Stamm Camp!

So last week I took a little hiatus from my life in the hospital to go back to camp! Sweetness! It's a special camp that was started 40 some years ago by a cardiologist named Stanley Stamm (who by the way still has his own elective where one lucky resident gets to hang out with him and learn from his vast experiences for a month...another perk of the rotation is that he stops everything to go swimming for an hour in the middle of the day!! This is the way all residency should be right?). Anyway, he wanted all kiddos, even those with complex medical problems to have the opportunity to go to camp so he started one up. It's grown and developed over the past 40 years...many of the counselors now are formal campers, there are about 100 kiddos and tons of volunteers to manage the kid's medical needs while ensuring that they get to have a fantastic time. There are a number of kiddos with developmental delay, kids in wheelchairs etc etc and all of them get to go swimming, boating, fishing, horse back riding, watch skits and sing songs. They stay in cabins together and have a generally awesome time!!

It was phenomenal to be a part of. The kids are delightful and joyful, though some with behavioral disorders definately provided some challenges. The volunteers are truly servants. Getting all the kids ready isn't as easy as just telling them to get up or go to bed...it means, changing their diapers, giving meds and feeds, dressing them and brushing their teeth. I have always had great respect for families with disabled children and the amount of time, effort and coordination that is involved in the daily caretaking of their children, but none so much as I have now. It is truly a constant undertaking...but so rewarding as the kids give so much back. What is particularly special about this camp is that the kids get dropped off...no parents, no sibs, a real camp experience. There are a lot of amazing camps out there for families with kids with medical problems, but not many that give the parents a week off and the kids a week away. It was awesome to be a part of it...if only for a few days!

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Perks of Home Ownership

Last night, I bought a barbecue and Paula and I made dinner and actually ate together! This is a quasi-big deal since we didn't really have space to actually sit down together and eat at a table...facing each other...and talking like a normal couple in the last couple years. While we did have a table at our old place, it was usually full of crap (mail, keys, books, bags, etc) so we never had a place to really eat other than our couch and coffee table. So, last night was great.

...Then tonight we actually had dinner...at a table with friends...in our house. Our first real dinner in our house with friends! Again, due to space issues and lack of defined dining location, we only had friends over for dinner a couple times in the last couple years. So, this was rad. Paula made pumpkin ravioli (hand made ravioli and it turned our great!), I made a Gorgonzola cream sauce, and our friends Shannon, Erica, and Phil brought the rest of the fixins'. Lots of fun.

So, we're beginning to really enjoy this home ownership thing.

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Adjusting to our new home

Last Friday, Paula and I began moving into our new home. It's pretty exciting, but we're sort of making it painfully drawn out by moving over in the little loads that our mini-van carries. But, we're nearly finished and we're all beginning to adjust to our new place. We christened the house with my mom, Eirik, Heidi, and their son Skye who were in town.

Due to the heat wave, Paula and I are adjusting from our quasi-finished basement where temperatures feel like they're 30 degrees cooler. Our pets on the other hand have been having a more interesting time.

Maddie has been coming over and hanging out while we've worked on the house for the past month. So, she's quite at home in her back yard now. Gordon (aka. Fat-tastic), is the easiest going cat in the world and essentially thinks everything on the planet is for his benefit, which is making his transition go pretty smoothly. However, Cleo and Gus (our two neurotic cats) have their own methods.

(Maddie in her back yard)
(Gordon and his dominion)

After letting Gus out of the pet carrier, he ran directly into the return air duct system associated with our furnace. While he eventually came out, he then hid above the duct system in the basement for another day. The bad news is that Gus (typically a white cat) is now gray. The good news is that we've had our HVAC system cleaned out.

(Gus is in there, somewhere)

Cleo (a small black cat) has found every small nook and cranny for her to blend into the darkness and shadows. Her favorite spot in our old place was below the guest bed, which seems to be a prime location for her again.

(Camouflaged Cleo)

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And so it begins...

We've got the keys to our new 1956 house! So, let the chores, projects, and to-do lists begin.

First on our list is remove the carpet and refinish the oak hardwood floors so we can move in. This is what I and the pooch started on Saturday afternoon while Paula was off saving kids lives. So far so great. The carpet has been coming up pretty easy. It's just time consuming getting all the tacks and staples up, but that's what books on tape are for. Already, the floors are looking so much better. However, give us a couple weeks and I'm sure they'll be even sweeter!

(Living room with carpet)

(Living room without carpet, but still with padding)

(Maddie enjoying the new/old oak hardwood floor)

We're excited to start planning out the project list, building the house in Google SketchUp so we can play around with future design ideas, and generally working on the house. Although its in good condition, I'm sure there's going to be a lot that we'll need/want to do.

I've also met some of our neighbors too. Seems like the whole block are full of good, friendly folk. Especially when they're having an ice social in early August! It's like they already know what my weakness is.

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It's official, we're HOME OWNERS!!!

We just got the call that all the paperwork is complete and we're now terribly in debt. We're so excited to start pulling carpet and get the renovation show going. The Radmakers have another 10 days in the house to move out and settle up with everything. So, that puts us into moving on July 12th, if we want. However, I think we'll probably stick around where we're at through July and slowly move over while having our floors refinished. We're looking forward to having a house warming party/bbq as soon as we can. I guess that means we'll be needing to buy a bbq in the near future...

Bring on the tax breaks!

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