Winter Sunset

After a weekend filled mostly with working and catching up on errands, given that Emily was also working, I managed to find a brief (and let me stress brief) window of time in which to get out of the indoors and smell some fresh (sniff, sniff, is that cow shit I smell?) air.

This last weekend was mostly pretty overcast, but if 28 years of living in the midwest has taught me anything, its that even on the cloudies of winter days, there can often still be snippets of interesting sunsets, if just for a few minutes. This was the case yesterday, as leaving work (on a sunday!) at about 3:30, I had about an hour of sunlight (mostly obscured by the clouds) left. So I grabbed a sandwhich, and with only my dental macro/telephoto lens in hand from work, headed out to Lake McBride for whatever potential photo fodder might be in store.

And the photography gods humored me, as a decent sunset was had, I was just wishing that I had my landscape lens available, as the colors were even better than what I could capture at 105mm.

Drinkin' Palin

Sometimes after a hard, stressful day at work, the best medicine is a good glass of wine (or two) with dinner. So on the way home after a fairly crappy day, it became obvious that a reasonable solution would be a great dinner, with a bottle of wine to boot. Being a thoughtful husband, I called Emily and recommended that she use up the salad supplies remaining in the fridge, and prepare the last of the remaining sweet potatoes.

For my share, I would be stopping at the local Co-Op to pick up some beef tenderloins and a bottle of wine. Both of us agreed this sounded like a plan, and so it was. I first went about the task of finding two grass-fed tenderloins, and then headed over to the wine aisle.

Sometimes when I head to the wine aisle, I know specifically what I'm looking for. Tonight was not one of those nights. No, I was more in the meandering mood, open to anything in the red family, specifically the deep and oaky reds, as we were after all going to have it with tenderloins. So after about ten minutes of mindless staring and reading several labels, I came across a wine that caught my eye...a Syrah named Palin.

No, this was not the wine of an Alaskan vineyard, the organic grapes were not crushed under the feet of a straight talkin', rifle-yielding, high-heel wearing 'hockey-mom'. Rather this wine was from a place below rather than above the earth's equator, a country called Chile, on the continent (not country as some past republican VP nods might have confused it with) of South America.

The unfortunate part about this wine was that despite all its name-based shortcomings, it was really damn good. And according to this article, it may soon be easier to find, as sales of it seem to have mysteriously plummeted since the 'other Palin' from up north arrived on the American political radar. So Emily and I both say emphatically, even if you are like us and didn't have the desire to vote for Palin, it doesn't mean you can't drink Palin. I guess you could say this is our way of drinking in a bi-partisan manner.

"Song of the Day":

CAD/CAM MacBook Pro

At the meeting I attended recently in Nashville, there was much talk of how CAD/CAM processes are completely revolutionizing the way models and restorations are fabricated, but I figured instead of boring you with dental videos, I'd show an example of how a more common product is also starting to be milled via CAD/CAM processes into something more recognizable. And Dell wonders why they continue to lose market share...

Reflections on Obama Win

...HOME

...ABROAD

Incredible!!!!

Rose II

A Nashville Halloween

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel down to Nashville, TN to attend a meeting , and of course, have a little fun. While most of the day was spent listening to the latest technology developments on CAD/CAM and virtual environments in dentistry (pretty cool), the evenings afforded myself and some colleagues the opportunity to get off our butts (literally) to experience an evening in downtown Nashville...it just so happened that this night was Halloween...spooky.

So put together cross-dressing country musicians, banjos, beer, more beer, what seemed like a million Packer fans in town for the Packers-Titans game, a pregnant nun, "Brian Seay in drag" with more tattoos than I can count, the real Albert Einstein, and me eating Sushi for the first time, and that makes for an odd Halloween. Nonetheless, this was the case, and, it was a good time.

Obama loses election how?

Normally when Emily has a nightmare, she has an uncanny ability to recall specific events of her dream. Apparently after her voting experience yesterday, she had a disturbing vision in which Obama lost the election due to one of our friends...check out the video of her dream (isn't technology amazing these days)...

Yes. I. Can.

Today I took advantage of my civil liberty and voted. This actually took place accidentally, not intentionally. I had planned on voting next week at the early polling stations at the hospital. I even had the day of the week picked out for when I next worked. But, alas, this was not the case.

My overtime was cancelled at 11am so I had a day ahead of me with no real plans. I had some library books in my car that needed to be returned (yes, I make frequent use of my local free services) so thought I'd swing by and drop those off and pick up some new. As I rounded the corner of the main entrance my eyes saw the polling booths and tables set up, filled with other enthusiastic Americans.

As a side note, why is it a requirement to be over 70 to run the polling stations? I mean, here we are in a college town, located in the ped mall, in the heart of campus and the only individuals running the station are retired teachers and veterans. (I know because I asked...tactfully). As another side note, did you know that they are required by law to go over the ballot with the voter and provide non-biased information? True enough (I found this out when in my exuberance to get to my booth and told the nice lady that I knew what I was doing, for which I was interrupted and told that she HAD to explain the procedure because it was the law). Now, I don't know if its actual law, or the laws upheld by dedicated Iowan's who don't want to have Iowa subjected to a situation like Florida had. But hey, they take their job seriously, at one point I was fearful that if I didn't seal the envelope correctly I may be led away in handcuffs. (There was a cop voting 2 booths away...so it could have happened.) Oh, and does anyone else get a little nervous that they didn't entirely fill out the ballot fully and that maybe your vote won't count? Or that the damn bubble seems impossibly large and did I really get it filled correctly? These are serious concerns for serious voters. I hear you laughing at me but you just wait until you're in between the plastic walls of a make shift booth, pencil in hand, giant bubbles filling the page with names of judges and district attorneys you've never heard of but hope if you ever end up in your court you voted for the right one, and you just see if you don't have a feeling of apprehension. Did I mention that I had to use the handicap booth...there was a little anxiety here people!!!

So, I voted. And I have the pin to prove it. 3 minutes of social obligation and I've changed the world. If only...

New box to check on health history form...

Some of you may have already heard the news in the last week and a half that I was recently diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer. Yes, you read it right. For those of you who don't know until now, sorry for not sharing earlier but we didn't want to worry more people than we had to. Unfortunately for those of you who do already know you probably found out when I was hysterical or nearly there. But, today I received good news...the melanoma was successfully removed! Now, some background storytelling...

Upon moving back to Iowa I started to notice an area on my back that would itch occasionally. I didn't think anything of it at first until finally I was conscious of the scratching and asked a coworker to take a look at what I was scratching. A mole. *little pink flag...not red because they said the mole looked fine* So, a few months go by and the mole still itched every now and again. Still seeking medical opinions of my coworkers to verify all is well...no change. Finally one day I thought, you know, it's been about 9 months since my last check, I should get in to the dermatologist. Now, I know most of you have probably never seen a derm doc before but I've had 4 moles biopsied in the past (all ok) but have a high likelihood of melanoma because my father died at 46 from it. So, I'm a worried wart and get in at least once a year if not every 6 months. The last time I had been in I had a biopsy and then excision of the site due to irregular fast growing cells (precancerous, but not cancer...confusing, I know). So my thoughts were, hey stupid, get to the doc when this itching thing continued.

Sorry for all the background, but here's more:

So, finally make it in, get a biopsy although both staff and resident agree the mole looks fine, just irritated, and I quote "doesn't look like melanoma so don't worry." So, I left and forgot about it. Until a week later (9/29) I get a call from the staff doc and he tells me I have melanoma. Of course shock sets in and my nursing knowledge flies out the window and I can't ask one single educated question before I thanked the doc then hung up. Then of course broke down. All I had heard was melanoma, most serious form of skin cancer, and needing surgery soon and the words kept circling in my head. My appointment was two weeks ago this Thursday to remove (hopefully) all the melanoma remaining. They took 1 cm on either side of the mole (an inch total in width) and cut 4 inches in length.

Now, I have a very tight incision on my back that makes it a little hard to bend, turn, stretch, but am otherwise ok. And now that I know they got all the cancer cells I'm feeling pretty good about that too. I now have to go in every 3 months for a year then every 6 after that-if no more angry cells.

So, I'm sorry to keep nearly everyone out of the loop, but I wanted to hopefully deliver good news on the cancer front instead of just increasing the worries of all our readers. For those of you who did know, I am very thankful for all your prayers and concerns and love and support. I'm truly blessed to have caught this cancer very very very early before it had spread.

Election Prediction?..."My Friends"

If The University of Iowa's school of business' Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) is as prophetic as it has been in the past, then it looks like Obama may be pulling away as the presumptive victor for the White House, as his shares have gone up to $.77 a share as of yesterday....and that's some news that most of us can rest easier with, considering the economic mess that seems to be brewing.

How 'bout Them Apples

This weekend Chris' parents came to town for all of us to catch up, and also for them to have their teeth worked on by Chris. After back-to-back appointments on friday, saturday found us all heading out to acquire produce for a "fall" feast. Thus we headed to a local apple orchard called Wilson's, which is just north of Iowa City by about 15 minutes.

After picking 5 buckets of Lura Red apples by hand off the trees and off the ground (only the good ones), we contemplated all the recipes one could incorporate these excellent tasting apples. What we settled on was apple sauce, and an apple pie to complement two great dinners over the course of the weekend.

Emily went all out and made what was deemed the best apple pie had by all, which was followed promptly by naps on the couch. Now, what to do with the 3 buckets of apples remaining...

Debate This!

With the first of the debates starting tonight (err, that's what I last heard anyway as of this afternoon), I found this column apropo...

"Song of the Day":

Sleepless in Seattle...err...Iowa City

I'm sleepy. Have I mentioned that I have to work night shifts now that I'm back at Iowa? Well, I may have or maybe have not. I'm too tired to care or look back on previous posts. Oh wait, I do remember saying it once or twice before. Oh the wonders of sleep deprivation. And how does one prepare for night shifts. Well, I start the day before. I try to sleep in late. This is usually no later than 9am. Try as I might, I can no longer sleep the day away like I used to in college. (Maybe this is a sign I'm finally a grown up...oh wait...that came while looking into life insurance and disability...) None the less, I sleep as late as possible. I get up, run errands, do laundry or, sometimes do nothing and just read. Then, in the afternoon I attempt a nap. Today, this was not possible. Sleep would not come. I shut the blackout shades, put the fan on and tried to lull myself to slumber by reading a book. To no avail. UGH. Therefore I am sleepy now at 1:30am and know that I have 6 hours to go. Now, when I get home despite my exhaustion, I will be unable to sleep because I drove the entire way home with the glorious sunrise blinding me. This poses a problem since I'll have spent the entire night indoors when I should normally be sleeping, then just as my body thinks it can't take anymore and wants to crash, I shock it with full-on sunshine. My brain doesn't know what to think... "why in the hell were you up all night when you should be sleeping? Whoa, wait, is that sun, guess it's time to rev up for the day..."

Eventually my exhaustion will overrule my brain and I'll fall asleep for about an hour before I wake up, toss and turn, fall back to sleep for another hour...and repeat. And what really rips is I have to do this all over again tomorrow night. So, as the night drags on I'm at least thankful that there have been no major crisis that have occurred to tax my exhausted brain. Although, you would be surprised how well I can perform under pressure. Now if only I can convince my patients it's time to sleep and not call me in for ice chips every 5 minutes...