Woops

This is us, overlooking Florence.

So, I kinda forgot about this blog. Woops. Anyway, to quickly sum it up, we're still the apartment; house isn't sold; but life is good. I'm subbing full-time. I honestly have a job every day. I start classes on Jan. 20 through Mizzou's online program. I'm not in a graduate program yet, so I don't know what my degree will be in. I'm just "testing" the waters right now. Jeremy still likes his job and loves this winter weather. He's also in hockey heaven; he's in two leagues, and we'll be going to Vegas in April because he's on a traveling team (it's their only trip.). This means I get to finally see the Beatles' Love.

And, that about sums it up! Here's some pet photos (Chewy doesn't like to demean herself with crazy Christmas hijinks.)

Sam faces off with an evil bow. The main thing to point out in this photo is that he is not trying to eat the bow or harass me while I'm wrapping presents. I think he was admitting defeat in that something else was taking up my attention other than him.

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Miho apparently thinks she is worth of being wrapped as someone's present.

Update

Well, we are still in the apartment w/ no exit date in sight. I'm ready for the Pensacola house to sell so we can get the ball rolling. Sell, house, sell!

My job situation, however, is looking up. I am waiting for a background check so I can substitute. This is just for one district; I've still got one other district. I also have an interview on Thursday for a part-time communications director position at a local church. It is only 10 to 15 hours a week, so I should be able to do it along with subbing. One of the girls who works with Jeremy passed the job to me and put in a good word for me with the minister. So, send me good vibes on Thursday at 4:15!

Still not going according to plan

So, I won't be going to Drake. I'm not in the mood to pay for a private school to HAVE to do student teaching, which I don't need to get my certificate. I'm looking into online programs now, which means no student teaching and a less intense program, most likely. Mizzou has one that I really like; I just have to make sure it matches up with what I need for my certificate. I will have to take some undergrad classes, but I can take those at a community college for cheaper than at Drake. Besides, if I "go" to Mizzou, I don't have to take the GRE or any test, whereas at Drake, I have to take a writing test and the Praxis. And, I don't have to worry about paying to get my transcripts there because they obviously already have them. I wonder if I get to keep my student number, which I still know.

The daycare job plan went kaputt. Long story short, they lied all over the place. I will not work for pennies to change diapers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an awesome job that is at Meredith publishing. I can handle journalism again as long as it isn't at a daily. I did have a preinterview today at a company that designs newsletters, web pages, etc. for non profits. Right now, I'll just be happy with anything. And being able to do my masters online will make it much easier for me to have a full-time job.

Good news

OK. After the freak outs of last week, things are looking up.

A. I am going to go back to school at Drake. They have a specific master's program for people who weren't education majors, and it makes sure you get your Iowa certification -- plus the master's. I am talking to them on Monday.

B. I spent today applying for any and all jobs I could find. I decided to focus on day cares -- while it isn't exactly teaching the age I want, it is still working with kids. It pays a smidge better than teaching plus I still get benefits.

C. After applying, I got a call back within about 30 minutes. I had to do an online survey/test thing (which I got an excellent on) and got a call back 20 minutes after that. I interview on Thursday. I also have an opportunity to work at Sylvan, but that's just part-time, so I don't think I'll take that.

As long as I can get a job to pay the bills and my yarn/book/DVD/clothes/shoe habit, we're good. I don't have to love it for two years, but I think working at a day care would be a good choice. Keep your fingers crossed!

Rant

I was going to not post anything between the trip posts, but here is an update on the move/job situation.

I found out from the state board today that even though I have two year's teaching experience, above average reviews and amazing recommendations -- I am far from qualified to teach in Iowa. So, starting Monday, I'm job hunting. And not in the teaching field. My plan is to find a 9 to 5 job that I can stand (there will be no newspapering for me), figure out what I REALLY want to do, and start my master's (most likely as a distance ed. student) in January. I know there are some programs I can still sign up for now, but I really want to put thought into what I want.

I have not been happy about this since I found out about it this afternoon (which was after I wasted 10 minutes of my life trying to get a person on the telephone to no avail, and Jeremy went searching on the Web site and wanted to stab it). But, I figure everything happens for a reason, and it's all going to work out. All I need is a job that pays at least what I was making as a teacher (which we all know isn't going to be that hard). It's also nice that DM actually has a lot of opportunities, so while it might not be a job I want to do for the next 30 years, it may be something that at least keeps me interested for the next 2 or 3.

Paris

I don't know why it has taken me so long to write this -- it's not like I'm doing anything of real importance. However, typing things does cut into my reading and knitting time.

Anyway, this was the day that the tour really started. We got our wake up call at 4:45 a.m. I'm not joking. I, however, was up and ready to go at 4:30. I was officially over the probably salmonella I had the day before, and I was ready to be able to see stuff without worry about puking all over it.

We drove through Kent and went past Greenwich. On the way, we also drove past wide, open areas that were actually black death burial pits. They will never build on these.

We took the ferry from Dover to Calais, which was a 90-minute drive, and I managed to not get motion sickness. I was even brave enough to go out on the deck. I did make sure I was down in the seats before we actually moved though. It was a pretty smooth ride, and it gave me plenty of time to knit.


We had really wanted to do the Paris Illuminations dinner, but since it was close to Midsummer's Eve, we couldn't do it because it was light too late. We did get to take a river tour of the Seine, and we went under the Arc de Triumph after we ate. Jeremy was very excited to get to order a burger royale at McDonalds, and I had to point my way to a chicken and lettuce baguette. It was honestly one of the better sandwiches I've ever had. I was a little too excited to be able to walk and tear into the sandwich. America needs a fast food joint called "Le Baguette" that sells yummy sammiches.

We were lucky enough to see the Eiffel Tower's "sparkle show." This also meant we got to see a little bit more of Paris lit up. We took a quick drive past the opera where Phantom of the Opera takes place and drove into the Louvre's courtyard, which was an interesting feat considering the arches into it are very tiny -- basically barely wide (and tall) enough to fit the bus through.


It was another early morning the next day -- not another 4:30 day. But, let's just say we never slept past 7 on this trip. We started off with a tour of the city, which was basically a rehash of the tour of the night before. My complaint was no one pointed out the area that Hemingway liked. Oh well. The tour did include a ticket up to the second observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. I didn't look out so much during the elevator ride up, but I was fine when I got out there. We got some amazing photos of Paris, and I'm very glad I went up. I refused to go to the top, though.


It was then on to the Louvre; I was a little bummed because we did not get to see any of the really ancient stuff -- so no Code of Hammurabi:( However, they did allow photographs, which really surprised us. It was just a highlight tour, which meant we got to see Venus, Mona Lisa, and the Winged Victory. We also saw a few of the slaves that Michaelangelo sculpted for a pope's tomb (one of the Piuses, I think), and we got to see the rest of them when we saw the David in Florence. The big bummer, though, was that all of the "modern" art is in the Musee d'Orsey. This meant no Monet or Van Gogh for me. Had it not been for the fact that I got to see these classic works of art, I don't think I would have wanted to go into the Louvre. It was PACKED. I don't think they believe in following fire codes. It was enough to almost make me have a panic attack.




After the Louvre, we went to Monmarte, because it was on a hill -- we got another great view of Paris. We had lunch at a little cafe, and the birds here were insanely tame. Birds would fly in and out of the restaurant, eating crumbs off the floor. One actually clipped me in the head with its wings or feet. There were still a bunch of artists that set up shop in the center of this area.

That night, it was on to the Moulin Rouge. The food wasn't that great, and the show started to drag. It might have been helpful had it not be in French. We had no clue what they were singing about. During the circus portion of the show, there was a mini horse that looked like it was ready to escape. I hoped it would go nutty and do so, but no such luck.

This was really the end of our time in Paris, which was a really sobering thought. I really loved it and am ready to go back. There's just so much to see that we didn't get to go to -- like Notre Dame and the Musee de Orsey. It's a clean New Orleans, and it might have taken over New Orleans' spot as my favorite place.

Europe -- Days 1 and 2 -- England

I'm going to attempt to get this Europe trip documented by the end of this week, but I"m not guaranteeing anything.

Anyway, our flight to London was great. I was excited because I got to see Massachusetts' boot; however I wasn't brilliant enough to take a picture of it. We were excited because we had video screens in our seats, so we got to have games, trivia (and together we beat up the other players on the plane), and pick which movies we wanted to watch.

We got into Gatwick about 7 a.m., and I as usual attracted the person who thought that cows were sheep and that it was SOOOO amazing that England had these HUGE areas where THOUSANDS of cars were parked. I wanted to turn around and say, "Ma'am, if you've ever left your house in the U.S., you'd realize those are parking lots." I really couldn't make up this stuff if I tried.

Gatwick is a 30 minute train ride away from London, and the great part was our travel company (Trafalgar) arranged for our transport from plane to airport. We got to Victoria Station and then were introduced to London traffic, which was the calmest we saw on the trip. I will never make too much fun of Missouri drivers anymore.

We couldn't get our room until after 1, so we left our bags with the front desk and took off walking. We figured we'd find a currency exchanged on the way, but no dice. We stumbled onto Kensington Park, so we ended up wandering around it for the day. This meant we saw Kensington Palace (where Diana lived, and the entire continent is obsessed with her), Royal Albert Hall (there was some squealing when I realized what it was and then educated Jeremy on the fact that Beatles played there and the entire story behind it), the Albert memorial, Diana's memorial (Jeremy said it looked like a log ride), and amazingly well-behaved dogs. Sam would not have fit in over there. We headed back to the hotel, got our room, and crashed out because we could no longer keep our eyes open. We didn't wander out for dinner and opted for the hotel food.

The next morning, we had a 1/2 day tour scheduled, and we get on the bus only to find out we will get to see the queen; princes Harry, William, Charles, and Philip; Princess Ann; and Camilla because it was the queen's birthday (Trouping the Colour). My mouth immediately dropped open, and I was just ready to go stand on the edge of the street. On this tour we also drove past Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. James Palace, the museums and Downing Street. Since it was the "big" day, we also got to see a lot of the nobles in their fancy clothes and big hats (yes, I was bummed that I wasn't given enough notice because I would have so bought a big hat to wear). The bad part of the day was that I was sick. I'm blaming the awful English food, but I honestly don't know what it was. All I know is that seeing food made my stomach curl, and made me a little agitated. The short, rude woman who kept shoving her camera in my view at the parade almost got beat down because of this. At least the boy is tall and got decent pictures. Neither of us managed to get Prince Charles or Princess Ann; they were wearing full dress uniform so the hats obscured them. They were there though.

Philip, why do all these commoners think that I care to see them?

Camilla's hat was just ugly. I would have had a much more interesting one.

After Trouping the Colour, the tour was basically done. So, we hiked it down to Buckingham Palace, which is smaller than I thought it was, and then went back to Westminster Abbey so we could go inside. It was a little unnerving to think that we were walking over graves in the church and that we were basically looking at graves the entire time, but it was very interesting. They had a very good audiotour that was narrated by Jeremy Irons. I was happy enough to see the grave of Elizabeth I, which includes a life size figure of her. We were very glad we went.

Then, we trooped it up to the national gallery, which we were kinda disappointed in. There weren't many impressionist paintings, and I'm most happiest seeing Monet and Van Gogh. It did have DaVinci's Maddona on the Rocks, so it was nice to see that.

We were still jet lagged, and I was tired and cranky thanks to the stomach issues, so we got on the Underground and went back to the hotel. I crashed out for two hours, and Jeremy went to the grocery store to get us peanut butter and bread. I had croissants for dinner, and he had peanut butter sandwiches. Neither of us felt like we were missing out on much.

I did not go to Abbey Road. I couldn't easily pinpoint it on the maps we had, and I was too sick to really make an effort to go see it. I was happy enough that we saw the royals because how often does that happen?

Hopefully, I will update tomorrow with details from Paris, which was our favorite part of the trip, much to my surprise. Of course, the French know how to make bread, which will endear any country to me.

Moving home

This used to be our wedding blog; now, it's going to record our exploits in Iowa, including the stress of building a home.

Had you asked me even two years ago if I would move back to Iowa, I would have told you to have your sanity levels tested. I didn't realize how homesick I was, though, until the boy suggested that we move back to Des Moines last December. We had planned to move somewhere in the U.S., but I had figured it was going to be somewhere I hadn't lived yet. I am glad that we're going though. It's time to go back to my nutty, little family.

Of course, in the past few weeks, I've been questioning the decision. I'm a little nervous because I'm unemployed right now -- although the unemployment rate in Iowa is only 3 percent. I'll find something, even if it is just subbing full-time this year. But, it still makes me nervous. But, when I find out I get to go to Parker's T-ball game the first weekend we're there, and when I hear that he was VERY upset and disappointed that Aunt Beth didn't come up this time with Uncle Jeremy, I know we're moving to the right place.

Besides, I can't tell these two they can't spend time together now: