We're back!

I'm exhausted. Let's see here. We landed in Charlotte and instantly got a rental car and drove straight to Asheville where we met up with Angi, Tommy, and their boys. We feel like we've known them our entire lives. We walked around their town, ate hot dogs with slaw for the first time, saw 300, saw the nicest McDonalds (I kid you not, they have a baby grand piano in a McDonalds), relaxed, and hung out talking about anything and everything. I have never seen such spectacular scenery in my life.

Next, we drove to Virginia to see one of my classmates from Chiropractic school. We stayed with them for a night. They took us around their town and showed us their cabin at the base of a mountain. Again, I have never seen such spectacular scenery in my life. Zelda was wearing a tank top and got honked at several times in town.

We also drove to Philadelphia to meet ALa of Blonde Sagacity and her husband, Tesco. We had REAL Philadelphia cheesesteaks and scrapple. We also met up with another blogger known as Liz. They were all so much fun to talk to that we decided to hang out with them instead of seeing the tourist sites.

The wedding itself was a lot of fun. Zelda's childhood friends are very relaxed and laid back people. I'll describe more in another post. Right now, I'm ready to crash. Good night y'all.

To OZ!

Okay maybe not Oz, but at least I'm getting some time away to clear my head a little bit. So, here we are, just days from meeting Angi, Tommy, and the gang. We've got some things to take care of regarding this wedding that we're going to, but I at least plan on having some fun while I'm gone. We've got our plane tickets, hotels, rental car, etc. etc. etc. If we forget something, which we always do, we'll just worry about it later. This should be an interesting trip. It's the first time I'll leave my great country of Texas since my grandmother died.

The kids are excited to spend an entire week with their grandparents. They should be. They're spoiled rotten by my parents. God only knows what creatures will have evolved upon our return.

Okay, in truth, I'm excited about going. I've been needing some time off for quite some time. North Carolina, Virgina, Angi and Tommy, and whoever else we feel like visiting, get ready. We're coming!

To Be or Not To Be?

Let's try this again.

As it now stands, I work as an associate for another doctor in the greater Houston area. I make more than I did before I went to school. However, now that student loans are coming in, I'm effectively making less. The amount I'm making is supposed to increase with time. However, time is not on my side. Let's put it this way, I owe more to my education than 2 times my mortgage. It's actually closer to 3 times my mortgage. I'm suffering. I need to do something. I may need to take a chance and start my own. I need to support my family. If it takes a few years to build up a practice, at least I have that and, hopefully, a business loan.

I'm actually in the process of trying to refinancing our home and consolidating all of the credit card debt now. But, they needed my employment contract, land survey, W-2's, pay stubs, etc, etc, etc. By providing more of these documents, I could probably get a very good interest rate.

For awhile, the main doctor was under a lot of stress at the clinic. I don't blame her for it. The problem is that she tends to take that stress out on me and the others. When that happens, she tends to micro-manage. So, she'll pull me aside and talk to me for 15 minutes about the necessity of little things while people are waiting for their treatments. I understand that these little things are important for us to get paid, but I utilize a system of double checking myself especially during busy times. My main concern during busy times is to get people in and out. If I have to stay late and finish paper work, I will. I'm salary and have no problems with staying late to finish my paperwork. It costs her nothing extra.

The other day, we actually had a very good talk. We discussed that she tends to give very conflicting orders/requests. Once I gave her a single example of what she does, I saw her eyes open widely and a realization of what I've been trying to tell her for the past few months completely hit her. I felt better.

However, that still doesn't change our financial situation. I've been granted several opportunities. One is to run a clinic in one of the most remote areas on Earth in the harshest environment possible. Why would I consider this? It pays six figures. The other is to take a chance in opening my own place. That way, I could at least request a deferment on my school loans until I can make enough to pay it back. The problem is that we don't have enough capital. Obviously, we have a lot of decisions to make. My contract ends at the beginning of April. Time is ticking away quickly.