Whirlwind of Activities

I've waited so long to post an update...now I don't know where to begin! Guess I'll try to group my updates into categories and see how that works.

Leo's New Contract
Yes, that's right. In spite of all our lovely plans for Leo to RETIRE [again] this November, we have changed our plans. Technically, his contract is up this month so we had to make some hard decisions. We thought we had it all figured out when he got an email offering him a 25% increase in pay. Yes, believe it or not. Although we discussed the options non-stop for a couple of days, in the end we realized that a) Leo really does like the work, b) the project people really like Leo, c) the 28-off part of his schedule is something we LOVE, and d) he has never been a "quitter" and the job is not yet complete. So...Leo will be continuing his "tour of duty" in Nigeria until June 2010.

Danbury Panthers Baseball
On the night Leo got back in town we drove to Danbury to watch the boys play what could have been the last game of the season. We've been to 6 games since then, and are now headed to Austin on Thursday to watch Danbury compete for the State 2A Championship! It's all been very exciting to see, especially since our oldest nephew is a starter (left field) on the team. Oh, we can't forget the 8th grade graduation of the youngest last Thursday and the High School graduation of the oldest on Friday. It has definitely been a busy few weeks for our boys in Danbury.

House Updates
Leo and I went on an outing to pick out tile for the master bathroom. It's been a topic we've revisited over and over for several months now, but we think we found "the one" for our project and will be making a purchase soon. We also stopped by and picked out some new pieces of furniture for the house including a bench for the master bedroom (a place to sit and put on our shoes), a lighted bookcase for the entry, a large clock for the living room, and a couple of chairs for Leo's tv room. We also visited a local appliance dealer this week and purchased a washer/dryer set (front loaders) and a new freezer with an ice-maker to store in the garage. We picked out two sets of kitchen appliances--stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, oven, and microwave--so that we can look at a higher end selection and compare them to a mid-range selection and make a choice that we can live with. The next steps will involve designing the cabinet layout, then starting the construction process. I can't imagine I'll be pursuing this while Leo is gone, but who knows...I might.

School Work
Although I'm still not registered for classes at Texas Tech, after talking with the program director I have a good idea of the class I will be registered for in the fall. (Note: The program is rather intense; proof could be offered in the fact that it only takes one 3-hour class to be considered a "full-time student" and seconded in the fact that first semester students are limited to one class.) So, I got online and purchased the textbook used by last year's class and have begun digging through it. Surprisingly, I am enjoying the book very much although I spend much of my time looking up words in my dictionary. I mean, although the words are mostly familiar to me, I really have been spending a lot of time making sure I get the proper meanings and contexts in my mind. The text has my brain a bit scrambled at the moment as I am examining topics surrounding "technical communications" and viewing them from a vantage point that I just have never had before. It's all very interesting.

Work
In perhaps the biggest change of all, this week has Rebecca and I working full-time together. Transferring tasks, responsibilities, and knowledge has us both slowed down a bit at the moment, but we can see light at the end of the tunnel and realize that soon it will shift around and our efforts will begin to result in "more" output than the two individual efforts combined rather than "less". All in all, it seems to be going quite well.

Living Arrangement
We have also put money down on an apartment in Houston at a complex I previously lived at (and loved). We will be moving in a week from Monday. Yippee! No more high dollar Houston hotels! The apartment will be Rebecca's, and she is footing most of the bill for it, but I am making a donation to the effort as well in exchange for the opportunity to use it when I need to. We are expecting the routine to be (at least when Leo is in Nigeria) that I drive in on Mondays, stay at her place on Mon-Wed nights, and drive home on Thursdays. We are trying to arrange a schedule of 4 10-hour days per week if at all possible.

Now I know this has only been a Reader's Digest Condensed Version of my activities for the past few weeks, but hopefully it will hold you over until I begin posting regularly again. We are well, we are happy, and we are busy. Here's to hoping the same is true for you.