Sigh...

We always worry about things when we're gone for an extended length of time.  First, is the car safe where we parked it.  Yes!  Second, did someone break in....  Well we pulled up and a light was on that we didn't leave on.  But it's not the culprit you may think it to be.

We knew this would happen, we've just been avoiding it because we do not have a way to fix it.  But after moving to four different apartments in three different states.  The ol Ikea bookshelf decided to give up. And while on her way down, she managed to flip the light switch.

She's been holding on to alll those books for sooooo long.  From first glance, it seem like the only damage is to one of my two matching lamps (it's shattered) and my avocado seeds (which were all knocked over and their water spilled on the carpet...which is now dry and doesn't seem to show any signs of the incident).  We'll see tomorrow morning if there is any more damage.

And the last thing we always wonder (if we didn't take her with us), is Ebba ok?  I'm pretty sure she is.  She's in good hands and we'll pick her up tomorrow afternoon.

Update: 05/23/11

I wanted to wait a couple days to update because you never know what is going to change and when.  Rich (Ed’s dad) is doing much, MUCH better.  He gained enough strength to be released from the hospital Friday.  While he was being released, hospice came and set up a hospital bed in the living room and switched out his oxygen tanks.

At that point, the plan was to go home and get strong enough for chemo.  I think coming home has really helped.  He’s been getting up and walking around more, taking regular showers, and is having to use his oxygen less and less. It also helps that he can actually eat and sleep when he wants without constant interruption from nurses (and 11 p.m. cleaning ladies!).  Yesterday we even went for a little car ride, just to get out of the house and see some sun.  He’s eating more and more (which is good!) and he has got some fight in him.  When we first got here, it seemed like he was ready to give up.

While the hospice nurses were here, he ran up the stairs and told them that he just wasn’t ready yet and that he was going to fight!  Karen and I were both sitting there, very surprised at this sudden burst.  But since then he’s been gung-ho and ready to beat this.  He's got a doctors appointment today, right about the time that we leave, and hopefully we'll hear nothing but good news!

Today is our last day here.  We fly out at 2:30 p.m. after we drive to Omaha.  I really hope that his get-up-and-go sticks around after we leave.  Karen said, that us being here has really helped.  I’m not sure how, but we’re glad it did!

Job Interview...

So I had a job interview yesterday for a German position at Vicksburg High School in Vicksburg, MS.  I was rally nervous because this is ultimately me dream job.  To be in control of a German program at a high school where I can help it grow and realize the potential of the German language.

The interview wasn’t until four p.m., but we headed home to “get ready” at about 3:15.  The principal at Vicksburg High School, Mr. Derek Reed, very so kindly let me do the interview over the phone because of the current situation: living in Florida, just flew to Iowa, and the seriousness of the situation with Ed’s dad.

I was told that there old be 4-5 other people on the other end of the phone (Mr. Reed, two assistant principles, head of the Modern Language Department, and possibly one other person), so I was really nervous.  I thought back to the phone calls on skype when there were more than one person on the other end and you start to talk over one another.  The idea of that happening made me even more nervous.

It was 4 p.m. and I was sitting on the bed waiting.  Only Ed and I were home, so the house was nice and quiet.  At 4:05 I thought, well maybe it was at 4:30. 

At 4:10 my phone rings.  It’s Mr. Reed.  He asks me if I was waiting on his call for the interview….welll duh!  And so he said, “Let’s get this thing started.”  I expected then for the others to join in.  But it was just him.  He asked me the normal interview questions, which took about 15 minutes.  And mostly because I talked A LOT.  He did the normal, “Do you have any questions?” question, to which I asked a couple questions. 

He then said that at this point he would normally tell the applicant that they would have to discuss all the applicants with the other principles and decision makers and get back to me in about a week, but he had already made his decision and asked me if I wanted the job!

Of course I immediately said yes, in hopes that we can work everything out.  A lot has to happen before we can actually accept the job and move to MS, but there was no way I was telling him no!

So we’ve got a lot to discuss, plan, and research in the next few weeks.

We decided later in the evening to send Mr. Reed an email and ask for help finding Ed a job.  We attached Ed’s resume and other important information and hoped he could direct us to something.  Early this morning (7:30), Mr. McDonald, one of the assistant principles, called me to ask what Ed wanted to do and the types of jobs he is interested in.  He then said that he would forward Ed’s information to a couple of the jobs that had already closed that he thought Ed would do well.

So it’s looking possible that Ed and I both might have jobs in Vicksburg soon!

Iowa Update: 05/16/2011

We arrived in Sioux City, IA late, late Friday night.  Ed’s dad, Rich, had already been in the hospital for an infection.  Saturday, we went to visit him.  When we first got to the hospital to see him, he was pretty down.  Not really speaking coherently and sleeping most of the time.  We stayed around a bit.  He ate and got some fluids.  A little later, he was feeling better so he got up and we played card games in the hospitals family room.  We had a good time laughing and playing Uno.  He gained a lot of strength while we were there. 

The next day (yesterday), he was released in the afternoon and Ed made our normal, Nummy pizza for dinner.  He had plenty of food and fluids and was doing pretty good.  We all went to bed, but Rich didn’t sleep well.  He has nightmares and woke up in the night having difficulty breathing. 

When we woke up he was sitting in his comfy chair with his oxygen, still having difficulty breathing.  He had a doctors appointment at 10:30 today (05/16) and the doctor found that he had fluid on his belly, among other things.  The doctor decided that he should be readmitted to the hospital.  After a CAT scan, they determined that he had another blood clot in his lungs and that is what had woken him up during the night.  The fluid on his belly is also causing the labored breathing.

In addition, the tumors on his liver have multiplied.  The last time they went to Mayo, Karen counted 11 tumors.  Today, they showed more than 50.  At this point, they don’t think he will be well enough to start chemo.  They give him one to two weeks.

mfG,

Alexis

Up in the air...

That seems to describe our lives for the last couple of years.  The most common phrase in our household is, “Let’s wait until  _____.”  You can fill in the blank with phrases like, “we start school,” “we finish school,” “we get there,” “we find out about ____,” and the list goes on and on. 

There are a lot of exciting/emotional things going on right now.  Ed has his job here in FL at FGCU, but I’m still looking.  I have a potential job at a high school a little over an hour away, but it depends on the FL legislature and which way they vote on the class size amendment.  I read an article that they capped classes at the larger number, so I’m still unsure if I have a job here or not.  I continue to apply in this area, but after the “traumatic” experience of the Collier county recruitment fair, I’ve expanded my job search a little further.  How much further? Eh… all 50 states? Sort of.  If they have a German position, I’m applying.  But if not, I’m sticking to the southern states.  The next time we move we’d like to move to a place where we both have job offers and be closer to family.

That being said, I applied for a German position at Vicksburg High School in Vicksburg, MS.  It’s very rare for a German position to come open in MS.  So I jumped at the opportunity to apply.  I wasn’t sure when the ad been posted, so I called the school to get some more info.  Turns out the posting was closing and they wanted to do interviews the very next week.  The nice little lady at human resources told me I could speed up my application (because it is a snail mail only process) by emailing her my resume.  I quickly assured her that I could email her everything they could possibly need to hire me and so I did.  She then forwarded my email directly to the principal.  And that was it.

Ed always tells me to apply and forget about it….and that’s really hard for me to do.  I usually obsess about everything.  I mean, if it’s a job that I really want, I think about it.  Is that not normal?  But I tried my best not to think about it.  We’re getting ready to go to Iowa to visit Ed’s parents, so I did some house cleaning.  I checked my phone and noticed I hat two missed calls and a new voicemail.  One of the missed calls was form mom, so I just figured she left the voicemail, especially since I didn’t recognize the other number.  I’ve been getting a lot of wrong numbers lately.  So I called mom back and chatted for a while.  Afterwards, I did some laundry and thought back to the voicemail.  So I went back to my phone and gave it a listen.

“Hi Ms. Whittington.  This is Jamie Creel, the assistant principal at Vicksburg High School.  We looked over your resume and are very, VERY impressed.  We’d like to get you in here for an interview on May 17^th.  Please give me a call.”

Um…AHH. So I called back immediately and he was on bus duty.  I called back the recommended 15 minutes later and he was in a meeting.  So I called back today and they again said that they wanted me to come in for an interview.  I told them my situation that I was flying to Iowa this Friday and not coming back for over a week and on top of that I live in FL.  I asked if it were possible to do a phone interview and it was confirmed.  Phone interview, May 17^th and 4 p.m. 

I’m super excited.  This is a great opportunity (if I get the job) to stay in an area for a long time, we may be able to finally settle!  But all of this depends on if I get the job, if Ed can get a job in the area, etc.

At the same time, I tend to be a mental cart before horse thinker.  So of course I went to zillow.com and started looking at houses in the area.  I also contacted a friend who lives in Vicksburg and asked about potential areas to or not to live in, in Vicksburg.  Zillow showed some beautiful houses in our price range. 

So all our hopes and dreams are still up in the air.  If I get a job here, we want to move, possibly by a car, get some real furniture, and a host of other things.

If we both get jobs in MS, we have to move, possibly get a car, hopefully get some real furniture, and again, a host of other things. 

Also, when we both get jobs, wherever that might be, we want to move to a house.  Whether we rent or buy, we don’t’ want to share walls any more.  Having neighbors is nice, creates a sense of community, etc., but this whole sharing a wall thing has got to stop.  I’ll save the neighbor rant for another post.

3 posts in one day...

I told you I was playing catch up!

On a lighter note from my previous post, we did have a pretty good weekend.  Saturday afternoon, our friend Alan came to visit.  We did some beach time and the normal deep-thought-discussions, and of course the fun back-and-forth banter.

Monday we decided to rent ocean kayaks and  try out the bay.  I wasn't thrilled about the idea because of my previous experience on smaller kayaks (and this is why my kayak is still in Sioux City...it can stay there right now!).  So everything seemed ok, we put the color in the kayak, geared up, and set out.  We saw some manatees and got pretty close to some dolphins.  No pictures, because it's hard to paddle and work a camera.  We were kind of chasing this pretty big dolphin when about an hour or more from the marina where we started and in the midst of little mangrove islands, Ed says, "hey guys, is my boat sinking?"  I turned to him and said, "why yes, yes it is."  So Alan and I went to Ed's aid and unloaded the cooler onto my ankles and Alan shared some of the weight by taking on some bottles and what not.

It was clear that Ed wouldn't make it back to any type of shore in that boat.  We looked around and saw a couple fishing boats and thought it would be best to try to reach one of them for help.  So I headed as fast as I could across some open-ish water to the nearest boat.

When I got there, all out of breath with cotton-mouth, I apologized profusely for disturbing their fishing trip and interrupting their day.  They looked at me like I was a disease or sea scum that they just wanted to be rid of.  I had to BEG them to help us.  After they finally agreed they headed to help Ed and I started the paddle back to where they were.  Just as I got back, they were pulling away to take Ed back to the marina where we rented the kayaks.  Alan and I sat there for a few seconds trying to decide if we were going to wait for them to come back or if we were going to head back.  We very quickly decided to head back and charged forward with the return trip.

It didn't take us too long, because we (or at least I) were no longer distracted by dolphins and manatees.  I just wanted to be on land!  We made it all the way back and the Crazy Kayak Lady was just then securing a boat to go get the sinking kayak.

So after docking our kayaks, we all hopped on a pontoon boat and headed back out to the bay to find Ed's sunken ship kayak.  We realized that we hadn't reeaaaallllly followed the map on our way out, but we didn't have much trouble locating the kayak.  We had shoved it up in a mangrove cave and it was still  there, safe and sinking.  We pulled it up on the pontoon boat and headed back, saw some more manatees and some crazy diving birds.

The Crazy Kayak Lady didn't charge us and we got a pontoon boat ride out of it.  So all in all the day was good!  Not to mention getting that close to the manatees and dolphins.  Although I think we were just as close to them when we were at the beach as we were when we were kayaking.

gooood times, gooooooood times...

Cancer and how it spreads...

As I have posted before, Ed's dad has cancer.  At first we thought that the lung cancer from last year had spread.  But evidently that is not the case.  Soon after the lung cancer was taken care of last year, Rich was diagnosed as a diabetic.  Little did we (or the doctors) know then, that he had developed pancreatic cancer.

So a year later, we all thought he was cancer free until a month or so ago, a blood clot loosen itself from his lungs and caused him to have a little mini stroke.  More and more testing revealed more and more bad news.  Spots on the liver turned to cancer, which we then found out was pancreatic cancer.

Some good news in all this, they check his stomach and lower GI tract and those areas are cancer free so far.  So no colostomy bag and he can still eat what he wants!

The following are parts of email updates from Karen:


April 28:
"The oncology department called yesterday requesting that we return a day earlier than what had been scheduled for additional tests.  This morning Rich is having his stomach scoped because they are concerned about possible tumors.  Rich has been extremely tired - now sleeping most of the day on and off.  After the tests this morning we will see the nurse practitioner, Erin, in oncology this afternoon to review the test results.

Rich was to begin chemotherapy tomorrow but the results today may change the type and frequency of his treatments, as well as when he will begin the process.  We will just have to wait for more information."


April 29:
"This morning we arrived by 6:30am and tests began at 7am on the lower GI and die cast CT so he will be back for more than 2 hours.  ASAP upon coming out he will want COFFEE and something to eat.  We see the doctor and nurse pracitioner at 1:30pm today.  They still have him scheduled for chemotherapy at 2:30pm today but will learn more at 1:30."


April 30:
"Well, as you all know when dealing with cancer it can be a roller coaster ride for all of us!  We were called by Mayo to return as soon as possible on Wednesday afternoon for early morning test on Thursday.  So packed and off we drove to Rochester.  On Thursday, as I shared, we received news from the upper GI tests that there was no cancer in his stomach or esophagus.  Early Friday morning, Rich went back, ALL cleaned out, for the die scans of the lower GI.  These tests revealed more of the story, his colon was clear but they found a tumor at the base of the pancreas.  Now, a new team of "GI" doctors were injected into the picture to evaluate the results of Rich's tests.  Rich has pancreatic cancer so that means that the tumors on his liver moved from the pancreas.  Rich does not have lung cancer.  Both teams, lung and GI specialists, confirmed that the surgeon of January 2010 did in fact get all of the tumor in his lung.  These doctors informed us that pancreatic cancer is the "silent cancer" and in Rich's case he has had it for about 6 to 9 months thus it has reached stage 4.

The chemotherapy treatments for this cancer is taken one day per week for three weeks in a row, then one week off.  Because of this schedule we will be doing the treatment as recommended by Mayo which is gemcitabine chemotherapy. The most fact is that Rich's tumor is located at the tail of the pancreas which means that we can explore surgery BUT we have to find out how large the tumor is before proceeding.  There are options to consider which is so important even though we know that pancreatic cancer is very serious.  We proceed with optimism and hope."


May 3:
"Yesterday, we received word from all the doctors; the Mayo GI specialists, our family doctor, local surgeon, and oncologist, that Rich's tumor is not operable.  At this time we are planning to go ahead with chemo treatments locally.  The Mayo Clinic doctors all recommended that he stay home for these treatments because he must go one day per week for three weeks then off the fourth week and he must reserve his energy to battle the cancer not for traveling 285 miles one way. The June Nylen Cancer Center of Sioux City will be utilizing the very same chemo that Mayo would have at their clinic.  Currently, these treatments will be indefinite but every two weeks there will be scans to see if the treatments are holding and/or making the tumors smaller.  Both teams will review the scans and if Mayo concludes that is beneficial to return then they will indicate that finding and we will head north again.

Rich is extremely tired each day and rests on and off throughout the day.  Currently, he is experiencing a little pain in the area of the pancreas but the doctors all say that is to be expected.

The sunshine and warmer temps have helped to lighten our spirits as we continue with hope down this road to battle Rich's pancreatic cancer.  Again, your many emails/texts of support and prayers means the world to the entire family."


May 4:
--After a phone call from Karen and Rich, we decided to go ahead and by plane tickets to go see them.  We will be heading to Sioux City, IA, May 13-23 and may return soon after.  They need all the support right now that they can get.  Ed will be able to work some remotely and I can continue my classes and job search from there.  Ebba will be staying at one of Ed's co-workers house while we are gone.--


May 5:
"When are you are coming?"


Although cancer is already serious by nature, you can see the escalating seriousness that has quickly followed in the last week or so.  


So that should get everyone up to speed about the situation and give you an idea of how we're all feeling.

So much going on...

There has been a lot going on in the Burton household lately and I haven't been updating as much as I should (or at all), so I'm going to do a little back tracking to get caught up.

April 26th and 27th, I attended the Collier County Teacher Recruitment Fair.  I had never been to one of these before, so I had no clue what to expect.  I knew from the e-mails sent to us and from registration that there would be an orientation at the beginning, then I would have five interviews throughout the day and at the end there would be a contracts meeting.  I wasn't completely sure what all that meant.

So I go...and like I always do, I got there early, parked, and went in.  There were already a few people there so I signed in, got my schedule (which was the one I had created per instruction), and waited for orientation.  It wasn't long before orientation started and they herded us down to an outside area to bake in the sun while they talked to us about the future of education in Florida and what it meant for us:  no job protection, 50% of our evaluations as teachers would be based on student performance, no job security, no tenure, fewer benefits, no pay for higher degrees, and a slue of other things that made teachings sound completely undesirable.  So I call this the slaughter part of the day...you know...after they herded us down here.

Next we waited for the meat market:  our interviews.  We went into huge room (like a ballroom), where tables were lined 6-7 rows deep and alll the way across, maybe the length of 20-25 tables.  At each table there were four representatives from each school.  Across from each one of them was a chair for an interviewee.

My first interview was mind boggling.  Not because of the actual interview, but because of the setup.  You couldn't hear yourself think in that room.  You sat down at the table, with three other interviewees and interviewed with one person, while the others interviewed with the other people.  The loudness of the room was deafening.  You only had about 20 minutes to interview, so no time to show portfolios or anything like that, which was fine for me, because I didn't bring one.  Before you knew it, your interview was over and then came the hoping part.

At the end of each interview, they either gave you nothing, meaning they weren't interested in you, or they gave you a yellow piece of paper meaning they were interested in you but didn't have a place in their school for you, or they gave you a green piece of paper that means they want you and you are to go to the "contract room" and sign a contract.  You had no time to think about the offer because once you stood up, the offer was rescinded.  Then they walked you, almost held your hand, to the interview room, where you signed a "contract," giving you no time to call your husband/wife/significant other and discuss the potential position.  Also, they've only interviewed the first person (with the earliest time slot for an interview) and offered them a job even though there could be potentially a better candidate in the crowd.

So at the end of day 1, I had one potential job offer (potential because it was a .8 position, and they couldn't "legally" offer me the position until they found the other .2 to make it a full 1).  But day 1 was elementary, so I had my hopes up for day 2.

Day 2:  I didn't think it could get worse than day one, but boy was I wrong.  Same process.  I also learned from day one that you could pick up more interviews, so I manages to up my five interviews to 11! Which meant i interviewed with all nine high schools in Collier county as well as two middle schools.  For my first interview, they told me they had a Science position open, but no German, English, or Art.  Another potential candidate who I met went in and interviewed with the same school, directly after me was told that they only had an English position open.  See a problem?  We were being lied to!  This happened over and over again all day long.  After about the third interview, it was just a little depressing.  I was tired of hearing, "Oh my goodness, you're such a wonderful candidate, with such a diverse background and great experiences.  We would LOVE to have you in our school...but we just don't have a position for you right now."

By interviews 4-7 it was laughable.  I knew exactly what to expect.  One interviewer asked me how my day was going and i asked if they REALLY wanted to know...and of course they said, why yes! So i laid it on them, haha.  Probably not the best thing to do, but, come on.  You can't advertise 400-550 jobs and then not hire ANYONE!  By interviews 8-11, I was just angry.  What was the point of me being there, why did all these people form Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, etc. waste their time and money to come down to Naples, FL to be insulted?  And that's exactly what it was...insulting.

At the end of day two I had three "we like you but don't have  place for you" yellow pieces of paper.  So, everyone with this "golden ticket" as we affectionately named it, got to go and meet with the principles one last time.  Not sure why, because we had already done this all day long.  But, after going around and shaking everyone's hand and telling them that I knew they didn't have a position for me, but it was nice to meet them and learn about their school, one school (that previously told me they had no positions open) called me over and offered me a high school English position.  I kind of smirked, accepted the position, and was taken to the contract room.

I guess it was a "good" experience and definitely eye-opening, but something I would prefer not to have to go through again.  And pending the June 1st outcome of the FL legislation, I will or will not have a job near-ish to where Ed works.

Oh and let's talk about this potential job offer...

The Ugly:
-  I've heard different views of the students.  A principle told me that they come from loving, caring families, are very nice and like to give hugs.  A teacher who once worked there told me that she had a few bones broken while trying to restrain students.
-  One of their students was shot and killed near the school the day of the recruitment fair.

The Bad:
-  To start, it's an HOUR away from FGCU where Ed works.

-  It's a migrant school, so workers who come to work the citrus fields, send their kids to this school.  Nothing wrong with that.

-  It's out in the middle of no where.
-  When we drove out there to see what the school looked like, the only word that came to mind was prison.

The Good:
-  Potentially nice students.
-  Loan forgiveness.
-  They pay you a little more because of the location (maybe a gas/travel supplement) and because the school is in session longer than normal schools because of its migrant status.

Needless to say, we have both started job searches in other states, closer to home and family.