Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Beating the Kids Up

This morning I beat the kids up, and it felt great. I can't wait to do it tomorrow. Now before you call the cops, let me explain.

When DS4 got up this morning for comfort it was 4:30am. (My kids take turns keeping me up at odd hours.) DS4 went back to sleep, but my body said wake up. So there I was at 5am, coffee freshly made, hot biscuits on a plate - it was time to catch up on my two chapters (okay 4 - I was behind, shut up) of "Wife After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. Darned if it wasn't right there in the book, chapter 7 page 124 "You must beat the children up!" And by this she meant, of course, to wake up before everyone else in the house, sit quietly alone, read the Bible and pray for the day. So wow, I was already doing what she suggested! I'm ahead of the game!

I don't like being told what to do. I usually avoid self-help books. But in a way, I was already doing what she said since I beat the kids up before I read it. So you could say it was my idea first. And that makes it okay to try this for a while and let you know how it turns out. Do you know that I was showered, dressed, caught up with my Bible Study homework, and relaxed? I FINISHED MY COFFEE, read my novel, and even had time this morning to pack lunches and put away the dishes...who does that before 7am? It was only possible for me because I went to bed at a reasonable hour and didn't OD on caffeine the day before.

So let's try it. I don't think it is necessary to get up at 4:30 everyday, but maybe 5:30 or 5:45? You wanna beath the kids up tomorrow?

Friday, April 15, 2011

Mixed Feelings

If I knew how I felt about this, I would have posted earlier. But since I still don't know and it is getting later and later I may as well tell you that DH received a job offer and we accepted on Wednesday. People have been very kind about not being overly emotional or mean about us leaving, but faced with the colder facts of knowing we are certainly leaving I have mixed feelings.

I have never been secretive about my dislike about the city/suburbs of Pittsburgh, but you don't know that I have found the most precious people here. I'm not very vocal about my friends since I didn't have that many until not that long ago. It takes 3 years to really settle in to a place in my experience. We have been here for 4. That said, I will not miss you Big City, but I will miss your people.

The job we are heading to sounds really interesting to me. They are building a brand new generation of power plants, and the first one in the US is being built at Votgle in Georgia. DH will be a lead engineer, helping with training the new engineers and having other people below him. This is the most managerial job he has ever held and the benefits are lovely. Because there are no offices available down at the plant right now, he will have to wait to start working until after mid-June when they have built the office area. So for all you lovely friends who care, we will be here for another few months.

I promise to keep this updated with news and anything quirky I can come up with in the interim. We can expect lots of great things to come.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Change is in the Air



Something is coming. For us as a family, it might be a huge thing. For several months we have contemplated trying for a promotion which would mean a move from Suburban Pittsburgh to Rural Georgia. With wide open doors and everything seeming to fall into place towards this job, last week my DH applied when it was finally posted. Unexpectedly soon, 3 days ago he was scheduled to interview today. As I write, he is interviewing for this HUGE change.

The scary part is, as general as I have to be in describing it, and as unofficial as I have to be in announcing it (even the news that we applied to the job I had to take off Facebook!) the job is almost a done deal. DH is really good at what he does and anyone would be blessed to have him on their team. He should be the lead engineer for this job. And we have always wanted to move south…

Not everyone here WANTS to leave Pittsburgh, even if it means a promotion. Most of the families I know have several generations-both sides of the family!- in town, sometimes next door or across the street. As a mom of 4 kids under 9, the free babysitting angle is crazy attractive! DH’s family is just under an hour away from where we live now and you can’t put a price on having grandparents involved in loving and raising your kids. Since we moved here almost 4 years ago now, they have been so helpful (ex: we got to go on a second honeymoon for our 10th anniversary…alone!) and generous (Grandma has a job mostly so she can bless her grandkids at Christmas); it is hard to imagine being THAT far away from them. I would especially miss my SIL and her family. So I get why people wouldn’t want to leave. But we have ALWAYS lived in Pennsylvania.

Haven’t you ever wanted to try living somewhere different? I can tell you first hand it isn’t as scary as it feels when you first think about it. I grew up in Bethlehem, PA but went to college in Erie-an 8 hour drive, all the way across the state. During college I did an internship near Boca Raton, FL and fell in love… No not with DH, with the climate! I have very dry skin in the winter, but in Boca I only thought about sunscreen. They get thunderstorms almost every day at the same time of day in the summer-I Luuuuuuv thunderstorms. And the SUN! You don’t have to know me long to hear how much I heart Florida. If God grants me life past retirement, you will find me on a beach in FL in my latter years!

Anyway, ever since I got a taste of a different climate I have been trying to get out of this two-horse state and try living somewhere else, ANYWHERE else. It helped drive me to our first real job as a couple near Harrisburg (lived for 5 years there) and again when DH wanted to move to Pittsburgh I said let’s try it. So of course when DH said we might have an opportunity to move (on the company dime) to Georgia, I am at peace with trying.

Go ahead and guess how fast I Map Quested the distance to Florida.

So shout out here. I want to know where you want to live when you retire. Do you think I am insane for even considering a move from the great mothership, Pittsburgh? Don’t worry, I will always root for the Steelers. Even from my bungalow in West Palm Beach.