Interesting.

I've tried to post a few times over the last couple of days but a couple of sentences in I find myself stopping and saying to myself, "There really isn't anything that interesting to write about." Then I delete, delete, delete, close the page, and think I'll give it a shot in another day or two.

Well, life isn't always interesting (not boring, just not so interesting), so if I let that stop me, I will very rarely post. So, here is a relatively short post on some relatively uninteresting tidbits and some somewhat more interesting things to come.

Today marks the end of my second school week at school and -- other than already having picked up some sort of cold that the 3K class is passing around -- things have been going very well. If I had my way, of course, I would have my own classroom and be neck-deep in lesson-planning, grading, etc., etc. But obviously that's not the case and since I tried to make it the case, apparently it was not meant to be this year, so I am very grateful to have what I do: a small but steady stream of hours in a great school with some great people. My 3, 4, & 5 year olds are pretty darn cute, although as much as they tire me out in the 3 hours that I am with them each day, I can't imagine having them all day like the 3K, 4K, and kindergarten teachers! My favorite (I know, I know, you're not supposed to have favorites, but come on, everyone does) is a 3 year-old who couldn't quite pronounce "Ms. Stacey" the first few times she tried, so it came out, "Ms. Tasty" and she got such a kick out of that that I have now become "Ms. Tasty" in her eyes. Three year-old humor amazes me. Especially with this little one... What a smarty! She's fluent in two languages and can switch back and forth in them with ease.

And, as promised when I took the afterschool program job, the sub jobs are already being lined up for me, which makes me happy. I have a couple of days lined up in early September and then a stint from Sept. 22nd through Oct. 12th teaching P.E. at the lower school while the teacher is out for surgery.

Things are going well for Gearry at work, although he is very ready for this quarter to be over (mid-Sept.) as picking up those extra two classes has been quite a bit to handle. There's a big difference in 9 am -6 pm each day versus 9 am - 10 pm. Even though it's only technically four extra hours a day, it means no evenings at home, additional hours of planning and grading, and having to teach two five-hour labs back-to-back. That would be a lot for anybody and so, as amazing as Gearry is, mid-September will be a big relief. We just keep reminding ourselves that it's giving us a bunch of extra money to stick in the bank toward our future house.

Speaking of house, Gearry and I sat down last weekend, went over our budget, talked for a long time about what we want, what we need, etc., etc., and finally came to the decision to extend our lease here in the guest house for a year total from when Gearry moved in, so until July 1st, 2011. Initially we signed our lease only through the end of October, hoping that our condo in Indiana would sell and we would be able to buy a home here. However, the condo has still not moved and with paying expenses for two residences, it would be a stretch to buy the kind of house that we want right now (not to mention a little scary carrying two mortgages). So, we decided to definitely hold off on buying for a little while until the condo sells and we can get our usual stream of money flowing into savings for a down-payment. We also decided after visiting some nice apartment complexes and going back and forth on signing a year lease for an apartment versus staying here that it made way much more sense to stay here. Although we could afford a pretty nice apartment on the island, why not stay here and be able to put a little bit extra in the bank each month, as well as avoid having to endure the physical and monetary aspects of moving? The downside, of course, is only having one bedroom, so there will likely be a couch or air mattress involved for visitors before July of 2011. But we love this neighborhood (gorgeous, waterfront, safe) and the space works fine for the two of us (with the help of a storage unit across town, of course) so we'll make it work. It will all be worth it when our condo hopefully sells and we find ourselves in our very own home next year.

Gearry is determined to start biking with me, so we ordered a road bike him a couple of weeks ago. It arrived just as promised, but the shifting system was not at all what we had wanted, with shifters on the tube instead of on the handle bars (I knew there had to be a catch for only $300), so we sent it back (losing $80 in shipping costs in the process... ugg) and ponied up a bit (lot) more for a different bike that we made sure had the right shifters beforehand. It was shipped out yesterday and is on its way, set to arrive at the beginning of next week. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it makes it on time because next weekend we are set to do the Savannah Bicycle Campaign's Midnight Garden Ride in the historic district. Despite the name, the ride actually begins at 8:00 p.m., and is a relaxed, family-friendly, nighttime 12-mile jaunt through historic downtown. It should be a really interesting way to see the sights in a different way.

The next morning is the Savannah Century, which, also despite it's name, can be of length anywhere from 25 to 103 miles. I think I am going to do somewhere in the 40-50 mile range, as I haven't been riding a ton and as I'm doing it by myself (I can only entertain myself for so long). That day is also the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, so after the ride in the morning, we're planning to spend the afternoon and evening out at Tybee, where the Landsharks (a fun band that does a lot of Jimmy Buffet-style stuff) are playing at the beach pavillion in the evening. A little seaside music and dancing sounds like a great way to send off the summer.