We have a boring blog ...

... but that's going to change, I promise. For one thing, we just got a new computer. So doing our blogs will be much more fun. Yep, we finally said goodbye to the good old HP dad got me about ... oh ... 8 years ago. Which we all know is more like 80 in computer years. Yikes. 

I'm very, very excited to head back to Iowa in 23 days! (not that I'm counting)

I just finished my second month in the PICU ... it is not a happy place a lot of the time. I am sooo glad to be out of there (although I have to cover the PICU over Christmas ... but we won't talk about that).

Mike and I are on opposite schedules this month ... I have normal 8-5 days, but he works the 1pm-11pm ER shift. It pretty much stinks. No likey. But I think it helps us not take each other for granted!

So, look forward to many future posts - they will be coming!

Yearbook Pictures

These were a few of our favorites ...

Saturday Morning

Mike and I had a lovely Saturday morning this weekend. We ate a yummy breakfast at Magee's, a great bakery close to downtown Lexington. We then went downtown to the Farmer's Market, where we perused the produce and bought some yummy heirloom tomatoes and butternut squash. After that we wandered over to the fountain in front of the Lexington Center. We stopped at a garden shop on the way home and bought some chrysanthemums. Once we got home, we enjoyed some BLT's made with our heirloom tomatoes. It was quite the enjoyable beginning to our day. The next part of the day was not quite so enjoyable, as we watched the Hawks lose yet another game they should have won. But we won't talk about that. It just upsets me. 

Here are some beautiful peppers at the Farmer's Market

This is the clock downtown that counts down the days until the 2010 World Equestrian Games, which are going to be held in Lexington. Apparently this is a big stinkin' deal.

My Friends

The CC&R's

Mike and I received this letter in the mail last week ... needless to say, we feel like the neighborhood rejects. At least it wasn't a pink flamingo.

"Bring it on."

(and don't worry, we took down the offending lights)

Man vs. Swallow

A few weeks ago we noticed blue and brown birds sitting outside of our house. After consulting our "Birds of Kentucky" guide, we determined that they were either eastern bluebirds or barn swallows. We watched them for a few more days and settled on barn swallows. I was reading further on these birds, and I came across an interesting fact: barn swallows build their nests out of mud and straw and can make up to 1,000 trips in the process. Interesting, I thought, I wonder where these birds live? I then looked outside to see that one of my swallows had a muddy piece of straw in its mouth and the iron rod he was sitting on was quite muddy. Uh-oh. I looked around and soon found a nest about 400 trips through the building process right inside our entranceway. When Lianne got home I showed her and she was quite excited about the prospect of having out own set of barn swallows. So I let the nest construction continue. All was fine and dandy until a few days ago when the "swooping " began. I would hear a "chirp-chirp" and look up to see a swallow making a dive bomb run at my head. Lianne insists that they are not getting that close. But I stand a few inches above her, and I am not so sure. We discovered the reason for the increased aggression: chicks. I risked life and limb to get you the picture of the chicks, and I also got some video of a swooping attack. I hope the swoops don’t come any closer so I can continue to mow the lawn and get the mail.

Baby Swallows:
Mama Swallow with her hover attack:
A swooping run:

New Coche!

Well Lianne and I went out and made an extravagant new purchase: a Corolla. Check it out...





What do you think? Styling. Yeah I know.




OK, the real car is a little nicer than that. We got a 2009 Toyota Corolla "S". It is a big step up from to the car it replaces; my 1996 Saturn with a cracked windshield, taped up rear windows, a quart of oil leak per tank of fuel, dial adjusted tape deck and torn up upholstery. This new car gets 38 mpg highway and 30 mpg city (for me, I am not sure what Lianne will get, but if past cars are any indication it will be substantially less: she has a bit of a lead foot). The interior is very nice and quiet, it has a stereo that plays MP3s, an iPod input, alloy wheels, a sun/moon roof, a 6 year/100,000 mile warranty, 6 airbags and ABS among other things . All in all we a very pleased with it although it might be quite awhile before we buy another new car as the experience of instant depreciation, paying new car taxes, etc. was a little painful for me. Well, you live and you learn. With any luck I will be able to drive this one into the ground also.

It was ferry, ferry fun

Mike and I shared a milestone this weekend - our first ferry ride. We were driving around the countryside outside of Lexington (highly recommended, by the way - very beautiful!), when the road we were traveling on all of a sudden stopped. At a river. And there was the ferry (a free ferry, mind you), ready to take us across. It was kind of surreal, like - are there really places that have ferries instead of bridges? The answer in Kentucky is apparently, yes.  It was pretty fun. Just another glimpse into our new Kentucky life!

I (Mike) am going to be very busy as a PGY2 pharmacy resident next year at the University of Kentucky. So if you want to hang out with me you had better drop by before July 1st 2008 or after June 30th 2009;because in between I will be rocking 6 day a week rounding and generally just living my life at the hospital. Why you may ask do I want to take such I job: I am not totally sure, but it will probably open up some doors if I can survive the next year. Your prayers are appreciated!

From the UK Pharmacy Web Page (http://www.hosp.uky.edu/Pharmacy)...

Introducing Our 2008-2009 Pharmacy Residents

Post-Graduate Year One (PGY1)

• A. Kendall Gross - University of Georgia
• Daniel Johnson - University of Kentucky
• Stephen Lemon - St. Louis College of Pharmacy
• Katherine Malloy - Purdue University
• Ryan Mynatt - University of Kentucky
• Diana Yu - University of California, San Francisco

Post-Graduate Year Two (PGY2)

• Mike Farley, Pharm.D. - Internal Medicine
• University of Iowa and St. Claire Regional Medical Center
• Amanda Geist, Pharm.D. - Pediatrics
• Duquesne University and Pittsburgh Mercy Health System
• Anna Hitron, Pharm.D. - Hematology/Oncology
• University of Kentucky and UCSF Medical Center
• William Russell Judd, Pharm.D. - Infectious Diseases
• University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare
• Deanna McMahon, Pharm.D. - Critical Care
• University of Illinois at Chicago and UCSF Medical Center
• Tara McCabe, Pharm.D. – Pediatrics
• University of Rhode Island and Massachusetts General Hospital
• Chris Paciullo, Pharm.D. - Critical Care
• University of Rhode Island and Saint Joseph HealthCare
• Rachel Stratman, Pharm.D. - Critical Care
• St. Louis College of Pharmacy and UK HealthCare
• Lisa Thompson, Pharm.D. - Hematology/Oncology
• University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare
• Ann Wiesner, Pharm.D. - Ambulatory Care
• University of South Carolina and UK HealthCare
• Scott Wirth, Pharm.D. - Hematology/Oncology
• University of Illinois at Chicago and UK HealthCare

Clay soil is sticky

Clay soil is sticky. Makes one long for the rich black topsoil of Iowa. We recently decided to spruce up our boring backyard with a little landscaping. We bought one bona fide tree and one sort of tree as well as some lilac bushes. We then proceeded to dig an enormous hole in our yard. Kentucky has ~1 inch of topsoil - after that it's just glorious clay. Hard to dig. There were also a few small boulders left by the construction team that built our house (thanks, guys). We suspect our neighbors were all secretly watching us dig this enormous hole, because one by one they came out and offered us various types of shovels. Actually, I think all the shovels were really offered to me (Lianne), because apparently I looked like I was working really hard and not getting anywhere. Which was true. After several hours of back-breaking labor, we were rewarded with the task of dragging a 250 lb. tree into our newly formed crater. We're making it sound like it was a really hard job and we'll probably never do it again ... which is true. But there is something really rewarding about looking at your beautiful Eastern Redbud in full bloom and knowing that you put it there all by yourself. Ahhhh. 

Piano for Lianne!!!

Well we saved  and ebayed and saved some more and guess what? We got a great piano at a great price. As I sit here Lianne is playing me a song, and I like it. A guy could get use to this kind of thing. Now if only it had a headphone jack for when I want to watch TV ;) But seriously we really like it. We are in the process of re-upholstering the bench and it will be tuned soon so if you want to have a piano jam session and are passing through Lexington drop by! 

The Haircut

Most of you know that Mike has been into cutting his own hair lately. Most of you also know that I am not a huge fan of this endeavor. I have been very firm about not getting involved in this whole business, but Mike persuaded me to help him trim the back the other night. I was doing well until he asked  me to trim behind the ears ... then I sort of forgot where I was at ... whoops. I have now re-committed to never cutting Mike's hair ever again. 

On Call

So I'm on call tonight, which is not as fun as it sounds. I get to wear a bunch of pagers clipped to my waistband, and I get to sleep in an impossibly cold call room (if I get any sleep, that is). On the bright side, I have approximately $275 in call money - which means I could buy everyone in the cafeteria dinner tonight. Maybe I will. But occasionally I will see some cool things, like tonight when we had to resuscitate a baby born with gastroschisis (that means she was born with her intestines outside her body - no, really, it does). I was going to find a picture of gastroschisis and post it, then thought better of it (you can thank me later, Jenna). Those of you who are curious will just have to find the picture yourselves (I'd suggest google images, they've got some good ones - and yep, that's what it looked like. Cool.)

-Lianne

Spelunking!

We recently expanded upon our Kentucky adventures by visiting Mammoth Cave National Park - the longest cave system in the world! Yep, it's in Kentucky. We went on the "New Entrance" tour - we highly recommend. I (Lianne) found the first few minutes of the cave exploration a bit too exciting ... we were squeezing through tights spaces when I heard the people in front of us start squealing and screaming about spiders. I almost didn't make it, but then we discovered that the "spiders" were actually these mutant cave crickets (which were not a whole lot better, but I'll take it). But thankfully, there were no more creepy crawlies after that first little bit. We got to climb lots of stairs and see lots of limestone and even some cool stalagmites and stalactites. We especially enjoyed the "Frozen Niagra" formation - very beautiful! This is just one of the many wonders you will be treated to when you come visit us in the state of Unbridled Spirit (that's Kentucky's state motto).

Champagne Tap!

I was on call yesterday and got my first-ever champagne tap! For those of you not wholly versed in medical lore, a champagne tap is when you have no red cells in the first tube of cerebrospinal fluid you collect when doing a lumbar puncture - in other words, a perfectly executed spinal tap. And, my attending makes a point of buying a bottle of wine for whoever gets a champagne tap - yay! It was definitely the highlight of the month so far (and definitely prettier than my last tap, which had ~ 20,000 reds cells in the first tube - ouch). Just another day in the life of a peds resident, I guess - never boring!

Welcome to our Blog!

I hope this post finds you well. My wife Lianne and I have decided to join the world of blogging and this is our first experience wading into the waters of a post. I hope this will be a great way to stay in touch with friends and family. I don't want to strain myself on my first post so I will leave you with this; hello and welcome!