Debeso ya.

Well, I know that last post mentioned pictures which would be up soon. We have them off the camera, and onto the external hard drive. They will be coming. Just not today. In fact, probably not this week at all, unless I can figure out how to use flickr. Or SecHus gives me his password. Which, considering I can't even install new programs on the mac without fetching him to put in the fiftyplus character password... may be unlikely.

Tomorrow we drive off to fetch our things from Japan in Indianapolis. This is something I am looking forward to, because stuffed into a box with kitchen appliances is our sen-en kakigori maker. Just gotta find some syrups somewhere, and I will be back to fighting the 95 degree heat forecasted this weekend. This is good, because an interesting side effect of the pregzors has been heightened heat exhaustion capacity, apparently. Fresh air, STAT! Have had to flee midchurch on two different Sundays, because I nearly fainted. (And I have passed out in church enough in the past. Don't need to stop mass now by vomiting in the pews or falling down at the communion rail like a drunken manatee.)

Big News. We have made an offer on a house. An actual house. It has a yard, and a garage. HOLY CRAP. I feel so adult now. Except, perhaps, an adult might have a job. Which we don't, and my Awesome Chance at a Job That I Was Totally Qualified For part-time at IU... didn't pan out. I suspect it had mainly to do with political reasons, such as not having prior existing connections with the department. In all honesty, since it looks like I will have to take at least two classes to mount up enough credits to get that federal student aid money, maybe we'll just float by on student loans the first year, or at least the first semester. And I don't think I am actually physically, mentally capable of handling two classes, baby, and part-time job, no matter how mighty I believe I am.

I think the thing that worries me the most about failing to get this part time gig was that now that I have returned to a country where I can communicate freely with its residents and expect to be treated like a skilled individual, I don't think I will be. Everyone I seem to meet or talk to has horror stories about themselves or people they know who are treated as little more than robotic automatons at their work, and not as human beings at all. Companies try to cheat them out of contractual benefits, workers comp, and well, this may be pretty standard selfishness on their part, and pretty par for the course, but it pisses me off something fierce. Do I think they deserve better? Hell, yeah. It isn't just to be respected for one's intelligence or experience, but also to be respected for your position, however humble, as a person. Since when is treating a person like a person a freaking OPTION? And this issue is echoed in national politics as well. Since when is a contract that a government has signed and sworn to uphold optional based on someone else's country? This "debate" about upholding the Geneva Convention is beyond ridiculous, and watching politicians lie barefacedly on the news is really disheartening. Apparently the wage differences now between employees and company heads is now again as disparate as it was during the Gilded Age.

Anyway. Thursday we head off to GR to enjoy three days of swimming and reading in an air conditioned hotel. Or rather, I do. Security Husband is attending and speaking at a conference at Calvin on communications theory. I am very proud of him, even though I don't get to actually watch him do his thing (no free passes for spouses, what a pity!). In a way, this is his first big chance to be representative of his field as an academic, and I'm really glad he has this opportunity. He will be part of a panel discussion on how his field (along with several others) relates to CT, so he doesn't have to be an expert on CT like a lot of the other people there. We are looking forward to hanging out with friends in GR, some of whom will ALSO be speaking at the conference, and some of whom we have not seen for a really long time.

Symbiote update: Genki. She is very active, but never on cue. Anyone who buys pink frilly things will be outcast from my presence. We have a baby registry at babiesrus.com. We have purchased a ton of books involving multilingual education and child discipline/parenting stuff. Part of this may be to help assuage our growing fear. Definitely makes me question techniques I used to use at work. Still processing material. More updates on reading material later.