Deep in the heart of Texas

Every year the AAPA (National Physician Asst. Association) holds a conference in a different city. It is every May and this year, fell over memorial weekend. We get together to hear lectures on current management, therapy and treatment of diseases and conditions. It is a great way for me to earn education credit that I need to keep my license. It is also a great excuse to take a vacation and see a new city. This year they picked San Antonio.

Wende and I were both excited, because we had never been there, or to Texas for that matter. She was even more elated than I was because she had always wanted to go to TX find a young handsome cowboy to marry. Then she met me and I said, "hey baby why do you want to go all the way to TX when you got a hot Mexiraniahawaindian right here in Salt Lake. Marry me!" and she did.

As excited as we were, we faced a dilemma. One that as parents we had not faced until this point. Now those of you without kids won't truly understand until you have them, but leaving your child for the first time can be very hard. We discussed for weeks whether or not to take Macie with us or have a trip together, which we had not had in the last year. So after much debate we finally decided to give it a shot and leave her with the Crystal and Evan. We knew she would have fun, plus she would have some cousins to play with.

The first couple of days were hard, being away from her, but we managed and had a great time. We did the tourist thing and visited the Riverwalk and took the boat ride. Pretty cool if you like history. We also met up with our old pal TJ (a fellow PA) and his family to have some drinks at the local piano bar - Howl at the Moon.

Now, I have only a couple of friends that go way back to childhood. Actually 2, Dave Branham whom I see on a regular basis. The other is Spencer Curtis. Spencer and I have been buds since we ate glue together in 3rd grade. But unfortunately d/t jobs, kids, the military, we don't get to see each other too often. He just so happens to be married to a good friend of mine from high school, Rosalee. Any by coincidence they and their three children live in San Antonio. He is finishing up residency for anesthesiology in the Air Force and they are currently stationed there. As I said, we do not get to see them too often. Matter of fact the last time was 2 yrs ago in San Fransisco at a previous PA conference.

So luckily we got to spend a couple of days hanging out with them, and catching up on old times. They guys played some golf while the ladies went shopping, we BBQ'd and we took the kids to the local water park and had some great Mexican food. We had a blast and it was great to see them.

I had to take a picture of the Starbucks Wende frequented every morning of our trip. We had one in the lobby of our hotel, but the machine was not working to make her grande iced caramel, nonfat, no whip, white chocolate, raspberry, pomegranate, cappuccino thingy she swears by. So luckily for her we had another Starbucks about 2 blocks away. Because as you know they are everywhere and like Walmart, they are taking over the world.

We did make it to the Alamo before we left, however it was the last morning of our trip. Unfortunately it was not open yet that morning so we didn't get to take the official tour. Wende was secretly happy about that as she hates the guided tours I drag her through everywhere we go (I love history).

After 5 days away from our Macie, we finally made it home. We were both so happy to see her. The Hales survived having 4 girls (poor Evan). All in all it was a great trip. We can't wait until next year. Oh and just in case my boss sees this, I did make it to some of the conference. ;-)