Introductions...

I decided to make a blogspot account so our friends and family can follow us on our journey through ... life in general, I guess, at this point. For those of you who are behind, here's an update on the Skinners (be forwarned, it's long... I promise that my future posts won't be this wordy):

We got married right after undergrad in June of '07 and moved to Chattanooga. I started working in the NICU, and while Mark valiantly searched for a job and skillfully played the role of "house husband." He found a job working as a Claim's Coordinator for US Express, did that for about 5 or 6 months, hated it, and quit. Then, after a couple months' search, he found a job as a front desk night auditor for the Hampton Inn - hated it too. Then, early this year, he got an interesting email from the head of the history department at UAB, saying that his original application for grad school back when we got married was received but never processed, and asking if he was still interested. "Heck yes!" was his reply - he was ready to get out of the no-education-required workfield - and we began the application process. He was quickly accepted (of course, since he's brilliant), and we started making plans to move to Birmingham this summer.
Enter: April's job search. Having worked in the NICU (my dream job) for two years, I'm sort of reluctant to change fields, particularly over to adult side (gag me with a spoon ... no offense to all those adult patients out there, just not my cup of tea...). However, with 7 NICUs in Birmingham and the surrounding area, I figured it would be a piece of cake to find something. WRONG. I've been job-searching since March, applied to four different jobs, heard from one (they were filling that position internally, thanks so much), and there hasn't been a single thing open since. I've made contacts, called nurse managers, checked the hospital websites daily: nothing.
Meanwhile, we went down to Birmingham and found this sweet apartment complex (Rollingwood, for anyone in the area) and managed to snag a 2BR townhouse that I think we'll really love. But here's the rub: we are moving in, for sure, on July 15th. I do not yet have a job. So I might be doing some taxi-ing back and forth, working here and living there, for a while. Which I'm not thrilled about, but I'm way more thrilled about that than the prospect of working on an adult psych floor at Brookwood (the only position that seems to be in abundance in Birmingham at this time.)
So. You're caught up. That's where the Skinners find themselves at the moment - caught in limbo (what else is new?) between Chattanooga/Birmingham, facing a LONG commute, and some LONG weeks of work, and one heck of a move. (My schedule is sort of ridiculous the week we move, provided that I still do not have a Bham job when that takes place. After that, the plan is to work Thurs, Fri, Sat, Mon, Tues, Wed with a Sunday thrown in there once a month to fulfill my weekend requirements, and that would secure my being off for 7 days in a row, during which I would trek back to Birmingham to live with my hubby and set up my house.)

Whew. Long explanation, complicated situation... I'm tired. I'm ready for this all to be done with...

So, blog followers, that's where we begin. I'm looking forward to see where we end up...