Feels Like Old Times

After much stress, worry and consideration, my husband found a job in the state. He graduates college next weekend (with honors, I might add) and will be starting his post-military career this fall as a newly minted high school science teacher. There were only two schools he was very excited about. The local school chose a teacher with 12 years of experience, so we can't fault them for that. This particular school was very excited about John getting his job. As excited as *he* was, I figured we would make it work somehow. And by make it work, I mean we are having a life-changing, total upheaval of a summer. The job is almost two hours to the south, which means pulling the kids out of school, selling the house and moving to a new town. This makes me feel like we are back in the military way of life, changing our living quarters every year, but this time I am feeling too old for this gypsy way of life.
This weekend, we took an overnight trip to our future hometown and gave it a look-through. It's pretty much the town we live in now except it has better restaurants. The first night we were there, the weather was horrible, we were late for the play we had driven in to see, and we were pretty much miserable. The experience didn't leave us with a great impression of the place, but it did improve the next day. A realtor came to his office special just to see us on Saturday to give us information on area houses for rent that might be available when we are ready to move. If our house doesn't sell quickly, we will be renting for the first year. We are seriously considering renting anyway, just to get to know the town better and to figure out where we might want to buy someday, IF we decide to buy at all.
Shona seems to think we are moving to Africa and wants a pet zebra and my family is in a tizzy over the fact that we are moving and selling out, but it's not like they ever come to see us as it is, so I don't give their comments much regard anyway. Unfortunately, with the military and with teaching, you have to go where the jobs are. They don't bring them to you.
The great news is I finally will get to quit my job. Yaaaay! I will be looking for something when we get there, I just don't know what yet. Here's hoping for a secretarial position in one of the schools. More later when I know more!

Scrappin'!

Yep, I'm scrapping today. I guess I found my groove or else I am just feeling pressured to get a few things done. I think this is my favorite one I finished today, just a Sketch Challenge but I love the colors of this kit. Wonderful. And it even goes well with a picture of dirty, smelly sneakers. How can you ask for more?

Sneak Peek

I can neither confirm nor deny that this is sneak peek of an upcoming Scrap Addict kit. I was never here. You never saw a thing.
Now let's recap. You didn't see this one, either:



Now let's move it along, people. There's nothing to see here. Nothing at all.

A Rut By Any Other Name Would be Just as Deep

I am in a rut and it's a deep one. I don't feel like scrapping, I don't feel like moving, I just don't feel like existing. I know it's because we're in limbo again, waiting to find out where John will teach next year. It's exhilarating and frightening at the same time, not unlike all those times we waited on pins and needles to find out where the next duty station would take us. I'm all for a move at this point, especially after the past couple of weeks at work. I am ready to go back to being a stay at home mom, at least part time! I know it could happen within the next year, but if we don't stay in this area it will be measured in weeks instead of months. For that selfish reason alone, I keep hoping for a move. I don't think that's necessarily in our best interest as a family, though, so I am keeping that little beacon of hope to myself.
Now as for that scrapping problem, I've decided to bring myself out of the funk, I need to tackle something that I want to do for me. No challenges, no assignments, nothing that I feel I *have* to do, which is how I spend most of my scrapping time. I want something for me, a project that I can complete and have a finished product to keep. I'm doing a mini album about a week in my life. I've asked some of my fellow scrappers to join me in my venture so that I would have a cheering section to get me to finish this. If I know me, and believe me I do, I will get halfway through the project and stop. Not this time! If I announce on the boards that I will do it, I must do it. They won't let me fail. Maybe that will get me through this big, wide rut I can't seem to climb out of. And if I can climb out of my scrapping rut, maybe I can climb out of my life rut shortly thereafter. A girl can dream, can't she?

Springtime in Missouri

As much as I love spring, I could do without the severe weather that has been passing through these last few weeks. Over 100 tornadoes touched down in a 24 hour time span last month, some too close for comfort for me. I am terrified of tornadoes, so why I live in tornado alley, I have no idea. Because that's where my family lives, I suppose.
I know there must be a scientific explanation (I should ask my soon to be science teacher husband), but I would like to know why most severe thunderstorms roll through here in the middle of the night. I can deal with the thunder and lightning. It's no big deal, but when it gets into hail and tornado warnings, I freak. I cannot sleep at all if there is even the tiniest bit of "cloud rotation" as the weatherman says. I'd also like to know when they changed the tornado warning system. I know when I was younger, a tornado watch meant conditions were favorable for a tornado to drop and a warning meant one was on the ground, take cover. Well, now a warning doesn't mean one is on the ground, but it could happen at any time. Granted, that's enough to send me scurrying to the basement, but do they have to keep changing this stuff? Also, if it's daylight, I feel like I have a chance to see something coming. In the darkness, I can't see enough to give me a sense of comfort, and I sit staring out the window, hoping a flash of lightning won't show a big funnel cloud heading my direction. Seriously, I have a phobia of these things. At least with a hurricane you have warning, but tornadoes just drop out of the sky, rip lives to shreds and disappear. Ah, the things I ponder as I sit here listening to the thunder roll across the sky and strain to hear if the hail has hit yet.
Just another springtime in Missouri. It's moments like these I sit here wishing I were sitting on the sands of the beaches of Pensacola, wiling away the afternoon with a glass of tea, a smutty novel and an ocean breeze. Someday...

See? Now that I've figured out the whole picture thing, I just can't help myself. I MUST blog. Here's my baby with her Barbie birthday cake. She could look a little happier, don't you think? I hope she's not already concerned with her age!

Look at me go! I finally sat here long enough and read enough info pages to figure out how to add my banner and photos to my blog. Happy dance. It only took me what....six months? Thank you to Jess, my Scrap Addict Secret Sweetie, who has this banner made for my blog. I bet she thought I was ungrateful and didn't like it, but noooo...I was just woefully inadequate at inserting it! See my cute bunny? That adorable rabbit turned six on me yesterday. I keep telling them if I don't feed them they won't grow up on me, right?

I wish I had time for more things. Like...say...scrapping. I just don't have enough to stretch where I need it to, and days like today don't help. I was the lone ranger in my office today. My co worker is on vacation and our boss has Tuesdays off (rough life). So that left me and the backup lady, who only comes in to help when we get flooded. I had such a headache by day's end. I desperately need a new job, but if John gets a teaching position out of state or far enough from here that we need to move, it isn't worth the effort of hunting right now.
Yes, the fun has begun. John interviewed at our school district yesterday and attended a state wide job fair today, where he handed out at least a dozen resumes. He's already set up two interviews for next week based on those initial contacts. Half of me wants to stay here because it would be so much easier. The kids like this school and have established friendships. Our family is here and we have a house. We don't love our house, but at least it's ours. But I also long to live near a bigger city so we have something to DO on weekends. I guess time will tell where we end up. I just know it's going to be a stressful month while we figure out where the road is going to lead us. This waiting and wondering takes me back to our military lives.