Wow, it has been a while! But according to Google Analytics, there are still quite a few people stopping by the old blog, which makes me feel bad for how infrequently I post. Thanks to all our faithful readers and hello to all our friends and family in far corners of the earth…
Here’s some news/pics from the last few months.
First (and most importantly 
) I am now the proud owner of a bass boat:
My brother-in law and I went in on this beauty. Lets just say it is worth what we paid for it, and we didn’t pay very much! But it’s a great little boat and we’ve had fun taking it out on various fishing excursions. So far I think we’ve had the best luck with catfish, but there’s also been lots of bass, stripers, bluegill, and crappie. By far the most interesting thing I’ve caught was this spiny softshell turtle:
We took it out this morning and had some luck:
Striper
Flathead catfish
Double header (two fish at the same time)
Of course, it was very kind of Becka to let me buy this, especially since we don’t even own a car yet. And it is also very kind of my parents to let me use their Jeep to pull this baby around. I was thinking today about the ironies of owning a boat before owning a car. What can I say? Priorities, Priorities. Random history: Becka owned an S-10 before we were married, but we sold it right after our honeymoon as we were preparing to leave for Australia. The only other car we’ve owned was an old Toyota Corona (yes, Corona, not Corolla) that some friends in Adelaide gave us. It was probably worth about a case of Corona, but it was a fun little car that got the job done. I somehow managed to lose the only picture we had of it, but this is a pretty good likeness, except ours was faded yellow with rust highlights.
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I’m still looking for a job, which is about as fun as you would expect it to be. I was feeling pretty good about my resume, but there’s just not a whole lot out there right now, especially if you limit your search to one geographic location. After a few months of spending hours every day looking at various internet postings, I can confidently say that truck drivers, RNs, and not a whole lot else are in high demand. But it has been an interesting process, thinking about what I would enjoy doing out of what is available, and what the criteria should be (money? geographic location? future advancement? vocation? grad school compatibility?) Is it unreasonable to expect to find something that pays well, I enjoy doing, is close to family, and would allow me to study? Probably. I would have to get extremely lucky. And as the weeks pass, it seems like I will likely have to take whatever I can get if I limit my search to one area. Of course, the irony in all this is that I could walk down to McDonald’s and take the lowest paying job and still make twice what we were making before. No exaggeration. I would probably be miserable and slip into a coma of existential despair, but still. It’s a good reminder that I would much rather be making this transition now, rather than five or ten years down the road. We’ve been through enough changes over the years that I know that it’s the in-between stages, the transitions, that are always the hardest. And I also know that this progression (which hopefully has meaning and is leading somewhere), at least for us, would be impossible without the help and support of family. I’m always aware that our lives would be very different if we didn’t have their love and support, and it’s been nice to be home without a ‘departure date’ to some distant land looming in the near future…
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Aidan is enjoying all the possibilities that summer has brought his way. Riding his trike, swimming, building marble towers, and playing with his cousins seem to be his top priorities these days. A few pics:
Giving cousin V. a lift:
Falling asleep reading his favorite fire engine book:
Helping mom in the garden:
Summer boy:
Aidan had quite a traumatic moment the other day when the ‘Touch a Tractor’ event at a local park was canceled due to rain. He had been looking forward to it for a long time, and he took it pretty hard. Now one of the first things he asks when he wakes up is, “Mommy, will we touch a tractor today?”
Becka has been busy with various projects, and has been dutifully going to all the local garage sales to find things we need to set up house. (Our Dutch friends would be interested to know that the street sales that happen on Queen’s Day in Amsterdam happen all summer long…but on a garage-sized scale.) All in all a great summer is underway!
