Resolution

Lots of stuff has wrapped up here on the eastern edge of the country. Of course, the great majority of you who read this blog already know that. Still, here are the updates.

We are finally done with our mortgage refinance. It's not exactly what we were hoping for, but we are at least in a 15 year note that will allow us to move ahead with the "get out of this house in 5-years" plan. 

My transcripts were reviewed and as I expected, I now have 7 classes left to complete my BSN. I started those classes Monday. After two years of mostly exams, the next 18 months are going to be mostly papers.  Time to brush off the APA style guide. If all goes as I plan, I should have the BSN done in December of 2013.  

I got a job!

That deserves a line of its own. I'll be starting my very first job as an RN Monday. I will be working at a medical rehabilitation center. I'll be on a sub-acute floor, which means I'll mostly be working with folks who are recovering from strokes, heart attacks and joint replacements.  They are folks who are to well for the hospital (or were kicked out by their insurance), but not well enough to go home yet. I'm excited.

The first couple of weeks while I'm on orientation I'll be working days and then I'll move over to evenings. The position is part time, so I'll be working 3 or 4 shifts per week. Amazingly, I will have no weekends! It really seems to have worked out beautifully.

Childcare is going to be interesting for a while. Because Ry's mom is coming out for a month and has generously offered to watch the kids while she's here and I'm at work. So next week, we are begging, borrowing and stealing to find childcare. Between a nursing school friend, my mom and Ry taking a vacation day or two, we have the first 10 days covered. Then I don't have to think about it for a month. 

After that, a friend of mine is going to nanny for the kids in the afternoons until Ry gets home from work. It's a really wonderful arrangement that means that the Monkey gets lots of attention and we don't have to put the Bear in after school care. I feel like 8:30 to 6 pm would just be a really long day for a 5 year old.  The catch is, she's going to be out of the country for 2 weeks right after my MIL leaves. One of the weeks is Thanksgiving, so that should lessen the impact. I will deal with that in a few weeks when I know a little more about how I'll be scheduled at work. (At work! For the first time in 5.5 years!)

In other news, my Father-in-Law and Sister-in-Law were just out for a long weekend. We had a really lovely time.

It didn't take long for the boys to settle right in with their Grandpa and Tantie.

I got 30 pounds of tomatoes from our CSA this week, so it was all tomatoes, all the time. The salad you see in this picture was the first of our tomato-heavy meals. I have to say that there is nothing quite as good as an organic heirloom tomato straight from the farm. Proof that God loves us.

The boys were both thoroughly in love with their Tantie by the end of the first day.

And then life resumed as normal.

It also happened to be Bear's half birthday during their visit. The half birthday party is my favorite of the traditions that we picked up from Ry's side.

It comes with a half cake.

Bear specifically asked for the purple frosting.

And a single present. Bear has a friend who has the arrows and quiver from Brave. Whenever we go to her house, he is obsessed with it. I thought it would be a great half birthday present. The one she has has brown arrows and a brown, hard plastic quiver.  When I ordered this one, I assumed it was the same. I didn't expect it to be so .... purple.

Turns out, Bear loved the purple. It was a big hit.

We spent lots of time riding bikes.

Mauling Grandpa.

And spent an afternoon at a charming little river town near us. We always park on the NJ side and walk to the PA side because it's a neat walk over the river.

And Ry and Tantie found a microbrew, as you do.

There was salsa-making to help with the bounty of tomatoes. Canning is one of those dying arts that I'm tickled to participate in every year.

There was a head injury, because no party at my house is complete without one.

And this picture hearkens back to a picture from my babyhood and Gummy Bear's.

How much does the Monkey look like his dad? Everywhere I go, people talk about how much he looks like me. To them I say ... nu-uh. Look.

It's always hard to say goodbye to family. One of the only things I dislike about where we live is that most of our family is other places. Still, I'm grateful that we get to see each other pretty regularly.

So, that's what is new with me. I'll try to post a little more regularly. Fair warning that I'm starting a new job and taking 2 classes, so I'll do my best.