Another letter

I know this isn't really how you're supposed to use a blog, but I wrote another letter for my family newsletter and thought some of you may be interested. Sorry for abusing the family blog.

I guess I have been procrastinating this letter long enough. I have been meaning to write since before we moved from Philadelphia but never got around to it. I will put it off no more.
As most of you heard…I LOVE PITTSBURGH!!! Sometimes I wonder if it’s because the city really is so great or if I’m still in shock that cities are actually inhabitable after being so tainted in Philadelphia. I guess it’s also not a completely fair comparison since we lived closer to the city in Philly and we live just outside the city here. It seriously seems like night and day though. People actually take care of their homes here, there is not one trace of litter on the sidewalks, buses have their own roads and aren’t hogging mine, pedestrians don’t cross busy roads whenever they feel like it, freeways have predictable rush-hour traffic instead of 24/7 rush-hour traffic, stores actually have parking lots, and the #1 selling point of Pittsburgh…people are NICE!!! Neighbors come over to greet you or wave hello as they are passing on the street instead of yelling at you, customer service helpers actually help you instead of yelling at you, drivers are polite and honk to let you in instead of honking to be rude and yelling at you. I love it!! Of course it’s also helped that we have been having unusually nice weather. Even though we finally have central air here, we rarely use it. The hottest it has been here is 85, though it typically stays in the high 70’s during the day and gets into the 60’s at night. We open our windows and leave them open for days at a time. I can mow my lawn or go out to garden at 3 in the afternoon (in July) and not even break a sweat! The first week we lived here we ate every meal out on our deck because we couldn’t bear to eat inside with such nice weather. It rains a lot, but that’s great because we never have to water our plants. We could not be happier here. I have to pinch myself everyday to make sure it’s real. I told Danny I could see us doing residency and maybe even raising our kids here I love it so much! The only downside obviously is being so far away from family. I also have not experienced the winters yet. I may be singing another tune come January. A couple things I’ve noticed about Pittsburghers – they must love tanning salons, martial arts dojos, and car dealerships because they have one on almost every corner and all men between the ages of 17-95 yrs must hate their shirts because they never wear them. The 2 things I could do without in this city are the hills (some neighborhoods are worse than others but every neighborhood has them and too many of them are on a 45 degree angle) and the brick roads (you may think it sounds pretty but they are just bumpy and loud, especially if you live on one).
Danny is really enjoying 3rd year. He’s glad that the boards are over and he isn’t buried in a book all day. 3rd year is all clinical work, rotating through different specialties every 6-12 weeks. Right now he is doing Internal Medicine. He really likes the people he’s working with and enjoys working with patients. He has some really late hours, so I get a LOT of time to myself; very boring but I’m used to it. He also has to work an occasional Sunday so I have to go to church by myself – not fun. I’ve never done that before. I’ve always had someone to go with; family, friend, or roommate.
Speaking of church, Danny and I both got callings yesterday. He was called as the Valiant 10 teacher, and I was called as the Gospel Essentials teacher. *WHAT?* It seems a little backwards to me. I really thought they were going to call me to the nursery. I guess there are a set of twins in Danny’s class that are on the wild side so they need him to regulate. I am really nervous to teach Gospel Essentials. I love teaching kids, but I feel awkward in front of adults. Plus, I’m used to teaching young women lessons that map out every single word you are supposed to say. This is truly going to be a humbling experience but I think it will be good for me.
While Danny is at the hospital all day, I fill my time by looking for a job. I had forgotten that searching for a full-time job IS a full-time job! I have applied to over 30 different jobs and the only people I hear back from are the ones who want to pay me half of what I need to be making to support us. I applied anywhere I could think, be it teaching, day-care, nannying, subbing, secretary, or lab assistant working with rats. My best bet right now is to substitute and hopefully get my foot in the door to later get a teaching job unless a miracle happens.
Of course, you can only fill out so many applications before you go crazy. I adopted a couple other hobbies to fill the time. I’ve been spending a lot of time in our yard gardening. I’ve been trying not to spend too much money on it since A) we are just renting, and B) we don’t have any money. I’ve mostly just been pulling weeds and trimming the plants. It’s amazing what a difference it makes. I also started some bean seeds I had left over from my kindergarten class that I’m going to plant out there. I’ve also been very proud of myself for mowing the lawn. I haven’t touched a lawn mower for over 5 years but I guess it’s sort of like riding a bike. It’s amazing how much pride one can have for a yard when they’ve invested a little bit of effort into it. I never touched our yard in Philly (what little we had) I just gave it up as a lost cause.
The other hobby I’ve started I’m a little embarrassed by. Did you know I’ve never really learned how to type? You would think after all those novel-long letters I’ve written I would have learned the correct way to type! I guess I was too young when I first started typing and my fingers weren’t long enough to reach the keys so I never learned how to type without looking at the keys. I didn’t type with 2 fingers or anything, but I didn’t always type with the correct fingers and I always had to look at the keys so I could never get any faster than 43wpm. I found a typing tutor online and taught myself how to type. I’m now down to 20wpm but I don’t look at the keys!! It’s very frustrating to be so slow and it’s so tempting to just look down, but I know I’ll never learn that way. Danny is fascinated by it. He never knew I didn’t know how to type. He loves to take my typing tests right after me and blow my score out of the water. I think he’s just excited that he’s actually better at something related to computers than I am. That won’t last long though. I found a fun website that lets me copy any text I want to it and then it will turn that text into a typing test. I’ve found it a good way to go through all my backed up family letters and practice my typing at the same time. So next time you send a letter, just think, I’ll be typing those exact same words soon.
Well it’s hard to write a novel at 20wpm. I guess 2 pages will have to suffice. :)

We love you all,
Maretta and Danny