January 30, 2002

Well, the world is not getting any younger, and neither am I. Uh, yeah.

Here we are in 2002 and tons of news. Going back to the right after the last news update, Halloween was spent alone with Kari, no trick or treating. We didn't feel like it. Early November had a birthday party for Heidi, Michael and my dad, held at Heidi's apartment. I have some pictures I shall probably post some day. Thanksgiving was spent with my family in Sierra Vista. Heidi and Ryan did not come, because they were headed for Ryan's house. Something about meeting the future in-laws. Oh, wait. They spent the whole summer together in England. Ah, well. We don't begrudge the Cornwalls their time with Heidi too much. Jonathan got his mission papers in around that time, I think. Memory is fuzzy now. Also in November, I took the subject GRE test in psychology and had to wait some time before getting the results, which were above average but not outstanding. Hey, give me a break. Haven't studied some of that psychology stuff since 1993. I think I did all right, but am glad it's over. Don't have to read old text books constantly any more. Lastly, in November, I also got a new job and told CODAC where to stuff it. Actually, I really wanted to, but wrote a fairly nice letter to my boss, telling him I was leaving. I liked and respected him, just not the management. To read a PDF copy of the letter, click here. I feel I did a nice job of being nice to him while subtly zinging my old company. The truth is, it was very hard to leave my clients and coworkers. I'd been with those clients for a year and knew them pretty well, had them trained, had a good relationship with them. I really like and respect the doctor and psychiatric nurse practitioner and the poor new case managers I left behind. Then I started my new job, the day before Thanksgiving. Great, except I was a little depressed at leaving the old job and upset at finding out CODAC wouldn't cash out my paid time off, because I hadn't stayed with the company for six months. Huh. Six months of misery is what that would be. Oh, and I had to pay roughly $450 out of pocket to keep Kari insured (I had no insurance at all for 40 days) through COBRA for November and December. We had to, because if anything happened to our baby and we weren't insured, we would be sunk.

So, December rolled around and money was tight. Many things were happening. I had some application fees due during that time. Kari got her first ultrasound (we're hoping for another) and found out the baby will be . . . we don't know. Too stubborn, that baby of ours. First, it crossed it's legs. Then it placed its hands over the vital area. Lastly, after a half hour of trying, we got a good view of the umbilical cord passing between the legs. No luck. It seems we are not destined to know what the baby is yet, and possibly not at all until it comes (unless we convince the doctor to get us another ultrasound). We just call it an "it" or "baby" and ask people to give us yellows, grays, oranges and greens for baby clothing. We will have to bring in two outfits to the hospital, like they did in the old days. People keep asking us "Don't you want to know what your baby is?" Uh, yeah. We tried.

Kari graduated and her family came to visit. Marie, her mom, stayed for a week after everyone else left. We had a good time with her family, including the graduation luncheon. My family and a few friends were able to be there, as well. Then Heidi and Ryan got married in the Mesa temple for time and all eternity. Well, they are still together after one and a half months, so that's a good sign (just kidding, for all those out there that are worried). Jonathan got his mission call to the Ukraine. The boy will freeze, but it will be fun for him, I'm sure. He goes in April. Kari's brother, Christian, got his mission call to Korea and leaves right after the Olympics, in March. In all this time, Debbie and Gary and Christina and her family came in town for Christmas and the wedding. What a crowded house my parents had at that time. There sure are a lot of Rutherfords and kin. To finish December off, Kari and I had a new year's party with a few friends and played games and stuff. Good times. Karyn was also visiting with us for a few days. We enjoy having her around.

January is now almost over. Baby is growing well. I'm settling into this new job. The job is not bad, but about the same as what I have been doing. They have their own weird way of doing things and have their own level of idiocy, but nothing compared to CODAC. I'm starting to get to know people there and settle in, so it's getting better, but the job has served to convince me that I do not want to settle at this level of education, because I will always have crappy jobs in this field. I need a masters of doctorate to do anything fun. Ah, well. That's why I am applying to grad school. Speaking of which, I finally made a decision. It has been a tough one, but . . . eh, so was moving to Tucson. I am planning to go to U of Utah, in Salt Lake. If I'm not accepted this year, we're still moving to Utah to be near Kari's family so they can help with childcare and Kari can work. Then, either way, we can afford to live and pay off bills and stuff.

Kari and I went up to Utah this past weekend to see her brother Christian's farewell. It had to be in January because he leaves in early March and during all of February, Christian and his dad and several cousins are working literally every day for the Olympics, broadcasting it to the world. Kari and I had a good time and got rested up in time to turn around and drive back to Tucson, a 12 hour trip. We even made pretty good time despite the snow storm that literally followed us through central and southern Utah. I was driving and Kari stressed through the entire drive. Hey, I did pretty well, especially passing semi's while being blinded by their snow spray. Our car was in bad shape afterwards, too, covered in mud and salt and snow crap. Got home and immediately took it to a car wash. And I want to move up there? The trip was fun and it was very good to spend time with Kari's family. I'm going to miss Christian and Jon when they go on their missions.

Kari is getting bigger with baby all the time, and is still being told she's underweight, so she's having to shift her diet a little. We're working on it and collecting baby things and getting ready to move and hoping Kari can get some substituting time in at nearby schools. We're busy, but having fun. I'm still recovering from all the Christmas time stuff, and now from this Utah trip.