Lunch Reading

I read a news article during lunch: Sitting will kill you, even if you exercise.

My students were not thrilled when I made them stand up to do math.

The wimps.

"But, we like to sit!" They complained so much I only set the timer for 10 minutes.

Can't they see I'm trying to save their lives? I showed them the article. They remained unimpressed.

Pool's Not Open Yet

But Nana's tub fits three.

The seas were rough today. Even those of us out of the tub got wet.

House Sale - The Money Post

So, how did we do on the sale of our house?

Data dump. (Note: it's amazing how much of this you can find online legally with a minimum amount of searching.)

Job Offer

Two months and many rejections later I have a job offer. It was not my first choice, but it feels like I'm being pushed in that direction. I interviewed online because the prius died. I don't think it's prudent to accept a job without attempting to breathe the air on site, though. I drive down on Friday to take a closer look.

An Unexpected Journey/Turn

My rebuttal. 

The actor who played John played Bilbo in the new Hobbit movies.

Farewell, Prius

Farewell, Prius. The repair quote to replace your battery and battery fan were almost as much as you're worth. We decided not to pay it and hope nothing went wrong until your new battery died in another 100k miles. You were a good car, especially when the gas prices were over $4.

Hopefully, the charity you go to will find you a good home. It took me almost 45 minutes to clean through all the junk you accumulated for them. Some of it was from moving, but the cheerios! Oh, the cheerios! And the cheetos, too! It's messy work being a family car.

I drove around your older sibling the F-150 the week you started to sputter out. The truck is 17 years old and has the same mileage, but no fancy electronics to go haywire. It will just throw a gasket when it decides to blow up. The truck's gas mileage is half what you got, but running is running!

Rest well! I hear that Grandma and Grandpa are looking to add a younger car to their fleet. They are very generous and suggested one of your old garage mates may step up to take over your old duties...

Sciency Mind

Shane has a sciency mind. He weighed himself with different toys for fun Sunday. Shane is more interested in decimals than my high school students. The kid likes to experiment and learn how things work. 

Anniversary Presents

Depending how you look at it, I'm either really lucky with not needing to shop for anniversary gifts or really unlucky with not needing to shop for anniversary gifts.

Don't Overreact to What Kids Say

Carrie and I heard Shane behind us in his car seat. "Stop that, horny!"

Carrie's eyes bugged. Mine would have, but I noticed something when I put Shane in the car. His next words confirmed my guess.

Shane found a triceratops slipper.

Wake-Up Call

Shane has a unique call to let you know he's awake. "Anyone? Anyone?"

He'll lay there and ask over and over and over! He's used to someone coming to get him.

Past Halfway

Three weeks down. Two weeks to go. Shane and I are over halfway through our stay at Nana and Pop's.

It's not going to be Nana and Pop's much longer, either. I asked Nana how she felt about closing in a couple of weeks. "It's a blur!" she said.

I felt like that back in December. Then I didn't in January. Then I did again; Then I didn't. It all depended on when. Time flew until it didn't. It stretched and then compressed when I looked away. However it looks in hind or fore sight, time is long enough when living it.

Patrick visited Wednesday and asked me, "How are you handling staying here?"

Frankly, it's easy. I've got decades of experience living here. The food is free and I'm in the same room as twelve-year old Mike was. Same bed frame, too. I enjoy being around my family. And Shane..., he loves it here. He gets to sleep in, play with a dog and grandparents, and go play with his friend all day at Florencia's while I work. Kathleen and Cole visited once and they're going to be back again tomorrow. It's a cousin and playtime wonderland over here for Shane. I stay very busy, but I am grateful I got to spend one last hurrah here before everyone moves on. I think Carrie has it harder living alone.

There is probably one more week of 'normality' before everything is thrown into boxes. Matt and Renee close on their house May 4th. Shane and I say goodbye May 8th. Nana and Pop move out over the weekend (May 9th or 10th). They'll be long gone when the house changes hands Monday, May 11th.

The House We Want

Carrie and I already have a contract on a house we want. We had the home inspection over Spring Break. It managed to be what we wanted, in a place we wanted, and at a price we wanted all at the same time.

So, what's the catch?

The house has tenants. There is a family upstairs and a tenant downstairs in the basement who both have leases until the end of June. The web add did not say this. I can only imagine that anyone who showed up to view the house and found a pair of locked in renters immediately crossed the house off their to-do list.

However, we came 200 days on market later and with a town-house in the area until July 31st. The seller lived in California and wanted the property gone, but had a bottom line. What we didn't know was that the property was in danger of going to short-sale if it wasn't sold soon. It gave us a lot of bargaining power, but the seller's bank also refused to go below a certain price. From what I know, the seller's agent offered to cut part of his commission to put the house in our price range.

My first concern was, "What if the people upstairs don't want to move out?"

They did. They are. They will be gone by the time we close. I would not have minded collecting the $1350/month rent for a month or two, but I am happier that they have found a place to move on to.

The downstairs renter wants to stay on. Currently, she pays $750/month. The downstairs has it's own entrance, washer, dryer, kitchenette, and bathroom. She seems the quiet sort and we enjoyed Dan's basement trolldom. I am willing to give it a try. Carrie talked to her during the inspection and we will see how it works out. It would be great to have the extra income.

USAA threw us a curveball yesterday, though. They did not realize there were renters and once they found out there were they said we could not buy the house with them. USAA does not touch income-generating properties. It was a shock. We're already well into the progress. We just agreed to move up the closing date from the end of May when we heard the upstairs family would leave early.

Carrie worked furiously and we are in negotiations with a new lender. My wife filled out and sent in 28 different forms last night that were verified this morning. We probably won't get as nice of a rate as we did through USAA. Hopefully, the ping on our credits from USAA checking us out won't drop us out of the top credit tier.

And that's where we are currently. The sale of our previous house means we can put around 50% down and have a safety net left.

We're all in.

A job offer would be nice.

"You know?"

I picked up a verbal tic this year. Nana pointed it out.

I ask "Does that make sense?" or "Do you know what I mean?" more often than I should.

Nana said, "It's like you're constantly seeking reassurance! What's up with that?"

However, she had a point. I would much rather be told and know than remain in the dark. Nana is very good at picking up verbal patterns. She's also not the least bit afraid or hesitant to point out what she notices! I must have picked the habit up from the resounding silence I sometimes get in class.  

I said it a few times as a joke, but then I started to notice I really was saying it without meaning to. I asked Carrie if she noticed and she said, "Yeah......"

It's a habit, but a breakable one. I'm on the watch now (and Nana is sure to point it out if I do it, too!). There's a proverb about how a fool takes correction vs a wise person. I did not celebrate the initial reveal, but I am glad it was pointed out. 

Just a humbling moment I thought I'd share.

Video Chat

A perk of technology: Video chats.

Carrie gets to say good night and see Shane each night even though she's gallivanting around a different state looking at the latest and greatest in furniture. He cracks up whenever she zooms in for a kiss. "Again!"

Never Heard Back

Never heard back yea or nay from the one job. They were supposed to call on Monday.

Time to apply to some more, I guess.

UPDATE: Heard back this morning. They went with someone else. Rats. That was the job I was most interested in. I applied to two more jobs last night and four more after school today. I have another Skype interview set up for Friday. I should hear back from one of last Friday's interviews by this Friday, too. Lots going on! I wonder if my references get an email/call for every job that I apply to. If so, I hope they have something saved somewhere so they don't have to reinvent the wheel constantly.

That's An Old Story

For some reason, Facebook threw up an old picture to the top of my news feed from 9 years ago.

That's from when the police accused and arrested someone staying with my family and raided our house at 5 AM. They confiscated all of the cameras and computers in the house. Kept them for three months, too.

Turned out the arrest was a big mistake. The circumstances were odd. They police assumed they'd find lots of evidence and instead they found nothing. Nana said that they rearranged texts from multiple sources in court to try and make it look like they had a case, tampered with evidence, and talked to each other outside of court under oath not to....it was a mess. They even lied on the warrant for the initial arrest, search and seizure.

The judge harangued them. He threw the case out before the defense had to utter a word.

I won't write about the case here, but there was something I wanted to mention.

A quick google search found articles about the arrest. The case was never substantiated, but the information is still up. Social media hid it somewhat. A name alone was not enough to find the article (at least in the first bunch of pages I clicked through). However, if I put in the name and "criminal" the third link on page one of Google grabbed it. I tried again with the name and the name of the county. Page one it appeared.

It's hard to get rid of anything in the digital age. It doesn't matter how true it is or isn't.

Matching Wits

The Sherlock girls' rebuttal arrived. I laughed when I saw it.

Whoever they are, I wish they were in my class. This game is very creative. I'm enjoying it. I hope they are, too!

My first idea was to reply with something like "Ohhhh, I suppose so. And he's wearing such a cute vest. Ta-ta!" The vest would be the explosives Moriarty made John wear.

Then it occurred to me "Bombs" + "School" may not mix. Plus, Sherlock wins in the end, so more Moriarty may corner me.

No, I decided my reply would take things in a different direction.....

But that's for another night!

Stay Good, Prius.

Lots of warning lights flashed when I drove home today.

I have noticed the hybrid battery usually reads low when I start the car. It charges up as I drive, so I hope that's not the issue.

Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa's truck is still at Nana and Pop's. I'll take that in to work tomorrow and fiddle with the Prius later. I'll need to call around and see if anyone does free diagnostics and get some quotes.

Sick Pop

Pop has not been feeling well. He's had fever for over a couple of weeks. He won't complain in front of us, but he wears his coat in the house and takes spontaneous naps on the couch. That's clue enough. The main symptoms are the fever and fatigue. The doctor called it "a prolonged fever of unknown origin." His stomach also seems off. He burps a lot and isn't very hungry.

This happened once before about four years ago. Pop said it lasted for about a week then. It may be kidney related. Pop's kidneys have been trouble since he was a teenager. Nana says he's stubborn and refuses to go see a doctor again.

We're all hoping and praying he feels better soon. Moving is tough enough without being sick the whole time.

The Original Free2Play Money Hole

Free to enter and play! Tokens are extra, though. $10 for 30 tokens. $0.30 per token. Prices have gone up since I was a kid.

Nana dropped Shane and I off at Chuck E Cheese, so she could grocery shop "for just a minute." 

I found a token under an arcade machine. 

It was pure joy for 20 seconds. Then Shane wanted his next fix. He went through withdrawal when I didn't produce any.

1 token = 20 seconds of play.
1 token = $0.30
1 minute of play = $0.90
1 hour of play = $54

All for enough tickets to purchase something the dollar store around the corner probably has in stock.

Thankfully, there were some little kids on rides that had multiple seats and a little boy who wanted someone to play air hockey with him. If it was a birthday part or a planned trip, I would have put money down but for a "few minutes" of distraction I wasn't about to.

I much prefer places you pay to get in, but they have tons of climbing structures or bouncy houses. I miss Discovery Zone from when I was a ki-teenager-d.

I eventually convinced Shane to stop asking for tokens and run around in the small crawl area.

He came out with wet socks. "I stepped in a puddle, Dad!"

At best, that puddle was water.

Farewell, MomMom

MomMom passed away at 1:00 AM Saturday morning, April 18th, 2015. Grandma and Grandpa were still in Montana. Uncle Mike and his wife live nearby, too. Carrie called me to let me know, so we could mark her passing and mourn together. I pray that she is at peace with Jesus.

Carrie and I agreed that we should try and do something with Grandma and Grandpa the next chance we get.

Routine

Shane loves his routines. All kids do on some level. Here are a few of his routine-isms:

Nana's car on the way to church

"Disc 2 Track 7 Please!"

Impact Hammerrrr! Impact Hammerrrr!

When the song ends he wants to hear it again.

Hank the Cowdog

Shane always wants to hear certain parts again and again:

-The tornado song

-When Hank hears thunder and yells "YIKES!"

-Some of the silly talk

ALL OF THESE are on track one....over and over.

*HONORARY NON-SHANE MENTION* - Coleman and Egg Videos

"What's inside the egg?!?!" Cole says.

If you ask, he already knows.

Who's Meep?

I teased Carrie so much about driving "her" moped she hid the key.

BWAHAHAHA!

I wonder how she'll feel when I post "Guess what I found after you left?"

Lots of Interviews

I have had five interviews now.

The first two were in march. One was March 16th in Greene County. The other was March 24th over Skype for a high school.

This week I drove down twice for three interviews spread across two days: One Wednesday, two Friday. I was told I would hear back yea or nay Monday for one and by Friday for another. The Juvenile Detention Center said they would make their final decision the first week of May.

I am very interested to hear back from the Hospital Education Program. If they offer me a position early next week, I will take it. I thought the Juvenile Detention Center was also very interesting. It reminded me of my alternative school roots. If I was already secure and in the area I may have been in a weird spot wondering which to pick. I'm not, though. I thought my last interview with the high school did not go as well (and I wasn't as interested), but if I don't have any other offers...

If no one gets back to me, I'll apply some more. There was a crop of new positions that opened up this week. I felt like I did really well in my interviews, but you never know if you were a match until the call comes. I thought my first interview in March went well, but I never heard back one way or another from them. The second one told me it would "be a while," so that wasn't a surprise.

I have driven over 700 miles since last Sunday. I have applied for ten positions online and was offered interviews at four of them. It's been a busy week. Another school district from farther out called me for an interview, but I declined. It would be a minimum of a forty minute commute (and that's assuming I don't strictly follow the speed limit). I'm not that desperate (yet). At this point, I would rather sign up to be a substitute teacher than commute that far each day.

MomMom

I have not mentioned it here, but MomMom's health has seriously declined. After the first stroke put her in the hospital, she recovered, and moved back home. She had another stroke weeks later than went undetected until she told Grandma she lost the ability to read.

MomMom still seemed sharp to me whenever I talked to her. She remembered Kathleen and her family was in Greenville when we talked about my parents moving south. However, it was clear she was unhappy and sounding weaker from week to week. She told me that she wasn't eating any more and mainly laid in bed all day. She never wanted to talk about her condition, but it was easy to read between the lines. I was not surprised when I heard she was moved into hospice care.

Easter weekend, Grandma had more news. She and Carrie hugged for a long time.

I talked to Grandpa again today. He and Grandma have been in Montana. They were told it would be a day or two when they flew up, but MomMom has hung on since Easter Sunday. She's been non-coherent and she has slept the past couple of days. Grandpa said her breathing was very shallow, but still steady.

I'm not really sure how to end this post. I've started and stopped at least ten times. There's more to say, but I don't want to say too much or something wrong or something trite.

Magnet Opus Ode

New favorite TV show; New song. Shane watched an episdoe of Blaze and the Monster Machine's with magnets. He was inspired.

Still a Party...

Bryce came home with us from daycare on Monday and Tuesday. Nana picked up Monday; I picked up Tuesday.

Boy, do the boys love to play. Bryce probably leaves sweat stains on his pillow each night.

Shane is going to be torn up when we do finally move south!

UPDATE: Thursday, we visited Bryce's house after school. It's been Bryce, Bryce, Bryce all week!

Bryce started to cry when Shane held some candy. He was, also, very concerned Shane would take his toys home! Sharing is a learned skill! It takes practice! Kids need and (usually) like to be around other kids. Bryce and Shane are no exception.

Shane wanted to visit on the way home Friday, too. I got to hear "I'm going to miss him" the whole way home....and I didn't even get a greeting when I picked him up! Shane looked at me and said, "I wanted Nana." I think there was a muttered "I miss her" in there somewhere, as well. I bet Carrie is going to hear a whole list of "I miss _____" when Shane goes south for good.

X-Wing

I left work early (for me) on Monday. No kids showed up for help. John lives close to my parents and on the way to Shane's day-care. I stopped by and we talked and play a round of x-wing. He piloted a pair of aggressors and I did a three amigos style rebel force. I rarely see John nowadays, so I wanted to make sure we spent some time together while he's a couple of miles away. I used to be ride my bike down the trail to his parents house!

I paid for skipping out on the paperwork the next day, but I still got it done!

Family Sunday

Shane and I returned north early enough on Sunday to see Megan, Kathleen, and their kids. Shane and Cole love playing together. I was able to get a picture of the twins' friend, Jenn, reading to the boys before they left south. Megan hung around a little longer, but I failed to get any serviceable pictures (drat!).

And with that, I'm caught up enough on the blog for now. Sleep beckons.

In-Car Entertainment

I don't think Shane gets a third of what's going on, but I enjoyed listening to Hank the Cowdog on the last circuit to Cville and back. My family used to play them on car trips before it was cool.

Today, I subjected my Algebra class to two half-asleep ranch dogs attempting conversation as they finished a quiz.

Don't double-clutch the peanut-butter.

Annual Rockfish Kite Festival 2015

Sunday was the Annual Rockfish Kite Festival! I don't know how Carrie knew about it, but it was a great idea!

We went directly after church. The first 250 kids could build kites for free.

Shane didn't do much building, though. Mommy got that job! We ran off a little farther back from the main host of kite-flyers. That allowed Shane to run (and run and run) and us to avoid tangling his kite line into others'.

We got to play around for a little over an hour before my skin signaled it was time to go. I was already a little singed from the playground and hammer-time on Saturday.

Shane was a toot on the way back, but the trip was well worth it in my opinion. The drive alone was very scenic. I'd rather look at mountains than beaches any time (Know of any affordable mountain beaches? That might be fun!).

Meep, Meep!

"It's cheaper than a horse," she said.

And she's right. It was a good argument.

Carrie has wanted a moped since she first rode one in Bermuda as a teen. I nixed the idea when we were first married. I told her they were not safe in the area we lived. For city (or island!) living? Sure.

I guess we're in a city now. Carrie agreed to avoid interstates.

We don't have a chain or a lock for it, yet. We had to make other arrangements.

Stop! It's Hammer-Time!

The tree never knew what hit it.

Shane and I walked up and down the street finding things to hammer. He loved it when I showed him the stair rails. A hit at the bottom made the chain link fence at the top jiggle.

We took that hammer everywhere. Shane was very surprised when I wouldn't let him hammer things in the house, though.

A Memorable Pit Stop

We drove as long as possible.

I took the first exit at Culpepper. The sign spoke of many options, but proximity was key.

Shane and I pulled into a gas station half a mile down. My gut tied and untied itself in knots. I decided to fill up before going in.

I only held out for a gallon.

I half-dragged Shane in as he skipped along.

The bathroom was not a pretty sight. The floor was wet. I don't know with what. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to Shane to think about it, either.

I was about to die, and beggars can't be choosers. I thrust my phone at Shane and gave in to impulse.

My intestines hurt. Shane occasionally asked for me to look up at his game.

Then things took another turn.

The bathroom handle jiggled.

The bathroom wasn't any prettier than when we found it. And now there was a line.

"Daddy!" Shane yelled. I thought he was excited about his game. "You have diarrhea!"

I regret Shane learned that word. His voice carries.

I commanded Shane not to talk/yell about bathroom matters. So, of course, he loudly announced it again. "And it's stinky!"

If Shane wasn't liable to run off or if I could have stood up I may have thrown him out the door right then. I probably would not have been able to afford the broken glass and damage he would have inflicted on the c-shop. A very quiet voice in my head said, "The best of times and the worst of times..."

I felt bad for the guy after me as we left. For one, he was wearing sandals.

Can you see the cat next to the cat pills?

Morale of the story: If you're allergic to cats, don't leave your luggage open.

Cousins. Cousins! COUSINS!

Kathleen, Evelyn and Cole visited Nana tonight. Matt and Renee came home before Shane's bed time, too. It was a packed house! It reminded me of what I loved growing up here!

I caught the boys having some fun on camera.

I made Cole and Shane "fly" later. They played musical chairs and the quiet game for me, too. It's more fun for everyone when there are multiple kids around. Shane and Cole loved playing together. I loved watching them. It made for an easier night. It gave me enough energy to work on taxes after bed time (hooray?).

Extra pictures:

Adjustment Period? More Like Party Period!

Shane likes his new daycare. He especially loves being around Bryce. Nana and I took them to the mall/town-center on Tuesday.

They played in a free play area off the food court first. We went to a bounce and play second.

Wednesday, Nana went with me to pick up Shane again. They both wanted to go to the mall again. Guess where we wound up?

There was no bounce and play afterward. We walked around the mall instead. Nana likes to wander and go wherever a whim takes her. We went to a toy store and then Target before going home. Shane wanted to stop by Bryce's house on the way, but I was too tired! Shane will see Bryce at day-care tomorrow. I've tasked him with learning the other boy's names, too (because learning someone's name shows you care).

Shane's definitely going to like his time here.

Moriarty Strikes

Nerd Update: LOTR

What's nerdier? Writing a blog entry about playing a card game or recording your games and making a spreadsheet?

Now I've done both.

I've really enjoyed the LOTR card game so far. It scratches my itch for making me think and Tolkien without breaking my brain when I'm a little tired. The online community recommended recording games and that's like a blog-lite. Maybe it's the science and math teacher in me, but I love me some good data!

A record of the number of games played can help me justify my expenditures to Carrie, too.

Core box = $28
Games played with Core only: 30
Cost per game: $0.93

Hunt for Gollum Expansion = $10
Games played with new cards  = 6
Cost per game: $1.67

Total spent ($38) / Total Games (36) = $1.06 per game

Clearly, I have to play some more tonight. I need to get that cost per game down to below a $1. Woe is me.

The math, while fun, also helps me avoid a spendgasm. When I find something new, I am always tempted to jump straight into the deep end. I only allowed myself to research and the online blogs until a sale popped up online. Then, I didn't open the expansion until I hit 30 games with the base set and a month had passed!

My next step will be to show it to John. There aren't any models involved, so it may not stick. It would be a lot cheaper than his standard fare...

The Resort McCruari

Shane and I are at Nana and PoP's B&B. We visited a playground to celebrate.

Shane is looking forward to being here! He loves his grandparents.

I am looking forward to being here, too. I get to spend time with my family, get help with Shane, sleep in a little, and John's nearby for a game or two, as well. The only thing better than here would be to have a job and a home all set-up in Cville with Carrie. We've made progress, but we're not there yet. Staying with Nana and Pop is another step in the right direction.

End of Lent

Shane and I kicked off the ride home with ChicFilA. I wanted to wear him out and fill him up, so he'd sleep in the car. We ate; We played; We didn't sleep. He was quiet/happy the whole two hours.

I'll call it a partial success.

Lucky Dinosaur

That dinosaur survived multiple trips to Carrie's work and back. Carrie noticed it on her bumper when she ran an errand on her lunch break. I remembered Shane pulled it out of his big garbage truck one day while we played outside. Somehow, it survived. It's in Carrie's purse now. I'm sure she's mentally cataloged several quotes from Jurassic Park to immortalize the moment.

Rock Out

Spring weather equals barn trips. Carrie played with the four-leggers and I trotted after the dual-legged boy. 

There was a rock pile.

Shane slid down it many, many times. My only rule was "Don't throw rocks away from the pile. Someone paid to have those there."

Shane ended up like this. Puffs of dust formed clouds with each step he took.

We also found a trail and some radio towers, but it was hard to keep Shane away. He wanted to rock out and ended up heavily soiled.

They Both Start With 'P', Too.

"Hey, Mike," Carrie called me over. She wore my grin. The one that says trouble. "I just noticed something."

My husband senses immediately started the prediction algorithm.

"You have the same amount of posts with Patrick and Poop in them!"

I lost it right there. Never would have guess that in a million years. My sides hurt when I stopped laughing.

Sorry, Patrick. I tagged this post, too, so it doesn't advance your case any.

Granda and Grandma Visit!

Grandma and Grandpa visited for Easter. We took them out for sushi. Carrie likes to challenge her parents' palettes (and she really likes sushi). 

Grandma was very impressed with Shane's "reading." He's memorized the whole "I Stink" book. I really have to record him "reading" at some point. :)

Shane Drawings - The Gallery

Shane is drawing more and more. Each picture has a story, to it.

Picture 1: F5 Fun

Shane draws lots of tornadoes. Lots. I like this one, because he clearly wrote F5. He normally tells me they're "big," "the biggest," or "F5," but this is the first time I've seen him write it. Completely uncoached. The house is a nice touch, too. We talked about adding perspective once.


Picture 2: The Dump

If it's not weather related, it's garbage related. Or at least machine related. This one is a large dump with "lots and lots of gears to cut up trash." They're on the left. Then there's a whirlpool to swirl it all around and a big hose to pull it out of the whirlpool and spit it out. I wasn't too clear on that last part. I tried to ask if it sucked in the trash, but Shane made so many sound effects (with much spit) that I don't know the final purpose.

Picture 3: Shane's Garbage Deluxe

Shane likes garbage trucks. 'Nuff said.

Picture 4: Daddy's Garbage Truck

Okay, so I drew this one. Shane likes me to draw, too. However, you can only take so many garbage trucks before you want to get the kid to think a little more creatively. I kept it similar but made it a little more out there to get him thinking out of the box. I always draw simple because A)I'm no artist and B) I figure it's easier for him to imitate.

Picture 5: Shane's Out-There Garbage Truck

The cab moved up and there was a shovel/claw under it. There were also little hanging chairs for kids to sit in and ride along. I added the stick figures. We decided that you could hook car seats up to ride along. The claw grew and the hopper is full of lots of buzz saws now.

Picture 6: Spikey Mountain

First, Shane drew a vanilla "Olympus Mons" on the adjacent page. Then he wanted to draw another bigger mountain (it always has to be the biggest). Shane added spikes that eat you if you climb on them. But not animals. Only people. To cheer it up a little, I suggested that maybe a helicopter would be more fun. Then we both agreed that the top of the helicopter has to spin or there will be trouble. Shane named the mountain "Mnen." Basically, he wrote random letters and I told him it was pronounced "M-Nin." I suppose the M could be silent, but Shane's still learning each letter has a sound. I'll save that for when he's older!

Next Steps

We moved out. The house was sold.

What next?

I am going to spend April and the first week of May with my parents. Shane will be with me. I have a ton of forms to fill out for him to start at a bilingual home daycare with his friend Bryce. It's cheaper than our last daycare, but not as cheap as Cville would be. 

The advantage up north is my family. Nana told me she and Pop would help with mornings and dropping Shane off. Carrie and I decided to take advantage of the support while we can. It's only available until the first full week of May. Matt and Renee will probably be moving out just as Nana and Pop are getting ready to move and close (which, of course, means that Shane and I would be getting ready to move out, as well!). 

Megan will be in a flux, as well, but I don't know her timetables. It's amazing how everything is happening all at once.

After everyone is uprooted, Shane will transition south to be with Carrie. I will try to find a couch to crash on either with Matt and Renee or Jama. I may even jump back and forth if my welcome wears thin. I'm not opposed to sleeping in car, either.  I doubt it will come to that, but I'd look at it as empathy building....I've taught kids in similar situations where it wasn't by choice. 

I have to last up north until Monday, June 22nd. If I can wrap up all my paperwork and finish strong, I'd love to use leave and play hooky. 

Throughout it all, I will continue to search for a job. I have a pair of interviews lined up in a couple of weeks. Both are uncommon opportunities that caught my eye. Both also want an in person interview. One managed to time it perfectly for a work day. The other did not. I am curious about both, so I plan on asking lots of questions once I'm done answering the ones I'm posed.

Our house search down south is entering it's final stages. Carrie started touring with an agent in March. She found a house, too. I agreed to proceed sight unseen (again, ha!). A set of circumstances kept it on the market for an extended length of time which gave Carrie's agent a lot of bargaining power. The seller's agent even cut his own commission to help make the sale happen. There's more of a story there, too. Carrie and I showed up for a home inspection and I liked what I saw and the price point we entered at. We will continue with negotiations and the tentative closing date is May 26th. That's probably smack dab in my SOL window, so I doubt I'll be at the closing. The mortgage could be low enough I could be a stay-at-home dad for a year if I don't find a job. Note: I still really want a job.

All of ours plans are far from set in stone at this point. There are lots of balls up in the air and things unknown at this time. We still believe that we were meant to move south, so we're moving forward!

Buzzz!

Shane finally got his hair cut. 

Much hair was lost!

He was a squirmy chicken at first, but the barber worked well with a moving target.

Next Steps

I'll catch up to the moving backlog eventually. 

Today, Shane audited his future day-care. He was thrilled with his new lunchbox.

He went eagerly, too.

It went well! His teachers said he fit right in. He wasn't too shy. "It felt like he's been here for a while," one said. I guess Shane's a salty day-care veteran at this point. He knows a pamper from a pull-up and how to go down a slide. The teachers also said Shane hung in academically. He could read, write, and count on par with the other boys and girls.

I liked hearing good things about my kid. It's duly noted for my own practice.

Why did we choose to have Shane try out a day-care today?

House-inspecting.

But that's another story.

Spring Break with Shane

Shane and I spent a lot of quality time together for Spring Break. Carrie worked through.

We went to the library, Bodo's Bagels, and travelled around town on errands. Tuesday.

Wednesday, we spent a couple of hours scoping out the local parks. The weather was gorgeous. Mid to upper 60's with sun and a slight breeze.

Shane had no trouble making friends on the playground. First, he ran up to a little boy with a Spider-Man hat, Honey (Sp?).

When Honey left with his family, we went inside the rec center and found a Foosball table.  

Shane loved it. I played with him for 15 minutes before I was bored and he wanted to work both sides of the table anyway. We spent over half an hour at that table before I convinced/dragged Shane to go outside again.

And again, Shane made another new friend. Lucca was so tall I thought he was 6 or 7. He was five years old, though, and he and Shane chased each other around like old buddies.

Lucca's mom and I exchanged contact information, so the boys' could run around in the future. I told her Carrie would have Shane full time in May. Shane leaves behind two friends in NoVA (Daniel and Bryce), so I'd love for him to have a few new friends to play around with down south.