Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'. . .

We went up to visit my sister-in-law yesterday and meet my new nephew. He's almost 2 months-so not brand-new, but he and his sister have been sick nonstop, then with Easter travel for everyone we weren't able to coordinate. So it was good to see him and my niece/goddaughter and visit. We've both been completely exhausted and the last thing we wanted to do was load into the car and drive 95 miles to their place, but we really did need to.

Minka is not used to other babies very much-she hasn't seen her cousin since her birthday at the end of December, and her cousins on my husband's side are older. She saw the cousin sitting in my lap while she was playing at the other end of the room, and made a beeline for her. She gave her hair a decent yank before I could stop her, I was sort of shocked! We've started to put her in the nursery at church during Sunday services, and I'm planning to enroll her for a Gymboree class in the summer when I'm off. . .clearly she does need to have some more interaction. :)

My brother (who was at work yesterday) called my mom last night to inquire whether I was pregnant. Since I stopped highlighting my hair a few months ago, my SIL assumed I was. Sigh. Actually, I wouldn't mind if I was. . .I totally have babies on the brain, but now isn't quite the time. I think we'll wait until the summer and then see about #2.

Picking up the pieces. . .

Work's been pretty busy since Monday as everyone's pitching in to do the work of our recently-fired co-worker. There's a lot of things missing/unaccounted for, so we're trying to make sense of everything and get moving on some events, etc that are happening over the next couple of weeks. There are a number of rumors as to why she's out--stolen money, mis-management of one of her big projects--we'll probably never know for sure. What do you do when you're 40-ish and get fired from a job where you've been for 6 or 7 years? How do you explain away that gap in your resume when you're looking for a new job and can't get a reference?

Minka was racing toward me yesterday, and I suddenly noticed that she is insanely pigeon-toed--just on her right foot. JUST like her father. Of course, I was online immediately when she went to bed, Googling like crazy. . .apparently it's nothing to be concerned about this early on and will supposedly correct itself. Looking at her 30-year-old father, whose right foot still turns very sharply inward, I am not very convinced! Her 15-month pediatrician's appointment is coming up in 2 weeks, so that will be at the top of the list for things to ask!

She has a touch of eczema-mostly confined to this one dime-sized patch on her left shoulder-and we have been using Cortaid on it after bathtime, with some Aquaphor over that. We recently started using Aveeno Baby wash and lotion on her and her skin feels just divine. I was getting her dressed this morning and it's like silk. I may try it myself. . .

The Firing Squad

I got a call last night from my boss that one of the aforementioned work ladies had been fired yesterday. I don't know any of the particulars--and really, I don't even want to--but when you hear that one of your co-workers has "gotten the ax", it's definitely unnerving. She hasn't gotten to clean out her office yet, so it's just a little creepy with everyone talking about her in hushed whispers, like she died. On the bright side, she left a lot of work that needs doing, which means some more projects for me that I am happy to have. . .

My mom--Minka's babysitter and probably her favorite person if we're being honest here--orchestrated baby's first Easter egg hunt yesterday afternoon when I got home from work. I just sat there, astounded while she very speedily plucked eggs from around the room and plopped them in a bowl like she'd been doing it forever. It's so trite, but they really do grow up so fast. I find that I'm not as good with capturing every moment with the camera as I'd like to be, but luckily I got a great shot of my snuggly little bunny. . .

Is the Easter basket half-full. . .?

The weekend turned out to be fine with my in-laws. Some minor drama with SIL (her son is a teenager and they are always sniping at each other), but all in all a really nice couple of days. Minka -what I'll call my little one here-was terrific throughout, going from relative to relative with no problems, and sleeping through the night in an unfamiliar pack n' play. I had to entertain her for about the last 2 hours of the drive home and we were scraping the bottom of the barrel. . .read her all of the Dr Seuss books we had with us, cranked up her musical sheep, sang "The Pina Colada song" at top volume (and what is WITH that song--the people are going to have an affair and they just have a good laugh over it at the end? wtf?). . .and finally I just let her dump Goldfish into her lap and play with them. It occupied a good 25 minutes. I figure as long as it's something I can clean up easily (or that our dog will take care of!), there's no harm done. Hence the unrolled toilet paper and emptied tissue boxes that you'll find around our house. :)

I did hear from the doctoral program-a rejection letter awaited in the mail when we got home last night. I'm really disappointed-I don't think I had realized how much I had gotten my hopes up. This just makes me feel STUCK. . .in this job that does not challenge me at ALL but that's at least connected with what I want to do, with this commute that is costing me a fortune, while I desperately miss my little girl every day. I think maybe if I wasn't so bummed out about the job that I wouldn't mind leaving her so much. Does that sound crazy?

Back to the drawing board for a new "life plan". Sigh.

Good Friday (but really, most Fridays are. . .)

This morning was the easiest commute I've had in the seven months I've been at this job--56 minutes. Every morning I time the 55.6-mile (that's one way, folks), and my previous best was 59 (and yes, I am a little bit obsessive. Why do you ask?? :) )

Although I'm a little envious of all the people who are off from work today, at least I could enjoy my guilty-pleasure morning radio show and look forward to my traditional venti nonfat extra-hot latte--my one vice that I indulge on Fridays to celebrate the end of the week.

We head to Virginia tomorrow to visit my in-laws for the weekend for Easter. My husband comes from a MUCH larger family than me--he is one of 4 siblings and has tons of aunts/uncles/cousins, whereas I'm one of two and both my parents are only children. So no cousins or anything. Isn't that a little weird? I really enjoy his family, with the exception of his sister. And I will say that sometimes I really dread going to visit because of her and she'll wind up being perfectly lovely, so I suppose she isn't a horrible person. . .she can just be VERY selfish and nasty, especially to my mother-in-law, who is kind and sweet and bends over backwards to accommodate her. As SIL has gotten older she has gotten somewhat better, but in general it is HER show and everything needs to please HER.

One classic example--we were celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday a few years back and another of my sisters-in-law made a point of asking her what sort of cake she liked best. MIL says chocolate or carrot. So SIL #1 proceeds to get vanilla, since she and her son like that best and she knows her mother wouldn't dare say anything.

At the moment I'm waiting to find out if I've been accepted to a doctoral program in higher education (my career field)--the university said letters would be sent "in March". I was pretty patient until last Wednesday and now I scoot directly to the mail when I get home, do not pass go, do not collect $200. . .still nothing, but fingers crossed maybe I'll hear today. I feel like once I know one way or the other, it will give me some direction--continuing at work and taking advantage of a nice tuition reimbursement benefit, or maybe setting the countdown clock for the day when I can step back out of the workforce for a while. We shall see. . .

What's that SMELL?

Our little girl is going to be 15 months this week. Last Easter was sort of a blur, but since she's now quite aware of what's going on around her, I have been so excited to put together her first Easter basket. No candy, just a small book or two and a stuffed bunny.

So I ordered one of the gorgeous wicker baskets and polka-dot personalized liners from Pottery Barn Kids, with her name embroidered on it. I had this vision of her and our kids-to-be all with their own baskets on future egg hunts. . .until it arrived.

I opened the box (this was nearly a month ago) and I was assaulted with a strong, offensive smell. Turpentine would be the closest comparison. I called PBK that evening and talked with a lovely customer service rep, who said she had ordered baskets from regular PB last year and they also smelled-she was told to air them out for a day and they would be fine, and that it was a "non-toxic" finish.

Well, fast-forward to yesterday, when after a week of hanging the damn thing on my front porch, it still smells. A lot. It's sitting on our piano, and when you come down the stairs, you can smell it from about 8 feet away. So, it's now boxed up on our porch to ship back today, and now it's 6 days until Easter and I need to come up with something else. I know, I know--she's only 15 months old, she doesn't know the difference. . .I have told myself that, too!

But when you feel guilty every morning when you slip out of the house for work before your baby awakes, it does matter to you.

Rainy Days

There was an article in last week's Newsweek about a church in Kansas City, MO where the pastor gave his congregation bracelets and asked them to go for 21 days without complaining. If you complained, you switched the bracelet to the other wrist and started over. I keep thinking about it-so even without the bracelet as a visual, I'm trying to be mindful of not complaining.

Our lovely office assistant's son, a high school senior, was in a major car accident last week-driving to lunch when he lost control of the car and flipped several times. He's in "critical but stable" condition and gradually being weaned off sedation. Thinking about what that family is going through certainly makes most anything I might complain about seem incredibly trivial.

And my awesome, not-PC, wickedly funny, generous and kind Pop (my grandfather) passed away last Wednesday. He was 87 and was still completely mentally sharp, although he was physically a little diminished since a heart attack about 3 years ago. He was a WWII veteran and never really strayed far from home after returning from Europe. . .it drove my mom CRAZY, but I always thought that once he had essentially walked across Europe, home sounded pretty darn good. He had a heart attack in his beloved recliner while visiting with one of his friends and apparently died immediately. I will miss him more than I can say, but I am so, so grateful that he didn't have a long decline or have to enter a nursing home. He would have hated that.

My college roommate used to do this thing where every day she would list 5 things that had happened that she was grateful about. Big, small-didn't matter, just the idea of being grateful rather than focusing on what you DON'T have. I still do it from time to time. . .sometimes it's something as minor as a good cup of coffee on a cold day, or enjoying wearing a pair of killer shoes. . . but I definitely recommend it.