Hello everyone, long time, no blog but I'm back! I have missed blogging so much and look forward to getting back to telling you all about the things I'm doing, things I like, and things I think you might like. If you're a first-time reader, welcome and my About Me in the right-hand sidebar will give you a little background.
It's been about seven months since my last blog post. Dealing with nuisance commenters was not fun but with comments moderation, I hope that is over. In the last seven months, we've been living the trans-Pacific lifestyle, with me in Washington and Vic in Okinawa. Thank goodness for FaceTime! I keep busy at work, Vic keeps busy at work, and the days go by. COVID-19 threw a curve into our plans for Vic to come home in July and there are still travel restrictions in place but hopefully, he will be able to come home for Christmas. We've done this before, as a Navy family, separations have been frequent and we just deal with it.
I've been keeping up with many of my favorite bloggers through this whole pandemic. I teleworked for about twelve weeks which was really isolating. With Vic gone, I'm alone in the evenings and on the weekends, and now I was alone during the days as well. I really looked forward to my department's twice a week conference calls, just to hear the voices of my co-workers and check in! Lots of precautions were put in place at work - mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing, daily temperature checks, limiting the number of riders on the commuter buses, and manufacturing our own hand sanitizer and disinfectant to ensure a steady supply so I felt quite safe going back into the office full-time. Throughout the toilet paper and cleaning products shortages, and then the flour, yeast, and other staples shortages at the grocery store, a steady dose of humor from the Internet kept me sane.
So, how was your week last week? I spent the weekend before last with Sophia who completed her Master's degree and secured her first full-time teaching position. The position is in her field - Education - but not quite in her specialty. Her Master's is in Teaching English for grades 5-12 but starting next week, she will have a class of four-year old preschoolers! Teaching positions are a little hard to come by right now with so many school districts going virtual for at least the fall semester, but there was an opening in the small private school where she has been working for the past two years in a variety of instructional aide positions, so her network really paid off. She is very excited and we had a fun shopping trip to the teacher's supply store to stock up on all things Dr. Seuss for bulletin boards and alphabet and number displays.
The rest of my week was busy with work and a job interview for a position that would be a promotion. It would be quite a change so we'll see what happens. I think the pros side of the list for taking the job if it's offered to me is about the same length as the cons side.
And the most exciting news in our family this week is that Vic's promotion is now confirmed and he'll be putting on his new rank shortly. I had hoped to fly to Okinawa to attend in person but I'll have be content to watch via FaceTime and plan a celebration for when he returns.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, Sophia bought a horse! Meet Ginger.
Please keep Vic and the people of Okinawa in your thoughts and prayers. An e-mail with a heading like this:
Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness - 1
(1 = destructive winds anticipated within 12 hours) is never good news.
Finally, for those of you who are interested in a holiday plan to spread the tasks associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas into manageable pieces, the Holiday Grand Plan and the House and Holidays Plan started yesterday. Both plans have free printables and great pages on Facebook.
