Well, well, well...

Well.... here we find ourselves at a crossroads. I've been rather quiet lately here and on FB and even my surro chat room. When things get a little crazy and I have no idea of where we're headed, I just tend to stay quiet... and that's saying something for me! It's just hard to get into the subject with everyone over and over again when you yourself know nothing. We've known for about a month or two that Josh's job was in jeopardy and it wasn't because of performance issues. It all had to do with merger/territory issues. Does that really make it any easier though? I mean, it's one thing to be let go because you weren't pulling your weight and you know it, but it's another to be let go when you're really good at what you do. And Josh is. It's not just the proud-wife-sticking-up-for-her-husband kind of thing either. He's incredible at what he does. Now does he forget what I asked him to do 10 minutes ago at home or say "yes dear" but never listened to a word I say or constantly misspeak like when he sang "plit gayin quames with my heart" (Quit playing games with my heart... Backstreet Boys I think or was it Nsync... I don't know)...sure! At home!!! He uses up all his professional and intellectual skills at work....because he IS working and working hard and doing it well. Anyway.... that's enough of my pity party. We really have nothing to complain about. We have our health and we have each other and that is worth more than any job or any house that we lose. I know things happen for a reason and I hope the reasons are good. I hope that we look back on this a year from now wondering why we were so worried. I hope wherever we find ourselves in the months ahead that we are just as happy and satisfied as we have been here. Weston has been so good to us. Knowing that this was a possibility, we did take steps to protect ourselves and to investigate other areas to live. We put our house on the market "just in case" and we visited Nashville, which is an area that Josh mentioned many years ago that he wouldn't mind living if we ever had to move. Since Josh is a much better judge of character and environments in which to live than I am, I completely trust him. We did take a trip down there though just to investigate the housing market and school situation and of course to get the kids' input on the situation. As it turned out, Nashville was great. There is a lot to do and you can tell that it is growing and prosperous. It's a little busier than what I've grown accustomed to over the past 4 1/2 years or so, but certainly less hectic than Milwaukee or Phoenix. I still can't say that it feels like home to me, but I guess only time will tell if that is in fact our destiny. Here are some pictures from our road trip down south:

To start the trip out right, Kate got car sick not long into the trip due to reading in the car (which we always advise her NOT to do). Here's Jackson's reaction to that situation. lol The kid cannot handle barfing. Luckily I moved quick enough and had a gallon sized ziploc bag ready right when it happened (and my camera too!). I can't imagine trying to get your car cleaned out on a road trip in the middle of winter. We dodged a bullet on that one!

The barfer reloading shortly after...

Jackson's wiped out from all the stress and excitement of the situation.

Here's what our "crossroads" looks like... where on earth do we go from here???

...lol

So the family has been working out this year...

(Kate was too chicken to stand up on the highest platform...we almost didn't get the picture at all).

Here's some pictures from the Aquarium restaurant in Nashville. You know, one of those "theme" places that charges you 10x the price of a normal dinner, but know you'll pay it because you'd be the mean parents if you didn't bring your kid there. They got us hook, line and sinker...

Jackson really seemed to like his new hat from Christmas. He didn't even want to take it off to eat!

...or to take pictures. :-)

We also checked out Charlie Brown in Ice. Again, neat place...everything was sculpted out of ice, but totally overpriced. It's amazing how many people pay so much just to freeze their butts off! Give me a Charlie Brown DVD, some hot chocolate and popcorn and I'd be a much happier camper and richer too! But the kids really did enjoy themselves, so I guess it wasn't a total waste.

Gearing up for goin' in... notice how Josh did not bring his gloves, cuz that ain't cool and I'm a tough guy, and it's not really going to be that cold in there is it? Uh, if you think 6 degrees is cold, then YES!!! And you look like a nerd for not wearing your gloves... just so ya know! lol

My kids receiving advice for their "conditions" that have yet to be named.

Ice, ice, baby...

The kids thought the slide was pretty cool, especially Jack because his coat was so long that he could sit all the way inside and just zip down. For the rest of us, it wasn't that fast. Think about old people in nursing homes who "walk" themselves around in their wheelchairs. Well that's what we looked liked. Not too cool. Not too fun. And you have a ton of people at the end watching you in all your humiliation.

Later on we visited the zoo. About half of the animals were indoors where they could not be viewed because it was too cold out for them. BUT that meant that tickets were half price and we pretty much had the zoo all to ourselves. It was great and a much better use of our dough. They also had an AWESOME playground and I'm totally kicking myself for not taking a picture of that.

This was a neat little feature to the meerkat exhibit. You can get right in there and see them up close standing on their hind-legs, scratching their bellies.... now where have I seen that before? I seem to think it hits real close to home. Hmmmm... I just can't seem to put my finger on it...

...oh yeah... it's the guy standing in the enclosure holding the kid in blue. I see him do that!

Watch out! They spit.

Here we are at the Wild Horse Saloon. It's a pretty famous place in downtown Nashville. Some singers even got their start there, like Trick Pony. It was fun and they teach you to line dance if you like and they have live entertainment on most nights. For us, it was more about taking pictures with all the horses than anything else. This place is three stories high, so we had to wander all over to get all these great shots.

Jackers was more interested in watching the performer than eating his meal. He just sat on the steps all entranced.

Here he is breaking up fights.

Pondering the abyss...

Taking a bow.

Kate's ready to rock!

We ended the night by going to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel to check out their Christmas lights and to see their water show. Jackson liked being REALLY close to the action. He had a lot of fun, but I felt bad that he had to go out into the cold weather afterwards. Oh well, it was worth it to him and our hotel was just next door.