The Gum Tree for 2005 March 16

One of the drawbacks of working in a volunteer clinic is the fact that you are exposed to a lot of illnesses that are contagious. I had a headache and a sore throat yesterday, and I think that it is because of the strep throat cases that came in last Thursday. I did swabs on about 4 or 5 people to test for strep, and a couple came out very positive.

Today, I am feeling a little bit better, however, but I still had to sleep in till about 8:00 when I really wanted to go running this morning. It is so nice going out in the dark morning to run while watching the sun come over the mountains.

Louise and I have also been chatting about how we will go about the next year accomplishing our plans of Louisiana, and afterwards. She also told me that she didn’t want to have me join the military unless the only school that I could get into was a $25,000 or more tuition/year school. We will see. I would like to be in the military for the mere experience and service, but she is right that the experience and service may not be worth making half what we could in the private sector. I think she wants more trips back home in the long run.

We are also excited to see Mum and Dad come into town in 3 weeks (from Australia)!!! There will be much festivities come April with graduation and family from all sides in town. I think that Mom and Ben will also like taking some time with the Nicholson side of the family. I think that Louise's Dad wants to make sure that Ben is good enough for my Mom. :p

This is probably going to be the last time for the both of the Nicholson parents coming to town, but since Louise’s Mom is adventurous and loves to travel, I am sure that she will be in town when some of our kids are born as well as other notable events.

In short, there is always going to be some little sickness or problem, but we are very excited for the future as well as our daily progress. That is the story of my life.