Not much to worry about these days. It is weird to not be looking for work anymore and in some ways it just makes me a little crazy. I am bored and yet trying to enjoy the little time I have at home before my life gets all crazy again. So mostly I'm trying to get things done around the house and soon I am going to get my new textbooks and work on some lesson plans.

I'm looking forward to teaching and especially my graduate program at Creighton. I am definitely ready for a new challenge in my life. I feel like finally things are going in the right direction and I'm excited to be home and with my friends and family again, but I do miss Houston restaurants very much.

As you can see from the slide show I have been trying to keep myself busy with yard work and projects around the house. I'm really excited to see my flowerbed grow! I think I may even join a gym soon, but then again maybe I'll just take some new yoga classes to deal with my general stress. It's weird. I have been freaked out about everything for so long it is difficult to let it go. I suppose a few more nights sipping cocktails on patios will probably fix me up just fine.

I need to get into blogging about real topics again...so if you have any opinions on current events this post them here, so I can get back in gear!

PS...GM should have died! Why did we bail out a company that lacked the basic ingenuity and critical thinking skills that would make them a competitor in the future? That is why my Dodge Stratus has been sitting in my father's driveway for 3 months and I bought a Honda Fit.

I review books for Teens Read Too an online book site. If you are ever curious about what I've been reading for the chillin' you can go to the link listed on my blog and search by name. Every now and then I get an adult book too, so in those cases I will try to put the review on my blog as well. Happy Reading!

Wow it is amazing how much of my time feels free now that I don't have to surf websites for jobs...happy sigh!

So finally some really great news! I have a job...I will be teaching Freshman and Junior English at Omaha North next year. I'm very excited. It has been such a long time coming. We are also settled into our new home in Council Bluffs, and I am looking forward to taking some time to relax and enjoy our new place.

Gimli and Chance have already taken advantage of the laziness of today and and really enjoying all the walks they get-we still have not installed a fence.

While we are on good news I have been accepted into Graduate School at Creighton University in Omaha and I will soon be beginning the long road towards a Master's Degree in English. I am toying with the idea of making writing my specialty, but I am not sold on that plan yet.

Some friends and I have also started a book club. You can find more info at www.bookclubatthepub.com Come if you are feeling frisky!

Now that I will have time again-aka, summer break for all my tv shows-I will be updating the blog more often.

A Bereaved Parent's Wish List

Life sucks and the loss of beautiful Irelyn is proof of how bad it can truly be.  Trying to be a good friend and understanding what I can do is difficult.  I feel useless and so far away.  My sister recently had a similar situation with a dear friend and posted this on her blog.  I am also posting it on mine.  It was written by a parent who dealt with a child's loss and it helped me better understand some things I can do as a friend.  I hope you find it helpful as well.

To the Hensley family.  I love you and I'm here any time day or night to listen or offer useless small talk if you want a distraction.  Your in my thoughts and prayer always!!

A Bereaved Parent's Wish List

A Bereaved Parent's Wish List 

I wish my child hadn't died. I wish I had him back 
I wish you wouldn't be afraid to speak my child's name. My child lived and was very important to me. I need to hear that he was important to you as well. 
If I cry and get emotional when you talk about my child, I wish you knew that it isn't because you have hurt me. My child's death is the cause of my tears. You have talked about my child, and you have allowed me to share my grief. I thank you for both. 
I wish you wouldn't "kill" my child again by removing his pictures, artwork, or other remembrances from your home. 
Being a bereaved parent is not contagious, so I wish you wouldn't shy away from me. I need you more than ever. 
I need diversions, so I do want to hear about you; but I also want you to hear about me. I might be said and I might cry, but I wish you would let me talk about my child, my favorite topic of the day. 
I know that you think of and pray for me often. I also know that my child's death pains you, too. I wish you would let me know things through a phone call, a card or a note, or a real big hug. 
I wish you wouldn't expect my grief to be over in six months. These first months are traumatic for me, but I wish you could understand that my grief will never be over. I will suffer the death of my child until the day I die. 
I am working very hard in my recovery, but I wish you could understand that I will never fully recover. I will always miss my child, and I will always grieve that he is dead. 
I wish you wouldn't expect me "not to think about it" or to "be happy". Neither will happen for a very long time so don't frustrate yourself. 
I don't want to have a "pity party," but I do wish you would let me grieve. I must hurt before I can heal. 
I wish you understood how my life has shattered. I know it is miserable for you to be around me when I'm feeling miserable. Please be as patient with me as I am with you. 
When I say, "I'm doing okay," I wish you could understand that I don't feel okay and that I struggle daily. 
I wish you knew that all of the grief reactions I'm having are very normal. Depression, anger, hopelessness and overwhelming sadness are all to be expected. So please excuse me when I'm quiet and withdrawn or irritable and cranky. 
Your advice to "take one day at a time" is excellent. I wish you could understand that I'm doing good to handle him at an hour at a time. 
I wish you understood that grief changes people. When my child died, a big part of me died with him. I am not the same person I was before my child died, and I will never be that person again. 
I wish very much that you could understand - understand my loss and my grief, my silence and my tears, my void and my pain. But I pray daily that you will never understand.
Please excuse me if I seem rude, certainly it is not my intent. Sometimes the world around me goes too fast and I need to get off. When I walk away, I wish you would let me find a quiet place to spend some time alone.

As many of you now know, due to my recent Christmas card letter, Union Pacific is moving the Roseville, CA dispatchers to Omaha. The most current announcement is that we will be moving, but we do not have a date yet and they plan to have all the dispatchers moved in the next six months. I'm very excited about being close to my friends and family, but I have to admit I like California. The people are kind, the weather is nice (comparitavly), and there is a lot to do.

So with this move I'm feeling the drain of unemployment once again. I've contacted some old peers at various schools near home, but I fear my lack of experience since the last time I looked for a teaching job is only going to hinder my search. Not to mention I'm so very tired of searching for jobs. It feels like I've been looking for years...oh wait I have. Every time I had a job I had to leave, or it wasn't full time. My long term sub job I left for Jeromy and Texas then my part time adjunct position at Lone Star I left for California. Now that I am here there is not enough time to get a serious job before we move home. So I've been searching for random jobs, but with little success. I'm hoping that this move is good timing to search for a teaching job and I already have my IA and NE licenses, which is also exciting. Searching for a job in the worst recession of my lifetime is depressing and frustrating, but I have hope that the new year will bring good things!

This will be the first year I haven't been home for any of the holidays and I will be missing you all even more then usual. I'm hoping to be home soon, but I'm waiting to hear more about the move before I decide when is the best time to come home.

I'm also hoping to pick up the pace with my blog again, but I'm not making any promises. I need to start thinking again about things like the $1.6 billion was given to bank execs last year in salaries and bonuses. Can you believe it? I believe it, but it makes me angry...I wish I could be paid millions to do a terrible job.

Miss you all! Happy Holidays!!

So it has been awhile since I last sent an update. California is going well, but we both miss our friends and family.

We are getting used to things, but we have found that we miss great restaurants very much. Being new to the area has some definite drawbacks and here is an example...

This week we went to Folsom, CA (about 30 min away) to find some wings because wings are difficult to find - there isn't even a Buffalo Wild Wings. Anyway when we finally arrived we learned the wing place did not open until 4pm...it was 2, so we decided to have bloody marys and a snack walk around and check out some of the little shops. We ordered our beverages and a quesadilla we received the bloody marys and a big plate of fajitas. Clearly the woman heard fajita we were the only 2 at the bar, so we ate our fajitas and filled our tummies only to leave an hour and a half later without a single little chicken wing. We had a similar experience trying to find fried chicken and we learned that the grocery store is the best bet (other than a KFC). There are also very few bars in our area - it seems to find a little nightlife we need to go to Folsom or Sacramento.

We have made no friends...this is no surprise, but we have met our neighbors and they seem very nice. I have my first interview on Wed. and I'm really trying hard to be prepared because the job seems like it is something I would enjoy. Let's face it any job in this economy would be great. Although it is a heavy travel, work from home position I am hoping we can make a couple friends when I find a job. I'm going a little stir crazy in the house. So far I've made curtains, refinished the "cubes" in the living room, repainted the den, bathroom, and kitchen and I have plans for making some Christmas gifts.

Although we are bored we are also trying to find some new things to do. We went to SF with Mom and Jack while they were here. We went to an Apple Hill, a large group of apple orchards, a couple weeks ago and we are hoping to go skiing or at least hang out in the mountains in the next few weeks. The weather here is amazing and the boys seem to love California. Chance spends most of his days hanging out in his new yard and Gimli, well he just naps as usual, but if he is feeling frisky he may nap on the patio with Chance.

Hope this reaches everyone in good health and good spirits for the holidays. We miss you all very much and we CAN'T wait to have visitors!!!