How It's Been

With the exception of Nicholas' monthly updates-- which are essentially his baby book (and thus the guilt meter starts to creep up if I delay them too long)-- it's been nothing but radio silence over here for a few months. I've been meaning to write a real update for weeks now, but, well... time is a precious commodity these days. So... an update. Here goes. This working mom thing? Um, it's hard. I realize this is not exactly earth shattering news. I also did not go into this new role thinking, "this is going to be a piece of cake." And, this is not to say that staying home with a baby was easy. I enjoyed it, but many days it was also very challenging. Nonetheless, working full time has definitely been more difficult than I expected, and challenging in different ways than I expected.

Let's start with the positives-- the job itself is going really well. I (mostly) enjoy what I'm doing. I have a great rapport with my boss. And I really like the company and the people who work there. I am grateful for all of this because it has definitely made the transition back to work and being away from Nicholas easier. Nicholas also seems to be adapting well to daycare, and we really like his school and his teachers.

On the other hand, I have really struggled with having very little quality time with my son each day. We spend about 45 minutes with him each morning before we head out the door, but most of that time is spent getting him ready and then running around trying to get ourselves ready and get his bag packed for school. Once we pick him up in the evening, we have about an hour and a half before we put him to bed. (It's lights out around 7pm each night.) The majority of this time time is spent feeding him dinner, bathing him, and doing his bedtime routine. We will usually get about 15-20 minutes of play time. Unfortunately, this is often his (and my) most fussy, tired time of day, so it's not always the best "quality time." We do have the weekends, but I need to use a lot of that time to grocery shop/run errands/catch up on laundry/do everything that it takes to run our household-- and, if I'm lucky, maybe find a few minutes to myself to relax. 

I do think I'm slowly adapting to our new routine-- while I was completely and utterly exhausted to the point of tears most nights for the first month or two, I'm gradually building up my tolerance. Maybe it's like starting a new work out routine? (I wouldn't know since I've set foot in a gym exactly once in the past 3 months. That's another topic...) This post isn't meant to be all "poor me... my life is so hard." It's not. We are incredibly blessed, and I am grateful for each day I have, regardless of how tired I am at the end of each day, and for each few minutes of time I can spend with Nicholas, even if we're both worn out and cranky. And the good news is that juggling work and family and home does seem to get easier with time. I'm learning to lower my standards where necessary, to really start prioritizing how I spend my time, and that "balance" may always be elusive for me-- so I shouldn't beat myself up on the days when it seems particularly unattainable. I'm trying to just deal with each day as it comes, give it my best shot, and grant myself grace whenever I feel like I'm falling short.

So, that's it. That's life for me right now. We've had a lot of change and transition in the past few months and I am looking forward to relaxing into our new routine a bit more in 2013. I'll let you know how it goes...

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

At the very end of August, we received the unexpected news that our landlords want to move back into our house and that we had 60 days to find a new place to live. Thus began a crazy hectic month that has culminated in a few big changes for our family. The first is that we purchased a home. It wasn't at all in our immediate plans, but when we started looking at other rental houses, we found that buying a home was actually only somewhat more expensive and would afford us a much nicer house in a better neighborhood. We are in the right place in our lives to purchase a home, and it just turned out to make more sense. So, we hired a realtor and began exploring neighborhoods. 

The location of Jason's job meant that we could look anywhere from central Austin up to the northern suburbs. After a few long car rides driving through parts of Austin we didn't even know existed, we were able to narrow our search down to our preferred neighborhood. Then, we started looking at houses. We probably toured 25-30 homes. We found one we loved and made an offer, and then promptly lost it in a bidding war. With such a short window to find and close on a house and then move in, we were discouraged. Jason had a business trip to Chicago, but we decided I should go out and look with our realtor again on a weekday rather than wait until the next weekend. There was one particular home that had shown up on my MLS database search that I was interested in seeing, but the morning I had scheduled to meet up with our realtor, this particular house was listed as temporarily off the market. Our realtor made a call and found out the family was moving out that day and didn't want buyers to see it while it was messy, but they agreed to let us in. It turned out to be a fantastic house that would be a great fit for our family. I tracked Jason down between meetings in Chicago and suggested that we make an offer. He looked at the photos online and then decided we should go for it. So I negotiated back and forth with the seller, and by the time Jason returned home the next day, we were under contract on the house. The following day, we drove him out to see the house with our realtor, and he loved it. We are now moving towards closing and will hopefully move in the last weekend in October.

Our other big change is that I am heading back to work on Monday. I've absolutely loved staying home full time with Nicholas for the past eight months, but it was never a part of our long term plan. I knew that I would return to work outside the home in some capacity. Earlier this summer, my former boss began discussing the possibility of a role for me at his new company. I wasn't sure if I wanted to pursue it, but we talked several times throughout August, and it began to sound like a great opportunity for me. Finally, I had a formal interview with the company and decided I was very interested in the position. I accepted an offer in mid-September, but they didn't want me to start for several weeks-- which worked out great because it gave us time to find a daycare situation for Nicholas. 

At this point, we knew we were moving, so we started looking at daycares near our new neighborhood. I toured several facilities that I'm sure would have been fine, but we were so lucky to get into one of the best daycares in the city. It typically has a year-plus waiting list, but they happened to have a spot opening up the week we would need it. And it turns out the spot was opening up because the daughter of one of our good friends from church (who I bumped into unexpectedly when I went to tour the school) was moving up to the next age group's classroom. It seemed like it was meant to be. And, the best part? The new house, my new job, and Nicholas' school are all within just 2-3 miles of each other. I have mixed feelings about heading back to work. Part of me is excited about the new opportunity, and part of me is dreading leaving Nicholas. I know it will probably be a tough couple weeks as we get used to our new routine, but I feel like the pieces have all fallen into place so perfectly that I feel a sense of peace about this change. I know it doesn't have to be forever, but I feel like this job is where I'm supposed to be for the time being. 

So, big changes all around. I have no idea how I'm going to swing this working mom thing. (If you have tips, feel free to share.) I don't even really know what it's going to entail. I guess I'll find out soon enough. And, then we have the fun of packing up our house and moving across town while I'm still learning the ropes at my new job and easing Nicholas into his new schedule. It should be a wild October. But, we're excited and looking forward to getting settled into our new home and new routine.

Clean Sheets

I just turned in my first big freelance writing assignment. Big, as in entire corporate website big. It's been two weeks of squeezing scanty bits of writing in around Nicholas' sub par napping habits and then cobbling together any other free time I can find to write. Late nights. Early mornings. For 17 minutes while I can distract Nicholas in his jumper. You get the gist. Everything else has fallen by the wayside.

Thanks to my postpartum hormones, the floor of my bathroom is covered in a carpet of hair so thick I could easily go into to the wig making business. If this writing thing doesn't pan out. Gross. But true.

Meanwhile there are no less than 6 loads of clean laundry scattered in piles across every flat surface in the house. I am not exaggerating. It might be 7 loads. Or 8. At least it's clean?

And I just found a whole peppercorn on the floor of my bedroom. Ponder that for a second. A peppercorn. That either says something significant about the intensity of my culinary passions... or that I just really, really need to vacuum.

But. But. I'm wearing clean pajamas and my bed awaits me, neatly made, with clean sheets. Those clean sheets make everything else a little more manageable. They assure me that order will soon be restored to my world. And that tonight, I will sleep well.

He Accepted!

Just popping on to say hi and, more importantly, that earlier this week J accepted a fantastic offer from an Austin-based tech company. Hallelujah, the job search is over! This means that we'll be staying in Austin for the next couple years. I am disappointed that his new role won't be taking us back closer to family and friends on the West Coast, but I am thrilled that he found a great job at a great company-- a job that he is excited to have. And, we've agreed that this job doesn't have to be forever, but it's a good fit for right now. So, we're heading out tonight to enjoy a celebratory dinner, and then we begin (rental) house hunting in Austin tomorrow. I am so looking forward to being more settled!

I hope your weekend is off to a great start, too!

This & That

Well, hello there. Somehow three weeks have passed in the blink of an eye... and with no blog posts. Unfortunately, I don't have anything terribly exciting to share from my absence. What have I been up to? A little of this...

• A work trip NYC. I attended a loooooong, 8-hour conference for one of my new clients, but it wasn't all work. I managed to enjoy a few good meals at Abe & Arthur's in the Meatpacking District and Cookshop in Chelsea (definitely the winner of the two), some free time spent wandering around Greenwich Village, a delicious Belgian pear cider and dark chocolate ganache cupcake pairing at Sweet Revenge. Really... cupcakes paired with adult beverages. Does it get much better?
  


• Gaga, oh-la-la! Yes, we did. Buy tickets to and proceed to rock out at the Lady Gaga concert, that is. There are really no words. Or maybe there are just too many... amazing, perplexing, awe-inspiring, disturbing (at times), and always entertaining. And just sitting around in the arena waiting for the show to start? Definitely the best people watching of my life.
  
  
  
  (Our seats were kind of off to the side, so I had better luck with pictures of the big screen vs. the stage)
  

... and a little of that:

Acupuncture. I've had chronic knee pain for going on 10 years now, and there doesn't seem to be a cure. I've seen multiple doctors, had MRIs, and several rounds of physical therapy. The doctors all say there is nothing wrong with the structure of my knee, and the physical therapy kinda helps... for a while. Then I go through another 3-4 month phase of knee pain until it decides to go away again. My diagnosis is officially patella tendon syndrome and a tight IT band, which basically means I have tendinitis in my knee. The pain comes and goes, but when it's bad, it's hard to do much more than walk to and from the car or around the apartment. So I started acupuncture last week, and after just one treatment I could see an improvement. I don't think it will "cure" me, but I believe it can be a great tool for pain management and hopefully alleviate some of the inflammation that is causing the problem. I just went back for my second treatment this weekend, and am really loving it so far.

(Not) stressing about the future. No updates on the job/moving/major life changes front. Trying to remain peaceful and zen about it. Trying to also remain supporting and encouraging for my hard-working husband who is slogging through the build-up to finals, while interviewing regularly (and traveling regularly for said interviews.) Fingers crossed we have some positive news to report by the end of the month when we have to make a decision on whether we give notice on our apartment!

And, that's about it folks! I hope you're all out enjoying a beautiful Easter weekend!

SXSW (or "I Get Paid to Dance With Sharks")

It's amazing how a couple days of not blogging can turn into almost two weeks overnight, but, fear not, the beast that has consumed my life for the past 10 days-- Austin's famed and ever-growing interactive/film/music trade show and festival, South by Southwest-- is now over. Last year, I had some of my best girlfriends from Seattle in town, and we hit up a bunch of the unofficial music shows (because the "official" shows require a badge that is upwards of $800. No thank you.) This year, I attended the interactive portion of the show (the first half of the week) for work and, thus, was the proud owner of one of those pricey little "official" badges. (Although, admittedly, the interactive show is less expensive and a lot more niche than the film or music festivals-- and the interactive badge only gets you into interactive events.)

The interactive show is combination of educational panels and discussions by day, and hyped-up, over-the-top, corporate-sponsored parties by night. All the big tech companies (think Google and Microsoft) and some of the smaller, but more fun, companies (think Etsy or Gowalla) have a presence. For context, Twitter was launched a few years ago at SXSW. And each year it seems to get bigger and more extravagant. The five day interactive show was interesting, educational, and fun-- but totally exhausting. I was really impressed with most of the daytime sessions I attended, which (unlike too many conferences) taught me new material and gave me some new perspectives on my work and the interactive world.

But the parties... oh boy. There are numerous parties every night, all hosted by big corporate sponsors (Pepsi, Chevy OnStar, Fast Company, Lincoln, and the list goes on...) It seems that the primary objective for most conference attendees is to RSVP to as many parties as possible (like 5 or 6 per night), and then try to hit them all up in order to maximize consumption of free food and booze. The party planners have caught on to the fact that everyone RSVPs to every single event, so the fact that you have RSVPed doesn't guarantee entry. In fact, you can expect to wait in line for an hour or more to get into some of these events. And people do. Willingly.

I had success attending a few parties early on, but ran out of steam fast. Waiting around in big crowds of people for the possibility of a free drink and a cold, congealed slice of a quesadilla is not really my scene. I've got some nice wine at home, and would much rather be curled up on my couch in front of a movie, thankyouverymuch. But, when your company pays for you to attend, and then numerous team members from other offices, as well as clients, show up-- well, you press on. So I did. And, inevitably, some good stories are generated.

Take for instance... last Sunday night when my boss's boss showed up in town and and wanted nothing more than to be escorted to all of the city's "coolest clubs." (And let's be honest. Don't we all look forward to spending our Sunday evenings binge drinking with senior management? I'm a lucky, lucky girl.) After several rounds of drinks at the W, more drinks at some random bar on 6th street (hosting a lesser know media company's lackluster party on their rooftop deck), and a long, wine-soaked dinner at a steakhouse, he decided we really needed to go the club he'd heard about that had live sharks swimming beneath the dance floor. Excellent idea. Of course we did. So we set off for this chic establishment, and, lucky us! Turns out they were hosting a "fashion show" comprised of girls in skimpy bikinis, as well as... wait for it... girls in bikini bottoms with nothing on top except body paint. Classy. Having had the foresight to alternate glasses of water with my Cabernet all night, I was not nearly tipsy enough to make this an entertaining turn of events. Of course, he insisted we all stick around until the "fashion show" started, sometime just before midnight. A vat of Clorox could not erase some of those images from my head. Let's just say, a lot of those girls should not have been in bikinis. Oh, and after all that? Yeah, there were no sharks under the dance floor.

But it wasn't all pain, suffering, and awkward moments with senior management. In addition to actually learning something, I did get to enjoy a few really nice meals out and met some of my colleagues from other offices. And, when the interactive show ended on Tuesday, I somehow managed to rally and go out to see some live music (the only night my interactive badge would get me into a music event). And then I slept. A lot. I did go see some unofficial SXSW music shows on Friday night, but the rest of the weekend consisted of lots of R&R and catching up on all of the housework, exercise, and general life maintenance I had neglected for the past week.

It was a cool experience, but, as they say, all good things must come to an end. And I'm OK with that.

This will make you feel better...

For all of you who have ever had a really embarassing moment at work, and even just those of you who can't stand your jobs... this will make you feel better:

Yesterday, after a hellacious week full of turmoil at my company (the kind of turmoil that results in layoffs and potentially impacts my ability to receive a regular paycheck... more on that later), I decided to duck out of work early and get the weekend started. However, I decided to stop at the spa near our office on the way home and get-- full disclosure here because I am trying to make you feel better about yourselves at my own expense-- a bikini and a lip wax. A girl's got keep up on her maintenance... I'm just sayin'.

So I take care of my business and head up to the counter to pay. When I turn around, who do I run into? If you said "your 34 year old male boss," then BINGO! As my husband pointed out, he might have been a little embarassed being caught as the only male in an Aveda spa to get his hair trimmed (high maintenance much?), but let's review the facts here:

It is apparent that I've ditched work early since it's only 5:15 and I'm already paying for my treatments

AND

wait for it...

My upper lip is BRIGHT RED, thus giving away the fact that I ditched work early not to go shopping, not to hit up happy hour, not to go home and take a nap... oh, no, my friends. I ditched work early to GET MY LIP WAXED.

There was really no way to avoid a conversation with him, so we had a nice awkward exchange:

Me: "Hey, what are you doing here?!?" (Ferverishly trying to position myself so the sun glaring in through the window doesn't further accent the raw, red skin on my freshly waxed lip.)

Him: "Oh, just getting a trim.... You're just finishing up here?"

Me: "Uh, yep, well uh..."

Him: "Well, have a great weekend..."

Me: "Yeah, you too!" (Bolting out of the salon as fast as I can.)

Sigh. See? Your embarassing work moment isn't so bad, is it? Yeah, thought so.

Snowmaggedon

So... funny story. This past week I had to travel for two different business trips. I travel once in a while for work, but it's not something I really enjoy so two trips in one week is a lot for me. My first stop was in Columbus, Ohio, for a client meeting. My flight wasn't until Monday afternoon, so I went into the office that morning. Before I left, I gave my client a quick call to touch base and she mentioned they were expecting a big snowstorm. I had to drop my car off at home before heading to the airport, so I ran in and threw an extra change of clothes, some workout gear, and a novel into my suitcase. I dreaded the thought of getting stuck there, but figured I might as well have clean clothes (and squeeze in a workout) if my flight did get cancelled.

Sure enough, when I arrived the snow was falling and the city of Columbus eventually declared it a "Stage 1 Snow Emergency." My client's office closed early and only about half the people who were supposed to attend my meeting were able to show up due to school closures and bad road conditions. So I spent the entire day mentally preparing myself for the fact that I would likely be camping out at the Hampton Inn for another night. But after hours of obsessively checking my flight info, there were no signs of cancellations, so I showed up to the airport and was surprised to not only make it out of Columbus, but leave on time-- which seems like quite a feat these days, even when it's not a "snow emergency."

Fast forward two days later. I had a half day client meeting up in Dallas, and was booked on an afternoon flight back to Austin that would have me getting home earlier than if I'd gone to the office for the day. Imagine my surprise when I land and find that it's dumping snow. In Dallas. Mid-morning I received a message that my original flight had been cancelled, but that they had booked me on another flight an hour and a half later. When my client meeting was over and I headed back to DFW, I found that my new flight was delayed another 30 minutes. That 30 minutes turned into another 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes. Finally, around 6pm, they said we could finally board the plane. At this point I was starving, but knowing that the flight back to Austin was only an hour, I figured I'd forgo the airport food and eat something better when I got home.

So we unsuspecting passengers board our flight. And then the pilot gets on and tells us we should "prepare ourselves for a very long night." Never a good sign. Turns out Dallas doesn't handle snow real well. And DFW doesn't have a whole lot of de-icing equipment. And when one of their de-icing trucks breaks down, you wind up with about 24 planes sitting out on the tarmac with nowhere to go.

So we sat on the plane. On the tarmac. For SEVEN HOURS. No, I am not joking. And, yes, Obama recently passed a law to ban that kind of thing, but apparently it doesn't actually kick in until April. Sweet. So, yes, 7 hours on the tarmac. I could have been 95% of the way to Paris. But, no, I was waiting for a 37 minute flight back to Austin. With no food. At one point I actually yelled at flight attendant because I was so angry they boarded us, knowing full well that we couldn't actually take off for hours, but didn't give us the heads up that we might want to hit up Micky D's for a value meal before taking our seats. Because, you know, it was 6pm. And normal humans like to eat dinner. And they knew there was NO FOOD on the plane.

The poor woman sitting next to me, who was on a trip back from visiting her family in Peru, took me took pity on me (or else she was just scared I might start gnawing on her coat) and gave me some special Peruvian dulce de leche cookies she had brought back with her. Then she told me had been traveling since 8pm the night before, which made me feel just a smidge guilty for complaining when she was on the 4th leg of her journey home and hadn't slept in over two days. And that she was going home to see her 4 year old, who she hadn't seen in two weeks. (And I could tell the cookies I was devouring were clearly for her little toddler.) But only just a smidge.

After about 4 hours on the tarmac, they opened up the bar on the plane and said they'd give us whatever we wanted. It was pretty much a free for all-- people triple fisting beers or whatever they could get their hands on. At that point, however, there wasn't much allure to the free alcohol. I got a Coke, which I never drink, figuring I should maximize the caloric value of whatever I could ingest... and also that the carbonation might help fill my stomach a little. And distract me from the fact that I didn't bring a book, that I had already read the American Airlines Magazine twice (and once earlier in the week on the way back from Ohio), and that my iPhone battery had died 3 hours earlier (stupid work emails.)

Finally, at about 1am, the much fabled de-icing truck made it's way to us, and we were able to take off. I made it home at 2:30am. It felt like Gilligan's Island-- the 3 hour cruise that suddenly turned into the excursion from hell. Let's just say that I'm not getting on a plane anytime soon, and I cannot wait for winter to be over.

What have I been up to?

Two weeks have flown by in a whirlwind of urgent deadlines, client meetings, late nights at the office, and even a little weekend office time (yuck). The massive adrenaline rush needed to sustain my frantic running to and fro at the office for 10-12 hours nonstop each day, has left me slumped on the couch in a stupor in front of the reality tv show du jour most evenings. So blogging has slipped by the wayside. One bright spot in the hurricane of client calamity that has consumed my life of late was J's birthday last weekend. We went out with some friends on Saturday night to Chuy's for margaritas, queso, enchiladas, and the like, followed by skeeball, dancing, and drinks at Highball, one of Austin's new hip night spots. It's kind of like the Garage in Seattle with the same retro bowling (plus skeeball!), but a little clubbier with a dance floor and a DJ most weekend nights. We happened to be there on "Sci Fi Disco Dance Party" night, so the bar was half full of people in storm trooper and space alien costumes, which lent an additional festive flair to the birthday celebrations.

Last Sunday was J's actual birthday, and we spent most of the day in our PJs eating a big breakfast of waffles and bacon and watching Friday Night Lights episodes. We're already on Season 3, and even though I've already seen them all, I'm sad we're almost done. The fourth season is supposed to come back on TV sometime soon, but I haven't heard or seen anything lately. I'm going to be in serious withdrawals if it doesn't show up soon!

Later that afternoon, we cleaned up, got in the car, and then I took him on a scenic drive through the hills in the western most part of Austin. Lots of beautiful vistas and massive, massive houses. We ended the drive up near Lake Travis and had a delicious steak dinner at the Steiner Ranch Steakhouse. Yum.

This week has been another blur because I've gotten up early every morning to get to the office, have gotten back late most nights, and then in my remaining 2-3 hours of spare time between working, commuting, and sleeping, I have tried to squeeze in a couple workouts, a very small amount of housework, and, um, eating. That's about it.

However, Saturday is here once again and I don't have to go into the office. I am traveling to both Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas next week, so I expect that it will be hellacious. But for the time being, I'm enjoying sitting on my couch, drinking my coffee, and perusing the blog world. My good friend Anne is also coming up from San Antonio this afternoon with her two pooches, and we have a taxing schedule of going to the dog park and getting manicures and pedicures planned. I can't wait! Hopefully Monday morning will come very, verrrrry slowly.

The only title I can think of...

...is Blechgggghhg. I don't even know what that sounds like, but I do know that I literally did not see daylight today. I was at my office working before it was light out and left after it got dark again. Delightful. Work is pretty much kicking my butt this week, and I don't think it's going to slow down for weeks to come. My brain is fried, and I'm trying to psych myself up to go to the gym tomorrow morning before another long day. I hate the idea of getting up at 5:30am (again), but I also know I'll feel a lot better if I squeeze in a workout before the weekend. But, in the spirit of good attitudes and positivity, there are a few things I can be happy about:

• It's in the mid-70s every day this week. Two weeks ago it was in the 20s. Now it's in the 70s. I am not complaining. Bring it on, springtime! I have sandals that need a good dusting off.
• Frozen meals -- not the Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones variety, but delicious, home-cooked meals that I made before the holidays, froze, and have been thoroughly enjoying this week. There is nothing like simply heating up a batch of homemade chili after a 12-hour workday when merely operating the remote control sounds exhausting.
• J got an interview with a very-large-technology-company-in-the-Bay-Area-that-shall- remain-nameless for his summer internship-- hopefully the first of many, but it's a start!
• In less than 48 hours I will be popping a bottle of vino rosso and toasting two (hopefully) work free days.

Aaaaaaaaand, I'm spent.

Random Thursday

With the departure of one of my colleagues last week, I've taken on not one, but two new accounts. AAAaaayyyy-eeeee-ieieieie! That's me yelling, doing a crazy dance, and pulling out my hair. But let's look on the bright side, shall we? Say it with me people, "JOB SECURITY." Job security, job security, job security. A very good thing in a one-income household. I just keep reminding myself of that. I'm a little crazed, so in lieu of a real post, I give you a string of random, completely unrelated thoughts:

- I've been fighting off a cold since Sunday. I have managed to not "officially" get sick, but I haven't managed to kick the headache, sore throat, and fatigue that has been hanging around. I'm not sure if it's better to avoid a full-on cold, but kind of feel crappy all week despite it, or to actually get sick for a few days and then get better. The jury is still out.

- I only buy lunch once a week (for both budget and health reasons), and I always look forward to the day that I don't have to make my lunch: a.) because it's annoying; and b.) because I get to get out of the office and have a quick change of scenery. However, on the day that I actually do get to go out and buy my lunch (ahem, today), I can never figure out what I want! Do I go with soup and a half sandwich from Whole Foods? Or maybe a burrito bowl from Chipotle? Or a fancy deli sandwich from the cute bakery down the street? I have no idea. And it's lunch time right now.

- I haven't done anything after work this entire week except eat dinner and watch TV. And I'm totally, 100% fine with it. Ditching the to-do list once in a while is kinda nice.

- I didn't move to Texas for 29 degree temps. Thankfully, the weather is cooperating once again. It's not sunny, but I'll take 60 degrees any day.

- Um, going to a school /rooting for a school that is uber dominant in sports is fun. The UT men's basketball team is now ranked #1 in the country. J and I are going to the UT vs. Texas A&M game on Saturday night. I've always enjoyed March Madness, but my new found interest in sports may now also encompass regular season college basketball games. Who knew?

- MBA internship recruiting season is picking up steam... J had an interview yesterday for a position in Dallas, and was in San Francisco last week meeting with a bunch of companies there. Business school is kinda like law school, where you get a paid internship in the summer and, if you're lucky, that translates into a job offer at the end of the summer. Obviously, you can get an internship and then get a totally different job afterward, but the whole internship recruiting process will give us the first glimpse of a.) what the economy is really like right now for newly minted MBAs; and b.) where the heck we might wind up after this whole crazy adventure. The whole "where are we going to be moving in a year and a half" question gets me all worked up and more than a little panicky any time I start really thinking about it (because I have some definite preferences), but I just keep reminding myself of my New Year's resolution to take it one day at a time. So here I am, practicing some calming yoga breathing, and telling myself I won't worry about it... just yet, anyway...

And there you have it folks. Hope your week is trucking along smoothly! TGI... almost Friday!

Swimming & Snow

Two quick things...

I finally took the plunge (haha) and went swimming at the gym last night. I mentioned earlier how stoked I was to finally find a gym with a lap pool because I swam competitively in high school and wanted to get back into it (and gear up for a triathlon in the spring.) Well, it's been a few weeks, but yesterday I dug out my old Speedo from my life guarding days, found my swim cap, purchased a new set of goggles, and hit the pool. Turns out that Lycra doesn't hold up terribly well when stuffed at the bottom of a drawer for 12 years. (Why I held on to a Speedo for 12 years is another matter altogether...) But droopy, see-through suit be damned! I was ready for some pool action, and it felt great!

I swam for a solid 30 minutes and felt pretty good about lapping most of the old men in the pool repeatedly. (Of course, the guy in my lane kept stopping to talk to the guy in the next lane about social security, so maybe me lapping them wasn't all that big of an accomplishment...) I busted out some of my high school drills, did some laps with the kick board and pull buoys, and finished up with a 400m swim (just 100m shy of my high school race distance.) At the end I was beat, and it blows my mind that I swam for 2 hours straight, 5 days a week, during the swim season in high school! How times have changed. Once I get myself a new (properly fitting and non-see through) swimsuit, I'll be back to make this a regular part of my fitness regimen. And the best part? Last night was the first time my knees and/or hips and/or wrist and/or back haven't ached post-workout in ages. Gotta love that low impact exercise... maybe the old guys are on to something.

And, on a separate note, a new little nugget to file under "things I love about Texas." I lamented the insanely hot weather we get 'round these parts pretty consistently the first month or two after we moved here. Well, winter has officially arrived, and the highs this week have been consistently in the low 50s (which warrants heavy wool coats, scarves, hats, and mittens for many Texans.) On Friday, they're forecasting a high of 38 (gasp!) and the possibility of rain mixed with snow. The punchline? My office already has an inclement weather plan in place for Friday, which we discussed this morning at an all-staff meeting. I am not joking.

Now, I come from an area of the country that is not exactly known for handling winter weather particularly well. Last winter, Portland and Seattle got an unprecedented 18 inches of snow, and both cities (as well as the 180 miles of interstate freeway between the two) were entirely shut down for a full two weeks while the mayors of both cities frantically begged mid-western and east coast cities for sand and de-icing agent. It wasn't pretty. But here in Austin, winter weather paranoia hits a new high. We have a weather emergency hotline set up in our office (again, I am not kidding) that we can all call into on Friday morning to determine if the office is closed or if we should brave the elements and come in to work. Everyone is already preparing to take their laptops home on Thursday night. And I love it! No judgement here. I say bring on some 34 degree weather with mixed snow and rain, and I am going to enjoy me a snow day!

Working Girl

Today was my first day at the new gig. My new boss was out of the office unexpectedly and no one else really knows anything about the account I'll be working on, so there wasn't much for me to do, and no one to help start getting me up to speed. So it's off to a slow start, but the few people I interacted with today all seem nice. I filled out HR paper work and had a tutorial on the time entry software (like lawyers, we bill our time to clients, so we need to account for each 15 minute increment of the day), and enjoyed a lunch out with a few coworkers at the California Pizza Kitchen down the road.

The highlight of the day came, however, when I had my first official Friday Night Lights celeb sighting. Walking back from lunch, we ran into Aimee Teegarden (aka Julie Taylor, coach Taylor's daughter):

She looked pretty much exactly like she does on the show... a normal teenage girl. I had heard that the FNL cast was back in town and that filming for season 4 began at the beginning of this month, but now the celeb watch is officially on!

Tuesday Tidbits

Tuesday afternoon and lots of random stuff going through my brain... First of all, giving notice at the restaurant went about as well as it could have and they were very gracious about it. The manager even offered me an opportunity to take on some dinner shifts at the restaurant while at my new job, but I think I need to see how my "real" job goes before I even consider that. If it's like most agencies I've worked at, there is no set or predictable start or end time each day. You roll in anywhere from 7:30 to 9:30am depending on what the day has in store for you, and you work until you're done, or are at least done with that day's pressing deadlines. Occasionally that's 5pm, but more often than not it's 6, 6:30, or later. So adding a dinner shift on top would be pretty difficult to juggle. But keeping my options open is never a bad thing...

We're headed back to Seattle on Thursday for J's sister's wedding, which I am super excited about. Not only do we get to celebrate with the lovely Kristin and her dashing fiance, Dan, as well as spend time with J's parents and the rest of the S clan, but my parents will also be attending, so I'm very excited to see them too. I'm also getting together with my Seattle ladies on Thursday night at our favorite wine bar that we used to frequent all the time back in our wild and crazy ("wild and crazy" being two glasses of syrah on a school night) single days. Not everyone is paired up now, but somehow it seems like each year we all take on more and more responsibilities that make those fancy free weeknight evenings of our early to mid-20s exceedingly rare. So this will be a fun blast from the past.

This evening I'm headed out to see "Julie and Julia" with some of the other wives / fiances / girlfriends of students in J's program. I'm starting to get to know a few of them a bit better, which is nice. It's amazing how long it really takes to build real friendships though... the kind where you can randomly call up your pal on a Sunday morning and meet for coffee, un-showered and/or in your workout clothes, and just have a blast talking about everything from US Weekly's latest cover story to intimate details about your family or relationship. Outside of college, where the hyper speed bonding of freshman year enables everyone to find their BFF before the end of orientation week, I think it takes 1-2 years to develop that kind of friendship with someone. I'm grateful to be getting to know smart, funny, intelligent women here, but it also makes me miss my best friends from way back who are scattered all across the U.S., from Seattle to Miami, and even in Africa (shout out to you, Diana!)

Lastly, but definitely not least, tomorrow is my birthday! Weeeeeeeeeee!! After working my final shift at the restaurant tomorrow, I've got a taxing schedule of a mani/pedi at a swanky Austin nail establishment, Polish, followed by appetizers and perhaps some presents at home, followed by dinner with J at a location to be revealed. I love my birthday!

When it rains, it pours!

Actually, in Seattle, not so much... that's why we have so many names for rain: drizzle, mist, shower, sprinkle, etc. They all convey something less than full fledged RAIN, and full fledged rain is actually pretty rare in the great NW. But in Austin... it pours! And since we're still in crazy drought mode (officially it's stage 2, which means that restaurants can no longer serve water unless a patron specifically asks for it), you can probably guess that I'm not talking about real precipitation. Oh no, my friends. When it rains, it pours... on the job front! (Yes, that was possibly the longest segueway ever. Whatever. Stick with me here.)


Earlier this week I mentioned that I just got a job serving at an upscale restaurant. I'm a week into the position and I'm enjoying it more than I expected-- the staff is really nice, the patrons are (mostly) nice, and it's generally a very pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. But two days ago, I recieved a call from the marketing agency I'd had several interviews with, and they offered me a fantastic position. Clearly, I need to do what's best for my family, and since I'm the sole breadwinner right now, passing up a good job in marketing in order to wait tables several times a week is not exactly in the cards. So today I happily accepted the offer, just in time to celebrate over the weekend! Now I just have to figure out a way to tell the restaurant that I'm quitting after not much more than a week of work... Yikes. I guess that's not a terrible problem to have, but I'm still nervous. I'm a people-pleaser at heart, so I hate disappointing people. Wish me luck on Monday morning when I have to break the news. Until then, it's the weekend, and I am off to soak up some rays at the pool!