Triumph

Mo started crawling, forward, on Monday. She is pretty pleased with herself and we are now in a new era of being vigilant. No longer can we just put her down on the floor for a minute while running to get coffee from another room or to run to the bathroom. We have to monitor rooms in a way that we haven't for about four years. We also have steps, so that will be an issue soon.

Finally Photos

So, I just finally uploaded the software to communicate with my camera to my old laptop. Our desktop computer finally gave up and I doubt that I will pay to repair it at this point. Over the next few days I'll be posting some photos from the past few weeks.

PA Bound

Well, the job search is finally over. After about two months of emails, web searches on school sites, realtor searches, and a great deal of anxiety we have finally decided on our new home. We will be moving northeastern Pennsylvania and we will become a boarding school family. We'll live in a boys dorm on a campus that is filled with kids on the campus. I am pretty happy about the whole process, but mostly I am glad it is over. I visited three schools and received three offers, so I feel like I did a pretty good job of selling myself. Beth was interviewed as well and there is a possibility that she will be working in the development office of the school. It seems like a pretty idyllic family setting for us. I met so many people at the school who have been there for more than 15 years and quite a number of them have been there longer than twenty years. I have to think that this is a pretty good sign of the work environment there. We have many things to figure out in the near future here, but the biggest item to figure out is now off the table. We know where we will be in August.

Spring?

I am on spring break now for 16 days. I normally do not actually enjoy this long a break in the school year because I know how hard it is to regain momentum when we return. But, with all that has been going on, I am happy to rest for awhile. The weather is turning pleasant and Beth heard birds outside one morning this week. Perhaps the fact that I bought Gram a new (new to us, used from a consignment store) snowsuit about fifteen days ago helped spur on the nice weather.

We are all going to visit a school together tomorrow, this whole job search thing may end soon.

Busy Times

I am one day away from a 16 day spring break right now. Normally, my excitement about spring break is somewhat tempered as I actually like the rhythm of my work life. This year, however, with the addition of Mo, Gram being in school full days and my job search in addition to my regular job, I am pretty happy to be about 18 hours from my break. I've been doing a great deal of traveling (at least by my normal standards) and it's taking its toll. I revisited a school today and had a great day there. I got to teach a class and work with a Smart Board for the first time. They are pretty cool instruments, I must say. Next week I have another revisit planned. One of the things that is easing the sting of this whole move is how chipper Gram has been about the whole business. He is excited when we go on weekend jaunts to check out prospective towns and he is already excited about the new friends he is going to make. I sure hope he holds on to this positive attitude for a good long time. He has been rating prospective homes by the pizza in the area. He's got his priorities pretty clearly aligned at this point...

Finally - A New Photo

A recent photo of Mo. I'll upload my photo software again soon

New Adventures

Well, most of the past month has been consumed by the search for a new adventure in our lives. We found out last month that we will be moving on. My relationship with my school has not worked out the way I had hoped so we're on a job search now. When Gram and I went to Boston, I interviewed with a number of schools and I have been visiting campuses over the past two weeks. I have had three on campus interviews and I have another one scheduled this week. In addition, I have a conference call coming up this week as well. This whole process is flattering, exciting, scary, and exhausting. We hope to have some idea of where we will be before too long. We took an impromptu trip last weekend to visit one campus and may do the same this weekend as well.

Mo is beginning to crawl, unfortunately she only moves backward so far. She gets pretty mad as she moves farther and farther away from her target. Gram continues to be a fantastic big brother and we are so thrilled at the way he cares for her.