Living in a Hotel

Since this blog is my way of scrapbooking and journaling about our time in Stockholm I want to make sure to blog about things I want to don't want to forget.  I am planning on turning the blog into a book at the end of the year either by printing it with a blog to book website (which I am having a hard time finding one where you can customize things) or making my own Mixbook with it.  Either way I realized I never posted about the time we spent living in the hotel when we first moved here.  Even though that was SEVERAL months ago I wanted to put it on the blog so here are some picture and stories.

On August 24th, 2013 we landed at 7:50 am and were surprised at the airport by Jake's boss Bert-Åke.  He drove us to our hotel and helped us load our bags into the elevator.  I was so thankful he was there.  I told myself we could figure out how to get four rolling suitcases and two huge duffle bags all weighing literally, about 50 pounds each, onto the metro and then to our hotel but thankfully we didn't have to worry about it.  Our room was ready when we arrived which was great because we had already had a long day even if the day in Stockholm was just beginning.

This was our home in Stockholm for the first five weeks that we lived here.  We saw this hotel when we visited Stockholm in June.  It was close to a metro and it was an extended stay hotel which meant it had a small kitchen and a separate living room.

When we got to the room we put our bags in the bedroom and then started looking around.  That is when we saw the view from the living room window.  Having a bad view stinks but it isn't the end of the world.  Knowing you'll have that view for at least 4 weeks wasn't a fun thought.  Jake and I both read a book on the flight over about Swedish culture called Sweden - Culture Smart!  We read all about how Swedes only need just enough and they should not get more than others.  They don't like to stand out or ask for anything special.  Basically they get what they get and they don't throw a fit.  They don't ask for special things.  Knowing that information and being brand new to the city made the choice to call and complain ask for a new room that much more awkward.  We eventually decided to at least ask since we knew we would have that view for four weeks.  They were very kind and offered us two different rooms and we could choose between the two after looking at them.  The rooms were almost identical and they both had much better views.

The kitchen was small but we had a fridge with a small freezer compartment and two hot plates to use as a stove.  The bathroom was also pretty small and the single door could fold in to make more space in the bathroom.

First time my morning routine includes an ironing board. Have to improvise when there is no bathroom counter space. #janzensinsweden

I was really thankful we were able to find a hotel that had a separate living space from the bedroom.  Jake gets up pretty early on the weekends and I was thankful that he could start his day before me without waking me up :).  From the picture it looks like there are two twin beds which is pretty much true.  They are pushed together to look like a queen bed but it is actually two separate beds and mattresses as well as two comforters, which means if you lay in the middle the beds slide apart.

We were used to having separate beds from when we visited in June.  In Sweden they make the bed with a flat sheet on the bottom tucked in and then a duvet covered in a sheet is on the top.  We always took the duvet out of the cover so we could have a top sheet and then we just placed the duvet on our feet.  The hotel room would get pretty warm since they didn't have air conditioning so we usually slept with the window in the kitchen and the living room open at night.  Remember when I mention how great it was that the metro was close?  Well at night it wasn't that great.  The metro curves right before the stop, which is basically below our hotel, and it makes an awful sound going around that curve.  We eventually got used to it but the noise made us more aware of the metro noises when we started looking at apartments.  There were two closets in the bedroom that we used to hang up some of the clothes we unpacked while we stayed in the hotel.

Fans have saved our marriage twice :). Shortly after we were married Jake had to install a ceiling fan in our bedroom because we both get really cranky if we are hot when we are trying to sleep. The weather was beautiful when we first moved to Stockholm but it would still get pretty warm in our hotel, which was good because I heard it gets cold here in the winter. So our first purchase was a fan for our hotel. It worked great! This was also our first purchase of something with a European plug.

The living room had a couch, kitchen table, small desk, a tv and a GREAT view of the city :).

I was very thankful for the two hot plates and the small fridge and freezer but at the same time I started running out of "stove-top only" meal ideas pretty quickly.  Before we left I took pictures of every page in my two favorite cookbooks so I could have the recipes without the weight of packing them.  That is what you see on my tablet in the top middle picture.  The utensils in the hotel worked for the most part but the plastic measuring spoon on the top right hand corner isn't a tablespoon or a teaspoon :) and there were several times when we needed something in the middle of cooking only to realize the kitchen did have that certain utensil.  I ended up buying measuring cups and spoons.

Our first dinner at the hotel was the picture in the bottom left hand corner. I realize from this picture it looks like shopping couldn't have been that hard. The package clearly says tortillas and in the other picture the package said taco seasoning mix. But the directions for the taco seasoning were in Swedish, Finnish and Dutch. Google translate is quickly becoming my friend. I should also clarify, our new apartment will have a regular stove and oven so I won't have to think of hotplate and microwave only meals for a whole year, just for about a month.

I was going to wait until I was homesick to make mac and cheese but waiting to get homesick seemed depressing. So I am enjoying the lunch without being homesick :). Yes I brought Kraft cheese packets to Stockholm. #janzensinsweden #ilovemacandcheese

And this is the face Jake made when I asked him to show me how bad the Havarti cheese smelled.  We bought some Havarti cheese since we recognized the name and then it smelled so bad I made him take it to the dumpster outside the hotel.  That package of cheese was over $10 and it made me scared to try any kind of cheese for a long time!  We also bought soured milk once when we thought it was just another kind of regular milk.

Sweden doesn't get many thunderstorms which makes me sad but the sky looked so cool this night and we had a great view of it!

Doing laundry at the hotel before we move to the apartment. Translating washing machine directions and what the detergent bottle says just to do laundry makes doing laundry less fun. . . didn't know that was possible. It does make it more interesting.#janzensinsweden

They cleaned our hotel room once a week so I would always pick up before they cleaned but somehow it never stayed clean during the week.

It is a good thing I like this guy because moving to another country is SO out of my comfort zone!

We were supposed to stay in the hotel for about a month while we looked for apartments.  We finally found an apartment but we couldn't move in until a week after our hotel stay was supposed to be over.  So we tried to extend our stay and found out we were one day short of making it work.  Thankfully our landlord let us move in a day early and Jake's boss let us borrow his car to move which was great.

If you want to see our apartment tour click here!

Speaking English and Schools in Stockholm

I started looking into schools before we visited in June to get an idea of what types of schools they have here and if any of them speak/teach in English.  I didn't know much about Sweden before finding out we were going to move here but one of the first things I learned was that everyone speaks English.  They start learning basic words in first or second grade until eventually they become fluent.  In middle school the usually pick up a third language.  I think the US could learn a thing or two from the Swedes.  It is so neat that they are all at least bilingual, some adults can speak several languages.

Knowing that everyone speaks English is great as a tourist.  You can go into any store or restaurant and ask for help or order without a problem.  But it in my opinion it can also be intimidating that they all know English.  I like to fit in.  Actually, it is more that I don't like to stick out.  To me there is a difference.  I had a hard time speaking in English around others because I knew that they could understand me but I couldn't understand them if they talked about me in Swedish.  When Jake and I first moved here I wouldn't talk to him in public much unless we were walking.  So if we were on the metro or in a store I would get really shy and not talk, some of you that can't believe this should come visit us just to see that :).  I've gotten more comfortable now but I still try to blend in as much as I can which to me means not speaking in English.  Even though everyone knows English they all speak Swedish most of the time.

In June I found a few schools that were international schools and spent part of their day in English.  I applied for those schools.  Two of the schools didn't have any positions but one school was interested even though they didn't have a position.  The school that was most interested I walked by in June and interviewed with our second week here.  The interview went well and I was excited about that possibility but again they didn't have any positions.  I was put on their sub list and was basically told I can't volunteer because they don't ever have volunteers and they wouldn't know what to do with me.

This was the school in Bromma that didn't know what to do with a volunteer.  That still confuses me.  At first I thought they didn't understand that it meant I would show up and help without getting paid.  But even after I cleared that up they still weren't interested.  

I was frustrated that the one school I had been in contact with since July hadn't really panned out like I though it would.  But I found out about another school that seemed to have potential and sent them my resume, cover letter and reference letters.  They also didn't have a position but they were highly interested in me volunteering!  Which was great because at this point I just needed to get out of the house apartment hotel and make some friends.

My new school!

I interviewed with them last Monday and went to a teacher's meeting last Wednesday.  This meeting was similar to a faculty meeting.  My first day was yesterday, September 16th.  All I knew was that I was going to meet with the PYP 6 (Primary Years Program) teachers at 8:10 and kids show up at 8:30.  This school has preschool through 9th grade.  They are also an IB (International Baccalaureate) school.  The grades are a bit different here.  I am working with PYP 6 students, which is Swedish Grade 5 but these are 11-12 year olds which would be 6th graders in the US.  I am actually helping with two PYP 6 classes.  One teacher teaches math and science and the other teacher does Swedish and social studies.  I spend most of my time in the classroom with math and science.  I thought more lessons would be in English but they are mostly in Swedish.  The teacher does translate for me or has the kids tell me what they are working on before the lesson starts so I know what they should be doing.  I think their specials are all in English and I will be going to at least PE and Art with the classes to help a few students who struggle with fine/gross motor skills.

Here are some of my observations after the first two days plus the faculty meeting:

• They call their teachers by their first names.  It just seems strange but I guess over here they don't really use Mr. and Mrs. much in any setting that I know of so far.
• This school is in a building that you would see downtown.  It has 4 or 5 floors.  It is strange walking kids up and down the stairs instead of down a hallway.  Plus they don't really do it quietly.  I'm not sure if that is the age of the kids, the expectations or if the whole school is like that.  Apparently their first fire drill took 6 minutes because they were jammed in the stairwells.  Plus some of the rooms couldn't hear the alarm.  They also couldn't figure out how to let the office know that everyone was accounted for.  I wanted to suggest walkie talkies but decided to not say anything.
• Their schedule isn't the same everyday other than when school starts.  School starts at 8:30 but then lunch varies every day.  My first day it was at 11:20 but today it was at 12:20 and tomorrow is 11:50.  It isn't the same any day of the week.  They also have specials thrown in throughout the day/week.  They don't have specials everyday for an hour like I'm used to and it isn't at the same time as the other grade level teacher.  So I'm not quite sure when they plan together.  They do have PE, Music, Library and Art.  I think all of these are taught in English.  I went to Art twice today which was fun.  
• School gets out at different times each day and for each grade.  Monday we got out at 2:00 but today was 2:10 and Friday is 2:40.  The younger grades usually get out around the same time but then stay for after school care.
• I LOVE getting out of school at 2 or 2:10.  Technically I can get out whenever because I'm volunteering but how great would it be if I could get paid and get out of school at that time!
• I told the teacher I've been working with that it is hard to follow the schedule because each day is different.  I explained our schedule where we start and end at the same time.  Lunch is the same time and so are specials.  She was really jealous of our lunch time being the same.
  
  The classroom.  This picture isn't great.  I'll try to take another one.  Each classroom has a smart board.  The kids sit at tables.  They keep their supplies in cabinets to the left of this picture.
  
  
• Here the teachers eat lunch with the kids.  Can I just say I miss lunch at GE for so many reasons?  My assigned seat, no kids and most of all my friends.  Oh how I miss my coworkers!  Talking to kids at lunch just isn't the same as your coworkers and close friends.  Plus it is so LOUD!  It is strange walking the halls and not seeing familiar faces.  I know these faces will become familiar but I want to see the faces that I know and love!  Maybe I should start working on convincing my teacher friends to move over here and work with me . . .
• An English teacher comes to the classroom two or three times a week for lessons.  The teacher leaves during this time.
• Kids use pencils without erasers.  I'm not sure the reasoning behind this.  Then they also have to carry erasers with them.  They also like throwing erasers.  I had already thought of what I would do about those erasers if this was my classroom because that seems like a pet peeve I would have.

You can kind of see the slots where they put binders and other books on the shelf against the wall.

• The classroom teacher and I noticed that the desktops were dirty today.  I asked if they had janitors.  They do but they only clean the room on Tuesdays and Fridays.  She said it should be pretty clean but it looks like someone wore their outside shoes inside. . . their what?
• I had noticed that about half the kids on Monday were wearing socks.  I thought that was because it had rained and maybe their shoes and feet were wet from walking.  But I guess here they are supposed to have outside shoes and inside shoes.  So they wear shoes to school and then change once they get to school.  The teachers do this too.  But some kids prefer to wear just their socks.  Looks like I need to wear outside shoes and then change into my inside shoes at school.  That does make more sense because I've seen a lot of people on the metro wearing tennis shoes and nice outfits but I didn't realize that it is actually a policy and not just a comfort thing.
• The kids have short breaks throughout the day in between lessons.  They might have a lesson, then a ten minute break, then another lesson and then another ten minute break.  Short breaks are done in the classroom.  They also have a longer break during the day when they go outside for 20-30 minutes.  Once a week they have an hour long break outside where they go to the park.  I'm already nervous about the hour long breaks during winter :/.
• After the faculty meeting last week I met with the principal to talk about my schedule.  He asked what I thought about the meeting.  I told him it was similar to faculty meetings in the states but the school in Stockholm is much smaller.  There were probably 10-15 teachers instead of 25-30 like we have in the states.  When I told him that he said, "How do you have meetings with so many people?  How does everyone get a chance to be heard?"  Side note - apparently in Sweden consensus between colleagues is big.  Everyone needs to be heard and feel like they were heard and that their opinion was taken into consideration.  Then when a decision is made everyone makes it and comes to a consensus.  Apparently they take that seriously.  He was very surprised that our school would be that big because not everyone would be heard.  I had a hard time not laughing out loud thinking back to faculty meetings I've been to.  Not everyone gets heard but in the US it seems like you either care and pipe up or you just go with the flow.

School today was better than yesterday.  My first day had way more Swedish than I was expecting.  Once I start taking Swedish lessons at the end of this month I think that will be great but right now it is just hard to help when I can't figure out what they are saying and I don't know enough to read it on the page to figure it out.  Math is definitely the easiest subject for me to struggle though in Swedish.  The kids can also translate for me but usually the ones that need help are also the ones that have the lowest English skills.  The girls have been very sweet to me and seem to want to get to know me.  The boys are also getting to know me but I'm not sure they are excited about why they are having to get to know me :).  I'm also having a hard time not being the one in charge of the classroom.  I'm not sure that feeling will ever go away and to be honest it makes me really miss teaching.  I miss having my own classroom but I think this experience will make me a better teacher and help me to not take things for granted.  I feel like I took my coworkers for granted now that I don't have them.  I have always had a great team but the last few years have been my favorite.  We just clicked.  We not only got a long but we truly enjoyed being together.  I miss my coworkers the most at this point more than anything else since moving.

After today I can say that I'm glad we moved to Stockholm.  I know that feeling will come and go but today I was glad.  I like learning about Sweden and how it is different from the US.  Riding on the metro to get to school everyday is awesome!  It takes about 30 minutes but for about 20-25 minutes I can read a book on my phone, check my email, listen to music or day dream because I'm not driving!  (I did notice today that no one puts on make on the metro.  At least I haven't seen it yet so maybe if you are one of those crazy people that puts on make up while you drive you should move over here because then you can put it on during your commute without endangering anyone.)  

 I take the metro to work everyday.  I actually feel pretty safe taking it.  So far I haven't felt scared on the public transportation which is good.  It is a big city so I do need to remember to be careful but it doesn't feel as scary as I think it does in other big cities.

 Going over one of the bridges on my way to work.  Stockholm is made up of 14 islands and is connected by bridges and ferries.  It is really beautiful.

 On the metro.  It is usually pretty full when I get on but I didn't want to take a picture right in someone's face so I waited until it emptied out a little bit.  The picture on the right is from a few days ago.  Most people are on their phones playing games, listening to music or checking social media sites while on the metro.

Escalators are everywhere.  That topic might get a post all by itself.

I love that technology has made home feel closer but eventually chatting, emails and Skype won't cut it and I'll be homesick.  But for now I enjoyed waking up, going to school, getting home early, working out, shopping with Jake, making dinner and then hanging out before heading to bed.  

We did find an apartment that we love and we are trying to get things finalized.  Once we do, I will tell you all about apartment hunting in Stockholm.  It is very different than the US.

Things are really coming together and I can see God's timing in all of it.  That really does my heart good to know that He is taking care of us and providing for us.  I still can't believe I moved to Stockholm!

First Impressions

I thought it might be fun to write about a few of my first impressions of Stockholm and Sweden and then see if any of those change after living here.

Smiling - No one smiles here and summer is supposed to be when people in Stockholm are the happiest.  I should clarify that when I say no one smiles, I mean in passing they don't smile.  When you are out to dinner or with friends then people will smile but if you pass someone on the street and make eye contact smiling doesn't follow.  This seems strange to me.  Maybe it is a Midwest thing but where I come from, people smile or at least nod their head to acknowledge your presence.  That doesn't happen here.  When we were here in June I was going up an escalator and I was smiling.  The guy in front of me said, "Wow, you are very smiley.  Are you happy?"  I wasn't expecting that question, most people would just smile back.  I wouldn't consider myself an overly smiley person (This is true for me especially at school. I've been told I come across very serious, some might even say it takes a while/a year to get to know and love the real me :) . . . you know who you are.) but when you are around people who never smile I guess I'm considered a smiley person, wouldn't have ever classified myself as that.

Flip Flops - I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen wearing flip flops.  I'm guessing with all the walking they have figured out flip flops aren't the best for your feet.  Before living here I would walk around in flip flops all day and my feet would be fine.  Well, walking around in flip flops in Olathe and walking around in Stockholm are two totally different things.  If we had a car I could see how flip flops would still work just fine but since we use public transportation and walk a lot my feet get really tired.  One of my first Swedish purchases was new shoes.

Shoes - I am not a shoe girl.  I don't tend to get excited about shoes and if they aren't comfortable I'm not buying them.  It does seem like here they care about comfortable shoes since they walk so much.  However, I'm not sure I love the style of comfortable shoes they have.  Lots of people wear Converse lace up shoes which is fine.  But they wear them with everything, regular jeans, skinny jeans, skirts, dresses, capris, etc.  A lot of people have white ones that are really dirty from being walked in so much.  I think people also wear tennis shoes on their commute to work and then change into "cute" shoes once they get to work.  I have a feeling I might be doing that.  I had a hard time finding shoes that I thought would be comfortable to walk in plus something I would wear again in the states.  I also wanted a pair I could wear with skinny jeans.

I finally settled on these.  So far I like them.  Pretty wild huh?

Healthy people - There are very few overweight people here.  I'm guessing it is a combination of all the walking they do but also the food both cost and selection.  Food is expensive.  Meat is especially expensive.  I bought ground beef for tacos and it was $7.45 for one pound.  They also don't have a lot of junk food at grocery stores.  Plus you have to carry everything home which makes you really think hard before putting it into your basket.  They are very into cheese, bread and coffee.  Everyday they take a fika break.  A fika (fee-ka) break is a coffee/tea break in the afternoon usually around 3:00 and they usually eat something sweet at that time as well.  Today I went to a faculty meeting at a school right at 3:00 which was their fika time.  They had coffee, tea, bread, cheese, tomatoes, cookies and chocolate.

This is my idea of a fika break.  I don't like coffee but I sure do love chocolate!

This picture is from June.  I decided I might have to try some coffee (or a Mocha Latte) if I was going to enjoy fika like the locals.

Public Transportation - We will not have a car this year instead we will be using public transportation. I actually really like it.  It is fun getting on the metro and riding it around.  I don't like using Google maps sometimes though because it will say it takes 7 minutes by car but 20 minutes by public transportation.  I do think I'll miss driving.  I love to drive, especially to clear my head.  Although I'm not sure I would want to drive here.  At least not until I take some Swedish lessons.  The public transportation is easy to use. I've noticed everyone is on their phone on the metro.  About 60% of them also have headphones in listening to music or talking to someone through their headset.  No one makes small talk here.  This might go back to the Midwest smiling thing but I think if there were metros in Olathe people would make small talk. Here they don't.  For now that is fine since I can't speak Swedish.  Sometimes it feels really strange/lonely being on the metro with everyone looking at their phones, not talking to anyone and not smiling at anyone even when you are surrounded by people.

This was my view out the metro one day.  

Job - Originally we planned on moving here at the beginning of August so I could have time to find a job before the school year started over here.  That didn't happen.  I did have one potential opportunity with a school in Bromma.  I met/interviewed with the assistant Principal there my second week here.  The interview went well however they don't have any positions.  I offered to volunteer until I could possibly sub and then I could get to know the students and the staff.  They seemed confused by this.  Apparently people don't volunteer here.  I was put on their sub list and I decided to continue to look for other schools.  I really wanted to find a place that could be my school home for the next year.  I wanted to be able to work with kids and meet some people.  I found another school and contacted the principal.  We met at the beginning of this week and then again today.  They don't have any positions available now but they are excited that I want to volunteer.  They are working on a schedule and I will hopefully start this Friday or next Monday.  I went to a faculty meeting today to meet the staff.  I'm excited about this new adventure!

This is my new school.

I'm interested to see how these first impressions change over the course of the year.  So far I have had very positive first impressions.  I feel safe in the city and I look forward to making this place feel more like home.  I'm sure over the next few weeks and months I will run across some first impressions that aren't so great.  But I have been known to say that I am thankful that first impressions aren't always the last impression.

We moved to Stockholm!

I'm not quite sure how long it will take for that sentence to sink in but I still can't believe we moved.  If you know me at all I don't like change.  I know everyone says that, but I really mean it.  Change should be something that only happens if something isn't working and in that case it should happen quickly.  Moving to a new city wasn't on my list of things that weren't working.  

It sure is pretty. This picture was taken on my way to watch Jake in a sailboat race.

Later I will blog about the long story of moving to Stockholm with more details than you probably want to read (but I would like to remember) so I'll give you the short story today with some random pictures from our trip in June and our first two weeks thrown in for fun.  

At the end of April Jake was presented with the idea of being transferred to Stockholm for a year or two. We told them we are interested enough to hear more. About a week later we found out that it wasn't an official offer because they didn't know if they would need someone until the end of June when someone went over to visit. That was frustrating. At that point we had started telling our family and friends and getting excited about the possibility of moving. After we found out it wasn't official we stopped telling people. So if you didn't hear we were moving until right before we moved it wasn't because we didn't want you to know, it was just that everything was so up in the air. Now we had to wait almost two months before we knew if it was even an official offer.

Jake was asked to go to Stockholm in June to work for a week. His work trip happened to fall over our 5 year wedding anniversary so we decided I should tag along. Plus, the week we went we were supposed to find out whether they wanted Jake to move for a year or not. So going would be a way for us to see what Stockholm was like before committing or it was our chance to see the city we got so excited about moving to that now isn't going to happen.

This picture is on our fifth wedding anniversary.

While we were there, we found out they did want him to move for a year. I was in denial most of our 10 days in Stockholm, I just couldn't wrap my head around moving. We came back home and were home for a week which was long enough to do our laundry, celebrate my 30th birthday and then we headed off to California with Jake's parents for 11 days.  

Our goal was to move to Stockholm August 1st so I could hopefully find a teaching position. (To give you a brief rundown of our summer: I taught summer school the first three weeks of June, we left on my last day of summer school for Stockholm for 10 days, we were back a week for my 30th birthday, in California for 11 days and then back for what we thought would be about 2 weeks before moving to Stockholm for a year. It was a busy summer.) But we didn't get our work permit approved until August 20th. Since I had already resigned and had been home for about a month with no job at that time, we were pretty much ready to go and left on a plane headed to Stockholm on August 23rd.

So far things have been good. Jake enjoys what he is doing. He basically has the ideal situation. His company moved him to a foreign country where he gets to do basically the same job he did before, with people he has met and had conference calls with over the last year. Plus he still gets to conference call with friends back in the Olathe office.

I am still trying to find a job so I can start making this place feel more like home. I've had two interviews and the most recent one I had seemed really promising. I'd like to be a para or classroom assistant. All teaching positions have been filled because school started in the middle of August over here just like it does in the states. I'd like a job flexible enough that we can travel on the weekends. I'm also planning on taking Swedish lessons at the end of the month with a friend I met here so I would need time off for that as well.

 This school was the first school I interviewed with.  They have grades 4-9.  They don't have any positions but I offered to volunteer.  They typically don't have volunteers and weren't sure how that would work.  That seems strange to me but I'm trying to trust God and his timing.

I actually walked by this school on our trip in June and I took this picture above of the front of the building.  I thought it was funny that it said No Child Left Behind and we all know I believe in tough love :).

This school is in Södermalm which is south of the city. The interview went well. It sounds like I might be able to volunteer here as a classroom assistant. They have preschool through 9th grade in this building.

We are also trying to find an apartment which is another blog post all by itself :).  

I know that for me the key to not wanting to get back on a plane and head home is finding a job or something for me to do where I can make friends and feel like I'm making an impact plus finding an apartment that we can call home.

I hope to post updates regularly on this blog. If you are curious about anything in particular let me know. I already have a list of possible blog posts and since I don't have a job I should have time to post. Thanks for stopping by and reading my first blog post.