Where Is My Rock?

You know, the one I can crawl under to hide until this transition is finally over?

I have so much to post updates on that I really don't know where to start, so I'm going to do it in segments. First I'll touch on the big event in the past few days.

Day before yesterday was Nathan and my 3 year anniversary. We've been married for THREE YEARS! In some ways if feels like time has absolutely flown, while in others it feels like we've lived a life time in those three years. To celebrate, we did the following:

• Slept in. Well, Nathan slept in, I got up with Levi at 7. But that's sleeping in for me, since my alarm usually goes off at 4:30 am. Levi happily hung out in his swing for an hour while I puttered around the house until Asher woke up.
• Lazed around the house until just before 1 pm.
• Looked at rental houses around town...more about that later.
• Went out to lunch at our friend's wine and art bar. Best sandwiches EVER. And wine. And cheese cake. It was a good lunch. Levi wanted to sit in my lap and kept trying to grab my salad, until Mary (the owner of the place) scooped him up and cuddled him while I finished eating...I'm going to miss those little perks of living in small town where you know everyone.
• Went home and waited for my parents to arrive from Portland.
• Had dinner at home with my parents.
• Went to bed.
• Woke up with the boys at 7 am again.
• Waited for my parents to arrive to babysit the boys for the day.
• Drove up to the East Eagles to do some finishing.
• Observed the Beer Corner (it's a tradition started by Marla).
• Got to Eagle Creek and watched Bandit almost get swept downriver by the roaring waters...no fishing there yet...decided to try the OTHER mountain range.
• Drove back into town, got camp chairs and books, drove to the Elkhorns.
• Drove almost to the ridge line, found a nice sunny spot by a creek, had lunch, read for about an hour, noticed dark storm clouds, drove home...but not before my right arm (the one that had been hanging out the truck window all day) had gotten burned. Sweet.
• Washed the dog, got showers, went out to dinner at Barley's and then back to Mary's for more cheesecake and wine.
• Went home, went to bed, got woken up at 5 am by my stupid alarm. Back to work. Blech.

House News:
We officially close on the house sale on the 22nd, just a short 17 days from now. (Insert tears and denial here.) That means we have to be out of the house in only 24 days, on the 29th. Since we really have no idea where we're going to end up yet, we decided it would be a better idea to find a temporary rental here in Baker to stay in for a couple of months until we figure out where we're going to be living. That way, we don't have to survive two BIG moves. As mentioned above, we looked at a few rentals here in Baker through Nelson Real Estate, the real estate group that is selling our house. We looked at a total of three houses; the first house smelled the smoke, while the second house smelled like urine. 0 for 2.

The third place we looked at, and the one we ended up putting a deposit on, is a house converted into two apartments. The half we are renting is a fully remodeled one bedroom, and is adorable. The price isn't bad either, to be honest. It's going to be a tight squeeze and there's no washer/dryer hookup, but we'll live. Again, it's only for a month or two and this way we can save some money...plus it doesn't smell like smoke or urine. Thankfully, my parents are taking Bandit until we get settled...wherever we end up settling.

Job Search News:
Still no job offers, but there are several promising things on the horizon. As I mentioned previously, I feel really good about how my Redmond WA interview went. When I got home on Monday, I had received a letter from them stating that I had passed both the oral and written exam, and that I should be getting another letter soon with my test scores and my ranking in the hiring list. I am waiting for that letter with bated breath.

My testing for Tacoma went well, I think. I should also be getting a letter from them in about two weeks with my test score and ranking in the hiring list. I'm waiting for that one with semi-bated breath.

I'm still feeling pretty jerked around by McMinnville. I think I'm done pursuing that one. If they want me, they'll call. If not, their loss.

Yesterday was a good day. I got two calls inviting me to two different interviews. The first one is on the 10th (just 5 days from now) up in Bothell, WA. It pays REALLY well and is just a few miles north of Redmond, so still in the area that I looooooove. Plus, it seems like it would be a lot like Redmond, in that it's only dispatching for Bothell City Police. Big hopes for this one. The other interview is with Jefferson County (Madras, OR) on the 22nd. We'll see how I feel about that one after I see the center. It doesn't pay very well, less than I make here in Baker, and is another "out in the middle of no where" agency, which makes me nervous in terms of budget. Small agencies seem to get hit the hardest with budget cuts, and I really don't feel like going through this again.

That's where we stand so far.

Kiddos News:
The boys LOOOOOVE carrots. They are absolutely fascinated with toys, as well as with noises. They will specifically pick up something and fling it around just to hear the different noises it makes, which cracks us up. They have also started being very deliberate about their movements. Both of them have become scootching masters. Yesterday, I was sitting about 4 feet away from Asher, holding up some toy keys and shaking them so they jingled, while calling Asher's name. He covered that distance in about 30 seconds. It just blows my mind how fast they're growing up. Still not sitting up on their own, but that's ok, I honestly have no problem with them staying relatively immobile for a little while longer.

Other than that, I'm actually kind of excited to have a month or so off from working. It will be great to have that time to spend with Nathan and the boys. Whenever we aren't job searching, we're hoping to spend as much time as possible up in the mountains that we love and are leaving. I'll also be doing some reserve work for the dispatch center, covering...the vacancy that will be created when I'm laid off. Weird.

I'm seriously ready for this transition to be over.