A Little Catch-Up

Hey, Barb.

I'm having a hard time getting started writing - although I have been reading - so I thought I'd begin here where it doesn't matter too much if I'm eloquent or if I don't say exactly the right thing.

I'm still in the post-major-event energy drain, even though everyone left Sunday night.  The anniversary weekend was beyond anything I could have hoped for, but I'm glad it's over. Everything turned out perfectly, from JJ's baseball game Thursday afternoon with a handful of cousins and Grandma and Grandad in the cheering section, to Sunday evening at Red Robin, saying goodbye to the last of the travelers. We had a blast. I think my parents had the time of their lives, as did most of the rest of us. What a memorable few days! I don't have pictures yet from KA (our photographer, TA's little sister) but as soon as I do, I will share.

Monday morning, I slept late and finally got up only because I had a job interview.  A few weeks ago at baseball, a team mom mentioned that one of her employees had given her two-weeks notice that day, and after a bit of conversation, we agreed that I would forward her my resume.  I wasn't sure if she was really serious, but she called me while I was in New York and set up an interview.  I don't think she's interviewing anyone else at this point, so I was happy when I immediately hit it off with the two office managers Monday.  It's a front desk reception/patient admit position at a local family medical clinic; it's right here in BL, about three minutes from the house, M-F, 9-2.  Could I have designed a better job if I had tried???  All I wanted was something close to home, during school hours, with no emotional baggage, no take home work, no overtime.  Hello!!  I got a call the minute I got home from the interview to ask if I could do my drug test that day, so I went and got that out of the way. Now I'm hoping that CN (the baseball mom) will call me in the morning to let me know what the next step is.

I'm pretty excited about it -- the timing is perfect, the money isn't too terrible and the rest of it is awesome.  We'll see what happens... now I just have to figure out how I'm going to get a week off next summer for my trip to the east coast! ;-)

Other than that, I've just been trying to get my house back in order, although it didn't get too out of control while everyone was here.  All of my redecorating is finished and all the pieces are finally in place.  It's beautiful and I love all the changes we made.  We have a bunch of busy weekends ahead - well, pretty much the holiday season is upon us, I think.  We've got a huge neighborhood progressive dinner, a visit from JB from California, a trip to Portland with M, a trip to Corvallis to see a football game and spend time with C, Halloween, blah blah blah, right up to when my parents come back for Thanksgiving. Then we leave November 28 for Maui!  I'm now allowing myself to get excited about that, and I already told CN (new boss) that I need that week off, which was no problem.  I had really put the thought of it out of my head, but now it's nice to have something fun to look forward to that won't take any effort on my part! Ok, maybe fitting into a bathing suit will take a little effort...

I would love to catch up on the phone this week.  Tomorrow would be great if you will be around; Thursday I am having my tooth extracted (the one I cancelled to go to NY) so I'll be OOC that day.  I should be around Friday, as far as I know.  Saturday M and I leave for Portland.  Let me know what works for you.

Speaking of NY, John is doing well with the death of his sister but is not doing well with being back to work at all.  I am a little worried about how much his personality changes when he's back at work.  I'm not sure how much longer he's going to be able to put off retirement.  I would be just fine if he quit tomorrow; the stress is killing him.  One of the great things about being back in NY was the time we spent with his family and how much we all enjoyed that sense of closeness and relaxation.  We talked a lot about retiring there, and C is already applying for a job transfer to Albany. She was that happy there.

Anyway, I'll sign off and look forward to talking to you soon. It seems like it's bedtime but it's only 8:00 and pitch dark outside.  I love fall, but the darkness tricks me.  I could seriously go to bed right now!

Love you and hope all is well with you,
A