Summer: Cookout and Haircut

I guess we've officially embraced summer in Michigan. The first photo shows Gil's skills fanning the flames of the public grill in Kensington Metro Park a couple of weeks ago. The kids were here along with my mom and we had a cookout to mark the occasion.

The next photo is me just moments after I got my summer haircut. I was in the car leaving the salon and used the camera in my iPhone to snap the shot -- hence the seatbelt in the picture!

We've been busy making plans to visit our friends in Albuquerque near the end of this month. Flying is very expensive these days. There are no good "deals" to be had. We're fortunate to get free room and board with our dear friend Terry Lee while in Albuquerque. Her hospitality and accommodations are second to none.

Our longtime friend, Kit, and her husband, Jean Claude, are coming to Albuquerque from their home in Paris and will be in town the same time we are there. In fact, it's the main reason we chose to visit Albuquerque at that time. It's been ages since we've seen them. And we miss them.

Marika is in the midst of finals and will leave the day after she finishes her last exam to go to Panama for her Global Medical Brigades experience. She's been vaccinated for all the tropical diseases and is prepared for an extraordinary adventure with over 60 fellow volunteers from Santa Barbara.

The day she gets back from her 10 day travel experience, she jumps into her Kaplan Study Course for the MCAT exam (which she is scheduled to take in early September.) She'll stay in Santa Barbara during July taking a summer school class for the first UCSB summer quarter. Then she'll come to Michigan for the second half of the summer in August to finish studying and review for the MCAT on her own.

Adam and Laura are working through the summer in their respective labs. Adam will get one week off between his last day in lab and his first day of third year medical school. But the most important thing they're doing these next couple of weeks is cheering for their favorite NBA team -- the Celtics -- in this year's tournament.

Evan is rounding the corner and on his final lap as he continues to study for his required 2nd year Board exams. He's planning a vacation for the week immediately after. His plans for an exotic European trip may not materialize but he has scheduled one of his scheduled two weeks here in Michigan where he can sit on the porch, play with the dogs, do crossword puzzles, swim in our neighbors' pool, work out at our local gym, play some golf, eat good healthy food and sleep late. (Marika is coming home for the Fourth of July weekend and their time here will overlap.)

Gil and I went walking today on the Milford Bike Trail. He used the walking poles and I took Jamie on the leash. We've had a lot of rain lately so walks have been postponed. But we're getting back into it.

Gil is keeping busy with researching and writing a review article on radiation doses in cardiac CT scans. He says he's learning a lot by reading everything that's been published on the subject lately. He's splitting his work between the hospital and a 'virtual office'. Having an office in downtown Milford where he can read studies on his on-call days and otherwise work in a distraction free environment has made him very productive. He's feeling good about the amount of work he's getting accomplished.

I'm working out at the gym, doing all the cooking (it was quiche tonight!) and house maintenance, catching up on reading. I'm currently reading a great collection of short stories called The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis which I highly recommend. I first borrowed it from the library but bought my own copy soon after because I wanted to have it around. It's that good!

The garden is coming along beautifully. We've decided on a purple and white color scheme in one of the front beds and I'll take a photo of it in its full glory later this week to post on the blog.

We're coming up to Gil's one year anniversary of learning he had leukemia and all that would entail during the next (past) year. It was the end of May one year ago when I got pneumonia, we cancelled our trip to Spain and he started feeling sick. By June 13th, he had been admitted to the ER in pretty dire straits, and the following day, June 14th, his leukemia diagnosis had been confirmed via the first of many bone marrow biopsies.

Fortunately, this summer looks to be a lot healthier for all of us.