And now from the man of the house . . .

Actually, I'm fine with living down here. Aside from the biting insects, the roaches that we know are there but are just hiding, the B-52 beetles and gigantic devil mayfly-looking bugs that send my children into shrieking melt-downs, the ever-present ants, the residual heat in the concrete after the sun departs, the sun, the unrelenting heat, the fact that we lost over half of our freezer food because of the electricity fiasco (thank the Good Lord for not spoiling all of my deer meat), and the fact that I am starting school at a world-renowned university next week with courses including "Biotechnology in the Animal Sciences" (528) and "Molecular Endocrinology" (587). Regardless of the fact that the major reason the girls haven't returned to Idaho is our bank account balance, I believe things are only going to get better.

To support this idea, I give the following list:
1) Financial aid comes in next week, and I've got a lot of it.
2) We lost all of our frozen beef, but not the irreplaceable venison.
3) We lost all of our seafood minus a salmon fillet. That's the only seafood Rachel will eat.
4) It's the end of August. Temperatures may be around 100 degrees, but they are only going down from here.
5) The apartement has TWO freaking garages. I have my very own workbench.
6) Lizards eat bugs. There are at least two that live around the yard.
7) NO grass to mow. Just weeding the yard.
8) I'll be riding a bike to school, allowing for a very fit and handsomely tone Jamie.
8 1/2) Said bike can be used year-round.
9) We live right around the corner from Hadley's school.
10) Earning a PhD from this school bolsters my hiring potential.
11) Rachel is willing to move anywhere now (as long as it's not Arizona).
12) The coyote hunting is phenomenal here.
13) Gas is cheap (~$3.50/gallon right now).
14) The apartment lease is only one year, and we already survived a week.
15) Costco, Super Wal-Mart, Target, Fry's (cheap groceries) all in the same town.
16) Supportive friends across the country willing to read this blog and sympathize/empathize with us.

Yep, Tucson has been mediocre to us, but things are looking up. In fact, we have power now at the apartment, our new neighbors are nice, and we're getting a new AC unit - we found out it was broken when we turned it on. AND the coyote hunting is phenomenal here.