Nailed It!

Ughhhhh, every time we make the zillion-hour trip to Washington, I always swear I will never, EVER do it again, yet here we are. Sigh. At a gas station in Yakima. My sister had to do an internship here once, and she hated it. So far, I'm not terribly impressed by it. It smells weird.  And it's absolutely boiling outside.

Kay, so, big, big news: Ben had an interview this morning in Bend, and HE NAILED IT. He nailed it so much that the boss man called just five minutes ago, told Ben he'd be a perfect fit, and that he was going to send Ben a formal offer on Monday. Can I get an hallelujah? HALLELUJAH! Saying a silent prayer of thanks right now.

And we both have a Peaceful, Easy Feeling about Bend. And can I tell already that I'll love it there. So forestey! So artsy! While Ben interviewed, the kids and I walked around this park by the Something River. Can't remember the name of it right now. And I was like, yep. This is my kind of place.

This little duck followed us the whole walk.

I think he was hoping we'd feed him.  We didn't have anything with which to feed him, but there were signs everywhere saying, "Help cut down on Poo-lution!  Don't feed the ducks!"  Hahaha!

The houses on the other side of the river are fantastic.  Huge.  Amazing landscaping.

 There's a bridge at one point that crosses over to the other side of the river (Gage was off trying to find a bug, probably, and Micah's shirt was on backward, but he refused to turn it around for me):

 We saw a little otter carrying some grass to his little nest underneath some shelf-like rocks:

 Um, her face looks a bit creepy here:

 Look at how tall Sadie is getting.  Almost as tall as her brother.  Cray.

So now we have to figure out logistics. Do the kids and I stay behind until the house sells? He would start the first part of August, so he'll still get his severance plus salary for that month...could we feasibly move here, with him, into a rental until the I.F. house sells?  I don't know.

And then salary. The job itself is perfect for Ben. Custom homes. A lot of craftsman-style homes. Stuff he's dreamed about working on. He'll love it.

But he won't make enough for us to survive.

Which means I'll have to work full-time. As a public teacher? As a dance teacher? That's what we need to figure out. I'd rather do dance, but teacher benefits are really great...and I would work while the kids were in school...

But ballet... I can't tell you how much my life has lit up since I started teaching. Ben says he hasn't seen me this happy in YEARS. It's true. I'm in love. In love with teaching ballet. I'm in love; I'm in love; and I don't care who knows it! (What movie??) I taught some advanced students on Wednesday, and for kicks and giggles, I taught them the Four Little Swans variation.

They loved it.

They rocked it.

One girl even asked if I could record her and her friend doing the variation. I grinned and grinned. They are so hard core. I love it. I had three groups of four, and I gave each group a nickname. The Sweat Sisters (they accordingly made a little gang-like sign for themselves), Hard Core, and Wonderwomen.

So anyways. Lots and lots of thinking and praying to do.

And, um, I found out today that there were grave concerns about the results of my mammogram. I have to get a biopsy on two areas of, um, Lefty. I'm scheduled for the day after we get back from this trip. I'm trying to remain cheerful and optimistic.

Which isn't hard. MY HUSBAND GOT A JOB!