December 18, 2010

Boxes? A UofM penant? Yes, we are returning to Minnesota! We'll be moving the weekend of January 15, so if you'd like to help us load or unload the U-Haul, please let me know. Your help would be appreciated! :) Oh, and there'll be pizza or something in it for you!

I am looking forward to joining the College of Biological Sciences in Student Services as an Academic Advisor. I interviewed on December 10, and so got to experience the 5th biggest snow storm in Minnesota history. My flight was canceled due to weather in Chicago, so Patrick and Charlotte drove down with me (two drivers is always nice), and rather than returning on Friday night or even Saturday morning we ended up staying until Sunday...and still hit blizzard conditions in the UP. Oh yeah, the interview. It went well! The Student Services staff seemed great and I'm looking forward to working with them.

Of course leaving is bittersweet - we'll be closer to family, friends, and medical care, but we're both leaving jobs we enjoy, and we'll miss all the great people we've gotten to know here. However, any doubts we had about leaving Houghton were erased when approximately 2 hours after I accepted the position Patrick received a call inviting him to interview for a position at the UofM. This is a job he says is exactly what he wants to do, so I hope it works out. If not, we both feel a bit more confident he'll be able to find something sooner rather than later.

The past couple of days we've been busy on the Internet looking for a 2-bedroom apartment and also researching our daycare options. If anyone knows of an apartment near the UofM (Highland Park, south Mpls, around the U) please let us know. Or, if you have daycare recommendations (or warnings) please send them our way!

Charlotte's language skills are developing! While she's not a big talker yet (she was saying "hi" for a while and she's pretty good with "dada"), she knows how to hug (see photo above) when we say "hug" and she blows kisses when we say "kiss". She's also learning where her (and our) noses are!

We're still trying to turn her into a winter lover, but it's going to take some time. We got another sled that supports her and helps her sit. She cried pretty much the entire time we had her in the sled.

Well, I'd better get back to packing and gift wrapping! We'll be in Wisconsin and Minnesota for Christmas, and we look forward to celebrating the holidays with family.