Ambiguous update

Today, the UIC Applicant Status Check read:
"A final decision was made on your application on 03-27-09. Please allow two-weeks to receive the correspondence in the mail. If you do not receive this correspondence in two-weeks, please contact the Admissions Office. No decision will be given over the telephone."

Bring on the distractions

It may not be an accurate mindset, but as of Saturday I entered "any day now" mode about medical school. I will exercise my restraint by only checking the mail once a day, which really is not hard to do since I am not there.
Lee and I went house hunting this past weekend. It is unbelievable what things are going for now. Lee and I planned on finding something that was a little dated that we could spruce up over time but the new constructions/renovations are SO cheap that there is no way that we could ever remodel so well for the relative price difference. Just to give you an idea, there was one place that we saw that was immaculate. Absolutely the best materials available. The area is one that has been undergoing gentrification for the past couple decades. The street it is on is very nice though. It was a 3 unit building, all basically the same. The top unit sold for 333,000 in 10/07. The bottom unit sold for 310,000 in 6/08. The middle unit dropped its list price to 219,000.
The only drawback to the weekend was that we found out that a lot of condos do not accept FHA loans. Unfortunately, living in areas close to mass transit means looking at condos almost exclusively. We are diligently scrounging every penny and trying to find additional work where possible. It is our hope that 20% might be within our reach at closing and that we don't wipe ourselves out in the process. Meanwhile, we are trying to obviate the supplemental condo association hoops.

Anyone out there need any medicinal chemistry consultation?

-JohnMark

Busy Daze

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last weekend we went down to Kentucky for Lisa's Birthday (Lee's mother). We had a very peaceful ride on the train down to Carbondale, where we were picked up. Going back to Kentucky or Oklahoma always illuminates the parity of what our lives were and what they are now. I have driven a car a handful of times in the last 6 months. The distant screeching of trains is a lullaby. Everything we need is within walking distance (walkscore 98). Everything slowed down. It was so peaceful, calm, primal. Apart from familial encounters, our primary focus everyday was food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner galore. I cannot recall a time that I have had better Southern cooking. I have yet to brave the scale.
It was terrific to see Mama Houston and we even headed further out to see the relatives in Mayfield. As the custom goes, everyone felt obliged to give me a tour. It seems oddly coincidental that we will be looking at houses here in Chicago this weekend.

I discovered that Lee and I have opposing "time styles." Naturally, this was not news to Lee. Somewhere along the way I became terrible at determining how long things take. When I was younger I could approximate how long it took to arrive at places. 5 miles = 6 minutes. When I try to give a realistic timeframe here, it is always the best case scenario in actual practice. Hopstop and google maps always lowball things. I never thought of myself as a "dreamer," because I accomplish things. I am not just talk. Yeah for oxymorons.

Thursday is Match Day, the day when all the graduating medical seniors are assigned to their residencies. Consequently, Friday is when the wait will officially begin as to whether I am accepted at UIC. I am hoping to hear within the next couple weeks. Please continue to pray for me until then.

-JohnMark

JM's Dancing Debut

Oh, I know that you all have been waiting for this. After me yelling at just about everyone at Carnival, they have finally located the DVD that we ordered in January. For awhile there, I thought that they had lost it, and we wouldn't be able to share this most special memory with you.

I know you are going to love it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOSd4vZwiA

House Info

Well, Lee and I are landlords! The house was finally rented out on Thursday. It is such a HUGE relief for me. At times, it seemed like this day would never come. I purchased the house in November 2007 and we tried to put it up for sell a year later. Ofcourse, the market had taken an awful turn by that time. A relative of a neighbor asked if we would be interested in renting it out, so we began preparing to rent it out then. It was ultimately ready in January (which was the when the neighbor's relative's lease was up). The house was inspected-failed, inspected-passed-wrong paperwork, inspected-failed and as of Thursday inspected-passed. Mind you, the renter had to move in when she left her former residence. The bureaucracy took over a month to get everything straight. Everyday I would disillusion myself that "today was the day." The day I finally gave up and decided to focus on something else was the day we received the news. To sugarcoat everything they will retroactively be paying the missed rent. We will be receiving twice our monthly mortgage payment (15-yr mortgage even).
Lee and I had some difficulty accumulating all of the necessary documents for our taxes this year. We decided that we would have our taxes done, because we both consulted, had 9 w-2s, moved 2-5 times, attended school, repaired a house, etc. I am sure glad we did. I ended up having to pay a hundred-fold less than I thought thanks to some clever CPAs. All of a sudden, purchasing a house in IL seems more reasonable. That is our next big project.

Square Root Day

I have been trying to avoid thinking about med school by dwelling on other things. Lately, I have been focusing on the OKC house, which is not a superior alternative. It is so aggravating and nerve-racking trying to settle all of this mess. Everyday brings new promise and new disappointment. The house is terrific, all parties agree, but somehow bureaucracy rules the day. The wheels turn incalculably slow.
I am trying to be proactive by working on things over which I have some slight level of control. This week my focus is on getting back on track with an exercise regimen. Since I fell off the wagon I have not gained any weight back. I am still ahead of my weightloss schedule but not by much.
PS 3/3/09 is square root day.

JohnMark

First Devotional

Hello Dear Reader,

Lee and I have started our first devotional as a married couple. We went through several devotionals prior to gettin' hitched, but we took a break since we haven't "had time." Consequently we started Your Time-Starved Marriage. The irony is, naturally, that we did not feel quite so time-starved as soon as we began the devotional. I think it is a quality book, it has already hit upon an unrecognized problem of mine. I have a tendency to think "we'll go out and do more after the house is rented (still a "no" for those of you playing the home game)," or "...after med school" or "after my residency." We are both planners (it's true whether Lee believes it or not) and consequently we have to push ourselves a little more to live in the moment.

In the current moment, I feel that I am in a vacuous waiting game. Waiting to hear about the house, waiting to hear about med school interviews and an acceptance, etc. I am usually very patient.

-JohnMark