My little girl

I park in the YMCA parking lot when I pick up Jude from school. After allowing the kids and Willow to play at the playground after school, I decided it was time to head home. We crossed the street to get to the parking lot. Avery is lagging a little behind because she has decided to walk in the flower bed (there are no flowers, but there are shrubs and tall metal light poles) I turn to see Avery lifting the metal base of the light pole. I ask her if she is geocaching, she replied "Yes." She's a funny one. Now she knows to look under the metal base's of lights to look for geocaches.

Summer Recap, already?

This summer has went by so fast. I cannot believe that Jude will start first grade and Elise is entering pre-school and I start up classes again in one week. Where did the summer go?

This summer we spent a lot of time outside. We went to Lake Erie to the beach, the zoo, a little geocaching, a lot of garden work, the wading pool, WV, & TN.

We were attempting to go the summer with out turning the a/c on. We caved in yesterday when the temp inside the house reached 86. It is now a cool 78 in the house. I'm hoping that we can turn it back off on Wednesday when the temp is suppose to cool down a little bit. Not to bad making it till August 16 with the air not being on.

Well that's it in a nutshell. I will try to post some pics of summer fun when I get a chance.

Pointing Fingers

Earlier today, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, pointed the finger of blame at the press for setting an arbitrary deadline on the health care compromise talks, one that is very likely to go unmet.

Sen. Reid must be thinking that the health care plan will not be passed because he is already blaming the media for setting a deadline for health care negotiations before Congress adjourns for their August break. Hmm.

I found the following quotes on the internet regarding setting a deadline for the health care talks.

The Administration

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “This Window Between Now And The August Recess, I Think, Is Going To Be The Make-Or-Break Period.” “This issue, health care reform, is not a luxury. … So we can't afford to put this off. And the dedicated public servants who are gathered here today understand that and they are ready to get going. And this window between now and the August recess, I think, is going to be the make-or-break period. This is the time where we've got to get this done.” (President Obama, Press Conference, 6/2/09)

· OBAMA: “I Really Want To Get It Done By The August Recess.” Q: “Is it a pretty much a do or die by the August recess?” OBAMA: “I never believe anything is a do or die. But I really want to get it done by the August recess.” (CNN’s “State Of The Union,” 7/12/019)

· OBAMA: “I’ve Told Harry Reid And Nancy Pelosi, You Know, That It Is Critical That We See Serious Forward Motion Before People Leave.” JOHN AMATO, Crooks And Liars Blogger: “… will you then [Congress] make them give us a bill before the August recess?” PRESIDENT OBAMA:“We are working as hard as we can and I've told Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, you know, that it is critical that we see serious forward motion before people leave. Alright?” (“President Obama’s Conference Call With Liberal Bloggers,” Crooks and Liars, 7/20/09)

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: “We Must And We Will Enact Reform By The End Of August, And We Can't Wait. I know that the leaders that are up here know that. The president knows that. My colleagues who I just spoke to know that, and the entire Congress knows it.” (VP Biden, Remarks, 7/8/09)

Democrats In The Senate

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “Before We Leave Here … We're Going To Complete The Legislation We Have Dealing With Health Care.” “The question is, do I think the session will be extended in the August recess? We're going to complete -- before we leave here, we're going to do our very best to have a good strong run on DOD. We're going to complete the legislation we have dealing with health care, and we're going to confirm Sonia Sotomayor.” (Sen. Reid, Press Conference, 7/14/09)

· REID: “We must keep our eye on the prize. The prize is health care reform. My desire is to get it done this work period, and I'm going to continue pushing to see everything -- to do everything I can to get it done this work period.” (Sen. Reid, Press Conference, 7/21/09)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “We Expect The House And Senate To Have Passed Bills [By August], Yes.” SCHUMER: “Well, we don't expect it to be signed into law by the August recess.” Q: “Understood, but an actual...” SCHUMER: “But we expect the House and Senate to have passed bills, yes.” Q: “You think it's going to happen.” SCHUMER: “I do.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 7/12/09)

Democrats In The House Of Representatives

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): “We’re Still On Schedule … We Have Plans To Vote For This Legislation Before We Leave For The August Recess.” (“Obama Health Reform: ‘Don’t Bet Against Us,’” The Hill, 7/13/09)

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): “We're Going To Pass Significant Reform … Before The August Recess In The House Of Representatives.” Q: “Health care reform -- Congressman Hoyer, will the House pass a bill before the August recess? And what are you going to do about the two biggest problems, which are -- one, increasing coverage, increasing coverage to all of the uninsured without spending another trillion dollars?” HOYER: “Well, first of all, the American people understand that the health care system in this country is in real trouble. They like what they have, about 75 percent of them, but about 87 percent of them think we need significant reform. And the answer to your question is yes, we're going to pass significant reform.” Q: “Before the August recess?” HOYER: “Before the August recess in the House of Representatives, because we need to bring costs down.” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 7/5/09)

Now Nancy Pelosi is pointing fingers at the insurance industry because she feels that they have more power than Democrats in Congress. Hello, Pelosi, the Democrats have control of the House and Senate. I view this as an excuse on her end if the Health care bill is not passed.

Health Care: Oppose greater government role. Support free market solutions

The politicians tell us free market health care doesn't work, but we haven't had a free market in decades.

• The government already pays for nearly half of all health care. This means we're half-socialized already.
• Starting with depression era wage and price controls, and continuing with government tax policies, the politicians have made Americans dependent on their jobs to get health insurance.
• State government policies have made insurance too expensive by piling on special interest mandates dictating specific types of coverage.
• Medicare and Medicaid have fixed the prices we pay for health care, causing the extraordinary paradox of both price inflation and shortages in areas like primary care.

The list of ways the politicians have screwed up our health care system could go on and on, but now the politicians want to exploit the crisis they created by taking over even more control of our medical care. This will only make things worse, and once we let them do it we may never be able to change it.

Happy Birthday Avery girl

It's hard to believe that my Avery girl turns 2 today. She has grown up so fast. I often describe her with one word, "rotten". She is a rotten little girl. She gets this look in her eyes and you know right away that she is up to no good, or has planning to do something that she knows that she shouldn't do. She is her own girl. She is not afraid to join in the mix when Jude and I are wrestling around. Avery is a shoe and purse girl. And she loves her baby dolls. You will find her putting on Delilah's shoes just about every day. Even though she loves her shoes and purses she also loves sports. When Jude and Elise were playing soccer, she wanted to go and kick the ball with her. We bought her a little soccer ball to kick around so she would leave Jude's and Elise's alone. Just recently, Jude went to and Upward's basketball camp, he got a basketball for going, Avery has confiscated the basketball since then. Like I said, she is rotten. Happy Birthday Avery girl.

Sunday Adventures

Our family has unofficially declared Sunday's as our Geocaching day. If you haven't heard about Geocaching you will have to check out this website, www.geocaching.com Today we had Brian over for lunch and Heather and Ivan joined us a couple of hours later. We decided to go caching down on the Riverfront and then over to a cemetary to find a few more caches. Geocaching has become an easy way for the family to do an activity outside. It gives us a reason to be outside and to relax a little, if it's possible to relax when you can't find a cache. We have been caching for about 4 years but took 2 years off and didn't Geocache at all. Geocaching is a great way to visit places you wouldn't normally visit. I hope you check it out.

***Note***

I started writing this on Sunday, July 19; it is now Friday, July 24. I was planning to write more but have since forgotten what all I was going to write about. Bummer.

Has he read it? Probably not.

Ohio Voters Spoke...........

......... but the elected state officials have turned a deaf ear to the issue. Governor Strickland has issued an executive order to place up to 2,500 slots at each of Ohio's 7 horse racing tracks. In fact, the people have turned down expanded gambling and/or casinos in Ohio 4 times since 1990, most recently in November of 2008.

I don't think slot machines will be placed into these horse race tracks with out a fight. There will be some type of lawsuit on behalf of the voter of Ohio arguing the fact that the voters have turned down increased gambling in the state. There will be some sort of lawsuit arguing that it will form a monopoly by allowing only 7 horse racetracks to have slot machines with out allowing outsiders to come in to provide slot machines at other locations.

I'm sorry Strickland, but I believe you face an uphill battle to place slot machines in the existing horse race tracks as a way to balance the state's budget.

Another New Layout

I have decided to once more change my blog layout. I think this layout is much more my style. Avery slept most of the day today. She was up a lot last night. Delilah ended up taking her to Children's Hospital in Hudson, after she talked to the pediatrician. After returning from the hospital Avery was feeling better. She was even walking around outside for a short while. I think all the activity wore her out because she was ready for bed at 7:45. While I getting her pj's and drink she went and laid her head on the couch to go to sleep. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow. My poor Avery girl.

In God We Trust

Pink

Delilah and I decided that it was time to do some room switching. The plan was to have Jude and Elise spend the week at Mamaw's and Papaw's and we would do all the painting and re-arranging of rooms at that time. Well, Elise decided that she did not want to stay in WV. We had Elise and Jude sharing a bedroom, the larger of the 2 kids rooms. Avery was in her own room. It was painted 2 shades of pink as you can tell from the pictures below. We decided that Elise and Avery would share Jude and Elise's old room and Jude would move into Avery's old room. We managed to get most everything done before Jude returned from his week away. There was a lot, a lot of painting involved. Jude's new room required 2 coats of primer on the walls a coat of the final color. I did not paint his ceiling because it didn't seem like it needed to be painted. After painting Jude's walls I realized that there was a pink tint in the ceiling paint. I just thought the ceiling was reflecting the bright pink off of the walls. When I paint the hallway and living room ceilings I will also paint Jude's ceiling. Well, below you can see the below pictures of Jude's new room. I will post an after picture tomorrow (maybe).

She wanted the strawberries

Yes.... that is All-Bran Strawberry Melody.

The Easy Way

Yesterday I was finishing up the last bit of laundary, I set the clothes basket on the kitchen floor so I could refill my cup of java. I asked Avery if she wanted to go down stairs with me.....

... I guess she wanted to.

Delilah Made the Falls Press

Awake at 2:30........ AM

I learned several new things today. At 2:30 am. The first thing that I learned was that the Akron Beacon Journal is delivered at 2:45 am. Nothing like get the news first thing in the morning. The second that I learned is that we need to clean our windows from little kids hand print smudges if we expect to get a good shot at our racoon. Oh, and the third thing I learned is that we have a raccoon which seems to be enjoying our birdseed. And I thought the squirrells were bad. Now we have to call animal control to get a live trap. I told Delilah if we lived in the country I would just shoot it if I had a gun. Below is a picture of our fury friend through our smudged window.

I'm sure you are asking yourself, "Why were you awake at 2:30 am?" Well, Avery was awake and it took her a little while to get back to sleep. I can not remember for the life of me the last time Avery woke up in the middle of the night.

Happy Birthday Mamaw!

In a nutshell

Has really almost been a month since I last posted? To be honest I really haven't felt the desire to write anything. But I knew I would need to get on here eventually to write something.

Delilah and I have been spending time outside working on the yard and garden. Our landlord had a garden spot several years ago, so we decided that we were going to plant a garden in the same spot. We had a box garden when we lived in Goodyear Heights and we miss the ability to walk outside and pick fresh veggies off the vine. We are going to plant corn, peppers, tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots, radishes, onions and cabbage. I'm sure I have forgotten a veggie that we are going to plant but you get the idea. Delilah is using the square foot method of planting the garden. She has it all planned out on paper and how it is going to be planted. She even setup guide lines in the garden. Now our garden spot looks like a huge graph paper. If all works out we will have bountiful garden this year. Cuyahoga Falls has a community garden spot for $8 for a 20' by 20' plot. Unfortunately we missed out on it because I called a week after we could sign up for it and all the spots were already taken.

Can it be true? Jude has just over a month of school left? This school year seemed to have gone by so fast. I can not believe that my little boy is almost finished with kindergarten. We bought Jude and Elise a Brain Quest workbook to work on over the summer. We want to keep his brain growing so it will be easier for him in the fall when he begins 1st grade.

Jude and Elise are both enjoying soccer. Jude is timid on the field and will not attack the ball when he is on defense. On offense he does pretty good. He is in the correct position waiting for the ball, unfortunately in U6 there isn't much passing that takes place. Elise is doing fairly well..... when she decides to play and not hang off my leg during the game when I am trying to "coach" the players. Last Saturday I actually picked up and swung her so she would kick the ball. The parents got a kick out of it.

I am taking classes at the U of Akron this summer. I will be working towards my bachelors in accounting. I will be taking 2 classes which are 5 weeks long each. My first class begins May 18th. I will be taking Principles of Accounting and then Microeconomics. I am excited about the accounting class, does that make me a geek? It will take me a while to finish up my degree but I will have to keep plugging away at it.

I think that is it in a nutshell.

Spring?

Spring, the excitement is in the air..........

I am so excited that the warm weather has finally come to Ohio, not that it will stay around very long until May. Anways............ The kids have loved playing outside. And it is much more fun when you are at home and can get outside. I have even walked to pick Jude from school twice this week, which reminded me out of shape I really am. My legs were hurting after completing the 1.8 mile round trip. Next week is Jude's spring break and we have decided to take a road trip. The kids and I have decided to head to Mamaws and Papaws for a couple of days and the down to Tennessee to Nana's and Poppy's to finish the week out. Delilah will be at home, trying to build up extra hours at work and to get some spring cleaning finished. I'm sure it will be a whirl wind kind of trip and the kids will be worn out by the time we get home. Jude and Elise are so excited to go. They have already packed their toy bags and are waiting anxiously for tomorrow to leave. Jude even asked me if I would pack his clothes for him. I told him he would have to wait for mommy for that, I'm sure I would leave something out.
Friday will be a busy day. I have an interview with Prudential at 9 in Mayfield Heights and Jude has a half day of school so I will be running back and forth to get the final things together for the trip. On Tuesday I cleaned the van out and man did it ever need it. I didn't think it was to bad until I looked under the seats. I removed the rear seats and vacuumed, and cleaned the sides of the van down. It looks much better and even smells a lot better. While I was at it I replaced the fuel filter which was way beyond due. I was told it was an easy job, I just didn't realize how easy it was. I took about five minutes all together to replace it. I wish I would have taken care of it last year when it needed to be replaced instead of waiting so long.
I don't think that I mentioned this before, I have decided to work with the youth at church. I have done it for two Sunday's now. It is going well, I think. It is a small group but I think it is important to have something for the youth to be involved with. I am also coaching Elise's soccer team this year. The director called me up and said that he noticed I had marked down that I would be an assistant coach and went on to tell me that he had something better for me. of course I knew what that meant right away. Now I am coaching Elise's soccer team and our first practice is March 28th.
I think this post has caught you up on everything. See ya later.

A productive day and it's only.....

I must say that I am having a productive day and it's only 10 am. What gives? Actually I have had a fairly productive week. I think this happens when I am able to keep myself busy. How have I been doing this you ask. Well, let me tell you. I have been looking into going back to school, starting a business, leading the youth on Sunday mornings, leading a small group and co-leading a men's group with my good friend.

First things first, school. As you all probably know, I recieved my Associates in Arts: Liberal Arts from Upper Iowa University in December. I am looking at 3 options to continue my education. Upper Iowa, Malone, and U of Akron. I am weighing the options of all 3. I desire to finish up my bachelors in Public Administration or in Finance, both of which I enjoy.

I am looking into starting my own home based business cleaning out foreclosed homes. I need to develop some contacts with banks and realtors who hande the foreclosed homes and would need purchase a truck and trailer so I am able to haul stuff to the landfill. I would try to save anything I could to resell or donate. I would also need to have a partner working with me because I'm sure I would need help moving larger items.

I have taken on an active role at church. It started with co-leading a men's group which meets at our house. I am currently leading a small group which also meets at our house and am in the process of planning the next series of study. Starting this Sunday I will be leading youth during the Sunday morning service. I am a little rusting at leading youth but I am confident it won't take long to get back into the flow of things.

So I/we have been busy with multiple items. When I resume working outside of the house I may have to curtain a few items but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. As far as being productive today............
So far:

• the kids have had their bath (usually done at night)
• balanced out accounts
• filed our receipts
• fed the kids breakfast (Elise ate a ton... 2 eggs, cereal, and a bunch of cheese)
• wrote a post on the blog

Well, now that I actually look what I have accomplished so far it really doesn't seem like that much. I do have alot more on my agenda to finish today. Such as......final prep for men's groups tommorrow and sunday morning, complete 2 apps for jobs, call several banks and realtors.

And here I goooooooooooooo

Speechless

I have been pretty much speechless the last two days. On Thursday I lost my voice and I am still very hoarse today. It has been an interesting week for me. Between having my emotional up and downs regarding employment and fighting off this sickness that is trying to get at me it has me well, pretty much speechless. What else can I say.......

Often times I get frustrated at situations around me and feel that I am letting my family down. I so much desire to be able to provide for my family financially. We have been able to keep our heads above the water the last 11 months but it wouldn't take much to change. I guess I am tired of just barely making it. I realize that things could be much worse for us. Am I growing inpatient waiting on God? I think I might be. I realize that God has a plan and he has brought us through this far. I am often reminded of this from Delilah. Specially during my times of frustration.

We have been blessed with a great church. They have been supportive of us during this time. I have also been able to be more involved with our church. I have been involved with a men's group that is called MENtality that meets at our house twice a month and I have also been leading a small group that is studying "Experiencing God". I have recently decided (with a little nudge) to do some work with the youth on Sunday mornings.

I was speaking with a guy from church the other week about Great Danes. They have one and are looking at getting a second. I have never paid much attention to Great Danes. I've always been partial to Chocolate Labs. Well, I started researching Great Danes, they are very good dogs. The kids and I were watching You Tube videos of Great Danes the other night. They are HUGE. I think I have convinced Delilah that we should eventually buy a Great Dane (we are in no hurry to buy another pet). Now only if I can convince Jude, he wants a Chihuahua or a Poodle. What is wrong with that kid?

I guess I really wasn't very speechless after all.

Attack of the Avery Girl

Avery has a thing for getting into the cereal cabinet. She loves to grab a box a cereal and grab a handful out of it and then walk around the house eating it. In an attempt to break this little habit of grabbing a handful of cereal I decided to pour some of it into a bowl for her. It worked well for about 45 seconds until Jude ran into the kitchen to tell me that Avery was making a mess with her cereal. This is what I found........

Avery also has a thing for getting into the onions and peeling the skin off. As soon as I put one back she is back into the onions. Don't turn your back when she has a onion because this may happen..........

Such fun advertures with Avery. Everyone things that she is such a good little girl. She has you all fooled. She is the most determined of the 3. She is set in her ways and will let you know how she feels about it. Last night after her bath I was putting her pj's on her and she was just screaming away at me. She is my Avery Girl.

Attack of the Avery Girl

UPDATE: I originally wrote this way back when. I'm not sure why I didn't post it.

Avery has a thing for getting into the cereal cabinet. She loves to grab a box a cereal and grab a handful out of it and then walk around the house eating it. In an attempt to break this little habit of grabbing a handful of cereal I decided to pour some of it into a bowl for her. It worked well for about 45 seconds until Jude ran into the kitchen to tell me that Avery was making a mess with her cereal. This is what I found........

Jobs and Education.

I noticed it had been a while since I last posted anything on my blog. The job hunt is still moving forward. I have been submitting my resume to an open position about once a day. Sometimes it is difficult to send it out for a job when you don't know what they salary is. There is a certian amount I need to take home to break even, other wise there are probably a lot of jobs that don't much that I would be content with working.

I am in the process of appying for a degree completetion program through Malone University. It is possible to complete your degree in as a little as 14 months. I would have a bachelor's of art in management. You meet once a week for about 4 hours over the course of 14 months to complete the program. According to my calculation I will be about 9 credits short of the graduation credits required to complete the degree which means I would need to take 3 classes somehow to complete the degree. One good thing that has come out from being unemployed is that the expected financial contribution for education decreased by about $10,000 from the previous year. The degree completion program will cost about $15,000.

Another option I am looking at is returning the University of Akron to complete my course work their. If I went the Akron diet pills route it would probably be a little more difficult to schedule that classes at the time I could take them and it seems according to my calculations I would need to take take 4 semester of 15 credits to graduate in 2 years. As of this point I am leaning towards to Malone but I have to wait to see what develops.

Poor Elise

Elise is not feeling very well today. She didn't eat much for breakfast and didn't eat lunch. She fell asleep on her bed before lunch. I had to wake her up to take Jude to school. I felt really bad about having to wake her up. Needless to say she did not want to get out of her bed. I asked her if she wanted to lay back down when we got back from dropping Jude, she said she did. She laid down for a little while and got up and wanted to have Rice Krispies with a bananna in it. We think she has pink eye in her left eye. Now she is complaining of an ear ache in her left ear. I gave her a sock filled with rice (uncooked rice in a sock, then warmed up in the microwave) to put on her ear to help with the pain, it must have worked she is asleep on the couch now (Avery left her alone long enough for her to fall asleep). She is actually snoring. I do hope she starts to feel better, she is not very much fun to be around when she is not feeling good. I would hate to have to pack her luggage and ship off to Nana's or Mamaw's house till she gets better.

A quick trip

I spent this past weekend in WV. I took Jude and Elise with me. It was a very quick trip. I left Friday after Jude was out of school and we headed back late Sunday morning. Jude was all excited to go on Thurday night but Friday morning he changed his mind. I He told me he didn't want to go with me. Well, just as I was telling Delilah bye to head out the door with Elise, Jude decided to change his mind and go with me. It was a mad rush to get him packed. I think both kids had a fun time. They got to spend time with Miles and Ashley and Mamaw most of Saturday. I'm thinking about heading back down this weekend and Elise is ready to go. She wants to go today.
It was a bit on the chilly side, low 30's. Saturday morning we put up three large bales of hay in the vacation rentals barn loft they weighed probably 1,000 pounds each, we had to use the front end loader to get this task completed. We finally started working on the pig barn around 11 am. We moved some stone around to get the floor leveled out and completed one end of the barn. The barn is coming along pretty good. It now has a metal roof, one side, and the back walls finished. If I head back I might steal the camera from Delilah.

Working hard to find work

I have been a little off this week. If you were to ask Delilah she would say I was feeling sorry for myself, which might be slightly true. I've been scrounging the net for job openings and have pretty much come up empty. I have had a couple of interviews but nothing substantial to date. I thought by getting my Associates degree it would open a few more doors to me, it hasn't, yet. I decided to sign up for a Facebook account to try and do some networking with old friends. By the way, it is amazing how many old friends/acquintances you can find on Facebook. I've found people that I have completely forgotten about. Anyways............ I started doing a little networking with some old contacts, I may have a job lead we will see where it goes and I will let you know what develops from it. So I have been working hard to find work. Maybe I should think about car insurance.

Where's the time going

It's hard to believe that January is almost half way over. I'm still trying to figure out where 2008 went, now I how to figure out where January is going. Life is moving to fast for me. I have a job interview at Edgepark Medical for an inside sales rep position. They are located in Twinsburg so it will be a little bit of a hike for me to work. They did not list the salary for the position in the job opening. I wish all businesses would list what the pay is other than saying "competitive pay." It would probably save the companies and job searchers a lot of money and time. Does it really have to be that difficult? So anyways, I do have a job interview and am excited about, we'll see how it goes.

I made it through the holidays with out overeating to much up until the very end and then I just ate to much food. I think next year I may need to look for the best appetite suppressant.

I'm confused

The following was copied from an article from the Washington Post, the link is provided at the bottom.........

"With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively-mandated analog cutoff date," John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, wrote in the letter to leaders of the Senate and House commerce committees.

Preparations for the switch to digital television have been rocky. Lawmakers and consumer advocates worry that television watchers -- particularly low-income, rural and elderly Americans who rely most heavily on over-the-air signals -- will lose access to their main source of news, emergency notifications and entertainment.

Obama Urges Delay In Digital TV Switch - washingtonpost.com

I guess we have fogotton about radio as a source for news, emergency notifications and entertainment. I'm confused, is the government saying that consumers have a right to television?

On a lighter note..............

It's a New Year....... go figure

Well, 2008 rolled in with high expectations from the Miller family. We had many things we wanted to do, mainly, buy our first house. Then came along March 11 and everything seemed to turn upside down. I am still not sure why I was discharged from my employment. It is almost comical looking back on it. Never the less we made it through the rest of 2008 and I've gotta say that it has been good for us to go through this tough experience. We have high expectations for 2009 as well. The main expectation is to get a job "if I get a job." I really don't like looking for a job. I wish they would put a salary range on all jobs. It's nice to know what what the pay might be before going to all the work to submit a resume/application.