In April, there were memories to preserve:
- Bill and I celebrated our birthdays (both in April) by taking a long weekend trip. We drove to Cottonwood, took the Verde Canyon Railroad train trip in Clarkdale, and did a drive through Sedona and up Oak Creek Canyon before heading home. A busy three days. We even packed in a quick stop in Phoenix to visit with my cousin Roberta and her family. Even though it was a cold, wet weekend, we had a great time and will definitely try to travel up that way again.
- Spending several days visiting with Ed &Helen Raynor, square dancing friends from our Alabama years.
- Hummingbird Banding at the San Pedro House.
- Touring ASU Polytechnic Campus in Phoenix with David.
- Driving up Carr Canyon, or at least partway up, and then chickening out and turning around. What a view, though, from even partway up!
In April, there were things that deserved editing:
- The April 27 tornadoes that devastated parts of Alabama and other southeastern states. We have so many friends and family there that were impacted by the storms that day; some were simply inconvenienced by days without power, others suffered minimal damage, while some lost their homes and businesses. We are grateful that no one we knew was among the hundreds killed in Alabama.
- Bill’s job hunt intensified as it became more obvious that the contract recompete might not even get awarded. At this point we have narrowed our search to here in Sierra Vista (highly unlikely, given the current government budget situation) and Phoenix, although Bill is also talking with a company in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. That position might allow us to live anywhere we would like, which would be wonderful!
In April, there were the moments that hold our lives together:
- One last cavity filled for me. That leaves a cleaning in May and then I’m home free (or is that “dentist free”?) for six months!
- More blood work done to retest my thyroid levels and then a readjustment of the medicine (again!). The good thing is I think we’re getting the dosage about right because I am sleeping sooooo very well now! No more hot flashes all night long like I was having in March. Yipppee!
- Unfortunately, for various reasons (out of town, visitors, etc.), we only made it to square dancing one Friday out of five this month and I didn’t make it to clogging at all. Hopefully we’ll have better attendance in May.
In April, there were mountains climbed:
- 2010 Quicken updates completed and taxes done and filed.
- Plans made for my Financial Diary website.
- Notes taken for my Job Hunting website as I updated Bill’s resume and profiles on various job boards.
In April, there were pitfalls to overcome:
- I meant to have 2011 Quicken up to date by the end of April, but the job hunt and other things prevented this. I’m mostly caught up, but just need to fine tune some early entries and then add in April’s receipts.
- Again, no progress with my LeapingFromTheBox.com website or LeapingFromTheBox.com blog. When I checked yesterday, I was stunned to see that my last blog entry there was in early March. I know the reason I am not working on it is because I have mentally moved on from homeschooling, but the Leaping website is making me money every month, so I really should devote some time keeping it current.
My favorite picture this month
I took a lot of pictures in April, including over 500 during our birthday getaway weekend. As I scrolled through all that I posted here on the Musings, Mischief and Mayhem blog I realized that I did not post up my favorite picture of all, so here it is!
Awesome photo of David. I love the black and white.