What a crazy month

January 2010.

With the build out of the office done, we had a lot of organizing to do. And a lot of systems to set up. We didn't know much of our future. And everything we were doing was big and important and it all felt like it should have been done weeks ago. It was stressful. Although Rob's sister was as helpful as she could be (pregnant and homeschooling her 4 other kids), we just couldn't drop our kids off to her full time so we could work at the office full time. One Saturday, while we were organizing, we ended up putting Evelynn down for a nap in Rob's office while the kids watched a movie on a computer. We almost had to do that another time.

A new employee was necessary. Rob felt stuck at the office so he could answer phones, but he really wanted to get out to meet dentists (the main referral base). I went in when I could, and when I couldn't, I was shopping and doing business as well as I could at home, with three small children often needing me. We posted an ad for a front office administrator...and within a week, we had over 100 applicants! It was crazy reading through all those resumes! My heart went out to so many of them, knowing that times are tough. But we also wanted someone "wonderful." I did 8 phone interviews and narrowed it down to about 6 personal interviews for Rob. Although they were all highly qualified, and we had narrowed it down to a favorite, none of them had worked for an orthodontist before, and it just didn't feel right when we prayed about it. We felt like we needed someone with experience working for an orthodontist.

I was burned out from reading resumes. But, I didn't want to work full time at the office, either. It just doesn't feel right for me (and, luckily, Rob supports me in that). So, I went through the "qualified" ones one last time and did phone interviews with two ladies. One talked about the office she worked for...and it was almost picture perfect. She described a work atmosphere and systems that we wanted in place at our office. The other talked about all the problems at the last office...so that made our choice easy. Rob interviewed the first and hired her on the spot. She started working two weeks later, and she really has been a huge asset to Rob's practice.

But we did manage to have some fun. It helped us stay sane...and at least laugh through the tears.Afternoon at the park...in t-shirts! Jan 10


Then a couple of snow days after a big snow! Jan 21

A family hike on a nearby trail. Jan 16

Celebration dinner on Jan 13. Celebrate Rob's first patient, first day of real work, and Chris and Elice found out they are having a girl!