Christmas week is upon us, school break is here, and the kids are enjoying their mega extended weekend. I love this time of year for our family, but I'm finding myself more excited to begin the New Year and begin what I hope will be our transitional year to our new life. As the end of this year approaches, Shelby and I have developed our plan to make things happen...as we realize things may also change as we begin our strategy!
#1 We have determined that it is most likely that we will remain in the SW Ohio/Indiana area unless some awesome twist of destiny is bestowed upon us. But the likeliness that Shelby's job will evolve and continue for at least a few years here is good, so we have decided that our best location for our home will be Preble, Darke, or Mercer counties. We are going to start our quest with open houses, and find a realtor that we're comfortable with and who can help us to do the things we need to do to make this happen.
#2 Get a job. I have an appointment for substitute teaching in Kettering next month, and my name in the hat for substitute teaching in Dayton at their next selection. I have downloaded information and created my spreadsheets on Darke, Preble, and Mercer school districts and pk-3 schools, and have bookmarked their websites. I need to fill out an application for Darke County, which I'll work on during these last days of this year. A job will really help out financially and as a means to get our home loan.
#3 Save. Of course, this is nothing new as a goal... We have made strides in getting rid of debt, but we need to clean up a few things before we get our house. Our plan is to attack the biggie with all we have, and then clean up the odds and ends that have been tagging along with us for awhile. Hopefully #2 will speed this up :)
#4 Get out of our apartment! With or without the successes of the above, whether staying in the area or transferring, our goal is to be out of this apartment by or on June 4, the weekend after the kids' last day of school. It is more apparent and evident that this building is not on any kind of an upward turn, but only relieved of bad neighbors for the moment. I don't mean to sound negative, but I have lost my optimism that this place will get better. The owner has hired an on-site manager, but the ice and snow still cover the walk and parking areas, the lobby and outside lights are still out (2 weeks), and icicles are forming through the cracks in the eves of the roof. Enough said about that.
Getting back to Christmas, though - it looks like we will have a very nice Christmas this year :) Our early family Christmas gift from Mimi and Papa was tickets to The Nutcracker at the Schuster Center - AWESOME! We took this opportunity to relive our engagement night from fifteen years ago, this time with our five kids :) It was so nice! Dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse, balcony seats at the ballet, and a drive through Lincoln Park, where I proposed to my wife, she said "yes", and began this wonderful journey that we're on! Everyone seemed to enjoy the night as much as we dido, and I'm so glad our whole family was able to have the experience.
As much as I love the beach and devote myself to the water, it is nice to see white on the ground at this time of year, and I love the contrast of bare branches against the winter sky. The Christmas lights shine brightly against the snow - it really is very beautiful. Of course, warm weather is more than welcome to return in January! We helped Grandma put up and decorate her trees and window last weekend, and I think we enjoy seeing them as much as she enjoys having them. Last week we prepared our fleece for Shelby's charity hat project, and went to Drake and Cora's classes to let them make hats for themselves and for Children's Hospital. The kids had a great time and were able to help others, whether it was family or other kids in need. We wrapped up the week hosting the kids' school holiday parties, and we also presented the teachers with a photo of their class wearing the hats that they made. The students all signed the mat - it was all very nice and festive! Yesterday wrapped up our busy weekend with a dinner at Aunt Barbara's. The pot luck dinner was a nice gathering of the Schimer side, highlighted by a visit from some deer in the back yard! The week ahead needs to include Gage shopping for the family, food shopping for now and our at-home family Christmas Eve AND Christmas day dessert, along with whatever work stuff Shelby has planned for the week. Busy, busy, busy! Which means I should wrap this up. We wish you and us luck for the joy and insanity that the holiday season/school break brings, and for the dreams and hopes of the new year!
