Happy Birthday, Jamie! (and Tony)

Today is Jamie's birthday. It's also Tony's birthday, and we were all a little disappointed that we couldn't spend the birthdays together this year. Last year, we had a great time in Monterey eating tasty food and drinking (or smelling, in my case) fantastic wines. This year, Joey and Michael are up from Southern California, so we'll still have an awesome time hanging out with wonderful friends.

In the hunt for the perfect birthday present for Jamie, I found a place called the Learning Exchange, which is basically a center where people can sign up to teach their craft, and people pay a small (or large) fee (depending on the cost of materials) to take a class. I couldn't decide between getting him the class on making pottery, glassblowing, and flying a helicopter. I thought the helicopter class was especially cool because you spend a few hours in the classroom learning about how the "whirlybird" operates, and then a licensed pilot takes you up in the air and lets you fly around. If he opts for this class, I'll be extremely jealous!

There's no real big news to share otherwise. Jamie and I threw a party last Saturday. It was a mixture between a 4th of July and housewarming party. We decided that we know we're getting old since we actually ended the party with more beer than when we started! It was a lot of fun, though. We smoked a brisket and a pork shoulder, played in the pool, and got to sample some great side dishes and desserts that people brought over. One of my personal favorites was a cake made with Grand Marnier, poppyseeds, and chocolate frosting. It was amazing.


In Sean news, we're starting another wave of doctor's appointments soon. On Thursday, he gets another MRI, next Monday he meets with a different neurologist, and next Wednesday he sees the neurosurgeon. To me, these are all just precautionary measures at this point since I'm fairly certain that Sean merely has an inability to digest meat products. Hopefully, after this round of appointments, we'll convince everyone that Sean doesn't actually have a neurological problem, and we'll be finished with the brain specialists for awhile. Not that the Gastro-Intestinal Specialist is any better, especially if liver biopsies are forecasted for the future, but it's one step closer to a diagnosis and a fix.