AGAIN! We are moving twice in one year but this time only across town about 5 minutes from here and closer to campus. I happened upon a house for rent while I was running one morning. It is perfect…fenced in backyard, nice shady lot, and best of all it is not attached to another resident! We were so pressed for time in finding a place back in December that we settled for a duplex which is nice but not configured very well for our family. This house will be such a nice change and we can paint Gwyn’s room! We do have to buy some things that we did away with for our move to the duplex…like the washer and dryer. Luckily, Brian’s dad’s plant got in dryers so we got a great dryer for very inexpensive and are holding out in hopes that they get washers too! This new place doesn’t have a dishwasher either, but Brian’s dad again found an old, portable dishwasher at the plant that needs some work then it is ours!
When we gave our notice to the management company about vacating, we were informed we would get penalized for 2 months worth of rent unless we could sublease our place. I can’t believe the response we got to sublease this duplex and we were very fortunate to have that put behind us quickly…we didn’t have to stress long over finding a tenant.
So the big move is going to commence on the 22nd of August and we should be all moved by the following Saturday! Yes, we decided to move during my first week back to school!
In other news, we went to Pennsylvania for vacation this year. The drive up was not so bad. I used some of my Marriott points and we stayed a little less than halfway up. Gwyn and I got up the next morning and took a little dip at the indoor pool. Then we were on the road again. We stopped at a nice state park in West Virginia and let Gwyn play on the slide and swings and we ate lunch at a concession stand by the lake. We got to my grandparents in time for a cookout!
The next day we left for my dad’s camp at Pymatuning and had a blast! The first day we went to see the carp at Linesville. The carp are so densely populated at this one particular area that the ducks can walk on them and they flop out of the water. You can buy loaves of bread to feed them and Gwyn had a great time! That night dad and all his friends got together for a fish fry! Gwyn was extremely happy with the menu…I’m not sure how much fish she ate but I know that I’ve never seen her eat so much food before!
The next day we went to Deer Park in Jamesville. They have a lot of animals to feed and some exotic animals to just look at. We had a great time and Gwyn loved it all. We even rode on a little train that an emu followed us around…Gwyn thought that emu was great while other kids squealed over being afraid of it!
We then went back to my grandparents and hung out for the remainder of our stay. We left on a Sunday and drove straight back which we will never do again. We did stop at Potomac Mills on the way back to get Gwyn a new pair of sneakers. It was a long day and needless to say – we are looking into flights for Christmas!
I’ve been working all summer for the Stallings Family. I worked with the CPA there when I was in college and she needs help about 20 hours a week. For this summer, I’ve been working full time to get trained up but now I’m down to my last two weeks full time, beginning with classes (and moving) I will work on average 20 hours a week. I really enjoy my days there and I’m learning a lot about finance companies and some small business accounting rather than tax which is what I’ve done my entire career so far… and my tax work as been specialized to state and local tax.
Brian is actively seeking a teaching job which is hard to come by these days! There is still one job that we hold out hope for but it is a competitive market right now. Brian took his middle grades Praxis 2 weeks ago so we are awaiting the scores to see if he can’t maybe apply for middle school jobs as well. In the meantime, he is staying home with Gwyn and teaching her lots of new things! Brian has also been selling lots of stuff on Ebay. It was been wonderful extra funds in the door while reducing the items we have been storing all these years. I’m really proud of Brian and his auctions. I’m also appreciate that he is willing to part with items he has had since he was a child. He so far has sold all his Transformers and is now onto Battletech items. We still have a lot to go!
Gwyn is learning so much these days. She is taking gymnastics and will continue into the fall. She loves to count. She is learning all kinds of new words, some of which we have yet to figure out exactly what she is actually saying. She is a good helper. She helps with the animals feedings every morning and every night. She is throwing toys for the dogs which they absolutely love! Gwyn is learning to dress herself, eat with silverware, go potty (not really pursuing this 100% yet), put her toys away, and colors. She loves us to read to her. Her big thing lately, is putting puzzles together. And most of all, we love the squeezes (hugs) and kisses she is giving away so freely!
The animals are doing great! I want to get Keegan and Tess into agility classes again. I’m trying to decide what classes and if we can afford for them both to be in class at the same time. I went to observe some classes this week to try to decide and now I need to discuss with the instructor. At any rate, I’m looking forward to it. I’m also looking forward to getting back into running shape so that I can complete a 5k in October and a 10-miler in December. We shall see about the 10-miler. If I’m not ready for 10 miles, then I’ll just run the 5k.
Now I’m off to take care of Gwyn who doesn’t stop for even a second! Hope to post more frequently after we get moved and Brian shows me how to post pictures too!
And finally a picture at Brian’s parents… she loves to slam the ball into the hoop!
* (from Brian) Sorry for the delay in new pictures here at our blog – it has taken me awhile to get used to switching to a Mac (LOVE IT), including new programs on how to upload pictures to the server. (big kudus/thanks to Scott L!)
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