Weekly update

It seems I'm only able to post about once a week lately! I started my new job on Monday - and since the computers at work are WAAAAYYY faster than ours at home (damn dial-up!) it's easiest for me to jump on at work and blog. BUT when you start in a new department, it's hard to tell what the environment is like for a while. Do they frown upon internet usage? Is lunch exactly 45 minutes or is an hour okay? Can I squirrel away office supplies in my bag to take home without anyone noticing? You know - the normal stuff. :) So it's going to take me a while to see if I'll be able to take a few moments once in a while to post at work.

Anyhoo - the new job is going... okay. Training is tough, and I hate being the low man on the totem pole. It's a big transition going from being a "go-to" person who had all the answers (or at least knew enough to bluff her way through made-up answers!) to being a "know-nothing" person who has to ASK all the questions. Everyone here is very nice - and time will tell how I fit into this department. It's a job, and my phone isn't ringing off the hook, and that is a good thing!

Josephine May Daly is officially 1 year old. We walked into her room on her birthday morning singing "Happy Birthday," and she got a huge smile on her face, scrambled to sit up and started clapping and dancing. She was on a very nice sugar high when we picked her up from daycare on her birthday last Thursday from the lovely cupcakes Betty made for the kids. We took party hats for everyone, and they were a hit. It seems that she turned 1, and made an instant personality change. She's much more independent all of the sudden, insists on feeding herself exclusively and is no longer afraid to voice her opinion, about everything! She's going to be a handful! Must get that from her dad. :)

Speaking of her dad - I didn't ask Patrick if it'd be okay to post this, but it's such a funny story that just has to be written about and preserved for posterity - so I'm going to share the other event that happened on Josie's first birthday. So we walk in the door at daycare Thursday night to pick Josie up, and Betty comes hustling into the kitchen asking "Okay. So who got Josie ready this morning??!" Pat and I nervously looked at one another and I quickly pass the buck and point to him. He gives a sheepish smile and says "Uh - me. Why?" Betty proceeds to tell us that after we dropped Jo off, the kids were all playing, doing their normal things and she noticed that there were these "spots" on the living room carpet. She thinks to herself - "we didn't have a dog here this week - what is that?" She goes to check and sure enough, they're little, fresh wet spots on the carpet. So she looks around for a possible solution, puking kid, kid spilling juice, etc... and spots Josie crawling away from her. Hmm. Picks her up and WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT... she doesn't have a diaper on!!!! OOPS. Daddy forgot the diaper! Too funny. After many vehement apologies from Pat and many many laughs from all of us, Betty tells us that one of the other dads was there when the bare-butt discovery was made and he proclaimed that he was glad to see that someone else forgets things in the morning, too! :)

We had birthday party #2 on Saturday the 21st with my family, and the stinker wouldn't let my mom or grandma hold her. She went to my niece Val and family friend Darlene, but that was it. Not only would she not let them hold her, she would give this little hand swat and grunt and turn away when they'd reach for her! As much of a pooper as she was being, it was awfully funny. She got so many lovely gifts - thanks to everyone for coming and for making her first birthday so special. We love you guys!

The fun weekend continued when I hosted bookclub on Sunday. Always a good time to get together with the girls, eat lots of good food and solve all of life's problems. Oh - yeah, I guess we read and discuss books sometimes, too. :) I'm not sure what I would do without this group of extremely smart, funny and supportive friends. We love you guys, too!

One more thing... I guess I had a birthday in there somewhere, too. And yes, it was a big one. Pat made the day very nice by making me french toast and bacon for breakfast, going to eat at LeeAnn Chin for lunch with me and picking up Green Mill to go and a Baker's Square pie for dessert. Hmm - guess that was a day focused on food!! What else do you expect from a pregnant lady turning 30?! No big party plans for us on a Monday night, in fact, I think I was asleep on the couch by about 8:30! Here's a picture to prove it:
Quite the party animal(s), huh?! It was a bizarre day as it was the same day I started my new job. Very strange to spend the day with a bunch of virtual strangers. But I survived, life goes on we've got yummy pie still in the fridge. Doesn't get much better than that!