Day one of boot camp was largely uneventful. As expected, I am the only member of my cohort to be doing anything in my area. Most of the others are very serious, researching religion, women's issues, fat studies, political science, and popular music. There are a few in film but again, it's all very serious stuff. And then you get me, with my animation as a historical document, and I stand out just a little bit.

The other thing that apparently makes me stand out is that I not only have a family, but a family that followed me out here. I didn't realise that that was such an anomaly, which makes me all the more grateful for my anomalous little band.

I've already made some good acquaintances and I think that, given enough time, we might even become good friends. I've already informed Michael that we're going to be adopting one of the women out here whose husband returns to Europe at the end of the week. She's such a sweetheart and I'm just glad to have not met anyone too prickly yet. I know it's coming, as that isn't avoidable, but I've been very lucky so far.

The kids start school tomorrow. They're nervous. So am I.

Michael is more nervous about developments with his right hand. He tried to cut the tip of his right index finger off on Friday, trying to catch a freshly-sharpened knife as it fell. When the blood spurted from the wound, it was as if it, too, were Olympics-minded as it was all about the distance and the accuracy. I was standing across the kitchen and it still got me, splashing my shirt and the wall behind me. Once I talked him into going to the emergency room, I discovered the joys of driving while nauseated, trying to keep my eyes off the kitchen towel pressed to the wound.

The ER doc set most of our worries to rest and, after cleaning the wound, glued it shut. He also gave us, entirely off the record, mind you, instructions on how and when to use the gluing method. Given our treatment, I suspect that our relationship with the Wood County ER will be a long and (mostly) happy one.

Trying to find a family doctor might be another issue. Alex went in to see a new doctor today and I can't tell if the guy has been in the position too long or if he had an unpleasant consultation right before coming into our room, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted to be anywhere but in our room. I understand that doctors see a lot of patients and don't feel that they are compensated nearly what they want to be by insurance companies. I know that malpractice insurance and its costs have scared many right out of the field. However, I just need to know that I can go to this man with a concern about my children and have the reassurance that we will be treated with respect. I'm willing to give him one more shot, but if I don't think that we're clicking, we'll examine other options.

I think I took for granted the marvelous relationship we had with our last family doctor. We went to that office for the better part of ten years and we loved those people. I'm hoping for a similar situation with this new office.