I'm thankful....

I originally planned to do one of these for each work day left on my countdown, but I'm almost done anyway so I'll just do this all in one.

I am thankful for the new job I will be starting at South Texas College next month. My reasons why (no particular order):


1. House:

Our transfer to Gainesville was with little in the way of notice or time to prepare. Due to issues of the rental history company having flawed records, we were denied a rental on a nice house (which in retrospect would have been more than we could afford with Axia being unsteady income at the moment). We ended up getting a rental at the last minute, sight unseen. This was a blessing to be sure, as it gave us a place to live and allowed us to figure out the problem with the rental records and get them fixed.

But...

This house is infested. First it was fleas. Amelia was their bed time snack. Poor girl. Elizabeth somewhat as well, but always Amelia. Then we had a lot of rain and got mosquitoes. Ok, we could avoid them by staying inside, but still. And now we have mice. I think Eliza took a stab at getting some, but she wasn't here long enough to get them all.

And don't get me started on the damage to the house and the safety hazards with the wiring that my dad found. Yikes!

Sooo....

Moving to McAllen gives us a chance to leave this house early with a really good reason. It'll also give us a chance to look around in a housing market that isn't messed up. there are nice houses, and there is enough demand and competition that we can find something nice, within our budget. We've done some preliminary looking, and so far, so good. I'll go down to McAllen in a little over a week to house hunt, then come back to make the move.


2. Career vs job

TYC has been my job for the past 4 years. At first I considered the possibility of maybe staying with things and advancing, but soon it became clear that advancement wasn't likely. Then I was RiFed. I see the direction the agency is going, and I want no part of it.

Now I will be starting on a career path that I originally wanted. I will start as an instructor, but I will have the opportunity to advance up the professor career ladder. I can make my first promotion in as early as two years. This is usually not available to people without a PhD, but STC has the career path.

3. Nearby PhD program

Related to the above is the availability of some PhD programs at nearby UT PanAm. Although they don't of a CJ program at that level (CJ PhD programs are rare), I was advised that because I already have more than 18 doctoral hours in CJ, I can get a PhD in any subject and still teach graduate level CJ. The UT PanAm program include Management, which I could probably do without too much fuss, and will hold my interest as well as expand my teaching opportunities.

Plus, getting the PhD will expand my career advancement opportunities, as well as allowing me to advance faster.

4. Daddy Comes Home

Right now I'm working 2-10 PM. prior to that, I was liable to be called at any hour of the day or night and be gone for a few days at a time for emergencies.

Granted, my new career will require some evening classes (especially while I'm still the FNG) but otherwise I'll be home at a decent hour. No emergencies, no "staff didn't show up" or "take this kid to the hospital". Depending on how my class schedule each semester, I can probably be home early in the afternoons on some days, or even possibly have a weekday or two off if I work long days on the rest.

5. Holidays/Vacations

Related to the above is the fact that I don't have to work on holidays. No special duties or anything. If it's a holiday, I have it off. I get vacations scheduled in by the school calendar. No requesting time off and hoping that someone doesn't screw things up and my leave gets yanked.

This also gives me summers, off, unless I choose to work them for extra pay (see below). Having summers free will allow for all the usual summer fun of reunions, camps, or just plain old spending time with the family.

6. Pay (and overload and summer)

Starting off, my base pay will be better than what I make now. Granted, I won't get overtime pay, but it's not like TYC ever really paid my OT on a regular basis. I mainly accrued it just to burn off as leave time.

STC is rapidly growing, and the departments are working hard to keep up. The result is that everyone does at least one overload (extra) class. This translates into an extra $500 or so each month (per overload class) during the regular semesters.

As I mentioned above, I also get paid extra if I teach classes during the summer. Not only will this help keep the budget running smoother, but we'll use the extra pay to really snowball the debts and start saving to buy things we'll need soon (a new computer once the Phoenix one finally dies for the last time, a replacement vehicle or two in the next few years), and even buy a house instead of renting.

7. I know the Macs

Bill and Evelyn MacIntosh have been great friends, supporters, mentors, butt-kickers, etc. for several years. They are my "other parents." When I was hiding in the ward library, it was Evelyn that dragged me out by my ear, and Bill who arranged a High Priest escort to get me to attend classes and get my act together. They've also encouraged me in my academic career, and helped me get to where I am now. Not that we couldn't move somewhere completely new without knowing anyone there (we've done it before) but it helps having someone there that you already know.

Of course, they say they already have plans for us at church.... the recruiting thing at STC is also the Lord's work as well, which brings me to...

8. The Lord wants us there

Why? I don't know yet. I'm sure He knows what he wants us to do. I applied and interviewed all over the place in North Carolina back when I was first getting RiFed. Things looked pretty good that we'd be able to join the Jeppson exodus to Charlotte, as well as being able to hang around with my brother and his family at Fort Bragg. STC was the only place in Texas I applied with any real intent, and the only place that called for an interview. They are also the only place that called back with a job offer. I guess the Lord made it very clear where he wanted us to go, through this and other things he has done to help pave the way for us. So HE wants us there, but why?

9. Church is growing; maybe I'll use all the training I got in Monahans

The McAllen area just split off a new stake. They need Family History experts (hmm, where to find one of those) and priesthood leaders (ummmm). They were told that if they can form two more stakes, they get their own temple north of the border. Pretty neat to be a part of such growth. I'm not the only one curious as to what callings we'll get.

10. Bingo! South end of Texas the only part I haven't lived in yet.

Not really related to the others. The closest thing to home for me is central Texas. I went to school and got married in east Texas, started TYC and got a crash course in church leadership in west Texas, and have been marking time in north Texas. Going to south Texas should make bingo! all ends of the state dwelt in.


11. Subtropical area

McAllen is listed as being a subtropical area. Palm trees, snow birds in winter. We won't have to shovel the walk or anything like that.


Which leads me to the one thing I'm not looking forward to:

11.5 hot hot hot

I don't like the heat. Pyote was ok because it really was a dry heat. Up here is bearable as long as you stay inside during the day. Poor Amelia is definitely not a fan of the heat either... all day today it was "Water head!" meaning she wanted water poured on her head to cool her off (I'll let Christie explain). Elizabeth doesn't mind so much... she'll stay outside and keep playing if we let her and have water available for her. Looks like they'll be taking swimming lessons during the summer. I could use that as well. Don't let the Polar Bear Swim patch fool you, I still can't swim.

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home...

...except it doesn't work so well when Daddy works nights.

Amelia is cranking her cuteness up to 11 just to stay awake.

Fun Family History Find

I just found a book about the Atwaters that is available in PDF format online. Haven't had much of a chance to look at it yet, but I've saved it to my computer so that I can read it as I have time. Actually, it looks like the easiest way to flip through the pages is to click on the Read Online link. The pages flip just like a real book. Going to peruse this site further to see what else I can find. Should be cleaning the house, but this is so much more fun and I already found one family this morning that needs ordinance work done!

FYI: Atwaters are our "tangled" branch. Grandpa Parkins' parents were first cousins whose common grandparents were Samuel Atwater and Mary Jane Magill (or McGill).

Baby Blair #3 is a......

...boy! Christie will have to tell the details from the ultrasound because I stayed home to watch the girls. Little JEB is gonna have to hold his own against two big sisters. Elizabeth is already fascinated by the new boy socks Christie got, and Amelia keeps saying "Baby Mommy tummy"

In other news, I've completed my Axia internship and have been fully accepted as a faculty member. My next batch of classes doesn't start until July 20th, though. So Happy Birthday to Amelia.

I sign out on vacation at work on July 10th to find a place in McAllen, come back, and get the family moved down there. I have to work a day in August to keep our medical insurance going until STC picks it up. So I'll work one whole day in August, and come in part of the next day to out-process. The funny part is that by working a day in August to keep the medical, I probably qualify for the $800 retention bonus that TYC is supposedly getting. That should about pay for the moving truck rental, give or take.

Bob the Builder comes to Gainesville!

Well, not quite, but for a long time Bob the Builder fan this morning was just as good. Our neighbor is having his driveway paved. I opened the front door to get the mail (waiting on the appointment packet from STC) and I told Elizabeth "Come look!, Is that Scoop?"



She ran outside, and after watching in amazement for a few minutes, she ran inside and got her "guys", the toys she has named for the machines on Bob the Builder. She started with Scoop and Muck, because she couldn't decide which one she was seeing. Amelia brought the other two when she came out to see what was going on.



They played for a while until I saw the mosquitoes were out very thick. It has rained a lot lately and our back yard looks like Dagobah right now. I hurried them in, then started working on mowing the lawn while getting eaten alive. But that's beside the point...

Elizabeth had a good morning: first,, she got to watch the Bob the Builder Movie from Netflix, then she saw a real Scoop (or Muck!)

Fasting and Prayer works!

Back in December we found out that I would probably lose my job at WTSS. We knew from prayers and blessings that we would know when it was time to leave TYC, and this was a clear answer (the topic of leaving had been discussed for a while as the agency slowly imploded around us).

We had been considering North Carolina's juvenile system for a while, but the pay increase wouldn't have covered the housing cost increase. But, just as I was getting RIF'ed, I started with Axia College of University of Phoenix, so that would make up the difference. I started applying everywhere I could. I started interviewing in February and finished in March. So far I haven't heard back on the second round of interviews. The NC Juvenile system is notoriously slow on the hiring process.

In the middle of shotgunning NC, I saw a posting for a full time Criminal Justice instructor at South Texas College in McAllen. I asked Christie how her Spanish was holding up and she shot me a look that probably knocked a few weeks off my life. I sent it in anyway just to leave no stone unturned. It would be a good opportunity, and one of my mentors (my "other parents in McAllen") was on the search committee, so I had an outside shot at it. But we pushed ahead with plans for NC. I owed it to Christie after 3+ years in Pyote.

In the meantime, I got transferred to Gainesville with TYC. It sounded like a good place to mark time while waiting on the other applications, and it could be a doable place if they didn't pan out. The job situation turned out far worse than I originally thought, but there were blessings buried in it. However, it still remained very stressful. We prayed and fasted and prayed that we would soon find out about a job. I interviewed at South Texas College and got the feeling that this was where the Lord wanted us to go next. Even Christie was starting to accept the idea and come to peace with it. But the interview had been the beginning of April, and we were getting into May with a quickly deteriorating job situation in Gainesville. More fasting and prayer.

This past week started horrible. I couldn't bear the thought of going to work anymore and started trying to figure out options for quitting. Wednesday morning I got a call that made it more bearable: STC human resources wanted to offer me the job! I was suddenly awake and couldn't say "Yes!" fast enough.



The offered salary is currently $39347 for 9 months. I currently make $40176 in 12 months at TYC. The starting offer will get better, though. July 1st will mark 4 years with TYC, which will translate into 2 years experience for STC. This will increase the 9 month pay to $40330. But it will get better than that. I have 27 graduate (PhD) hours post Master's. If I can get 3 more graduate hours, I will jump up to the Master's +30 bracket for $42686 for 9 months. I'm planning to sign up for a class at University of Phoenix and use my employee 50% discount. I'll spend about $1100 to take a class that will pay for itself in about 4 months, plus I'll take something that is in demand (CSI and Forensic Psychology maybe) so I'll be able to teach classes to help satisfy the demand for the current academic flavor of the month.

But there's more! STC is rapidly expanding, so each instructor is doing at least one overload class, which means roughly an extra $500 per month. If I teach summer classes, that's about $2400 per session (two summer sessions available) if I have my info right. I even know my class schedule already! It's at a campus about an hour drive away from the main campus, but depending on office hour requirements I may only need to be there as little as two days a week. I'm teaching all but one of the classes at this campus (the other is TBA, so probably an adjunct unless they think I'm gung ho enough to take a seventh class).

Schedule breakdown:

M: 8:30-9:50AM, 10:00-11:20AM, 6:00-8:50 PM
W: 8:30-9:50AM, 10:00-11:20AM, 5:30-8:20 PM

plus two sections of an internet class. 4 different courses all together, in 6 sections. STC only has 5 CJ classes available. The one class I'm the closest match to (Correctional Systems and Practices) is the one I'm not teaching this semester. It's all good, though.

So the pay is going to be pretty decent, and I can get more if I want to work summers. Plus, I can maybe get away with staying with my Axia teaching (probably just one class, maybe two).

The job starts August 20th, so I might even be able to use it as Christie's Birthday present (except it's also kinda her Mother's Day present).

The way I'm accumulating overtime and other leave, I should be able to sign out of TYC at the beginning of July and be on terminal leave status all the way to my STC start date. Insurance is by the same state system, so I'll be able to keep the same insurance without skipping a beat, which is good because Baby Blair #3 (gender still unknown, I'll let Christie tell that story) is due in September.




So.....

We'll be moving to southern Texas this summer. We're hoping to find a place in McAllen if possible; rough guess on budget is that we can probably do monthly housing costs of about $800-1000 for a 3/2 or 4/2 (depending on other features and stuff, but the lower the cost the better if possible). If anybody knows of anything in that area, please let us know. The MacIntosh's (my "other parents" mentioned above) have already offered to keep an eye out for places to live within their ward. Um, yeah, they didn't just help because they love me; there are callings that need filling which Christie and I happen to have the training, experience, expertise, and love. Doesn't mean we'll get them, but if the Lord has a different plan for us down there, I haven't figured it out yet. I'm sure that will come in due time, though.

Is this the face of Swine Flu?

No, this is the face of a little girl who can't possibly understand why she didn't get to go to Sunbeams today.

After enduring Sacrament Meeting, to come straight home was pure torture, especially since Mommy and Daddy had been saying all morning that she was going to get to go to Sunbeams today!

We got to Church this morning only to find out that all the meetings for the week have been cancelled after Sacrament Meeting today. Can you believe it? The decision was made by the Stake President late last night. Our Relief Society President said he was getting tons of phone calls from worried members. I know him (he was my singles' ward Bishop when I was first teaching) and he's not the kind of person to panic, so I guess he really must have been hearing from a lot of hysterical members. I also have to remember that the stake stretches down much closer to DFW so probably most of the worry came from those areas.

We let the girls run around a little outside once Elizabeth finally got out of the van (she insisted we rebuckle her carseat and shut the door!). Her tights are probably ruined, but oh well.