#20 - Race for the Cure 2007

My second 5K since starting this list (4th overall) took on special meaning this year. My sister-in-law, Melinda, died a few weeks ago from breast cancer. She was 31, left behind 3 young kids, and we'll never be the same. Her oldest is a nearly 7 year old daughter with genetic risks for breast cancer from both sides of the family (our mom's mom and sister died from this disease also). It really set the clock ticking - early screening didn't save Melinda -we've got to find a cure. I was already training for it, but this really lit a fire under me and blasted away any excuses from my dates with the treadmill. I even put in some road miles in the morning on the weekends. This year's Race was amazing. We got a lot of people from my office to join in, as well as several friends. There were over 16,000 registered runners. The morning was a bit chilly, but with the great sunshine we had today, I was overdressed with 3 layers of shirts. I got a stitch in my side the 1st mile, but it faded and my left foot went a little numb the last mile, but I defintiely tolerated the race physicially a little better this year. This allowed my to push a little harder and I shaved 2 minutes off my 5K time with a final timing chip time of 40:34. Should be easy to get under the 40 minute mark for my next race, but I've got to keep training.

#89 - Passed My Boards

Seven years ago I took a 2 day, 12 hour, ~600 question test from the American Board of Family Practice to become a Board Certified Family Physician. The test attempts to cover the breadth of knowledge covered in the 3 year Family Practice residency I had just completed. The Board has changed its name slightly to the American Board of Family Medicine and required re-certification every 7 years. Last time I had to travel to a large testing center in Cincinnati for the paper test. This time the test was in a computerized format which I surprisingly preferred, especially since it allowed me to drive 20 minutes to a testing center here in the Toledo area for the 1 day test. I got my scores this week and I did well, and thankfully, passed the test. I did better in areas I didn't expect (OB) and poorer in areas that surprised me (Psych). They've recenlty started a Maintenance of Certification program which will require me to complete educational modules along the way, but will allow me to take the next big test 10 years from now instead of 7.

#77 - Secor Metropark

We took the boys to Secor Metropark, west of town. It had a picnic area that we took advantage of before we took to the playground equipment. We ran across an enormous praying mantis and got some pictures. The section we were at had an enormous meadow surrounded by huge trees. We used the meadow for tag, cartwheel practice, and bike practice. The thought was that if Alex fell, it wouldn't hurt as much, so he might be bolder to let me let go of his bike - great idea, but we couldn't build up enough speed in the grass to remain stable. There is also a great nature photography center there, open on the weekends. I picked up an entry form for a photo contest that we may enter.

#96 - Reynolds Corner

I picked Alex up from school today and ran into construction on my chosen path home. A detour to save us time brought us to Reynolds Corner Branch of the library. It wasn't very remarkable, but it was clean and modern. It's most striking feature was one of Toledo's many frog sculptures from a competition held a few years ago to honor "Frogtown". This one was covered in a mosaic of mirror pieces and had a green recycling symbol embedded in its chest and back in green glass, which also highlighted its eyes. Alex checked out a Magic Schoolbus book that took the class under the see to go along with the oceans unit they are covering in school.

#100 - So Close, With Feeling

Buffy the Sing-Along Musical stage show is airing at midnight tonight in Ann Arbor, an hour away. I just found out yesterday, and it is just too short of a notice to make it. The only person I know that would enjoy going with me to a Sing-Along showing of "Once More, With Feeling" the musical episode from the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is my wife. But we've got no one that can watch the kids at midnight on short notice.
Yes, I'm a 36 year old physician and father of 2 sons, lamenting that I can't get out to a Buffy musical.
I watch way more TV than I should, but I am a big fan of well done narratives that have a supernatural twist. I guess it started with the X-Files, then Buffy and its spin-off Angel, now Lost. When these are well-written and shot in a style that looks like a big-budget movie, there's nothing else like it. I am a Star Wars fan, but that story was told over 20+ years, in 12 hours of screen time. It was enough to build a rich world, but it felt like we barely explored it. In the 7 years that Buffy was on the air, we explored that world in over 107 hours of story-telling. It lets you get deep into story and character and keeps you coming back for more. Buffy used the metaphor of "high school as hell" to explore how horrible life can be and that it takes bravery, sacrifice, and some good friends to overcome it all. The musical episode took 5 1/2 seasons of build-up and splayed out the characters' souls in song (a demon made them do it, naturally). The songs were actually pretty good and I quickly memorized them. They weren't all appropriate for our young children, so I couldn't belt them out at home. When the soundtrack came out, I sang them in my car. A fan in New York started airing the episode at late night theaters in the vein of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show". I like the camaraderie of Rocky Horror, but I've never really cared for the movie - so this Sing-Along version seen with other fans of the show who like to sing along with this episode seemed perfect. But not tonight. Maybe they'll be back. Maybe I can get them to come to Toledo.

#11 - The Potty Train Has Left the Station

We took a little different approach with potty training my younger son, Aaron. We used a basic reward system for our oldest, Alex, by placing a sticker chart on the wall near the potty. When he filled it with reward stickers, we'd give him a small toy. With Aaron, we used the "be a big boy" approach which was appealing to him for a short while, but when he was being weaned away from his pullups, he decided that he liked being a little boy. He's very articulate for his age and explained to us that "You can just change me." His preschool that he is starting this fall doesn't do diapers, so we've been holding that over his head. That has been a little more inspiring - he'll jump off the potty and shout "Now I can go to school!" He still had trouble going in public bathrooms. We were (mildly) panicking as the start of school approached. Then we stumbled on his key - Tic Tacs! His Papa would dole out Orange Tic Tacs when he saw the grandkids and they were immensely popular, but still small and relatively low in sugar. He bugged us about them, so we found ourselves saying, "If you go on the potty, you can have one." It worked. We rubbed our Diaper Genie one last time and wished its stinking self out of our lives and home.

#62 - Hitting the Beach

I almost wrote this post 2 weeks ago when we went to a beach adjacent to Saginaw Bay on the eastern coast of Michigan. The beach was nice, the water was fine, but the shore was disgusting with several feet of E.coli laden muck as a kind of barrier to the water. We could get to the water from a small pier, but it wasn't very enjoyable. This weekend we went to the western shore of Michigan near Grand Haven and played all day at the P.J. Hoffmaster Park beach. The water was beautiful, but a little cold. The sand was fun to seek shells and build forts with. It's not the same as the ocean, but a Great lake is as close as we're likely to get for a while. Getting to Disney World is on my list, so we may need to take a side trip to the Pacific again.

#18 - One More Red Bag

I donated another unit today, my second since starting this list. I'm doing a little better balancing the need to be very well hydrated and going to the bathroom. This time I was able to go right before and after, but I need to drink a little less the next time. I'm eligible next on 9/24/07, but this is the week before the Race for the Cure here, so I'll try to get it done in October.

#69 - Lebanese Shish Tawook

I made this from a recipe that was published in the local paper, but originally came from The Arab Table, by May Bsisu (William Morrow). I've modified it only slightly with more convenient pre-prepared garlic and lemon juice.

Combine 5 tsp jarred minced garlic, 1/2 c. bottled lemon juice, 1/3 c. olive oil, 2 Tbsp plain yogurt, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. white pepper in a large bowl and thoroughly mix with a fork or whisk. Cut 2-3 lbs of bone/skin-less chicken breasts into 1 inch chunks and place them in a gallon Ziploc bag. Pour the mixture in on top and seal tightly, forcing out the excess air. Put that bag in another bag and park it in the fridge for 2-8 hours.

Soak a bundle of wooden skewers or find your metal ones.

Meanwhile blend 10 tsp of the minced garlic, 1/2 tsp. of salt, and 2 tsp of the plain yogurt in a blender or small food processor. With it running, trickle 1/3 c. of the olive oil into the mix until incorporated, then do the same with 1 tsp. of the lemon juice until a paste is formed. Stick it in a plastic, lidded container in the fridge until you're ready to cook.With a grill hot and ready, skewer the chicken and then grill it over medium high heat for about 6-8 minutes until cooked through. Before taking it off of the grill, brush it with the garlic paste and serve over rice. I made six cups of saffron rice using chicken stock and 1/4 tsp saffron.

#77 - Two Metroparks in One Weekend

I plan to see all 10 of the area Metroparks in the 1001 days time limit and I knocked 1/5th of them off my list this weekend. I assumed these would be the 1st two as they were the once I was the most familiar with. 1st was Wildwood where I ran the Metroparks Happy Trails 5K this weekend. The race goes all through the park, from the east side by the Oak Grove Schoolhouse built in 1897 to the newer Manor House built for the Stranahan family in 1938 and to the west side near the playground where this kids like to play and climb the huge oak.

For Father's Day we spent the evening out at Swan Creek Preserve. We'd been before to the playground on the south side, but this was the first time we'd come in the north entrance and it was very nice. They have a Yager Center which has a room with a big window facing a pool with a fountain and feeders that attract a lot of birds, and today, two groundhogs. We picnicked by a fountain and the kids played on the playground equipment and swings. They kicked around a soccer ball and my oldest let me help him try out his first non-training wheels bike.

#20 - Back Again to Happy Trails

Last year I started training for the Susan G Komen Race For The Cure 5K held every year in September. I started in March and saw that the local Metroparks system was holding a 5K to help support the trails called the Happy Trails 5K in June, which was about halfway between the beginning and the Komen race. It took me over 47 minutes then. When I did it today, I had another year's worth of training under my belt (OK, there was a 4 month hiatus after the Komen race), but I finished this one in just over 42 minutes. I plan on doing the Komen race this fall and the Happy Trails race next spring. I may do some more besides these two, but these two each year will let me complete my 6 races in the 1001 days I have to complete the list.

#9 - Cutting It Short

I have had the same hairstyle for as long as I can remember - all about the same length and combed from left to right on the top. A hairstylist once told me that my natural part goes from right to left, but I find it easier to style my hair the other way with my right hand. Inspired by my childrens' summer haircuts, I opted for a drastic change. I had the barber use the "#4" guard on the trimmers to take most of it off around the back and sides, then trimmed short on top with scissors. I can still comb it over for work, but I can also throw in a little mousse and spike it up on top. I think it makes my gray temples stand out more, but my wife says less.

#1 - Meditation

I picked this as a goal because my mind is always going a mile a minute. I often find myself with too much to do, sometimes leaving me too distracted to complete or finish projects. I wanted a way to learn to quiet and focus my mind. I picked up a book at the library that offered me the basics and I have been trying to meditate for 10 minutes a day. Most of the time I just try to quiet my mind, but I have used this to focus about upcoming events and to keep me moving forward with fewer distractions. Meditation is supposed to be good for you physically as well, because it can be used to reduce stress and the harmful hormones that the body generates under stress.

#96 - Sanger Library

Sanger Library is the closest library to our house and we go there often. It has a great kids section, comfy chairs for reading to your kids, a kids area made up to look like the storybook world of Denise Fleming, a local author. They have a nice selection of audiobooks and CDs that we sometimes pick from. Their computers are used frequently for free internet service and they have private reading rooms if you need to study. We went to sign the kids up for the Summer Reading Club where they get prizes for logging reading hours (or being read to) this summer. My 7-year-old is going to rack up a lot of hours, as much as he is soaking up books lately.

#50 - Crucial Conversations

For my first book outside my safety zone I read Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joesph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. I was introduced to this book by a 90 minute conference on this subject, which I felt only grazed the surface. Using this book, I learned more about how I tend to argue and confront people when the topic turns to rough material. This comes up in my professional life - both with patients and staff - and at home. The book teaches you to try to move a conversation out of the realm of silence (withdrawing, giving in and regretting it, etc) and violence (attacking the other person, snide remarks, etc.) and instead toward a pool of shared meaning where you can truly dialogue in a way that moves the conversation forward. I find myself using these techniques already, and I hope to incorporate more in the future.

#65 - Sauder Village

We've lived here for 10 years and for the first time, we visited nearby Sauder Village today. Sauder Village was founded by Erie Sauder, of Sauder Furniture fame. It transports you back over 100 years ago to life in the swamps of Northwestern Ohio. There are a few original buildings and several replicas on the site of old family farmhouses, barns, shopkeepers, doctors, and schools among others. They have animals on the farm and the kids got to crank a device that pulled dried corn off the cob for animal feed, then grabbed the nearly spent cobs and tossed them into a nearby pig sty. In one of the historic farmhouse, a volunteer showed us how they prepared food in their log cabins. This one had a firepit with a hole in the roof for the smoke and she was using the set up to prepare the fixings for a dandelion green salad with bacon dressing. It was good to know that in desperate times we can turn to dandelion greens for nutrition, though I think we were all happy to wait for desperate times. They had a little kids area with a replica farmhouse (and butter churn) and a fake cow to milk. They enjoyed the play break, but quickly wanted to get back to seeing more of the village. We found a replica of a schoolhouse, where a volunteer told us about how school was different back then, but they learned some of the same things that our oldest is learning in school now. The "water fountain" was a bucket and ladle by the door and light came in through paper covered windows and little oil lamps. One of our favorite parts was a relatively new addition to the property that dealt with the original inhabitants of this area. Our oldest got to help put together a wigwam that the Native Americans would have used for traveling. He also told us about the more durable longhouses that they framed in wood and covered in bark that they had there. We finished the day with sweet treats from an ice cream parlor and vowed to return to see the parts we missed today.

#92 - Pod People

To improve communication and efficiency in the office, we organized our office into pods of two physicians and support staff that all work in one unit at each corner of the office. We each have a phone person and a medical assistant that we work with - including our office manager we need to have meetings regularly of the 7-8 of us in our pod. Our pod meeting today introduced our new phone staff to the rest of the pod and went through some housekeeping details. We'll need to meet quarterly or so to keep the pace up to meet my goal of 10 meetings before the 1001 days is up.

#18 - One Unit At A Time

I donated my 1st of 5 units of blood today. I found my donor card that I had received in 2005 and then subsequently filed it away into one of my many piles of papers that I maintain. Of course by "maintain", I mean "ignore". I used to donate regularly in college, but 2 events turned me off for a while. In college, I passed out once while donating blood for a lab experiment I was doing in a hematology lab. Then in medical school I attempted donating, but I filled the bag too slowly. I was more than 3/4 done when they told me that it had taken too long and the anticoagulants that are in the bag already would be at the wrong concentration if they continued. When I inquired as to what would happen to the blood, they told me it would be discarded. I honestly wanted them to give it back. I find blood donation to be one of the most personal acts of charity I do - literally giving of myself. I have no problem doing it when I think it will help someone, but this devastated me. It wasn't until 2005 - almost 10 years later that I tried again. There are so many exclusions nowadays that prevent people from donating, that I believe it is up to the rest of us who still can donate, to do so. In theory I can donate every 8 weeks, so the soonest I can go back is 6/9/07. However, I know things can come up due to illness or scheduling problems. I could donate 17 times in 1001 days, if I pushed it to the wire, but I set a more realistic goal of 5. If I meet it easily, I'll plan more for the next 101 in 1001 list.

If you want to donate blood, contact the Red Cross.

#17 - Saying Goodbye to the Old HP

The old HP Pavilion desktop computer we've had for years had become obsolete in our home. We've trimmed our computer needs to a laptop for portability around the house and on trips, and a more powerful desktop computer for heavy data storage (pictures, music, video, etc), powerful applications, and general family use. The HP had served my wife and I for years before Alex was born. He took over my old study when Aaron was born, but we left the HP in there to be an educational tool for him. He took to it like a duck to water. As he's gotten older, we've realized the need to take appropriate safety precautions about the computer to keep him from exploring parts of the Internet that we feel he's not ready for (and won't be for a long time). One of the main keys to that is to supervise his use by putting it in a central location. Now the new family PC (a Gateway) sits in the living room and the HP needs to go. The local Goodwill isn't equipped to take it, so we turned to the National Christina Foundation. They provide computers to people and organizations that need them. They connected us to a Senior Center here in Ohio that needed a computer. We shipped it today after digitally scrambling (not just deleting) the hard drive. It's nice to get the first thing done on my list. 100 more to go!

#10 - Barriers to Scouts

Alex, my 7 year old, was excited to hear that they would be offering Cub Scouts through school this year. They tried to get organized in February, but between some miscommunication and two snow days, they couldn't make that happen. The week before Spring Break, they were able to meet the parents and get started. Alex paid the $15 registration fee from his own allowance savings. They day before Spring Break, he got his Bobcat scout award, which he gets for learning the Cub Scout Promise, Motto, Law of the Pack, Salute, Handshake, Principles and the like. Now he is working to complete the requirements for his Tiger Cub badge. My concern is that now in April, they won't have enough time to complete all of the requirements. Several of the items are family experiences. Some are field trips which will take some planning. Some are den activities. Becky and I are dedicated to helping this work however we can. Alex and I have a Dad and Lad Campout at the local Boy Scout campground coming up in a few weeks. That should be a fun introduction for him.

I chose this as one of my 101 items because helping him acheive Wolf Scout (the step after this one) will be good for him. Also, it will be good for me. I have been anti-Scouts for several years and I need to get over it. Overall I believe it is a good organization with good goals that helps boys grow in many different directions. Two things soured me against it. I am opposed to violations of civil rights, and as an organization, they are discriminatory against gay people. It comes from a foundation in religious principles (though Scouts are not primarily a religious organization) and a conservative reaction against pedophiles. Pedophilia is not about sex or sexuality any more than rape is. Both are about abuses of power and control and both are done by people from both sexual orientations. Though as a father, I understand the impulse to protect your children from threats, real and perceived. I believe I can participate in Scouts without condoning civil rights abuses by the organization.

The other reason was much more personal. As a kid, I went through the Cub Scout program and graduated to the Boy Scouts with dreams of making Eagle Scout. I was in a program through my church, but for reasons I still don't understand, they had to disband. I had made Second Class rank by then and was working toward my First Class badge. There were other Scout troops in our town and I visited one at a nearby school (not my own). I didn't know any of the kids there, but I shared Scouts in common with them and thought that would help me fit in. I was wrong. I went on a weekend camping trip with them, but the patrol leader (one of the older boys) needed to make sure the new kid knew where he was in the pecking order. I had been one of the older kids in my old troop and I was the oldest brother at home. I guess I didn't understand my place and it led to what I thought was an otherwise harmless water fight using water buckets. I outsmarted the older kid and soaked him right in the face, which must have been humiliating. He got the other kids to help him tie me upside-down in a tree at the edge of camp by my feet. My head touched the ground and they came by every few minutes and poured water on it. This was all with the troop leader, the adult in camp, sitting nearby and watching. When they finally let me down after what felt like a couple of hours, I had been broken. I didn't cause any more trouble. When I got home I told my parents I wasn't going back and that I didn't want to look for a new troop. I felt betrayed, not just by the punk, but also by the troop leader - who in my eyes represented the entire organization. If this organization could foster leaders who would let that happen to me, then I completely misunderstood the principles upon which it was based.

Of course, I didn't misunderstand the Scout prinicples; they did. Now I know that these people were the problem, not the organization. I will strive to make sure that this doesn't happen to Alex (or Aaron if he decides to join Scouts someday). Scouts are a good way for Alex to channel his energies, so I won't let my bad experience get in his way.