What were we up to?

...this time of year back in '08?

What's fun about having this blog over a year now is going back to look at what was going on last year

...or last month.

I'm amazed at how much I still suffer from "pregnancy brain". Can I still play that card?

This time last year we were packing up to move. Finally finished with residency & fellowship. Finally on to a real job and paying back all those med school loans.

Reminds me (sort of) of the story of The City Mouse and The Country Mouse

We are enjoying our corn and potatoes in peace, but I sure do miss Super Target, Uncle Julios, Walgreens, La Madeline, Mexican Inn, Barnes and Noble, Central Market, the Zoo, ANY shopping mall...

really anything that was once within 5 minutes.

Now it takes 30-60 minutes to reach those places.

I would love to have so sugar and cheese right now (did you read the story?)

But, it's all ok. We are enjoying living in a town of 3,500 or so people. We are meeting many of those 3,500 folks...and they are GREAT people.

There is something great about living in a town so small. I do not have my brain wrapped around it well enough to articulate it right now.

I've been surprised at how friendly and welcoming everyone has been. I know in some smaller communities, not everyone is as welcoming to the newcomers.

I've learned to play Bunko and made some great friends.

I don't think I have ever eaten so much BBQ.

I thought it was a long drive to take Carter to swimming lessons that were 30 minutes away...now I drive over an hour.

I enjoy shopping a the old fashioned meat market here and stopping at vegetable stands along the highway. I never did that in the city...there wasn't a need and I wasn't that brave.

I love our property. Watching the water move, the sunset, deer graze, owls fly, Carter entertain himself with a stick and some dirt, and Ryan shoot big snakes eating huge frogs, finding big hunks of granite in our yard... things I just didn't appreciate or have living in the city.

The one who is enjoying it the most is our dog Murphy. Aside from the grass burs, he has 4.5 acres (more if you count the neighbor's yard) to roam. He has come face to shell with turtles, stumbled upon a doe, and from the smell of him one day, come a little too close to a skunk - although not a direct hit.

I once took Murphy to get groomed at The Grand Pet Resort. He enjoyed playcare, oatmeal baths, and the flat screen TVs.

Most recently I took him to get groomed at a very sweet lady's home...she groomed him in her bathroom, she was burning incense and her husband was at the kitchen table having an Alka Seltzer when I arrived.

Murphy looks great, though.

He loves it here too. Especially now that I've found a better groomer.


We all remember the tragic "schnauzer cut" incident back in October of '08 (and this if AFTER Ryan trimmed his beard)...grrr