Hi blog. I'm Billie Jo. Nice to meet you. Oh, we've met? You're right. It's been a while but I vaguely remember you...
So very much has happened in our house since my last update. I'm excited to say that I survived the five weeks in Jan/Feb as a single woman (in that Ricky was in Florida at umpire school) and have never been happier to have my hubby home than I was a couple weeks ago when he returned. I am now married to a Jim Evans Umpire Academy Honor Graduate. I'm so proud of him. He was one of 18 selected out of 120 or so men (and one woman) who attended the academy.
What's next you ask? He now goes back to Florida for 11 days in March to be evaluated and ranked by the Professional Baseball Umpire Corp (PBUC). After this, he will be assigned an initial placement and will then wait for the calls just as baseball players do to move up the minor league baseball umpiring ladder. We aren't super sure what this all actually means for us, except it's likely that Ricky will be on the road somewhere for much of the summer living something he's always dreamed of trying. I'm 100% in support of him in this, even if it means some time apart for us. I've learned that I can make it while he's traveling (even if I don't get to eat quite as well since he's my cook), and that I will cherish our time together so much more.
Also, Ricky is going to have a .50 position at OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University) as an Exercise Specialist, coordinating athletic trainers and working with schools/individuals in athletic training realms. They are completely comfortable with him being gone in the summer for umpiring and are looking forward to his great people skills and his expertise in concussion prevention/management to share with the Portland area. Yay! This is such an AMAZING blessing for us. It will include vacation/sick/benefits and the option for additional flex hours. Wonderfully, it'll let Ricky do the two things he loves (athletic training & umpiring). We heard about this possibility before Christmas but certainly didn't hold our breath given Ricky's crazy umpire life right now. God is good!
On my end, a few exciting things have developed. I have a date for my oral dissertation defense (May 11--put it on your calendars and pray for me). For those of you who don't know, the oral defense is the seminal point in getting one's PhD. This is where you stand in front of a committee of expert researchers and explain/defend your research project to "prove" that you deserve a PhD. In the mean time, I have a bit of writing to finish and am looking forward to having a solid project to share with my committee. I have also been asked to teach a couple of classes this summer at Portland State University to senior and Masters level special education students in classroom behavior management and in individual behavior assessment and support planning.
I'm seriously considering writing Dr. Billie Jo Rodriguez on the marker board for the fun of it on the first day of class. It will be a little more than a week post graduation. :-)
Here are a few photos from Christmas with the hubby and our God daughter, Abby.
