It's official

Congratulations President Barack Obama!

One of my favorite images of the inauguration is a smiling Yo Yo Ma playing "Simple Gifts." I looked up that song on Wikipedia. I thought it was a Quaker hymn, but it is in fact a Shaker hymn. Already at the bottom of the Simple Gifts Wiki entry states that "A version of the song was incorporated into music by John Williams and played at the inaguration of President Barack Obama."

The day for which we have been waiting (at least) 8 years

I kind of can't believe that it is finally January 20th, 2009.

I don't work until 11:30 today so I get to watch/listen to the inauguration. We moved this weekend but still have a few boxes to pick up and some cleaning to do at the apartment. I was going to head over there this morning to get some of that done. I've talked previously about the NPR station up here that doesn't have much in the way of news. They were saying this morning that they were going to switch to classical music an hour earlier at 8am. I kind of yelled at the radio that that was ridiculous, on this, of all days. I just heard that they changed their program plan and all NW public radio will continue full coverage. Probably moot for me, we got our television (yes, we have one) connected yesterday, and I think I'll be watching rather than listening to the radio. There is something to actually watching the inauguration and having those visual images in my memory bank.

Having been to DC this past summer and being able to picture the layout of the National Mall, helps me to connect with this momentous day. It would be amazing to be in DC today.

A bit of an adrenaline rush

So, you might remember this big test I took way back in October. I had a dream last night in which I passed, but barely this exam, or something similar ... since it was a dream after all. In my email box this morning was an email with results from the American Board to Pediatrics. As I wait for explorer to reload after an error, as I forget my log-in name, as it feels like it is taking forever for the page to load, my heart is beating fast and hard ... only to discover that I passed and passed with a pretty good score. I am now a board-certified pediatrician.

Kitchen Christening

For Mike's birthday yesterday, we made our first meal at the new house. Pretty exciting to have room to move around and not be continuously in each other's way. I had planned on taking a picture of the occasion, but apparently the memory card was in my computer and not in the camera. So, you'll just have to picture us making black bean chili, guacamole, salad and eating a peach kuchen (which was made ahead of time in the miniscule apartment kitchen).

And, we are both over our weird illness from last that wasn't quite influenza, wasn't quite the stomach flu ... It was the second time in 6 months that I've had a fever to 102. Anyhoo, we are glad to be feeling better. We were wallowing in misery together at least.

Here is the peach kuchen recipe in case anyone wants to try it. It was a big hit with us. I used frozen peaches from the summer but canned work (or wait for fresh in the summer).

Shortbread Crust:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unbleached cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1/2 cup corn oil or canola oil

Peach Filling:
9 peach halves (peeled fresh, or canned peach halves, drained)
2 Tablespoons unbleached cane sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream Topping:
1 cup Sour Cream
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) For the crust, place the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl, and stir them together.Cut the oil into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or fork until the mixture is crumbly.Pat an even layer of this mixture over the bottom and halfway up the sides of an 8-inch x 8-inch x 2-inch glass baking dish.

3) Place the peach halves in three rows of three, cut side down, over the pastry.Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle this mixture over the peaches.

4) Place the kuchen in the oven on the center rack, and bake it for 15 minutes.

5) meanwhile, place the Tofu Sour Cream, maple syrup, and turmeric in a small mixing bowl, and stir them together until they are well combined.After the kuchen has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven, and spoon this mixture evenly over the top of the peaches.Return the kuchen to the oven to continue baking for 30 minutes longer.Serve warm or cold.

All grown up

Talking with our real estate agent this morning she said, "Now that you are a doctor and own a home, you are officially grown up." All of the hoops have been appropriately jumped, papers signed, money paid, and we are now home owners. We walked into all of the rooms (without any of the staging furniture) and saw the house empty for the first time, imagining decorating yet again. Have we been thinking of anything else for the last few weeks? We got even more domestic going to JC Penny's and bought linens, blankets, and towels. Egad. Daunting, scary but certainly exciting. It is going to be hard to stay in the apartment for much longer. My parents are going to come up and help us move in a few weeks.

We'll see how long the real estate agents keep the sold sign stays outside of the house. I had to get a picture of this to document the momentous occasion.