Well, it's Official now...

We are moving to Illinois! Eric accepted the job in Illinois Thursday. We are sad to move so far from our family, but we are thinking about the positive things and excited about a new place and civilian life. :-) We'll be able to put the girls in good schools, have seasons, and get a basement!!! If we are really unhappy, we can try to transfer back to TX in a year or so or look for new jobs. Other possibilities started to come up here in TX just recently, but they just didn't materialize in time for when Eric had to respond to the IL job - we didn't want to turn that down without having another definite offer. Eric will probably be starting June 5, so will leave the end of May. The girls and I are PLANNING to go up the end of June, but we'll see how selling the house goes. I do want to stay through June though to let Alyssa do some of her normal summer activities with her friends and have some time to say good bye. Once we get to Illinois it will be hard for her to make new friends till school starts, so I don't want her to have a totally boring and depressing summer. July will be full of activities for us too, with a trip to MN, and a trip to CT for me.

I'm still debating what to do about a job. Eric will go straight into the reserves in IL, so he should pretty much make up most of the pay loss he's taking. We should be able to pretty much get buy, maybe not tons of spending money but OK, without me working, but I'm not sure what I want to do. There's a great job open at a university up there that I would really enjoy, and would be fantastic to fit with my master's degree. I have no idea how much it pays, or when I'd have to start though. To do it, I'd probably have to put Ky in daycare for a couple hours, but maybe not...Eric will be working from 3 to 11 for the first year, so depending on my hours, we may just need a babysitter or something for a couple hours. Bad thing is..I'd see little of Eric, and I'd miss this time with Kyleigh. I've been so busy this past year since she was born, I really want to make it up to her. I also need to make up time to Alyssa - she's been through the entire 2 1/2 years of this school thing, but my being home during the day won't make a lot of difference for her since she'll be in school. I'm so torn, I know it seems like such a simple answer - you can't get back these years with the kids, and other jobs and opportunities WILL come again, but I did go to school and get educated to eventually DO something with it. I'm kinda itching to get out there. I may go ahead and apply, and then decide IF they even offer me the job, once I can have more questions answered. The other catch...we do still want to try for another kid - maybe at the start of next year, so I could work now for about a year or year and a half and then stop again before a 3rd little comes. In the mean time I could help pay off a bunch of stuff and build up a nice savings. hmmmmmmmm Then again, I may not have many more chances later to really stay home much longer....decisions decisions, they never end. haha

**NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS REVISITED**

I made three new years resolutions this year - typically I don't bother with resolutions, but this year I just knew there were a few things I HAD to change.

* I must lose some weight. I didn't lose much while I was nursing and I actually started gaining more last semester due to stress and lack of sleep. I will not be able to try for another kid unless I lose some of this weight. The goal - 50 lb! I haven't been able to lose any weight so far, but now that I'm done with school and focus on this again, I think I may go back on a diet starting Monday.

* Bed time - I have to set a bed time for myself. I've never been good at this and it's getting really bad. I always just go to bed when I'm exhausted, and I often don't get enough sleep. I need to take care of myself a little more and schedule time for me, like SLEEP. I am aiming for a bedtime of 1 AM. I've done REALLY bad with this goal this spring semester, but again, now that school is over..it's time to get straightened out.

Ok with that..it's already after 1 and I have to get up early tomorrow. Gotta take Alyssa to school, and then clean and get ready for my graduation Saturday! yippeee. I think only my mom is coming, but still gotta clean up even for her. :-)

Night night!