Catching up

My, has it really been 6 months since I last wrote? Well that is the story of my life.

Work has been extremely hectic, as it is every fall. I really tried to cut back on traveling to do training so I did not have to be away from family so much. I experimented with webinars and found out they do a pretty good job, especially with what I train. But it seems as soon as I free up some time by not traveling so much, my boss thinks I have time to do something else. So she decided that I could now go and do all the school academic accreditations. What is wrong with this picture- the one person in the office who does not have a background in education and has never worked in the schools is telling schools if they are integrating academics fully into their technical programs. (Is it just me- or does any one else think that is a little weird?) So I thought I would be spending more time with my family this fall, but what really happened is now I just have MORE work. I think my new strategy will be to not finish any of my projects, sit around the office, and not offer any more time-saving ideas.

David graduated in May and we are so glad. He landed a nice position in the long-range planning office at OSU working with the university architect. Thus far he has designed an addition to the veterinary hospital, designed university entry markers, and worked on other projects like a natural gas filling station, and some other buildings. It is not his dream job, but it will work until he can find something better. There are just not many architecture jobs with the economy so slow. And he enjoys the work and it is interesting. He says even the worst day there is 100 times better than his previous life.

He is now working hard on his portfolio and then he will study for 12 tests that he must pass before he can get his architecture license.

We decided to make a trip to Utah for Christmas. We spent the first part of the vacation in northern Utah with my parents. Maddie and Ethan had so much fun with cousins. We went skiing one day and had a wonderful time. Ethan and I spent the majority of our time trying to help Ethan remember how to ski. Maddie took David and they headed down much harder slopes. David wasn't so sure he wanted to follow Maddie, but since she was already half way down the mountain he figured he better follow.

Maddie and Ethan and the cousins also built an igloo, or at least tried.

On Christmas day, we drove to southern Utah to spend time with David's parents. The first day we were here it was 3 degrees Fahrenheit. That's cold. We had planned to go snowboarding one day, but if it is that cold, I think we are all going to just curl up with a good book.