T-Minus 2 Weeks: Celebration Time

Coming to you live from Morgantown, WV (close by anyways), I would like to officially present Dr. Bauer!

Here is the cake, made by my mom.  Go Mom!

That’s right folks, today was Bilbo’s graduation!  Please, do not be fooled by the outfit.  This was not the Hogwarts Class of 2011 commencement ceremony, but that of the WVU School of Medicine. So -bring to him your sick, weary, and crazy; for Bilbo, after 4 year of excruciatingly hard work, is a really real doctor!  At this time I would like to say WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Now I can begin the plans for my mansion in the hills.

I’d also like to give a shout out to his closest partners in crime, Dr. VanAcht and Dr. Geary. Good job guys!  I’m proud of you!

The week leading up to this monumental event has been, well, better than the weeks you have heard about so far.  We have had time to relax, the house is in tip top shape, and God has given us answers to prayers; all topped off with a long weekend with our family and reunions with friends.  Yes, it is safe to say that this has been a very good week. 

In addition to travelling, one of our favorite hobbies is enjoying a good board game.  This is something we hope to do a bit more with our new found free time.  So, to expatiate on the relaxation we have enjoyed this week, let me introduce you to our new game, “Washington’s War”.  It is a card driven strategy game based on the American Revolution; which is a revision of the creator’s earlier game, “We the People.”

 

This game is the model for many of the best card driven strategy games out there, so we figured it must be amazing.  We purchased it, spent 2 hours learning the basic rules, and then fumbled through an initial game for 2 more hours.  The verdict: WE LOVE IT!  If you like board games, you should definitely check it out!  We have played a second game since, with increased alacrity and efficiency, but still need to polish our strategy and skill.  I know this sounds like excessive work just to play a game, but it was worth it…and we have been through worse.  Poor Bilbo bought a game almost 18 months ago, called “Die Macher”, which is based upon German politics.  One evening we spent 4 hours just setting up the game board!  Then this phrase appeared in the instruction manual, “Now the real instructions begin.”  At that point we went to bed.  It was like when you buy a dress that is too small because you love it and the store is out of your size.  You know what you need to do to be able to wear the dress, but it’s too much work to lose weight.  So, you keep the dress for ages just hoping that, by chance, you will be able to wear it one day.  Eventually, you come to your senses and take that satin masterpiece to Goodwill—because it’s just not going to happen.  That’s exactly what happened with “Die Macher”.  The game board remained set up on the dining room table, desolate and alone, for about a week, until we realized that we were not ready to put the work into learning it.  I mean, the instruction manual was the size of a novel!  Playing and mastering this game is one of our goals for the upcoming year, though.  We’ll let you know how it goes! 

Another goal for our trip is to see as many national parks as possible.  The National Park Service offers a year long pass called “America the Beautiful,” which allows free admission to all national parks and up to 50% off of camping in all national park campgrounds for just $80.  Can you say, “Ka-ching?”  This week the ATB pass arrived and concrete plans have been set for our destinations and campsites over the next two months.  Right now, the park we are most excited to see is Acadia National Park; however, we will not be arriving in that region until mid-summer.  The first leg of our adventure will be…drum roll…a tour of North Carolina!  The hot spots on our list include:

•  Ashville
• Smokey Mountain National Park
• Wilmington
• The OBX (as all of the cool kids call it)
• The Raleigh-Durham area

 From NC, we will zig-zag on over to Virginia for vacation with the Minnie side of the family.  This will include Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, Busch Gardens, and VA Beach.  Then it will be time for a visit with the Bilbo side of the family and a trip to Gettysburg.  I believe that is enough of a preview for now.  After all, I do need to leave a little mystery.  Thank you, faithful reader, for listening to the ramblings of the Bauers! 

TWO MORE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, okay…one last pearl.  We are going on a one day mini-vacation before I have to be back to work; but that is a story for another day.  See!  I’m keeping you on the edge of your seat.  Don’t fall off!