Thu 13 Sep 2007
Well, it has been a while since I have written here and many things have been happening on our lives since the last time you visited. Let me take just a few minutes to catch you all up.
First, our trip to Florida was great. We had a chance to see many of our friends and sold our house to boot! That phase of our life is over now and we can move on to other things. The guys who bought it seemed to be really excited and we think they are going to love it just as much as we did.
So, when we got back to Alaska, I took a trip to Madison Wisconsin for a conference and a job interview at UW. The position is for the Director of their Distance Education Certificate Program. Well, today I told my boss here in Alaska that we are moving. I got the job! Now, knowing that just over a year a go we moved from Florida to Alaska, some may say we are crazy to be doing it again, but we have our reasons. We feel really good about this change.
A few weeks back I told Scott I would really like a sign that this was the right thing to do. Everything has been falling into place since. Even Scott has a job interview for a gas company in Madison. He will know more after Friday. So, we are off as soon as my Chemo sessions are over. We should be on the road on October 2nd. They expect me for work on the 15th.
As before, we will try to blog our way across the country and let everyone know where we are. I have to teach class, so we will do our best to be connected along the way. We are taking the camp trailer that we lived in here so we can camp as we travel. Our only concern is beating the weather down the AlCan highway. It looks as if some of the campgrounds close in September, so wish us luck on finding places to stay.
Some other news, bad unfortunately, is that we had to put Thor to sleep this past week. He had been having difficulties breathing since his surgery and in the last couple of months it was getting much worse. Last week he greeted me as usual when I got home and went into an episode. It did not stop as it has in the past and Scott and I were afraid we would end up watching him suffocate. So, we made the decision. I am sure he is better off where he is now, but we will miss him.
Other things that have been happening… Scott, with the help of my dad, built a beautiful cedar fence to enclose our back yard. This would have been great for Thor, but he only had a few weeks to enjoy it. My parents visited us and then went on to travel throughout Alaska. We enjoyed the time they spent here. I have added a picture to the gallery of the fence. I also added a few taken by my parents, including one of me bald. Scott also built on to the deck out back and my dad and him made a bench on the corner (see the pics). All of this will just help us sell this house a little easier I think. The house goes on the market tomorrow.
Well, I think that catches us up for now. Keep us in your thoughts as we try to work, do chemo, pack, sell our house and prepare for a move in the next three weeks. Who says real people can’t have super powers
Take care all!
S&S
September 13th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Well, I had a feeling an announcement like this would be coming and suspect it would have probably come sooner had there not been other major things going on.
I’ll miss having you at CDE… hope your new position is more fulfilling!
September 13th, 2007 at 11:29 am
wow - I’m really happy for you as I know how much you enjoyed your time at that campus and I know you’ll do an incredible job in the position. You’ve made an incredible difference at CDE and you’ll be missed. alot. really alot.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Thanks Chris and Heidi. I will miss the people here quite a bit. It has been an enjoyable experience and we do love Alaska, so we will be back to visit if nothing else.
September 14th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Scott and Shauna We enjoyed our trip to Fairbanks this summer. Sorry to hear that you had to put Thor down, we had to do the same last year to Pebbles. We’ll keep in touch and drive safely. Maybe next year we’ll be able to see you in Madison. Hope everything goes well on your trip to Wis.
Shauna keep up the good work and stay healthy. Love, Marv and Shirley
September 18th, 2007 at 7:46 am
Really entertaining blog entry. I’m a Italian and I definitely want to visit sometime soon! Nice to hear from you and what an interesting blog.
See you Later.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Congratulations!!! on the new job! I hope everything keeps “falling into place” for y’all. So sorry to hear about Thor; he was a cool dog, but no doubt his Alaskan adventure was one of his most enjoyable years:). Thanks for the updates as always.
warm fuzzies,
[= ang =]
November 8th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Dog Care Tips
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting