The weirdness of Boston

I got to spend the last two days in Boston. The trip was worked related, a conference at MIT, but I did get to see a bit of Boston. Monday night we walked from Cambridge to St. Charles Street and Beacon Hill and on the way passed TD Gardens, home of the NHL champion Bruins. We had some good food down on Charles and visited the Cheers bar afterwards.

Tuesday morning I went for a run and in a period of 40 minutes or so I got to run down the Charles River, by MIT, run the last mile of the Boston Marathon course to Copley square, by Boston Commons and the State House. I cannot even mention all the cool architecture you see doing this - it is a great town to see. Some of the cool architecture included stuff on the campus of MIT like the Frank Gehry designed building on the left.


The people at the hotels and restaurants were great but I did notice that bikers and runners do not warn you when they are coming up behind you. This really throws one off. I will say some of the nicest TSA people I ever encountered are at Boston Logan. I know most people complain about TSA but it was not just one that was great - it was a bunch of them.

So Boston is definitely a place to visit and when you do I would suggest staying at the Marlowe in Cambridge. I know I will be back there.

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My Stabilizing Force.........

The past two weeks have brought crashing disarray and quiet victories. On the work front, my department has undergone "restructuring" as they say, and sadly my dear friend and fearless mentor, Paul, is no longer here to help me navigate what lies ahead for careHPV. Some of you may know him from our wedding, he flew in from Germany to read at our wedding, only to dash off to the airport and return for work. I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done for me on so many levels and I know that he will remain a part of our lives. Paul is the essence of careHPV. It's success will largely be a result of his persistence and dedication to helping others.

And in the midst of the chaos, there comes order, and quiet- which is always a blessing when it is your health. As my husband knows, I seem to be the "rarity", the patient that doesn't fit the profile, not the 99 cases out of 100. I was born with a congenital heart defect- 3 extra electrical pathways creating 3 heart arrhythmias that I was blissfully unaware of of until they decided to make me pay attention. Growing up I assumed that everyone felt the way I did. I certainly was not the picture of the "typical" arrhythmia patient, specifically with the severity that was hidden. I played every sport I could get my hands on growing up, and have always been at the gym 5 days a week, pushing as hard as I can (with a six pack to prove it). In September 2008, 6 weeks before I met Gary, I had a life-changing procedure, a cardiac ablation which essentially burned the pathways from my heart tissue. I walked out of the hospital and into a new life......worried that I couldn't feel my heart beat. I told my doctor that my heart was quiet, and he smiled. Quiet. Like when the power goes off and all of the whirring and background noise just stops. And you breathe. Then the other shoe dropped. Last summer I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. Not common at my age or outwardly evident considering my level of physical activity. We sought help with a wonderful Endocrinologist and so far so good- after correcting a severe vitamin D deficiency there has been no further bone loss. Gary went with me to see my primary care doc last week to give him the good news. Dr "Jo", as Gary calls him, has been with me through everything. He diagnosed my heart defect - the Cardiologist missed it- and the osteoporosis. He patiently coordinated my care never leaving any causes unexplored and always remaining calm. Always listening, never doubting, always caring. He looked at me last week and smiled big and said "you are doing great, you are stable" then turned to Gary crossed his arms and said "so, you must be the stabilizing force here". My sweet husband looked so proud, smiled and said "yes".

Yes, honey you are my stabilizing force. Thank you for loving all of my 1 in 100's , my noisy heart, and little bones :-) Thank you for going with me to every doctor's appointment, holding my hand, giving me magazines to distract me (Wine Enthusiast works best), and laughing with me at the one who shall be called "Dr Evil" (the doctor who didn't work out so good).

I love you-

Laura

Oh My God

@ Payme's  Biker Bar listening to one of the best guitarists I have heard in a very long time.

I have never seen hands move so fast



Location : 705 Bellview Ct NE, Leesburg, VA 20176,
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For my husband......

Thank you for taking me to buy flowers in remembrance of my Dad, and for clearing a spot to plant daisies for him by our front door. It was hard to watch as you knelt and lovingly moved the soil with your bare hands, gently laying the seeded card from our wedding in the exposed earth. I cant even express the feelings that welled up inside, seeing your hands so carefully cover the seeds all while trying to soothe my tears and honor my father. Thank you for taking care of the part of me that will always have a father who needs to be remembered.

But most of all, thank you for being a good father. For showing me how a strong man loves his dad, raises his daughters, cares for his family, and loves his wife.

Happy father's day to my husband and to my dad-

Love Laura

For my Dad ....

Today is Father's Day and I wanted to let my Dad know that I wanted him to have a very special day.


It is hard that we live so far away and do not get to see each other very often. Sometimes that situation makes me think about how great a Dad you really are. You gave me all the tools I need to live my life. A few years back a friend gave me a list of things a man should be able to do - if I remember there were 101 of them. I ticked off 100 thanks to you. I can safely say that you never taught me to use a sewing machine.

You helped make me the guy that is able to give even more opportunity to my kids - your grandkids - and I thank you for that.

Happy Father's Day Dad.

We all love you.


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Perfect

I went out just before 6 AM for a five mile run .... I have a few gravel roads I can run on and took one of those today.

As I ran the geese were taking off from a field as light rain drops fell on my face. The sky was cloud covered to the west and a bit overhead but to the east it was clear enough that you could see the sun coming up. I looked and to the south I see a near perfect rainbow ... end to end. I saw that rainbow for the next mile.

As I ran by the school on the hill the sun was now on my right ... I looked left and I could see my shadow on the green field by the school and arching over the school ... framing it ... the perfect rainbow.

I think I found new motivation to get out and run

Flag Day Plus .....

It is not my first Flag Day as an American but this Flag Day is even better. This is my first Flag Day when it is also my mother-in-law's birthday. I wanted to make sure she knew how great it is to be married to her wonderful daughter and how great it is to be part of her family.

Laura had told me all kinds of stories about her family when we first met ... and do not worry there obviously was nothing there to scare me off ... but there was lots of entertainment in them. When I first met Kaye I knew why ... she is the embodiment of entertainment. Talented, exuberant, lively .... she enjoys life ... and that is a wonderful thing.

So rather than any thought about Flag Day we want to make sure that she knows that we wish her a ......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Saturday Night in Richmond ....

Saturday night in Richmond was a lot of fun.

I drove down Saturday afternoon, picked up Martika, checked into my hotel and off we went to dinner. We ate at a place that Laura, I and the girls had gone to for Sunday lunch a couple of months back called Cafe Guttenberg. It is a nice little place down in Shockoe with good food, including great vegetarian and vegan options. After dinner we dropped the car back off at the hotel and walked the few blocks to the Landmark for the show.

We got there after the doors had opened. There was a good crowd there but the theatre is laid out in such a way that it was not really crowded. The house was PACKED for the show. I think the only empty seat in the house was next to me. The theatre is a beautiful building with multiple balconies but all with great views.

The show itself was being taped for a 90 minutes Comedy Central special to air on September 25th. Not sure what they will edit out as the show was 3 hours but I suspect some of the funny stuff from the re-shoots will not make it - but they were FUNNY!!!! Maybe they will make the out-takes on the DVD. I am not going to divulge any of the material or surprises of the show but suffice to say it will be a good show to watch.

I have a couple of more photos in the travel album on our Picasa site - just click here.

After the show I walked Tika back to her apartment and I grabbed a beer before getting back to my hotel room. Sunday morning, after a run, I met up with Tika for a quick breakfast before I drove back to NVa.

It was a great trip and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful wife who makes sure that I get to spend time with all my girls.

My Wonderful Wife .....

out-does herself again.

So the background - Martika has been, not so subtly, hinting that she misses the times when just her and i would do things. I think it is a little bit harder for her in Richmond this semester as not as many of her friends are around. I was going to take a day off and go down but we figured that going down Sunday would be even better. We all arranged it and I had planned to drive to Richmond tomorrow to spend the day with Tika.

Well as we sat down to supper yesterday Laura mentioned that she was trying to find something for her to surprise me with - something as an early Fathers Day gift that I could share with Tika - something that we could do together. She said she ha found out that Jeff Dunham was playing at the Landmark, taping a show for Comedy Central. So she bought two tickets for myself and Martika to go tonight. I have only ever been to one live comedy show since college and that was Bill Cosby but I am sooooooooooooooo looking forward to this. Both myself and Tika really like Dunhams shows. So I am driving down this afternoon, hang out and then we will go have dinner before the show.

I asked Laura if she would join us - but she wants this to be daddy-daughter time and she is just making it that extra special.

I am so lucky.


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