There's Still A Plan

I started this blog a little over 6 months ago when I was just sure that my husband and I were on our way to becoming new residents of Texas.  Then a few months ago, we decided that if Texas wasn't having us in any big hurry, well, we would just open up our hearts and minds to the idea that anywhere with warmth and sun would be just fine with us.  This kind of willingness to bend would surely get us to tan lines and high air conditioning bills fast, right?

Here we still are, in the rainy Northwest.  We are in the midst of enduring the coldest, wettest Spring ever on record...  officially.  I finally got the chance to mow the yard when the rain managed to stop for about 36 hours.  There are puddles in places that I never knew would puddle.  My flower pots are actually flooded.  My dogs look out the door when I open it and then look at me as if to say, "Are you kidding?  Would you want to have to go out there to do your business?"  When there is a moment of reprieve and it looks like there might be some sun, the dogs run out to lay on the deck only to return within a few minutes to lay on the floor and look depressed when the sky clouds up again.  We were totally teased by a beautiful sunny 65 degree day last Saturday and then I woke up to rain on the skylights for Easter.  So, yes, I am annoyed.

But then I have to feel like a real horses ass when I complain like this as I have been watching people who are truly suffering with all the tornado and storm damage all over the South.  I have a home.  With flower pots and a deck, no less.  I'm not out searching for my dogs or even lost family members.  So yeah, it is all so relative...

I know there is a plan at work.  I'm just not totally clear what that plan is anymore.  For our part, my husband and I are working the recruiter and ourselves hard, searching high and low for a good job that will allow us to pursue this dream of being where the sun shines most of the time and the cost of living is decent.  My husband is still working hard to fulfill his requirements to become a member of the Property/Casualty Society Of Actuaries.  He knows that within a year he will be at the Associate level.  This should make looking for a job a bit more fruitful. 

In the mean time, we are living and preparing as if we could up and move at any moment.  I am still getting rid of more stuff and making decisions about stuff that I will get rid of the moment I know we really will be leaving.  We are saving up cash.  The house looks great for all the prep work I did last Fall.  And, we are still trying to make the most of what is going on in our lives today, while we are still here.  We will be running another 5k on Sunday and enjoying a get together with friends this weekend.   I am also planning a small event for our neighborhood next week with my neighbor.  Most of all we are both learning that appreciating what you have, even when it's not exactly what you want is sometimes the most important plan of all.

All The Disney Details- Part Deux

It has been exactly 4 days since we returned from the Disney spring break road trip and my nephew has already called me today to ask if we can go back this summer!  I let him know that we would probably be doing other new things this summer.  It was a good try though.  I'm glad Nathan knows it never hurts to ask.

So to continue the story where I left off...  After 2 and a half days of basically not much more than just driving, we finally got to start the part of the trip that was the whole reason we went in the first place.  Nathan had always wanted to go to Lego Land and I had always wanted to take him to Disneyland.  So we were gonna' do both.  On Monday, we headed for Lego Land.

Nathan was super excited, but I was a little bit worried because it was supposed to rain.  As we were driving in from a half hour away, we even drove through a huge rain shower.  I knew this would be a real bummer after how long he had been waiting for this and it looked like it probably would be a rainy day.

 

There was no way I wanted to rain on this kids' parade

 

But you know what?  Everything worked out just fine for Nathan's special Lego Land day.  The rain never came and eventually even the puddles from the night before evaporated and we got a beautiful blue sky day!

 

Lego Land had just about anything you can imagine made out of legos.  There were animals, monuments and cities, and even some funny tongue in cheek stuff.

Yes, that dog is doing what you think he's doing.

Nathan's favorite ride was an insane sort of giant robotic arm that would twist and turn you all around in midair.  You get to choose which level you want when you get in the ride.  The levels are 1 to 5.  Nathan did level 5, every time!  The video below is an example of the ride, though not with my nephew on it.



There was also a unique and tasty treat that we tried at Lego Land park.  It was called apple fries.  It was deep fried apple strips with real whipped cream to dip them into.  Apple fries were truly yummy.

 

What an absolutely fantastic day!  And this was just the beginning...