Little Ruthie

Christmas at our house

We trimmed the tree last Sunday night

 

That took one night and then we added our stockings the next day

and we even put out Ella and Gershwin's stockings

 
 
We placed some holiday cheer here  and there

  

The construction paper link was made by the boy for a countdown to Christmas.  Each morning he rips off one of the links  We needed to find just the right place for it and the boy determined that this was the right place.

 
 We even have some gifts under the tree.  Grandma is always early.

It's starting to feel like Christmas!
 
 

  
 

Snowy Sunday

A new holiday sweater just in time....

 
for running in the snow...

and backyard patrol.

We didn't expect all the snow but then I guess neither did most of the U.S.  Very cold everywhere.  

Regardless of the chill factor, we braved the elements and brought home our Christmas tree.  It's sooo lovely!  I'll post pics tomorrow.  Right now I'm going to sit on my couch and look at the pretty lights on my tree.
 

 

Meet Gershwin

 
Very soon after my dear dog, Basie, died, the boy determined that we needed to get another dog right away so Ella wouldn't be lonely.  Well, I didn't want to do that, but my husband convinced me to just go to the shelter and see.

As my husband says, you don't choose the dog, the dog chooses you.  That was true.  I looked at several dogs and this guy was the last one.  Scared to death, he had the same type of soul as my sweet Basie.  He's seven months old and part chihuahua and dachschund.  Never having had either type of dog, I did some reading on them and with a dachschund they say it is very common for the dog to choose one person in the family is his own.  I was chosen.  Perhaps Gershwin knew I needed some extra loving after losing my old boy.

In keeping with musical namesakes, his full name is George Ira Gershwin (couldn't decide on which Gershwin, so we threw it all in there). 

He was dropped off at the shelter by a young woman who said he was untrainable in housebreaking.  After piecing the story together from the shelter worker, sounded more like the girl wanted a Paris Hilton-type of purse dog and didn't realize how much work a puppy could be.  After a month, she turned  him in like he was an old coat.  I have such a hard time understanding why you would do that, but it has worked out for all.

The best part about this little guy is that he and Ella get along beautifully.  People have commented that she is a changed dog.  Her nickname has always been Ella The Wild Dog, because she was such a crazy girl.  But she plays for hours on end with Gershwin and it seems to have calmed her down.  She's eight but you'd never know it by the way she behaves and her energy level.

So we're all settling in and getting to know our new family member.

He's 7!

The boy turned seven this week.  We had some family over for a quick dinner and cake with a few presents in there as well.  Tomorrow we're taking him and a couple of his friends to this "fun center" (has miniature golf, go-carts, bumper cars, arcade). 

But tonight we're going to my sister's for a Halloween party.  Generally we have family gatherings that are centered around the aduls and the kids run off and play with one another.  But my sister decided to do a kids party for all of our litle ones, complete with games and scary stories.  The boy is about to lose it with so much happening.  Pictures to follow.

First Day

First day of school, first day of work.  It's all the same to me.  I hate the anxiety I get over new situations.

So today I drove into Denver to my new office with high anxiety. 

All went well.  I'm alive and I think it will be just fine.  I'm enjoying working with my new boss.  She was a former boss so I knew the work relationship would be good.  It's an office full of women, so that can either be good or bad.  We'll see.

My boss has already thrown me into things such as Executive Board committee meetings, etc.  I'm grateful that she knows I can handle it and doesn't treat me like an idiot or a newbie.  I'm also grateful for some tasks that I KNOW I can do.  It always helps when you can do a few things in a new work environment from the get-go.  Makes it less stressful for me at least.

Now if I can just figure out a commute route that doesn't take me forever.  This place is a bit further than my old job and I am one of those people that loathes commuting.  When I lived in L.A. I was one of the few people who could actually take the bus to her work as it was in my own community.  Rare indeed. 

I'm outta here

Yesterday was my last day at work.  I'm exhausted.

I think I picked the wrong week to be my last.  My big annual event took place this week so I was trying to pay attention to all the details all the while trying to hand off projects, etc. 

I have two weeks off before I start the new job and I'm looking forward to that.  I'm finishing up the polishing on the draft to go to London and should have it in the mail by next Monday (fingers crossed).

Auntie is in this weekend from L.A. so we'll be touring the town and hanging out.  I think we like the hanging out part best.  Last night we went out to eat and I just inhaled my mushroom ravioli dish.  Talk about overeating!  I was still full when I woke up this morning.

And you know the geese are back.  We wake up early in the morning to here them as they fly overhead. Nobody likes them but me because there's so many of them here during the winter.  But they're one of my favorite parts of the seasonal changes.

 

 

 

 

Good news all around

The boy is doing much better in school since last post.  He really loves the after-school program and when he gets home there's acually down time which is nice.

I just accepted the position with Option 2 and I'm very excited about it.  I gave notice on Friday.  The Sr. VP of our dept. was out so I gave it to the incompetent boss instead.  In her usual fashion, after about thirty seconds of me talking to give notice, she started talking about herself and then I was stuck for thirty minutes listening to her stories.  Just reminded me of one of the reasons I was leaving!  So my last day is the 25th and then I'll take two weeks off before I begin.

If you clicked on here yesterday you might have seen a strange post with code-like text.  Just me showing my sister how to actually post on a blog.  Never mind!

Adjustments are hard sometimes

We're still adjusting to first grade.  Had a few bumps in the road.  The boy has been sent to he office twice for hitting.  Soooo unlike him.  But after a long calm conversation the poor child broke down in tears.  There's not enough recess and too much homework and when he asks the teacher a question, she just repeats the same thing over.  So.  The boy's a bit stressed.

I'm a bit disappointed in our draw for teacher this year.  She's a nice woman but she is brand new and very timid.  She has that deer in the headlights look whenever I see her.  I fear she is a bit overwhelmed as are the students.

We've enrolled the boy in the after school program that helps with homework and works with the teachers of each student.  Right now the way our life is scheduled, he goes to an after school program where he plays but then we pick him up at five, race to do homework, dinner and bed.  Not really any downtime at home.  So we're hoping if he can get the homework under his belt he might have less anxiety about school, and also free up some play time at home where he can at least go ride his bike. Wish us luck.

Option 1 of my employment opportunities didn't get the funding which was dissappointing, but Option 2 is 99.9% happening.  I should know all the details by Friday.  It's exciting to have a new possibility for work, but I imagine I'll have some adjustments of my own.  Hopefully I won't hit anyone-:).

We're doing a neighborhood picnic today.  As I've mentioned before, our particular part of the neighborhood is low on boys but loaded with girls.  Well there is one family with a boy a year younger than ours and they've invited us to an end-of-summer picnic.  So we'll go and see how the boys take to one another.

Have a great holiday weekend!

It's that time of year

I grew up in football country.  While I've shaken many habits from my small Eastern New Mexico/West Texas upbringing, football stays with me.  Not pro ball - lame group of over paid idiots.  College ball - sometimes the games are good, just depends.  But every year around this time, I find myself googling the pre-season ranking for my high school football team.  This year, they're ranked #2 in 5A (largest school), so I can hope they win yet on more state championship.  Provincial, I know, but there you have it.

By coincidence, on the day I looked up rankings, I was lunching with a group of friends and one went to high school in Texas.  She mentioned the homecoming mum and the other women stared at her blankly.  Then she went on to describe these monster corsages and the other women laughed and wondered who the hell would wear such a thing.  So I had to chime in and confess that I also came from a big ol' mum wearing high school.  I went online to search for a picture to show them and my, these things have gotten even larger.  But I also realized, after reading a bunch of blog entries, that the homecoming mum thing is a TX/Southern tradition.  Didn't know that.

So while we don't glue our butts to the sofa to watch NFL games, I still manage to find out who is going to the state playoffs in New Mexico.  It better be my team.

Things need to just calm down

Life has been crazy lately.

Work is getting really busy and then there may be some changes in the work situation.  In a nutshell there are three options floating out there, all of them preferable to the current situation.  I'm really hoping Option 1 comes through but there's a funding matter, so we wait and hope that Options 2 and 3 don't make offers before we learn about Option 1.  I hate it that everything comes down at once.  I mean where we these options a year ago???

Trying to work on a re-write of Book 1.  Not much fun.  Some people love the revision process but I find it painful.  So dang hard.  Hopefully the MS will be the better for it.

Speaking of pain, I've had to take a break from my treadmil interval workouts which sort of bums me out.  I was doing three 8.5 minute miles each day and feeling really good.  Then the old familiar shin splints showed up.  Pain.  Agony.  Since I was in high school, I've been prone to shin splints.  Tried everything but nothing really works to prevent them.  So now I'm doing the Shred dvd by Jillian Michaels.  I'm liking it and feel like I get a good workout.  I just need to up the weight size because I think I could probably challenge myself more.  I suppose it's good to change up your workouts, so after a couple of weeks of this dvd, my shins won't be wrecked and I'll go back on the treadmill for awhile, then maybe do a different video.  Still have that muffin top mid section but at least it's holding and not getting any bigger.  I mean, hey, I still need to fit into my fall work clothes.

On this Friday evening we are watching one of the boy's little friends.  So an evening of pizza, Wii games and movies.  Woo hoo. Have a good night.