Applying for jobs.

Today was a day for applying for jobs. I got a lot of them done today, mostly in Nebraska. One of the things I love and hate about applying for jobs is looking at schools' home pages. Some of them are awesomely simple to navigate, but most of them look like they were written by students, with things in haphazard places and sometimes impossible to find. I love it because I get a chance to look at schools' organization, and sometimes lack thereof. I get a chance to glimpse a school's soul. A people watcher like me has fun with those kinds of things.

That said, I am there with a purpose. I'm trying to figure out if my teaching style works out well with the school's educational philosophy. If I can find said philosophy. I am a very technology-focused teacher. I love using clips from current TV shows and computer games and the internet to drive study. I hope to use Twitter during class. Sometimes, the web pages for some of these schools drive a technology nut like me crazy because I can't find what I'm looking for! Alas, maybe I'll be able to help a school system to improve its use of the internet.

A couple of days ago, I shared one of my favorite things with my kids. I shared my love of root beer floats with them. I picked up this love of RBF's from a friend of mine in California, and just have kept it here. I haven't downloaded pictures, but I took some of the kids and woman drinking/eating them. RBF's are my catch-all food, but one only used occasionally. Having a bad day? A root beer float is a pick-me-up. Having a good day? It's a celebration. While I was a missionary, I used ice cream as my catch-all, but it wasn't as good as a root beer float.

Sadly, my girl doesn't like root beer. She doesn't like carbonation, in fact. I think she's like her mom in that way. Our boys, though, love root beer, and would drink it all of the time if I would buy it more often. I just want it to be for special occasions. If our boy ever gets used to being a Sunbeam, for example, we'll drink/eat root beer floats to celebrate. If I get a job, we'll drink root beer floats. That sort of thing.

My little girl has been saying that she wants to live near "Grandma and Grampa," who live in Nebraska. In fact, she wants to live with them. I'm not willing to live that close. I think my wife would go mad if she were subjected to the hustle and bustle of their life. We can hardly handle our own, in fact! That said, I want to live close to them. I love family. I love the idea of it, and I love the love that we have for it. I want my kids to be close to both my California family (though I don't talk nearly enough to my sister) and my (yes, I claim them!) Nebraska family. I also want them to keep in touch with friends from Virginia (though many of them have moved on). One of the toughest thing about being a parent is the fear that your kids won't get enough family and can't get close enough to friends to develop lasting ties.

It's not just about good enough. It's about giving them the world.

Root beer floats are my way of doing that. I can bring them closer to the people and places that have made me the man I am today, and hopefully the man that will give them a better tomorrow.

That's my goal.