1. I won at poker last night. I love playing poker, and I love winning at poker even more.
2. The seller of the house we are buying has agreed to fix everything that we asked them to fix from the house inspection. We should be able to close on the house in like 2 weeks. Wahoo!!
3. Tonight I get some quality time with my beautiful wife. We are going to have barbecue sandwiches, watch Prison Break season 3, start a new puzzle, go to Starbucks, watch more Prison Break, and just have fun. I love being married to my best friend.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Life is Good
The past week has been... awesome.
Let's start with last Friday night. The Elms rocked out at the Vogue. I mean they really rocked out. A lot of friends were there. I was especially excited to see Uncle Hywel and Aunt Ruth. They were in charge of children's stuff at church when I was kid. Two of the warmest people that I know. They aren't actually my aunt and uncle, we just called them that for some reason.
On Saturday we drove to St. Joe, Michigan. We spent a great afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley. Then we decided to call all of our Korean kids that we taught in Korea. We got on Skype and called each of their houses, one by one. It was the most precious, rejuvenating time. They were so excited and shocked to be talking to us. It was great.
Sunday was pretty cool. One of Sara's kids from Korea, In-wang, was vacationing in America. We met him and his dad in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is just outside of Detroit. We went to Panera and a petting farm. And then they treated us to a Korean restaurant. It was just like eating in Korea==AMAZING!
The next day we spent hours at Chocolate Cafe with Ma and Pa Spitters. The guys of courses dominated at Spades. Of course.
Settlers of Catan was played numerous times during the weekend, as well.
Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked on a commercial for Goodwill. It was kind of boring, but it paid well.
Today I got some really really really good news when I got online. We have FINALLY received our Korean pension. When we left Korea, our employers still owed us about $7,000. We have been getting pieces of it for the last 2.5 months and today we received the final part of it! Wahoo!
Tomorrow we find out if the sellers of the house we are buying accept our response to the house inspection, so hopefully I will have more good news tomorrow.
Let's start with last Friday night. The Elms rocked out at the Vogue. I mean they really rocked out. A lot of friends were there. I was especially excited to see Uncle Hywel and Aunt Ruth. They were in charge of children's stuff at church when I was kid. Two of the warmest people that I know. They aren't actually my aunt and uncle, we just called them that for some reason.
On Saturday we drove to St. Joe, Michigan. We spent a great afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley. Then we decided to call all of our Korean kids that we taught in Korea. We got on Skype and called each of their houses, one by one. It was the most precious, rejuvenating time. They were so excited and shocked to be talking to us. It was great.
Sunday was pretty cool. One of Sara's kids from Korea, In-wang, was vacationing in America. We met him and his dad in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is just outside of Detroit. We went to Panera and a petting farm. And then they treated us to a Korean restaurant. It was just like eating in Korea==AMAZING!
The next day we spent hours at Chocolate Cafe with Ma and Pa Spitters. The guys of courses dominated at Spades. Of course.
Settlers of Catan was played numerous times during the weekend, as well.
Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked on a commercial for Goodwill. It was kind of boring, but it paid well.
Today I got some really really really good news when I got online. We have FINALLY received our Korean pension. When we left Korea, our employers still owed us about $7,000. We have been getting pieces of it for the last 2.5 months and today we received the final part of it! Wahoo!
Tomorrow we find out if the sellers of the house we are buying accept our response to the house inspection, so hopefully I will have more good news tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Good News, Bad News, & No News
Today we were expecting news on three pretty important things. We received good news on one, bad news on one, and no news on one.
Good News: Kid's College Pension
It's been 2.5 months since we left Kid's College, and they still have owed us a pretty big sum of money. They had paid our severance, but hadn't paid our pension yet. Today was the final deadline for paying our pension. I just got off the phone with the Korean pension office, and they informed me that most of the money is in our account, and that we will receive it by the end of this month. The fact that there is money in our pension account is a miracle. Our employers have been lying to us and pulling us along for quite a while now. While all of the money wasn't there, this is still very good news.
Semi-bad News: Termites
Recently we accepted an offer to buy a house on Chestnut Street. Inspections were today, and everything is pretty much okay... except that we have termites in our basement. While there is not huge damage, there is still some that definitely needs fixed. So the seller of the house has to fix it or else we can get out of our contract and don't buy it. From what I hear, it's a no-brainer for them to fix it, because nobody will buy the house until they fix it. So hopefully we get word soon that they agree to fix and treat the termite damage.
No-news: Teach For America
I applied for Teach For America like three months ago. I made it to the final round of interviews, and I felt like I nailed the interview. Today, I was supposed to hear about whether I got accepted or not. Well I did get accepted, BUT they placed me on a waiting list. They said that the current economy is pretty uncertain as to how many teachers will retire this year and how many new teachers schools will be able to hire. So I wasn't quite good enough to get fully accepted, but they like me enough to keep around. I won't hear anything more until January now. This seems like an eternity, after already having waited for three months. So I'm going to pursue plan B.
Plan B is Teaching Fellows. They're pretty much the same concept as Teach for America, and actually it was started by Teach For America alumni. So I'm going to pursue both Teaching Fellows and Teach For America now. We'll see where they get me.
Peace.
Good News: Kid's College Pension
It's been 2.5 months since we left Kid's College, and they still have owed us a pretty big sum of money. They had paid our severance, but hadn't paid our pension yet. Today was the final deadline for paying our pension. I just got off the phone with the Korean pension office, and they informed me that most of the money is in our account, and that we will receive it by the end of this month. The fact that there is money in our pension account is a miracle. Our employers have been lying to us and pulling us along for quite a while now. While all of the money wasn't there, this is still very good news.
Semi-bad News: Termites
Recently we accepted an offer to buy a house on Chestnut Street. Inspections were today, and everything is pretty much okay... except that we have termites in our basement. While there is not huge damage, there is still some that definitely needs fixed. So the seller of the house has to fix it or else we can get out of our contract and don't buy it. From what I hear, it's a no-brainer for them to fix it, because nobody will buy the house until they fix it. So hopefully we get word soon that they agree to fix and treat the termite damage.
No-news: Teach For America
I applied for Teach For America like three months ago. I made it to the final round of interviews, and I felt like I nailed the interview. Today, I was supposed to hear about whether I got accepted or not. Well I did get accepted, BUT they placed me on a waiting list. They said that the current economy is pretty uncertain as to how many teachers will retire this year and how many new teachers schools will be able to hire. So I wasn't quite good enough to get fully accepted, but they like me enough to keep around. I won't hear anything more until January now. This seems like an eternity, after already having waited for three months. So I'm going to pursue plan B.
Plan B is Teaching Fellows. They're pretty much the same concept as Teach for America, and actually it was started by Teach For America alumni. So I'm going to pursue both Teaching Fellows and Teach For America now. We'll see where they get me.
Peace.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Substitution Day 1
I'm writing this blog from Miss Hawes' Kindergarten class room. I got a call this morning at 8am. The woman said that a substitute called in sick. Being called later than normal, I arrived 30 minutes after class had already started. With no time to prep, I was kind of thrown into it. I had no idea where anthing was or what the heck everyone was supposed to be doing. Luckily, with my experience at Kid's College, I am well aware of how to burn time.
By lunch time I started to have things figured out. They're at P.E. right now.
There are 21 kids, which is quite different than the 10 than I am used to. They are a handful for sure, but they're pretty cute too. Well I have to go pick them from the gym now. Next it's recess, then snack time, and finally movie time.
By lunch time I started to have things figured out. They're at P.E. right now.
There are 21 kids, which is quite different than the 10 than I am used to. They are a handful for sure, but they're pretty cute too. Well I have to go pick them from the gym now. Next it's recess, then snack time, and finally movie time.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Offer Accepted
We have an offer accepted on a house to buy. It's at 911 Chestnut Street. We got it for under half of the original listing price! Now we just have to wait for all of the paperwork to go through. We are super excited about it!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Processing
People ask me all the time, "How was Korea?" or "How is it being back in America?"
We left Korea two months ago, and I still haven't fully processed both of those questions. I'm at Starbucks right now, one of my favorite 'processing' places. So I'm going to let Amos Lee sing to me and attempt to process some more. One of these days, I'll be able to give you a good answer when you ask me those questions...
We left Korea two months ago, and I still haven't fully processed both of those questions. I'm at Starbucks right now, one of my favorite 'processing' places. So I'm going to let Amos Lee sing to me and attempt to process some more. One of these days, I'll be able to give you a good answer when you ask me those questions...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
House Offer
Last night we looked at two houses to buy.
We're putting in an offer for one of them tonight.
It's a duplex, and it's tiny.
But it's cheap.
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