quick blitz

i haven't really wanted to take the time to write lately. seems i have fleeting thoughts that i can post to twitter quickly, but just can't seem to pull together anything that amounts to paragraphs. but i wanted to give some sort of quick update to what's going on around here. at the same time, i'll apologize for the boring background that wasn't even up when the month changed. my laptop is still complaining about being ill, and now has to be sent off to the gateway repair center where it will have in-patient care for almost 2 weeks. such a bummer. in the meantime, i'll succumb to using a background made by someone else.

at any rate, let's see if i can speedily sum up the last 6 weeks or so....

the drive out to SD was definitely long, but kids were better than expected and we survived. we went to vegas for the 4th, the doc left to work in indiana, i had friends visiting for a week, then sent the 11 yr old (whom i desperately need a nickname for - suggestions welcomed) to girl's camp. visited with a friend from college, took another trip back to vegas, then flew to alabama to take a look at a job for next year. among all this we had beach days, bad sunburns, a broken finger, pool time, dentist and dr appts, visits to the zoo, temple and wild animal park, celebrated 4 birthdays, discovered seals on the beach, set up utilities and made new friends. we've had unlovely dealings with HR personnel and a health insurance company. we've had long distance maintenance of a vacant house with water damage. we've had numerous visits to the SD airport and many trips to the store for fans since our place has no a/c.

we are enjoying our new ward and being a short few miles from the ocean. we are loving the weather that has zero rain and are excited to explore all that SD has to offer once everyone goes back to school and crowds die down. the doc is doing well with his 5.6 mile (one way) bike commute to and from work. he gets to ride along the beach. we are glad to have a great library system again, and our branch is less than 2 miles away. i love that i can send luigi walking or 'scooting' to the store when i need something quick for dinner.

up and coming on the horizon...dental surgery at the children's hospital for dash next week, continued weeding through of job opportunities from numerous recruiters in hopes to have a contract signed before the end of october, wrapping up repairs in jersey and praying that the house sells SOON, waving goodbye to my laptop hoping it will return safely from it's repair trip, gathering my thoughts to get school back up and running, reorganizing our meal plan and restructuring the family eating habits. i think i should stop there. the list could run on forever.

hope all is well with all of you. i'll try to suffer through editing some pics once i get my laptop back to healthy standing.