Dr. David Brown, Phd.

Xander and I are proud to announce that, today, David successfully defended his dissertation.  He is now officially Dr. David Brown.Everyone is welcome to attend. Just send us an email and we will give you the details. There will also be a party, details to be decided upon. Congrats Babes, we love you.

Red Baron Pizza

I am a BzzAgent.  I get invited to campaigns where you try products, talk about them to people, you might have coupons to hand out and then you report any bzz you have and/or pictures/videos you have taken.

I received a campaign from them for Red Baron Pizza.  Kit had coupons to hand out, an apron and a coupon for a free Red Baron Pizza.  I use to not like Red Baron, I would choose Tombstone over it every time.  We used the free coupon and said we would try it since it was free.  Well, it was much better than it used to be and in fact, it was was better tasting than Tombstone, or DiGiornos'.

 In fact, Red Baron Pizza was so much better, my son asked us to buy more.  I think he had us fix it for lunch almost every day this summer when he was home.  He said the only thing better than Red Baron was possibly Papa Johns, Dominos, or my homemade from scratch pizza doughs.

Busy last six months and doesn't seem to want to slow down.

Been awhile since I posted here.  I have been keeping pretty busy lately.  No quilting has gotten touched. 

Let us start that I finally got a part-time job at Kohls back in October, then in January I started going to college at Tennessee Tech University and cut my days available to work to pretty much weekends and holidays.  I took 16 credit hours this past Spring.  

In January, we informed the lady that owned the house we were renting with intent to buy as soon as ours sold, that our house was not selling, had not had anyone even come to look at it so we knew we would not be able to close in the next 6 months. So we found another house to rent, much bigger this time for what we were leasing the other place for, so we contacted the rental company and moved in to the house by the end of February.  

My classes ended the first week of May, so I took on a few more days at Kohls, but still worked around dropping off and picking up Xander from school. I also signed up for Summer classes at Tech, 1 in the first section and 1 in the second section of Summer classes.  I am only a week into the 2nd section. 

We are getting Xander's and my school supplies bought because he goes back to school in a week.  He just returned from a week at Mamaw's after having his Birthday Party/Sleepover.  He had a blast.  Mamaw and Papaw brought him back home and stayed the weekend.  Xander is still trying to convince them to move up here and live with us.  

Glenda told me this morning before they headed back home that they were not encouraging Xander on his quest to have them here.  I told her that we knew that and David, Xander and I had already discussed it and that if they were to move in with us, we would have to see what we could do about buying/building a house and to make sure that they could have time away from us, make it have a mother-in-law suite, so they did not feel obligated to always spend time with us, or just to let them have a space that they can relax and not feel like they were being taken advantage of.  That we had talked and would love for them to leave with us, that we didn't think of it as a necessity but as loving our family.

My Great Grandmother used to live right next door to my grandparents, and it could feel like you were all living in the same house.  I for one, would enjoy having them live with us. I know David would have one less worry on his mind, because he could be there for his parents if they did need him or if one of them became ill.  He also wants to make sure Xander has as much time as possible with his grandparents.  It would also be one less worry on Xander's mind, as he also worries about them.

Xander starts back to school next week.  I finish my 2nd Summer class around August 6th and have a break until the 24th.  I will have taken 6 credit hours this summer.  I am taking 16 credit hours again this fall and have planned 15 or 16 credit hours again in the Spring and fall of next year.  My Advisor couldn't believe how much thought I had already been putting into what classes I wanted to take for the next year and half when I met with her in April.

David is finished with the testing and is working on the data and writing his paper for his doctorate.  He has his defense set for October 12, because Xander is on Fall Break and that is one of the two days Tech has their Fall Break so we can travel down to Decatur and go to Birmingham for his Defense.  As David says' "If all goes as planned, he will be Dr. David W. Brown, PhD."

Cookeville, TN

Everyone is enjoying out move.  Xander is happy that I am home for now, he gets to ride the bus.  He has said he is enjoying being in Middle School instead of Elementary school.  He joined LaCrosse.  He really enjoys playing LaCrosse.

Moving & Packing

Last Friday was my last day at work.  I am busy packing up what we have not packed over the last few months and moving it all to the garage.  Movers are coming on the 26th to finish packing what I have not gotten into boxes, mainly tools and kitchen.  They will load up the truck on the 27th and deliver our furniture and stuff on the 28th. Nothing like a Christmas/New Years move.  We are excited for what the future will bring.

Definitely moving

Over the last week it has become apparent that the lab has funding for possibly 2 people for another couple of months but at this point nothing is guaranteed.  Everyone in the lab is making plans for cutting back expenses and such. We have decided to take Dr. Soni's offer and will be moving to Tennessee around Christmas.  I am giving my 2 week notice when I return to work after the break.  While I will miss my co-workers and friends, I feel it is the best thing for us.  Our house is still on the market and at this point has had 2 open houses but not had any offers.

Way things happen

This past summer David's boss leaves and goes to Tennessee Tech.  He offers to take several people from the lab.  David and I discuss it and decide to put the house on the market because at this point no one knows what is going to happen at the lab David is working in, it is entirely possible that come January 1, there is no funding for anyone of the 8 people working there.