Free Dave Ramsey Class

Dave has a 13-week program called Financial Peace University. Enrolled members meet once a week at a church or community center and go through the steps of getting out of debt, building an emergency fund, investing, life insurance/will/estate planning, etc.

I just heard that Dave is giving away a free class for people who have never been to FPU and would like to check it out. I signed up, and I hope any of you who are interested get the chance to check it out as well.

Click here to register:

Dave's Free FPU Class

Once you've registered, you can choose the date and location near you that you'd like to attend.

Eating Glass and Breaking Teeth

Today I ate glass and broke a tooth. I would say that most people who eat glass break their teeth afterward. I am one of the lucky few to have this experience in reverse order:

First, my temporary crown broke to tiny little pieces while I was eating a tootsie roll before dinner. It reminded me of one of Melissa's recurrent dreams (by the way I've dreamed of losing my teeth as well, Melissa). It was odd to experience that in real life this time, though much less traumatizing.

After breaking my tooth, when I was at the church, I was offered dinner by the person who fed the missionaries tonight. They were just finishing up when I arrived, and she didn't want to take home leftovers. Before I started shoveling, they told me to watch out for broken glass. (WHAT?! I figured it was some weird inside joke about glass or cooking or something... they COULDN'T have been serious!)

I soon felt a sharp feeling in the roof of my mouth and carefully pulled out a small (1/2 cm x 1 mm x 1 mm) shard of glass. Then I saw the broken glass lid on the counter and decided to evacuate the contents of my mouth into a napkin.

At this point, allow me to celebrate the last day of finals by sharing one last multiple choice question:

What do I do with the remaining pasta?
a. Stop eating it and throw it away
b. Mix some dirt with it and continue eating
c. Keep eating it, but this time more carefully
d. Complain to the cook and demand a raincheck

Being the natural test-taker that I have been this week, I picked C and kept eating. Maybe I was thinking that if I chewed slow enough that the glass wouldn't be there any more. At any rate, I had those hard crunchy sensations again, and decided to erase C and fill in A. (Hey, I didn't get into Optometry school for nothin').

Luckily the preparer of the tasty meal was in the other room with the missionaries. When I saw her later, I thanked her and let her know it tasted great (which it did, aside from the texture).

I am currently imagining a shard of glass, inadvertently swallowed, slicing at my insides during its course over the next several hours. Please keep my bowels in your prayers.

The point of the story is:
THANK GOODNESS FINALS ARE OVER!!!

The Lobbyist

☆ lob·by·ist (noun) - a person, acting for a special interest group, who tries to influence the introduction of or voting on legislation or the decisions of government administrators

Yes folks, I have become a lobbyist. This week took a short trip to Washington, DC and met with members of congress about supporting bills that are pro-optometry. My trip was:

(1) FUN - we stayed at the JW Marriott Hotel with a bunch of students and optometrists from all over the country (about 500 total), and had excellent food, cheese and wine shmoozing parties and other alcohol events (I always got an ice water with lemon). It was so exciting to see historic sites such as the White House, the Washington Monument, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and a bunch of other cool looking buildings that I'm sure have historic significance.

(2) AFFORDABLE - to pay for the trip, the AOA (American Optometric Association) gave me a scholarship of $500. My expenses included $140 in airfare plus $120 for food, taxis, etc while on the trip. I was PAID to go on this trip!

(3) EDUCATIONAL - I had NO idea how important it was to be involved politically in my profession. If it were not for the AOA, optometrists literally wouldn't have any rights. Just 50 years ago or so we weren't even allowed to dilate patients' eyes, and now we're treating medical conditions like glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It was also very eye-opening to see how our government works. I was very surprised to find out how nice and available our congessmen are. The handful that I met with (from OH) were very sincere, concerned, and honest men. This was very refreshing. I also learned that they could never possibly become experts on every single issue that they vote on, so they need US to be the expert on the issues that matter to us, and to inform them about what issues they need to support and why. Many times we complain about government, yet we sit idly by not allowing our voices to be heard.

While I forgot my camera (oops), we took lots of group pictures, so I'll post some when I get a hold of those... they should be on facebook in a couple of days, but I'll put a few up on the blog when I get them.