Back to Work

I have to go back to work soon, and I'll be honest, I'd do just about anything to not go.

Unfortunately, the choices Frank and I have made about where to live (the region, not our house) have made my maintaining a job nonnegotiable right now. I'm trying to be as positive about it as I can be, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't think I'm doing a very good job.

My focus now is to enjoy my days with Little Man, look forward to after work and weekends, and trust that the Lord knows what he is doing and I wouldn't be going back to work if it weren't the best thing for my family.

You know what is super exciting, though? My husband. He is working his tail off for us and doing it all with the goal of glorifying God through his work. So, we'll keep praying and we'll keep working and maybe (please?) someday soon I can say adios to my 9-5.

Thankful Thursday

I order all of the office supplies for work, everything from paper clips to coffee.

Last week, as I was submitting an order for more coffee I decided to see if there was anything else that would spice up the morning routine.

Enter, hot cocoa.

For the last three days, my morning has begun with a steaming hot mug of half decaf/half hot cocoa - my very own mocha!

So today I am thankful for hot cocoa, and for deciding to explore the coffee ordering site a bit more than usual!

I'm Thankful For

-my amazing husband (I would expand on this, but that would make for a really really really long post)
-my younger hound sleeping through the night (partially thanks to my amazing husband taking them for walks)
-diet coke

My day started out just fine, but has taken a bit of a slide thanks to some hiccups at work. All of it is out of my control but all my responsibility at the same time (STRESS MUCH), so I'm trying to remain calm and stay positive. No reason to let some stuffy micromanaging procrastinating bureaucrat ruin my day/week/holiday when I have so many wonderful things and people in my life.

Though, if he keeps being a stuffy micromanaging procrastinating bureaucrat , I may have to be grateful for some frozen yogurt this afternoon.

**did you know that if you type "explitive deleted" between "<" and ">", your text will in fact be deleted?**

Disaster!

I attended a holiday reception last night for a group of PAC people, and while I had a lovely time chatting with friends and colleagues and meeting new ones, disaster struck.

It was almost unnoticeable to those around me, but there was some serious panic going on in my head (and my stomach).

I ate pumpkin.

It was hidden in a tiny, bite-sized pie. The woman offering it mumbled and I thought she said "apple," which happens to be my favorite kind of pie.

Disaster.

I nearly gagged right there in front of the DC PAC world.

For those who are unaware, I hate pumpkin. To the point where I tell people, "no thank you, I'm allergic." It is that bad. I don't know why I hate it, but I do, and that fact was reaffirmed last night as I literally choked down this tiny little disgusting pie and tried not to gag on my friends.

I'm going to stop writing now because just thinking about this tragic event is making me gag. Blech.

Lesson: If the server mumbles, ask them to speak up!

Uhhh..

Trying to think of things to tell you. Here is what I've got:

-Frank has a cold. This is rare and unfortunate. He never gets sick, and he fights it off with everything he can think of. Hopefully it won't stay long and the beach air this weekend will kill it off by Friday evening.

- R is having his operation today. That means he'll be one sleepy/groggy puppy for a couple of days, which is fine with me. He'll also get chicken and rice for dinner for the first time in his little life. I'm hoping he'll forgive us, or at least forget about the surgery when he realizes his culinary fortune.

- I'm on a 'summer schedule' at work, which means I arrive at 8 and leave at 4. The arriving at 8 part stinks, but the leaving at 4 is pretty awesome. This continues until next week, then I go back to 9-5.

- I'm not playing fantasy football this year. I don't feel like being the commissioner and no one else volunteered to step up, so we're just not doing it. I'm ok with this, I think I need a break.

I think that is all for now. Have a happy Tuesday!

My Amazing Day

There is a reason I chose that photo for yesterday's Wordless Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, that is how I felt! Want to know why?

1. USA soccer won

2. I scored a major victory at work, or at least scored a potential for a major victory! I'm getting to put together a proposal for changes that I think need to be made to a certain system tha we use. It is a pretty big opportunity for me to step up and address a major function of our office and I am very excited!

I think there were more reasons, but shortly after I came home and posted that picture (from my friend Catherine's wedding) Frank and I left for small group and my Amazing day took a different turn. Our car was super overheating and we were still a few miles from where we needed to be, and the dealership was closed, and no one carried the right kind of coolant, and I did my best to laugh it off and maintain my Amazing day.

It is funny now that it is over; we'll take the car in for service and only be out $100 or so and the entire thing will be forgotten. But what won't be forgotten is my Amazing day! And if I remember the other great things that happened, I'll let you know.

*update: 3. after car trouble I got to snuggle with a 3 week old baby girl 4. the Porters make a mean corn casserole

I'm not your target audience

I have a tv at my desk at work. The official reason for it is that I need to be able to track/watch/summarize hearings when Congress is really in the swing of things. With Financial Services "reform" being a hot topic for this congress, sometimes there are too many hearings for our consultants and my boss to cover so I get to pick up a few.

In practice having the tv means I watch the news ALL DAY EVERY DAY. I have acquired a few habits and talents like:
- I can reach for the remote and hit the mute button without missing a key stroke while typing an email
- I can measure my lunch break by which program is on when I leave and which one is on when I come back
- I can sing every version of the FreeCreditReport.com commercial

I've also noticed that I don't see the same commercials at work that I see when I watch tv at home. And according to my own study, it seems that the advertisers believe the overwhelming population of news-watchers to be A) poor B) old C) looking for a quick buck. The majority of commercials are for gold - "it has never been worth zero" - powerchairs/scooters or dentures/denture paste - "if medicare denies your claim we'll give you your powerchair or scooter for free"/"so long ooziness" - and class action law suits - "call 1-800-BAD-DRUG". This does not make me look forward to being old, but it does make me grateful for my employer and knowing that I won't be desperate enough to use my life's savings to 'buy gold' from some Law & Order actor on tv.

And WHY is Campbell's soup marketing their new fresh veggie soups under the V8 name?? Have you ever met anyone who actually enjoys a V8 product? I know I haven't. Yet I know loads of people that love Campbell's Soup products - so why not market it as the new seasonal/fall Campbell's Soups?

Sometimes I wish I had gone into advertising

We Survived!

Frank and I had one heck of a week and weekend, and I'm happy to report that we made it through to the other side! A quick recap:

Thursday: I had to skip class due to a work commitment. My company's Board of Directors was in town for their annual meeting and we had a reception for them on the Hill. The reception was held in the LBJ room, right outside the Senate floor - the room was really nice and from what I hear, the food was awesome! We got a lot of Senators and a fair share of Representatives, along with a lot of staff. The entire event was a success, but I was happy to have it end as I had been standing in 2.5 inch heels on slate floor for about 5 hours... Then I met Frank at my office and we set off for Cary, NC. Frank was a saint and drove the entire way down. I was so tired that I was bordering on delirious and having trouble answering simple questions. We arrived at Win & Gregs' around 1am, went straight upstairs to bed and slept until 11:30 the next morning.

Friday: woke up around 11:30 and considered going back to sleep. My high school friend Adair called from the road and we set up plans to meet up in Durham for lunch and then wedding prep. We got to Durham and met up with Adair, Shannon, and Melissa & Kevin at their hotel then drove .1 miles (across the street) to a Mexican restaurant for a wonderfully predictable lunch! After a lot of the usual fare and a few pitches of margaritas we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening's main event.

Ta Da!

The wedding was beautiful! Abigail looked absolutely amazing and the look on Jason's face was wonderful. The music came from a string quartet off to the side and it made the sound seem to float over the pond to the ceremony site. I didn't take pictures because I forgot and I was so taken with the entire thing (sorry mom), but I'm on the email list so I'll have pictures as soon as they are ready! The reception was in a building looking over the wedding site and I LOVED the lights at dinner

It was a great wedding and I'm so happy for Abigail & Jason - I can't wait for them to move to DC next fall!

All for now, I'll fill in the rest of the weekend in another post