Summer Vacation

Overall we had a good time. Colton's 7th B-day party was fun and casual, but Colton wanted to immediately return home to play his new Xbox game. The kids and I also had a great time at Dave & Trish's playing on the trampouline with their cousins. I drank too much but still managed to get some studying, naps and exercise in.

My Mom's was ok but I felt like we cheated her by getting to her place late on Sunday and then spending all of Monday river rafting. The trip up Sunday took some time because Becky and I had to stop at Green Lake for some Spud's fish & chips. The boys enjoyed it, even our verbose tour of the Greek District, my Frat and college life at UW. Green Lake and the food were great, plus we got to watch the World Freestyle Frisbee Championships. For $5 each, the boys got to climb a man-made rock wall (ala REI) which they really enjoyed.

Rafting the Skagit on Monday was the most fun I've had a piddly class 2 river. Of course seeing the boys and cousins enjoy their first rapids was quite an experience. They were all a little afraid at first, but by the end they were fighting for the best view at the bow of the next rapid (and a chance to get soaked). Connor even rowed a bunch with his uncle and Dad. Now Becky and I are looking forward to taking our boys a real river.

My mom and sister seemed to be doing well. Joanne is doing well with #4 in the oven and the upcoming move to Spokane. Mom is contemplating how she's going to move over there with Joanne, Dan and their families. Joanne's kids are doing well and it was fun to see them but a little cramped in my Mom's place.

Then it was off to Paul & Suzie's place. The boys didn't complain too badly about not having access to TV or games and played in the yard, pool and trees. It was a little exhausting but we managed and I actually enjoyed having some time to talk with Dave & Paul. Paul & Suzie even managed to figure out a way to join us in Orando at Dave & Trish's vacation place. But not before we had the cousins pose on the UW campus for grandma's annual Xmas present.

UW provided a good background, the photographer Paul & Suzie hired (same one as always) didn't use the setting very well. I took a bunch of pictures on my own. After lunch and some long stories from Becky and I about our times on campus, I wondered over the UW medical school. I also wondered around the Fred Hutch cancer research center. It was pretty impressive. I'm left wondering if I should rank UW #1-#3 (RadOnc, Rads and Path), or focus more on a specialty. Hard choices coming up soon.

We spent the end of the week in Orando and had a great time knee boarding, wake boarding and intertubing. The boys had a great time and even showed off a bunch for pictures (which I hope to post shortly). I got more confident on the wake board, jumped off a little cliff with Trish, had a good swim and read a bunch. The only downer was sitting through Steckler nostalgia Thursday evening which, as usual, consisted of listening to Becky and her siblings bad songs from the 60's and 70's. This "tradition" is getting really old. The two days there were great though and really made wonder if I shouldn't just go for a specialty that I can use anywhere so we can have a house on a nice lake. I left really wanting a fairly rural home where I can swim, row, scull, boat, etc. with the family after breakfasts and before evenings looking out onto the water and surrounding nature. It feels a lot more attractive than the hustle and bustle of city life, even with research, academic and big name hospital opportunities.

The drive to Marge's Friday evening was driven by some insane, pushy need of Julie's that really pissed me off. I guess it gave me time to read and listen to lectures, but I sure felt stepped on. My anger with Becky and her sister didn't subside much at their mom's either as the boys and I were trapped between boredom and their gossip. Saturday was relaxing and the plane flight ok, but only because I pretty much did my own thing. The boys watched the weekly cartoons and picked out from DVDs from Marge's Ebay collection. I really didn't care what Becky and Julie did.

My attitude didn't improve much once we landed. And the way the gals were treating me didn't either. However, that paled in comparison to walking into a hot, humid AZ home with a non-functional AC. I stayed up watching TV most of the night because I couldn't sleep well. $450 later the repair guy and new motor had up and running on Sunday. I took naps, swam (after cleaning the disaster of a pool), read and did a ton of yard work. But it wasn't too bad.

Yesterday it was back to work at the lab. Several experiments had to be started for irradiation on Thursday so that we have some data to submit for the ADA grant application deadline on the 15th. I also did H.O.M.E. at UMOM last night and enjoyed seeing classmates, Dr. Will and some patients. The same monsoons that knocked our AC caused St. Mary's Food Bank's roof to collapse so Becky had an even crazier day.

This vacation has given me some time for reflection and soul searching but I don't really feel any closer to deciding on what I want to go into, where the best place for residency is (for the family, education, job prospects, etc.) or where I would like to eventually settle down. I seem to be narrowing in on RadOnc, Rads and Path. RadOnc is still #1, but may be unreachable (and too stressful to compete for). It also might the most restrictive for residency and practice locations. Rads may be a good fit once I get a taste of the specialty. Path seems like a good fallback with a short residency, good QOL and lots of options for a career (autopsies, surgery, lab mgmt, R&D, education). I will definitely have to get in 20hrs or so of Rads job shadowing this summer so that I can see what it is really like.