Working Gal

I feel as though I have been absent for a little while in the blogging world. This week was my first week in a summer job with an organization I've worked for in the past and was it ever exhausting! Unfortunately, my new position involves an hour commute to work. Luckily I am against traffic both ways which is nice and it is somewhat relaxing to have that time to myself to gather my thoughts and clear my head. Although I do not love my job in this department as I did the previous department I worked in the summer before Brendan was born, I am happy to be back in the same organization, greatful for the experience in my field and have been applying for some year-long contract positions within the building. Last week I had two interviews (my boss has been more than accomodating giving me time off work in the first week to interview for other positions). Both interviews went well and sound fairly promising but competition is fierce and in this economy I really consider myself lucky to have even secured a summer position. So many of the people I know are without work right now or as young professionals entering into the workforce do not have much experience in their field and therefore cannot find any employment in the field in which they had hoped to work.

As far as smooth transitioning, this week did not go as I had hoped. I found when I got home from work I was so exhausted that on the two nights where I usually have cake decorating, I couldn't get organized enough to make it to the class and all I really wanted to do was spend the 2 hours I could with Brendan after not seeing him all day. Note daily schedule below...

6am - Wake-up --> frantically get dressed, wash face, put make-up on, make the bed
6:30am - Brendan wakes up/gets dressed/eats breakfast
6:50am - Load up the car and drop Brendan off with my sister
7:05am - Leave for work/eat breakfast on the road
8:30am - Start work
4:45pm - Leave work
6pm - Arrive home exhausted
8pm - Brendan's bedtime
9pm - Ryan's bedtime (I usually spend that hour with him)
9-10pm- Get everyone ready and packed for the next day/shower/clean up

On Wednesday, our daycare provider gave us 2 weeks notice, saying that Brendan wasn't happy there because he couldn't interact very well with the other kids as he isn't walking or talking a lot and the other kids range from 2-5. Consequently he was proving to be a lot of work for her and she would prefer to watch only older kids.. so that SUCKED. But obviously I want the best for my son and for him to be in an environment where he is happy. Luckily my sister is not working and she said she would watch him for as long as we needed and Brendan is quite happy there. I think this will work out better for us anyway.

To top it all off.. I was sick as a dog from Mon-Thurs and now Ryan has gotten sick. We're spending our long weekend recovering. We also had a nice visit with my brother and his girlfriend last night.

Hopefully next week will be better.. much better if I get good news from one of the positions I am hoping to get!

Brendan's Birthday Festivities

So I didn't make the cake after all!

We have been fighting off some sickness.. high fevers and coughs = not too much fun 'round these parts lately.

Last Sunday we celebrated the little man's birthday by hosting a BBQ for close friends and family. The little guy loved his gifts. Brendan enjoyed a homemade Turkey burger and a slice of store bought, sugar-loaded vanilla cake. I was really planning on making him a carrot cake for his birthday but Ryan and I were at a marriage preparation class all weekend (a requirement from the church in order to be married) and so my sister convinced me to let her buy him a cake from the store. The marriage prep course was not religious in the slightest and both Ryan and I walked away from it feeling that it was incredibly worthwhile and helped us to talk about things that we hadn't yet talked about after 4 years of being together, living together, and looking after a baby and toy yorkie (that needs almost as much attention as the baby). I think that it has strengthened our relationship and opened our eyes to areas of improvement and healthy conflict management. Also noteworthy...Ryan has done a significantly larger share of the household tasks since attending this course!!

I am knee-deep in job search/interviews/small contract work offerings. I should have more to say on this after next week.

On the plant front, I need to plant some more tomato seedlings. I don't know what happened but I am left with one little tomato plant. Lately my plants have been basking in the nice weather and sun on our front porch. I even leave some of the larger ones outside overnight now.