An intro into our wonderful world in Memphis

It is 4:29am and things are finally slowing down in the ER tonight so I figured now would be as good a time as any to start writing our blog. Besides I figure that being a little tired will improve the entertainment value.

I guess for starters, if you haven't heard, I finally graduated. I know it seems amazing. In fact I am sure some of you probably thought I had graduated years ago like most normal people, but in fact, I hadn't...until June. I actually had finished all my business school work and medical school rotations by the end of april so after an amazing surf weekend up at a beach house in Ventura, we headed to Utah to spend a month with family. Then in June we made the long treck out to Memphis, Tennesse where I was starting an Orthopaedic Surgery residency at the Campbell Clinic.

For those who have never had the pleasure of driving through Nebraska or Kansas with two kids under the age of 2, let me simply say you are missing out. That will most certainly be a trip I won't soon forget.

We have now been in Memphis for a couple months. I am not sure what else to say about that. It has been...interesting. Val tells me it get really hot. For me it is almost always 70 degrees with a whiteish-flourescence (like it is right now).

We have been living in an apartment while we have been house hunting. It is a fairly spacious 2 bedroom apartment, but then I think anything would seem spacious after living with 2 kids in a 1 bedroom, 800sq foot place.

The definite upside of Memphis is that we can actually afford a house. In fact we could pay cash for some of the houses here. Of course there are definite drawbacks to those houses- like getting shot at every morning as you got in your car that had been broken into again. I am not sure I am quite ready to join the Memphis Knife and Gun Club so, we decided to suck it up and take out a loan to live in a "safe" area (which means not actually living in Memphis, or anywhere near Memphis). After putting several offers on houses and always getting out bid, we found out Friday that the latest house we put an offer was accepted. We are now in the process of signing the contract and getting the ball rolling to closing on the house. Yes, I am nearly a home owner.

The house is about 2700 sq ft and has 5 bedrooms/3 baths on a 1/3 acre. It is a foreclosure so we are getting a pretty good deal on the place and it is actually in fairly good condition. I guess I should send a thank you to Countrywide and all of those other shady mortgage companies. It is only about 5 minutes away from one of the private clinics I will work at alot over the next 58 1/2 months (not that I am counting). We have some big plans, particularly for the backyard and I must admit I am excited to go to work on it. The neighborhood is nice and it is right down the street from our church. All in all we feel pretty good about it. Hopefully everything will go through without any problems.

Well I need to wrap this up so I can go save lives... or just give some fluids to your run of the mill crackhead/drunk. Yes, I am living the dream!