Little Ruthie

I need these

Are these just too beautiful?  Little leather birds on espadrilles.  Do you like espadrilles?  I have always liked them.  I remember in high school at some point they were fashionable and I wore the heck out of my tan pair.  These are so not my tan pair.  Much better, I think.

It's supposed to snow today but these shoes make me think of summer.  Why is it that you want whatever season has just passed? 

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. 

In memory of Basie

My dear old friend, Basie was put to rest today.

Over the past few days he made it clear that it was time for him to go.  I know that sounds strange to non-dog owners, but truly, they have ways of letting you know.

He was 16 or 17 - the vet estimated that he was 2 or 3 when we brought him home from the shelter. 

We have two dogs in our family, but it was known that Basie was MY dog.  So my heart is broken today as I miss him terribly.

I scored!

My friend, Ami, took me to The Denver Fabric Mart.  People, I have been missing out all this time!  Rows and rows of fabric, both upholstery and clothing.  Heaven, I tell you.

I found some fabric for the couch slipcover I'm making (say a prayer for me).  Sale!  Four dollars a yard.  Then I found some great cotton duck in the perfect shade of pink for a buck a yard!  I have two chairs in my bedroom that need to be recovered.  After that I had to just go home.  Not nearly as expensive as it could have been given the sales.  But still, best not to overdo it.

So today I am writing and drafting a pattern for the chairs.  I've already completed the pattern for the couch but I figured I'd try to do one chair first because if I mess up, it's in my room.  I've never done slipcovers so this will be very interesting. 

I'll post pictures unless it's too awful to see-:)

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.

 

 

 

 

Learning new things on Typepad

Truthfully, I haven't bothered to stay up on all the things Typepad can now do for me, and I'm thinking maybe I should figure it out.  So I'm emailing this post just to see if I got it right.    

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.