This is late, but better formed. It has been 4 months since I have written to this site and I have gained perspective on the web and beyond. I am starting a teaching credential program at National University near by in San Jose at Night and have been taking care of our, now 11 month old, son Taylor during the day. When Taylor naps I have been busy building a salvage woodshop in our garage. It has been very fulfilling building on the roots of my Grandfather's woodshop/garage, while inside raising the next generation of our family with Amy!
I stayed particularly close to home and close to my thoughts this holiday season. It was a strange pull on my emotions to witness our floundering economy, and to have "buy EVERYTHING" blasted into every sensory input for the entire month(1.5 mo.?) of December. But It is easier for me since the 00's were my first TV free decade! This New Years started a new era for us. We are learning how to manage a family together, start businesses and generally be more efficient and effective both individually and as parents(who are going to have a walking talking toddler in a few months!). Strange as change often is, there is a theme of simplicity that seems to ring through all of it, almost on its own. So I maintain that if I keep my mind on simplicity, the puzzles of change will work out.

Alas, I took the typing test mentioned in this post again and failed again. I never really thought I would be able to change my decades old typing habits in 48 hours, but I did hold hope that I could slip past this crazy system artifact easily by just passing the test. But now I have to open my mouth a little wider.
It has been a crazy week of opposing emotions. There were the lows of friends being laid off in dire economic times, and leaving a tenuous and uncertain situation behind for everyone involved. There is my own bewildering flirt with a potentially awesome opportunity working with my alma mater's substitute system which I love so much, only to be served a rejection letter for failing an evaluation test for a skill that is not a significant(if at all) part of the job description. And of course the high high of Obama's landslide victory on Tuesday night. I'm still in complete awe as the weight and meaning of this sets in. I still get the chills thinking about it! There is a common theme here that I keep coming back to; change. We need it!