March Madness. Seriously.

Hi. Here is a quick update on our lives. 

The biggest thing was that due to further budget cuts to the College of Arts and Sciences, Joe's position was (foolishly) cut by the upper administration (who have no idea what they have done). We were completely shocked by this and are honestly still reeling a bit. I can't tell you what is coming next because we aren't sure yet. It's been very overwhelming and stressful. 

The silver lining has been seeing all of Joe's colleagues and students rallying around him. It's pretty amazing how much he has done, how many people he has impacted, in less than two years. I'm very proud of him and I know that any university or company will be lucky to have him. 

The other thing is that Z qualified for speech therapy in the River Falls school district. He will be able to go to the elementary school just up the road from us (3 minute walk) four mornings a week from 8:30 - 11 am. I think this will be great for him. He's made massive improvement with his SLP visiting one hour a week and, even though he does well with me, I think seeing the other kids, getting that much stimulation, and getting a little break from his adoring brother, will be a great learning opportunity for him. He's actually scoring within a normal range now for expressive language, but we still need to work on receptive language, which is going to include having his hearing retested. I do sometimes think that he can't hear well, though he is certainly not deaf. 

April is going to hold a lot for us. Our department heads are scrambling to try to keep Joe and I around and we will find out the results of their efforts within the next week. Joe is applying to positions like a machine and we might hear from those at any time. Z will start school on April 20, which will be a big change. He and I are also enrolled in a therapy swim class that starts in April, mostly for some mommy and Z time, but also because his SLP recommended it to me. My parents are coming for a visit and to help me while Joe is gone for four days at a conference, which I'm looking forward to (my parents, not Joe being gone).

I think that's it in a nutshell.