Belated Summer

This post has only taken so long because ever since we got back from our vacation our schedules seem to have quadrupled from summer. I (Chad) now have lab meeting, admissions meeting, grant meeting, grant class, and seminar weekly. As well as Monday night events for the MD/PhDs. Oh yeah, and I’m supposedly doing research, although that involves mainly figuring out how many ways something can’t work. But don’t you worry, I’m not bitter. It has been busy though since the day we got back. Whitney now has clinical placement seeing patients on Thursdays from 3-7 and Fridays from 7-7, so I’m guessing our Friday nights won’t be packed. But on the flip side, now that school is back in session so much great stuff is happening! I feel like I haven’t seen people in my program in forever, and now I’ll see them at student committee meetings (since I’m on admissions) and on Monday nights. Not to mention that our annual retreat is tomorrow in Western Mass. In addition, although Whitney and I ended our small group of the last few years, we will begin leading a newcomers bible study on the book of Ruth. This is particularly exciting because I feel like we do a good job knowing the couples and families in church but if you’re a single person or a newcomer it’s a lot harder to get to know someone. It’s only a 6 week course on Sunday afternoons, but I for one am excited to meet a whole bunch of new Highrockers! Also, our speaker at the retreat this year is Pastor Eugene Cho from our old church in Seattle, and now that he is an up and coming public Christian figure with a huge emphasis on social justice, I can’t wait to hear him speak. Last year we had a powerful speaker from the Bronx, and I’m sure Eugene will make this year just as memorable. Now we’re entering our favorite time of year, with apple pickings, sweater, holidays, and foliage, how can you not come to Boston in the Fall? Our good friends Allie and Taylor are coming, and we can’t wait to experience the city all over again with them!

In the week leading up to Labor Day, Whitney and I had the great opportunity to go back home in between her summer and fall semesters. We went back for 9 days, and it felt so long, I can’t wait for the 18 days we’re going home at Christmas! Woohoo! We got in late on a Thursday night and spent the first few nights at my parents’ house in Mill Creek. Although summer in Seattle can sometimes be chancy, they’ve had a record setting stretch of sunny days, and from what I see on my iPad, the sun hasn’t stopped since we left. What we of course enjoyed most about the sun was that it wasn’t humid at the same time, and it was GLORIOUS! Our time in Mill Creek overlapped with the last two days of Soliz’s summer vacation. Though she is trying for internships and summer programs for next year, this year she spent most of the summer at home. Our first full day in Washington, we spent with her, going down to Seattle and grabbing lunch at Paseo, then going to Kerry Park and soaking up the day. We headed back early to beat traffic since it was Friday, and met up with Whitney’s parents at Arnie’s in Mukilteo for some drinks. It was great to see them. Day 2 my dad, Soliz, and I headed out shooting with Whitney’s Uncle Mark and cousin Josh. It was a little out of the way, about an hour northeast near a place called Darrington. We headed out to a gulch, set up some targets, and went to town. It was a lot of fun getting to shoot, though it was a long drive out and back. That night Whitney and I had dinner with her parents since her father turned 50 this year. When we went back to the Chouse, it turned out they had left the puzzle I was working on at Christmas up in the loft, so I got the chance to work on it some more as well. It’s 2000 pieces, so I think it was a bit much as a present to them, and I alone can carry that torch to completion. Hopefully I finish it this Christmas. After I do Gayle promised to frame it and hang it over the master bed. Or maybe I dreamed that.

Sunday we went to church with my parents at New Day Church, where Uncle Mark pastors, and saw Whitney’s other cousins and aunt. It was a great service with some good worship. I hadn’t heard Mark preach before, and he is a very engaging speaker.

Sunday afternoon/evening was one of the highlights of the week outside of family. We got to go down and see the Lentzs out-of-nowhere brand new townhouse in Renton. They had a housewarming party, and then we and the Piehler’s spent the night. That was great, because we love Jeremy and Ronnie and this was our only chance to see them. It was good having the boys back together, though sometimes I wonder if the wives understand or enjoy it as much, since we spent a year living together and have quite the amount of in jokes that they only know tangentially about. In any case, it was a lot of fun, and of course filled with game playing and iPad pimping. Stephanie started her new teaching job in the morning, so it was just us and Steven hanging out, before we headed into Seattle to meet Whitney’s Mom and sister at Theo chocolate!

We had always wanted to tour Theo, which makes organic, fair-trade, green, environmentally friendly, sustainable, gluten-free, dairy-free, minority-made, disease-curing chocolate. Maybe not all that, but they’re pretty proud of it, and it’s pretty darn tasty. The tour was really interesting, since chocolate making is not something you learn about casually. It’s quite a small place for how much chocolate they turn out, and rather hot inside, since they need to keep the later stages liquefied to prevent clogging of the pipes. It reminded me of a time long ago when my family toured the Celestial Seasonings tea factory. I remember there was a room there that contained many tons of mint in sacks, and when they opened the door, your eyes watered and you begged them to close the door. Making good things is not always as glamorous as it sounds. Unless you work at Ben and Jerry’s. There was nothing uncomfortable about that place!

Tuesday was a less hectic day for me. Whitney parceled off some time for her and her sister or other friends/relatives, so she was off seeing them and I took an easier morning. My mom came over for lunch and we had a good time with just the two of us eating pizza and chocolates in Mukilteo. Later that afternoon Gayle and I tried to get some drinks at Arnie’s on our own, but Brent and Whit brought the dog by and caught her waiting for me, so they joined us ; )

Wednesday we celebrated my mom’s birthday by heading out the Yeadon’s cabin in Sequim. It was a beautiful day, as it has been for two months in Seattle, and we had a good time hanging out on the peninsula and eating good food. It was very nice to get outside of the city. We headed out again on Friday for Brent’s 50th birthday to the San Juan islands, where we went on a kayaking trip to try and see some orcas. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any

orcas, but I did spot a bald eagle and we saw many seals and jellyfish. It was actually a little hot out there under the sun on the water, but the islands are so lovely. Saturday Whitney and I were busy getting ready to head back with packing, but in the afternoon we had the Vegas and Lentzs over for a goodbye BBQ at the Chouse. Whitney made some delicious Moroccan chicken and lemon mustard chicken, and we had a great time saying goodbye to our friends before we flew back early Sunday morning. Labor day was spent food shopping and preparing for the week, and we’ve been on the go since!

Now though we’re in my favorite time of year. I went yesterday to the MD/PhD retreat out in Western Mass, and the leaves are already starting to turn. It was a great time at a conference center with some team building fun, but mostly it was just a great late summer day with the first hints of autumn coming in. It’s time for apple-picking, pumpkin beer, tea, sweater, foliage, and visiting here in Boston! With friends coming in on Tuesday, we have a fun thing every month since August. Next month is our retreat to NH, then Thanksgiving in Yosemite, then Christmas with the Stoutenburgs and friends and family in Seattle! Can’t wait to see everybody again!

 

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