32nd Birthday Party

Margaret and I had a fun time celebrating my 32nd birthday this weekend. Saturday morning began with 18 holes (in the heat) at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale. It's a beautiful course and we had a good time playing with our friend, Scott. Margaret was a natural. Especially at almost 6 months pregnant. I think we're gonna have fun playing golf together in the future.

In the afternoon we went to Mat and Noreen's place for a pool party/surprise birthday party with August and Cori and Brett and Adrienne (and Charlotte, Anders, and Jonah respectively).

We finished off the evening with a Dogfish Head Pale Ale at the Yardhouse before going to Angels and Demons at the movie theater. We went and saw Da Vinci Code when we were in Florence, and so I thought it would be cool to see the follow-up film. Good movie. Fantastic beer.

A fun birthday all in all. Margaret was so thoughtful. What a great wife. I am too lucky.

Inaugural Post

Margaret and I are in summer mode. The funny thing with summer mode and us is that it means something different every year. So basically all I am saying is that we are living in the summertime currently. But what that means this year is that Margaret is busy, and I am trying to keep busy. Let me elaborate, for those unfamiliar with our current situation...

Margaret just finished up residency, and was named the Good Sam/VA Resident of the Year! She was surprised, but everyone who I talked to said that she should not have been. I always figured my bias was simply that, a bias. Turns out everyone loves her. We had a good time celebrating with our close friends Cori and August, as Cori received the Clinic Resident of the Year award.

However, she is not without (mostly welcome) challenges. First, she has a baby in her womb, as many of you know. It is popping out around October 23rd. She decided to take the chief resident position, so she will get a six week leave from that after giving birth (but the rest of the term she is really excited about doing the chief job, actually!). What that means for this summer: she started doing chief jobs a couple of months ago, in addition to her actual work as a third year resident. This is not a big deal, except that she is studying for her final board exam, coming up around August 11th (if I am not mistaken). I think she will be fine, but she is nervous about getting enough studying in during the next month. I will try to be a good husband and give her a chance to do so (for once). :)

I took a tenure-track position at University of Wisconsin-Stout as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. I start at the end of August. I finished up my PhD at Arizona State University this past May, getting to shake President Obama's hand at commencement (along with celebrating with family and friends). I am not technically working this summer, but I am trying to get some writing done and to prepare for classes this fall. In the meantime I am trying to have some fun fishing, mountain biking, golfing, and working out. I went up to the White Mountains with Joe Vasquez a few weeks ago fishing, and hooked up with Eric Shoemaker up in Oregon the next week. This came just before our niece Brianna's graduation, for which Margaret came up and joined me. We enjoyed seeing everyone. I love Oregon too.

We've been lucky enough to see a few friends in the last couple of weeks here. Laura and Scott came out with Payton and Ian (our godson) for a week. It has been too long since we've seen them, but we went right back into our old ways. It was very nice.

The same was true for a visit from one Leah Bright last week. It was so nice catching up with her for a few days, using her visit as an excuse to enjoy good food and relax (not a deviation for me lately as much as Margaret). We hope to maybe hook up with her again this next year for some skiing; it is so hard to meet up with a friend from NY more than once a year!

That basically brings us to today. I am sitting in a coffee shop blogging in lieu of working on a paper I need to resubmit to a journal. Margaret is working.

I will fill you all in on future events as they emerge. It will be an adventure this next year. Lots of flying back and forth. But with just the stress of six months apart (that's all it will turn out to be between her maternity leave and my winter break) we will be in far more comfortable position than we would be otherwise. But keep us in your prayers just the same. :)

Here's to a brand new year (for me anyway- I turn 32 in two days)!