A New Year..

It's a new year and a new decade. Personally, I could not be more excited to have the "Naughties" over and done with (with the exception of a few key events). Now, a week after 2010 rolled in, I thought I'd reflect on our final events of 2009.

To usher in the holiday season, I drank some crazy Kool-Aid and smothered our tulip tree infront of our house with 1,000 white LED lights. I've received several complements on its glow by the astronaunts in the International Space Station, so I've got that goin' for me.

Then, Paula and I hosted Thanksgiving and attempted to cook a turkey without killing everyone. The fact that everyone is still alive following that dinner suggests turkey wasn't a complete flop. More importantly though, we were surrounded by great company and were reminded of all that we have to be thankful for.


In early December, Eirik, Heidi, and our nephew Skye came to town for a pre-Christmas visit to check out Eirik's show at the Henry Art Gallery (by the way, check out his show at the Henry which is up until the end of January). While it was a short trip, I had plenty of time to subtly work several bad habits into Skye's routine for Eirik and Heidi to deal with later (sorry in advance, E&H!).


The joys of Paula's work schedule kicked in at Christmas when she was on-call and had to work Christmas Eve and into Christmas day. Fortunately, she got off work pretty early and was able to enjoy Christmas breakfast at my mom's house. Very relaxing! Then, we hopped on the ferry for a trip to Vashon. Again, we had a fantastic time with the family and relaxing on the beach.


Our nephew, Luke, decided once on the beach that the water looked too wonderful for dogs to enjoy by themselves. Needless to say, his cold feet and wet pants changed his mind relatively quickly.

The day after Christmas, I kept another tradition alive and well with my good friend Jeff (aka. Jefe rojito bonito). Since high school, Jeff and I (along with our friend Drew who has failed to live up to the responsibility of such a tradition) have gone swimming in freezing Lake Washington. This year was no different. Paula came to document the occasion and remind us how dumb it is to jump in a cold lake. Clearly, she doesn't appreciate the need to polar bear it every year.


New Year Eve (my least favorite pseudo-holiday) was spent appropriately with our friends, Josh, Melissa, and Chad. Paula had 3 days off and we made the most of it. Chad invited us to his cabin (aka., the Elk Horn Lodge) in Packwood near Mt. Rainier where we ate, read, ate, watched movies, ate, played games, ate, ate, and snow shoed. What better way could we roll in the new year.


So, now it's 2010. We've set many resolutions that we've already forgotten, but we're excited for what this year/decade has in store for us. We remain hopeful and looking forward to the changes ahead.

Happy New Year everyone!

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Doctor Claus

It's officially Christmas and Paula still has about 13 hours more of work before she can come home and get some sleep. Truely, she's Doctor Claus for some kids tonight...

So, on behalf of Doctor Claus and myself, Merry Christmas!

By the way, sorry we haven't posted any McJohnson updates recently. We'll be better.

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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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