Even More Things to Come

If that last post wasn't enough craziness for our family, this next one might do us in. It's difficult to imagine a busier month than the last one, but we have one coming up. First things first, however, I only have three more days of residency! I have clinic today, then two nights in the emergency department. And then... I'm unemployed. Only for a month, however, as I start working at Brentwood Pediatrics at the beginning of August. I can't wait to get started and begin forming new relationships with my coworkers and patients. It's going to be scary at times, but I'm confident in the training I've received thus far.

Once I finish my last ED shift, then I'm off for a couple days to collect my thoughts. Then we're off to Portland for the marathon on July 4th. The training has been going alright, although I'm not going to be able to meet the time goal I set for myself at the beginning. Reflecting on the training experience, I don't think I'll choose to train for a 26 mile race in the desert during the summer again. Seriously, running 20 miles on a Sunday morning is brutal, and that's not even factoring in that I had to start at 5am so it wasn't 100 degrees before I finished. While I had an initial time goal, I'm just happy to have completed the training without giving up. That leads me to my next lesson learned: it's tough to train for a marathon by yourself. Emily's never claimed to enjoy running, and I've been doing all of this training for the last six months solo. In total, I've run over 500 miles with nothing but my thoughts and some Mumford & Sons to keep me trucking along. At first, it was nice to have some time to think, but on the 16th mile of a 20 mile day at over 90 degrees, I'm ready to have someone running alongside me tell me to keep going. Portland is going to be a great place to run, compared to here. The weather forecast has a high in the low to mid 70s, and I'm sure my pace will reflect that a little.

After the race is complete, we're going to have dinner with David, Emily's cousin, then drive up to her old stomping grounds in Seattle. Well, we're first going to take a brief trip up to the San Juan Islands and go orca watching. Emily took me there for our first Valentine's Day when we first started dating, but there weren't any whales. Here's to hoping we actually see them this time, but if not, the islands are beautiful and very relaxing. We're then going to spend a few days in Seattle hanging out with our friends, Matt and Kelly. I'm sure Emily will have some spots she'll want to visit, and a few restaurants to experience one more time.

After we get back from Seattle, I have a day or two in Tucson, then I'm off to Nashville to find a home. We'll be renting a house for the first year at least, as the prospects of selling the condo in Nashville are pretty bleak at this time, and it's too small for us. Emily's not coming with me on this trip and is trusting me to pick out a house for our little family. It's a little intimidating, but at least I'll have help. Emily's mom, her dad, my parents, and Mary Payne have all offered to go with me on the hunt, and I'm sure they won't let me pick something that Emily would not like. I only have three days to find a house though, so if anyone knows of a rental house in Nashville that has a fenced backyard for dogs, please let us know. Luckily, our realtor, Tim, has sent out an ad to potential home renters in the area. I won't share it here, but it's pretty ridiculously awesome. While I'm in Nashville, I'll likely be buying a car. My old Impala was sold several months ago, and we've been managing on a single car for awhile. I live pretty close to the hospital, so walking isn't awful, but I'll be glad to finally have my own transportation again.

Upon returning from Nashville, we have a few days off before we head to Lisa's wedding in Orange County. I can't wait to see some of our college friends again, and it's going to be a great way to say goodbye to the West. Dan and Mary will be riding back with us to Tucson, and they're going to help us move back across the country. We shouldn't have too much packing to do, as about 90% of it is already in storage, so that will hopefully be as pain free as packing in 110 degree weather can be. First, we're heading up to the Grand Canyon and spending a night in Flagstaff. Then we're heading east with stops in Amarillo and Little Rock before celebrating our reentrance to Tennessee with some Rendezvous ribs on the banks of the Mississippi.

By the way, if all of those things weren't enough, I'm going to be studying for my boards and Emily's going to be helping to make sure Make Way for Books will keep running without her. We both have a lot on our plates, but I'm confident that the two of us can do anything together.