October felt like one long weekend. November has been fairly quiet in the Black household as we are settling in and getting ready for our first holiday season in New Jersey. Andy's been busy at work, as always, and I've been trying to keep myself busy while not working. Our friends, Scott and Linda, were in town for a weekend in October and we did a day in NYC. I posted a picture in the last post but didn't share much about it. We started the day by breezing through Hudson Yards and then heading to the Upper West Side and had lunch at Jacob's Pickles. That place is insanely good! We walked over to Joe's coffee and then headed into Central Park. I was hoping for some fall colors but we were a little too early. It was still a super pretty day and fun to walk in the park. We walked all the way to Times Square, and then headed home. It was a LONG day, but we saw so much! Every day in NYC is a long day when it's all about sight seeing. I would much rather walk everywhere and see things than take the subway and see nothing. One of my favorite things about Scott and Linda is how easy it is to be around them. I show up to their house and it's like I live there (I actually did for 3 weeks in between moves) and they can do the same here. Hungry? Open the fridge. Thirsty? Grab a beer. Hosting is fine, but having people feel at home in your home is the BEST compliment.
A couple weeks later I did another day trip by myself to NYC, just because I can. Same thing, I just walked and walked and walked. I started at World Trade Center and walked up to Grand Central Station. Then I grabbed a spot at a coffee shop and hung out for a bit. I want to take advantage of the changes I have to do this while I can.
That being said, after being #funemployed for these past few months, I decided it was time to apply for my NJ Teaching Licence so I can keep that current. It takes up to 12 (yes, TWELVE!) weeks to process AFTER you apply and get all of the paperwork sent to them. I had to order college transcripts again. College, from 12 years ago, college. Anyways, since I was doing all of that paperwork I figured I'd take a peek at LinkedIn and see what's out there. I applied for a job at Kumon Corporate North America, and got an interview. Then another. And another. And 6 phone calls/interviews later I was offered a job! I will be an Instructor Trainer, which means I will be working with Potential Franchisees and training them on how to open and run a Kumon Center. The best part is that I was offered the job in early October, but I don't start until November 11th (Monday!) so...it was off to DENVER I went!
I have not seen my sister and her family since Christmas when Micah was born. I wanted to get out there while I still had time off and it worked out perfectly. I was able to go for a long weekend and I'm SO happy I did. Kids are only kids for so long and they change so fast! I got to Trick or Treat with Brinley (and Micah and Sarah) at the Denver Zoo. It was fun to see how excited Brinley was. And it was nice to spend time with my sister. It's amazing to me how technology makes staying in touch so easy. 20 years ago we were still paying for long distance calls and now I get to see my family on video whenever I want. Amazing. But nothing beats being there in person. I got to fly in to snow on the ground, sit in 75 degree sun on the patio 2 days later, then see 6 inches of snow the next day. It snowed another 6 inches after I left. It was fun to see, and fun to get get back to my 60 degree consistent weather in NJ.
This past weekend Andy and I decided to take a little drive up to a State Park in New York and see some fall colors. We brought Deb for a little hike, which turned into a big hike that we were slightly unprepared for. It was a marked path in the woods, but I'm talking over the river and through the woods. I read a little online before we went about following the path and turning somewhere, but we just assumed it would be obvious. It wasn't. It was especially not obvious when we lost the path, I looked at a passing hiker's map and got more confused, and then the path we were on changed. We found the top of a rock and got one bar of cell signal, just enough to download a PDF map. This was around the time we started to worry about the sun starting to set. Amazing Andy found his sense of direction, found the right path, and got us on our way. He said it would be an easier hike back, which it wasn't, but it was super fun. Once we realized we were going the right way we relaxed and enjoyed the 2 mile hike back to the car. Have no fear, the sun was plenty high and I had water in the car. We survived. Not that we ever wouldn't survive on a marked path with cell phones, but us city kids just didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We will definitely go back now that we know the way, and we will definitely look at and study the hiking maps before we venture out again!
I now only have one weekend left before the work life schedule sets in again. I will miss going to the gym during the 10am-3pm quiet hours, shopping at Target, Costco, and Home Goods when nobody else is there, and sleeping in. I'll miss my 3 hours of coffee, pajama, and news time in the mornings. Andy's a little nervous about me getting up early as I've gotten used to sleeping in, but I'm sure he'll have fun waking me up and laughing at me about it. Oh, and I'm jumping on the EARLY bandwagon and I'm getting Christmas cards started. I promise I won't send them out until Thanksgiving, but I want to get our new address out to everyone, so keep an eye out for those if you are looking for our address. Or you can always ask!
Love, your friend who is almost retired from #funemployment, again!
A couple weeks later I did another day trip by myself to NYC, just because I can. Same thing, I just walked and walked and walked. I started at World Trade Center and walked up to Grand Central Station. Then I grabbed a spot at a coffee shop and hung out for a bit. I want to take advantage of the changes I have to do this while I can.
That being said, after being #funemployed for these past few months, I decided it was time to apply for my NJ Teaching Licence so I can keep that current. It takes up to 12 (yes, TWELVE!) weeks to process AFTER you apply and get all of the paperwork sent to them. I had to order college transcripts again. College, from 12 years ago, college. Anyways, since I was doing all of that paperwork I figured I'd take a peek at LinkedIn and see what's out there. I applied for a job at Kumon Corporate North America, and got an interview. Then another. And another. And 6 phone calls/interviews later I was offered a job! I will be an Instructor Trainer, which means I will be working with Potential Franchisees and training them on how to open and run a Kumon Center. The best part is that I was offered the job in early October, but I don't start until November 11th (Monday!) so...it was off to DENVER I went!
I have not seen my sister and her family since Christmas when Micah was born. I wanted to get out there while I still had time off and it worked out perfectly. I was able to go for a long weekend and I'm SO happy I did. Kids are only kids for so long and they change so fast! I got to Trick or Treat with Brinley (and Micah and Sarah) at the Denver Zoo. It was fun to see how excited Brinley was. And it was nice to spend time with my sister. It's amazing to me how technology makes staying in touch so easy. 20 years ago we were still paying for long distance calls and now I get to see my family on video whenever I want. Amazing. But nothing beats being there in person. I got to fly in to snow on the ground, sit in 75 degree sun on the patio 2 days later, then see 6 inches of snow the next day. It snowed another 6 inches after I left. It was fun to see, and fun to get get back to my 60 degree consistent weather in NJ.
This past weekend Andy and I decided to take a little drive up to a State Park in New York and see some fall colors. We brought Deb for a little hike, which turned into a big hike that we were slightly unprepared for. It was a marked path in the woods, but I'm talking over the river and through the woods. I read a little online before we went about following the path and turning somewhere, but we just assumed it would be obvious. It wasn't. It was especially not obvious when we lost the path, I looked at a passing hiker's map and got more confused, and then the path we were on changed. We found the top of a rock and got one bar of cell signal, just enough to download a PDF map. This was around the time we started to worry about the sun starting to set. Amazing Andy found his sense of direction, found the right path, and got us on our way. He said it would be an easier hike back, which it wasn't, but it was super fun. Once we realized we were going the right way we relaxed and enjoyed the 2 mile hike back to the car. Have no fear, the sun was plenty high and I had water in the car. We survived. Not that we ever wouldn't survive on a marked path with cell phones, but us city kids just didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We will definitely go back now that we know the way, and we will definitely look at and study the hiking maps before we venture out again!
I now only have one weekend left before the work life schedule sets in again. I will miss going to the gym during the 10am-3pm quiet hours, shopping at Target, Costco, and Home Goods when nobody else is there, and sleeping in. I'll miss my 3 hours of coffee, pajama, and news time in the mornings. Andy's a little nervous about me getting up early as I've gotten used to sleeping in, but I'm sure he'll have fun waking me up and laughing at me about it. Oh, and I'm jumping on the EARLY bandwagon and I'm getting Christmas cards started. I promise I won't send them out until Thanksgiving, but I want to get our new address out to everyone, so keep an eye out for those if you are looking for our address. Or you can always ask!
Love, your friend who is almost retired from #funemployment, again!
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