Update

Since the laptop crashed, I have been unable to write my somewhat regular posts while sitting in front of the TV. My ability to compose any coherent thoughts is greatly diminished without the background noise of sportscenter, but as you have all suffered long enough I thought I’d take a stab at it.

I’m in the middle of my last week of Dermatology. It hasn’t been the most enthralling month, but it has been beneficial to my education and I’m not overly excited to get it done with the way I have been with so many other rotations. This means of course, that I am a mere two months from actually being a physician. You would think that I’d be extremely excited about that, but in reality I have mixed emotions. Heaven knows I am excited to be near the end of medical school, but with that end comes another move for us and I have loved being back home in Cedar City. I really do not want to leave, even for 3 short years. In retrospect, I never should have quit my job at Godfather’s Pizza in High School. I’m sure I could be managing the place by now and I wouldn’t have ever had to leave this wonderful place.

Kristian has finally started to walk. He took a circuitous route to get to where he is now, but it’s nice he finally made it. He has been able to pull himself up to a standing position in the middle of the room for months now, but just didn’t want to take any steps. There have actually been numerous times since January where he would stand up and do squats without holding onto anything so his balance has been quite good for a while. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. Hopefully Grandpa won’t still be coaching Cross-Country when Kristian gets to high school. He tends to have a hard time with runners who don’t seem to want to take advantage of their abilities. I, on the other hand, might have a little more in common with Kris.

Jessi is well into her eighth month of potty training. It has been quite an ordeal and up until a few weeks ago we have been able to blame her setbacks on the irregular life we have had since interviews began, but these past few weeks have been very normal and she is not doing well. Jessi also has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She is so much more moody than Spencer ever was, but that girl can flash me a smile and give me a hug and all is forgiven (this hasn’t proved to be a great thing for my marriage). One of my favorite sounds in the whole world happens every day, without fail, when I come home at lunch and after work. When Jessi sees me she gets a giant grin and comes running across the room yelling; “my daddy, my daddy’s home!” then she proceeds to give me the best hug ever. We really need to have another girl or Jessi may be driving a Porsche to high school.

Spencer has settled back into school very well since our trip to South Bend. We had a few touchy days, but then we took away his blankets and it has been pretty much smooth sailing since then. Lest you think that I only like my little princess, Spencer has learned how to work his parents pretty well as of late. He seems to know when he’s on the edge of getting in trouble and 7 times out of 10 he finds a way to dig himself out of a hole. Sometimes he saunters over to his mother or myself and whispers a sweet “I love you” after crawling up on the lap. Other times he will drop whatever he is doing just to go see why Kristian is crying.

Melissa has been sitting for one of our friends each morning for the past week and will continue to do so for the next while. So far I think it has been a really good thing. She doesn’t seem to be overburdened by it and the little boy she is watching is great for Jessi as he doesn’t let her push him around at all (it seems my little princess is somewhat selfish and bossy at times). Melissa has been looking at houses the past week and we have learned that she and I don’t see eye to eye on what we are looking for in a house…..yet.

Finally as you can see from the final picture (courtesy of Spencer) I have a beard. It will probably go this weekend, but I suffered through the itchy phase (generally days 7-14) and have found that I still do not like having facial hair. I have taken pictures so that I can show the kids that dad had a beard once because I dislike it so much that it may never happen again. Of course there is that time between Graduation and the start of residency when I could grow a full untrimmed beard. I’m pretty sure Melissa would make me shave it for her sister’s wedding and I have no idea what her sister would actually do to me if I showed up to her wedding with a full beard (it might be interesting).

I love the World Cup

As you may have noticed from previous emails and posts I tend to have a difficult time when it comes to sports. Growing up a Corry I was branded with a Dodger’s stamp shortly after that other newborn procedure. The origination of my Dolphin’s fanhood is a little murky but it is nonetheless deep-rooted in history. My devotion in the college ranks has changed since I was a boy, but I am still stuck rooting for a midmajor team from the mountain west. While I have tried for years to profess my undying devotion to an NBA franchise other than the Jazz, I just can’t do it.

It has been my lot in life to be the fan of the team that was almost great. The last time the Dodgers won the world series was 1988 (I can remember vividly that NLCS and World Series, but that story is for another time). Now I’m not comparing the Dodgers to the Cubs or anything, but if only my dad had grown up a Yankees fan my life would be completely different. As far as the Dolphins go I could have easily chosen to follow every other Utah fan and root for the 49ers or the Broncos, but no I had to stay with Dan Marino’s team and that is really working out well for me. In College sports Utah went all the way to the national championship only to lose to the team that plays its home games 2 hours from my medical school so I have had to relive that horrible second half for the past 4 years. Every business in Pikeville still has the Wildcats calendar up on the wall from that fateful season. It just so happens that I was not only a fan but a Utah alumni when the Utes put together the best midmajor college football team to ever play the game. I find it somewhat unfortunate that Urban Meyer’s gift to Ute fans worldwide just happened to occur during the season when 3 BCS teams went undefeated.

Now let us talk about the Jazz. The Jazz like so many other teams of the 90’s happened to be great at the wrong time. Why couldn’t Stockton to Malone peak during the 2 years that Jordan retired (the first time)? Now again the Jazz seem to be getting to the level of an elite team. It just so happens that the western conference may have a 50 win team out of the playoffs this year. That’s terribly convenient for Utah Jazz fans.

My brother moved to Denver and the Broncos won the Super Bowl, The Rockies made it to the Series this year, the nuggets seem to be able to get any free agent they want and I believe the Avalanche won the cup while he was there (Hockey? Come on). My other brother moved to Cleveland and now he gets to root for Lebron. What could be better. I spent 4 months of my mission just up the road from Boston and what do I get? An intense hatred for the Patriots and the Red Sox. It would have been so easy to just adopt those teams while I was there, but I just couldn’t do it, and now they both have championships and scandals that are the envy of every fan. We already talked about my Kentucky experience. We did live in Washington for a year, but Washington is a pathetic state for a sports fan. The place can’t even keep the Sonics and I would rather go through an other 1 win Dolphins season than claim the Seahawks as my football team.

At least I’ll always have Brazilian soccer!

Happy 31st Jacob!!

Yesterday was Jacob's birthday. We celebrated by having Grandma and Grandpa over for a special birthday dinner. Jacob got to pick the entree (chicken manacotti) and I suprised him with an appitizer of Crab Stuffed Portebello Mushrooms. Which I must say, turned out very well. We finished off with Pecan Pie or Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake (whichever your preference) and completly forgot about candles or singing happy birthday. I guess it just isn't necessary after 30.

After dinner Daddy had to go on a treasure hunt to find his presents. Once he learned how to decipher the maps we had made him, things got fun. He had a map and a clue to help him find each of his hidden presents. My particular favorite clue was "Children, Children, Oh so Dear, You'll find your Gift where they rest their Rear". Jacob got some chocolate, the Singles Ward and the 2nd Singles Ward Movies and a Jon Bon Jovi CD. He made out pretty good this year. (Thanks to some fabulous Amazon shopping).

After the "present" hunt we all retired to the family room where Kristian decided to give Daddy the best birthday present of all. He started walking back and forth between whomever was sitting on the floor. I think once he even got 6 or 7 steps before falling into someone's arms. Then of course the camera came out. I haven't downloaded off our camera for a bit because the laptop is in Kentucky getting fixed but as soon as it get back I will be sure to put on some film of his first offical walking. What a great Birthday Suprise.

Well that is about it. It was a fun day. Happy Birthday to a very Special Dad!!

Chuck

Charles Barkley said the following during last night's rookie-sophomore game when speaking of drafting players on potential:

"That kid can really run and jump, so can a deer"

Barkely is the antithesis of Bill Walton and I love the guy.

White Valentine's

We awoke this morning to a blanket of snow in Cedar City. After a night of snow we had 8+ inches on the ground this morning. Now I love Cedar for a variety of reasons but a new reason to hit the list this past year is the ATV laws. Cedar City is an ATV town. There are certain roads in town (lots of roads) that are open to ATV traffic year-round. Technically, there are only two spots to cross Main Street on an ATV, but during the winter, all gloves are off. One stipulation of the ATV regulations states that during winter months an ATV can drive on any road within the city if that ATV is either going or coming from plowing a parking lot, driveway, or anything else that may need plowing. So essentially an ATV with a plow on it can go anywhere when it snows (the plow was up when I was doing donuts in the parking lots of the baseball fields this morning). I happen to plow the lot of an apartment complex a couple miles from where we live and I enjoyed my drive this morning. I even had a cop follow me for a block or so. There were ATV's everywhere, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Today has turned out to be a wonderful day. As often happens in Cedar the sun came out shinning bright this morning and I was able to go cross-country skiing (after plowing of course). I went up to the cabin and it was probably too much for my poor, out-of-shape body but it was very nice.

American Idol

So my brother-in-law has just posted on his blog asking if any of us fellow readers get into American Idol as much as his wife does. Oh course I posted back that I am a fellow watcher. But I decided that doesn't quite cover it. My "junkieness" for American Idol can not be covered with a comment, so I decided I would need to dedicate a post to it.

I am an American Idol Junkie. I admit fully to this. I have watched it religiously since season 1. The only time I recall not caring about the finale was Season 3 as I didn't like any of the top 5 in that season. I even started voting during season 4. I own both of Clay Aiken's CD's and want to get Carrie Underwood's CD for my birthday (hint to Jacob).

Here is my opinion on previous winners. I think that America has gotten it right about 1/2 of the time. Season 1 - Kelly Clarkson - Right. Season 2 - Rueben Studdard - Wrong (Should have been Clay all the way!!!). Season 3 - Fantasia Bureno - Wrong (I can't stand her but the pickings were slim that year). Season 4 - Carrie Underwood - Right. Season 5 - Taylor Hicks - Wrong (Katherine McGhee was so much better, and who votes for a guy that looks like he is having a seizure while he is singing). Season 6 - Jordan Sparks - Right (although I was a big fan of Blake as well). This last paragraph only goes to show my American Idol Junkieness as no surfing the web was needed to remember all of the winners and runners-up.

Here is my opinion on the judging. I can't stand Paula Abdul. What a waste of a judge. If you can't be honest in your critique you shouldn't be judging. I am a Simon Cowbell fan, and I must say, it has been a nice change this season that he isn't being as mean in his brutal honesty. That is what I like about him though, he is honest in his critiquing and I almost always tend to agree with it. (I just wouldn't be so mean in saying it.) I mean, most of the judging is all for ratings so it really doesn't matter much but I just think that after all is said and done I tend to side more with Simon and pick the same people he does.

Sometimes I wonder how long this sensation can last. I mean we are on Season 7 for heavens sake. Especially if previous winners keep tanking (i.e. Taylor Hicks). But I love the idea of it all and I love watching it. So that is the Long and the Short of it. I should probably take this opportunity to thank my husband for putting up with this obsession of mine as he hates American Idol. Well, at least the American Idol season isn't quite as long as the NBA season, that's something :) But seriously, he is a good man for putting up with it.

All Stars or Patriots

With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror it is time to release my take to the world. As you can see from the video Melissa posted below I was overjoyed that the Patriots lost the Super bowl (who won by the way?). I can't remember ever enjoying a game as much as I did on Sunday. I never got to the point where I felt sorry for the losers. I watched the post game coverage for hours after the game ended just so I could see Coach Bellicheat's remarks at the podium. He did not disappoint. Never in my 30 years of life can I remember a Super bowl (or any other game for that matter) where the losing coach didn't at least mention how well the opposing team played. Bellicheat didn't even acknowledge there was another team on the field. Not that I was surprised as he has approached and departed every game this season the exact same way.

For those of you who look down on me because I hate the Patriots I have a list of reasons to support my stance. I'm pretty sure that there are no Patriot fans who read this blog, and those who don't care about football will most likely skip this post, so I'm preaching to the choir, but nonetheless here is the list, in no particular order.
1. I am, and always will be, a Dolphins fan.
1-a The Patriots play in the Dolphins division requiring me to hate them along with the Bills and the Jets (and the Colts until recently thank heavens)
1-b Any team that threatens the Dolphins place in history as the best team ever deserves to be hated, ironically the Patriots loss makes the 72 Dolphins look that much more impressive so maybe I should like them just a little (I hope that isn't incorrect usage of the word ironic).

2. There are so many great things about sports and football in particular. The Patriots exhibit none of those. Football is incredibly fun to play. The Patriots, like no other team in history, treat the game like a job (especially their leader Mr. Bellicheat). There has been no sportsmanship in Foxburough in years. Running up the score is something that college teams do to impress voters, it is not something that NFL teams should be doing. No coach should leave the field of play until the final whistle blows.

3. Tom Brady, while a very good quarterback, is no Manning. Everybody talks about how great Brady is because of his post season accolades. Everybody touts him because he was a steal in the 457th round of the draft. Brady has had 3 seasons with a QB rating over 90 while Peyton has only had 3 seasons with a rating under 90. Brady has only had one season with a rating above 100 and that came in a season when his team won 16 games, his WR broke the record for touchdowns, his team scored the most touchdowns, oh yeah it also came in the season in which he played in the 4th quarter of every game. Wait you mean to tell me that in a 16-0 season in which many of the games were decided by halftime the Patriots never once pulled their quarterback in the 3rd quarter. The backup QB played in 6 games this season (he went 4-7 for 38 yards). Of those 10 games where Brady took every snap 5 were won by more than 10 points. He just doesn't deserve the all the praise he gets.

4. Brady and Moss, having played almost every minute of every game in a season where their playoff fate was secure by week 8 and having broken records for touchdowns thrown and caught in a season, have decided that they will not attend the Pro bowl because of injuries. That's a class act there. Just go ahead and follow Coach Bellicheat off of the field boys and tend to your injured pride.

5. The final reason I hate the Patriots is that every season they find a way to say that the world is against them and I'm tired of them being wrong.

Jacob's Favorite Superbowl Commercial

So I know you are all waiting to hear Jacob's post on the superbowl and you need not wait much longer. I believe he has cleared some time this evening in his schedule so he can do it justice. However, he mentioned yesterday that this was his favorite superbowl commercial and that we needed to post it. So here it is. (Technically it was shown after the superbowl but this is our blog so we make the rules)

We're Back

I never got a chance to write anything last month as we didn't have internet at the apartment and the kids were a little crazy at the library to allow me to have 15 minutes to just type. So here is my overview of Indiana. I really, really liked it. The people we met at church and in both programs are very nice and I made quite a few friends in our short visit. Of course it was cold, especially when the wind would cut through you, but I think we can handle it. One of my favorite things to do was drive around and look at neighborhoods contimplating the prospect of buying our first home. (although I have to admit, it also scares me quite a bit.) Spencer and Jessi really enjoyed the trips to the library and visiting other peoples houses so they could play with some new toys. Of course we all enjoyed our trip to Clevland to vist Doug and Meagan. What a treat. So I guess to sum it up, I can see myself being happy living there for three years, now we just have to wait and see if they want us :)

Indiana was absolutely great, but there is definetly no place like home. It is so great to be back, having the kids sleeping in their own beds and in seperate rooms. Being in a one bedroom apartment got a little tight towards the end of the month and we are so grateful for the space to spread out again. We finally finished the last of the unpacking yesterday and we got caught up on all our "being back errands". It is funny how after a month of winging it how nice everyday routine feels.

Spencer and I got a great treat last night. We went to see Kaylee and MaKell (Spencer's cousins) dance in Sleeping Beauty the Ballet. I was a bit worried about taking Spencer but he really enjoyed it. Within 5 minutes he asked me why no one could talk, but once he got the concept that you don't talk in ballet, just dance, he really seemed to enjoy it. He liked me to whisper the story to him as we went along and when they closed the curtain he let me know that "he wanted to see a long movie, not a short one" and decided that we should stay put and wait for it to start over again. Mind you, this was a 2 hour performance. It was so fun to see Kaylee and MaKell. They did a great job and you could tell they have put in a lot of hard work getting ready.

Well the funeral for President Hinkley is about to start so I think I will sign off with a thought about the man. What an amazing prophet. We were lucky enough to be in his stake when we lived in SL and he would attend stake conference. The spirit is so powerful when he walk into the building and I will always be grateful for those experiences to hear him speak up close. The thing I will always remember most about President Hinkley is his great sense of humor, and his love and vitality for life.

Politics

Having watched the two national debates the last two nights (now that we are back home I am reestablishing my relationship with television) I am saddened at the prospect of having another Clinton in the white house. If I were a democrat I might vote for Obama just because I like him better as a person and if McCain wins the republican nomination I may vote for Obama anyway. Now that that's taken care I would like to express my views on two points brought up in every debate.

First of all this blip in the healthcare discussion concerning electronic medical records. I wonder how much time and money has been spent trying to determine how to best implement EMR into American medicine. Writing legislation to require EMR throughout the country is akin to requiring people to drive cars. Every family practice residency program that I know of is either already using EMR or has plans to implement on within the next year. All I know is EMR. Legislation for this stuff would have been smart 5 years ago, but now it's just a waste of time.

Second I'm tired of hearing about how Warren Buffett had a bad year last year with an income of $47 million and paid a lower percentage of that income to taxes than his secretary. The current tax changes that the democrats propose will not change that situation. Consider that Warren Buffet makes less than $200,000 annually in salary and like the rest of the top 0.5% of money earners in the country makes most of his money from investments. Raising the taxes in the highest tax bracket does very little to the tax burden for this subset of the population because dividends and capital gains are taxed at the same level whether one realizes a $6000 gain or a $60 million gain. My proposal is that anyone with a net worth over uh lets say $200 million be required to pay 50% of their net worth to taxes and the other 50% is to be given to the bottom 5% of wage earners in the country. Then make these people start over from scratch. Not only does this solution solve the budget deficit, but it also has the potential to wipe out the democrat party in 10 years when we see that current distribution of wealth returns, helping to prove the point that Robin Hood economics does not change socioeconomic status. One last point; at the end of this 10 year experiment I want to be king of America.