One Reason I'm Happy to Leave Pullman

A picture of our car last winter

So far you have only heard me explain how hard it is to leave this place we've called home for seven years now. Great people, great food, great friendships. I seriously cannot imagine starting over again. However, there is one reason I can't wait to get out of here: it is called SNOW. We arrived in Pullman yesterday night without gloves and coats. It was 7 degrees. We got out the De-Icer to de-ice the car: IT WAS FROZEN!! Even De-icer doesn't believe in 7 degree weather.

Have you ever heard of a snow day? Then you aren't from Pullman. Snow is just a part of life here. Schools don't close. Work doesn't stop. The population of Pullman just pulls on their boots and takes pride in their heartiness.

I am not hearty. Where I grew up, school was cancelled if someone saw a snowflake. It was 72 degrees in Oklahoma today. It was SEVEN degrees in Pullman.

I'm not going to say I will never live in another place where high temperatures only have 1 digit, because you know what happens when you say never. I am going to say that we will have a yearly Caribbean vacation fund if we ever end up in a place where it snows in April again.

Leftover Pumpkin Pie Filling

Thanksgiving is over, but the leftovers remain. I baked two pumpkin pies, but was dismayed when so much filling was leftover -- the can said it made two pumpkin pies, but I think it easily could have made three. I only had enough pie crust to make two pies, so I shoved the leftover filling in the fridge until I could figure out what to do with it. Here are my options:

1. Pumpkin Pie Cookies -- Peggy Deland says they are delicious. The recipe sounds dangerously free of measurements to me, but I like to live on the edge. http://www.rollickguides.com/cooking/blog-story/peggydeland/8328

2. Pumpkin Pie Creme Brulee -- I suppose I would have to cook the filling first? Sounds yummy though...http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/leftover-pumpkin-pie-brulee-recipe/index.html

3. Pumpkin Pie Pudding -- I love pudding. It's my favorite memory from the Pullman Regional Hospital (other than the girls). This from a Yahoo Answers thing: "Butter a small oven-save dish, pour in the batter, sprinkle the top with sugar if you want and bake it with the pie.Or, you could just cook it on the stovetop, stirring constantly over low heat, until it thickens and pour it in small serving dishes. Put it in the fridge until it sets up and serve "pumpkin pudding" with or without whipped cream on top."

I suppose it isn't the worst problem to have, deciding what to do with leftover pumpkin pie filling. Which would you choose?

Last Day of Work

I can hardly believe it! I finished up at work today, and now what am I? A world traveler? A stay-at-home mom? A bum? I’m not really sure what I’ll be, but when I wake up tomorrow I won’t be a secretary anymore, and I’m excited to see what life looks like from a new angle!

When I graduated from high school, I felt like the future was horizon in every direction with an endless array of opportunities spread before me. Life, while good, hasn’t had that feeling of possibility for a little while now. At the present moment, it is energizing to start thinking about life in that way again.

My office had a farewell party last night, which I will hopefully post some pictures of eventually. It was the beginning of the “lasts” in Pullman, which are difficult. Having lived here since 2001, and this being the only home our kids have had, it is surreal to imagine waking up some day in December and not being able to connect with our network of people anymore. In the past 7 years our family has been changed and influenced by so many wonderful people. I want to take them all with me.

I guess this is the ever-present battle between roots and wings – it can be difficult to have both at the same time.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was fun this year! Luke and I went political. I was an ideology, "The Change we Need". Luke went as the mythical political creature, "Joe Six Pack". Our Halloween party was also visited by "Joe the Plumber".

Halloween was fun this year! This was Abi's fourth Halloween ever, and I think she has the hang of it now. Here's Spider Girl in all her glory:

Pullman Fall Fun

There's no time like fall on the Palouse. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the family this fall.

Google Girl

We just watched a movie from 1987. It was about a rich psychologist, and I had to laugh becuase her "fancy" office didn't have a computer. Ha! How did people even exist before Google? I am neurotic to begin with, and just thinking about our move throws me into hours of intense meditation on which size of bubble wrap will best protect our photo frames. Do you realize we are leaving Pullman in a mere 80 days? I should have packed the Christmas tree months ago!

Luckily, Google is there to give me all of the answers I need. What I like most about Google is that I never have to say crazy things out-loud, like "How to get rust off of grill bolts". What I like even better, is that when I Google things like that, someone else has written an entire article on the subject, with multiple methods of dealing with rust on grill bolts. That means that some of you are just as crazy as I am.

The danger in all of this Googling is it actually allows me to spend my time thinking about...grill bolts? With 80 days remaining in Pullman, my time might be better spent with the people here instead of bubble wrap and boxes.

Palouse Empire Fair

Yesterday marked the second trip we've taken to the Palouse Empire Fair. Each year, I learn a few more parenting tips, which I would like to share:

1a) Our 3 year old daughter was in no way ready to ride the tilt-a-whirl, no matter how many times I told her it was just like the merry-go-round.

1b) Don't leave decisions about which rides your children are ready for to their own enthusiasm, a carnival worker, or a sign that says "must be this tall to ride".

2a) If you hand a 3 year old a funnel cake...she will be happy...but someone will innevitably get powdered sugar dumped on their head.

2b) If the 5 month old gets powdered sugar on her head...no one will cry.

3) Don't eat corn dogs. Just, don't.

Energy Savings

For the past month or so, we have been doing a few things to save energy. The first was to turn off our water heater during the day. Through this process we discovered that we could leave our water heater off for about a day and a half before running out of hot water. The second was to plug our TV/VCR/Speaker System into a power strip and keep that power strip off if we weren't using any of that stuff. Finally, we have been trying to get our landlord to replace our '90 model refrigerator. It's old enough to fight a war and smoke now - quite frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't chosen to do either...we haven't succeeded on that front yet, but I still have hope.

Anyway, we got an electric bill the other day, and it was $50 lower than our "comfort level" of $70 -- pretty amazing! So, this might actually be a legit way to save some cash for our journey.

For the winter, we are going to put film over our windows to hopefully lower the cost of heating, which is pretty ri-diculous in our little apartment. Have you found "green" ways to save money this year?

Swap Success

Just an update on the Back-2-School Clothing Swap. We had the event yesterday, and 30 families participated. Just 30 families had over 1000 items of clothing! It was nice to see all of these things recycled and put to use by local folks. Part of the advertising for the event was done on the radio, and people even came all the way from Spokane to participate. The event was such a success that we are looking into doing it again soon. Next time, I hope we can get some translators together to do some advertising in Spanish, Korean, and Chinese. I think that would help us reach more members of our community.

Decisions

How does a family decide to put everything they own into storage, leave family and friends behind, and engage in the international living experiment? Four years ago in August, we sailed with Semester at Sea. We were newly married, had no ties, and the voyage was sort of an ultimate honeymoon experience. Since then, we've had two kids and accumulated lots of stuff. We've been invited to sail again a few times now, but the timing never seemed right.

When Luke was offered a position for the Spring '09 voyage, it was eerily possible. We were ready to look for jobs closer to family, Luke had finished his Ph. D, our kids are old enough for travel, but not school age. Having the capability to say "yes" was equal parts terror and exhileration. On the one hand, we are *sailing around the world*, starting with a trip to the Bahamas in the middle of January. But saying "yes" means saying "no" to many things that really are just as wonderful: our stable, established lives in a community where we are loved and cared for; the possibility of moving closer to our families and friends; a physical place to call "home"; and for me, a job.

Our journey on Semester at Sea through 12 countries in 100 days begins on January 26th. But the journey from our stable, predictable life to a place that is yet to be determined has already begun.