Changes...

A few updates on the "Sparks' Desert Adventure"

My shoulder is almost 100%, I have been released from physical therapy but continue to do exercises at home. Day to day it seems pretty good, but I still have some stiffness lifting my arm above my head and behind my back that I am working on. I also turned in my "official" letter of resignation to Romeo Community Schools. I have been on personal leave for the last two years. Contractually, I either need to return to work in August 2012 or resign. I am grateful for the opportunities that Romeo gave me and to the friends, students and families that I met there. I will always be a teacher at heart and am thankful that I had 9 years with Romeo to help shape me as an adult and teacher.

Chris continues to be busy at work. He is currently transitioning between job roles. Unfortunately, his company is no longer working with General Motors, so he has switched accounts and will now head Mars, Sky News and a pharmaceutical company. To do this, he has switched from the Starcom side of the company to the MediaVest side (but essentially still the same company). It actually worked in his favor to be in Dubai when this all happened. Our friends in Detroit have had to find new jobs and some are still looking. It is also a good opportunity for him to work on something other than automotive (which he has done for 11 years!). With this change comes a new office, new responsibilities and an extra year in Dubai (so two more). Although, it continues to be hard to be so far away from our friends and family, we have so many great opportunities living here...and Dubai is a pretty nice lifestyle. The biggest opportunity is that I can continue to stay home with Savannah.

We continue to try to make the most of our opportunities while in Dubai. In July we are headed to Muscat, Oman for a long weekend and we are meeting my parents in Italy in January! Savannah and I are also looking at heading back to St. Louis in July or August for a few weeks, it will provide us with a little break from the extreme heat and give us some more time with our family!