Update

This week was a pretty busy one. As I get closer to graduating, we have several big projects going on at once - finishing my dissertation, getting a job, selling our house, Becca has a class, and Becca working with her siblings on her late father's estate. Of course, we also have work to do at church, things to do with friends, events we want to attend, and have a some visitors coming to town. Maybe amongst all the craziness, we'll get a call that we've been chosen for adoption again. Probably at the busiest time. But hey, life is fun and we wouldn't complain (ok, try not to complain).

We have hired a realtor to sell our house and we really like him. We've been doing projects around the house. We have done some ourselves and we've contracted others. Just to name a few projects: regrout shower, recarpet family room, stretch upstairs carpet (it had started to buckle in a few spots), powerwash and restain decking, repair crack in brick mortar, put in new kitchen sink and faucet, fix leaky shower faucet, green up the lawn, touch up paint, replace one of the mirrors, install other mirror in room, clean, sort, etc. When I got home from Utah and before Becca got home, I cleared out a lot of the closets (at least all the stuff on the floor and stuff we've stored). We packed a lot of that stuff up and stuck it in the garage, threw out a lot, and gave away some away. So, there's just a few things to keep us busy in the evenings and weekends. If anyone needs a handyman, our realtor recommended one and he has done a great job and we would defintely refer him to you.

Last week, I finished the first complete draft of my dissertation. This week, I'll proof it and add anything I feel that would make it better and then next week it's off to my advisors. I've scheduled my defense for Nov 19th. I graduate (commencement) Dec 6th. Really, I have a Ph.D. when I turn my dissertation and some paperwork in (before Dec 5th).

We're still working on the job situation. I went to the engineering career fair to talk to a few companies and generate a few leads. One emailed me asking for more information the next day, so that's probably a good thing. The career fair had about 400 companies, but I think it's geared more for entry level bachelors to fill certain positions. I don't think they quite knew what to do with me. A lot of the recruiters would talk to you, but in the end refer you to their website for more information and to apply if you wanted to (thanks for wasting 10 minutes of my time!). I've been in contact with the CEO of the company I interviewed with in Ft. Collins and hope to receive an offer soon. I won't say much more about it, but still am hopeful and optimistic that we can get 'er done. I think I find out about a postdoc position I applied for in D.C. at the National Institute of Standards and Technology this week.

Once the job situation is settled, hopefully by mid-October, we can really start planning on the move. Our hope is to move sometime between Dec 8th and the holidays so that we can get settled and then head to Utah for Christmas. I guess that means that sometime in mid-December, it'll be goodbye to Austin and all our friends here. Most likely, it'll also be goodbye to the Texas winter and hello to frozen snot, big coats, and shoveling snow.

Cheesy

Last week, my colleague bought some gross pizza at the cafeteria at our research campus. We got on the topic of good (and cheap) pizza and started talking about how great Costco pizza was and how it was so cheap ($1.95 for 1/8 of an 18" pizza or $9.95 for the entire thing). Everyone that had eaten it before loved it and Brent (the colleague) had never been. We planned a trip to Costco this week and today the day finally arrived. We all loaded into my Pilot and headed over to the cheesy goodness that is Costco pizza. It did not dissappoint. Afterwards, we walked around a little bit and had a good time. Brent "the filter guy" did a little filter dance and Elliot entertained us with a little Charlie Brown on a piano. It was a fun lunch. Thanks for bringing a camera to document the outing, Donghyun.

Fall?

This morning when I got out of my car and walked into the building, it actually felt refreshing. It was 68 with a little bit of a breeze. Wow. Maybe I should get to office at 8 every day. Last night, for the young men's activity, we washed some cars and it didn't feel blistering hot. Is fall finally on it's way? The high is only (only?!) in the low 90s, so hopefully we are on the way down. Ok, maybe not. The highs for the next 10 days? 94, 97, 100, 98, 96, 98, 95, 90, 91, 90 (gameday - 2:30 kickoff). Who am I fooling? It doesn't really get comfortable until October.

Fun Saturday

In tribute to the Birds, who never waste a Saturday, I post my Saturday fun. It started off at 7am with an 8 mile ride at the 'Nut with Scott, Jeff, and Adam. Scott put it well when he asked, "did you bring your speed legs today?" I felt good and rode a little faster than usual, so the others had to try to keep up. We hit the log loop, power line trail, tangle of trails, severe consequences, and the BMX loop. At the BMX loop, 5 or 6 riders got there right after us and one of their friends was videotaping them. They were really good and made us look like sissies for just going down and up the whoop d' doo pit. One guy was pulling 180s off the top and riding it out backwards and they were clearing some of the other jumps. It was fun to watch. We probably spent 30 minutes just watching them and trying to not embarass ourselves. I got home around 9am, drank a smoothie Becca made me and mowed the lawn. Becca was glad I went back outside because she said I dragged the "stink" in.

After taking a shower, we headed to the Eastley's house to see our friends, the Willeys, who were in town from Dallas area after a short vacation they were taking in the Hill Country. We got some Rudy's barbeque and visited with them while the kids played until they heade home around 3. One note - Riley still hadn't had a nap. Yikes. We got home, put Riley to bed (she actually fell asleep in the car), and got a little bit of a break to watch some football and tennis. I got to watch the first half of the Utah vs. Michigan game online and some US Open on TV. Go Utes! At 4, we headed to a baptism for a few kids at church.

I changed at church and I went to the Texas football game (we got season tickets this year). I took a friend because Becca "didn't want to pay for a babysitter to stand in 97 degrees". I don't blame her. It was hot, but it was awesome! Texas just expanded their stadium and we were part of a record 98,053 to watch the game, a 52-10 rout of Florida Atlantic. I'm looking forward to 5 more home games.

It was a long day, pretty busy, but with things that were fun.