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I was just talking to Chowder's friend's wife today. They are really putting the pressure on! LOL! Chowder and I have been trying to discern which issues are real and which are imaginary.

You guys have given me such great things to think about and explore! It turns out this town has a large arts community, the college does offer "Kids College" for ages 8 and up with lots of enrichment classes, there is a farmer's market, a community center and several new coffee house and locavore restaurants. The town's population has doubled in the last 10 years mostly with an influx of people from California. (that could be good or bad ;) )

I've been exploring how I would be able to meet household needs. There is a Walmart, Lowe's etc but the nearest Sam's and Target are 1 1/2 hours away. I could still do monthly trips if needed.

Chowder and I sat down to talk about what we loved about raising our children in the city and we talked about culture and museums etc. But then when we were honest about it, we have only been to the symphony once this year! We have seen 2 plays and taken the kids to the Art Museum twice this year. With this town being only 3hours from here and family here we could easily come up for a weekend or several days to do these things. So, this issue was imaginary. We would miss the weekly trips to the zoo and botanical gardens.

Lack of diversity is a REAL issue. But again, we could easily be up here often enough to help solve that issue. Education is a REAL issue and I have been investigating the day to day reality of homeschooling. Both Chowder and I have always wanted our children to have a classical education and there are many curricula set up to do that. We'd just follow the lesson plans. I'd have three at one level and two at another. Plus, Chowder's friend's wife would love to explore starting a Montessori charter school in that area to meet the needs of the families there. I'm not sure I am up to doing another start-up right now, the last one was exhausting! But, I could probably use a lot of the material we already compiled. But our minds are opening to possibilities.

17 yr old is both a real and an imaginary issue. He will be 18 this summer which would be the age he would be going away to college. He is not stressed by the idea of us moving because he knows he has options. He is not a typical high schooler being taken out of school his senior year. He is getting his GED this summer and starting community college in the fall. He could move with us and attend the state university there or he could live with my mom and attend school here. If he stayed, we would really miss him but not any differently than if he went away to college. Which is essentially what he would be doing.

There are some bad mammajamma things going on in my city that are making me want to scream. (Essentially, county voters rejected a 1/2 cent sales tax to help fund our public transit, city had already approved it, and now they are cutting bus service by 44%, train service by 32% and Call-a-Ride by 17%. There are members of our church that will be unable to get to work and to school etc. etc.) and crime in our neighborhood will likely increase because of the economy and the inability of people to get to work. This all makes me feel like we are REALLY needed here and at the same time burns me out and makes me want to run to the hills.

Still waiting for the formal offer and whether they can meet our needs...but again, we have always been lucky in this sense and God has always provided.

loaves and fishes, Baby. loaves and fishes. (What Chowder and I say to each other when we are trying to work out where the money is going to come from!)