It Has Been a While!

Decided it might be a nice time to update the blog, considering it has been a full month and a half since my last post. So much has happened in that time!

Sean is doing well. He had a cold almost the first full month of his deployment, but is feeling better now. He is working the "swing shift" --from 5pm until about 1am. It sounds as though he has a fantastic unit, and enjoys the folks he works with.

People from all over are asking what they can send Sean. He is very difficult in terms of care packages, as he is so satisfied with whatever life gives him. I love him for this--but when it comes to trying to buy gifts, it is crazy frustrating. So instead, I asked what the people in his unit wanted. Voila! I got an enormous list. So I've posted some of these items on the side of the page, along with his updated address.

Sean sent some pictures that are pretty amazing, but has to get permission for me to post them on the blog. As soon as I get the green light, I'll get them up here.

Things on the homefront are good. The kids started school, soccer and cross country. Both Josh and Zee love their teachers this year, and so do I! MacKenzie is going to the same preschool Joshua did, where teachers Gayle and Jeanie have been teaching for 20+ years. Joshua has Mrs McCathron this year, who I'm convinced is a walking angel on earth. Her demeanor is so graceful, calming and peaceful, and it rubs off on both kids and parents.

Work for me is good. In a very quick turn of events, Congress included a huge increase for the LIHEAP program within the 2009 Continuing Resolution. This virtually doubled the size of our State program budget, as well as my workload. This is great news, because as energy prices are skyrocketing, many Oregonians' incomes are on the decline. It was looking to be a very bleak heating season, so this will help mitigate some of the extreme situations (e.g. no heat fatalities) we were anticipating among seniors and low-income families.

Our dishwasher exploded and our phones stopped working--but otherwise, things around the house are great too. We've been doing some power cleaning, so the kids rooms have been "goodwilled" and they can find what they're looking for much easier. Next is the living room.

For all of those people who have so thoughtfully left voicemails and emails with no return correspondence--thank you for being so patient and understanding. Your messages fall on very grateful ears. Hopefully, as we continue to settle into a regular routine, there will be more time to e-mail and call all of the people who we love so much.