Archives: January 2008
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I always try to talk about things other than Mateo, but my professional situation is under wraps right now so there's no news on that front. I live with my parents, so my social life is not all that thrilling. And even if it had the possibility of being excited, I am on such an early-to-bed, early-to-rise schedule that I pretty much have zero chance of not being in my pajamas by 9:30. So: Mateo it is.
In the space of about 10 days, he learned to stand up in his crib and to crawl. His tooth is also now openly visible and reasonably painful when he decides to chew your finger. He is now official My Big Boy.
In non-Mateo news, I am having a hard time with The Next Step. I spent so much of my time in France agonizing over the "Should I live in France of the US?" question that I thought things would become much more simple once Stateside. Finally, I could let that question drop. But of course, now the question has become "Where should I go in the States?" And also, "Can I get a job?" Most people tell me give it six months, so I am trying not to stress myself out too much. I only really started thinking about this as of 2008. Big Life Decisions are not easy.
I am working a lot this week and we are doing grueling, physical work as we set up and open a new store. I laugh at the little girls on the staff who don't carry around 20-pound wiggle worms all day. My days are from 8:30 to 6:00, so free time will be minimal. Also, we are looking into day care possibilities for the babe, maybe two or three days per week. PRICEY is the main adjective that comes to mind when I consider that possibility, so we shall see. There is no point in working just to pay for his day care...
A coworker of mine accidently said that word "managerize" yesterday, and I sort of love it. I don't just need to manage things, I need to MANAGERIZE! It makes it sound like cardio. Which, given all the big decisions and organization and so forth needed in the coming months, might not be so far off the mark.
See? I managerized to talk about something else for three whole paragraphs.
Oh man, are you growing up fast. Imagine my surprise last night when I went into your room as you were crying (you were supposed to be going to bed) only to find you looking like this:
Read more »I am not sure where the time is going. Every day just zips by -- I can't even say how or what it is exactly that we are doing. But here we are, January 10, and I still feel like it's 2007.
So here is a quick update:
1. Mateo is learning to crawl. He has managed to take a few semi-accurate steps, which leads everyone to believe that he will be going to kindergarten tomorrow.
2. We also have the appearance of a toof! A new toof! This meant one very bad night of no sleeping, followed by last night -- which was spent entirely in bed with me, but with much more sleeping. So we will see how night three post-toof goes. That thing is SHARP. Makes me think of puppy teeth.
3. I am getting serious about the job search now. I had applied to a few places before the holidays, but basically felt there was no point in trying. Now, as my efforts become more intense, I am filled with all of those angst-ridden questions typical of the job applicant: how long should I wait before contacting them again? Do I stand a chance at X, Y, or Z company? How much money should I ask for? What is realistic?
Fun times.
4. A young attractive guy hit on me at work the other day. This was fun because I am always amazed at how dating seemst to work in this country. In France, men are pretty open about the fact that they are interested in you. There is no blurring of the friend-or-date lines, a system I think lends to more clarity for both parties' involved. Here, not so much. I have no idea how to go about the dating thing around these parts. So it was sort of nice to have someone just show outright interest. This is a style I am much more familiar with. Of course, it didn't go anywhere -- which is actually part B of the equation, but it was good for the ego if nothing else.
5. I am taking Mateo to Baby and Me swim classes this afternoon. We signed up at the Y and I am sort of in love with the facility. I am already gearing up for the cuteness festival that will be had in the shallow end of the pool today.
6. My manager told me that I have been "absolutely phenomenal" on the job. I love America and its positive reinforcement. We need to export that goodness overseas.
The slogan at the BCS where I am working is "New Year, New You." They sure know how to capitalize on making us feel inadequate; three tables worth of diet books greet customers as they walk through the doors. While this is not necessarily my favorite way to bring in 2008, I like the catch phrase and feel it sums up my feelings about this coming year. This is a new me in so many ways -- I am not really even sure I can quantify or qualify just how different this year's New Year's was compared to all the years prior. For one, I fell asleep at 9:30. For two, I worked (time and a half, ca-ching) all day on Jan 1st. And for three, the holiday slipped by pretty much unnoticed.
Christmas, however, did not. We crammed anywhere from 9-12 adults in this house at any given time, plus 2.5 babies. The little ones have a way of taking up more than their fair share of space, but they are so darn cute we forgive them. Having the family here was awesome -- I didn't feel a need to escape the madness at any point like I had thought I would. I worked a lot and that was too bad, but maybe it helped me make the most of my time with eveyone while home. It was just a good, happy holiday. Although, I ate waaaay to much sugary goodness. Again, those diet books are not a nice reminder in the mornings when I get to work.
Meanwhile, Mateo is growing and seriously considering the possibility of crawling. We have enjoyed watching him struggle to make it happen. He has become a pro at getting up on his knees, less so at getting his legs to move forward. As my dad said, he crawls by doing knee-knee-nose, meaning once he is on his knees, he just flops forward, nose first. Not a good technique, but I think it is paving the way.
This month will have me seriously working on the job search, as I couldn't help but feel that the holiday was sort of keeping anything from happening on that front. I hate looking for work, hate interviewing even more, but hopefully something good will come of all this. I have been working 40-hour weeks and have just learned that I will most likely get a solid week off as of Saturday, so I hope to maximize my time and set some things in motion. So many changes to look forward to -- it is both exciting and overwhelming.
New year, new you, right?
Happy New Year to everybody.
