Odds and Ends

I went to a "mommy group" this morning at a local church. The church has beautiful stained glass windows that I've always wanted to see from the inside. The women were really nice and the food was great. I wish there had been a bit more time for conversation - it was mostly speakers. The speakers were okay - neither were really interesting to me, but they were fine.

After about 45 minutes, the nursery people came to get me. Turns out Ellie had been crying mostly the whole time since I left her. She liked her Cheerios, but other than that, she was crying. This was a nicer, quieter place that the gym where we used to go and the kids were closer to Ellie's age. Still, it didn't work well. It's times like this that I really wish my mom lived close by or I had a good friend who was commonly available to baby sit. I think maybe if she was at home, she might do better. Still, frustrating. What's going to happen in a few months when I go back to work. I think about everything minim_calibre went through and I just dread it.

In random, happy baby news, Ellie had ringworm on her butt in mid-February. It had mostly been going away until four days ago when it turned really ugly looking. I was just on the verge of taking her to the doctor when my neighbor recommended I try "Fanny Cream". Overnight, the angry-looking red spot was almost completely gone. Her little butt looks so much better. I've tried googling Fanny Cream to learn more about it, but I only found one reference. Despite that, I'm so impressed. And relieved.

Retirement

Joe and I have been talking about where we want to settle down once he's done with the Army. He can "retire" in just under five years. At least three of that will be in San Juan. After that, we are thinking maybe a tour in Europe, or if that won't work out, we will try to get ourselves situated in the area we eventually want to settle down in.

We've basically settled on Seattle or Denver. The only place neither of us has ever lived is New England, but that region is not a likely candidate.

I loved living outside Denver. The weather is my favorite of anywhere I've ever been and the climate is wonderful. Mostly, I mean the lack of humidity. I love the outdoorsy nature of Colorado. Even though I only went up in the mountains a handful of time when I was there, I loved seeing them every day. Denver is also close to my parents and would have employment possibilities for both of us. To me, there are no downsides. However, Joe really loves the ocean and it is high on his list. Which brings us to Seattle.

I also loved living in Seattle. You have the mountains (on both sides!) and the sound, and the ocean itself is nearby. Great seafood and scuba diving are big pluses. Seattle has the same sort of outdoorsy characteristic (I think) as Denver. I think it is probably more multi-cultural than Denver, which is cool. However, the one major drawback is the rain. One of the years I lived there, it rained 93 days in a row. At the time, I remember thinking that I needed to remember how miserable the rain was because the rest of Seattle was so cool and I didn't want to forget the bad and only remember the good. On the other hand, the time of my life that I lived in Washington was a very depressing time for me. It's possible that if I went back now, with Joe and Ellie and the dogs, that the rain wouldn't seem so huge in the scheme of things.