Target Practice

I live on a golf course in Virginia.  The scenery is absolutely stunning.  I look out the windows on the back of my house, and I see a golf course.  Just past the golf course there is a lake.  The lake has no visible houses on the far side.  So I see nothing but trees on the other side of the lake.  It really is beautiful.

When I was younger,  I would go golfing from time to time and I would imagine what it was like living on a golf course.  I imagined having no neighbors in my back yard and enjoying a nice view.  So when I saw this house for rent I jumped at the opportunity.  I never realized it would be hazardous to my health living on a golf course.  Our house gets hit by golf balls almost daily.  The house is stucco on the outside  Because the house gets hit all the time, the back looks like Swiss cheese.  This house is ruined by the constant barrage of golf balls flying into the back yard.

One day I was out mowing the yard, and a golf ball landed about five feet from me.  Another time I was sitting on the back patio with my Father-in-law, and we had two golf balls, within a 20 minute time frame, fly into the patio area and bounce around.  Most of the exterior lights have been damaged in one way or another.  We have had two broken windows. and the frames of the screens over the windows are so bent and dented up that they no longer fit right.

The other major issue I have is golfers wandering around in my back yard looking for their ball.  Some respect our privacy while others act as if they own the property.  Some will hit the ball right out of my yard even though it is out of bounds.  There is one area of sweet revenge so to speak, I have on occasion been able to go out and startle a golfer who was about to hit out of my yard.  It makes me laugh, they know they are not supposed to be hitting out of my yard.  When I startle them, they run off like a little child who has been scolded.  Its very funny to see a grown man scampering off.

Moral of the story?  Think long and hard before you buy a house on a golf course.  Make sure you buy a house right by the tee box, and NEVER I repeat NEVER buy a house in the middle of the fairway.

You have been warned.
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I'm Back

Hi all,
I am back.  I am excited to be writing again.  I will try to post twice a week.  I have been thinking about life quite a bit lately.  My beautiful wife recently passed her one year mark of being cancer free.  The whole experience was very surreal.  I never imagined I would hear the words you have cancer.  I know that is a very naive thought to have, nevertheless it was a surprise to me that she was sick.

I have not written my feelings until now.  I think the first feeling I had was surprise.  I know I felt some fear, especially when the Surgeon wanted to do her biopsy the same day as the consultation.  I remember I met her at the doctors office, and had to drive home alone after the biopsy was taken.  I know I had some fear at that point, but it was very quickly replaced with peace.

I do not remember if I have posted this before, but I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We are more commonly known as Mormons, but that is a nickname.  The name comes from a book of scripture, The Book of Mormon.  I will talk about the Book of Mormon at a later date.  As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I believe that the family is the unit of eternity.  I know that God is my Heavenly Father, and that I am his son.  I know that through the Priesthood restored to the earth I will be with my wife for all eternity.  I also know that I will be with my children for all eternity as well.  That knowledge alone brought such peace to me it was incredible.  I knew that irregardless of what the outcome would be, I would be with her again.

Snow in Virginia

The other day, the 26th of December 2012 to be exact, we woke up to snow on the ground here in Virginia.  I have to admit I was excited.  I had heard rumors that we were supposed to get hit with a ton of snow this winter.  Prior to the 26th, we had a flake or two but that's was it!

I had to go out to the store on the 26th, to return a table tennis table, and pick up another one.  I experienced the strangest thing as I was out and about.  The roads had some slush, which for a seasoned Idaho Driver was nothing to worry about.  Every driver I encountered that day was driving as though they were on a sheet of ice.  I couldn't believe it.  Normally for my commute in the mornings, if the speed limit is 45 traffic is moving at 60 mph or more.  Not when there is snow.  On the freeway the speed limit is 65 and everyone was driving 45 or less.  Crazy.  The snow wasn't even that bad.  In Idaho you will see people driving 75 or 80 mph on snow packed roads, basically a sheet of ice.  Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised by their caution. 

Here are some tips for winter driving from years of experience driving in Idaho.
First of all slow down.
Second relax if possible.
Third keep plenty of distance between you and the car in front of you.
Fourth if you start to slide or skid the worst thing you could do is hit the brakes.  If you find yourself in a slide, turn into the slide, but remember a little turn goes a long way so don't over do it.  If you hit the brakes while your back end is sliding around you will make it worse.  If your car has ABS it makes braking safer but I would still try to avoid using them in a slide.

Always be cautious driving in the snow.  Saving a few minutes by driving too fast is not worth the risk!

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Brush your kids teeth!!!

For those of you who don't know I have moved to Virginia and I am working in an office seeing mostly children.  I love it!  Kids are so funny.  All the time I hear parents say that their kids brush their teeth every day.  But when I look in their mouths its obvious they are either not brushing at all or they are doing a very poor job.  I have three kids of my own and I would love to tell you that they all have made it through life cavity free.  But I would be lying.  Cavities happen, they happen to kids and adults, but the fact remains, if there is no plaque on their teeth then there will be no cavities.  Cavities are caused by plaque bacteria and that is it (I am excluding developmental defects and genetic issues with teeth).  So how can you prevent cavities in your child?  Easy, brush and floss their teeth.  Yes I said floss!!  I love to tell my patients that they only have to floss the teeth they want to keep.  We will end up pulling all the rest sooner or later.

What is the best way to floss your kids teeth?  One method is to sit down on a couch and have your child lay their head in your lap and then floss the same way you would floss your own teeth.  I happen to like floss handles better.  There are several different types.  The most common are the single use and toss type.  They also make a handle that allows you to change just the floss head.  It really doesn't matter which one you get as long as you get them and use them.

When children are little I would say under the age of 10 they need at least some level of supervision.  Young children do not have the manual dexterity they need to brush effectively.  So please mom and dad, brush your child's teeth!!
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Moving to Virginia

I'm back!  I know it has been a while since I have posted but I have been a little busy.  I recently moved my family across the country to Virginia.  Can I just say that I hate moving!!!!  We used ABF to move our stuff and we drove the mini van across the country.  2200 miles with three kids and a blind deaf diabetic dog.  Woooo hooo!!! Let the good times roll. 

Fortunately we have a DVD player in the car that I refer to as the pacifier or passy for short!  My kids really did handle the trip quite well all things considered.  We left town without making any hotel reservations because I wasn't sure where we would want to stop.  The fastest route to take from Idaho to Virginia is to get on I-80 and drive until you cant see straight then drive some more.  My wife had tentatively planned on stopping in Sydney Nebraska.  We had also planned on stopping in Wyoming for a few hours to visit family.  Little did we know that our family members would be out of town.  No biggie we will just drive on. 

Because we didnt stop in Wyoming, we arrived in Sydney earlier than we had planned so we decided to drive to North Platte.  Another hour and a half or so.  We pull off the freeway in North Platte and see a bunch of hotels so I pull into one and walk into the lobby and ask about a room for the night.  After the lady climbed off the floor ( she was laughing at me so hard she fell down) she told me that there wasn't a room in the whole city.  Is there a convention or something I ask.  Again I had to wait for her to settle down with tears streaming down her cheeks and between gufaws she said, no this is normal for us.  I ask about a hotel down the road and she tells me that when she last checked there was a room in Kearny (with her hotel chain) but the hotel didn't allow pets. 

Grumbling, I walk back to the car and tell my wife the news.  I could barely hear her response over the sound of my kids groaning in the back.  After a quick pit stop at a gas station we are back on the road with the passy playing.  I have my wife start looking on her phone for pet friendly hotels that don't appear to be run by Norman Bates.  Let me tell you they are few and far between!  We call several hotels along the way and even pulled over in a couple towns all to find no rooms available.  Finally we call a hotel in Lincoln Nebraska, they are pet friendly and they have a room.  We will take it!  By the time we arrive it is 3:30 am.  I have been driving since 9:30 am the previous morning.  To say I was tired was the understatement of the year!

I walked into the room and fell into bed and passed out.  We got a bit of a late start the next day but made it to Chicago to stay with my sister.  The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful.  But heed my warning.  If you are traveling across Nebraska and it is getting later in the day, call and make a reservation, otherwise you might end up driving much further than you want to.
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Chick or "Crack" Fillet

I don't know if you have ever had a meal at Chick-fill-a, but if you haven't you need to.  I have dubbed it Crack-fill-a, simply because the chicken is soooooooo good.  I love their chicken bites with the Chick-fill-a sauce.  Chick-fill-a sauce is basically a honey mustard, but it is amazingly good.  So if you are in the mood for some great chicken nuggets go to Chick-fill-a.

Going against the grain.

Have you ever felt like you are going against the norm?  I think most people have felt that way at one time or another.  I have not written for a while due to the fact that my family and I have made some huge changes in out life lately.  I just recently sold my dental practice and moved to Virginia.  I never imagined that I would end up on the east coast, but here I am.  I left my family back home in Idaho and moved across the country.  Why, you ask?  Because I was given  the opportunity of a life time.  I am now a dentist in Virginia.  Perhaps at a later date I will tell you all the details of the job I was given here but not today. 
Back to going against the grain.  Most of the people I know want to move closer to family and when they finally get close to family they don't want to leave.  For instance I know of a dentist who lived close to me in Idaho.  He had a friend who offered him $30,000.00 per month just to come to Nebraska and work.  His wife said no and as a result he is still in Idaho probably making 15,000.00 per month.  I would have jumped at the opportuinity to make 30k per month.  My wife and I talked about it quite a bit and we decided that after having been screwed by a prior business partner we needed to take advantage of this opportunity.  So here we go.  I am excited for the opprotuinty and I firmly believe that if you don't take a chance then you won't ever taste the sweet reward of success.
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