3 months...really

OK OK OK!! I admit it. I have SERIOUSLY dropped the ball on blogging. I have plenty of excuses, but none of them are very good. I just haven't stopped long enough to type. Plenty has happened since the eve of my turning 30. I did that, turn 30, and didn't feel much different than I did when I was 29.

I have completed my 6th month of ICU since becoming a doctor. Only 2 more to go in the next 26 months. That's VERY exciting to me!!

I took a job in Lubbock, TX, home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (my Alma mater in case you haven't been reading long or don't know me very well). This, too, I am excited about. I didn't think that I would ever leave Lubbock. But the medical school match and other events in my life gave me the opportunity to get out and see the world. I'm now about to finish my 6th year here in H-town. My how time flies when you're having fun. But I digress.

Back in August or September, I heard that a hospital group in Lubbock was recruiting primary care physicians (Internist, Pediatricians, and Family Practitioners) because they were going to encounter a shortage in the next few years. Because of this, they were willing to offer monthly stipends and sign on bonuses to residents who were willing to sign an employment contract and come work for them when they finished their residency. It sounded too good to be true. Extra money for the next 2 years to do the same thing that I'm going to be doing for the next 2 years anyway. I job locked up. A place to live. And good friends that are going to do it too. Well, as of April 30, 2007, it's official. On or before September 1, 2009, I will be one of Lubbock's newest physicians. Beth and I are TOTALLY excited. We have AMAZING family and friends in the area, the Daltons are moving back with us (pediatric residents with whom we spend an insane amount of time), and I get to be a true Med/Peds physician in a clinic that it yet to be built and practice medicine. Too cool. Way too cool. I think my mom may be even more excited because she hopes that there will be another grandchild who she can spoil just as rotten as the one she currently has. Kristina, that means you, ha ha ha.

Last, but not least, is my friend Becky. Even though it took her like 2 months to acknowledge my turning 30, I would like to say a few things about her here and now to help her commemorate this occasion. I'm a little fuzzy on some of the timing, but I know it happened.

I don't remember when Becky and I met. I know that I was invited to her birthday party in the 6th grade, I guess that would have been 1989. She had THE PARTY OF THE 6TH GRADE. The details are completely junior high and silly. Let's just say that it's a night I won't ever forget.

As for 7th grade...well, it came and went.

We found ourselves in choir together. I'm sure there were other classes, but it would be choir that would carry us through for the next million years or so. We were also both brass players. She the French horn, me the coronet. And Mr. Anderson...boy was that guy uptight! We made it to high school and...did you go to the Tech Choir camp after 8th grade??? I don't remember. The top choir (which we weren't even allowed to audition for) was going to Vienna, Austria right before Christmas. Mrs. Perkins gave us freshman an opportunity to raise money and go since it was a once in a lifetime trip (even though they went back a few years later). Becky and I were on that trip. Along with Courtney and James Norvell and a whole bunch of other people. 9th grade is the year that we started taking voice lessons together from Ms. Walker. Remember the time you were playing with her pepper spray at HSU and set it off? We had to clear the building because we were choking. Good job. We also went to Tempe and played in the Fiesta Bowl Parade. There are still things that happened on that bus (not between us) that should NEVER be mentioned again! That was a year of trips. Seriously? Seriously.

10th grade is a little fuzzy. It was the summer after that I moved to Tyler. We both ended up in Lubbock in our college years...and well...things happened. We lost touch until it was time for our 10yr high school reunion. I found a website and decided that even though I didn't graduate with you guys...that you're the group I call home. Family. Friends forever.

I have said this before, but I will say it again. Part of who I am today is because of Becky, Eric, Rachel, Courtney, Chad, Jason,...and a host of others.

Thank you Becky for your friendship, your laughter, your phone calls after 10:00 when my dad answered. Thank you for "Joe's Bar and Grill, this is Juanita speaking how can I help you" Thank you for the 6th grade skating party, and the 7th grade Halloween party, and choir and band and voice lessons, and all those times that you were there for me. Thank you for continuing to be a part of my life. While I've not been near as elegant as you in some of your birthday posts, I hope that you know you are one of my dearest friends. Thank you that we have weathered our storms and still remain friends. Thank you that our craziness can still make the other laugh. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for being you.

I am so excited that you are about to be an aunt. Being an uncle to the cutest 4 yr old on the planet, I can tell you it's one of the greatest joys on Earth.

Welcome to 30...may the next 3 decades be at least as much fun as the first 3.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You.

Always,

Jeremy

p.s. I came across this picture a few months ago and I can't resist posting it here. It's a good picture and not near as bad as some of mine (which hopefully you don't have and won't repay the favor). It doesn't have the year on it. When was this??