Baby, its cold outside.

Mark and I are doing well. Mark has been working at his new job for about a week, and its working out nicely. He and two other new trainers that started around the same time have been busy learning the ropes, and taking a lot of training classes themselves. Mark is the most experienced in training between the three of them, and the hope is that he will develop most of the new curriculum for their training program. He will be supporting all the PCC campuses, so he'll be driving around a bit once he gets up to speed. So far it’s been fun for him, and he's enjoying it.

I'm continuing to enjoy working at PSU, even though it’s only been 3 weeks, it seems like longer. The people are great, and I am enjoying getting to know all our student workers who work at the Help Desk. We get into great conversations and lively debates; Oregonians seem to be much more concerned about politics and social issues than people in LA seem to be. Even though I consider myself a liberal, there is a lot of extreme liberalism here that make me look like a moderate. I usually try to stay out of “those” conversations. Sometimes the student workers remind me of my own ‘youth’; it’s amazing how black and white things look when you are young. With age and experience comes a greater… ”appreciation” of the shades of gray in life.

My final exam in my class is in 2 weeks, and the state board test is in 3 weeks. I'm spending every spare moment studying. This Thanksgiving weekend will be my last weekend before my final, so I'll be spending it studying. I haven't played WOW in 3-4 weeks, and though it’s been tough to hold back, I've been pretty good about it. After my test, I'll decide how much time I want to dedicate to it again. It’s been weird not to be playing, but it’s also been nice to enjoy other things.

We are slowly acclimating to the cold, especially now that both of us have to wake up at 6am to get ready for work. (For those of us who knew us from our old job, they would be amazed we are actually doing this). Mornings so far can vary from 30-45 degrees F. Who would have though that I would wake up and think it was a "warm morning" at 43 degrees F. (I can hear my family in Hawaii cringing about now). Also, living here has taught me the meaning of scarves. In LA it was a fashion statement; i.e. the oxymoron of scarves and tanktops. Here it’s a warmth necessity. I don’t leave the house without one anymore.

I’ve spend a lot of time shopping for coats and jackets. Seems like everyone here has 12-15 of them. Living in LA all these years, my wardrobe is lacking much serious cold weather clothes. I have also been shopping a bit for some professional clothes, since what I wear to work as a tech support person won’t quite cut it in the professional tax preparer world of H&R Block. My first year of income from my H&R Block work will probably be eaten up by the cost of clothes I need to buy to work there lol.

Other than studying, there really isn’t much going on. Mark has been having fun as a pyromaniac. In our apartment, we actually have a real fire burning fireplace, and so Mark has been enjoying figuring out how to make a fire that will sustain itself without too much feeding. Of course, when we’re feeling lazy we just use one of those pre-made fire logs that are pretty much light it and forget it. Its been very pleasant to have a fire when its cold and overcast outside, makes us feel very cozy.

Anyways, it’s almost Thanksgiving and Mark and I plan to have a quiet time at home, studying for my tax exam in a big comfy chair in front of the fireplace. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!