Fun and busy times-and Caitlin's prom and 18th birthday

Our family had a fun and busy Memorial Day weekend-sorry I'm just getting around to posting about it. After I am done here, I really need to get moving on a fellowship application that is due at the end of June. I am working at home today so that I will not be distracted. Hopefully, I will be able to get a draft ready by the end of this weekend.
Friday night, Brad and I went to see the "Dave Mason Band" at the Ark with Mark and Pam Keech. He is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was a fun night; we had great seats right in the middle against the back wall so we could stand up without blocking anyone's view. The Ark brings in a lot of first-class acts, but only holds about 400, so it is a very small venue where all the seats are close to the stage.
Saturday, after her job feeding zebrafish, Caitlin got her hair and nails done for the prom.
Brad went to the store and ran other errands while we were gone-and bought a Wii Fit at Meijer's. We had heard so much about how hard they were going to be to find, but he found six of them right in the display case. He actually couldn't find anyone to unlock it, so he had to call the store to ask for someone to come back and help him! We spent the afternoon trying it out. The yoga poses especially should be a lot of help for Caitlin to regain her balance, but everything we tried was fun.
Caitlin and her friends met for pictures, then went out to eat at Mediterrano's and to the prom.
She looked beautiful and had a fun night-to see more pictures from this weekend, click on the "flickr" icon on the right side of the blog.
Brad and I had run into our friends John and LeeAnne the night before on our way to the Ark, and they invited us to a barbecue at their house. We met their friends Mark and Elphie and we all had a fun time watching the Detroit Red Wings on TV.
Sunday, Brad and Caitlin went to pick up Caitlin's friends Lindsey (Peanut) and Kristen (Blizzie) in Lansing (they came from Holland to meet halfway) and brought them back here. We then drove to Brittan and Jillian's house in Sandusky and played Wii Fit for awhile. Brad and I had bought a toy keyboard for Austin and he had fun playing with that. We cooked out and had an ice cream cake to celebrate Caitlin's birthday-which was the next day when she would be at Cedar Point with her friends. Caitlin and her friends stayed at Grandma Eileen and Ralph's, while Brad, Buddy and I stayed with the Gill's.
Monday, Brad dropped the girls off at Cedar Point, and we all played Wii Fit for awhile. We then decided to get outside because it had turned into a beautiful day after an early morning thunderstorm. We walked around downtown Sandusky and the dock, then stopped by Toft's for ice cream.
Caitlin called from Cedar Point and was not feeling well, so Brad picked her up early. It was her first time going on rides after her surgery, so maybe she will have to ease more into that kind of thing. Brad and Caitlin picked up a "Hot Wing and Cheddar King Kong Pizza" at Chet and Matt's (no website, sorry) when they went to pick up her friends and we ate some of that before we headed home.
Tuesday, Brad took Caitlin's friends to meet their parents in Lansing and it was back to work.

Caitlin's last day of high school and 3-month follow-up MRI

Caitlin's last day of high school was yesterday, and she is pretty excited to finish. As you can see in the photo above, she was being her usual (un-)cooperative self when I wanted to take a picture to mark the occasion and refused to turn around. Oh well, that's Caitlin, and I actually like the picture this way, anyhow ;)
Afterwards, she walked to my lab (~2.5 miles) and we went to lunch at the hospital cafeteria before her appointment with her neurologist. He went over the results of the MRI that Caitlin had last Saturday (it has already been 3 months!) and said that it still looked as if the tumor had been completely removed. We have been feeling very optimistic since she has been feeling so well lately. The next MRI will be in another 3 months, just before she leaves for college. If that is clear, the next couple will be at 6-month intervals, then yearly. The MRI was not nearly as hard as Caitlin feared-the hospital has a new system whereby a person can watch a movie through special goggles during the procedure, which took about 45 minutes. Caitlin watched "Enchanted" and the time went fairly quickly without any feeling of claustrophobia. Isn't technology great?
Here is one of the pictures from the CD they burned for us-they are absolutely fascinating. There is a bit of scar tissue, but that is to be expected. Everything is healing very nicely and we feel extremely fortunate to have had such expert care.

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Heidi.

The Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you, so since you’re not allowed to tag me back; let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR weird/random/odd facts, habits and goals.

Oh boy, where to start?!? These are not in any particular order :)

1. I really like quirky people. I think we all have our own little quirks and I enjoy discovering them. It makes life a lot more fun when you can embrace your idiosyncrasies! Then again, I am easily amused and tend to laugh at odd times/things. Although I am usually pretty reserved, I can be very direct and ask questions/make a comment just to see the reaction. I cannot hold a grudge, because I tend to forget what I was angry about and I like to avoid confrontations.

2. Although I love our family vacations, I don't mind traveling alone sometimes, wandering around and taking pictures. I really enjoy meeting people from other places. The next best thing to traveling myself is having the opportunity to interact with so many people from other countries through my work. I have learned so much about other cultures through my colleagues!

3. I hate to be late and tend to leave for my destination way too early just in case of problems. It annoys me when others are chronically late, or if they spend their time with me calling/talking on their cell phone.

4. This sounds pretty strange coming from a scientist, but I really enjoy shows about the paranormal (The Sixth Sense, Medium...). Sometimes I like to practice ESP, but no one has ever said that they have received my messages ;) I also tend to talk to the actors on TV as if they could hear me.

5. I know the words and music to most any children's rhyme or song. I think if you put almost anything to music, I could remember it. I also tend to make up random words and use them for specific occasions.

6. I am a lot more determined than people think I am at first meeting me, and like to surprise people who underestimate me. I also can be very competitive, although I am not always comfortable with it and would prefer to collaborate. Although I am usually fairly easy-going, I can be very opinionated, but I try to wait to be asked for my opinion before I offer it.

7. I tend to be obsessive when I am really interested and concentrating on a task. I will work through meals and forgo sleep to finish something unless someone really forces the issue. I also obsessively look up spellings/definitions (e.g. forgo) if I am not sure because mistakes really annoy me. Now I am obsessing that someone will find one and point it out-sorry :/

8. I am not particularly social and prefer a small gathering over a large group. I like to stand back and observe the group dynamics. I find it much easier to present a prepared talk in front of an audience than make small talk.

9. I think that I have a very creative side that also helps me in my scientific pursuits. I tend to come up with hypotheses and ideas for experiments at odd times. One of my favorite parts of my work is taking microscopy pictures.
On the other hand this creative streak can sometimes cause me trouble following conversations because something someone says reminds me of something else and my brain goes down its own little side-path. Before I know it, I make a comment that is totally unrelated to the conversation but makes perfect sense to me.

10. I am so incredibly proud of all of my daughters! They are everything I ever wanted to be- intelligent, strong, loving, beautiful, and confident women. I have just recently been able to gain some self-esteem and confidence in myself after I decided to talk to and encourage myself like I would them and not be so self-critical.

Well, I am sure that that is more than you ever wanted to know about me-and it is only the tip of the iceberg!

I am going to tag my sons-in-law John and Brittan, so I can add to my collection of family trivia.
I am also going to tag Brad and Caitlin, so look for their posts on this site.
Finally, I am going to tag my sister-in-law Shelly and her future daughter-in-law Monica to learn more about them.