Blast from the past

If you've ever wondered what I looked like as a child, here's a glimpse! Have I ever posted these before? 

Looking serious

A happier facial expression

Betsy and I with our grandparents (Ruth and John)

A total Griswold vacation photo. From left: My dad, Susie, my mom, my grandpa, Betsy (in pink), me (in yellow), and my Aunt Suzie. My parents are probably about the same age Jason and I are now!

Big tooth

Some of my loyal readers may be wondering how my first week at the new job is going, so I'll start out by saying, it's great! The people are all very friendly and although I don't have much to do (yet), it is nice that they are giving me time to get settled and do a little background reading. The drive hasn't been too bad (except for today because it was snowing), but I think I will need a couple of weeks to figure out the best times to leave. I have the option to adjust my hours, and think it might end up being better from a driving perspective to work from 8:30 to 4:30. That also means it will be easier to get Molly at the end of the day, although there may be some mornings when she will have to wake up a little earlier than she is used to.

 

But enough about that. Let's talk about my tooth! Isn't that the way it always goes? As soon as I need to switch my insurance coverage, I find out I have a loose front tooth (one of the big ones on top) and need some potentially expensive dental work. Waaay back in the day, I flipped over the front of my bike and landed smack on my face and front teeth. Looking at my dental x-rays now, it seems the roots on those front teeth never fully developed and are much smaller than they should be.

 

If you haven't noticed, my front teeth are on the large side. They get bumped occasionally. And now one is loose :( Eventually we'll get the dental coverage sorted out and I'll be able to go in and get a wire bonded to the back of my front teeth to hold everything together. But for now, I'm living in total fear that the thing is going to fall out. I can tell that it's loose. It hurts a little bit. I've been trying to avoid sandwiches or any kind of food that needs to be bitten into. What if it dies and goes gray? I'd look like a completely different person. Teeth can be replaced, but I'm pretty sure the process takes a little bit of time. There would surely be some sort of awkward period when I'd have to walk around with my hand over my mouth. Noooo!

 

Here I am, assuming the worst. It will probably all be fine. But I will be much more comfortable when I have my coverage in hand and an appointment with a new dentist. Until then, let's hope the tooth fairy stays far, far away from our house!

Unemployed (for 2 days)

I thought it would be enough to have 2 days off in between jobs...now I realize I should have taken a week! I was (selfishly) planning on using both days to relax and run errands, but as soon as Molly figured out I wasn't going to work, she started campaigning for a "home day." The main reason I made this switch was to be more available for the Molls, so how could I say no?

Somehow I managed to cram 2 days worth of errands into 1. Today was not relaxing in any way shape or form, but it was definitely productive. I worked out, ran errands, picked up groceries, cleaned out my closet, got my eyebrows waxed, and dropped off 6 bags of stuff to the Salvation Army. Hurrah!

I'll still have time to veg out tonight and watch a few episodes of Call the Midwife. And then tomorrow...who knows?! I promised Molly a trip to the library. We haven't been in a while -- blame the weather! And then Jason gets back from his work trip late afternoon, so we were thinking of taking Molly to a Teppanyaki restaurant for dinner. She loves fried rice and will probably get a kick out of seeing the chef chop and cook all of the food right at the table. Jason and I will enjoy it even if she doesn't :)

Sigh. 3 more days of freedom...

Family fun

We took advantage of the long Presidents' Day weekend to get down to Destin, FL and see my lovely grandparents, Gordon and Janelle. Though they spend most of their time in Tennessee, we thought we'd visit them during their winter trip to Florida and also see my parents. Double bonus -- we also got to see my Uncle Neal and Aunt Terry for a day, which was a lot of fun. Molly looooves Uncle Neal, and for good reason. He's fun and knows how to pay attention to kids. She was still talking about him days after they left. I think we need a trip to Cincinnati soon!

But back to Destin. It wasn't all that warm, but it was still nice enough for us to walk on the beach and for Molly and I to swim in the heated pool (for a few minutes at least). We also hit up the Gulfarium and saw a dolphin show. And because we had so many babysitters on hand, Jason and I even got out for an impromptu Valentine's Day dinner.

Four days flew by. It was so nice to see everyone and for Molly to get to spend time with her Grandparents, Great Aunt and Great Uncle, and Great Grandparents. When can we go back?

Last day of the trip -- surrounded by love

Some stuff I've been liking lately

It's been a while since I've posted about anything other than work or family. Going back to the original purpose of this blog...here's some stuff I like:

• Podcasts! I've never been a huge podcast listener. I'd take in the odd episode of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! or Bill Simmons' B.S. Report. But then I got into Serial. Oh Serial...the 12-episode series about the 1999 murder of a Baltimore teen had me (and everyone else) completely hooked...and for good reason. It was incredibly interesting and well put-together. The best part is, now that I have the Stitcher app on my phone (and some excellent recommendations from Sean), I've discovered a ton of wonderful podcasts to listen to while working out or walking to and from the train. The Moth (true stories, told live) is by far my favorite. I love it so much, I feel like I can't stop recommending it to people (seriously, listen, you'll love it). I also like The Dinner Party Download, This American Life (the latest one about cops is particularly good), and Freakenomics. 
• Call the Midwife. I read the first book in the trilogy a few years ago, but never ended up watching the show (British midwives working in London's East End in the 1950s). I can't believe what I was missing! Lately, whenever Jason has to travel, I've been catching up on past episodes on Netflix. It's such a lovely show.
• Chicago Restaurant Week. Jason and I always take advantage of restaurant week. Why wouldn't we? All of the fancy restaurants put out interesting prix fixe menus. This year, we checked out Embeya (progessive Asian cuisine) and Salero (modern Spanish...yay, Spain!). Both were excellent. And it meant I got 2 dates with Jason this month!
• Frozen on Ice. Yes, we went. And it was wonderful. Molly loooved seeing the story play out on ice and I was pretty entertained as well. My only complaint is about the $12 snow cones (yes, that was the price...no, we did not buy one...yes, I have officially turned into my mother).



At this point, she still doesn't even know where we're taking her. Ha!

• Cousins :) Molly now has 4 cousins. We get to meet the newest cousin, Evan, in a few weeks, and Molly is SO excited to be reunited with Will. She and James have also been as thick as thieves lately. Now that he is a little older (almost 2), they've learned how to play well together, which basically just means Molly runs around and James runs after her, laughing. It's pretty adorable. And if you're wondering how George is doing, he's still super cute. And now he sits!

  

  Hanging out before the Super Bowl

No more secrets

The last 2 months have been a little strange because I haven't been able to write about my biggest news...my new job! I've been thinking about making a change for a while now, but couldn't really write about it (online at least) until I figured things out and made a decision. And now it's official, so I can.

So anyway, work was pretty hectic between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I was starting to feel a little stressed out. I've had this idea in the back of my head for quite some time now that I wanted to start freelancing, but I've been scared to make a change. I've been with the same company for all but 2 of the last 12 years. I know what I'm doing there and how the place works. I have wonderful friends there. It's where I met Jason, way back when. 

However. I've been worrying (a lot) lately about how I'm going to make things work when Kindergarten starts. After school programs only run until 6:00 pm, not 6:30 like daycare. Will I be able to make it in time when Jason has to travel? You have no idea how much I've thought about logistics and train schedules over the past few months. 

With Kindergarten approaching, and my job satisfaction dwindling, it felt like the right time to start looking around. I talked with a few people, revised my resume, dusted off my portfolio, and started interviewing. It's been hectic, taking time off, sneaking around, writing thank you emails, and waiting for follow-up calls. But I ended up finding a full-time, in-office freelance gig that I think I'm really going to like. 

It will be different. Waaay more corporate than what I'm used to. And it's in the 'burbs. No more city, no more train. I'll be driving to and fro every day, listening to the radio instead of reading. But I'll shave about 15-20 minutes off my commute (I think...I hope) and I feel like that is going to make all the difference. 

There's other stuff that I'm excited about. I'll get to work with an old boss, who I really like. The managers seem nice and the work seems interesting. It's happening. New year, new job!!