September 19

Troy and I have really felt good about staying and having him work in Ohio for a couple of years to get experience. He has gotten information from the head of anesthesia at the children’s hospital on the details of the contract he would sign. Troy is wanting to work locums at an adult hospital in Columbus 2-4 times a month to keep his adult skills current. We are just now trying to decide how to work his schedule ex: have him work part time at the children’s hospital and 1 day a week at the adult hospital, or have him work Saturday’s at the adult, etc. Lots of options, just trying to do what would be best for him and our family. It’s all rather exciting to think about, school being done and all.
On Saturday Mike, Sarah and Kathy came down to return their rental car. Unfortunately their car adventures continue. As they were leaving the dealership with the car that was ‘fixed’ they got about an hour away when the car broke down again. They drove the rental car down to Columbus and stayed until Sunday. The mechanic had told them that if the car staled again to let it rest for 30-45 min and it should start. Troy drove them up to their car on Sunday and they were hoping to have the car start and slowly drive it home, stopping every 30-45 min to let it rest. When they got to the car it wouldn’t start. Troy drove them home, and they ended up having the car towed to a Nissan dealership to have the repairs done. One lesson I learned is that their mechanic in Michigan suggested to them that if they have car problems away from home to always take the car to a dealership as they know the car and usually won’t try to up sale you.
Sunday afternoon Hurricane Ike’s winds hit Ohio. The winds got up to 70 miles an hour. At least 10 trees in our apartment complex were blown down. It knocked the power out for 24 hours. Some parts of the city didn’t get power until Thursday. I, after the power was back on, was grateful for the experience. It wasn’t catastrophic, but it was just inconvenient enough that I learned what I need to do to be better prepared.
Andrew was the ‘star student’ in school last week. As star student you are spotlighted so the kids get to know you. Then you get to help with tasks for the teacher, so Andrew got to know all his classmates. I was so glad that he had the chance as he is now excited about school. I think it made him feel more comfortable there.
Parker has grown out of his tricycle and ready for a 'big boy' bike. We went this morning and picked one out. When we got home he was practicing on it. He did pretty good, but every once in a while would get confused as to which way his feet would go so, as a result, kept breaking. Every time he would stop though he would make up some excuse as to why he stopped, like, "I thought some one was coming" or "I needed to tell you something". I think he was wanting to prove to me that he was in fact a 'big boy' and could ride his bike. It had me laughing pretty hard.