House for Rent

We are planning to rent our house furnished. There has been one group of girls (one of our babysitters) interested. There is also a lady coming by on Thurs. to look. She is from Duke and is doing a sabbatical year at Vanderbilt. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a good situation!

LEMONADE

If you've never heard of Saipan, you're not alone. It is an island in the South Pacific--the other side of the world--and the Hutchisons' proverbial lemonade. It is a great opportunity that we would never have considered had we not been presented with some desperate straits (the lemon, as provided by my former clinic).
Much can happen during a lent season. We were more engaged in the spirit of lent this year, and it turned out to be one for the ages. It started with Ash Wednesday, the very day I was fired (for doing nothing less than I was taught and asked to do). The message of the Ash Wednesday service at church addressed the "brokenness" of humanity, and we were right where they wanted us.
The loss of a job and income, a looming (new) debt, and the misrepresentation of my character helped us get on the fast-track to the lenten spirit of sacrifice and stripping of one's security and life's superfluity (at least, that is my understanding of lent so far). And we were encouraged by what we had left. It seemed at first that I/we had lost everything, but we soon recognized that we indeed have everything: Our love is strong, our kids are healthy, and we have the luxury and gift of good education/credentials.
So we spent lent exercising patience, calling on friends, and in "prayerful consideration" about a dilemma that seemed to have no tolerable solution. We waited and trusted.

It was Kim's idea...What if we take a year off? What if we approach this loan repayment period as a kind of sabbatical year during which we not only survive the lemon, but rather make lemonade by transplanting our family into a geography and culture like nothing we've known? Kim's work was cool with holding her position for a year, and Kim was cool with not working for a year.
At that moment, the possibilities seemed endless. We considered rural America, Indian Reservations, remote Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and the South Pacific. Our imaginations ran wild.
In the end, coincident with the renewal of Easter, we decided on Saipan. It is 5mi wide, 13mi long, with 70,000 people. We will travel there in June (20+ hours in the air with two kids--have mercy) with what we can pack in suitcases. We'll find housing and a vehicle. I will be working in a primary care clinic, taking shifts in the emergency room of the only hospital on the island, and seeing patients at the Saipan jail.
We are aiming to live simply. We hope to grow professionally. We plan to lay in the sand a lot.
We'll send pictures.

An Interesting Spring

Hello to our friends and family and welcome to the first entry on our new "blog". Yes, we are new at this, but it seems like a logical way to communicate with folks.

We have had an interesting Spring this year. Ryan abruptly lost his job a couple of months ago (late Feb. '07) after he volunteered that he had been participating in an unknown wrongful billing practice. It ends up that signing off on a "nurse's visit" is illegal because his "nurses" are actually "medical assistants" and do not qualify for this standard practice. Despite being trained this way 2 years prior, and being the top provider for UNHS's five clinics in the area, Ryan was asked to leave 5 minutes after volunteering this information. Obviously, this was devastating to him, especially after investing his blood, sweat, and tears to the betterment of the clinic. There was no reasoning with his superiors, and after some hurtful banter between attorneys, Ryan took a "resignation" and has moved on.

After starting his job at UNHS, Ryan became involved in a government loan repayment program which requires him to work at a designated underserved site for 2 years. He was 6 months shy of completing his commitment when his job ended. Unfortunately, there are no other available sites in the Nashville area (the closest one is 80+ miles away).

Not knowing what to do next, we considered several options. These included Ryan commuting 150 miles daily, him living away from the family during the week and home on the weekends, or just paying the money back (plus interest which would require taking out a home equity loan). Ryan being away from the family was not a good option, which led to the final option of the whole family going away.

When looking at the available sites around the country (and a few off the mainland), we decided to be adventurous. We are now planning to move to Saipan, a US Commonwealth island in the South Pacific (near Guam, between Japan and Australia) for a year. We plan to leave in late June. Vanderbilt has graciously given me a "leave of absence" for a year and I can come back to my same position when I return (my research grant will also be put on hold). I will work one day per week as a general neurologist on the island and spend the rest of the time with the kids at the beach!

Well, that is a lot of information but it is difficult to shorten the story. I have added some links about Saipan. We will plan to rent our house furnished for the year and rent a house or condo on Saipan.

Love to all!