Happy Fourth of July from the Dhyanchands. This is a picture of Natalie and Oliver at the Garden Montessori School parade. Natalie rode her scooter and wore her patriotic socks and had red and blue fingernails. Oliver wore his red white and blue shirt, but as you can see was not really interested in wearing the tri-cornered hat from Williamsburg.

The Past Three Months & Getting Up Off the 'Couch'

Here's what we have been up to the past three months.

I need to start back with ABQ. Our experience in ABQ had its bright points, but overall we were feeling tired of being on the road. The patients and staff I worked with in the VA were nice people, but I never felt that I connected with the organization. Suffice it to say there seemed to be too much bureaucracy and politics that affected everything. In any case, we were feeling strongly that this might be the last locums job abroad for a while.

Our trip to Colorado was a nice reprieve, which Karen detailed in the previous few posts. We had a safe, uneventful trip home and we were glad to be back. I was lined up to work with Cherokee Health Systems one more time. This time I was in the Seymour, TN office, working directly with my friends from residency, Ken and Betsy Mays and Richelle Schiro. But Karen and I were really tackling the question of what to do next. We were feeling that the time had come to settle into something more permanent.

We prioritized ideas of what we were looking for in a community - walkability, good school system, job, etc. We eventually landed on North Canton, Ohio, where Karen grew up and her sister currently resides. North Canton has an excellent public school system. It is a small enough community that everything is easily accessible without spending much time in the car. It is within easy driving distance of museums, etc. in Canton, Akron, and Cleveland. There is a great airport within 3 miles. There are extended family ties to the area as well.

So I began my new job search at the same time I started my new job in Seymour. We made a trip up to North Canton in May where I interviewed with 2 nearby community health centers. I decided to join Akron Community Health Resources, a small but growing community health center in South Akron. I was most impressed by their management. This job is 12 miles from North Canton - my shortest commute ever. The timing for the new job worked perfectly as they needed me in July shortly after my time with Cherokee would be finished.

As for selling our house, we have had it on the market since early May with only a handful of showings. However, the market slump favored us in our purchase of a new home. We found one pretty easily that was everything we were looking for at a great price AND only 7 doors down from Northwood elementary school! It has a remodeled kitchen, a sunroom, gardens and a level picturesque yard with a playland. We were especially excited by a blueberry bush growing on the property. You can view pictures of our new house at this link.

I finished working at Cherokee in mid-June, and once again had a great experience. Since then I have had some time off which I have mostly spent giving Karen a break from the kids. We have also worked determinedly at getting in some last minute Knoxville and Tennessee experiences before we leave. These have included going up the Sunsphere and World's Fair Park, eating at Tomato Head, and visiting our friend J.D. Dimick's farm, for starters. Most importantly, it has been a time to reconnect with good friends before our departure. The photo album titled "Back in Knoxville" shows some of these most recent adventures. I have captioned some of the photos to provide explanation.

Right now we are in the middle of packing boxes and planning the logistics of our move next week. We will be starting our life in our new house on Wednesday, July 9. My new job begins on July 14.

PS - If you are confused about the 'Couch' reference in the title, check out this travel section from the New York Times.

More Boulder

Today and yesterday we squeezed in all we could of Boulder. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, visited the Dushanbe Tea House, ate lunch by the ampitheater, visited the library, walked the labyrinth by the stream. Then today we went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster and walked around the Cochran's neighborhood and found bunnies and prairie dogs. We re-celebrated Oliver's 5th birthday with his friend Riley who turns 5 in two weeks. He is beaming in the picture with his new Cracken shirt! We are all looking forward to flying home tomorrow to our own beds and to our own kitties!

Tea Tour/NCAR

Friday we enjoyed taking a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. The mint room cleared our sinuses and the gift shop took our money. :) We found a letterbox at the edge of the tea factory's parking lot, so we stamped in. Then we let the kids play at the Scott Carpenter Park, named after the famous astronaut. A family of 5 deer crossed the road when we drove up to NCAR - the National Center for Atmospheric Research. CD's friend Raj Pandya, an old friend from his high school in Rockford, works there and gave us a tour. We enjoyed the views of the Flatirons and Devil's Thumb and ended the big day with a dinner at Red Robin.

Denver Zoo

Thursday we spent the afternoon at the Denver Zoo. We enjoyed the Komodo Dragons, Polar Bears, and more. The weather was hailing in the morning, sunny at noon, cloudy and windy in the afternoon, so we mostly visited the animals in the buildings! Then at night we got to meet up with Geetha and Mark for dinner. Oops! We forgot to take their picture, so you can't meet them. We had just been at their wedding last Labor Day weekend and saw them again in San Diego last October. The kids enjoyed seeing their condo and meeting their cats , Chance and Prudence. Oliver especially enjoyed Mark's Godzilla toy!

Garden of the Gods

Wednesday we stopped by Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs while on our way north. We enjoyed the amazing geology and took a little hike. We saw some beautiful magpies nesting in the trees at the base of the rock formations. We were amazed by a lot of brave rock climbers attempting to scale the rocks that they were allowed on. At the Visitors Center, Oliver found some prehistoric squid painted on the mural above our heads. Then we drove up to Denver and met our friend Lyn Davies and her daughter Brynn at a restaurant in Englewood. Unfortunately, Jeff had to stay at home because he was sick. Then we drove to Superior, CO to stay with our Friends the Cochrans who moved here from Knoxville last summer.

Santa Fe Revisited

Monday we left ABQ and headed to Santa Fe again. Before leaving we took pictures of the kids Favorite Easter eggs before eating them for breakfast, in case you're wondering what those pictures are. Once in Santa Fe, we headed for the plaza. The kids enjoyed the Daffy Duck bench outside the Chuck Jones Gallery. We enjoyed the Georgia O'Keeffe museum. The kids used Daddy's sketchbook to try their hand at drawing a buffalo skull. Tuesday morning we went to Loretto Chapel to see the famous spiral staircase. We also enjoyed the Dancing St. Francis sculpture outside the Cathedral down the street. Natalie and I visited the Palace of the Governors which she had read about in her Josefina books. I stuck my head in the new state capitol building and enjoyed all of the amazing art, esp. the new art quilt exhibit. Then we all headed to the Museum Hill to take in the amazing International Folk Art Museum and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Both places had really fun children's areas and amazing exhibits. Note the fun adobe playhouse in the pictures. Then we found a playground for the kids in a remote area east of town near the Santa Fe National Forest. Even this remote play area had a St. Francis statue looking across the mountain toward a cemetery on the hill.