Tacos in Icaria

[AndrewP]

All were wrong, but my next guess was going to be Fezzik.

And, for the Turkish taco woman: Mary, Diana, Sarah, and Zoe.

Well done! Tests are so much easier when the answers are given in advance aren't they. When I took my small boat handling course a few years ago there was one question that the instructor did that for. I did manage to get the rest right on my own.

Since I seem to be being generous with the hints, none of the names you picked for the Turkish taco woman are right.

Busy weekend planned here once I get my cat Amy off of my arm. Ok - she's ticked at me right now since I moved the arm to pour another cup of tea and has left to go beat up her sister.

CL is busy all weekend herself with visiting family and church and church events. The communication pattern continues. She does respond when I send her a message but doesn't initiate. A weird difference to when we are together when she drives most of the conversation and we talk and talk and talk. I did notice an upswing in social media posting. Mostly sassy and warm family stuff with a bit of anger mixed in. We had talked about smart fridges at our last date and I read up on them and posted something on Facebook about it and that "a friend" had been keen on them. She joined in the discussion but did not identify herself as the "friend". I'm not planning on reaching out to her this weekend.

Looking back she never has been very active on social media until she booted her STBX out. And then, like many of us, uses it as a way to reach out for contact and validation. I know myself to be pretty "noisy" especially when "the lonely" hits. She's not nearly as active as I am.

As I've mentioned ad nauseum, things with her are undoubtedly stalled which is perhaps good for all involved. I'm getting perspective, she and her kids are getting used to the idea (I think). S24 is bothered I think a bit and in part probably because he can see this affecting his rather comfortable living situation. D26 I think is slightly weirded out about it but generally doesn't care. I am assuming at this point that I will be on the shelf until the divorce papers are at least served unless I show signs of wandering off. For those of you who are keen, it reminds me a bit of the Dudley Do Right episode - The Centaur. I might wander away from camp aimlessly. I'll wait while you google and watch. She is perhaps on a watch for another women dressed in half a horse-suit.

I'm going to pop up and visit SIL1 and my oldest brother early this afternoon for a cup of tea along with my usual running around and errands. I had a nice call with D26 yesterday morning and plans are firming up around my visit on Dec 1/2. I have most of their gifts purchased although one is stuck in the mail currently due to the postal strike. According to the tracking it has went from Detroit to outside Chicago - the wrong direction - and has been sitting for a week.

Along with the usual I plan to stop off at the local cidery and pick up some cider for myself and for the gift basket that I'm putting together for D26 and her H. Hopefully no ghosts break the bottles in the cellar this time.

Part of what will keep me busy for this weekend is preparing for a job interview on Wednesday morning. It is with a governmental agency local to me and is outside my usual domain of warehousing / distribution / manufacturing. It is also more a front line support role it seems than strategic. The money is a bit lower than what I get now and there are some questions I have on the possible risks involved given changes in government funding and policies. I need to do a 15 minute power point on 5 topics which should only be a problem in keeping it to 15 minutes. The pension is a government defined benefits plan. I've read through the last few years of annual reports and from having sat on other boards there are a number of red flags I see. We'll see though. I'm pretty nervous but know that I am probably a leading candidate both because of my experience and because I'm local.

It was a bit weird because I received the invitation to interview just minutes before my boss tracked me down to deliver my 15 year long service award. Ironic. I get to pick a gift out of a catalogue and as a joke when I messaged CL about the interview and award I sent her a shot of the catalogue asking her what she wanted for Christmas. There's a nice mantel clock that I've selected for myself that would hopefully arrive prior to any need for a letter of resignation.

One of the reasons I came here this morning is to write about something that I've been struggling with for the last few weeks. I feel a lot of nostalgia for "what was". Generally I was quite content in my marriage and I like to think that my ex was as well. It was "comfortable" - even if there were certainly in hind-sight and perhaps history re-writing some unhealthy dynamics. I find myself going back through the Facebook "memories" and remembering good times. Some time ago I scrubbed my feed of "us" pictures and events but there is only so much that can be done and there will always be traces. I was indeed deeply in love for all those years. I know this. Was she? I think so.

In the next while - perhaps today - I'm going to be starting to put up Christmas decorations and such. One of my favourite times of the year. I purged many of the "us" decorations passing them over to my ex. No clue if she uses them or not. My expectation is that many of the things she took / that I packed up are still in the original boxes. That was her style of house-keeping. There are some that I kept because I liked them. I've not added to the set to any appreciable amount as I am the sort that will only bring something I love into the house. I'll also be sending out my Christmas cards in a couple of weeks too. From Andrew P and his cats and probably S24. That used to be my task when married. Not because I was more into it, but because that way it got done. My ex had a lot of good intentions that never got fulfilled. Where it frustrated me too much I would just deal with things. Since I'm a pretty easy-going guy I just lived with the fact that promises of adventures or nice meals etc wouldn't happen. Her dreams and her reality never completely overlapped.

If I had someone actively in my life right now I probably wouldn't have the space for this nostalgia nor the deep ache that it give me - but that's part of the healing too.

Off I go!

[AndrewP]

Just rambling on a Sunday and in no particular order or structure. There's a 50/50 chance that I will just close this window without posting. Let's see which side the coin falls on. Advance apologies to anyone who chooses to tackle this mess of word salad.

Another tough Sunday. Just back from lunch at the cafe around the corner when this posting started to form. Some time after that now. I feel like baking something but am not sure what. Steaks and S24 has said that he will be making the potato wedges he does well for dinner. I'll probably make biscuits but that doesn't really count as "baking".

I didn't bother eating dinner last night. I had my lunch-time scone and another treat from the cafe at about 5:00 though. I've not gone for my usual walk today either. Blargh. Watched a movie last night and drank too much beer on an empty stomach. But my counter was clean(ish) when I went to bed. S24 was in the midst of making his dinner then.

I'm taking a break from working on the presentation for my interview on Wednesday. The more I dig into it the more questions I have about the organization and some of the ways that things are being done there. It should be an interesting event. The interview is scheduled to take an hour with 15 minutes for the presentation. It's going to be tough to keep it to that amount of time given the topics to be covered. I laugh sometimes thinking back to writing assignments when I was in school and at how hard it was to fill that double-spaced sheet of paper. Now after a few hundred words I'm usually just getting warmed up.

Been listening to a lot of Christmas music for the last 2 days. It's nice to be in to that swing, but it also adds to the nostalgia. I put up a wreath yesterday and might pull out some decorations today. I won't put the tree up until probably the 8th or maybe even later. I switched to a real tree last year which previously I wasn't "allowed". My decorations are pretty sparse for the tree itself. I'm taking my time adding to them. I don't even have lights for the tree. Maybe I'll do that this year. My projector works well from inside the house making it look like I have very fancy lights when in fact it's essentially someone else's lights on a video loop.

I keep wanting to reach out. To my ex - which is a hugely bad idea but one that I can easily justify by lots of poor "logic". To CL who is busy and would undoubtedly be annoyed at her phone going "bing" from a man who isn't her husband while she's busy with church events. And yes - that OM brush is still there in my mind. To FSL - who was very very sweet yesterday "instructing" me that I was getting yellow roses yesterday because A - I was late, B - they have a nice scent and C - they are her favourite. They do look lovely and are a nice change. FSL mentioned that she had been chatting with SIL2's mother who was in the shop a few days previously. I do get the feeling that she likes my extended family. She was very pretty to me yesterday and I looked closely at her which was enjoyable and easy and I do think that she's perhaps in her high 30s at least. If I knew that would be a very helpful thing in my decision making. My googling hasn't been successful despite knowing for example the elementary school she attended (came up in conversation one day). I'd ask doodler for help but he's on a different mission at present.

I really could use someone to talk to about this interview coming up and a bunch of other things - but the available people are cats - and of course - this white box. S24 listens politely but has no input. I am grateful for the friend who was able to chat on Friday night - it was good to "talk" to someone who understands what I'm going through (waves).

I did have a nice visit yesterday with my oldest brother. His wife SIL1 - who said that she would see me there is out of the country. That made things a bit amusing. He was working on his continuous renovations to his barn but took a break to chat. I also did some extra running around going to the local cidery and picking up about 8 bottles total. 2 or 3 for D26's gift basket and the rest for here. Hopefully the ghost won't break any this time.

SIL1 did say that she feels that my ex has really pulled the hole in after herself in recent times. Other friends have suggested that she undoubtedly has come to a realization of the scope of what she has done to me, her family and of course to herself. What is the reality of this? I have no clue and TBH - don't worry too deeply about it despite the amount that I write about it. The past is what it is. Her actions were what they were. My actions and reactions where what they are as well. I have no shame about anything that I have done pre-bomb day or post.

Do I have regrets? H3ll yeah. If I had done anything differently would the outcome have been different? I doubt it. She was pretty firmly set on her path. Perhaps if I had stopped being her Plan B before she got the nerve to move out, she might have lost that nerve all together, but that wasn't the guy I was and am. Someone who believes in people. Who believes in second chances. Which is where I am still vulnerable to her perhaps. Not nearly as vulnerable as I would have been 2 years ago when I would have welcomed her back with open arms and no questions. Pointless to speculate though.

Following along with Westo's story it does show one path for a return. It was slow and full of false starts. Different dynamics there undoubtedly. But my ex has shown no sign of regrets. She also has a firmly held belief that once I set my mind on something that there is no turning me. This despite the evidence to the contrary where she was able to get her own way and steam-roller over me at will.

Going through the papers on my desk reminds me of one of the "flags" I look for in other people now. Their contributions to charities. I recall the Turkish Taco woman being quite shocked at the scope of charitable donations (and formerly volunteering) that I do. She didn't do any and was amused by the fact that I offered to pass over the receipts to a US based charity that I couldn't claim on my taxes (these are some quality hints here doodler!). This year I've added two new charities. There's one that I supported last year that I'm dropping. The hospital where my my ex-inlaws where when they passed. But I added my local hospital foundation last year so am still in that sphere.

I'm fortunate that I am in a position to be modestly generous. I have no idea if FSL does any volunteering - perhaps not being a single mom to her S6 but CL certainly is active, mostly through her church. I do think that anyone that I am involved with does need to be charitable in a practical sense. My ex volunteered with Girl Guides for many years and it became part of her identity. She even has Girl Guide custom plates on her car - but left the organization in a ball of flame simultaneously with leaving me. She also used to do the door-to-door canvasing for at least a couple of national charities. I know the year after she left her "package" was left here for her and I broke no-contact to let her know. No clue if she is still involved. Those organizations go to a lot of lengths to keep the volunteers that they have.

If my employment situation changes and I have more time on my hands I'll probably get back in to active volunteering again. The local Credit Union staff have been after me for some time to sit on their board of directors and I may look at that too. There's a local charity involved in environmental issues that I used to sit on the Board for and volunteer with that would be delighted to have me back I'm sure. The friend I was chatting with on Friday assured me that women find men who volunteer sexy. Not sure how helpful that is as in my experience, many of the women involved in charities tend to be elderly and are doing it to escape their retired husband at home

I had a laugh the other day when "20 something" tagged me in a link to the singles night at the local pub in my village. The owner of the pub was widowed about a year ago - not sure if this is her way of meeting the local singles. I have a good excuse to not attend as I'll be visiting D26 that day.

I'm now down to one slide to finish which isn't a big one. Once I finish the slide deck then I need to write the associated commentary. I think that the organization I'm interviewing with will completely understand the effort required to put something like this together well as they provide and advocate for training of municipal utilities. For most training programs I suggest that it takes roughly twice the time to prepare as it does to present. I think I'm more than a bit over that on this one but have been easily distracted by this white box and lots of other things.

S24 did wander by but felt that his input on to the quality of my slide deck wasn't all that helpful since he says that he has never seen a business presentation before. He did think that the layout was visually appealing which is in my opinion a necessary thing for a presentation.

Well - I did first decide to make banana loaf which - yes - is one of the things that my ex would make all the time. But the shop across the street didn't have any bananas so I'm making a loaf of beer bread instead.

Beer bread is in the oven. Since I seem to be having a tendency to consult multiple recipies and then going with a variation of the consensus it's
- 3 cups self-rising flour (all I had left)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 bottle beer (Molson Canadian - used local craft beer last time)

After reading the ingredients again, it said to pour the melted butter on top and so since I'd already mixed it into the batter I put 3 pats of butter on top. The last time I made this it was fairly dry - this should be much moister.

And yes - as the reader might have guessed, this post has been rambled over for pretty much the whole afternoon. Bread should be ready in about an hour.

As you can tell - I've chosen to hit the Post button. My work clothes are just about done in the wash and that means ironing time. Live is indeed good. As a very dear friend often says to me despite me being agnostic God has been kind to me. I have a many good friends, good health, am able to be generous to others, a roof over my head and a family who loves me. All that's missing is passion.

A bien tôt mes amis.

[Dawn70]

Well, that was a long one, but interesting from the standpoint that it gave some insight into you. Yellow roses are my absolute most favorite flower on the planet. They remind me of my grandmother. They will absolutely be included in my bouquet if/when Sparky and I do get married so that I can carry a piece of my grandma with me.

As far as CL, I hope it doesn't sound harsh when I say this, because I like you and actually think we would be friends IRL, but you keep mentioning the "OM brush"....honey, when push comes to shove you ARE the other man. Maybe I'm a bit more hard nosed on that than some others would be but the lady is still married, so you or any other man she dates is the OM. I get that she's separated and in that separation she is finished with her XH and I also fully realize that separated people date all the time, but until the divorce is final, she is still married and anyone else who comes into her life is the OM. I know I see this differently than probably 99.9% of other people on this planet and my XH was quick to point that out to me when I found out about his "new" gf at the time, but regardless of whether her marriage is over or not, legally she IS still married. I'm not trying to bust your chops....just giving you another perspective on the deal.

Love your beer bread recipe. I use that same one and yes, putting butter on top helps moisten it up a bit. It is a fairly dry bread anyway, but the butter on top helps. It is excellent with chili and a variety of soups and freezes really well. It is great with a variety of beers light or dark. Dark beers give it a yeastier flavor. On a side note about beer, I LOVE Molson Canadian. In the time I spent in Canada in another lifetime, I developed a taste for it and I hate that I can't get it here. It is good stuff.

Oh and I got a chuckle out of your paragraph on the interview. When you talked about when you were younger and it was so hard to fill up the pages of a paper. That has NEVER been a problem for me. I really like to write and kinda subscribe to that theory that why should I write it in one word when I can use a whole paragraph to do it? LOL I would have the same issue with a 15 minute presentation......I would have to work really hard to get it DOWN to 15 minutes. I interviewed for a job a few years ago that had a similar set up and I had to practice for WEEKS to keep my presentation under the 15 minute mark. Public speaking is my thing, so I get carried away if I don't hold on. LOL

Anyway, I enjoy reading your posts, regardless of length. I really do think we would be great friends IRL.

[AndrewP]

I really do think we would be great friends IRL.

Me too. There's not many women who I can have a conversation about compost with

And I fully get your OM comments and appreciate them. If I didn't want other points of view I wouldn't be here and would be keeping my "diary" in a locked box in my cellar.

I think for me the key metric for whether you are an OM/OW is secrecy. One of the things that frustrated the heck out of me with my ex was the fact that despite her chasing off with her own OM was the fact that she refused to acknowledge the relationship beyond admitting to it when I found out and then rubbing my face in it during the horror of in-house separation while she was "deciding". I'm sure she had her own reasons - the main one of not being judged I am sure. My own view was that if this guy was worth blowing up your family and marriage for that he'd better be someone who you are proud to introduce your children to and explain the circumstances. 3+ years out now and he's still a pretty closely held secret. Which must have been quite the surprise at her parents' funeral (she lost them both within days) when he was listed as her spouse and (presumably) was there with her during the services. She's been tagged in his circle of friends and the kids have been introduced but I expect most people don't know that she's seeing someone.

Yes, I know that for a number of us that our former partners run off immediately with their Twu Wuvs shouting out to the world that they've found their soul mate. To me, that's a very different thing. I recall my ex telling me (with disgust) about the affairs that her sister and brother had and how they felt so "alive" because of the thrill of the secrecy. The ones who "run off" are being presumably faithful to their new partner and just have an abbreviated timeline between them.

The perceived reluctance to be public about me that I saw with CL related in part to her "uncle" comments a while ago was a huge waving red flag for me. Don't be involved in someone who isn't proud to be around you. I can see that at the beginning of a relationship that you may not want to be publicly bonded to the other person. I can also very much see the point of view that she is legally married and a member of a very conservative faith group that undoubtedly has people in it who have "views" on such things.

She seems comfortable with everyone in my circle knowing about her though. I dunno - if I understood women I'd probably be one Since I respect her I've not pushed too hard but I do hope that she knows that the clock is ticking.

[AndrewP]

I think my original plan of this thread lasting until the new year is probably toast so trivial update time.

I'd sent a message to CL yesterday afternoon asking if she were available for a date this week and also suggesting that when she's in my geography on Saturday that she consider stopping with the kids at the cafe in my village.

She mis-interpreted my message as me wanting to have lunch with her and her kids and said that time would be tight and she'd see and congratulated me on my courage as she expects her kids to be quite judgmental.

Very careful back-peddling on my part to let her know that I was no where courageous enough as of yet to subject myself to the scrutiny of her teens which was accepted undoubtedly with some relief on both sides

She didn't address the question of a date but I think this week is out. Saturday I know is a bust and expect Sunday too as I am sure her congregation is ramping up for Christmas. I did suggest next Wednesday as I'm on vacation and will probably remind her of that early next week.

----------

I'm continuing to waffle about contacting my ex and suggesting that I could deliver Christmas presents to D26 for her. If as many including myself suspect she's plugged in to my activities including perhaps reading along here (waves using minimal fingers) then she knows my plans. Offering would be the decent thing to do, but so would be helping the person who runs over your dog fix their bumper. If she asks I won't say no. I don't expect her to ask.

Sad - because today's news flow has essentially indicated that as far as sending anything by post for Christmas, that's cancelled. I'll hand-deliver what cards I can but need to decide whether to send others out through the post. I do have a gift for my son-in-law that's been stuck at the border to come to me for well over a week now. It may become his birthday present for March.

Has anyone got that number of that flying reindeer with the nose thingy? Is it willing to cross picket lines?

-------------

Earlier I read back in my threads like I do sometimes. This time to the past 2 Christmases. This will be my 3rd as a single man, first one as a legally single one. I almost wish I could reach back to that man and offer some cheer and hope. Yes - life right now has a certain "blargh" element to it and it isn't the life I expected but I'm generally doing fine. And who knows - maybe this year on New Year's Eve I might get kissed by someone other than a very reluctant cat. A guy can hope can't he?

[JujuB]

Back when i was going through the divorce process, i remember thinking how i could not wait to be at the point when all i had to post about was potential dates. Blargh is a great place to be, comparatively speaking of course.

I think if you want that New Years Eve Kiss, you might have to take some risks. Be more of the aggressor. Make the move. Plenty of women seem to be indicating their interest. Women get attracted knowing they are attractive. It is a turn on, when a guy a woman likes initiates !

[doodler]

Andrew,

Do you know what I've been thinking about? I've been thinking about the Turkish taco woman, of course. But it's not what you think. I wasn't thinking about her name. (That's just silly nonsense. Well, not really...) I haven't had lunch and Thanksgiving is almost here, so my thoughts were meandering toward things related to food. It was inevitable that Turkish tacos would come to mind, no? I thought, wouldn't it be cool to have a turkey taco? You know, a taco shell stuffed with turkey, and maybe mash potatoes and stuffing with some gravy on top. Maybe it's disgusting; I don't really know because right now I'm starving and it sounds really good. You may have inadvertently started an entirely new food trend, Mexican-Thanksgiving fusion. It's probably something the earliest migrants settlers would've eaten.

[AndrewP]

The interview went well. The CEO and I connected quite well and the interview ran slightly over-time.

Not sure I want the role and am currently crowd-sourcing my opinion as I'm torn. They're in a tough place with the incumbent moving to New Zealand shortly (waves to LouR) and are making a decision Friday.

CL's opinion is to push for a larger offer than the top of the range. She and I have different priorities where I look more for satisfaction - given the money being OK. It's funny she's not all that materialistic although she does like and appreciate nice things. Is this a byproduct of being in a marriage where she was "measured" against some standard of perfection and always came up short - according to her narrative? She has mentioned some very hurtful things people have said to her - usually when she is proud of something and then gets cut down. A song I've heard in my own house. She also seems to look for simplistic answers to complex questions which is very different from my own approach and has made me re-think things more than once. The simplest answer is quite often the correct one.

A couple of other friends have been non-committal.

My impression is that it's a junior role that they have a good sized bucket of money for and want a senior person who will look good presenting to the board but do mostly more junior / support type work

Advantages:
- Much shorter commute
- better pension
- branching into new technology areas, learn new stuff
- new "domain" - outside of manufacturing / distribution

Cons
- Slightly less money - I'm in Sunshine list territory now and that's a big thing in Government roles to keep those lists small
- branches into areas of business that haven't been my core competencies / focus for 36 years of career.
- the new tech stuff isn't all that useful in other roles - generally junior or outsourced in most places

Unknowns
- longevity of role given government whims - CEO says to not worry
- career path isn't there

I had a laugh because it was mentioned about so many government people retiring at 55. 4 months away for me.

I don't even know if they'll make an offer. I have reached out to people for references which I need to try to send back to them today. There is probably a thin pool of candidates for them and I know that I am well over-qualified for the business and process part although under-qualified for the technical stuff most of which is junior (yes - a contradiction)

It really boils down to me to "would I be happy there". I don't know the answer to that. I range from "interested" mostly in "meh" and occasionally royally ticked off in my current role.

Think think think think.

[AndrewP]

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

I drove by my ex's apartment this morning - yeah yeah yeah - I know - and she was there. She does work in the liquor / grocery store downstairs and it was slightly after she would normally start but there was snow on her car and today would normally be her day off. I think it's a reasonable assumption that she's still living there at least most of the time.

We used to have a tradition that she and I would go down to see D26 and her H for American Thanksgiving each year. Do some shopping and such as well. Those trips were so very much fun.

The first year after she left, I deliberately chose to not go so as to give her and OM a chance to have that day / announce their twu wuvs etc etc. She didn't go and OM was kept secret until she was outed by others the following spring. Last year, again I wanted to give her that opportunity. My approach with D26 now though, having been a young married person, is to let her have the "holidays" with her and her H as a "them" time. At Christmas I call her and we open presents together via Skype. I remember as a young family carting from side to side trying to remember whose "turn" it was. My ex's family was particularly onerous. I was able to "get my way" though and we did always have Christmas morning together as a family in our own home after the kids were born.

I did message D26 a Happy Thanksgiving this morning though. She's making pie today along with everything else. She may have people over but isn't sure. I think it's safe to say that it won't be her mother. I just saw a SnapChat of her making dressing. Yum.

I do wish I was sitting with the smell of roasting turkey today though. Nostalgia is tough on me this season. Perhaps because the divorce is now over and done with.

When I go visit D26 next weekend she's suggested that we head up to Williamsberg VA. There appears to be a lot to do there. It should be a fun time. I'm not sure if D26 has any specific destination in mind in Williamsberg. She and her H go there from time to time as it is close to them in Norfolk. One thing that I'm going to hunt for on this trip is a new Christmas stocking for myself.

Shortly after we were married, my ex started up a special one for me with a lovely cross-stitched pattern. It mostly sat for decades gathering dust, but a year or so before her affair, she pulled it out and actually finished it. She was good at starting projects, gathering stuff for projects but never actually finishing them. The stocking is quite nice with DAD stitched across the top in big letters. I'm going to put it in the box with the quilt that my grandmother made as a wedding present that I retired this past summer along with a note about the history of it.

S24 was having a rough day yesterday. His day of work got cancelled at the last minute so he went back to bed for about 7 hours. He looked like crap, perhaps as bad as after he moved home looking all depressed. I foolishly perhaps contributed a bit to that the previous evening when coming home I made a joking comment that on a divorce support forum (not this one) that someone had asked for instructions on how to roast a duck and that I had suggested imagining your ex in front of you and stab it in the breast and back. When I said that he looked like someone had kicked him. I really need to be more careful. I do think that things are still tough on him. If his mother is struggling, me being flippant about her is probably not helpful.

Hopefully he's doing better today.

Given the postal strike I think what I'm going to do to get CL's Christmas card to her is to go to a florist local to her and have it delivered with some flowers when I get back from Virginia. I'm not as worried about upsetting her kids as I was when I wasn't sure if they knew I "existed" or not. I hope she'll find that sweet and creative. I'm also going to take a look to see what's going on in her city for New Year's Eve and may suggest that she join me at the Boat Show in January - possibly with teen(s) in tow. Finding my courage I think.

Well - I suppose I should be doing some actual work. The count-down to vacation is well underway. I got my references off to the company I interviewed with but I'm really heavily leaning towards not taking the job if offered. Despite the practical advantages and relatively decent money, I lose too much career wise going there.

[job]

Take comfortable walking shoes for when you go to Williamsburg. The old town is beautifully decorated for the holidays and I'm not sure if next weekend is the annual kickoff for the holiday season, but if it is, you need to go in the evening. They do the tree lighting and candles are lit and the old town is just so beautiful at night. You might want to have your daughter check into this because it is worth the walk in the late evening. Be sure to eat at one of the Taverns and try their hot cider.

Travel safely and enjoy your time w/your daughter and son-in-law.