Week One

It's Saturday and I'm thinking about our first week in Texas. My time has been pretty relaxing while Mike's has been pretty hectic.
I've spent much of my time doing indexing on the church's geneology website. Indexing is the process of reading old records and entering them into the computer so that eventually people will able to find their ancesters with the click of a mouse. To date I've been able to index over three thousand names. It's really interesting and a most worthy endeavor. Right now I'm working on death records from the state of New Hampshire. I'm sticking with that because after awhile you get really proficient at reading some of the weird writing. I don't know why the people filling out the forms felt the need to use all types of squiggles and curly-q's. Some of the names have been really funny and some not so funny. The thing I have enjoyed the most is the stories that are told with just names and dates. It's hard when you find a family who has lost one or more children in a cholera epidemic or some type of illness. Once in awhile I get curious about a place of death being listed as a "sanitorium". After some research I've found that it was usually the place they sent people with TB. Another interesting location was one listed as "County Farm". It turned out to be a "poor farm". I try to look at this as a job and usually set a goal of two to four hours a day. That could change as I get more involved in the community.
Mike started his assignment last Sunday and he won't get a day off until, maybe, the third week in January. They've lost four other instructors who won't be back for three weeks and another had to go home for an emergency. To add to this, the NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) has been mostly in hiding and left Mike to do much of what he should be doing. It makes for long, tiring days. The good news is that he can have a nice home cooked meal. That's what I've loved about being in a hotel with a full (however small) kitchen.
We've been told that Mike's mob(ilization) orders will be moved up to February 15 and at that time we'll be able to move to our permenent home; a fully furnished, one bedroom apartment. I keep putting off buying anything until I see what "fully furnished" means. I left so much of my cooking stuff at home.
I had a chance to go to the Dallas Temple on Thursday and spent an enjoyable couple of hours. I'm still getting used to not having the mountains around to know north/south from east/west. I'm also getting used to "toll roads"! I keep forgetting to make sure I have some change and some dollar bills in my car. Eventually, I'll find out how to navigate without getting on the toll roads. Unfortunately, my traveling companion (GPS) doesn't feel it necessary to warn me or take me around those roads. What a witch! She's also a nag! I'm looking for a model that sounds more like James Earl Jones.
I've also spent alot of time just getting in the car and driving without any directions. I've discovered that Arlington has some really great neighborhoods and some that appear quite wealthy. Also, I've been able to find everything I need within one to five miles. I think I'm doing a great job of finding my way around.
Today is Saturday and I did a little cleaning out of some of our files, later I'll do some laundry. Such is the life of Texas' newest arrival. I can't wait to invite the Bush's to dinner. More later.
Much love, VZ