Hmmmmm....what's next?

Just sitting here, waiting for Owen to get tired enough to go to bed. He had sort of a long nap, so he's not as tired as Mom and Dad. Especially Dad who got to work at 4:45am (unusually early) this morning.

Can't help wondering as I do every night (and day...and minute) what's coming for our future. Daniel's internship ends at the end of December (a week earlier than the date they gave him of Jan 2). So he's doing the job search thing now. He's applied a couple of places and will apply to more. Mostly in Utah, I think.

It's strange to think of moving. I've got mixed feelings. I think I'd much rather live a lot closer to family and we really liked Utah. At least the area we were in. And for the first few months of living here, well, the stresses of a new place, new schools (which y'all know I didn't like much) and new horrible Heat and Humidity (two H words that = a very big H word) ...hmmm...let's just say I wanted to go HOME to Utah or CA or somewhere other than here.

Now the weather is wonderful, the stress of school has subsided a bit (though homeschool has it's own stresses) and the kids and I are feeling much more emotionally balanced. And we've got some fun friends. Justin has gone from not liking Florida to not wanting to leave. I haven't gone there yet, but it's strange to be with friends who say they are praying for the Skinners to stay in Florida. We don't know what we are praying for. Just to be in the right place with a good job that Daniel enjoys. And really, I still think I'd much rather be closer to family.

Now, if Disney suddenly changed it's "poor mouth," "hiring freeze" tune and begged Daniel to stay...we'd probably snatch up one of these amazingly cheap houses with a pool and stay a while. As it is, we might just have to leave this paradisical weather right at it's best and move where it's cold again. If we were to stay here, I will fully admit that I'd be soooooooo ready to move again when the H-E-L-L weather started again. (I didn't say it! I spelled it!)

There are some neat things about living in a place where people aren't all Mormon. The kids are getting a better sense of the fact that not everyone is Mormon and that they might still go to church and believe in Jesus. Emily used to ask, "Does ..... go to church?" about anyone we'd meet and I'd have to say, "Maybe, but not ours." Oh...You mean there are other churches? I've realized a few areas I need to bump up our spiritual education! And I like the idea that the kids are seeing themselves as a little unique. We aren't like everyone else.

One thing I've liked about living here is seeing the new members in the church. They are pretty cool. They didn't grow up with the Mormon lingo, singing the Primary songs or going to primary. I like hearing about their conversions. It's neat seeing that people really are out there accepting the gospel, even when they are learning about it from scratch OR having to put aside preconceived notions or strange rumors about Mormons. And we've had the missionaries over for dinner 4 times and every time the kids are, like, "AGAIN? We have them over every week!" Yeah, 4 times in 5 months is not every week, I explain. I think we had Missionaries for dinner once or twice during our 6 years in Utah. They just do it differently there (or in our old ward anyway).

This post is getting too long. No one will ever read it. And I think Owen is possibly getting tired. I should try to put him to sleep. (Spoiled youngest child always stays up later in our family. And Owen will probably stay the youngest child, so he'll be spoiled forever. )

G'night.