As I mentioned last week, the turning point of the summer came on July 31st. Three major things happened that day. First, I got a call about a job I’d applied and interviewed for at CVS and was offered the position. Second, Jason tried a patch on our a/c that didn’t fix things but made it so that the unit was at least usable, so that our house cooled off (without humidity) for the first time in months. Third, Jason received a job offer from a company in San Antonio. (This third, notably, nullified my job offer at CVS, but that was okay because it meant that we had a real family income again, and a relocation package!). Over the first few days of August, we hammered out details regarding start date, relocation, etc. We discovered that the house we were supposed to close on in July was still available and we set to close on it again in mid-August.

The rest of August sped by in a blur of activity and paperwork. We left Wisconsin late in the afternoon on the 10th, arriving mid-afternoon on the 12th. The first hotel we booked – an expensive hotel in a nice part of town – turned out to be the scummiest roach-infested place we’ve ever stayed, so we immediately booked somewhere else and moved (almost half the cost and far better in every way!). Once we actually settled in, things went well. We closed on the house on the 18th and moved in the next day. Jason started work on the 21st and the movers will be bringing our stuff Wednesday (thank goodness!). And even though we’re living on minimums, it feels lovely to be in our own house again and to start being truly settled. The boys started school this week, and everything just kinda fell in place. Thank goodness.

I did read a number of really wonderful books this summer. Originally I wasn’t planning on posting reviews – or perhaps not posting them until I returned from break – but then I started reading A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge. I knew that this was a book I wanted to share with the world. It’s definitely one of my top books of the year and I already went out and found a copy to own. I haven’t seen a lot of press on this one so I really encourage everyone to check it out!! And I definitely need to get my hands on other books by Hardinge. As for the rest of my books, I had some good reads and some disappointments, lots of rereads, tons of audio, and a switch into quite a bit of nonfiction last month. I didn’t review everything but I tried to write up a few thoughts on most new-to-me reads. I’ve also missed talking with everyone quite a bit, so it’s good to be back! 🙂