Good morning!

It is 7 am Saturday morning. I thought it was time for a "newsy" post to fill you in on some of the things going on in our life.

It was a busy week. Here's a quick week recap:

• Sunday night went to Tara's house for great enchiladas and Mexican Train with Hans, Rachel, and EVB
• Monday night went to Austin (about 30 minutes away) for Thai food with Christo and Melissa
• Tuesday night went to the gym for a run and then lounged at home and watched American Idol
• Wednesday night stayed home and watched American Idol with Tara
• Thursday night was Bible Study and then I subbed for my friend's volleyball team again
• Last night Tara and EVB came over for some Thai take-out and Mexican Train.

Speaking of last night, besides the fact that I got my butt completely demolished in Mexican Train, EVB told me something quite amazing. Last week she was getting out of her car and a bunch of snow fell into the car. She shut the door and when she returned a few days later, the same snow was in the car ... unmelted. It was so cold out, even the protection of a car was not enough to melt the mighty snow. This was quite amazing to me. I just add to this note of how cold it is in the Polar North. I know I have some Canadians reading my blog, and I know you think I am wimp, but trust me, it's all relative. I am a Floridian by heart, blood, and body. I do not belong here.

The last week was quite a long week. JB did his first of a three week rotation on outpatient pediatrics at Olmsted Clinic -- a local clinic not associated with Mayo. He had trouble getting going but is now seeing patients himself and really learning a lot and enjoying the rotation. John, honestly, was very wise when he made his fourth year schedule. Realizing that "senioritis" would be setting in, he saved all his easy rotations for last. He has no more overnight call and no more rotations requiring anything more than a basic 8-5 day. John was also blessed because he didn't have to do any interviews. Getting into Eglin meant the time they allot for interview time is forfeited for vacation time. After this rotation, he has two weeks off again.

In other news, we don't have any updates about our condo. We are thinking that if we can get a certain amount for it, we will sell, but if we don't, we will just rent it out. We have people interested in both and can also list it with a realtor if we want as well.

As much as we would like to rent another place off-base in Eglin, we are probably going to live on-base. We have definitely decided not to buy there. We are only going to be there for three years and with the hurricanes, we just don't think we are in the mood to gamble. Living off-base would also mean we would probably need another car. In addition, living on-base is completely free. To live off base, you get a monthly stipend, but we think we would spend more than that if we lived off base. This is not for-sure yet, but we are pretty sure this is how we are leaning. The down side is that on-base, they tell you where to live. The houses are decent but nothing great. If we lived off-base, we could choose a place to rent. Take a look at this one place I found on Craig's List: WATERFRONT TOWNHOME. Our monthly stipend would just about cover this. But with utilities we would be spending money that we wouldn't be spending on-base.

The RLS Foundation is moving this week to a new location in Rochester. That has made work itself slow down a bit and moving pick up a lot. The move is good timing for me. It forced me to clean out my office and decide what went to the new place and what will go with me to Florida. They are giving me an office at the new place that I will use until I leave when I want to go in to work and also when I come up to Rochester. I will probably make 2-4 trips to Rochester a year for job activities and infertility treatments. Hopefully I can time them together. I plan to work for RLS about 20-30 hours a week when we move.

As for my job at Mayo, things are still up in the air there. I will probably work between 10-20 hours, however, my boss has to decide if he wants to split the job between me and someone in office, give the job completely to someone else, or give the job completely to me. The benefit to me is that if I can work 20 hours a week, I can keep my Mayo insurance. We will also qualify for Mayo's $10,000 adoption reimbursement. Add this to the $2,000 military reimbursement, the discount most agencies provide to military families, and the $10,000 tax deduction Bush instated for adoption, and we could save quite a bit if we adopt and as we keep doing infertility treatments.

However, on the flip side, working 0-10 hours would give me more freedom in Florida to work around JB's schedule, meet him for lunch, take breaks to exercise and sit by the pool, etc. It would also allow us to possibly do foster parenting and me to travel more. So, I have truly turned this over to the Lord. I will gladly take the 20 hour week in order to get benefits, but if my boss chooses to split the job or give it completely to someone else, I will know it is for the best and be completely okay with this.

I am also VERY VERY VERY excited because my Tante (Aunt) Jan and my Oom (Uncle) Ed are coming to visit us next weekend. I am thrilled to show them our place in Rochester and just spend some time with them. I really can't wait! I will be sure to take pictures while they are here to show them off to you.

Also, I wanted to make sure everyone knew that JB's graduation from medical school is on May 19th. Anyone is welcome to attend. I plan to go out to a nice restaurant on Saturday after graduation and then on Sunday have an informal cook-out at Ron & Ebby's. Originally, I wanted to do something very big, but as we are coming back from Africa just two weeks before that, I think this is best. ANYONE is welcome to join us. I am pretty sure most of both of our families are coming (at least the parents), hopefully the Wilsons, and hopefully Bara. The more the merrier. I will do my best to put anyone who comes in "up" although it may be a little difficult since most of our friends will have out-of-town company. Maybe I can talk our non-graduating friends into hosting some visitors? :) Anyways, we'd love to have you here and for all of our loved ones to get to meet each other. I am really excited about our families getting to meet Bara!

Okay, I'm sure you are all overwhelmed with my novella. Have a great and warm Saturday everyone! As soon as JB gets up we plan to go to the gym and then enjoy a low-key day at home.