South Carolina or Bust!

It's just another example of this planet's twisted irony that the day my grandfather was laid to rest is the same day Jon gets offered a teaching position at his first-choice school. You're reading a post from the wife of the soon-to-be-more-famous first ever Assistant Band Director at Blythewood High School. In addition to the opportunities this new job offers Jon, the whole deal is particularly exciting for us because, according to Mapquest, Blythewood is approximately:

• 20 minutes North of Columbia
• 1.25 hours South of Charlotte
• 1 hour South of Cousin Jack/Kim's
• 7 hours South of Morgantown
• 6 hours South of Harrisville
• 2.5 hours West of Myrtle Beach
• 2 hours West of Charleston

This is all by car, mind you, not dreaded plane. Phew. One major life-changing question out of the way, one to go. Anyone want to buy a house in South Texas????

Clyde Jr. 1927-2008

My grandfather passed away early this morning, one month before his 81st birthday. He led a simple, good life and was loved by everyone he met. He would tell his tales of the Navy to anyone who would listen. He worked in a glass factory for 50 years and enjoyed growing daylilies and watching the birds when he retired. He did get to meet his two-month-old great-grandson Andrew this past August when we were in for Heidi's wedding (Heidi, your wedding has ended up being a blessing in so many unforseen ways). I was his first grandchild, and will miss him terribly. Although I am very sad to have to miss being in WV for his services, I know that he will have many family members around to celebrate the life of such an angel.

Old Photo, New Sentiment

WVU basketball fans' feelings can be best expressed with this vintage Andrew photo.

Just Saw the Shuttle

Idol just ended for the night and we stepped outside in time to see the space station being chased by the shuttle. The news pinpointed the time perfectly, which is always so amazing to me. Seeing both zip through the sky was really awesome.

We all had a good Easter. Dora sniffed out the eggs and then Andrew tried to put every one of them in his mouth. Typical.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, Everyone! We all had some fun today, with the obligatory Easter Bunny pic and the first Chuck E Cheese's trip (the operative word there is CHEESE, I think).

A Day at the Beach

Tick, tock, tick, tock...... we still await any job offers. A nice diversion took us to South Padre Island today, where we braved the tail-end of the Spring Break crowds (ah, to be 20 again with no responsibilities) for Andrew's second ever beach excursion. Wouldn't want to take a 9.5-month-old and two hounds to the beach EVERY day, but the trouble is worth it once in a while; fun was had by all.

Go, go, go

Jon is on spring break this week, so we have been having fun just hanging out. So far, there have been a lot of trail/neighborhood walks. The one this morning was definitely a little too much for all our "kids." Andrew fell asleep in his backpack 10 minutes into the walk and stayed that way even after we got home.

Car Poll and Addendum to the Weddng Ettiquette Post

Love the responses to the post about my nasty car. Please vote on my new poll.

Also, I have to add a tidbit to our ridiculous wedding thoughts..... We received an invitation today with the registry information printed inside. Not the first time this has happened. I find this ridiculous and Jon thinks it is no big deal. What's important here, people? The attendees or the presents? FYI - the votes from the last poll were 5 to 3 for a handwritten thank-you versus a thank-you in some other form.
(P.S. I know the registry information is probably just the bride/groom's way of trying to help us out in the shopping department, but COME ON NOW PEOPLE? Think for a minute.)

Got your gas mask? Let's take a ride.

BEWARE THE IDES OF A DISGUSTING CAR

The new car seat went in my 2001 Suzuki today, only AFTER Jon and I deemed it necessary to give the poor old girl a thorough cleaning. I touched parts of that car today that I know had not been touched since it was manufactured. I am a total car slob. So, I give you the following list......

JUST A FEW THINGS WE FOUND IN MY CAR TODAY:

• About 10 pens and pencils
• 3 soprano recorders
• A copy of my 2002 WVU field study project
• 3 old cell phones I have been meaning to donate to Cell Phones for Soldiers
• A few french fries that carbon dating would probably place around 4 years old
• Obscene amounts of dog hair - I vacuumed up a Chihuahua
• A West Virginia road map with Gaston Caperton on the back as governor
• A felt ring from some Monongalia County Schools cymbal stand
• Refrigerator magnets
• A nametag of Jon's from when he did the African ensemble with my WV students
• A map Jon drew for my mom when she first visited TX in November of 2006
• A pretty nice 3-hole punch

New Gear, New Behaviors

We recently acquired two new pieces of Andrew gear due to his

95th-percentile girth:

(1) A cool walk-behind/ride on(2) A new front-facing car seat that he can use until he is 100 lbs, which will probably be around his 2nd birthdayAlso, he is showcasing two new behaviors this week: Climbing the stairs and the one we are the least proud of.....Growling (what can we say? 40% of our household is canine, okay?)

Enlisting the help of Emily Post

ANYONE'S thoughts are appreciated here...

We have been invited to a lot of weddings lately. That is a good thing - people like us. Or do they??? Over the past couple of years, we have been invited to ten weddings, and we received invitations to some of them a week or so before the blessed event was set to take place. One of the prospective brides even called the week I gave birth to Andrew (knowing that), got our address, and sent an invitation to the wedding that was happening the following week (that we were obviously not going to be able to attend). It makes one wonder.... are the majority of prospective brides/grooms just in it for the gifts, or do they actually want our company at one of their most important life events? Here is the MOST ANNOYING part of it all: Out of the past ten weddings we have been invited to and subsequently sent presents for, THREE brides have sent thank-you notes. To this day, I still have no idea whether or not those other seven received their gifts from us. And you guessed it - we are still awaiting any type of acknowledgement about the gift we mailed to the bride who invited us when Andrew was born (9 months ago).

Again, I am thankful to be invited to these events - God knows the social outlets are few and far-between when you become a new parent. However, I can't help but ask, Am I too old-fashioned to expect a hand-written note after my careful review of couples' registries, trapsing up and down the aisles of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, selecting, purchasing, wrapping, and shipping a gift, or is my behavior just a simple expectation of today's wedding guests and I should get over it? Please check out the poll on the right and cast your vote.

A Little Frustration for All (but still mostly enjoying it!)

It has been so kind of you guys to keep mentioning how happy and content Andrew is. He really is a good-natured boy. Lately, however, he feels he must perpetually practice his new skill of pulling up. He must practice it constantly, or else he is mad. He pulls up on reasonable, stable objects, like us, the side of the play yard, or the couch. Then there are the non-stable objects, such as his walker or the dogs.

Aside from the kiddo's frustrations, there are the same looming job/house ones for us. So far, three SC areas have shown a big interest in Jon: Blythewood, Red Bank, and Summerville. Blythewood is the closest to Morgantown, FYI. Follow this link for a map from Morgantown all the way down to Summerville (scroll to the bottom of the page when you get there). We are told by all that we will know something in a week or two.

Just Enjoying It

Andrew is 9 months old today. There are new photos of him on Shutterfly. Send one of us an email if you need the password.

Knowing my stay-at-home-mom days are very likely numbered, I have been trying hard to remain in the present and enjoy every possible Andrew moment. This has been surprisingly easy to do, with all the life question marks over our heads: house? job(s)? location? Regardless of where we land in a few months, we all know we are lucky people (and hounds).

Flying Baby

Need to work on those biceps or relieve some stress? Just grab yourself a 23-pounder and perform the Flying Baby maneuver. Works every time.

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Our future is still a big, ol' ?

The interviews went well, but we won't know anything for at least a week or two.