A.C.A.S.

My husband has passed the test needed to become an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society!!!

If you don't know what that is, you are completely normal.

I, on the other hand, never claimed to be normal. 

And I am super excited!!!  Honestly folks, this is a major deal around here and we are celebrating big time!!!

Running The Gauntlet?

So we've lived for the last 3 years planning to move to Texas, as soon as we possibly could.
The original plan was hatched by way of several visits to Texas and many in depth discussions that left my husband and I feeling as if we had finally found a place that felt like home.  That place also being a good fit for our desires to see the sun more often and spend a lot less money to merely experience life was clearly also a bonus.

 Sunflower With Sunglasses by jiggoja

found at freedigitalphotos.net

 
For various and sundry reasons that plan has not worked out- yet.

That's not to say that my husband and I have not had many interesting adventures in these past few years while pursuing our goal of moving to Texas.  We have been to places that we once thought of as 'other possibilities' to help us reach our goal of finding a home that is mostly sunny and not so expensive.  Some of this has been rather comical and some of it has been a bit sad.  However, it has all been a learning experience.  And that is often what life is all about.

We have learned that my husband's chosen actuarial profession is prolific in jobs along the two coasts.  We have learned that it is not impossible to find a job in the middle if you are patient and if you are pretty much done getting to the highest level of said chosen career, as there are very few people who are capable of doing this (about 5,400 in the country).  In other words in 2-3 more years we will have a pretty good chance of securing a job for whatever my husband would like to do within his chosen career path, in just about whatever place we really want to be.

In the meantime, my husband and I have purchased a condo in Palm Springs, CA and we seek sun there whenever possible- which means we get to have something that resembles the life we are really looking for about 6 weeks a year.

And that's certainly a big improvement.  However, it still seems like there should be another way to improve the overall picture of what we are seeking without having to wait around for another 2-3 years.

Although we can't actually live at our place in Palm Springs, CA because there are not any actuarial jobs out there in the desert, it seems that we may have found a way to avoid that 2-3 year wait to attain at least part of our goal.

In our many and varied trips down the coast with my nephew and the dogs in tow, we have discovered that although we don't see any financial benefit to being in California we sure do feel a lot better overall when we are there.  We get out from under our sweatshirts and flannel hoods and meet people who seem much more varied from the brooding types who reside here in the Seattle area.  We are just happier overall.

So now the question is:  Would living in California full time be a nice Disney, sandy beach, sunshine-filled diversion for a couple of years or would I end up feeling as if I had to run the gauntlet of more liberal politics than I can even imagine handling to simply get to what I really want which of course is living in Texas?

image found at Wikimedia Commons

Sharpie Marker Mystery

Why is it that when I use a black Sharpie to hide a tiny bleach spot on a pair of black cotton pants, I have to reapply the marker after every washing because the Sharpie marker always washes out? 

'Black Marker Pen' by Stuart Miles, found at freedigitalphotos.net

But then when I get a tiny little bit of black Sharpie marker on my pink cotton t-shirt it won't come out no matter how many times or how many ways I wash it?!?!

An American Heart: Part 2

My own American Heart has been a bit fractured lately.  One part has been extraordinarily busy, busy, busy.  And to be honest I have been grateful to have those distractions to keep me from feeling the full weight of the other part of my heart that has been so deeply sad, even despite all the things that I know I should be more than grateful for.

So today I will share with you from both sides of my own American Heart.

First- here are some other fun shots from our Memorial Day spent at the Palm Springs Air Museum:

I know some people who would really like a ceiling fan that looked like this!

Here are some fine examples of beautiful pin-up style lovelies, painted by Santiago "Sant" Godinez :

We got to watch 'Pretty Polly' fly that day.

On our way out of the museum we saw this sign:

Visiting this flying WWII air museum on Memorial Day gave me an even stronger appreciation for those who serve.

 And as for that other side of my American heart...  I will share with you a couple of videos that have given me pause lately.  I have been sad to see what is becoming of my beloved America and yet I have hope when I see things like this:



And this:



These are some of the things that have been on my heart, lately.  How about you?

An American Heart: Part I

You may have noticed that I kind of dropped off the edge of the blogging planet here for a bit.  I didn't really mean to, but it happens occasionally.

There seems to be two situations that cause me to have trouble keeping up with my blogging.  The first being a question of time.  Sometimes I'm just up to my ears in work and sometimes I am up to a whole bunch of fun.  Either way, a lack of time equals a lack of blogging.  The second scenario is one that is more recent and may just be personal to me.  You see, I just don't seem able to blog so much when I am up to my neck in worry over whatever in the heck is happening to the country that I love...  (I know, I know.  I shouldn't let it get to me so personally and yet I don't always win the battle to remain positive.)

Recently, I have experienced BOTH of my blogger delaying scenarios.  Today, I will stick with the positive.

As far as the being busy in a fun way, there was another trip back down to Palm Springs for Memorial Day week.  We did make it to the Flower Drop at the Palm Springs Air Museum and it was completely awesome!

There was a solemn beauty in the desert this past Memorial Day as a Mitchell B-25 Bomber was escorted onto the runway:

 

She started up and was off to complete her mission:

The fantastic piece of WWII history buzzed over the crowd three times:

 That third time was the moment of the magical flower drop:

The White Carnations represented our military members lost from and prior to WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. The Red Carnations were for those lost in more recent wars including The Persian Gulf, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pride spilled out in the form of tears for so many in the crowd as we focused on the brave Americans who had given everything that these red and white carnations represented, falling against a perfect blue sky.  I can honestly say that I have never seen anything quite like it.  This really was a meaningful way to spend Memorial Day.