Staying or going

When we bought this house in September 2008 we thought we'd likely live here for 3-4 years. We moved because the commute to PSU was too long from our previous house. We picked this location because it was still a reasonable drive for me to work (went from 15 minutes to 40 minutes for me) and shortened Paul's commute to PSU for his Ph.D. Paul started applying for jobs in the fall of 2012 and some were for jobs that started in other states as early as January 2013 so ever since that fall I have been thinking we might move in the near future. We put our house on the market in the spring of 2013 and then took it off a few months later when he accepted a job offer at Bloomsburg (where I had taught from 2004-2012). We contemplated putting it back on the market in 2014 but then Paul was offered a job at Bucknell, and he was offered an extension in January 2015. Ever since Paul told me in August 2015 of his plan to take over the family business in 2016, I have been unsure of whether we were staying put or moving. In November Paul asked me to put the house on the market, and we did so.

That month I also started applying for jobs for myself which meant we were no longer sure as to where we would be moving. I even applied to a few universities in other states because I wasn't sure if Paul might change his mind again as previously he had suggested the idea that he stay at home and I return to being the primary breadwinner. I had one Skype interview with a university in Maryland, and I was also offered an invitation to have a Google hangouts interview (would have taken place earlier this week) with a university in SC, but since Paul had not changed his mind, I declined that interview invitation,

Paul liked the idea of me teaching at a university within a 2 hour radius of the family business. I submitted applications at five universities that met that criteria. I participated in phone interviews with two of those, but in neither case was I invited on to campus. One of them was less than an hour from our current home and so once I knew of that phone interview I became for the first time in the 7 1/2 years we have lived in the house to consider that this house *might* be where we would live for many more years. I have treated it as a temporary house the past 7.5 years. I also had decided somewhere along the way that I wanted to stay in this house for one more year even if I didn't get a job knowing we could afford it for one year because Paul will get a double income for four months this year. So I had made two lists of projects around the house - one for if we stayed here only one more year and one for if I got the job at Lock Haven. I had been trying to figure out how to order those lists as to what were the priorities - things like cutting down one apple tree, painting some rooms, buying a new refrigerator, changing out some flooring in the house, etc.

Last Friday morning I learned that I had not been selected to interview on campus. An email I had received the previous Friday had led me to believe I had been selected so this was quite a blow for me emotionally. Over the past 27 years I only had one other time that an interview did not result in a job offer - early in my doctoral studies I interviewed at Cedarville University (in Ohio) and the Dean said the Department Chair never should have invited me out because I wasn't even close to being ABD at that point. Other than that, I have never had any difficulty with getting a job. When I started at Kutztown University in January 2003 (after graduating with my doctorate in December 2002), I was hired right away even though it was the only place I had applied. I submitted several applications for tenure track positions a year later and was offered a job at Bloomsburg. During my time there I published articles, procured and oversaw a grant, was promoted to Associate Professor, etc. I thought my resume was stronger now than it was in 2004, and so I wasn't expecting it to be so difficult to get a job.

When I resigned in December 2012 I had no intention of working FT again although I did hope to teach as a PT adjunct in the future, but now that Paul is leaving the field of chemistry, part of me really wanted to get a job. So I took it very hard on Friday. I shed many tears on Friday and Saturday. I spent a lot of time with my friend, Cheri, which was such a blessing. Part of me was thrilled that I would get to stay-at-home as I have been very content in this role the past 3 years. On the other hand I was grieving the loss of income, the loss of time Paul will have with the kids (he was going to stay at home while I was at work), and the fact that I thought we were likely going to move to an area where the kids and I would have to give up so much in terms of choice of church, Upward Basketball, homeschool gym class, ice skating lessons, AWANA, etc. On Monday morning I emailed someone in HR at Messiah College (they had only posted their job the end of February), and the response I got led me to believe I won't be doing any interviews there. This means I will be staying home next year, and at the moment I have no desire to pursue FT work again any time soon.

 I was thrilled to know I could continue to stay with the kids. I really would have missed them, but for the other reasons I was feeling sad. For 8 months I have been asking Paul to find out what his salary will be starting next month, and he spent some time yesterday working to figure that out. They didn't come up with a definite number yet, but it was clear we will not be able to afford to stay in this house. The area where I would most like to live is too expensive, but we found a house that was listed $30K less than our current house that would be a short drive for Paul to work and would still enable the kids and I to do some of the activities that are important to us. Paul and I both liked the house, but yesterday's salary discussion showed that we cannot afford that house either. The location of the house is of utmost importance to me. Paul cares about the age of the house and also doesn't like houses that are really close to each other. We both care about the price. Trying to find a house that met those three qualifications: affordable, good location, and nice house has proven to be very difficult.

The location isn't very important to Paul. Ironically, the house we lived in from 2004-08 meets all three requirements. It is close to the family business and close to the things important to the kids and I (good church, choir for me, AWANA, Upward basketball, etc.) and it was much cheaper than our current house. Actually if we hadn't moved it would have been totally paid off by now. But we can't turn back the hands of time and undo Paul's decision to earn his Ph.D. He would like to live in his parent's house, but their house is not in what I consider to be a good location for the kids and I.

I found a house that we can definitely afford because it costs 50% less than our current house, and it's in a good location as far as Paul's commute to work and although not totally ideal for the kids and I, with a longer commute than usual we can continue to do most of their activities. I listened to a sermon online and have found a church I'd at least like to check out and possibly join that would be only 15 minutes away (and it has AWANA). The church doesn't have a choir, but if I drove 30 minutes on Monday nights to the church I attended from 2004-08 I could be in their handbell choir. So the location is fine and the price is fine. The problem is the house is 86 years old and is very close to other houses. It is a 4 bedroom house and has central air conditioning. It doesn't have an attached garage like our first three houses did. It's certainly not as nice as our first three houses, but I think it looks a lot nicer than the others in that price range. The main downside to me is the fact that Paul doesn't want to stay there long term. I am very tired of moving. I really want to put down roots and just stay put some place. Well the first step is that we need to get our house under contract. It was shown twice on Saturday. I think we need to lower the price. That is discouraging because as it is we are going to lose about $10K, and lowering the price means we will lose at least $20K. We made money off our first house and lost a few hundred off our second one so this too is a new experience for us. I think it would be nice to move by the end of August, but we shall see what happens.

Thankful Thursday list....
1. After a 10 day cold snap (meaning so cold we got 2 inches of snow on Saturday), the weather started warming up on Tuesday. I was able to run 4 miles on Tuesday and again today after not getting any exercise last week. I love the spring weather! Tomorrow the kids are looking forward to playing kickball outside for their homeschool gym class.

2. I had a wonderful time last Friday night and Saturday with my friend, Cheri. She made a really delicious lunch.

3. We used a gift card for Applebee's that my parents gave Ian at Valentine's Day to go out to dinner on Saturday night while our house was being shown.

4. We enjoyed seeing a play "Emporer's New Clothes" on Sunday afternoon.

5. My mom's side effects have been much less severe after her fourth chemo treatment compared to the previous two. We are very thankful!

6. We are enjoying our ants that we've had for one week! They have been busy making tunnels.

7. Nadia and Oliver enjoyed wearing Chinese clothes for our study of China this week.

Eating around the world

This school year we tried many new recipes as we studied each continent. Here is a synopsis of our experience thus far. We have three countries left to go after this week - Japan, Russia, and Australia.  I will say that the experience has definitely resulted in Nadia and Ian doing a better job with eating new foods, especially ones they aren't very keen on. Ian has actually traded places with Nadia. Nadia now has the hardest time of the three kids with eating foods she doesn't like. Oliver continues to like almost every single thing I serve. He will ask for seconds while his siblings are struggling to take their first bites. The pictures don't have anything to do with the foods; they are from our trip to Philadelphia last week.

Foods at least some of us loved (at least some members of the family want to eat it again)
1. Tres Leche cake - Cuba
2. Tacos - Mexico (not a new one for us)
3. Taquitos - Mexico
4. Chiladquiles - Mexico
5. Brigaderiros - Brazil - Most favorite of all the new recipes we tried

6. Shepherd's Pie - United Kingdom (not a new one for us)
7. Beef stew - Ireland (not a new one for us)
8. Soda bread - Ireland (not a new one for us)
9. Croque Monsieur (already made this again at Ian's request)
10. Chocolate mousse
11. Omelette (not a new one for us)
12. Gelato
13. Breadsticks
14. Garlic bread (not a new one for us)
15. Lasagna (not a new one for us)
16. Spaghetti and meatballs (not a new one for us)
17. Pasta e fagioli
18. gewürz-plätzchen (not a new one for us)
19. apfelpfannkuchen
20. chocolate bread - Netherlands
21. Krentenbollen - Netherlands
22. Mandazi - Kenya (donuts)
23. pita bread - Egypt
24. trifle - South Africa

25. Challah  - Ian, Oliver, and I liked it
26. Matzoh crackers - Israel
27. Bagels - Israel (not a new one for us)
28. Baked cheese sticks - Israel

Foods that were "okay" (we didn't have serious struggles to eat them but don't want to eat them again)
1. Coconut kisses - Puerto Rico
2. Moros y Cristianos (black beans and rice) - Cuba
3. Flan
4. Licuado de Sandia - Guatemala
5. Hot chocolate - Mexico
6. Empanadas - Panama
7. Three Kings' cupcakes - Venezuela
8. Dulce de Leche
9. Milcaos
10. Argentine butter cookies - Argentina
11. Torrijas - Spain (sort of like French toast)
12. Creme brulee
13. Toskakake - Norway
14. Gehaktballen - Netherlands

15. Kourabiethes - Greece
16. hummus (amazingly Paul ate the most of this and he tried the fewest of all the recipes)
17. Honeyed carrots (Oliver and I liked them but not Nadia or Ian who usually like carrots) - Egypt
18. Banana fritters - Nigeria (banana pancakes)
19. Jollof rice (I liked it) - Ghana
20. Yellow rice (I liked it) - South Africa
21. Kelewele - Ghana
22. Tropical fruit salad (I liked it) - 
23. South African apples and cheese crumble - (apple crisp with cheddar cheese on top)
24. Melktert (Oliver loved it) - South Africa
25. Chocolate macaroons (I ended up eating almost all of them)
26. Potato and beef kebba - Iraq
27. Pulao rice with peas and nuts - India (Oliver and I enjoyed it)
28. Chicken fried rice - China
29. Spring rolls - China
30. Mandarin orange chicken - China

Foods that were disliked (meaning probably a lot of it was thrown away and either Nadia or Ian had a very hard time consuming a small portion)
1. pao de queijo - Brazil
2. Crepes
3. kartoffelpuffer
4. lefske - Norway
5. chapati flatbread - Kenya
6. isu (least favorite) - Nigeria
7. dodo oni-yeri - Nigeria (egg fried plantains)
8. Corn and beans (corn and black eyed peas) -
9. Bananas Ghana
10. Carrot salad - Morocco
11. Couscous - Mali
12. Tzimmes - Israel
13. Latkes - Israel
14. Pistachio pudding (I was the only one who liked it) 
15. Garam Doodh - only Ian liked it - India

Adventures in Philadelphia!

The end of March I purchased an annual family membership for $40 for a museum in Kentucky that meant we would be eligible to visit more than 200 museums for free (of which we'll visit fewer than 10). Yesterday we made use of this membership for the first time as we went to the Franklin Institute, an outstanding science museum in Philadelphia. It would have cost about $100 for the five of us to enter so we already saved $60 by purchasing the ASTC membership. The free entrance included a planetarium show. It excluded the IMAX movies and two exhibits which required an additional fee (one on Egypt and one on Pixar movies). Paul usually has Mondays and Wednesdays off, but he taught a class on Monday and Wednesday morning this week for a colleague who was attending a conference, but he only taught from 8:00-8:52 those days. We were on the road at 9:30 headed for Philadelphia, and it only took a little over 2.5 hours to get there (no traffic delays!). We were also able to park on the street right beside the museum. It cost us $7.50 in quarters to stay there for three hours whereas it would have been $18 in the parking garage for that same time span.

Three hours was definitely not enough time to explore the museum. We were constantly hurrying the kids on to another exhibit. At the end we watched a 25 minute planetarium show before we left. We only did one (very short) live program with a Tessla coil (and there were many other programs going on that day). We definitely want to return during the next year. I had packed lunches, and we had eaten them in the van on the way to Philadelphia. It was the kids first time at the museum, and Paul's first time there in more than 40 years. I have been there several times both as a child and as a teacher taking students there on a field trip. Paul remembered climbing in the 2 story heart, but most of the exhibits have changed over the past 40 years. Even though I brought my speed light (external flash), I struggled with taking pics. Taking pics indoors is not my specialty, especially in museums, but hopefully in time I will improve at this. I much prefer taking pics outdoors.
We had a little trouble driving in between the two museums, but eventually we figured it out. We didn't pass any fast food restaurants, so we ended up just eating something at the Please Touch Museum.

The first Wednesday of every month they offer $2 admission from 4-7pm (a $15 discount per ticket). They also offered discounted meals in their cafe - a slice of pizza or a hot dog with a drink for $2.50. We parked in their lot ($10) which was a mistake as we could have parked on the street for free. Oops! Live and learn. The kids had a blast. Nadia's favorite part was the bakery. In comparing Baltimore and Philly, I would say I think Baltimore tops Philly when it comes to comparing zoos and children's museums but that Philly's science museum is better than Baltimore's. Originally I had planned for us to go to the Seaport Museum yesterday instead of Franklin Institute, but when I saw they had a pirate exhibit opening soon, I decided to go to the science museum first and do the Seaport Museum next month. The trip back took MUCH longer because at one point it took us over an hour to go about 4 miles. Next time we are going to try to arrive earlier (10:00) and leave by 4:00 in the hopes our drive home will be more reasonable. I was pooped, but it was a good day. The kids loved both museums.

I'm overdue for a gratitude list so here's my thankful Thursday list:

1.Nadia was thrilled to learn on Sunday that she was assigned a speaking part (she'll be Meg) in the spring musical the kids' choir is putting on in May at church. Ian was assigned his very first solo! He has a beautiful voice. I can't wait to hear him sing his first solo, and I am sure Nadia will do a great job with her speaking part.

2. My mom was able to have her fourth chemo treatment yesterday. We are praying that the next 10 days will go more smoothly than they did the last two rounds. Thus far she does not qualify for surgery, but we are praying to that end.

3. We finished reading a biography on Gladys Alyward and then watched an old movie about her life ("Inn of the Sixth Happiness"). It took us several days to watch the movie. I was impressed that the kids were able to point out discrepancies between the movie and the book we read. Now we are enjoying The Endless Steppe and Letters from Rifka as soon we will be studying Russia.

4. Nadia and Ian are not fans of peas or rice, but they did better than expected with dinner tonight which consisted of pulao rice with peas and nuts and a small mug of garam doodh to drink. The rice dish included raisins and cashews. I actually thought it was rather tasty. I was afraid Ian and Nadia would be having it for breakfast tomorrow, but they are making progress with eating foods they aren't crazy about. Yay! We had these Hindu dishes because we are studying India this week.

5. Ian scored five goals on Saturday morning!

6. We had a great family outing to Philadelphia yesterday.

7. Oliver started to come down with a cold on Monday, and yesterday his cough sounded much worse. After his recent hospitalization, I was getting worried, but today he is doing MUCH better. I am very thankful.

8. I am attending a women's retreat with singer/speaker Kathy Troccoli tomorrow night and Saturday morning with my friend, and I am spending Friday night at her house. I can't wait!

5 Goals!

Ian scored five goals this morning! It was his first game of 2016. They usually play three-on-three at U6 games, but for some reason they played four-on-four today, which meant that Ian played the entire game. This was part of the reason he was able to score more goals than usual. Jack and Addie (neighbors of ours who are also on the team) also scored goals, but because another girl on the team hadn't scored a goal, Ian was told not to score any more goals until she scored one. She scored one near the very end of the game. It was the first time Ian was told to stop scoring goals by a coach. That is a nice problem to have! It was in the 70's yesterday, but it was much colder this morning, and to make matters worse it was lightly raining at times. Brrrrr! I didn't take any pictures because of the rain. We were home for 3.5 hours and then returned for Nadia's game. The sun was shining, and it was warmer out (high 50's). I did take pictures as much as possible while trying to also keep an eye on Oliver and Ian who were running around on another field that wasn't in use during Nadia's game.

Nadia played offense the first quarter, and her foot was on the ball far more than it usually has been since she moved up to U8. She was on the bench the second quarter and played defense (not her strongest suit) the last two quarters. Oliver fell asleep on the way home. While he napped in the van Nadia finished her painting. The project was titled Caribbean lighthouse. This one will be hung in her room without a frame. This week I hung a frame of Nadia and Ian's bluebirds that they did with pastels in November 2014 and the clown fish that Nadia did last fall. I am sure we will enjoy having more of their artwork on display throughout the house.

Thankful Thursday

1. It was a beautiful day today. Paul surprised us and came home around 12:30. This meant I was able to go for a nap during Oliver's quiet time, and he took a nap in his bed (first time since last Friday), which meant that when I got back from my 4 mile run he was still asleep and I was able to work with Nadia on her acrylic panting project that we started yesterday, which I prefer to do while Oliver is in his room because he wants to join in and paint with Nadia.

2. My mom wasn't able to have her fourth chemo treatment yesterday because her bloodwork showed her to be too weak. I am thankful there are safeguards like this in place. We are praying that she will be strong enough to have the chemo next Wednesday. They are also reducing the dosage of the chemo; we are hoping this means the side effects won't be as harsh the next time around.

3. Sometimes I have given Oliver kid scissors to use while I am doing schoolwork with the other two. Well I was pleasantly surprised to discover this week that he can cut on a dotted line fairly accurately! The other two certainly couldn't do that when they were three (in part because I didn't give them scissors when they were this age). He is also making progress with learning his alphabet and numbers.  Ian and Nadia are helping teach Oliver.

4. I have lost three pounds so far. It would be more exciting if these were additional pounds instead of pounds I had regained, but still at least I am going back in the right direction. I hope this time around I keep the weight off. I also have been improving my pace at little when running.

5. The realtor called today to say that she had two requests to show our house. I was happy to decline these. I told her I was still waiting to hear from Lock Haven.

Waiting

There are so many times in life where we are in a place where we are waiting to find something out. I had a phone interview yesterday, and now I am waiting to find out if I will be invited to interview on campus. Ironically, the chair of that search applied twice at Bloomsburg when I was the chair of the search committee, and she was invited to interview on our campus but was not selected by our department either time. I am hoping she is not holding that against me. I certainly had no control over it. She said she will let me know this week whether I will be invited to interview on campus. So many others I know are in times of "waiting" in one way or another - my brother is waiting to find out if he has been accepted into a PhD program, my mom is waiting to find out if she will qualify for surgery or not, etc. I also am waiting to hear if Messiah College will contact me for an interview. I really want to yank that for sale sign out of our yard, but until I know either that Lock Haven has offered me a job OR that Messiah is a closed door, the sign will stay put. We turned down one showing last month when Oliver was in the hospital, and I turned down another showing last week because of the fact we are leaning toward staying here. Those were the only two times that anyone asked to see our home in the past three months. The house has been on the market for four months.

I think either way I want to start doing some projects around the house this spring. If I am not offered a job, I will keep them low cost and just do things like paint some walls. We have lived here 7.5 years and only painted three bedrooms in that time. If I am offered a job at Lock Haven, then I want to do some more expensive projects such as replacing some flooring and buying a new refrigerator. I keep telling myself that God is in control, and He knows what is best. I just have to wait and see what that entails for us. It feels so strange that it is March and I haven't planned a summer vacation, but we are waiting to find out if I have a job or not as to whether we can afford to go and also so we know when is the best time to go. I did some research yesterday into getting an ASTC membership. I found a museum in Kentucky that only charges $40 a year for a family, and that will give us reciprocal agreements(free entry) at about 300 other museums. You can't use it at any museums within 90 miles of your home (which in our case eliminates the ones in Lancaster, Reading, Harrisburg, and Allentown), but I would like to use it at museums in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and possibly Chicago. My sister's family is also in a time of waiting as they *might* move to California. If they find out they are moving, I want to take a road trip to Chicago before they move, and this ASTC membership would be very useful in Chicago and also en route we could stop at museums in Ohio to help break up the trip.

I haven't seen a video of the choir's anthem on Sunday, but here is a video of a quartet that sang at the very end of the service. The inner two are married to each other as are the outer two, The taller man is my choir director, and his wife is the music teacher at the Christian school. Yesterday we were cooped up inside all day, but today although it wasn't exactly "warm" out, we did walk to the playground and I did run 4 miles after Paul got home. It was so windy yesterday they even cancelled the kids' soccer practices. Their first games are this Saturday so hopefully they will get their practices in tomorrow! Prayers for my mom tomorrow would be greatly appreciated as she will be having her fourth chemo treatment.