Limbo

Limbo...I feel like my little family is in a constant state of limbo.  We continuously dip our toes into our future life in Minnesota with a trip here, and a job posting there, but are then pulled back to Iowa with these job responsibilities and that house project.  Vinnie has happy adventures during daddy's visits and quiet "survival" weekends when its mom alone.  Its hard to live in the now, when you are constantly looking forward to the next weekend visit, hoping for a new posting, and wondering where you will be living 6 months from now.

One thing I am always striving for, in addition to just getting through most days, is that Vinnie gets to do the things he would be doing if Jon were here...this is often easier said than done, but I don't want to look back at this year and feel like there was some big toddler right of passage that he missed out on.  While most weekends are spent trying to contain these activities within the confines of our own house (its just easier this way), sometimes I force myself outside of my comfort zone, for Vinnie's sake and we venture out.  This weekend we did have one pretty successful adventure.  Yesterday, Vinnie and I saw "Walking with Dinosaurs" at our budget theater in town.  $8 in movie tickets and $4 in popcorn, and it was a perfect evening activity that bought mom a little change of pace and a break from entertaining Vinnie, and bough Vinnie some pretty fabulous dinosaur entertainment.  I'm not sure what he loved more, the movie or the popcorn, but it was a very successful trip!

Every day closer to summer, I am reminded that what ties us to Iowa will soon be gone, and I must focus some of my energy on finding my next step professionally in Minnesota.  So, during nap time, while Vinnie watches Elmo, or after he has gone to bed, my job search continues.  Each day I visit "edpost" which is an online bank of teaching positions in the midwest.  It focuses primarily around Minnesota, as it is put out by St. Cloud State University.  While it is nice to have this as a resource, it isn't really a one-stop shop.  Many postings exsist that are not on this page.  So...I have bookmarked my 15-20 school districts in the metro that would be ideal locations for jobs and each day I navigate through postings on their individual sites as well.  So far, I have applied for ONE job, a High School special education position in St. Louis Park.  There weren't too many details about the job, so I don't know if it is focused in an area that I have experience, or if it even a position available for next year.  Other than that...there have been a few middle school positions, which I'm not ready to apply for, as it is not an area I have much experience.  What has me in a bit of a freak out mode is that inteviews for my current position in Iowa will be taking place this week.  As my current job, which I have poured my heart and soul into, slips away, I was hoping I'd have the hopes of a new position to keep me positive and focus my attention.  Everyone tells me it is early, that come March, the jobs will start opening up.  Lets hope!

The weather has also had a huge impact this winter on our game of Limbo.  My last day of school was originally marked as June 3rd.  Thanks to several ice days, cold days, and snow days, we have tacked more than a few days on and are now scheduled until June 6th.  One more day, and we will be forced to go into the following week...and there is a lot more winter still to be had.  As I tell people that I am moving to the Twin Cities, I often here how much they love it there, but how brutal those winters are.  Well my friends, this winter in Iowa has not been much better.  While we do not have quite as much snow as my dear friends and family in the north, we have more than I can ever remember in the years we have lived here.  It has been a BRUTAL winter, and there isn't an end in sight!  Vinnie doesn't mind, though.  He loves gearing up in his boots, snow pants, jacket, hat and mittens and digging his way through the chilly white mounds!

Our "home" in Iowa is in Limbo too!  As I begin to pack away and de-clutter to put the house on the market, the comforts of our home are slipping away.  Now it is a space that we are trying to sell.  I know that there are many happy memories to be made in future homes up north, but my heart hurts as I pack away memories of many new beginnings and special times we have shared here.  This is where we first brought Vinnie home, and where we had so much space we could open it up to friends and family for long weekends together.  But, north there is no more limbo, and only countless opportunities with family and friends, making new special memories!  Jon will come down next weekend, and we will focus all our energy on getting the house ready to show.  He will pull a trailor of boxes and even some furniture back to Minnesota, and on Monday 3/3, our house in Cedar Rapids will go on the market.

While we continue through these months of limbo, each member of our little family is taking steps toward making our new life together.  Jon has taken the biggest step of all, but we hope very soon we will be able to catch up to him!

Photo update!

Earlier this morning, I could not my photos to upload.  So, I took my usual "trouble shooting" path, and clicked the "X" and left it for later.  And later is now...

Vinnie enjoying his library books.

Watching Olympic hockey: Russia vs. Germany Woman.

Vinnie's Valentines for daycare.  "Happy Valentine's Day Love Bug!"

The early morning hours

Greetings from yet another two hour delay.  The last one actually turned into a no school day...lets hope its not the same this time around!  I got the call for this delay last night, so I set my alarm for a little later hoping to get some extra, much needed sleep.  No such luck, awake before 5am and up at my usual time.  This is usually the case with these "delay" mornings.  My body is in work mode for the week and can't sleep in no matter how hard I try.  But, Vinnie can sleep in, thank goodness, and lately he has needed as much sleep as he can get.  So, I get up and get ready, and then have extra time to watch a little tv, search for jobs, or chat with all of you with a cup of coffee.  It is a great start to the day, no doubt...but something I would rather not happen. ;-)

This weekend, I was not so lucky to have any time to myself in the early morning hours.  I, in fact, was feeling quite miserable myself, having caught a bit of Vinnie's gunk, and hoping to get some extra sleep.  Vinnie had other ideas, as he does most weekend mornings.  So we spent the early morning of Saturday at the grocery store, hoping to beat the snow.  While we weren't lucky enough to make it home (or even out to the store for that matter) before snow flakes flew, we didn't run into too much trouble.  Saturday evening we enjoyed the company of my friend Stephanie and her two neices and nephew.  We ate a little pizza, did a little dancing, and had a whole lot of fun.  I enjoyed the social opportunity got a little break as Vinnie busied himself with trying to keep up with the other kiddos who were just a tad older than him.

Sunday brought early morning hours yet again, this time we enjoyed some donuts and milk (coffee for mom) while we watched a little Russia vs. Germany Women's hockey and read some library books.  I spent the day doing laundry and trying to steal a moment of rest here and there to gear up for a busy work week.  It was also on Sunday that I discovered gunk around Vinnie's right ear...the sure sign of an ear infection.  I am not completely surprised, he has been a regular faucet of snot since catching this cold, and that was always a ticket to an ear infection in the past.  The good news is...no fever, no antibiotics, no doctors visit for this kid.  Just a few drops in the ear 2 times a day for about a week, and we should be golden.  Whew!  Thank goodness for those tubes!

Well...its 8am, which means Vinnie should be up any moment, and we will begin our routine of preparing for the day.  Its already Tuesday, which means we are almost to the weekend.  Jon comes home Friday.  Can't wait to spend this weekend of love with my two favorite loves!!!

(sorry no pictures this post...technical difficulties.  I will try to get some pictures from the weekend up later!)

New floors and our first cold!

Enjoying BINGO at the library party

Happy Wednesday morning.  We received approximately 3 inches of snow overnight, and the city of Cedar Rapids does not know how to cope...SO here I am with an extra two hours this morning.  Vinnie is still sleeping, and its best left that way as he has just started battling a yucky cold with quite a nasty cough that has kept him up
the last few nights.  At least he can benefit from this 2 hour snow delay!

We had quite an eventful few days in our house recently.  Jon came home on Thursday of last week and stayed until yesterday morning.  He worked from Iowa part of those days, and spent the rest of the time overseeing the installation of our new dining and kitchen floors and completing some necessary house projects and cleaning in anticipation of our upcoming move.  We are trying to get the house in order in anticipation of putting it on the market in early March.  This includes getting rid of extra clutter, deep cleaning, and paint touch ups, among many other things.  At the top of our MUST list before selling was the flooring.  Like most updates before you move, I wish we could have done it sooner...we are so happy with how they turned out and wish we had more time to enjoy them.  I will definitely be sad to say goodbye to this house.  Not only were a slew of beautiful memories made here, but I love the layout and functionality of this house.  If it wasn't 5 hours from friends, family, and my husband for that matter, I would not mind staying in this house forever.  I just pray that there is an even better house waiting for us in MN!

On top of house projects, we spent time together enjoying our family this weekend.  We visited our amazing new library in downtown Cedar Rapids and stumbled upon a kids Valentine's day party.  Vinnie enjoyed the treats, books, and festivities!  We also squeezed in a "moomie night", made extra special with an air mattress and lots of pillows and blankets!  It was a perfect family weekend.

Before (sorry about side shot - can't figure out how to turn it)

After (turn that head!)

Vinnie has caught a little bug and spent the last two days coughing and sniffling.  It is amazing that this is really the first bout of luckiness he has had this winter, which has allowed for us to keep plugging away at our work and daycare routine without too much hassle.  I know that is thanks in large part to all the prayers we have covering us on a daily basis, and we thank you all for that!  I am doing my best not to catch it right along with him...lots of sanitizing and fluids for this lady!

Prayers for ease as we continue to battle through another 6 weeks of winter...