Spring...somewhat

Natalie, ready for a walk in our 20 buck Craiglist jogger. Nice.



Cousin Will at his 2nd bday party. Good work on the Santa frosting beard! Sorry about the red-eye.



At Matthew Marsteiner's 3rd bday party at a local "bounce house". Karen is delicately negotiating the slide with Will and Natalie.





Karen and Eunice with Natalie (in a very graceful nasal extraction moment. ;) )






Having fun at the Clemyjontri park near Langley, VA.








More fun...

Yet more fun. Obviously, this slide is not designed for adults, or I'm just getting fat.

Ronnie Mervis, deep in the diamond mines of South Africa. Ok, actually holding a slightly skeptical Natalie.

Hello to my avid blog followers, eagerly awaiting the follow-up to my original entry! Ok, so there's actually only 1 follower so far (strong work, Will).

Despite Jimmy's skepticism, I have managed a second post. Ok, it's only taken me the better part of 4 months.

Anway, it's been a busy time. I'm wrapping up residency, thank God! Really only a couple of weeks of nights left and other than that, pretty much easy (read: living like a normal person, with actual weekends off and all) stuff through June. No complaints here.

I've finished interviewing for my Allergy fellowship which is nice. It's a match process, but thusfar I think from both a program standpoint and geography perspective, I'm leaning towards Tampa. (University of South Florida) It has an excellent and well-respected training program, and I think both Karen and I would be happy in Florida for a couple of years, if not more. Yes, Tampa is the #1 most foreclosed housing market in the nation. Maybe we could get a good deal on a foreclosure or short sell, but given that the fellowship is only 2 years, we might just rent (at least the first year) and consider buying if it looks like we'll stay longer.

We've had a few birthdays as you can see from above. Natalie's cousin Will turned 2 last month, and Sydney and David had a party at their place, which was fun. Also, our friends Leslie and Tim Marsteiner's older son Matthew turned 3, and had a party at what Karen likes to describe as a "bounce house". (Place with a bunch of amusement park-style moon bounce things). Definmitely fun, though Natalie was a little young to fully enjoy all aspects of it. However, they had a little kids' side which was a bit more sedate, so she definitely enjoyed that.

Speaking of Natalie, she's doing great. She'll be 1 year in 2 days, hard as that is to imagine. Not quite walking, but cruising with elan, and not quite talking, but babbling loquaciously in a language beknownst only to herself. She's eating most everything, though not yet 100% people food. Her favorites are pasta and chicken. You absolutely could not believe how rapidly she can make elbow macaroni disappear. Quite astonishing! Still nursing, so we'll have to wean that out. I'm wondering how that's going to go.

Karen is well. She continues to keep us economically inline with her various couponing and other deft (mostly legal) savings strategies. Hopefully, once I can moonlight in a few months, the fiscal situation won't be quite so intense. She's also very busy at this time planning Natalie's party, as well as hosting baby showers for our friend Nicole as well as for my sister. Lot of fertility this year, it seems.

Ok, that's pretty much it from scenic Durham, NC. Hope everyone is well. I'm sure my 3rd installment with be prior to Natalie's college graduation.

cheers,

Dave