What's next?

I didn't make any new year's resolutions this year, but if I had, one might be to stay flexible in 2010.

Friends and family are starting to ask us when we are coming home and where we are going next and my answer is, it's complicated.

When we started this journey we were relieved and happy that 1) C.J. was able to pursue his dream and 2) the part where we lived out of the country was only two years.

It never crossed our minds that the time to transition back to the states would be challenging. Turns out, moving home is trickier than we realized. Here's a long-winded answer about why we don't exactly know what's next.

Med school lasts four years. The first two years are in the classroom and the second two years are in the hospital. The close of this semester will mark the end of C.J.'s classroom learning in Grenada. In August, he will begin hospital (aka clinical) rotations in America.

But before he can go on to the hospital years, he must take the USMLE Step 1, a cumulative test of all the book learning thus far. It's a long, scary, deal-breaker test that requires intense preparation (i.e. study your brains out every minute of every day for at least six weeks).

C.J. takes the test sometime in July at a testing center in a yet-to-be-determined American city. So we will make a big move back to the states, find temporary housing and set up a new routine all before he gets down to studying.

I say temporary housing because we will not move to our clinical location until after the test.

We will tentatively know in April where we will be placed for clincals. However, the school discourages students setting up a permanent home until the final confirmation is given in early August. Only 70 percent of students get their original placement. Due to hospital contracts and attrition students could be moved at the last minute.

So, between mid-May and mid-July we are looking for the best place for C.J. to prepare for the USMLE. We could stay here but we'd still have to return to America before the test. We'd rather get that disruption out of the way before he starts studying.

Going back to Texas seems like an obvious choice, but it's not that simple. Top priority is that we live somewhere quiet with few distractions and good study space as well as a good library located near by.

And it should be affordable. And have two rooms so we can all get some sleep. And furnished, since we no longer own furniture. Oh yeah, and in an ideal world it would be not too far away from C.J.'s best study partner, who will probably be living in Utah.

Distractions and space issues rule out staying with our families. Distractions and cost of living rule out Austin, although I'd obviously have the most fun there. And anywhere we live in Texas means C.J. will have to stay motivated to study alone which is a tough proposition.

Moving to Utah is being discussed but logistically could be a pain for us since all our resources and everything familiar is in Texas.

A lot of students in the same predicament go to a six week Kaplan retreat to study. These retreats are in random cities like Pittsburgh or Atlanta. They usually include room and board at a hotel and all-day classes to prepare for the test. But C.J. doesn't learn best in a classroom environment, not to mention that we don't really want to live apart for six weeks (Liam and I may shack up with family under this scenario).

So we are still weighing our options. We're talking it over with everyone we know (o.k., I'm talking it over, C.J.'s immersed in pharmacology). We're open to suggestions and advice. We're in the information-gathering stage.

Once the test is behind us we will be in Texas seeing family and friends and gathering what's left of our worldly possessions for a cross-country move.

We are most likely going to New York or New Jersey for clinicals because that is where SGU offers the most placements. We will get a list of available hospitals this month and then rank our top three choices by March, although SGU may or may not honor our preferences.

See what I mean by complicated? The only thing I'm sure of at the moment is that we have plane tickets to Houston on May 20.

I'm going to focus on my non-resolution and not stress out about it. There is plenty of time to figure it out and first priority at the moment is just making it through this term.

But now you know why I hesitate when asked about life after Grenada. We honestly don't know, and I don't think we'll have answers until the end of the semester. Let the adventure continue.