Update.....

Well it has certainly been awhile since I last posted, but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening for us down here in Utah, so I thought I would take a few minutes to let everyone know where our plans stand at the moment.

We are definitely moving back to Washington this year. Our original plans were to wait until our current leasing contract expires at the end of July to move, but things got pressed forward and we began looking at breaking our contract early (and paying a hefty fine) in order to move at the end of May. We even took a very brief journey northward for Richard to attend a job interview and to look at housing in the area. I admit that while I want to move back closer to family, the idea of rushing forward was pretty overwhelming to say the least, so it was a toss-up of feelings when Richard received the news that while the company liked him, that they had currently filled their positions for the branch he was interested in. Not that he is out of the running, as they will be bringing people in throughout the year, but they just don't need him at this time.

Which is a bit of a relief really, because I had nightmares of his moving up before me, finding housing just that much sooner, and handling the move down here entirely on my own.... which I would have done if necessary, but I find myself thankful that it will not be the case.

So we are back to our original plan of moving at the end of July.

Why move at all since we both have fairly good jobs down here in Utah? Well, good employment isn't the most important thing, is it? We both want to move in order to be closer to my family, and I find that I have missed the closeness of my sisters, and Richard has wanted to live in Washington ever since he was stationed there in the Navy back in the 90s. Our brief trip home had us both feeling that this was where we needed to be, and there are blessings in store for us not only now, but in the days and years to come. Washington is where we need to be, and this is the time to do it. Our prayers and thoughts have been directing us towards this goal for well over a year now, and they are stronger than ever. We go where the Lord wants us to go, and if it happens to be closer to where my family resides then so be it.

I admit that there are things about Utah that I will miss... and I will be leaving some very dear friends that I have made here, but I firmly believe that this is the right course for us, and I will take the bitter along with the sweet. Even with the things that I will miss, my heart still longs for the green fields and pine-covered mountains, for the clear (and far cleaner) air and bright starlit skies of my northward home. I have missed it dearly over the years I have spent here, and it is definitely time to return. Our visit simply strengthened that resolve.

There was a lot of good that came from the rushed plans... I began downsizing my considerable stash of stuff... and we donated a lot of items to a yard sale a friend of mine was holding for charity. It was such a refreshing thing to unburden our load, so to speak, that it has inspired me to keep downsizing. Oh trust me when I say we will still have a sizable load to move, but without some of these items the move already seems as if it will go that much smoother, and I find myself worrying less about the task to come. It is no secret that I absolutely hate to move, and would much rather stick with a place that I am not entirely happy with rather than to pack everything up to haul it elsewhere, so this move is a pretty big step for me to begin with. Anything I can do to lighten that load for ourselves cannot be bad in my book... besides, I have a tendency to be a bit of a pack rat (yes, I know, that is an understatement, isn't it?) so its good to be able to de-junk my life a bit.

More on the move as things develop, but I just wanted to let everyone know where we stand right now. Yes, there are a few things that I am failing to share, but rest assured that when the time is right we will be letting you know. Until then, I hope you all know just how much we both love you, friends, family and all.

Sammy

This is Samson... Sammy for short.

Sam is a sweet cat, but he can be a bit of high maintenance. Like when he comes across one of his toy mice. Mice are to be thrown, chased after, and then you come back and demand a new mouse be tossed. Heaven forbid he should actually bring the original mouse back (that is something dogs would do and is, therefore, not to be considered). A good game of chase will end up with the thrower eventually bored out of their skull and Sam asking for "just one more mouse toss" even though there is a graveyard of abandoned mice littering the end of the hall.



"Toss it Dude!"

Sam's second favorite pastime is mewing at the underside of the couch until Richard finally digs out the yardstick and fishes out all of the toys that have been lost to its shadowy recesses. He gets excited as more and more mice are pulled out, until he is sitting on a stack of toys; his very demeanor chortling with glee, "mine, all mine". Forget the fact that there are two other cats in the house that enjoy tossing a mouse about... the mice in this house are Sam's and Sam's alone.

So imagine my surprise this morning when, while at work, I glance down at the floor and notice a flash of orange on my pants... or rather, in my pants.



Sam had tucked one of his mice into the cuff of my jeans, and I had not even noticed it until then.

For the rest of the day all I had to do was glance down to that mouse, still safely tucked away in my pant cuff, and I could feel the smile on my face growing ever wider. A little secret... me in my mousey pants and no one else the wiser. Not my boss, not our customers... just myself and a sweet little ginger cat, waiting for me back home.

More Stellar Fun....

Maybe my posts like this bore the heck out of a lot of people, but I find this stuff absolutely fascinating.

There is a 360 degree panorama online where you can actually zoom in and out and see the Martian surface for yourself... you can even look up and see what the sun looks like if you were standing on the Martian surface. What I found interesting was if you look at the base of Curiosity you will see the two small holes she recently dug in order to sample the soil. The interesting part is that you see if you go under a very thin layer of rusty dust, the planet is actually gray... not red.

Freaking kewl.

Click on the embedded image below to try this out or here to go to the actual site and a much larger viewer to play with.


Mars Panorama - Curiosity rover: Martian solar day 177 in Out of this World