The Next 2 Years

I have been a nervous wreck since 7pm last night. I checked my email every 5 minutes, hoping Big Daddy would tell me the lottery results were posted. No such luck.

I gave up at 10:30 and went to bed. Big Daddy came to bed around 3, and I made him get up and check again before letting him under the covers. Nothing yet. I tossed and turned all night.

We checked at 8:30 am and again at 10:30.

At 1pm today Big Daddy called to say the results were up.

Drumroll, please............

Starting in June of '09,

we will be in Mt. Clemens, Michigan for 2 years.

It looks cute, no?

Michigan?

Yes, Michigan.

We were set on Des Moines for quite a while, but 4 or 5 days before the lottery opened up, both Big Daddy and I started talking about other options. We did some research, looked at different programs, and came to the conclusion that DSM might not be the best place for us in the long run.

Yes, we will be leaving behind some wonderful friends, great schools, a friendly ward family, a cozy apartment, and a generally comfortable life & routine.

But we couldn't take the chance of selling ourselves short on opportunity. The hospital there has a great rotation program, an ER residency program, and is close to a number of other hospitals with ER residency programs. It's located in a growing suburb of Detroit, but Mt. Clemens appears to still be a relatively small town. I've already picked out which school I want Big Sis to go to.

And if we absolutely hate it? It's only 2 years and then we can move on again.

At least we know now, and I can start making plans.

Update, part deux

I have been remiss in blogging, but it's been a busy week. It took us days to recover from the jet lag of vacation (stupid red eye flight) and now I'm back at work. Not that work is overwhelmingly busy, but it's a grind right now.

To continue the update....

Kauai: Awesome. Very relaxing, but not restful. You see, no one told us about the chickens. Huh? Did you say chickens? YES - CHICKENS. Thousands of feral chickens roam freely all over the island. And being the creatures that they are, they do as chickens do - CROW AT 5AM TO GREET THE DAY. So, while we had a lovely time sightseeing and exploring new beaches and being lazy slugs, we were also up with the sun every day. 2 FYI's - there are 3 great family beaches, all on the South side where we were staying. I recommend Salt Pond Beach, Poipu and Lydgate. Salt Pond was my favorite, as it was quiet and not very crowded. Also, it's expensive. We were fortunate to have a full kitchen in our condo... but a gallon of milk was still $9.00 and we spent almost as much on food as we did on our rental car for the week. Crazy.

Hooray for $54K of debt! It's actually a matter for celebration, as it means that we've committed to DMU, and to a career. It's a big step for us - a big, debt-filled, equivalent to a second mortgage step. Oh well, it's only money right? Now if I can just keep from getting fired in the next 6 months.....