Home for the Holidays

When I asked TJ Brown what it was about Dallas that he liked, he responded with one word.  Familiarity.  Dallas is the city in which I spent the first 18 years of my life, and more than anything it is familiar to me.  This year as people (strangers and friends alike) asked what our holiday plans were, my simple response was, "We're going home for the holidays."  I have not lived in Dallas for 10 years now, what part of it was home?!?  The house I grew up in was leveled this past year to make room for a bigger and better house.  Well, probably bigger, but hardly better.   Not even the beautiful trees I used to climb in the backyard as a child remain.  The house my husband was living in when we met is now for sale and his mom lives some place new.  Families have split up: Brad and I went to 5 houses on Christmas day to see everyone.  But the sites around town, seemed familiar.  Even though we were in new houses, the settings seemed familiar.  More than anything the people were familiar.  As childhood friends also made their way home for the holidays, we were able to reconnect with dear friends we get to see once a year if we're lucky.  What makes Dallas home is that feeling of connection and familiarity.  I guess that is why it will always feel like home, regardless of where Brad and I are.

Snow in NOLA!

It's pouring down SNOW in Louisiana.  No accumulation because the ground is too hot, but giant puffy white snow flakes are coming down at our house.  Too much fun to watch.  Never thought we would have snow in New Orleans.

Okay, I totally lied - it accumulated!!!!!  Last time it snowed in LA was 2004 and the time before that was 1989.  This is most likely the only time we will see snow in the four years we are here so I had to take pictures.

Abscesses

Brad paged at 10:00 pm.

End of phone conversation, "I'll be right in."  click...

Followed by "F***!  Peritonsillar abscess.  It's always a peritonsillar abscess right when we are trying to go to bed.  Babe, I'll be back."

If Brad is paged after 10:00 pm, it's usually a peritonsillar abscess, and I would not enjoy draining one at 11:00 pm either.

Good night!

The Annual Christmas Card Picture!

Christmas Card Out-Takes! Trying to take a picture with two dogs and a self-timer camera on a tripod is not easy.  Maggie did better this year, but Waylon was tired in the mid-afternoon and would not stop yawning.  What a life - he had to be woken up and dragged off the couch to have his picture taken.

The Beginning

jour-ney [jur-nee]

noun, plural -neys, verb, -neyed, -ney-ing.

-noun

1. a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a a rather long time; trip: a six-day journey across the desert.

2. a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling: a desert journey.

3. a period of travel: a week's journey.

4. passage of progress from one stage to another: the journey to success.

-verb (used without object)

5. to make a journey; travel.

Origin:

1175-1225; ME journee day <>diurnata a day's time; day's work, etc. equiv. to L dirun(us) daily + -ata, fem. of -atus

As we pondered a "title" for our blog, the word Journey popped up over and over again.  I looked up the dictionary definition online and found the word to be most appropriate for our blog title.

"... a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time."  The drive from San Antonio, TX to Nashville, TN and from Nashville, TN to New Orleans, LA each took a rather long time.

"... a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling."   My work travel area: MN, WI, MI, KS, MO, OH, NJ.  Usually each week I am in one of these states.

"... a period of travel." Both personally and professionally we have been traveling since 2003.

"... passage or progress from one stage to another."  Brad and I met when we were 20.  The summer we started dating he was studying for the MCAT exam.  Since then, we graduated from college, he graduated from medical school, he completed his intern year at Vanderbilt, and started ENT residency as a PGY2 at Tulane.  And we look forward to the next stage!

Our wish for this blog is to share our journey with family and friends.