So, I have been at my current job for over 9 years now. I am the CFO in our county public schools. I make a really, really good salary that I have quite honestly earned throughout the years. I have been content until recently so I started looking elsewhere. However, my options are quite limited because I need to stay within our state retirement system... this means that unless I plan on moving, which I do not, the only real option for me is to look at the local university here. So, I've been looking each week at their job postings. I sent in my resume a couple of weeks ago for a position teaching undergraduate business courses. I have been contacted that I am a serious candidate for them and they were going forward in checking my references. It would be a great opportunity and change for me... however, I am quite hesitant because of the salary difference. This teaching job would pay about $40k less than what I am currently making! I doubt I will take the job just because of this detail alone but it is still something I want to consider... any advice from anyone out there that may be teaching at the university level? Pros/cons?

** We picked up our check from the consignment sale... our final total was $349.80 which was awesome!

** My DD has been asking for a piano/keyboard for over a year now but we've been telling her that they are just too expensive. I went to a yard sale on Saturday and I'm so glad I did. The fellow had the nicest keyboard for sale! It is one of those really nice grand piano "dupes" that sits on a stand and has a bench and was hardly used at all. They retail for around $800 and I was able to talk him down from $250 to $200. My DH and I set it up in the house for DD and surprised her with it. I've never seen her more happy. She loves it!

** We are still figuring out details on our upcoming Hawaii trip. It's so exciting. Living on the east coast, this is a huge trip for us since it's so far away. I'm heading to the library today to see if they have any travel books on Hawaii...

So, I thought we would piggy back a family vacation with my conference in San Francisco... but we took it a step further and we are going all the way to Hawaii! We have already made the flight and hotel reservations. Now, we just need to look at what to do while there. We are going to be on Oahu. Visiting Pearl Harbor is a no brainer but what else do you guys recommend? We'll have our teenagers with us as well as my parents so we need to keep everyone happy. Suggestions on what we should do to ensure a great trip? This is a huge trip for us and a major expense so we want to make the most of it.