After four and one-half years of graduate school, Tom is in the homestretch. If everything goes according to schedule, he will finish his dissertation in June, defend in July, and graduate in August with a PhD in Electrical Engineering.
In February he began looking into employment possibilities, and applied with several firms, including L3 Communications in SLC; Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts; Rincon Technologies in Tuscon, AZ; and Sandia Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
There were pros and cons for each company, and we considered them all during the month of March. In the end, the choice was an obvious one: L3 Communications. All the kids are relieved that they don't have to leave their friends, and I am thrilled not to have to move. Life for five of us will go on pretty much as usual; Tom, however, will adjust from a 20 minute drive to BYU to 45+ minutes to L3, which is located near the Salt Lake Airport. He is scheduled to start working in June.
Perhaps it is because the change is far enough away, or because I have lived in limbo for so long that I am skeptical that this is for real, but I keep forgetting about it. I thought I would be overjoyed and excited about Tom finishing and finding a great job, especially one that lets us stay in the home and community that we love. Make no mistake -- I am very happy about it, and exceedingly thankful to the Lord for His many blessings. It just doesn't seem real yet. Maybe in May I'll begin to get hyped up. Stay tuned...
I am soooooo excited about it! it is awesome that we don't have to make all new friends!
ReplyDeleteI am to!!!!!!!!! Mom, We should never ever move.
ReplyDeleteHey plus also I am beyond thrilled about this new development in your lives on account of one of my BESTEST FRIENDS EVER doesn't even have to move to the other side of the freaking country. Fewsh.
ReplyDeleteBig changes are always so interesting, especially when they don't happen right away. It seems like it takes a while for our brains to catch up to what is happening. This has to be exagerated when life will remain pretty close to the way it is right now. No move. No new house. No new friends. No big schedule changes. So maybe in your mind, it isn't really a change at all. Maybe it is just a progression of the events that are already happening. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are staying!!!!
yep, although I am bummed that half of my friends are going to the other junior high next year. they should have freaking left the school system how it was in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteYou know, Jen, I think you are right, in that it doesn't feel like a big change to me, at least not yet. The biggest change will be that we will actually have some money to spend again! I am a little worried that I will turn into a hyper-materialistic spendthrift once I don't have to budget every single penny! <:o
ReplyDeleteYeah, in my humble opinion the words "PACK, SELL, and MOVE" are all four letter words that I don't want in my vocabulary. If I never move again it will be too soon. One of the girls in my ward is trying to sell her house right now. She has a 5 yr old, 3 yr old, and a 6 month old. I can't even imagine the stress. I thought it was bad with a 7, 4, and 3 yr old when we sold our house in CA. We were discussing the topic of moving at our playgroup a week ago. I was commenting how I hate to move and really have you ever heard anyone say "I just moved and it was the best experience of my life, can't wait to do that again." No instead it seems to be one of life's experiences designed to test our endurance for stress and pain. Anyway one of the other mothers said she loves moving and thinks it is exciting. I asked if she had moved since she had her two children. She said No. I said that if she had ever gone through a move with children I think she would change her tune.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of that, Pat. If we didn't have any kids, we probably would have taken the job in MA and moved. It would have been fun and exciting then!
ReplyDelete