This Week at Our House #37

1. John had 5 job related phone calls on Friday. whatever happens, that is good. We've narrowed down our job search and future move to 3 places and a small possibility of one more.The one more is Rexburg, ID where we applied for the only software job opening in the town which he had a small phone interview for. But it's not really on our list because it's the only job in the town. We applied there in the off chance that he would get the job and then if possible to later get a teaching position at BYUI. The other places we chose based on how conservative the area is, how imposing the home school laws are, how close the area is to a Temple, and the number of IT businesses that hire for image processing or machine learning. Those 3 places that fit our criteria are Raleigh, NC area, Atlanta, GA, and Austen or Houston, TX. Those are the places we are focusing our job search on. 
2. A friend of mine pointed out this talk Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave at BYU. It really helped me to feel a lot better about the difficulties we have been living through the past few years. He said, "before I was called as a General Authority, I faced a personal economic challenge that persisted for several years. It did not come about as a consequence of anyone’s wrongdoing or ill will; it was just one of those things that sometimes come into our lives. It ebbed and flowed in seriousness and urgency, but it never went away completely. At times this challenge threatened the welfare of my family and me, and I thought we might be facing financial ruin. I prayed for some miraculous intervention to deliver us. Although I offered that prayer many times with great sincerity and earnest desire, the answer in the end was “No.” Finally I learned to pray as the Savior did: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). I sought the Lord’s help with each tiny step along the way to a final resolutionThere were times when I had exhausted all my resources, when I had nowhere or no one to turn to at that moment, when there was simply no other human being I could call on to help meet the exigency before me. With no other recourse, more than once I fell down before my Heavenly Father begging in tears for His help. And He did help. Sometimes it was nothing more than a sense of peace, a feeling of assurance that things would work out. I might not see how or what the path would be, but He gave me to know that, directly or indirectly, He would open a way. Circumstances might change, a new and helpful idea might come to mind, some unanticipated income or other resource might appear at just the right time. Somehow there was a resolution." Every word is so familiar to me. That is where we are and where we have been.
3. Ruth had a huge homework assignment for her AP lit class. She probably spent 12 hours on it. She is still working most days of the week while trying to get all of her homework and schooling in. Her Ap Lit class is definitely the most demanding. I think that this is a rather difficult time of life for kids because so much is expected of them. She has to go to school for 8 hours, work for 3, and then do 3 or 4 hours of homework. I have not been making her do many chores, but every now and then she will feel guilty and just do them. I have told her that college is actually easier than AP classes-- at least it was for me. 
4. Kate seems to be doing quite well in school and is satisfied with her classes and grades. Neither Ruth nor Kate got asked to the homecoming dance. I think Ruth was pretty sad. Kate did not care too much about herself. But there were tons of guys who did not ask a girl at all. A large group of pretty, popular girls went together because they did not get asked. That made Kate pretty mad at the guys in school in general. In Kate's seminary class, because of the lack of guys asking girls out, the seminary teacher told the guys to sincerely compliment the girls beside them. One boy turned to Kate, looked at her, and said, "uhhhhhhhhhhh". Kate laughed at him and said, "Really, I'm not that bad." Then he said she had pretty hair. It was after gym and Kate's hair was all messy and frizzy, so she was kind of miffed at the kid. She had the correct response though. Teenage boys can be so mean, blah!
5. Johnny is starting to make friends. Hurray!! He did not complain about school so much this week either. His birthday is tomorrow. I can't believe he is already 14. He is so good. He does everything I ask him to do and he never complains. He is never mean or insulting to anyone. He's read all of the standard works. The Book of Mormon 3 times, the Doctrine Covenants 3 times, the New Testament once, the Old Testament once, and the Pearl of Great Price twice. He is an amazing kid. 
6. Adam does not like to read. It is so hard to get him to read at all. I plan on forcing it. I really think that at some point in time, he will learn that reading is great. If we move out of the area, I am going to home school him and then I will probably make him spend at least two hours a day reading.
7. Rachel sat in my bed with me last night and wanted to talk. But I was at the end of an Agatha Christie murder and was determined to finish it. I told her to get a book and sit by me and read too. She did. Then we watched a show together. All day today, Rachel talked about how last night was the best night and how much she just loved it.
8. Anya forgot her lunch 3 times last week. Hopefully this week will be better.
9. Joseph loves to read. That's always a nice thing to be able to type. He'll just grab a book off the shelf and sit down and read. He also reads to Josh and Arwen regularly. He loves apples too. He'd eat 3 day if we let him. I wonder if the two go together?
10. I showed Joshua how to play on the computer. That may have been a big mistake.
11. Arwen loves the kittens, but she is so rough with them. Our current set of kittens are 5 weeks old and belong to one cat, but both of our mommy cats are nursing them. It's pretty cute, but I am ready to get rid of them, so I don't have to keep telling Arwen to be nice and soft to them.
12. Susan LOVES shoes. She does not have her own pair yet, but she is always getting everyone else's shoes and trying them on. I will often find a big pile of shoes in some random place in the house. A couple of days ago while driving in the car, I asked Susan and Arwen if they would like me to turn on some music. Susan immediately starting humming.

This Week's Pictures