Job Hunting and Dissertation Pursuits

I'm thinking the honeymoon is officially over now. I've been home a little more than 2 weeks and have enjoyed my little summer vacation, but it's time to get back to work again. Leo and I took my sister and 17-yo nephew to a concert on Saturday. (The photo was taken before the show started.) We saw Huey Lewis and the News followed by Joe Cocker at the Woodlands Pavillion just north of Houston. It was a beautiful day, great entertainment, fabulous company, and a whole lot of fun. We will DEFINITELY do something like that again, and SOON.

I've done some work for Rebecca (Amaya Consulting stuff for ExxonMobil) but am trying to leave her in charge of all of that while I look for something more, well, steady. I'm heading to Houston tomorrow to visit an old friend and perhaps even talk about a job. I'm trying not to get too excited about it all, but there's a chance that working full-time for this company may be something I am ready for now. I guess we'll know more later this week.

As far as the dissertation goes, I've [finally!] begun investigating something that might be both interesting and doable. There are a lot of hurdles to cross first, but at least I've got a good start on it all. Thankfully, I have 3 really good friends that keep in touch weekly and won't let me fall down on this. We cry on each other's shoulders, laugh, celebrate, growl, pout, but always support each other. I'm thinking it is the main thing that is going to get me through this process and all the way to the end. I'm trailing behind the others, of course, who will all have their PhDs long before I am ready, but, thankfully, they don't mind me tagging along!

The swimming pool decision has hit snag after snag, primarily the fact that the pool we want and the bids to put it in are still a long way away from each other budget-wise. I've had to give pretty much everything up to Leo to handle as I don't have the time, nor the mind, for those details right now. Thank goodness he knows what he's doing! He's such a life-saver on this one and I am fully counting on him to come up with a solution for us soon.

We have friends coming for a visit from Australia in early August and are so looking forward to them being here with us for a bit. We were introduced to a "proper English Christmas" at their house last year and are going to return the favor by showing them how we live in the country in Texas. As you can see our plates are full right now, but it's all good.