Getting Into a Rhythm

So it's Tuesday and Forrest is off driving around Iowa trying to sell chemicals at ethanol plants, the kids are all at school, and I'm supposed to be grading papers. I'm also sick: started feeling some gunk settling into my lungs yesterday afternoon and woke up this morning without much of a voice and a hacking cough. Luckily the ick descended at about 4:00 yesterday, because I had a classroom evaluation with my dean at noon. (Went well I think.) But now I'm feeling a little bit bedraggled. Hopefully I'll be on the upswing by tomorrow. After my horrible bout of pneumonia in 2009, I still get a little nervous when gunk settles in my lungs.

Things are going well at the Hallstrom house. Busy but good. Ethan and Elise are enjoying rehearsals for the musical, White Christmas.  Ethan just had his patriarchal blessing, which was a beautiful experience, and Elise is really enjoying choir at ERHS.  Jonas just finished soccer and got his First Class in Scouts. Everybody's grades are holding steady, which is always a relief for a slightly-too-involved mom like me, especially with Elise and Jonas learning to navigate new schools and expectations. Wyatt continues to adjust to Kindergarten and got a glowing report from his teacher at our first conference. We've been spending some time together learning to read and it's always so fun to see that ability blossom.

Forrest is enjoying the new job. There are always a few growing pains with anything new, but they have been relatively few and far between. As always, he's upbeat and excited most of the time about all the new challenges and opportunities. Speaking of Forrest, he ran another marathon last weekend with his friend Hector up in northern Wisconsin, and for the first time ever, we left the kids home OVERNIGHT. They did great. We even returned home to a relatively clean house!

Although the day of the race was grey and a little rainy, it was still beautiful to see all the fall leaves. I think Forrest and Hector enjoyed the cool misty rain: it helped keep them loose. Here are a few photos:

Forrest and Hector before the race

After Allison and I sent the boys on their way, we proceeded to drive around to find good cheering spots and suddenly noticed we were almost out of gas. The only gas station we could find without driving too far out of range of the race was this AWESOME dilapidated shanty of a gas station that was probably built in 1942 and hasn't been updated since. Although maybe they added the metal Green Bay guy in the 60s.

Allison and the metal Green Bay guy.

Me in front of a gas pump that was so old I was a little flummoxed about how to use it. 

This was the room where the 82-year-old owner with crazy eyebrows and a smoker's voice swiped our credit card after I told him how much I owed him for the gas. (He took my word for it.) Allison took this photo with her iPhone and we think some otherwordly intervention was at work, because the picture hanging on the wall next to the clock, obscured here by the glare, was of a buck naked lady with perfectly feathered 1973 bangs. 

Yes, the gas station was a highlight.

But the big news was Forrest's racing, of course. Every time Allison and I stopped, the guys seemed in control and ran like they were feeling good. That hasn't always been the case. It's a lot more fun to meet up with your husband at mile 22 and not have him look like he's ready to give up the ghost. Maybe it was the rain keeping them cool?

Now isn't that pretty?

Keeping up a nice stride

Coming in for the finish!

Forrest finished the race in 3:50 -- a great time. Both he and Hector were trying to get under 4 hours and they did it. So scratch that one off the bucket list.  Here they are with their half Cokes / half Diet Cokes, tired but happy after almost four hours of running:

And now I really have to get grading. I love teaching. Grading, not so much. Hence the avoidance blogging. Maybe next week I'll write something about the election. (I know you guys LOVE to hear what I have to say about politics! :-). Until then!

Another Big Transition

First, for those of you who enjoy a good photo, a picture of Jonas playing soccer. He's loving it and playing GREAT. He's gotten so much quicker and smarter since the last time he played.

Jonas on D

And now for the non-photographic, longwinded portion of the post. Although most people who read this blog already know this news, for posterity's sake (because all y'all know my great-great grandchildren will be poring over this blog on their data ports) and for the sake of my one reader in India, here's our other big news of late: Forrest has taken a new job with a brand new company.

Gasp!

In order to truly appreciate the enormity of this decision, we need to get a handle on my husband, who is as loyal as loyal gets. His favorite Mexican food restaurant? Chipotle, always and forever. Favorite fast food dessert? The McFlurry (can't go wrong). Favorite movie to watch the middle of on a Saturday afternoon whilst folding your laundry? Pirates of the Caribbean. I honestly think he could watch the middle of that movie 1,000 times and still be happy as a clam. And then, of course, there's the fact that he purports to still enjoy hanging out with a girl he met when he was 17 years old. His employment history supports this aspect of his personality as well: since returning home from his mission in 1992, he's worked for exactly TWO companies. Two. The LDS Church and HB Fuller.

And now it's three. Today he started his new job with Origination, a smallish company here in the Twin Cities that makes the chemical additives that go into animal feed. The company also has something to do with the organic fertilizer industry. And ice melting stuff. And a few other things. (It's very sexy. Almost as sexy as glue.) Although Forrest has recited the elevator speech explaining the genesis of this decision dozens of times, here's my take on it. Forrest has been very happy at Fuller for a long time. It's a good job; he gets paid well and treated well and his employers like him. A new boss recently came on board and a project he was working on recently ended, but he wasn't looking for anything new. And then a recruiter called and asked him if he might be interested in a position with a small business.

Forrest said no. Of course he said no. Why would he say yes? But the recruiter called him back and said, hey, just go talk to the owner and see what you think. It's a great opportunity, and the two of you can just sit down and talk for an hour or so. It was only about 20 minutes away from work, so Forrest decided, "What the heck." And the rest is history. From the minute he started talking with the owner he felt that this job was tailor made for him. Not only was it a great business opportunity with a stable, small company that's been around for years, but it allows him to use all his talents and experience in a way that's almost impossible in a big corporate setting. The truth is, Forrest has never been the stereotypical corporate guy: he spreads himself too thin, says yes to too many people, and doesn't look out for #1 as well as others might. I've always thought he would truly thrive in a smaller-business setting.

But it was scary to choose a big change like this. Frankly, I'm still a little nervous (since that's my job in this marriage, to be the Nervous Nelly to his Calm Cameron). But I can't deny the overwhelming spiritual confirmation that both of us had that this was right. Right, right, right. It was tough when Forrest told Fuller he was planning to leave. He has a lot of friends there and people who really value what he does, and that's truly meaningful to both Forrest and me. When the company came back with a counter offer it was even harder to go. But even with that, both Forrest and I were sure that now is the time, for whatever reason, to jump.

So . . . 1, 2, 3 . . .

Cowabunga!

We'll see how this all turns out. :-)