Tenure progresses.......

We just found out early this afternoon that Fred received a unanimous vote from his department for tenure! Okay, NOT that we were worried or anything, but still....the work put in on his dossier, the completion of it and turning it in have taken up so much of Fred's focus these past few years. After the dossier was turned in, it was/is a "sit and wait" and that can be so draining after his working so hard, but the dossier is great and the outside respondent letters were incredibly glowing AND truthful. Now, with the department's unanimous vote, the rest of the process (the College of Arts and Sciences' approval, the Dean of Faculty's approval, the Board of Trustees approval) should go smoothly. Whew. CONGRATULATIONS, FRED! (I guess that we can finish unpacking now and REALLY settle into the house now, hunh?)

I'm now in Week #3 of waiting for my new car (a 2010 Prius V) to be delivered at the dealership. The salesmen said to give it two weeks to two months, so I'm trying to remain patient. I waited six months for my Jeep Wrangler over twelve years ago, so I suppose I can wait however long. Of course, I am neurotic that the order's original paperwork had a totally incorrect phone number on it which I called to have corrected, but I'm SURE that it never was and that the car is/was sitting at the dealership waiting and they can't find me! Hmm, I need to learn to let go, hunh?

Next week Fred's older brother Lee and girlfriend Lori are coming down for the weekend and we are going to see Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at the IU Auditorium. The four of us had seen "Jersey Boys" in Chicago almost two (?) years ago and Lee and Lori saw it again in Las Vegas this past year. I'm going to see it again with my cousin Elaine this mid-October. Needless to say, "obsessed" is a good word here. This will also be their first visit to our new house, so we're looking forward to that, too.

Just yesterday almost all of the construction/repair work was completed on the house, so we now have a newly screened deck area and although there is a minor issue with some interior work that was done, we are through with construction work on the house for a while. Whew.

October 23 - 26 Jean and Chip will be back out, which will be perfect. Dad's one year memorial "anniversary" will be on the 24th and it will be great for Jean and Ime to share that together. Naturally, the "roller coaster ride" continues, but the steep dips aren't so bad any more although the pain never seems to go away. (Do I want it to?)

It has been a while since I've last posted here. I was back East in August. Jean and Chip have done a lot of work on Mother and Dad's house and that's so priceless for me on my end. It's hard to think that eventually the house will become home to another family and we can only hope that as many good memories continue to be created in that house as there already has been. It'll be hard to let it go, but Life does go on.