The Milwaukee Art Museum

Last Saturday I finally convinced my sister Rachel to come to the art museum with me.  They were holding their version of art in bloom so it was a must see event.  We went to the Minnesota institute of art's art in bloom last year.  Local flower artists are invited to create an arrangement inspired by pieces within the museum.  I have included pictures of some of my favorites.  Some of the bouquets are obviously linked to a certain piece.  Others took awhile for Rachel and I to figure out which portrait brought it to be.  I apologize for the fuzzy pictures.  There is also a snapshot from Easter thrown in there.  It was probably the most challenging hunt ever due to the snow.  The eggs sunk in and you could walk by them several times and not see them.

 

I would like to take this moment to publicly thank all institutes that offer student discounts.  They rock!  I have had some amazing experiences at theaters, museums etc. from their understanding price break.  Hoorah for going back to school!

 

Fruit anyone?

 

So I have been doing a fair amount of temp work over the winter.  It brings in a little extra money and helps fill the weekend when I'm not Jason's at the clinic (which was every weekend).  Temping usually involves setting up a day in advance to sub for another hygienist at any given office.  (I have gone as far as thirty miles away to do this.)  I have also been called the morning of asking me to go in if possible.  In short, this experience has been less than pleasant.  It seems that with the exception of one office, most of these places are what are termed hygiene mills in the dental community.  I get 30 minutes for children and 40 minutes for adults to: take x-rays, assess their gum health, update their records, remove all that has been left on their teeth (The last part is very difficult because most of these places have scanty and inefficient tools), get an exam, record what I did and make it a somewhat pleasant experience.  Of course that's all moving around in someone else's area and with their dental products.  I have seen cleaning practices that make me uncomfortable and perio protocols that are seriously lacking.  I was even in an office where they dip their radiograph films by hand to chemically process them.  (That hasn't been done as accepted practice in decades.)  Fortunately, I haven't had to do any cold sterilization; I promised myself I would simply walk out of an office asking me to do that.  At the end of the day I'm exhausted and often wonder if it's worth the extra effort.  Now that the weather is getting better, I think I'm going to be much more selective of the temp jobs I take.  It definitely makes me grateful for the positions that I have.  They were certainly worth the wait and have been wonderful places to work with kind people and high quality care.

Google Reader

FYI for all you blog slackers (not that I'm exempt from that title at all): Of course Google is the smartest of all companies in their monopoly of the web, and my little bro has always been quite the Google fan, keeping me informed of their most recent products, like google calendar, or google documents, or google homepage, or google whatever. And for people who read blogs, there is google reader. You can set up google reader to check all the blogs you read, and whenever there's a new posting it'll come up on google reader, so instead of checking 10 blogs, you just check google reader, kind of like checking your email inbox for the new messages/posts. And you can even post a feed on your google homepage so it'll show new postings there. I like the thing, so I just thought I'd pass the word along.
And as a side note, my little bro just found out yesterday he got his dream internship with Google for this summer, so he's pretty excited, I guess.
Have a great day, everyone!

Pics

For your viewing pleasure...
Here's Gino--short for Penguino. Rachel loves chewing on his beak. And the rest of these, I realized after I started uploading them, are of Rachel in her high chair. She does spend time outside of her high chair every once in a while... but you won't see any of that today.
Here's a book you could really sink your teeth into (as long as you have teeth).

Awwwwww.
Rachel's first experience with solid food.

WWF?

While this looks like Shannon winning a wrestling match by virtue of the headlock she grabbed Zub with, it is really much simpler. Its a hug from a loving big sister... all together now... Awwww.

A Lil' Red

Dear Red,
I am "interested" in a certain "someone" who will remain "name less". I really want to "sweep" this certain "someone" off of "their feet" for Valentines. But I "don't know" how to "go about it". What can "I" do?
"Unknown"

Dear Air Quoter,
For starters, you've got to stop "that" right now. Next, by "someone" I'm sure you mean me and I like sparkly jewelry. But let's be honest, Valentine's Day is not a holiday to mess around with so unless you're extremely clever (or she's completely smitten) sticking with the cliché is the only way to go. Plan on spending some cash and do your best to not blow "it".
Ring size 6,
Red


Dear Red,
I am writing to you because I am currently eating a frozen pizza that isn't completely thawed, while drinking from a glass that appears to have some type of growth at the bottom. The problem is I can't take care of myself. I really need someone who can help me pick out my clothes, cook my frozen pizza's and wash my towels. I have thought about getting married, but no one seems to be interested in the position. What can I do?
Helpless

Dear Gavin,
I think perhaps you have a literacy problem. You do know they put heating instructions on the back of the box, right? Listen, being helpless is super cute…if you're a puppy. But come on man; get up and wash your glass - that's just not healthy.
What would your mother say?
Red

Some Spring

My apologies Stephanie for not posting.  Will you forgive me for having some boring snow filled months and our internet down?  (Excuses, excuses....)  Let me just put here that Rachel is very talented at sucking her toes.  Stephanie - your slide show was awesome, it made me want to start planning our crown 9er reunion so we can all partake in the fun.  Wendi - I want to hear more about what you think of the culture and happenings out East.

So here we are on the second day of spring with fourteen inches of snow predicted.  Granted, as I write this we have only gotten seven, but more is to come.  I was watching the news and most Good Friday services as well as egg hunts have been canceled.  Additionally, as I was driving home from work I hit a stretch of ice on the highway - I had little trouble stopping but I saw the trailer of the semi two-hundred feet behind me slide out uncontrollably as the driver tried to bring his vehicle to a stop.  Knowing there was nothing but air between his vehicle and mine was a bit scary, but all was well (other than the three car accident in front of us).

 

(View from our apartment mid-storm)

I've managed to pick up several extra days working lately at various offices around town.  At one office near the UWM campus I met the coolest molecular biology professor.  We had a great conversation during his appointment and he explained his research to me.  He even invited me to his lab to see the photobacterium he works on.  Since I was so close I decided to go.  After finally finding the lab he showed me around and had already streaked my very own agar plate with Photobacterium phosphoreum - a bacteria isolated from the gut of fish find in Oregon.  We chatted a little while, talked about music and his daughter in son-in-law in the Twin Cities.  I then left and let my bacteria grow.  After one day if you took it into the dark it shone bright blue.  (Think blue in the same brightness and color as a blue glowstick.)   tried to take a picture, but it was in the dark - sorry.  You'll just have to take my word for it, it was awesome.  There are few things as fun as getting geeks together to talk about stuff they love - I know you are all jealous.

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(The Agar plate - this picture doesn't do it justice.)

Other highlights of the past month have included a visit from my Grandmother Pat.  I hadn't seen her in about six years and she had never been to Wisconsin before.  She finally got to meet Jason and we introduced her to the game of Catch Phrase, so good times were had by all.  The same day she visited I was able to get Jason and I tickets to the Milwaukee Ballet.  They were showing Shakespeare's "A Midnight Summer's Dream."  The set was amazing and the music wonderful.

  Grandma Pat

In February I took a bus for a day trip to the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting.  I was overwhelmed with what a huge convention it was.  I spent four hours walking the convention floor and didn't even get close to seeing half of it.  Think of that like Disneyland for Dentists, you wait in line to learn about the newest products, everything from toothpaste to lasers.  I then went and listened to a lecture on pediatric diagnoses, hopped back on the bus provided by a dental supply company to get home.

We are now approaching the high school musical season.  My sister and I caught the musical "Once on this Island" at one of the local schools.  It was between that one or Les Miserables.  Since Rachel hadn't seen either she decided we should go to one we have never heard about since we wouldn't have any expectations.  The students did a very good job and I will even say there were some outstanding performers in it and some very clever choreography.  It was also pretty fun to know that I had met some of the students in the musical as patients at work.  I'm really looking forward to settling down in one area someday; taking part of the community and supporting the people in it on a long term basis.  I feel like so much of my recent life has been hellos and goodbyes without much development in between.  At least we will be in one place for the next four years. 

 

It couldn't be anymore official that we are moving back to Minnesota.  I'm looking forward to it despite the cold that comes along with the deal.  The summers are amazing though and we'll be in back in plenty of time for the state fair.  My art class is going well, I am definitely learning lots.  I'm currently working on my very own composition, while it's not finished I think it's turning out close to what I had envisioned.  Here's another completed landscape assignment for your viewing pleasure.

Eating toes

Well, I've finally gotten around to posting on here so Steph isn't so lonely in her blog postings. Here's a lovely video of a naked baby, although after the initial shot I tried to preserve some of Rachel's dignity for the rest of the time. She likes sticking anything she can get her hands on in her mouth, and she is so happy to be able to finally get her hands on her feet.

If you want another cute video to watch, check out Rachel laughing on my blog. She's such a cutie.