The Bianco Kennel

For the Christmas season we have not only welcomed family into our home, but we also have two new doggies here with us.  We are watching Chrissy's puppy Tabitha and Ted and Stefanie's dog Lola while everyone is out of town.  All the dogs are doing great together; lots of playing, running, wrestling, etc.  Although, Mocha is not keen on letting the other dogs play, she apparently is the Queen of this house.  

Tonight, after picking Dad and Becca up from the airport, we took all the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood.  It was fun walking all four dogs.  Our neighbors must think we are crazy!

More pictures to come as the days go on...

The Dog House

I heard about this video at work tonight. I found it on YouTube so I could decide for myself if it really is as funny as my coworkers say. It is pretty funny. I will let you know in a week if Michael is the newest arrival or not. He usually does well with presents, I have never received an appliance as a gift. I am sure this Christmas will be no different!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SecVCh9dg4I

Gingerbread Girls Night

Last night I attended a gingerbread house decorating party. It was hosted by one of the girls from our church and there were about 15 girls who came. Teresa (the hostess) baked all the gingerbread and assembled the houses! I am so impressed with her. I was expecting kits or graham crackers, but she went all out and it was awesome!

I have never, in my whole life, decorated a gingerbread house. It was just never something that my mom did and therefore we never had them in our house. So the decorating was a foreign concept to me. Everyone who came brought a different kind of candy. We all had our own house, a bag of icing, and tons of candy.

It was a lot harder than I was expecting. You really have to be creative to make a good house. I kept looking around at the other houses and they looked soo nice. The details on the roofs, icicles hanging from the eaves it was all so creative. In the end, I am happy with my house. Everyone said that their kids would love it because there is so much candy on it. And when I brought it home, Michael loved it (maybe because there is so much candy on it).
So I made it through my first attempt at a gingerbread house. Maybe this will be the start of a new holiday tradition for the Biancos.

I had such a great time with all the girls who were there. It was nice to sit around and talk and laugh. Especially since the conversation had nothing to do with medicine. I can't wait for the next girls night!

Christmas Shopping: Completed

I just have to say, I am so surprised with myself. I actually finished all my Christmas shopping early this year. In fact, we are not even into the double-digits on dates and I am finished. In the past, I would just be getting started only to wrap things up on Christmas Eve. But not this year, I started in early November (thanks to a trip here by Mom) and am now done in early December.

This clears my Saturdays up for baking, lounging, wrapping the gifts, pretty much anything but shopping. I am very happy with myself. Its definitely a first for me!

Our Decorated Christmas Tree

After too many hours of playing with our tree, we finally were able to get the tree positioned so that it looks somewhat straight. We ended up wedging a piece of wood under the stand. We also had a hard time finding a place in our house that it fits because the tree is so wide and our house is so narrow. But finally, late last night, we settled on a spot and hung the lights.

Tonight we finished the tree with the garland and ornaments. I wish the pictures could really show you what the tree looks like decorated. It turned out nice, if I do say so myself. I am especially proud of our tree because we have so many old ornaments. I have many of my grandmother's, some from my mother, and we even have some of Michael's from when he was a kid. I really enjoy having these heirlooms to hang on my tree.

Now that the tree is finished we need to get busy putting presents under it. Luckily, my mom wrapped some of her presents when she was here, so I can place those underneath. I am so excited for Christmas and especially for my family to be here to celebrate with us. I can't wait!

The view from our front door:

With no fireplace, we hang our stockings from the bookcase.

Our nativity scene:

Our Christmas Tree

Before we went to work yesterday we took a trip to get a Christmas tree ($24.99 at Lowes, great deal). When we were looking through the trees, this one caught our eye. It seemed full and straight and had great branches. We picked it out, paid and brought it home. Well, when we were putting it in the tree stand, I was in charge of directing the bottom into the stand while Mike watched the top. I kept telling him it was leaning and he kept saying it was fine. We got it in, stepped back and saw that the tree was not leaning, it is just crooked. Somehow, we overlooked the large curvature that our tree has. Standing in front of the tree it looks alright, but looking at it from the sides, you can definitely see the bend. Also, when we thought it was full, we were not wrong. This tree is bushy! We are going to have to play with it to get it to look right and fit in the small space we have for it. I will post more picture once we get it decorated.

For now Mike says we will always remember this Christmas and our tree with scoliosis!

Thanksgiving Weekend

I am a little late on my posting, but here is a synopsis of our Thanksgiving weekend.

After sitting through 5 hours of lecture on Wednesday morning, Mike and I hurried home from New Jersey and loaded the car. We left our house at 1:45 (our goal was to be on the road by 2:00, so not too bad), but still had to take the cat to the vet for boarding. The vet is clear opposite the interstate and they were super busy, so we did not actually touch the interstate until 3:00! Then we crawled along the turnpike with all the other holiday traffic. Once we got further out of the city, we picked up some speed. Overall, with a bit of traffic and bad weather we made it to Ohio in about 7 hours (not our best time, but decent).

We got into Ohio and had yummy meatball sandwiches, which were great because we were starving. We visited with everyone at Mike's Dad's house and then left to get to his sister Chrissy's (where we were sleeping that weekend). The best comment of the night was when his youngest sister Cara declared that Mocha was not the "real Mocha". She thought her tail was too short and that she was not acting like herself. In Mocha's defense, she had just traveled 7 hours, vomited 4 times (she gets car sick), and had not had dinner yet. I am not sure what to say about the tail.

Chrissy's apartment is soo nice, we were very jealous of its space and newness. She has two bedrooms, so we were able to really make ourselves at home. It was really great to spend the weekend there with her. We enjoyed seeing where she lives and just having the time in the car and at home to visit with her.

Thanksgiving was spent with the usual tasks of cooking, eating, cleaning, visiting, and eating some more. We had 12 people around the table and tons of great food. Aunt MaryAnne made Italian Wedding Soup, it was very good. Also, Thanksgiving fell on Mike's birthday this year (he was born on Turkey Day, too) so we celebrated his day with carrot cake and presents. He received some great gifts and was very happy to be able to celebrate with his family.

Friday and Saturday we shopped. I got almost all my Christmas shopping done. The crowds were not as bad as I was expecting and so I was able to take care of a good amount of my list. I think I will only need one more trip to complete it. On Friday night we also went to a Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game. It was a fun time made even better because I got to eat wings!

The weekend was a great one, we always love to be around family. The time passed too quickly and before we knew it we were back on the road. We left at 6:15 on Sunday morning hoping to be home by lunch and be able to pick Sam up from the vet. Unfortunately, once we got up into the PA mountains we hit sleet, snow, and rain. The roads were in bad condition and were closed for 2 hours. There were a lot of accidents along the road and we had to drive extra cautiously. We ended up getting home in 9 hours (our worst time ever), not being able to get the cat or attend any church meetings. We basically came home, unpacked, ate a quick dinner and crashed in front of the tv.

Snow!

Can you believe its November 21 and we have snow? Granted not inches, but still there is snow on the ground and on the cars. We went to Lowes the other night to get plastic for the windows (we are not thinking this old house is charming anymore) and the cashier says, "I think its going to be a bad winter". Great. I am already nervous about driving in the rainy weather, after last year's adventure in Ohio, the last thing I want to have is a bad winter.

Everyday, I pray for safe driving conditions, especially since I leave the hospital close to midnight. So far, my prayers have been answered.

I like snow when I can sit in my house and watch it come down. I do NOT like to drive in it.

Lost Kitten

Yesterday we let our cat Sam out the back door to play in our small yard. Normally, he hangs out there and occasionally climbs over the back fence and sits in our neighbor's yard until we come to rescue him (he cannot climb back over the fence for some reason). Well, yesterday after about an hour, Mike went out back to check on him and he was gone! He wasn't in our neighbor's yard, he wasn't in the alley next to our house, he was no where to be seen.

We thought we would give him a little bit to play and then we would find him somewhere close and bring him in. But when we went back out, he was still gone. We started to panic a little, because he is still a kitten and he is such a baby. We were worried he would get stuck somewhere or get beat up by one of the neighborhood cats. We searched the neighborhood, calling his name, but he never came out. We were most worried about finding him before dark because it was supposed to get down to 24 degrees last night.

When he didn't come home by dinner time, we started to think the worst. Mike was convinced he ran away. I was worried he was hurt or that someone stole him (even though he wears a collar). We kept calling him and searching our block for him.

Finally, around 10:00, Mocha jumped off the couch and ran to the back door. Mike got up to let her out, and guess who ran inside?! Sam came home! He was hungry and thirsty, but he seemed alright otherwise. I have never been so happy to see him.

Needless to say, today he is stuck inside. We work the 3-11pm shift tonight so we can't have him out wandering the neighborhood. Plus, he is not neutered yet, so we don't want him out becoming someone's baby daddy.

Christmas Shopping Weekend

This past weekend, my Mom and sister came into town to do some holiday shopping. My mom came in on Thursday night, so we had all day Friday and Saturday to seek out the deals. We decided to go to Kohl's first, since they do not have them in Florida. Can you believe that we spent 2 hours in the store?! We got sucked into the clothes, then housewares, and then we couldn't pass up the holiday section. We finally pulled ourselves away so we could meet Mike for lunch in Chestnut Hill, but I bet we could have spent the whole afternoon there as well.

Mom and I went out to King of Prussia mall after lunch. It was so nice and not crowded. We did not have to fight crowds or wait in line and we easily found a parking space. We don't normally shop so early in the season, but I think we might have started a new tradition. It was nice not having to fight the masses or get run over by baby strollers.

Rebecca's flight was delayed on Friday, so she did not get in until almost 7:00pm. Mike was sweet enough to endure the rainy Friday Philly traffic to pick her up for us. After she got in, we all went to dinner at a great Italian place in Conshohocken.

Saturday was more shopping at the mall. We also hit Target and Dick's. By the end of the day, everyone was tired and ready to snuggle in in front of the tv--which is exactly what we did with some pizza and brownies and ice cream (yum!).

Unfortunately, the weekend went by way too fast. Before we knew it, we were taking them back to the airport and having to say goodbye. I am so happy they came to visit. A tradition of ours has always been to Christmas shop together after Thanksgiving, but with me living in Philadelphia, we can't do that as easily. I really miss having my family near by and this weekend was so bittersweet. I loved seeing them and getting to spend the time with them, but it also reminded me how much I miss them. I cannot wait until we are able to live closer again. Until then I will have to settle for little visits; luckily for me I don't have to wait very long for the next one, they will be here for Christmas in just about 4 weeks!

A couple more pictures...

Stefanie took some great pictures on her camera, I just wanted to add them on.

A Trip to the Washington, DC Temple

This Saturday was our stake's temple trip. Michael and I drove down to D.C. with our friends Ted and Stefanie. The weather was pretty crummy in Philadelphia when we left, overcast and drizzly, and only got worse as we drove closer to the temple. We drove through some pretty bad rain in Delaware and Maryland. Surprisingly, by the time we got to the temple, the sun was out and the sky was beautiful and blue.

There was a meeting at the temple at 11:30 and while Ted and Michael went to it, Stefanie and I went to the visitors center. Currently, they have a great photography exhibit titled, "Reflections of Christ". It is a great exhibit, filled with many inspiring photographs that chronicles the life of Jesus Christ. You can see the exhibit and learn more about it at the website: http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org.

After the meeting, we met Ted, Michael and our friends Emily and Luke at the temple to perform some baptisms. We had a really great time together and I especially enjoyed my first trip to the temple.

When we were finished, we met our friends Mike and Cameron (who live in Virginia just outside of DC) for dinner. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays (I was so happy to eat those mini burgers!). It was so good to see them, especially since we know they will be moving to Texas in February, so the more we can see them before then the better.

Finally, after all this activity, we drove back home. It only takes about 2 hours to make the trip, so its not too bad. We had great conversation, so the time passed quickly. The only downside to this whole trip was that Mike has been sick since Wednesday. He lost his voice on Friday night and has not been able to talk since. Our house is very quiet these days! He is resting and starting to feel better, but still under the weather, so send some good healthy thoughts and prayers his way!

Apple Festival at Peddler's Village

On Saturday Mike and I decided to head up to Buck's County (Northeast of the city) to Peddler's Village. This is a little outdoor shopping area that is supposed to be very cute and have great shopping. I can't really give my opinion on this since the place was worse than Disney World in peak season. I think there were 4 or 5 tour buses worth of people plus all the other people who poured into the place to enjoy the apple festival that we could not see anything. There were lines to get into the stores, there was an hour and a half long wait for lunch. We went into two shops and after waiting for over an hour for lunch and then being told that we would have to wait another hour, we decided to leave. We did stand in line long enough to buy some apple cider and apple butter, both of which we are very pleased to have.

I am really disappointed with the trip, I would have really liked to have seen the shops and enjoyed walking through the village. Oh well, maybe another time...

Happy Halloween!

In honor of the holiday, Michael and I carved pumpkins and handed out candy to the few kids that came by. I was surprised by the number of actual kids we got this year. Last year, Mike said that he got mostly teenagers smoking cigarettes (Thank goodness we haven't had any of those this year). This year we have had the whole range and no cigarettes. There have been some cute costumes: Phillies players, clowns, princesses, angels, devils, witches. Overall, a pretty good night.

It makes me think of my Halloweens growing up. We had so much fun running all over the neighborhood. We always made sure to hit the "candy man's" house where there were always king-sized candy bars and lots of spooky decorations. We lived for that night. I hope that the kids I saw tonight are making the kind of memories of Halloween that I have.

We tried to get the girls involved in the spirit, but needless to say they were mostly uncooperative. They did sit and "help" hand out candy, so I have to give them some credit. We tried to get them to pose by the pumpkins. It would have been easier to learn how to speak Chinese. I will add the few pictures we got; hopefully we will have better success one day with our kids!

Interview #4 (our last!)

Today, on a very rainy and very chilly day, was our last residency interview. We interviewed at Lankenau Hospital, which is about 15 minutes from our house, just outside downtown Philadelphia. Both Michael and I did a rotation there earlier this summer, so we were pretty familiar with their program and the hospital.

Overall, we both thought the interview went well. We were each interviewed by 2 physicians in two separate interviews. We were impressed by how well they knew our applications; we each had very specific questions about past experiences and what we had written in our personal statements. The day was similar in structure to the interview last week: presentation, interview, tour, lunch. I have to admit it was hard to go on the tour and stay for lunch when we had already been there and with the rain all we wanted to do was get home and get warm (wool suits are surprisingly not very warm).

We are both happy that the interview season is over for us. Many of our fellow applicants are applying to 10 or more programs, sorta the shotgun approach to residency applications. We decided to be daring and applied only to programs that we had visited, had experience with, or knew that we would be happy in their program. Maybe this risk will hurt us in the end, but we feel confident one of these programs will accept us.

The next step is to create our rank list. This means that we rank each hospital and submit our lists to a national matching service. They then take the rank lists of each program and through some sort of magic, "match" each residency applicant to a program based upon corresponding ranks. Our lists are due in January, so we have some time to think about it. We will know our fate on February 9th-it will be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!

Democrats on an Escalator

Okay, I am not normally someone who likes to wear my political views on my sleeve, but this video is pretty funny (and Mike loves it). Sorry if it offends anyone...

Interview # 3

I am late in posting this, but I interviewed on Wednesday at Crozer-Keystone Hospital for one of their internal medicine spots. There were 11 other applicants there that day and they had quite a program planned for us. We heard a lecture from the program director about how great their hospital and program is, we got a tour of the hospital from the chief resident, and had lunch with the current residents--it was a busy morning.

I was interviewed by the director of internal medicine and he was very nice. He had read everything in my file and was very knowledgeable on my past. He seemed to like me and I was very impressed with their program. They are dually accredited, which means that they have both MDs and DOs in their program (they take 3 DOs and 5 MDs per year) and that as a DO you can sit for both sets of boards. They have a very busy hospital with lots of neat departments: shock unit, burn unit, trauma center, cancer center to name a few. Also, they have a geriatric fellowship, which is appealing to me, of course.

Overall, I was very impressed with their program and the people that I met. It will be a hard decision when it comes time to submit our rank lists for the match. Luckily, we don't have to make any decisions until December.

One more interview to go...(thank goodness, I am getting sick of the stress that goes along with interviews)

Interview #2

We made it through another one!

Today we interviewed at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Stratford, New Jersey (south Jersey) for positions in their Internal Medicine program. This is the hospital system that we have spent the most time at over the last year and a half.

The interview was similar to last week's, except today we were interviewed by a panel of three, rather than in individual interviews. We were asked the standards again and hopefully I am getting better at naming my strengths and weaknesses (or my "dark side" as one interviewer put it). We were both pleasantly surprised with how well the interview went. We had been warned that one of the physicians can be kinda tough, but she was very friendly and nice to us both. We hope this is a hint of what is to come...

We have two more to go. I will be glad when the interviews are finished, these days are so stressful!

Naked Chocolate Cafe

One of our favorite spots in the city is the Naked Chocolate Cafe. Its located in Center City on Walnut Street and is a dangerous place for someone with a sweet tooth. Mike and I decided to spend the afternoon walking around the Rittenhouse Square area today. The weather was much cooler than we expected, so to warm up we stopped in for a hot chocolate (like I really needed an excuse).

These are not your normal hot chocolates. You can request either American or European styles, and my advice is to go with the European-its like a melted candy bar in a cup. This drink is so thick and so rich you have to order a petite and eat it with a spoon. Mike and I were feeling gluttonous so we ordered a cupcake to go with our chocolate (sounded like a good idea at first). I was wishing we hadn't ordered it, but as you can see from the picture, we somehow found room for it.

I love Philadelphia in the fall! And I love having such a wonderful husband to share it with!

Walking in Wissahickon

As our vacation comes to an end, Mike and I are trying to squeeze in as much fun as we can. The weather changed overnight from humid heat to crisp coolness. The leaves too seemed to change overnight. We decided to take advantage of our time off and enjoy the outdoors before the cold comes and we are stuck inside the hospital again. The other day we found a new trail along the Wissahickon Creek and so this morning we headed out with the girls for a hike.

It is so beautiful and relaxing to walk through the woods in the fall. The trail was covered with fallen leaves and as you walk they crunch underfoot. The air is cool, but its not too cold out and the sun is still bright. As a Florida girl who never got to experience this season, I love it! I am so thankful that I am able to live in such a great place for a time in my life. Michael got to wear his new pants from Eddie Bauer (they have a ton of pockets and can be unzipped at the knee to become shorts) so he was pretty happy too.
***

Another good thing about today is that we got our Halloween package from my mother. She sent tons of candy and some decorations for the house. The animals also all got a toy. But the best part was that she sent Dots candy. I was drooling over these at Target a couple days ago and decided against buying them since we were getting a bunch of chocolate for the "trick or treaters" (quotations used because we are the trick or treaters). Mike also gave me a lecture about how bad for my teeth the gummy candy is, even though I have watched a dentist eat my bowl of candy corn while he was here teaching, so I am not convinced. Anyway, I am excited to have dots to snack on. Leave it to mom to know what's best for me! Thanks Mom!

One down...

Today Michael and I had our first residency interview. We interviewed for spots in PCOM's internal medicine residency. The day started at 7:30am with interviews with the director of clinical education, the residency program director and the chief resident. Everyone was very friendly and the atmosphere was not intense or stressful (thankfully). We were asked the standard questions: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Why should we pick you over everyone else? What is your proudest personal (not medical) accomplishment? We also had an exercise thrown at us by the chief. She made us write admission orders for a fictitious patient. This is not an easy task, especially since we have never written admit orders before (at least not without the help of a cheat sheet or intern), and we had to do it in front of her and the program director. We think the task was meant to see how we respond to a challenge under pressure. I think we both did okay, we have gotten used to the performance under fire scenario.

After the interviews we toured one of their hospitals, Roxborough Memorial. It is a small community hospital very close to our house. We spent some time with an intern and a resident and got their perspective on the program. Everyone seems very happy and says they feel that they are being well educated.

All together the process was positive. We have pros and cons for the program, but it is definitely on our list. We have three more interviews over the next 2 weeks, so we are keeping our minds open until we have made it through them all.

Our next interview is on Monday, so keep us in your prayers for then!

Processing the apples: Stage 2

Today I tackled the huge job of canning the apples. Mike helped me (thankfully) with the peeling, coring, and slicing job. That part took more time than I was originally thinking. If this is something that I want to do again, I need to invest in one of those contraptions that does all those steps for you.

So after the labor intensive part, I began the cooking. I had to make a syrup to boil the apples in, then boil the apples, then process the cans. Overall, it took me about 4 hours from start to finish, which wasn't too bad, since I was done by lunch. The apples look good and I can't wait to try them. The recipe I used says that these apples can be used for eating or for baking, so its versatile. I want to try to make my own applesauce, but that seems like a bigger task than this was, so I might put that one off until next year.

10 more cans for the food storage (or nuclear kitchen as my dad calls it)

Just as I predicted...

Everyone fell asleep this afternoon. Mocha was in the chair, curled up asleep herself. Isn't my little family adorable?

Hiking in Valley Forge

This morning we decided to head back to Valley Forge for some hiking. We took the girls and tried the Horseshoe Trail through Mount Misery. The trail was moderately difficult, with some good climbs and nice technical difficulty (at least for us amateurs). Of course, the woods we hiked through were gorgeous and we were able to see some deer, which was cool for me. And along with the deer we also got to see some deer ticks. Mocha had 2 and Emmy 1--we will keep looking on all four of us to ensure that we don't become part of the Lyme Disease endemic.

We were out for about an hour and really enjoyed spending the time outdoors together. The hike was good exercise; both dogs are currently asleep on the couches and I think Michael is not far behind.

Processing the apples: Stage 1

To start using these 21 lbs of apples that we picked over the weekend, I baked an apple crumb pie this evening. Unfortunately, the pie only used up 2 apples. I need to make a lot more pies if I am going to put a dent in the stash. I am going to make apple cinnamon muffins tomorrow morning and then I think I will take the remaining for canning.

Here is the recipe for the pie I baked, its a variation on a recipe from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.

APPLE CRUMB PIE

Filling:
3 cups peeled, cored, and finely sliced apples
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Crust:
I cheat and use Pillsbury Pie Crust (in the refrigerated section)--don't tell my grandmother

Crumb Topping:
2 c all-purpose flour
1 c brown sugar, not packed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks of chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place one pie crust in 9" pie plate, crimp the edges.

To prepare filling: Combine apples, flour, sugar and spices in a medium bowl. Stir to coat apples evening. Spoon filling into pie crust.

To prepare topping: Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter, combine flour mixture with butter pieces until mixture looks like coarse meal. Spoon topping onto apples.

Bake pie for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375 and continue to bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping in golden brown. Serve warm.

Valley Forge II

In addition to apple picking, we took my parents to Valley Forge. My dad is such a history junkie, so we knew that he would love being in the same spot that George Washington once was. As planned, we took the trolley tour around the park. It was a beautiful day (a little chilly maybe for the Floridians) and we were able to see a lot of the park from the trolley. It really is amazing to think of what happened on that land over 200 years ago. To see the home that George Washington stayed in, to see the fields that the army trained in, and just to hear the story of that winter is just amazing. We live in such a wonderful country, with such a rich history. I wish that more people were aware of how this country was formed: the courage, dedication, faith, and hard work that our founding fathers and mothers had is inspiring.

We are both so excited that this great park in only 20 minutes from our house. I hope that we can make it back a couple more times before the weather gets too cold for my thin blood!

Apple Picking

As part of our action-packed Philadelphia weekend with my parents, we went apple picking. We drove to an orchard in West Chester, PA and had our choice of 6 varieties to pick. This farm also had pumpkins and raspberries, but since I already have 9 pumpkins of various sizes at our house, we bypassed the pumpkin patch. The group decided that a 1/2 bushel bag (~21lbs) would be a good size for us, so with bag in hand, we headed out to the grove.

There were rows and rows of apples. A ton of apples had already fallen to the ground and many of the trees were already cleaned off from previous pickers. But we were able to fill our bag full of Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Jonagolds, and Mutsus. There was a lot of sampling of merchandise and we all had a great time picking.

Now I have 21 lbs of apples to play with. I think I am going to use some for a pie, some for canning, and some for just eating. Good thing we are on vacation, its going to be a busy week!

Valley Forge

Yesterday Mike and I decided to tackle some of the things on our vacation "to do" list (yes, we are that Type A that we had to make a to-do list for our time off). We took our bikes up to Valley Forge, which is about 20 minutes from our house. Valley Forge is the site that George Washington and the Continental Army spent the winter after they had been defeated by the British in the battles of Philadelphia, Germantown, and Brandywine. The park has a paved trail that winds around all the historic spots of the area. There are also hiking paths that cut through the countryside. We decided to take a tour of the area on our bikes, so we stayed on the road that goes through the park.

It was such a beautiful ride. The weather was perfect for a bike ride: sunny and about 70 degrees. The road is very hilly, so this out of shape student had a hard time making the climbs. Especially when my husband (who thinks he is Lance Armstrong) trucks up them like they are nothing. But, because of my slowness, I was able to see many deer. I came upon one family grazing in a field. The parents had two young with them and they let me stop and watch them eat. It was awesome! I wish I would have known how nice it was going to be, I would have brought my camera.

We are planning on going back. We scheduled a trolley tour for this weekend (to do with Mom and Dad) and we want to go back to hike the trails. Its such a wonderful spot, both beautiful and historical.

A Walk in Manayunk

Today after we finished the enormous chore of cleaning our house, Michael and I decided to walk down to Main Street for lunch and some window shopping. We finally got to stop into this neat science shop called Spectrum Scientifics. It sells all kinds of toys (toys Michael loudly announced in the store are what our kids will play with some day): build your own robot kits, telescopes, grow a crystal garden, magnets, microscopes, etc. They even have a whole section dedicated to chemistry lab equipment. You can buy beakers, flasks, graduated cylinders--all the things that I tried so hard not to break in chem lab in college. I am tempted to buy a few flasks and use them as flower vases, although this would give me the definite nerd stamp for life. We did decide to support the neat store and bought a thermometer with barometer that sticks to the window and we got a slinky! I have already scared the dogs and cat with sending the slinky down the back staircase. I am going to have to hide my slinky next week when Dad comes, otherwise I know I will lose it. :-)

Emmy Update

Emmy does have a bladder stone--2cm x 2cm in size. The vet told us today that she has three options: surgery, lithotripsy (using sonar to break up the stone), or medical management. After much discussion, we have decided to start with the medical management, which includes continued antibiotics and a special diet. We will try her on this for one month to see if it dissolves the stone, and if it doesn't we will explore the other two options. We felt like surgery would be a "quick fix" but risky due to the anesthesia, open procedure, and possible surgical and post-surgical complications. She seems to be feeling okay today; she is playing a bit more and going outside a bit less. Hopefully, the special food will work and our Emmy will be stone free in a month!

Our sick little Emmy

Maybe its lame to dedicate a post to Emmy, but until I have human children, my pets are my stand-ins. Our little Emmy is sick with urinary tract stones and a urinary tract infection. When she was a puppy she got many UTIs, but has not had one in a while. This past weekend Emmy starting feeling poorly, so we took her into the vet. We found out on Tuesday that she has a UTI and she started an antibiotic. But our poor girl is still feeling badly and is urinating blood and passing clots, so back to the doctor she goes. We were told by the vet today that she has crystals in her urine which points to stones. Tomorrow morning we have an appointment with a new vet to explore this more. We are worried she will have to have surgery. I have no idea what they do for dogs with stones. I doubt they do lithotripsy or cystoscopic surgeries, and the thought of open surgery on a dog makes me nervous. We will keep praying that she makes improvements and that they can correct the stones and infection with medications. Poor Emmy Lou!

Ohio Trip