California vs. Texas

My wisdom tooth is soaked in excruciating pain that it now has its own heartbeat. No kidding! But as I was watching That's The Question last night, I learned that there's a certain part of the brain that has its own anesthetic capability which would seemingly work when you don't think about the ache that registers your body. I know, that can't be serious, right? But it actually works. Once in a while. Just like Aleeve. But not really the eternal remedy I was hoping for.

Anyway, let's forget about this bastardly denture for a second, shall we? I've been thinking about this dilemma my mother, and this whole family, are presently facing. Well, it's not really a dilemma since I'm the only one who's entirely against the idea, but I'm pretty much on point, contrary to the rest. Allow me to fill you in.

My mom got a call from Cedar Sinai Medical Center last Monday. Suri Cruise, those Spederline kids, Kingston Stefani-Rossdale. Ring a bell? Yes. That Hollywood hospital. She could've landed a job there long before we moved to Texas, but she chose to be committed to her agency at that time. But since her ties with it, and Children's Medical Center, are soon to be unattached, she's been contemplating on which hospital she would rather spend the rest of her professional life in. She's obviously enthused by the Cedar Sinai opportunity, and although I'm pretty confident that she already has this in the bag, I still can't quite imagine myself living in a city like Los Angeles. Permanently. Unless I choose to be left here in Dallas. Forgive the skepticism, but I seriously have some issues.

We've been out of apartments for almost a year now, and I'm not one who'd take the risk of leaving this beautiful house in exchange of a 2-bedroom, fifteen-hundred-dollar apartment in Hollywood. Plus, this location can't get any more convenient. We're literally minutes away from the post office, gas station, interstate freeway, schools, church, a lane stacked with restaurants and fast food chains, Walmart, Target, mini malls, etc. This place is effin' awesome! That's why I can't be puzzled enough by their, my dad's specially, obsession over this whole moving idea. I mean, it was OK before 'cause we didn't have to tow furnitures with us, and we traveled not via land, but this is a totally different story. And I never imagined busting my ass driving a U-haul from one state to another. So please!

Family, yadda yadda yadda. Sure, it's definitely funner spending Holidays with the rest of the clan. I'm not that insensitive to not cognize the comfort of having people you know best in the same vicinity as you are. But how about being practical for once? Los Angeles isn't the best place on earth for a family like ours who's only halfway through being completely stable. If we're already jousting over tax payments in a state that only commands Federal tax, how much more if we move to a place where there's Federal, city, county, state, and all else? Let alone the cost of living, the percentage of interest I have to pay when I loan for college, and just about everything in that superstar expensive city that'd ruthlessly torture our bank books.

Okay, I might be a little too overreacting, but you get the drift. I've gotten used to the type of living here in Texas and it would take a lot to shift gears YET again. Here, everything's humbly cheap (well, compared to LA), there's the equally diverse community, time zone is PERFECT, and we get the four seasons. Even snow on lucky winters. But obviously, my point is beyond making snowballs during Christmas time. It's about gambling this more than contented life we're all zesting at the moment, for something so trivial as being in the same state as family. Yes, I said trivial, not big enough of a reason to me. Why? Because I'd rather spend a 500-dollar ticket to California every summer to see them all, than inescapably slap my face with traffic, stupid celebrities on the streets and ridiculous bills I can't even afford to pay.

I'm so glad I'm a Capricorn. It sometimes pays to be inevitably practical. But hey, I'm only one-fourth of this family and I don't make the decision alone. So... insha allah!