All I want to do right now is cry and sleep. We are leaving for Florida tomorrow morning and I have no desire to pack. It's that bad. Moving has become a nightmare. I never really had a good feeling about it to begin with, but it is going to be worse than I thought. The main employer in Janesville, GM, just announced that they are cutting the entire second shift, permanently laying off 750 employees. And because practically every other job in that damn city is dependent upon GM, other workers will be laid off, too. So, with literally thousands of suddenly unemployed people in a city with a population of only 60,000, the prospects of Donald finding a decent job are suddenly not so good.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Donald talked to his mom tonight and they've only filled my classes with about 8 kids so far. I need at least 30 to work full-time. In her words, worst case scenario is that I do the Kindergarten part-time and daycare part-time. I couldn't do it. I do not have six years of higher education to potty train kids. Sorry. Not to mention the daycare portion would only pay $10 an hour, if I'm lucky. Screw that. If I can't do the Kindergarten thing full-time, I'll have to find a different full-time job. And I just talked about how fun that's going to be.

I am so frustrated. Donald and I have worked too hard to throw everything away. I am NOT going to be broke again. We lived paycheck to paycheck for seven years. It's just been the last year that we've actually had the freedom of not counting every penny that we spend. I will not get back to that point again. Maybe I'm spoiled, but life is too short. I feel like we're making the biggest damned mistake of our lives....and I don't know what to do about it.

So yeah, I guess I need a vacation. Good thing we're leaving on one tomorrow - if I can motivate myself to pack, that is.

Some pictures from the last few weeks....

Donald and I went to the Obama rally when he was in town a couple weeks ago. We were right next to the entrance and we both got to shake his hand. It was awesome!

We spent 3 days on the Coast last week. Lauren loves to jump!

And jump!

Mommy and her baby.

Holding sand in her hands.

The "homeless" look is in this season. I always tell her she looks homeless when her hair's not brushed. Hah!

Lauren and the freaky Easter bunny today at the egg hunt.

I got caught in this picture. I just had to show off my fabulous new hair cut!

We colored eggs today!

Look at this one!

Yep, I'm sassy!

Ah, spring break. I so needed this week off. A lot of people think that breaks during the school year make teachers spoiled, but let me tell you, if we didn't get a week off from the kids, the kids wouldn't make it until the end of the year. I've spent my time off reading a novel and getting a little school work done. Not enough, but a little.

We went to the coast last weekend so Donald could play in a slot tournament. He didn't win, but we had fun anyway. It was nice to unwind for a couple days (well, a day really, because it always take me at least the first two days to actually unwind, and by the time that happens, it's time to go home). But whatever. I spent Sunday laying on the beach and that was glorious.

Tomorrow I am meeting with my host teacher for several hours so we can plan the next two weeks. I take over full-time teaching the Monday we get back, which I'm trying to forget about for right now. I can't believe I only have three weeks left. I'm ready to be done and sad for it to be over at the same time.

I'm still conflicted about going back to Wisconsin. Just the thought of being back makes me want to puke. Everyone else is so excited that we are coming home. Donald's family, my family, and our friends couldn't be happier. Don't get me wrong, I do miss all those people, but it has been so nice living a relatively stress-free existence for the past two years. We do our own thing, and that works for us. Maybe it sounds selfish, but I don't want my family calling me to do them favors anymore. Plus the winters suck. Thankfully we missed this one (they got something like 90 inches of snow! Holy fuck!).

Oh yes, I can't forget to tell you that Lauren has learned to swear in context. On our way back from the coast, we'd pulled into a gas station to get a drink. On our way out of the parking lot, a car pulled out in front of us. Surprisingly, Donald didn't swear. Not a second later, from the back seat, Lauren says "Dumb ass". I cracked up. It was so obvious that she was talking about the other car, too. She's also been calling Pa "shit head" and then saying "Pee-ew". Haha! She is such a little pickle head lately. I've taught her to say "I am tenacious" because that is exactly what she is. When she wants something, we wants it NOW thank you very much. FWIW, she can also say "I am ferocious". I think that's right on, too. Heh.

And because I have nothing better to do (yeah, right), I have to tell you that my father got his nipple pierced this weekend.

I honestly can't believe that I'm going to write this, but here goes. We're moving. Back. to. Wisconsin. I know. It's the stupidest idea we've had in a very long time. Except it's not that stupid. We have free daycare (Donald's mom runs a daycare), and Lauren will have family taking care of her all day, every day (Donald's sisters teach at the daycare). It's one of the best centers in the city, too. So that there will save us nearly $800 a month. Also, I already have a job. Janesville just passed 4-K so I'll be teaching that at Cargill (where I used to work). Donald is guaranteed a job back at the Gazette if he wants it, but he'll look for something better first. We can stay with Donald's parents until we get a house, which will also save us some money. It will be a very smart (financially, anyway) move for us, and hopefully we'll be able to buy a house soon. I never thought we'd end up back in Wisconsin, but I guess it wasn't as bad as we thought it was. We still want to move to Portland someday, but we need to wait until the economy is better and we both have guaranteed jobs there. I still think we are crazy...but, oh well!

Irrated...

Ugh, I had a shitty day at school today. First, when I arrived at six this morning to get ready for the day, I discovered that my host teacher moved my desk and all my stuff after I left yesterday. Then, to top it off, I'm not able to fit a chair where she put my desk, so I don't have a chair at my desk. Her solution is to use my desk area as a "storage area" and then do my work at the round table that is six feet away (and usually covered with crap). What a pain. She said that she moved my desk to make it look like there was more room in the classroom. Why that matters, I'm not sure, but whatever.

There are a couple other things that are irritating me to, but they're too complicated to explain and I'm tired. They all mostly stem from the fact that my host teacher cannot make a decision to save her life and tries to make everyone happy all of the time. I've come to the conclusion over the past few weeks that you're going to piss someone off no matter what you do, so you might as well just do what you want. Today she was trying to make a decision about what time she wanted me to teach math tomorrow when I was trying to leave for Lauren's swim lesson. She finally said that I'd teach at a certain time, which was fine with me, so I hurried out of there. Then, she called me on my cell on my way home and said that she'd changed her mind so that I could teach later in the day because I'd seemed stressed. I wasn't stressed, I was just trying to get the hell out of there! Then she played the pity card that she was probably going to be at school until seven tonight and that she'd try to get everything done so that she could teach reading right away in the morning.

I know that none of these things are major. My host teacher and I really do get along quite well, even though we are very different. It is really hard to share someone else's classroom and try to fit in to their routines that have already been established. But, it will all be over in a little over four weeks and then hopefully next fall I'll have my own classroom!

Ah, thanks for letting me bitch....

It's going to be a good day....

Donald and Lauren went to Wal-Mart and to get Krispy Kremes, and I'm here actually getting stuff done. It's a freakin' miracle. Later they are going to the park to feed the mean geese, so that's even better. Maybe I won't be completely stressed this week.

Speaking of stressed, only 5 weeks to go! Two weeks before spring break, which won't really be a break since I'm woefully behind in my actual school work. So, my nine days will be spent writing papers and (hopefully) finishing my teacher work sample. Oh, minus the three days that we are going to the coast for a much-deserved break. Should be fun.

In other news, it appears we are going to go ahead and move. If I had my way, we'd be staying here another year or two (I can't believe I'm saying it either), but only because I absolutely adore the school that I'm teaching in and am pretty sure I could score a job there. Donald has made his position known, and he is 1000% ready to move, so I guess I have to let him have a say in the matter. I don't know dates or even details, but our lease is up here the end of May, so it'll be around that time. Cross your fingers that I'll be able to find a job where ever we end up!

Since I'm bored and awake, I figured I could spare a few minutes to give my blog a much-needed update. While I really should be planning my science lessons for next week, I'm so sick of school crap that I need a distraction.

Student teaching is going really well. I just finished my 5th week, so I have 7 weeks to go! It is going really fast, but these past 5 weeks have been the longest of my life. Does that make sense? My kids are all (mostly) sweet. About half of them brought me a gift for Valentine's; I could hardly believe it. There's one boy in my class that just gets on my every last nerve for whatever reason, but other than that, the kids are great. We really don't have any discipline problems in the classroom, other than just typical 4th grade stuff. The first few weeks of teaching were really rocky for me - I was beginning to think that I'd made a horrible career choice. Everything was just really overwhelming. The last two weeks, though, have been great. I'm really enjoying it and I think that I'll be mostly happy as a teacher. I do think that I want to move up a few grade levels, though. I just can't get into the cutesy-cutesy elementary stuff, and I think I would like to focus more on math and science than the reading that is emphasized in elementary schools. I would have thought that I would really like teaching reading and language arts, but I so do not. I dread reading every day. To me, it's just damn boring and tedious teaching kids to read. Is that horrible? I would much rather be doing math and science experiments. I guess every teacher has their own strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes.

These damn kids have also made me and everyone else I know sick. I've had some sort of respiratory infection now for over a week. It's finally starting to get better, but dang it sucked. Donald also got sick, and so did my dad, but somehow Lauren has escaped it (for now). All hail the power of booby juice!

Speaking of Lauren, she seems to be doing okay with me being gone all day. The first few weeks were rough, but she's gotten used to my dad now. I really do miss hanging out with her all day. We spent today cuddling and just hanging around the house, which was great. I'm ready to be done with school so I can go back to being just mommy! Sadly that will probably only last a few months, since I'm probably going back to work this fall. I would really love to stay home with her for a few more years, but my student loan payments are going to have to get paid. It'd also be nice to get a bit more money saved so we can put a down payment on a house in a few years!

Speaking of houses, I don't know if we are moving this spring or not. With the economy going the way that it is, I don't know if it is such a good idea right now. I can just see us moving all the way out there and not being able to find jobs. We have enough money saved to live for 6-8 months, but I really don't want to blow through all of our savings. I'm going to begin applying for jobs here next month, and we'll see if I get any offers. If I do, we're really going to have to think about it. I know Donald is all gung-ho on leaving in May because he's sick of his job, but he really does have it good at work. I definitely don't want to stay here long-term, but we may end up sticking it out another year or two. We shall see.

Hhhm, what else? I can't sleep right now because it is supposed to storm pretty badly tonight. I bought a weather radio today, but I don't know if I have it set-up properly. I really should be working on school stuff, but I'm so not into it. Maybe tomorrow?

Go Barack!

Good Lord, I am tired. I don't know how people do this every day, all day. This work thing is kicking my butt. That being said, student teaching is going fine. I can't say that I LOVE it, but I'm hanging in there. Three weeks done, nine to go. When will the light come on at the end of the tunnel?

Yeah. I don't have much to say because I don't have time for anything except school. Lauren's doing pretty well with me being gone all day. The first two weeks were pretty tough on here, but last week she did better. At least she's not screaming bloody murder when I leave in the morning anymore :o( She started gymnastics a few weeks ago and is really loving that. She calls it "wee class". Hah. She's also speaking really well now. I can understand almost everything she says and most of the time she talks in sentences. She can recognize her name when it is written and can name almost anything you point to. Brilliance must run in the family, haha.

Well, I'm going to bed before I pass out at the computer. Just wanted to give a quick update since I know most of you have assumed I've died. Maybe you'll hear from me again in a few weeks :o)

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

I can’t believe that you are two today! The last two years have been two of the longest years of my life, yet they have flown by. I know that doesn’t make sense to you, but someday it will, I promise.

You are such an amazing girl, and daddy and I are already so proud of you. You are so smart that people cannot believe that you are only two! You’ve known all of your letters now for three or four months, and now you can count to thirteen all by yourself! You are talking in three and four word sentences now, and you always know just what you want (and aren’t afraid to let anyone know it!). Some of your favorite things to say are: “Have it now, Mama!”, “Naughty kitty cat”, and of course, “More ummies please, Mama”.

Speaking of ummies, you still love to nurse. Mama never intended to nurse you so long, but you do love it so much that I don’t have the heart to take them away. Not that mama minds, really. Our ummy time is some of my favorite time to spend with you, when it is just you and mama and we can talk and hug and cuddle. I don’t know if you will still be nursing next year on your birthday, and if you aren’t, mama will really miss our ummy time together. You love to give your baby doll ummies, too. Just today you wrapped your baby up in a blanket, laid down next to her on the floor, and gave her ummies to help her go to sleep. You are very sweet to your baby doll and someday you will be a wonderful mother yourself.

You just started gymnastics class last week (which you call wee class) and you love it! Grandpa took you last week because mama had to be at school, and he said you did a great job! Mama is very excited because she gets to take you today and see you do your wees. I know that you will be just wonderful! You love to watch wees on TV and today you were trying to do them by yourself (all the while shrieking, “weeees!”).

One of your favorite things to do these days is read books. We don’t get to read nearly enough together anymore, now that mama has to go to school every day, but we do try to read every night together. Your favorite books right now are “Millie Moo”, “The Barnyard Dance”, and “Go, Dog, Go!”. You have so many books and we’ve read all of them at least once! I hope that by next year on your birthday you are beginning to read yourself!

Well, baby, I hope you have a great birthday! You are so excited because we are going to play games and eat pizza later. Grandpa is making you a clown cake and mama and daddy have gotten you lots of Dora presents! When you wake up this morning, you will be two! Mama will miss her baby, but she can’t wait to play with her BIG GIRL!!!

Love always,

Mommy

Day 3 - Oh the work

I'm starting to get overwhelmed already and I'm just getting started! After getting to school at 6:30 and not getting home until 4:30 (at least), I'm already exhausted! Then, I have to do the mom thing, the wife thing, plus all my extra stuff for school! I honestly don't know how two-working parent families do it! I imagine we will all get used to it.

I had a short day in the classroom today. All the 4th grade teachers had science training this afternoon from noon until 3:30, so that took up the second half of the day. The school is working with an AWESOME science program through Delta State University that essentially gives teachers science kits with everything done. It will save so much time in the classroom and be so great for the kids! It is wonderful!

One thing I did notice today in the classroom was some disorganization/chaos during research time in the computer lab. I think it can easily be said that we don't spend enough time on science or history (30 minutes twice a week for each subject) and today's science/history session was nearly worthless, in my opinion. My HT told students to research either The French and Indian War for history, or flowering and non-flowering plants for science. She didn't really give them any direction as to what to look for while doing this, just to print off good research. Needless to say, the kids went print crazy, printing everything they found (many things duplicates because they all went to the first result in the search engine) and not reading any of it. After 30 minutes in the computer lab, we had over 300 pages of printed material. I'm not sure what my HT is planning on having the kids do with it, but most of it is way above their level anyway! I think it would have been much more worthwhile if students would have had a few specified sites to go to and find specific information.

I'm going to start working on my first lesson plans tonight. My first real lesson will be in Mississippi History. I'm thinking of doing a jigsaw lesson, and I think that will work out really well as the students really enjoy working in groups.

Student Teaching Drama

For the last six months or so, I was all geared up to start my student teaching January 7, the first day back after winter break. My dad arranged his schedule so he could be home then, and I cleared my own schedule. I left Wisconsin when I did so that I would have time to get my stuff in order before school started. It was all working out just fine.

I met with my host teacher the Friday before I was supposed to start, and it went really well. She seems very nice and really knows her stuff. She uses a ton of group work and really involves students in the classroom. I left our meeting Friday afternoon ready to get started on Monday.

Friday evening I got an email from my placement coordinator stating that I wouldn't be starting until January 28! Needless to say, I panicked. It was Friday night, and of course everyone at my school was out of their office for the weekend. I did manage to talk to my mentor, and we agreed that I would try to get it all taken care of and hopefully start on Tuesday. He thought the email may have been a mistake, but wanted to make sure first before I entered the classroom.

Well, turns out the email wasn't a mistake, so after about 3 days of trying to figure things out, I decided to just "go with the flow" and start the 28th. I figured it might work out better, anyway, since my dad had just gotten home and not had a lot of time to adjust to Lauren and him to her. I scheduled some appointments and bought a few books to pass the time.

Now, this morning, I got another email from my placement coordinator asking me to start THIS Monday, the 14th! Ugh! After I just got all those appointments scheduled and rearranged! Not to mention that I have to get myself into a "mindset" to start big things like this. I was all ready to go last week, but now I've put myself into "vacation" mode again! Talk about annoying!

So, I guess I'm starting on Monday. It will work out better in the end, as I'll be done April 11 now instead of May 2. We will be able to have more time to pack and move, plus my dad will be able to get back to California sooner. Now I have a lot to do this weekend, including some serious shopping and planning. Yikes!

Hahah, guess I haven't posted in a while. Well, we made it home from Wisconsin safely. It really was a nice trip, other than the fact that Lauren and I were both sick nearly the entire time we were there. First it was a nasty stomach virus, then a cold from hell. We are both still coughing, actually. I suspect I may have had a touch of bronchitis, but I seem to be nearly back to normal now. I was a huge slacker with the camera while we were home, so unfortunately I don't have too many pictures, but here are what few I have.


This is Lauren and her cousin Logan playing after they opened their Christmas presents at Donald's parents house. Both of them are only children and they played together surprisingly well!
Here's Lauren on Christmas Day at Great Grandma's house in Dubuque, Iowa.


Here she is with Great Grandma. It's funny - grandma usually scares the crap out of little kids, but for some reason Lauren loved her. They sat together all morning!This is my mom with Lauren. After not seeing my mom for over a year, it was strange to see how old she looks now. I had a really nice time with my mom this time and I'll miss her!

It snowed A LOT while we were home! The day that this picture was taken we got about 10 inches! Lauren had a great time playing in the snow! We had to borrow a snowsuit from the daycare because we (obviously) didn't have one, so that's why looks like a blue snow bunny.

Brrr!!!Aunty Charlotte (Donald's sister)Aunty Anna (Donald's youngest sister)Uncle Jake (my brother)
Lauren just loves her Uncle Jake! They had a great time playing together.
Aunt Lexy (my sister)
More about why her face looks like that later :o(

We've been having such a good time here in Wisconsin, it almost makes me want to move back home. Almost. Lauren and I have both been sick nearly the entire time we've been here, and it's cold as hell, but it doesn't matter. It's nice to be home again.

The weekend Donald was here went really fast. We spent most of the weekend with his family. We got a big family portrait done (which was a fiasco, but made his mom happy), and went to the casino. We left for Chicago on Monday, and on the way there Lauren puked all over the car and continued to puke for the next five days. Needless to say, the Chicago trip was pretty much a bust, especially considering that I caught her bug Tuesday night and ralphed all day Wednesday. We did manage to make a quick trip to the Shedd Aquarium and to Ed Debevic's, but that was about it.

We spent the next few days after Donald left recovering from the stomach flu and shopping. Boy, did we shop. My mom and I also made a trip to Ho-Chunk in which I lost a hundred bucks and she won a thousand. After Lauren's diarrhea finally went away (another lovely side effect of the stomach flu), we both decided to get colds. This has went on for about a week now and I'm getting sick of it! I haven't had a voice hardly at all for the past three days (and if you know Donald's family, you know this is a big disadvantage - the only way you are heard is if you talk louder than everyone else!).

Yesterday, Donald's sisters, his mom, and I spent the day baking. We made peanut butter cookies, peppermint fudge, chocolate chunk cookies, cheesecake, brownies, brandy slush, and lots of other yummy goodies. We had a great time, even though Lauren was a pain in the rump most of the afternoon. Today we had Christmas with Donald's family, and Lauren received enough toys to keep an entire small country entertained for a year.

In other news, Lexy dumped her loser boyfriend after some serious drama that I was unfortunately involved with. Even though the drama sucked, it is definitely for the better and I even think that if I wasn't here it wouldn't have happened at all. The ex (Erik) is a serious piece of work and there are not enough bad words in the world to describe him. Maybe I will talk about it more when have more time.

Tomorrow Lauren and I are hanging out at Donald's parents for most of the day and then going to Lee's mom's house tomorrow evening, and then having Christmas with my family. Christmas day will take us to Dubuque, Iowa for Christmas with Donald's grandma and aunts. We are leaving for home on the 3oth and will be home the 31st, and I start student teaching January 7th!

Bye!

I have decided that I am the least germophobic person I know. While all the other moms at the grocery store are sanitizing the shopping carts before they put their little angels in it (or worse, using one of those cloth cover things), I plop Lauren in and hand her a piece of fruit from the sample tray in the produce section. Germy carts and finger foods together - I am daring.

Tonight we were getting Lauren ready for bed and it became apparent that she was eating something, which becane cause for concern since we hadn't given her anything. Donald glanced at the floor and noticed what she was consuming. "Is that a Pop Tart?" he said. I said, "Oh yeah, must be left over from breakfast," and we both let her finish eating it. Bad parents.

I don't know. Sometimes I think that all this sanitizing people do actually does more harm than good (case in point - MSRA). What ever we're doing (or not doing) must be okay, because Lauren's only been sick twice, and once was a reaction to her MMR shot. I really do surprise myself, though - before I had Lauren I really thought I would be one of those anal, over-protective moms. I'm totally not.

My friend Cortney asked me to post about her friend's 8 month old daughter who just underwent a liver transplant. They are raising money to help fund the operation as well as the family's living expenses. If you want to learn more and/or help, visit Hope for Valery.

Several Rants, all School Related

First - I'm still waiting on my student teaching placement. My coordinator emailed me a few days ago and said that my school district of choice (Madison County) has been in constant contact with her, but doesn't want to give her a firm answer one way or the other. I had to give her two alternate districts that I'd be willing to work in so that she can try to find some sort of alternative if Madison County falls through. I was really hoping to get a placement before we go out of town so that I could go in and meet my host teacher and principal, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

Second - I tutor for Brainfuse.com, mainly students who come from low-performing schools. Today I was tutoring a 6th grade girl from a school in Chicago in math. We always start students at one grade level below what they are in, unless they have really good quiz results, so I started her today with the very first 5th grade lesson on writing numbers in different forms. She was really struggling (as in not knowing how to write one thousand forty two in standard form - 1042), so I decided to quickly review place value with her. Turns out the girl had no concept of place value, period. She could not show me the ones place in a number, or any other place for that matter. She has no clue that 10 ones equals one ten, and ten tens equals one hundred. No clue. No wonder the girl isn't doing well in math! I just want to know how it is possible for a student to get to 6th freaking grade and not know place value. That is not her fault - that is a teacher's fault somewhere along the line. So, next week, I will be working with her on 1st grade place value lessons. It makes me want to cry. Our educational system should not be failing kids like that.

Third - Saturday is my last day teaching my first Kaplan ACT class. I'm so proud of all (well, all but one) of my students! I have two boys in my class, twins actually, who both came in with 27s. Their dad was going crazy because they could not get their score up, no matter how hard they tried. Well, on our last practice test, they made a 32 and 33! I couldn't be prouder. All my kids have went up at least 2 points, which is just great. The one girl who I'm not proud of has missed 4 out of 8 classes and 2 out of 4 practice tests and then wants to know why her score hasn't gone up. Gee let me see.....

All that being said, I really am enjoying teaching/tutoring. I'm getting excited for student teaching, but really anxious, too. It is going to be a tough 12 weeks, and I am sure I'll be ready for it to be over. Not to mention that my heart is going to be breaking every day when I have to leave Lauren :o(

Why We're Leaving Part II

Donald and I have always talked about moving out West somewhere. Donald has always had fantasies about living in Las Vegas, and we briefly discussed it, but I just didn't feel good about it. There are some positives - easy to find a teaching job, lots of entertainment - but I don't want Lauren growing up in Las Vegas. Not to mention that it's in the middle of the desert, so there goes my desire for green grass. Anyway, we were both really clueless of where to move. We knew we wanted to go somewhere better, but had no idea where.

One night we pulled out our Atlas and started putting x's through places that were a definite no-go, like Maine and Alaska. We also marked off places that one of us felt strongly against, for me it was places like Florida and Nevada, for Donald, Wisconsin and Minnesota. After doing this, we were left with probably 15 or so states, like Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, North Carolina, Vermont, and others, too. I started to research places that I'd heard good things about. I wanted to go to Chicago, but Donald wanted nothing to do with that. We really couldn't come up with a place that we both agreed upon.

One day while surfing the net, I came across a website called Find Your Spot. Basically it is a series of questions that you answer, and based on your answers, the site recommends the top 10 cities that best match your wants/needs and personality. Donald and I both took the quiz, and most of the places in our top 10 matched. Number 1 on both of our lists was Little Rock, Arkansas, but because we weren't prepared for the looks we would get when we tell people we are from Arkansas, we crossed that one off. Other cities in both of our top 10's were Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene Oregon, Hartford, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland. Neither of us are keen on the East Coast, so we crossed off Hartford and Baltimore right way. We were left with three cities in Oregon.

We stared to do some research into Oregon, and found out that it seemed like it would be a pretty good match for us. The weather is rainy during the winter, but the summers are (from what we hear, anyway) unbelievable - 80 and sunny for 4 months straight. I don't mind the rain, and it is a thousand times better than snow. The politics lean towards liberal, especially in Portland and Eugene, and people are environmentally aware. After doing weeks of research, we decided that we would be moving to either the Portland or Eugene area.

Just in the last week or so, we've decided to stick with Portland for now. I think I would really like Eugene, but it doesn't seem like such a good match for Donald. First, it's sort of a "hippie" town, and Donald gets annoyed with drum circles and poetry readings and all that counter culture stuff easily. Portland is bigger (about 2.3 million), has more to offer in the job sector, plus a larger school district. Housing is more expensive, and we will more than likely be stuck renting for a while, but I'm willing to live with that (as long as we can find a place with a yard). We are planning on getting rid of at least one of our cars (Donald's), and possibly the second as we find out how much we can rely on the public transportation (MAX train and bus - and bike of course), depending on where we live.

We are insanely excited and would move tomorrow if I didn't have to do student teaching this spring. We have already started getting rid of stuff (selling what we can on craigslist and giving away the rest on freecycle). Our move date is tentatively set for the third week in May. Right now we are in the process of researching neighborhoods/communities in and around Portland, getting moving quotes, and doing some preliminary job hunting. We are hoping to have a house lined up before we move, but if not, then we will stay in an extended stay hotel for a week or two until we find something. I will be going to work in the fall (which makes me want to cry, but student loans must get paid back sometime), and will begin looking for a teaching job this spring. We will keep you updated the more we find out and make plans!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're not doing much this year. I don't feel like cooking for just the three of us, so we are going to go out to lunch/dinner tomorrow and then take Lauren to go see Bee Movie. It'll be her first movie, and I think she'll like it! At least if the movie is a bust we'll have popcorn to distract her. Heh.

I am definitely NOT doing the shopping thing on Friday. First of all, we aren't buying a lot for gifts this year. Lauren has a few things that we've picked up already, and that's all she needs. The kid has so many toys and she never plays with any of them, so we're not buying any more. Plus, I know the grandparents will be buying her crap, so we're saving our money, heh. I am knitting stuff for a lot of people this year and everyone else is getting stuff out of our "stock" closet. Honestly....does anyone really NEED all that crap stores sell at Christmastime just because we don't know what else to get them? Probably not.

We do have to venture to the mall on Saturday, though, as I have a secret shop that I'm looking forward to. I'll tell you all about it afterward, but I can't right now! Top secret, sheesh.

Oh, by the way, Gymboree is having a really good sale right now if anyone needs a few more things for winter. I got Lauren two fleece hoodies, two fleece pants, a winter coat ($14!!!), a swim suit for a little over $50. I have an extra 20% off coupon if anyone wants it, let me know and I'll email you the code if you want to order online. Everything is already 30% off, so with the extra 20% off, the stuff is dirt cheap.