Deep contemplations and shallow observations

12:50am: I am one lucky son of a bitch
I've seen many people already posting on what they're thankful for. I'm thankful that I have the most rocking, sexy, patient, strong, giving, beautiful wife that a guy could ask for. I'm thankful that I have the most beautiful, precocious, aggravating 2 year old there is. I'm thankful that I have the most awake, frustrating, speed-crawling, special redhead (getting there) 10 month old a parent could have. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to do something special, that I can be used by the military for a career and still use the military right back and get all of my education at least partially paid for by them. I'm thankful that I got to spend 3 years living in Europe, travelling some and having so many life experiences. I'm thankful for all the friends I've made and even more for the few I've been able to keep for years (you know who you are mwahahaha).

There are times when I feel I'm not deserving of some of these gifts. I'm sure that I've lucked into at least a couple of them, but I think that's part of life. You have good luck into some things and bad luck into others. I feel selfish when saying this because there are so many that have so much less or have not had the luck that I have and it feels rude to crow about how nifty aspects of my life are when they don't have that. If I could do something to give it to them, friend or not, I would, without hesitation. I think everyone deserves good things in their life. I suppose that the best thing I can do having these blessings is to give everything I do 110% and keep doing for others to be worthy of the gifts. Wow, how did I get off on this sideroad so quick?

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, regardless of how things are going or where the day finds you. A day of happiness and togetherness is always great.

11:31pm: Apparently I was in need of some new gift cards
So there I am, going to the gym on campus. I locked my stuff in the locker with my handy padlock, did the workout thing, collected said stuff and went home. While I am unpacking my gym stuff I take my wallet out of my jeans and notice it seems a little...light. Upon opening said wallet I noticed that my two credit cards were missing. Cash still there, ID still there, debit card still there. How odd. I look around the floor, maybe I dropped them somehow. Nope. Wow, have I been ripped off? Yes, I have.

I immediately called the two credit card companies to report the cards stolen. One comes back and says "No problem, you have one transaction at Applebees for $250 (a gift card it turns out). Was that yours? HELL NO!
I call the other credit card company and they have a transaction at Lowes (same shopping area) for $262. This one is a $250 gift card and a pack of rechargeable razors. In fact, the prick was trying to charge something at JC Penneys (right next door to Lowes) while I was on the phone with the credit card company. Fortunately they had already blocked the card so the transaction was denied...3 times. I went to all three stores and got the same basic description and copies of the transactions. I mean really, it isn't a red flag when someone comes in to buy a $250 gift card with a credit card? I took it to the cops who informed me that they have a pretty good idea who did it. Apparently this scumbag is wanted all over the country and his MO is, I kid you not, taking a credit card or two out of a wallet in a gym locker room (picks the locks) then goes around and charges gift card after gift card until the card is denied. I left them to scour the city for him and registered a fraud alert on my credit report in the unlikely event that he decided to write down my info from my wallet in addition to lifting my credit cards.

What a shitty way to spend an evening. Fortunately both credit card companies have already agreed to reverse the charges made (not to mention that I got one of the gift cards cancelled already). It could have been much worse had I not noticed it until morning or so.

12:21pm: I was walking through the vet building on campus today when out of the blue I started thinking about the Congress of Vienna. The melody, how the song went, I even remembered how my body felt when I would dance it and the feeling of my hand on my partner's back trying to guide. I miss that. Sometimes I miss it a lot.

How random, though.

11:11am: Life just keeps on keepin on
Time moves fast when you don't want it to and slow when you want it to get the hell over with already. Spring registration already here, signed up for:

Organ System Toxicology
Biochem 2
Grad-level Stats 1
Research Ethics
Current Topics in Toxicology- Public Health

Sooo life will continue to be busy. On the bright side after I get through the spring I am down to only needing 5 or 6 classes in my last 2 years so I can spread them out a lot more. My project submission is done and being red-inked by the powers that be. Finals are in 3 weeks. I am happy with how my progress in this has been, although I am not seeing as much of my family as I would have liked. Somehow I remember one or two (or fifteen) people telling me I told you so. On the bright side after the 7th I am done with coursework until Jan 5th so while I'll need to go into my lab for a few hours my day may only be a few hours long and no homework (other than working on my lit review for my dissertation). So lots more time with the girls I hope.

Had our 4th anniversary last Thursday. Wow, that sure came fast. God I love her, though. I can't imagine being with anyone but her, I really can't. That's so damn cool.

2009 has been a hell of a year. Tori had the baby. Moved back from England. Started college courses for the first time in 6 years (10 since I had been in formal classes). The girls are getting so big already. The baby is crawling (and she is FAST let me tell you). The toddler is a charmer. While I'm not a doormat she is going to be tough to say no to. OK, maybe I'm a doormat for her. Must work on fixing that before she can drive, or shop, or date.

We've even tossed around the vague possibility of trying for a third. No way, not right now. Hell no. But if we wait until I'm done with this program then I'll be 40 with an infant. I don't know that I want to be rapidly knocking on the door to 60 worrying about prom, graduation, all that. I may be young at heart, but still. Must give this much much more thought.

Enough rambling, bag lunch is calling.

8:19am: It is pouring buckets outside. BUCKETS. Fortunately I got my lawn cut yesterday. Unfortunately I put the bags of yard waste out to be picked up and they ended up floating about 2 houses down the street this morning. Helllo wet Paul.

There are parts of one's personality that you don't always like, but accept. I put way too much crap on my plate. I could have gone from one lab to the next and worked hard at my job and learned and progressed with my career. But nooo, I decided to go for my PhD. It's awesome going to school and being paid for it, but I could have taken a pass on it. But I accept that. Even with all the crap I have going on with getting my project off the ground and coursework and all that I chose to do my PME course for my promotion now. I could wait until I graduate to do it, but nah, I don't like having that hanging over my head. And part of my brain has been itching to take one of the lab specialty certification exams at some point. Why? Because almost none of my peers has done it and I feel confident that with a little studying I could pass.

You know, sometimes I would like to just kick my own ass for trying to do all this.

I did get to spend time with my girls yesterday. My oldest still yells "Daddy! Daddy!" when I come home. I wish I could bottle that and save it because I know it won't always be there. This morning she came out of her room as I was going to get my backpack and announced "Hey everyone, the sun's up!". We've been trying to teach her not to get up until the sun is up as she's been getting up in the middle of the night to come find us. I have no real problem with her crashing in our bed, but with the baby still in her pack and play in our room it'll wake her up and we have enough problems trying to get her to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time.

12:07pm: This is LiveJournal, right?
I have been finding myself posting more little things on Facebook than on here lately. I think it's because I can come up with a random thought or mini-soundbite than trying to put together coherent sentences, which is what I feel I do when I post here. So much going on I end up doing a "state of the state" post and then disappear for weeks. I should work on that.

( Duh Ramblins )

7:07am: Drive-by posting
You know, if there was a way to post as a text from my phone I bet I'd post more often. I'll have to look into that, I'm sure there's a way.

Still kicking, finishing up first round of tests for my classes. Out of about 100 students in my biochem class there were 6 A's, the teacher was very upset about this. The short version is that she's the lab manager for the professor that was going to teach but after he was arrested two weeks before term started for assault on two female students she was handed the class and told "Good luck!". Fortunately I pulled a 96.

Environmental Tox was a much tougher test, but there's no book so it's basically how much material the professor can get into the lecture. Seeing as it's being taught by my advisor I'm trying my best to make sure I smoke that class. No reason to have her think "but he got a low B" when it comes time to defend my dissertation. Did really well on the test, actually got a 100. I always thought getting 100 on a test was a myth. Guess I should go buy that lottery ticket. Oh wait, no lottery in Mississippi.

Physiology is next Friday. Oy, that's going to be fun.

I think I have my project starting to come into focus. I'm hoping to get my proposal done before end of term. Looks like my research will focus on levels of Organochlorine levels and their relationship to Type 2 Diabetes . I'm also trying to find a way to get a secondary marker worked into the project like paraoxonase. The OC vs T2D stuff has been done a couple of times so I need to expand it some.

Tori is still not getting as much rest as I would hope. She's taking the brunt of our youngest not sleeping much at night still. She's not screaming all night, just waking up two or three times after not going to bed until near midnight. I really hoped the baby would be sleeping at least 5-6 hours at a time at night by now. The frustrating part is that if she sees me she gets giggly and wants to play so if I'm spending time with Tori and the baby wakes up I have to go hide in the office or kitchen until she goes by so I don't wake her up more. Ahhh the joys of parenthood. I know, I love them both tons, but it's still frustrating.

Our oldest has taken to getting up between 3-5 am needing to go to the bathroom. The waking up to a 2 year old pressing her face into mine is also a new experience. One the dog has decided she definitely doesn't like, especially if she's sleeping up against me. She's really good about going back to bed after at least. I am WAY overdue for some pictures.

It's been raining almost non-stop for two weeks here. The rain NEEDS to let up so I can mow my lawn. Ever see the movie The Ruins? Yeah, I fear my grass is about to turn into those plants and just take over. Lots of rain and lots of humidity= really tall grass.

Lots of random thoughts to talk about. This is what happens when I don't post anything for weeks. Must work on that.

10:49pm: You ever get the feeling when you make a not so insignificant purchase of doubt? I bought a TV today and for me it's just one of those things of "just do it" in the end. I'll pore over reviews, comments, technical details. Then when I've reduced my new toy purchase down to a couple of contenders it becomes a game of "where can I find the most stackable coupons/discounts" or get the best deal possible without purchasing it from the equivalent of a guy in dark sunglasses on a street corner with an overcoat hawking said electronic gizmo. But I bought it, finally. If not I'd end up spending more weeks wondering if a better deal would arise (it will) or if the item in question will drop in price to make room for some newer, shinier gizmo (it will).

I suppose this route is better than just jumping at the first glimpse of what looks like a good price for something that seems reasonably good for my needs. But you want bells, whistles, spinning rims (ok, maybe not those but they are amusing when sitting at a traffic light).

I got my very first flat-screen TV today. Well, it will be delivered in about a week so I don't "have" it, but it's been purchased. I feel like I'm the last person on the block to get one, but that's fine. We were all set to buy one when we first got to England but our house didn't sell as soon as we hoped (put on the market in mid-2006, thanks housing bubble!) so new TV money went to pay for the house payments. But now spiffy TVs are pretty cheap so woohoo! I didn't realize how many REALLY BIG TVs are out there these days. There must a big market for the 60" + TV enthusiasts.

8:08pm: The car lives
After 3 1/2 weeks at the body shop our new car is back with us. The manager at the shop said that when they finished going through and getting all of the dimples out of the body parts they didn't replace it was well over 200 individual dents. Yikes. We are so happy to have our second car back. Having one car isn't the end of the world, but it definitely curtails how quickly we can get errands done and has almost housebound Tori for the time (yes, we've all gone to run errands and such but it wasn't her freedom to do so). And the tab...$6804. Let's hear it for getting our money's worth out of USAA!

11:49pm: Trying to be smart in a room full of smart people
Yesterday my advisor had a lab meeting. Basically she ordered pizza and sodas so everyone could sit around and introduce themselves and talk about what they're working on, where they're from, make introductions. I've been through the introductions at new jobs, but this felt a little different. On top of saying where they were from everyone was talking about what degrees they have and where they went to school. Then they went on to talk a bit about their projects, which by and large were over my head. I know that being new to this particular adventure shouldn't surprise me that I felt somewhat dumb, but it's a little disconcerting.

About half the people in the room were PhDs and the other half had M.S. degrees in one thing or another. So basically I'm playing catch-up for the first year with everyone else. I hope that when I get to talk about my project that I'll sound as smart as they do. I suppose that it might sound that way because they are throwing around the compounds that they are analyzing and the systems they impact, so the big words sound impressive. I could throw out some big words with clinical lab science, but they don't seem big to me.

I think what bothers me the most is that when I go to new labs in the military I have military experience to fall back on so I usually have some sort of expertise that is needed while I figure out what I need to learn. I don't have that here. I feel a little like a fake, trying to tapdance my way into something. I guess I just need to work my ass off right now and make sure I have my coursework down while I try and find a comfort zone. Ha ha. Part of me wonders if this isn't what the next 3 years will be like, and is like for most grad students. Wondering if you'll be good enough to pass the class. Then if you're good enough to pass prelims. Then if you're good enough to come up with something original in your research and then write it up then defend it adequately etc etc. Yeah, this is fun.

1:14pm: I hate to get all high and mighty but...
When I worked as the executive officer the hospital commander at my last base I came to enjoy what I did. I worked my ass off and was constantly working late trying to get things done for my commander, or the squadron commanders, or the base, or whoever. But I took a lot of pride in what I did and how my work impacted the hospital and on some occasions made us look pretty good. So when I learned that Capt X was going to be my replacement I wasn't that thrilled. He wasn't a bad person, just not one that had any interest in doing the job well, wasn't interested in working hard to help people other than himself, and basically didn't want the job. I have no problem with people being focused only on themself to the exclusion of all others, but you can't do that job and not realize you basically are the go-to for most of the commanders in the hospital. I did everything that I could think of to try and pre-position the job and train him when he transitioned in, but he basically gave me the finger and said that he would do what he wanted. Fine, I did what I could, good luck to him.

Well today I get an e-mail from one of the secretaries I worked with and she said that he is essentially being taken out of the position. After 4 months (it's a year long position normally). His replacement is going to be a nurse that I did some training with as his back-up. She totally rocks. She is a little rough at her writing skills but she was INTERESTED in LEARNING how to do the job and how to do things better. I know it's not nice to wish ill upon people and I try not to do it but I have to say HELL YA and hope that Capt X falls off the nearest cliff.

10:04am: Thinking about retirement?
( Cut in case you get enough of these in your e-mail )

10:32am: Random Friday
I was reading through some posts from when I back to Ohio. Reading them now it looks like I talked a lot of crap, I wonder if I am mellowing at all *bouncebouncebounce*

Alanna is doing really well sleeping on her toddler bed. Now if I could just convince her that the way to wake up daddy is not to jump on his stomach. Getting a Heimlich while asleep doesn't work that well for me.

Getting a nap is almost better than sex these days. Almost. Being woken up from the nap with my daughter holding fresh-baked cookies approaches it ;)

One of my classes starts 5 days before the rest, so I officially am starting classes in 5 days. Yikes!

Tori and I have started jogging somewhat together again. We haven't done this since before we left Ohio. I take off running and Tori runs with her spiffy jogging stroller and the girls. I need to try that thing out, it looks pretty good for such an undertaking. Tori has been able to run for 10 minutes or so without significant pain in her hips, which is what kept her from jogging the past few years. It is AWESOME that we can all go running together. We pass each other on various parts of the neighborhood and Alanna waves at daddy.

I was able to prove that I can give my wife a massage in the same room as a sleeping baby without waking her. By her I mean the baby. Mwahahahahaha

Ella's hair gets redder ever day it seems.

I am sorely overdue on my taking cute baby pictures quota.

We are getting a chest freezer delivered tomorrow. I wonder how many Drumsticks can fit in this thing...

Lunch, lunch is good stuff. Time for lunch.

7:36am: More class changes
Looks like the stats class is back in my schedule unless they find enough students for my environmental tox class to go off. I *really* hope that they come up with some more students. 1) My advisor is teaching the tox course and knowing more about what her style is like would be very helpful with my research. 2) There's no book for the tox course, saving a few bucks and 3) If I have to go with stats I have classes back to back and almost across campus. I don't know what parking is like when the undergrads are in town but if history is any indication it SUCKS. I might need to consider keeping a bike on campus for jaunts like this between classes.

And I just found out that the department is holding a "new grad student" class at 4 pm every day the first 3 weeks of this term. Fun.

9:25am: Back to work
After 43 days of leave I went to sign in at the base yesterday. Now, it may sound like 43 days off is the bomb, and it definitely had its perks. But when those 43 days basically consisted of visiting and seeing most of our immediate family while unpacking the house and chasing the kids and not sleeping then somehow it was a little less fun than I had hoped. But I technically went back to work and all I can say is..thank GOD.

I don't live for my work, but it does give me some kind of structure in my life. Even as a college student I'll have some deadlines, if they are fewer than I'm used to. But getting the uniform on (*squeeze*) and the coffee going and heading to the base for inprocessing it felt pretty good. Finally got back to the gym too (*ouch*). This is what happens when I don't keep my running up.

In the Paul isn't going insane quite yet category it looks like the stats class I'm signed up for is not in the cards this term. With the vet class (for new vet students, as it turns out) and biochem and the miscellaneous one unit grad student and biosafety intro courses I'm not quite crazy enough for that too, especially when stats can be taken both terms.

Our toddler is doing great with the potty training and is sleeping in a toddler bed so we're both doing the happy dance. The funny part is that her training has included getting a sticker when she pees or poops in the potty, so before her clothes go into the hamper they have to be de-stickered. I have a picture of the sticker queen, hope to have it up soon. My parents spent the last couple of days trying to convince my sister that the toddler is a prodigy and can say all these words and do this and do that. I think she's just a little girl, but having no frame of reference I'm not too caring either way. I mean, she's 2 afterall. No college applications this year.

All in all, some semblance of normal life is returning after 2 months of chaos. Yippee!

10:30pm: The visitors have departed, time to hit the books
The past week my parents have been visiting, mainly to spend some time with their grandchildren. I have to say, I'm really surprised. Not only were they awesome around the kids but they were really pleasant the entire week. They obviously really enjoyed themselves and this is the most time I've been around them consecutively in probably 10 years or so. It was really nice.

Now they are in Memphis, awaiting their flight tomorrow back to CA. The visitors have gone, the house is basically set up, and Friday I sign back in from leave. While I have really enjoyed having the time with the family it is time to go back to work. OK, maybe not work, but it will be a lot of work. So far it looks like my first term will be:

- Statistics (esentially SAS programming)
- Biochem (1st of 2 semesters of the grad biochem course)
- Vet Physiology I (a vet school course that a few grad students can take)
- Intro Grad Students CVM (1 unit pass/fail)

I might have to swap out the stats for an environmental tox course if it fills up enough to be held. I'm a little concerned about the vet physio course, and it seems like a lot depending on how much time I spend on my research. Still, it might just be nerves about going back to school. No, really, I'm going back to school. I bought books for the biochem and stats class already. Fortunately if I postpone the stats until spring the book is the same every term. But DAMN they are thick. I don't remember them being like that.

11:36pm: The house is coming together
Well it feels like the house is transitioning from the "we're still in boxes and can't find anything" stage to the "the house is a mess because we took everything out of boxes but haven't found a permanent home for it yet" stage. Garage sale set for Saturday to get rid of some of the excess stuff, then maybe we can park in our garage...I mean carport. I have learned a few interesting tidbits about Mississippi so far:

There is no recycling program through the sanitation department. If you have trash it's...trash. There's no bin for compost or yard clippings. No bin for recyclable materials. There's a couple of bins a few blocks away for flat cardboard and newspaper but that's it. Even stranger, to me at least, is that there's no bin provided by the city. You fill black bags and put them out on your curb twice a week. That's it.

The DMV doesn't issue front plates for your car. Everyone has a Mississippi State plate or an Auburn plate or a Atlanta Falcons plate or, in many cases, nothing.

Sweet tea, it's everywhere.

The humidity.

The house is coming along, though. I hope to have new pictures of the family up soon, at least as soon as I can get the cables put together. Still so much to do.

4:00pm: Back in the USA
We are officially back in the US, woohoo!

Some shopping to be done, enjoying some time with Tori's family. Then we go to the mall today and a hailstorm hits. Our new car, owned for 2 days, is covered with little dents. Shit!!!!!!!

6:54am: Living out of a suitcase
Well, we have now transferred to our temporary lodging facility (read: hotel room with a kitchen). Boxes everywhere to mail ahead to MS and general cyclone hit us views. We transfer to a different room on Friday, they didn't have any that allowed pets until then. Luna is staying with friends for a couple of days.
Today is my last day of actual work, yippee! Check those last boxes on the outprocessing list and hopefully we can breathe a bit this next couple of days.

Note to self: moving overseas is stressful. Doing so with an infant that just got her 4 month shots and a toddler is a tad more complicated.

I am hoping to have time to go around the base tomorrow and take pictures of everything on the base since I never got around to it. Maybe my girls will sneak into a couple of those shots ;)

I will miss this place. It has been so stressful at times, but the success I've had here has changed my life in so many ways. School program, the kids, all that stuff. When we got here some people told me that being stationed overseas would either make our marriage stronger or tear it apart. It's made it stronger, for sure. I will say, though, that if you want to learn the good and bad about someome, move with them. But I love my wife so much. I have said it before but I am the luckiest guy in the world.

9:24pm: Expired tags, oy!
While making arrangements with the dealership we're picking up our new car from when we land in Chicago they told us that we will get 7 day temp tags before we leave the dealership. Wait, 7 day? What happened to 30 day tags? Shit.

It'll be 12 days between when we land and when we expect to arrive in Mississippi. Our options are either to cut short half of our family visiting and land in Mississippi early or to drive on expired tags for 5 days. Drive through Illinois, Tennessee, and into Mississippi. Does anyone have any experience with this and is it a big deal to drive on expired temp tags? The reason we're not getting the title in Illinois and paying tax there is that it's 6 1/4% tax and 5% in Mississippi, a difference of several hundred dollars. We will get tags the first business day we're in town (we get in on either Saturday or Sunday depending on the temperament of the girls).

We're hoping that *if* we were pulled over during those few days that an explanation that we're military recently back from 3 years overseas and we're on our way to our new duty station where we're going to register the vehicle that we might get off with a warning. Then again, I don't know how big a deal having a few days past your temp tag date is. How expensive is the fine? Anyone have any sage advice? :)

2:09pm: There's an echo in my head
The movers picked up the last of our things today. We're left with our temp furniture, a loaner TV/VCR (the base thrift store had Quiz Show on VHS!), and the things going in our luggage. We go to temp lodging on Tuesday and the following Monday head down to London to spend our last night in England. I know we have a lot of stuff, but *dude* there's nothing in this house.

The lab held a going away lunch for me yesterday. It was really nice that some folks came out to help send me off. Part of me wishes I could stay a little while longer and do some more things. A really small part, but still.

The girls are taking the whole thing pretty well so far. I will say that neither Tori or I are looking forward to the flight from London to Chicago. Oh well, Applebees and Wal-Mart here we come :)

Everyone else is down for a nap right now. I think this is the first time I've had the living room to myself in weeks. Some iTunes, check out the latest movie trailers. God I needed this. Moving is so stressful, and this being the first time we're doing it with kids I can start to see why people in the military retire after only 20 years because they don't want to have to move again. When it was just me or even just Tori and I that was simple by comparison. Some clothes, check. Toiletries, check. The dog, check. But now, holycowthere'salotofthingstomoveandkeepitallstraightinyourmind.

Real as it all is, I'm still unsure how I'm going to react to being a college student. I'm excited, scared, nervous, relieved, anxious, everything. I wasn't feeling like this before when I was in college. This is what I get for stepping into the unknown. Bah.

10:20pm: Latest picture of the girls
I've learned why parents usually have tons of pictures of the first child and few of the latter children. You're busy chasing the older while trying to take pictures of the younger. Still, once in a while you get one or two :)

2:32pm: The craziness of life in 1000 words or less...
Where to start. See what happens when I don't post for..well, forever?

3 weeks to becoming honest to goodness US citizens again. Sleeping on temp furniture courtesy of the base (think Holiday Inn). Everything packed but a few things that will be picked up on the 5th. Due to a bit of overplanning our household goods are already in Mississippi awaiting delivery the day after we get there. They told us 45-60 days, I guess that's code for "they'll be there in 30 days but we say that so if they're late you don't wish us dead". Oh well. 3 shipments in storage all in transit from Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland to Mississippi. Who knew we had this much crap?

Toddler is doing really well. Starting to have dry diapers, still in progress but hey, we'll take what we can get. She's putting 2 and 3 words together now, quite opinionated she is. Still, she gives a mean high 5 and can walk the dog all on her own (with a bit of supervision).

Baby is growing like crazy. She has totally got the jelly rolls on her legs. I've even caught her sister saying "Chubby!". I don't think we'll need to worry about feeding whole milk and peanut butter to this one like we did her older sister. Sleeping almost 5 hours most nights, then food, then back for another 3-4 hours. Thank God for that one. Now we'll just have to see how she does during time zone transitions.

Work is insane. I may just be being bitchy but as most people get ready to transition out it seems like their last few days or weeks are spent handing off everything and mostly closing out those last couple of things. I feel like I'm going full-blast right up to the last day. We have an inspection with the Food and Drug Administration starting tomorrow that goes until Thursday then a General coming to the base through the end of the week that I'm helping put together the itinerary for. Ugh. I just keep telling myself to just make it to the end of the week. Then I'm on leave for a week, following that with my last 3 days of getting every agency on the base to agree to let me go. Woohoo!

Tori is doing well. She's taking this move much better than the last one. I think she's just getting tired of using paper plates for all of our meals. Still, now that I'm focusing on my lab job I am down from 65 hours a week to 55, which seems like I'm home more. I've been able to come home and get to go out to play or to take everyone to the park before dinner. We've even been able to share an hour together watching TV while BOTH girls were asleep. I'm really really looking forward to being able to come home at 4 or 5 to play with the girls. OK, so maybe that will result in me studying for hours after they go to bed, but that's the advantage, that flexibility.

It is so surreal. Almost everything is gone, the work is almost done. The plane tickets are reserved. Now it's just getting the last things done and waiting. Going back to Cali...er...Mississippi :)

8:41pm: DVR vs Tivo
So much going on, will make a longer post once my brain is working. So tired, so much to do. But enough of that...

One thing we're looking at when we move is getting cable for the first time in 3 years. Weird. The cable company in the area is hawking the upgrade from the standard box to the DVR box for an additional $11 a month. If we buy the 3 yr option for Tivo we get it for $8.33 (plus we have to buy a box). Does anyone have the current Tivo? I used to have it and loved it, but I don't know how it works with your digital cable box (i.e. can you record one or two shows and watch something else?). Does Tivo replace your digital cable box altogether? Does Tivo still rock the house? Inquiring minds want to know (yes, if you remember this expression you're old) :)

9:27pm: How weird is this?
We bribed our daughter with *frozen vegetables* to get her to eat cheese and meatballs (she refuses spaghetti noodles).

And her new favorite words? Elbow and Knee. Kids are so cute.