Cross Country Skiing

I went cross country skiing with two good friends -- yes, Deb and Nora -- yesterday at Huron Metropark and we had so much fun. The weather conditions were perfect except for the lack of warm sunshine but the snow was ideal and the trails through the woods were picturesque. I loved it and want to incorporate this great exercise and adventure into my winter sports routine.

Deb, Nora and I also went out to lunch the other day (Forest Grill) and followed up with a matinee movie of It's Complicated. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. All three of us really enjoyed it and we laughed at the "complicated" parts. We envied the gorgeous house and bakery and lifestyle of Meryl Streep's character. (It was set in Santa Barbara so naturally I am envious of Marika who gets to live there nine months out of every year!)

Gil and I went to breakfast at The French Laundry this morning. We are becoming real "regulars" there. It says something about our personalities that I always order the same thing (called Nancy's California proposal which is a crispy potato pancake topped with lox and a cucumber/tomato salsa) and Gil always gets the "special" of the day which is the chef's inspired creation. We're as different as night and day in many respects. And yet it works for us!

Today is one of the those rare weekend days when Gil is NOT on call for reading cardiac CTs so we are taking full advantage of the weekend day off. We're headed out for a matinee viewing of The Hurt Locker.

I'm excited about my week long trip to Albuquerque this coming Wednesday (March 3rd) through the following Wednesday (March 10th) where I'll stay with my dear friend, Terry Lee, and where Marika will join us for a long four-day weekend. Can't wait to see my darling daughter again. (I can now legally take her out for a drink to celebrate any and all of her accomplishments -- including getting the Greek Scholastic Award for highest grade point average in her sorority last quarter!)

I'll be posting to the blog daily during that week since there are so many things we will be doing that will be worthy of blog photos and entries.

Haiku:

When things go smoothly

Life can be such a pleasure

Savor each moment.

Dinner at Gravity

One of my recent posts showed a photo of two girlfriends and me having lunch at trendy Forest Grill in Birmingham.

"Gee. Why don't we ever get to go out to nice restaurants in Birmingham when the three of us get together," my friend, Deb Peters, whined. (We usually go someplace quick and cheap and local.)

"Well," I answered, "let's treat ourselves to someplace really nice next time."

So Deb and Nora and I made a date for dinner at Gravity -- a really nice restaurant -- where we started with calamari, bruschetta and Asian wontons. We stayed for hours and talked about gardening (we're all three members of the Milford Garden Club), cross country skiing, health care reform and the "good things" about men, in general, and our husbands, in particular!

Gil had his appointment at Karmanos this past Friday. He had his infusion catheter removed in day surgery which means that after five long months, he can take a shower without having to wrap the site on his chest in Saran Wrap to keep his sterile dressing dry. After appointments downtown, we usually stop by P.F. Changs to treat ourselves to a really nice lunch!

This is the BIG weekend that all our kids and their close friends are in Vegas to celebrate Marika's turning 21 last week. I guess they're seeing shows (Cirque du Soleil, I think) and eating well and making toasts and generally acting irresponsibly! Kids will be kids.

Haiku:

A really nice meal

Prepared in a restaurant

A gift to yourself.

Still feeding the birds

Oil sunflower seeds are best

I know what they like!

Satellite Office

Gil has settled into his "downtown" (Milford) office and is getting a lot of work done -- or so he says between sips of fresh, hot Starbucks* coffee. When he first leased the space, he made me promise to make it feel as warm and cozy as our own home which I gladly obliged.

What you're seeing is his office in the early stages of decorating. A large mirror will go on the empty yellow wall. His favorite monoprint by New Mexico artist, Sam Scott, is hanging just out of view on the left wall. His desk faces a large window -- which fills the room with natural light -- looking down on Main Street.

Can you believe this little haven is only 10 x 11 feet?

The Comcast cable corporate package with Power Boost is the best part of the location. Fast, fast, fast internet!

*When we first were looking for cities in Michigan to move to over eight years ago, we took a drive through Milford on our way to look at an equestrian riding facility in Holly where Marika could bring her horse (Pandora) and continue her riding career.

There, in the middle of this tiny little picturesque town, was a Starbucks!

I said to myself at that moment, "If Starbucks thinks it can thrive here, so can we."

We made a bid on our current house and the rest, as they say, is history. Marika trained and rode competitively at Huntington Ridge in Holly and we established residency in Milford Township.

Haiku:

Satellite office.

Saves two hours of driving time

(Productivity!)

Girls' Lunch Out

In this photo, I was having lunch with girlfriends, Carol and Diane, at Forest Grill in Birmingham earlier this week. It was Restaurant Week in Birmingham and we took advantage of the lower prices and smaller servings to enjoy this great place for good food and great conversation.

Gil left early this morning (6 o'clock am) to head in to Beaumont. He is giving a talk about their new CT machine -- known as the FLASH -- to members of the cardiology department. The FLASH delivers substantially less radiation per patient scan than previous models and is poised to be the standard of care in the future. Beaumont made a good choice to invest in this model.

I was a volunteer for one of the early studies on the FLASH at Beaumont as the machine was getting up and running. And I'm happy to report that my coronary arteries are clean and destined to serve me well in the coming years...

Marika has finished her midterms and started her "countdown-to-turning-21" which culminates on her birthday on Valentine's Day.

Adam and Laura had been saving for a large flat screen TV for months -- maybe years? -- and finally purchased one. They missed seeing the Super Bowl on it but are just in time for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Haiku:

Winter Olympics

Coming our way Friday

Breath of fresh (cold) air!

Super Bowl XLIV

We had a Super Bowl party for two! Complete with Buffalo Wings. I cheered for the Saints, Gil cheered for the Colts. Wasn't it a good game? Almost as if it was pre-choreographed for maximum audience involvement!

Commercials? Not so great this year. When I worked at a graphic design studio in Albuquerque before moving to Michigan, one of the vendors always used to "hand deliver" a VHS tape (!) first thing the morning after the Super Bowl of only the commercials that aired during the game.

Gil went in to Beaumont on Monday to spend a full day teaching the cardiology fellows. It was his first day back in the Reading Room and I think he enjoyed it -- although he admitted it was more tiring than he had expected.

His office on Main Street in downtown Milford has been leased and Comcast cable installation is scheduled the end of this week. It is the ONLY way he can access high-speed internet connectivity around here. Even Starbucks and Borders Books cannot accommodate the download speeds he needs to read complex cardiac CT studies.

That's it for today.

Remember Turning 21?

You're looking at a wrapped birthday present that Gil and I sent to Marika last week. She's turning 21 on Valentine's Day. And she's been looking forward to the day since she was about 16 and realized the "significance" of turning 21.

Marika joined her two brothers nearly 21 years ago at one minute after midnight on February 14, 1989. You can imagine our joy after two wonderful boys to bring Marika into the world on such a pink and heart-filled holiday like Valentine's Day.

Marika and her brothers and various friends are planning a weekend trip in a couple of weeks to Las Vegas to celebrate the occasion. (It wouldn't appeal to me but that's what the California contingent likes to do. So be it!)

Gil was at Karmanos yesterday. He got good reports. He is allowed a bit more contact with regular folks at Beaumont (still no patient contact) and will make plans to go into the hospital one day a week to teach the cardiology fellows.

If you've ever been in attendance at any of Gil's teaching sessions, you know what a skilled and gifted teacher he is. And the fellows will feel lucky that Gil's doctors said, "Okay, go for it!"

The image reading room at the hospital is small and Gil asked his doctors if he should wear a mask to protect himself from anyone in the room at the time who might be sick and/or contagious?

"No," his doctors replied. "The sick person should wear the mask. After all, you're the teacher!!"

It's been hard to get my 10,000 steps in each day with the cold weather so I'm now a gym enthusiast. I try to go to one class each day for a good cardio workout. This morning I'm headed over for a one hour Tone and Strengthen class.

Haiku:

No Haiku today

Must get ready for my workout

Huff. Puff. Sweat. Sweat. Sweat.