seem likely, after which she should be back on track!

Scott has just finished his first year of teaching! It was harder than he expected, but was also a great learning experience. And while he is enjoying a summer to catch up on research, he is also looking forward to returning to the classroom next fall. Additionally, the spring weather means mountain biking with friends from small group on weekends, and possibly the occasional game of ultimate frisbee :).

Tara is almost finished with her first year of residency. It has been a hard year at times, especially when she doesn't get to see Audrey awake for several days. But she has persevered, performed well, and is looking forward to an ever-so-slightly easier year next year. Her final two weeks (end of June) will be easy, and she is looking forward to spending those weekends at home, with perhaps a spring shopping outing thrown in!

Car Envy

2008-06-01T09:30:00.003-04:00

Behold, the 2009 Honda Fit! (Hint -- it makes a great background!)

Bang Bang!

2008-05-18T09:05:00.001-04:00

Warning -- obnoxious!

First birthday!

2008-03-28T09:06:00.000-04:00

Audrey's first birthday! I missed "Happy Birthday," but got her destroying the cake :).

Hot Tub

2008-03-15T09:02:00.002-04:00

Audrey experienced swimming for the first time in Pops's hot tub over spring break.

Walking all around

2008-03-08T18:57:00.002-05:00

Audrey is getting to be quite the walker! She can now pretty well walk all around the house, although she still falls frequently.

Oven-Roasted Salmon

2008-02-20T18:50:00.004-05:00

Welcome to Tara's first post on the blog. With the help of Cook's Illustrated, and a theoretical knowledge of "blanching" thanks to my stepbrother Reid, I made this amazing dinner tonight! The salmon was oven-roasted, and then topped with a tomato basil relish. With some wine from Trader Joe's and bread from the previous post, it felt like a gourmet feast!

No-Knead Bread

2008-02-16T14:11:00.004-05:00

I know I'm late to this party, but I finally came across a recipe for no-knead bread, which has evidently been delighting foodies for some time now. I actually made a revision of the classic recipe which just appeared in Cook's Illustrated. Short version -- this was the best bread I've ever made, and quite possibly, the best I've ever eaten. Crispy, crunchy crust, with a chewy, tangy interior. I'm celebrating with some Chianti as I write this.

First steps!

2008-02-15T19:31:00.001-05:00

Here is the long-anticipated moment!

New Photo Album

2008-01-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

We've put some new pictures up in the 6-9 month album, including some Christmas ones. We had a great time resting up at home over the Christmas holiday, and both sets of grandparents were very happy to visit Audrey.

standing and laughing

2007-11-14T19:06:00.000-05:00

So here she is standing with the help of a chair, and having a grand time playing with the cat and with Daddy.

Nature Walk

2007-11-10T19:39:00.000-05:00

Today was a rare day of fun. Tara had the day off, and Scott was caught up with work, so we slept in, and then went to Middlesex Fells nature reserve for some hiking. We didn't go very far, but the weather was crisp and sunny, we were warm and cozy in our coats, and we had a great time showing Audrey the fall colors as we walked through the trees. Our trail climbed a tree-covered hill and ended at an observation tower, where we had a great view of the surrounding area, including downtown Boston. We've been very busy lately, but we were extremely grateful to have such a refreshing day outside.

Talking with Mommy

2007-11-02T20:29:00.000-04:00

And Audrey's first word is ... Da-Da!!! Of course, she doesn't know what it means yet.

Crawling to Daddy

2007-10-24T23:25:00.000-04:00

Audrey's really starting to move around. Here is a video of some of her first actual crawling steps.

Gymnastics Practice

2007-10-10T23:28:00.000-04:00

A while back Audrey really loved to kick her feet in the crib.

First camping trip!

2007-09-15T12:17:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went for our first family camping trip! We went to the end of Cape Cod, and camped at a private campground called Dunes' Edge. We highly recommend it -- it wasn't too crowded, and we had a nice little site surrounded by trees. We arrived late Friday night (setting up the tent in the dark), and departed on Sunday morning to get back to a visit with some friends, so we only really vacationed on Saturday, but it was lots of fun. Audrey did a great job sleeping in the tent, and we enjoyed cooking on our new camping cookset.

Saturday was cool and clear; a great day for sightseeing. We had a small mishap in the morning where, while mixing the pancake batter, Scott confused the small bottle of oil with the small bottle of soap. If you've never tried Soapcakes, then ... don't. After breakfast and Audrey's morning nap, we went for a hike on an un-advertised trail that our campground owner recommended. It took us through a salt marsh to a lighthouse at the end, on the ocean. After that we walked around the town of Provincetown, had lunch at a South-African restaurant, some obligatory vacation ice cream, and went back to camp in the afternoon for a much-needed nap. Hamburgers for dinner, and quarter-funded hot showers rounded out a great first family camping experience.

Audrey update

2007-08-18T22:04:00.001-04:00

Over the past week and a half, Audrey has done some things that only a parent would find interesting. But since we're her parents, and this is our blog, we can write it anyway. First, about a week ago she found her feet, and has therefore been putting them in her mouth ever since. Second, she has started to lift her chest off of the floor with her arms, as shown in the picture. Last, she sometimes plants her whole face on the floor and pushes up her bottom half with her legs. (We have a picture of that, too, but it's considerably less flattering.)

Audrey continues to enjoy daycare, and we'll soon be getting two adorable pictures of her first finger-painting experience, which we'll be sure to post. She has a little "boyfriend" there, Calvin, who just turned six months and is learning how to crawl. The staff tell me that they talk to each other -- maybe that's why she's starting to do these new things! She's growing and changing so quickly that we're not sure how to feel. But we love her!

Audrey doing ... something

2007-08-11T15:36:00.001-04:00

Today is a video bonanza!!

Audrey Laughing

2007-08-11T14:59:00.000-04:00

This is a little old, too -- we're catching up.

New Video

2007-08-11T10:26:00.001-04:00

Finally got a video of Audrey rolling over from back to tummy.

First Day of Work

2007-08-01T20:51:00.001-04:00

Today was also my first day of work at Harvard! It was actually a pretty mundane day -- I got my office, my keys, my ID (pictured), and signed up for benefits. But it definitely felt different walking around campus knowing that I was actually employed there, and not just visiting. I've tried never to make too much of the fact that I'll be teaching here, but still, it's pretty awe-inspiring when I let myself think about it. It will be a great experience, and I'm grateful for the opportunity.

First Day of School

2007-08-01T19:51:00.001-04:00

Audrey's first day of daycare was today. Her report card said she was "cheerful," and added:

Today I had a great first day! I painted with Liz, exploring the paint and making a hand print. I enjoyed meeting my teachers and exploring tummy time.

It was hard to drop her off. Even knowing that she would be taken care of, it felt terrible to just leave her there. I felt like a horrible parent. But it was exciting to have the freedom to go to my first day of work, and be able to efficiently do some housework before going to pick her up. And I try to remember that this way we get to get all of our responsibilities done while she is playing with the other babies, and then spend quality time with her in the evenings, without being distracted by other responsibilities.

A good day

2007-07-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

Today was just a very good day, and I wanted to write about it. I got up early with Audrey at 7:00 and stayed awake all day, which will help me move to an earlier schedule for the start of work. Audrey went down for her morning nap just as Tara went to sleep, which gave me two and a half hours of me-time! I was able to start some bread, go for a jog (the first in a *long* time), and take a nice cool shower afterward. Then took care of Audrey for the rest of the day after she woke (Tara had a long night last night, and Audrey refused her afternoon nap, so that was the afternoon).

In the evening we went to have dinner with some new friends from our new church. We've been so blessed in the process of this move, and one of the ways is that we quickly found a church that we felt comfortable attending. The preaching is biblical and thoughtful, there's a great community group system, and there are lots of young couples with kids -- apparently a recent baby boom has yielded 27 infants already this year (which is surprising, because the church doesn't feel that big). But more than that, another couple there were quick to meet us and invite us over for dinner. We had a great time getting to know them, and are looking forward to getting more involved.

Back to front!

2007-07-28T17:57:00.001-04:00

Audrey is four months old today, and she celebrated by rolling over from back to front for the first time. Then she did it four more times, but unfortunately, I was never ready with the video camera like last time. Pretty soon she'll be rolling all over the place. We'll put her down in her play mat in the family room to do something, and when we come back five minutes later she'll be under the table.

Our New Apartment

2007-07-27T14:43:00.001-04:00

Thought we'd post some pictures of our new apartment, now that we're settled in and everything is put away (inviting friends over is a great way to get the house cleaned!). Click here, or just enjoy the smaller version below.

Sleeping through the night

2007-07-25T12:45:00.000-04:00

Audrey slept for eight hours straight for the first time last night! This was probably greatly helped by the fact that I forgot to turn on the baby monitor before going to sleep. She had already been sleeping about that long, and usually without a "dream feed", but she has needed help along the way -- we've been getting up and putting her pacifier back in whenever she starts fussing. But last night I didn't hear her, and she evidently managed to put herself back to sleep each time. Great!

Rolling over

2007-07-12T14:06:00.000-04:00

Audrey rolled over today! See the video below. Also, the girl's voice at the end is ... Scott. :(.

First Post

2007-07-10T12:39:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is the much-requested blog. It will probably mostly have stuff about Audrey in it, but maybe we'll post some adult-oriented stuff as well. For future reference, we also keep a photo gallery through picasaweb.