Back in the loop

We FINALLY recieved our new power adapter cord in the mail for our laptop, so we're charged and ready to go!! :) After over a week without computer access I have come to realize three things:

1.) I'm lost without the internet and my email every day
2.) I'm addicted to blogging (mostly checking other people's) in an unhealthy sort of way
3.) I found I had a lot more free time without the computer as an option!

It's good to be back and to get caught up on everyone's lives. A lot has been going on here over the last week and a half...I'll be damned if I can remember what I did yesterday though. It really does scare me how much my mind fails me these days.

Early last week we took a trip to Oregon to visit Dane's grandparents and we had a wonderful visit. Anna was such a doll as usual and she allowed both of them to get sufficient snuggles on her. She took a great nap while we were there and woke up just in time for dinner, so she got to play with her toys while the rest of us feasted on steak, corn on the cob and salad. Don't worry, Anna got to have all the milk she wanted for dinner...her favorite!! After dinner, we headed to my parent's house (about an hour away) to spend the night so it was nice to see them and get in a quick visit. Anna slept for a little bit on the drive there so she was able to stay up a little past her bedtime to play with Grandma and Grandpa a little bit. My parents were both gone to work in the morning when we got up so I'm glad they got to play with Anna some the night before.

So the next news to talk about is that I started my new job on Monday. Big day! I was nervous as it was approaching...not so much about the job, but just how Anna was going to do and the fact that I was so sad to not be around her. Dane and I dropped the ball on finding child care in time so this week we have our friends Courtney and Jodi helping out watching Anna in the afternoon while Dane is at football practice until I get off work at 5:00, which we GREATLY appreciate. I need to make a lot of phone calls in the next few days to hopefully find someone with an opening for an 8 month old and just in the afternoon (it's not easy!). Hardly anyone accepts part time kids. Keep your fingers crossed that we find a place that we feel comfortable with...this is a HUGE stress for me right now. I've got to say though that Anna has done really really great at Jodi's house the last two days. She has napped as soon as she got there for 1-2 hours and has eaten good (she hasn't had to take a bottle in the whole month I was home!) and played great with Francheska (Jodi's 18 month old). It eases my mind to know that she is so happy when our friends watch her...what a huge help that is!

So my new job! The first two days have gone really great and I think I'm going to like it a lot there. Would I rather be home with Anna? Yes. But if I have to be at work, I think the City of Lacey is a great place for me. Everyone has been extremely nice to me and they are all the type of people that I can be friends with, not just coworkers. I've already been given a lot to do, so I'm jumping right in there and getting my feet wet! I will be splitting my time between the City Manager and Public Affairs Departments. Today I met the Assistant City Manager and it seems like I will be working along side of him doing what I can to make his job easier and his days run smoother. His name is Scott and he seems very nice...I have heard a lot of great things about him so I look forward to working with him.

I'm excited about a project that I have already been given. It is called the Work Involvement Now! (WIN!) Program and what it is, is the City offers this program to Lacey area youth groups (church, Boy/Girl Scouts, schools, etc.) to volunteer their time and sign up for different jobs around the city such as painting fire hydrants, planting trees, cleaning up playgrounds, laying new bark, etc. In return for thier 40 hours of community service we give them a $300 grant to go towards their organization. We make it all official for each of the 25 groups and the mayor presents them with their checks and a certificate and I guess the kids get pretty excited about it and feel pretty special. :) So this has been handed off to me to organize from start to finish and they're already a couple weeks behind schedule so I've got my work cut out for me! This is what I love about this job though...there's a lot to do! My day is so full that the time flies and it's 5 o'clock before I know it. There's nothing worse than having nothing to do and just watching each minute pass by. So anyways, I think this is going to be a good fit for me. I already miss Anna like crazy, but that just means I'll have to soak up every minute I do have with her when I get home.

Dane is keeping very busy these days as well now that football has started. He's coaching the defense for varsity this year so he's excited for this change. In fact, tonight he is at the school collecting the boy's fundraising money from them and organizing all of that. It always seems to be something...I guess I need to come to terms with the fact that football season is among us and I will not be seeing as much of him as I might like. If he's not coaching it then he's watching it. :) He has his draft this Sunday for his fantasy football team...please keep your fingers crossed that he gets a good team, otherwise it could be a long winter for me!

Well, it's already after 9:00 and I have a lot more stuff to get done before I get to go to bed so I'd better wrap this up. I'm happy to be back in the blogging world again...what did we ever do before blogging?!