The Return of Sugar Mama

Today, Rhonda got offered the job she interviewed for with the
Greenville Hospital System. She'll be at the main hospital location, only a 10-minute commute across town. While the last few months "off" (not counting babysitting, decorating, various home repairs, studying for the SC law exam, etc.) were a nice change of pace, she's chomping at the bit to get back to the grind. Her exact start date is TBD, as there's orientation and HR stuff to work out.

We're still firmly in adjustment mode, but it's tough to deny that things have gone pretty darned smoothly over the last few months. The following things happened after we decided to move:
* Rhonda discovered one of her friends/coworkers in Portland went to school with the pharmacy manager at GHS. She was able to make contact with him and sew those seeds back in August.
* I was able to negotiate a transfer of my job to SC (which ensured we were able to buy a house here).
* We were able to buy and sell houses 3000 miles away from each other in less than a week (no small feat "in these economic times").
* Rhonda knocked her interview out of the park and secured herself a new gig.
* Plus the normal coordination of moving, auto transport, utilities setup, etc. Oh, and beginning the process of becoming not exactly parents or guardians, but something more than a regular aunt and uncle.

To those among us who believe in the Big Man Upstairs, it's easy to believe he's had a hand in getting us to this point. At the least, it would seem Lady Luck has been on our side.

Vegetables are apparently poisonous to 12-year olds

Who knew?

We have now experienced pretty impressive tantrums from 3 out of our 4 nieces. Oddly enough (or maybe not so oddly for those of you with more kid experience than us), the youngest has proven to be the pound-for-pound champ of fit-pitching in our house so far.

I dunno, maybe we should have gotten the big one.

(ceiling is 9 feet tall)

DR Pics

Here are some pics from our trip to the Dominican Republic. After the stressful nature of the last few months, we figured we were due for a nice relaxing trip, and that's what we had!

Facebook

After a lengthy "negotiation" period with friends, I have finally joined Rhonda on the Dark Side of Facebook.

As I sort through my emails trying to figure out how to use this thing (whispers loudly), I IMMEDIATELY REGRET THIS DECISION! /Ron Burgundy mode>

Dominican pics on the way later today...

DR is OK so far

Got down here without any issue. Getting through the airport was a breeze- this was the easiest country to "enter" we've encountered so far. Resort is beautiful. Getting ready to take lots of pics and have a few Presidente Beers. Well, it's only 8:24 AM, so that last part may have to wait a couple of hours...

Carolina life so far

We're still a bit shell-shocked, but beginning to settle in.

Some good things about living in Greenville:
* Proximity to family and old friends - Over the past few weeks, we've been to Franklin to visit M&P, they came down to visit us, we spent a weekend in Charleston w/Dad/Judy/Michelle/April/Anastasia, Rhonda's been to Tryon several times, Courtney and Katheren have been down several times separately and apart to spend the night, and Jason/Shauna/Kayla/Amara spent a weekend with us. It's especially nice having Courtney and Katheren able to pop in just about any time. Courtney's spent the most time of any company, and is remarkably easy to manage for a youngster.
* A small, but blossoming, beer culture - There's only one Portland (AKA "Beervana", AKA "Munich on the Willamette"), but there are a few spots to quench your thirst here. The Blue Ridge Brewing Company and the Greenville location of Barley's Taproom (best beer bar selection-wise in the state) are in the middle of downtown, a 25-minute walk/5-minute drive away.
* Pimento cheese - I'd forgotten this was anything more than a mayonnaise-laden orange goo at the grocery store, but the "real deal" is chunky, spicy and delicious! I'm addicted (and apparently, quite easy to please). I'm making it my personal mission to find the best version in town, and am planning to work on a recipe at home, too. Shrimp n' grits merits mention as well- love this stuff.

Some of the not-so-good-things about living in Greenville: Well, it's not Greenville's fault, but another old house means a never-ending list of chores, renovations and updates. Most recently, I spent a lot of time over the past week laying down insulation in the attic. It's about as much fun as it sounds, with long hours in a hot attic spent in long pants/shirts, gloves and a dust mask that keeps the dust out of your lungs, but not out of your eyeballs. Fall-through-the-ceiling accident count: 0. Dead bird count: 7 (I replaced the screen on all the attic vents, which should hopefully prevent unwanted winged visitors in the future).

Sometime soon, I'll tackle insulating the crawlspace. We also decided to pull the trigger on some new windows. We may be broke this winter, but will hopefully be toasty.

Attic before:

Attic after:
Rhonda, Courtney and Katheren finished painting the guest bedroom (we'd been saving it so Katheren could help). Now we've got ourselves a rainbow much like we had in the old house. Still haven't gotten all our pictures on the walls, but it's begining to feel a little more homey, if not quite home yet.

The girls' handiwork:

Off to the Dominican Republic on Thursday for a few days of well-earned (at least I like to think so) R&R.