oh, the drama

So, tonight I finally sat down and read through the almost 300 comments that I've received over the past couple of weeks and haven't possessed the ability to 'digest' until now.

Thank you for all of your kind words, thoughts, advice and prayers. I promise that once I can find my camera (buried in one of the numerous boxes I have yet to unpack) I'll do a better job posting pictures. Although we've taken a few photos over the past few weeks with our iPhones, this is the longest stretch of time I've gone without taking pictures of the children with our "good" camera. I just hope I can remember how to (not) use it properly once I do find it.

Now, before I go any further, I need to inform BlackOrchid that I actually DO listen to you. It is because of your advice in 2007 that we opted to stay put in our house and not cash out and buy a larger house. Thank goodness we followed your recommendation. While we would have walked away from our house with a very large sum of money, we would have been investing that money in to a house that would absolutely tank in value and we'd be in really big trouble right about now.

Hopefully, your most recent projection that the market in Northern Virginia is now (also) going to tank within the next year, is totally and completely wrong.

A lot of people have suggested that we rent, and while that certainly does seem to be the most logical idea given our situation, we have decided to buy a house because we feel desperate to be settled. And since the money that we'd be spending every month on rent is comparable to what we'd be spending on a mortgage and we've absolutely loved the old house by the creek since the very first time we saw it, why not just buy this house, build some equity, have a tax shelter, and throw down some roots in an area that I'm sure we'll soon come to treasure?

So we bought it. We're in escrow which is scheduled to close two weeks from today and when it does, I'll post more pictures than you'd ever want to see and if anyone that reads this blog shows up at my new front door because THEY FIGURED OUT WHERE WE LIVE, I'll drop dead of a heart attack. I'm talking to you, Sarah. How you deducted all that you did about where our new home is located, I'm not quite sure but I'm certain with your sleuth investigative skills you could easily land a job with the CIA, FBI or Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Regarding the school issue in South Carolina and whether or not we'd enroll the children temporarily - for those who wrote to tell me it was awful I'd consider doing such a thing to the teachers, because there is so much preparation that they put in to getting ready for the children and assessing them the first part of the school year ... I know all that.

While I didn't go in to great detail on my post about the subject, you might be interested to know that my primary reservation with enrolling the children in school, temporarily, was I didn't want to negatively impact the teacher or class. EVEN THOUGH my high school guidance counselor suggested it and told us that parents temporarily enroll children all the time, just because other parents do it ... doesn't mean that I'd do it.

Besides, after having gone through the kindergarten pre-assessment this past April, I know how much work the teacher's put in to getting ready for their class and I wouldn't want to disrupt that. Nor, would I ever temporarily use school as "FREE CHILDCARE" for my children, regardless of how much we might NEED free childcare what with all the other things we're trying to accomplish without completely losing our marbles.

I could have cashed in on the free lunch, but my conscience wouldn't even let me do that.

See, I have one! And it really works!!

In other news, one of the comments that I received was from "Beth" in Virginia. She expressed great disappointment in me over my Cracker Barrel post. Apparently, she was offended because I had suggested that a waitress job was "beneath" me and I've since lost her as a reader.

HARUMPF!

Now I'm a little worried that if she sees me on the Virginia roads, sporting my BE NICE or BE KIND license plates, she's going to blast her horn and force me in to a ditch. So in the off chance you ever came back to this blog, I'm very sorry for offending you, Beth.

Please don't make me crash.

It was my intention to suggest that since I was in the midst of a life crisis after having dragged my family of six 3,000 miles cross-country and was now possibly facing financial ruin and unemployment square in the face, it made me feel good to know that there are places where I could seek NEW employment opportunities.

Although, perhaps it does makes me a bit snobbish to admit that working at The Cracker Barrel wouldn't necessarily be my first career choice. Considering I spent a lot of time and resources pursuing a Bachelors and then Masters degree, and then countless hours pursuing my professional registrations and years upon years advancing my career, I don't think it would necessarily be a good return on my efforts to now direct my energy in to waiting tables.

(No offense to anyone who waits tables. That is undoubtedly one of the hardest jobs in the world what with interfacing with the public and standing on your feet and keeping a happy face when the kitchen is running slow or mixes up your orders. I've done it. It's tough work.)

Please let the record show that I'll do whatever I need to do to put food on the table and keep shelter over my children's heads. Even if that means serving up grits and chitlins 24/7.

Now y'all come back now!

Ya hear?!