Feeling Pretty Good... Part A

How is it the United States can spend more per person for healthcare than countries that actually provide healthcare for their citizens? And for that money the government spends, we get the privilege of having to pay for expensive insurance policies, the possibility of going bankrupt (if you get really sick and go over the insurance cap) and no peace of mind (see: going bankrupt).

We are definitely not getting our money's worth.

Medical bankruptcy is a U.S. specialty and has led to this American invention: The Medical Fundraiser. For those of you reading overseas, this is where your friends and family get together and work their butts off planning Spaghetti Dinners and Silent Auctions to raise money for your medical bills. While I imagine it could be a moving experience, seeing all these people gathering for your benefit, it's probably also humiliating, like walking around the neighbourhood with a basket begging for coins to help keep your house. I feel terrible for families going through this and have donated at least fifty tiles to silent auctions, many for people I didn't know.

But when our sky came crashing down, so to speak, the thought of a fundraiser made the hair on my neck stand up. So instead I started studying for a license in real estate while working as an assistant to one of the best Realtors in our county. I have to say, the moment I received the study material and saw the amount I had to memorize, I realised I'd underestimated the exams for sure...

...and probably real estate agents themselves as well. Spending the last year on the inside has allowed me to see how hard a good Realtor works. They don't deserve the flack they get for sure.

So I studied, freaked myself out hearing about the percentage of people who don't pass the first time, delayed taking the test because I didn't want to face the fact I may have become stupider in the twenty years it's been since I took a big (4 hour) exam - and then I did great on them. PHEW!

Warning: I'm about to brag a little. Okay, so I was the last one to come out of the testing centre and the proctor told me I was the only one to pass both exams, let alone score well, and that two of the people were there taking it for the second time. Yay me!

That meant I could exhale, and start looking for an employer. I spent last week interviewing / being interviewed, and then was shocked to experience the feeling of being wooed. Probably the last time that's ever going to happen! Enjoyed it immensely, and then chose Keller-Williams Realty, where I'm starting tomorrow.

But on a sadder note, tonight while eating dinner outside the girls challenged us parents to show off our cartwheels... and in an attempt to make mine better than Nick's comical offering, I think I pulled a groin muscle. Just when I was feeling like I'd gotten slightly ahead of my years for a bit...

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Note from Nick: "Let it be known I did three cartwheels, and never pulled a muscle!"


Note from Kim: "You need to straighten your legs to pull a muscle." :)