Indebtedness
After getting today's mail, we now have an enormous pile of presents that is threatening to crawl out from under the Christmas tree and take over the living room. I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family, and I feel humbled that all we give them in return is an over-long Christmas letter and a bad photo of us. I hope they know how much we love and appreciate them and all they do for us, even though we can never pay them back in the same way. It's also fun to see how excited S-Boogie is about Christmas this year. She really wants to open her presents, but she's also in love with Christmas itself and the idea of Baby Jesus.
In a sort-of related comment, I am feeling really jealous after reading the Christmas letter we received from friends who are living in Honolulu right now. They will only be there for a year, so I imagine that that fact makes them even more grateful for the opportunity, but I'm still envious of their ability to go to the beach on a daily basis. I would love to move to Hawaii when we're done with school here, but Master Fob isn't keen on the idea. I can totally see his point of view: the cost of housing is very, very high there and the job market isn't that great; wages don't keep up with the cost of living at nearly the same rate they do in other areas; and I know that Hawaii isn't neccesarily the paradise a lot of people think it is--there's a lot of poverty, the public schools are kind of mediocre, and racial tension exists (especially for little white kids like ours). We'd probably still be stretching for money, and we're getting tired of that already. But we have family and friends there that would love to have us live nearby, espcially Master Fob's mom. I love the friendliness and cultural diversity of the islands. And I love the weather. I spent most of my formative years in Southern California, and even after ten years in Utah I still don't like winter. I don't think I'd miss seasons very much, especially when I can go sockless year round. If only the state would start paying librarians a couple hundred thousand a year. That would be nice.
In a sort-of related comment, I am feeling really jealous after reading the Christmas letter we received from friends who are living in Honolulu right now. They will only be there for a year, so I imagine that that fact makes them even more grateful for the opportunity, but I'm still envious of their ability to go to the beach on a daily basis. I would love to move to Hawaii when we're done with school here, but Master Fob isn't keen on the idea. I can totally see his point of view: the cost of housing is very, very high there and the job market isn't that great; wages don't keep up with the cost of living at nearly the same rate they do in other areas; and I know that Hawaii isn't neccesarily the paradise a lot of people think it is--there's a lot of poverty, the public schools are kind of mediocre, and racial tension exists (especially for little white kids like ours). We'd probably still be stretching for money, and we're getting tired of that already. But we have family and friends there that would love to have us live nearby, espcially Master Fob's mom. I love the friendliness and cultural diversity of the islands. And I love the weather. I spent most of my formative years in Southern California, and even after ten years in Utah I still don't like winter. I don't think I'd miss seasons very much, especially when I can go sockless year round. If only the state would start paying librarians a couple hundred thousand a year. That would be nice.
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