Soothing My Husband's Ego

So I forgot to link my husband in the last post, and he's been on me about it since. Apparently, I ruffled his feathers quite thoroughly, high maintenance pain in the neck. Like there's anyone here who doesn't know that he's my husband -- So anyway, here it is. I'm linking his stupid ass: http://musingsfromthebigpink.blogspot.com/

Happy now, dearest?
     -- Kisses,
          Your wife

My Husband Is A Lovely Sugar Doll-- And Now, So Am I

My husband gave me another award (I suspect because he thinks I should blog more), so here I am accepting it. Realistically, he couldn't have not given it to me since it's called the...

Anywhooo, I apparently have to tell ya'll 10 things you likely don't know about me. Here it goes:

The List:

1. I had significant postpartum depression with my first child, but not my second.
2. I was once engaged to my husband's friend, and we were all roommates
3. I cheated on nearly every guy I was ever involved with except my husband 
4. I once beat up a girl during my religion class in high school
5. I have a thing for Jewish men -- Dreyfess (think Jaws, not Mr. Holland's Opus), John Stewart, Seth Green, Adam Horovitz, Adam Sandler, Adam Brody, Kevin Pollack, Paul Rudd, HM...
6. I've traveled the country (twice), but never been to NYC and couldn't care less
7. My first semester of college my blood alcohol level was higher than my GPA
8. I hate subtitled movies and I don't care that it makes me WT
9.  I once ate 9 Taco Bell Tacos in a 1/2 hour to win a bet against my husband -- for a dollar 
10.  My dog died when I was young, and my father told me she went to live on a farm. I believed this until I was 28 years old because clearly any farm wants old, blind, arthritic Irish Setters. Right? 

Now, I get to bestow this award on someone. I know that this award is a silly little thing, but the woman I am choosing is not. I gave her the award because her breast cancer story touched me so much. It's just an arbitrary blog award, but I wanted to let her know that even though we'll probably never meet, her story has affected my life.

1. Farida at Chapters from my Life for her touching post about her brave battle with cancer and the subsequent journey of self discovery. May I one day be as introspective and judicious.  

Should I stay or should I go?

I moved away from the city of my birth when I was 16 years old, and other than the odd holiday or family gathering I didn't go back -- that is until I bought a house there. When my daughter was about 8 months old, my husband and I suddenly and unexpectedly found ourselves looking for a new place to live (long story). We had already made the commitment to being a one income family, so we had to find something that we could afford on my salary alone. And, despite what the republican demagogues would have you believe, school teachers aren't in it for the money.

We decided that we didn't really want to rent for several reasons: 1. our huge moron of a dog, 2. the frustration of spending without equity, 3. rent is as expensive in our area as most mortgages, 4. the American dream of a little house with a yard, 5. wanting to provide roots for our kids, and finally 6. fear of being displaced again with at least one baby (we ended up pregnant again 3 months later).

After an exhaustive search for an affordable neighborhood with decent schools and a reasonable commute for me, we settled on my home town. It was a mistake. The schools are fine but the town itself is in a massive depression and has serious self-image problems. The parks suck, the politics are kind of shady,  the people are xenophobic and many are racist, and the renter to owner ratio is way out of whack.

At the same time, the commute is as good as I can afford, the schools still have strong art and music programs and free preschool for all. The shop owners are friendly and warm -- they stop to smile at my kids and give them treats. It is a 15 minute drive to the ocean, nicer parks, the woods, swimming ponds, and the city. People stop on the street to talk to you, the library is welcoming and family friendly, and the food is great and affordable.

The town tries to make itself something better, but almost everything they do makes no sense. Do we stay and try to make this a better place? Do we go and find something closer to what we want? I feel like a quitter if I cut and run, but at the same time I have no idea what one person can do to change a whole town. Any ideas? What would you do? Seriously, I'm at a loss, and I want your opinions.