Yeah, I'm still here.

It’s so not like me to wait this long between entries. Life has been busy. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I’m on week 4 at the new job, and I like it very much. After my first week, the other girls in the office were convinced that I was a corporate spy, sent in to check up on them. Apparently one is not supposed to catch on to everything so quickly. I’m at the point now that I’m comfortable with my daily workload and I can ask for additional projects, which there is certainly no shortage of. Bottom line – I like it, and they like me, and I can see myself working here for a long time. They have great benefits and are an international company. Not only that, but they offer “Domestic Partner” benefits. So, I can put Evan on my insurance and we don’t have to get married to do it! How cool is that? He sure has it good with me. Lol.

The gay CPA did call and offer me the job – but I turned it down. There were pros and cons for both opportunities, but in the end, this was the best place for me. I told him to keep my number and call me during tax season, cuz I’d be happy to help out on a part-time basis.

The Mini-Teen has moved in with us full-time. This is a big change for all of us, but not in a bad way. She’s at that age where she can decide where she wants to live, and she did. I’m so happy to have here there everyday. I don’t know that The Boy will ever want to make that move, and that’s fine. They still get to see each other, and so far, it seems to be a better situation for them both. Time will tell. Evan has been great about the whole thing. In fact, he’s been nothing but supportive when it comes to all of my kids. And that makes me happy.

I’m still on the Alli weight loss plan. So far, I’ve dropped 15 pounds. I haven’t been exercising as much as I should, and changing my eating habits was a struggle at first, but it seems to be going well. I’m slowly replacing our foods at home with lite or fat-free versions, hoping that a gradual adjustment will be better received than an all-out transformation.

I’m hosting a stand-up show at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre on August 17th. My first official gig in quite a while. Looking forward to it. Need to do some open mics before that.

Evan and I went to see the Simpson’s Movie at midnite on Thursday. It was great, and I’m not just saying that because I love the show. It was very funny, very clever, and totally earned its PG-13 rating. And FYI…no, Maggie’s first word was not spoken in this movie. Yes, she does say one word, but if you’re a true Simpson’s fan, you would know when she said her first word and what it was.

And I won’t even tell you what they did to Green Day.

The kids were at their dad’s that nite, so Evan, being the ever-so-wonderful step-dad-in-training, took them to see it last nite after he got home from class. And after the movie, he took them to the Kwik-E-Mart (i.e., a 7-11 store designed to look like the Kwik-E-Mart on the show) to get Squishees. Is it any wonder why I love this man? Nope!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Checkin' In

I woke up once again today to the sound of rain. I don’t recall a more rainy summer than the one we’re having. It has rained every day since June. Literally. I feel like someone snuck in and moved us all to Seattle without our knowledge. I don’t mind the rain. It’s much better than the droughts we’ve had and the water rationing programs put in force the last few summers. But it certainly makes driving a great big hassle.

So let’s catch up, shall we?

On the job front….after several interviews and lots of crappy, rainy drives, I’ve accepted a position with Aramark. (How’s that for networking?) The drive is a bit more than I wanted, but it’s a real (read: permanent, not temporary) job, the people are super nice, the hours are fab, and they have great benefits. But on Monday, I had a fabulous interview with a gay CPA who’s looking for an office manager-type person. The interview lasted nearly 2 hours, and if he had offered me the job right then and there, I would have taken it; a bit more money, closer to home, fun environment and lots of cool new stuff to learn. But, he won’t be making a decision until next week, and I’m scheduled to start work with the other company tomorrow. And since I’ve already made a commitment to them, I’ll be there. If he calls and offers me the job next week, I’ll have had a few days to gauge my longevity at the other job.

Summer fun….this short stint of unemployment has allowed us to hang out with the kids a lot, which has been great. For the 4th we went to the Fort Worth Zoo with some of the folks from ComedySportz. When you buy your tickets, they specifically tell you that there are no ‘rain checks’ and no refunds if it rains. In other words, they don’t close the park if it rains, so you should bring an umbrella.

We had so much fun. I haven’t been to a zoo in more than 10 years. It did start to rain, but it was light and short lived – and we did have an umbrella. J The Boy and the Mini-Teen took turns videotaping various animal activities, and we all took a lot of pictures. We stayed until the park closed. It was awesome to do so much walking. Will decided that our gathering word would be “moonwalk”, and that we should number off, and Evan added ‘pudding’ to the numbering, (Will’s little nephew was ‘pudding cup’) and everyone would yell “shake and bake” once we knew all numbers were accounted for. Yes, we actually did this, and the looks on people’s faces varied from amused to annoyed. But we did have some others join in, especially toddlers who liked the ‘shake and bake’ part. We scared one Asian lady. Not on purpose. I talked Rachelle into doing her raptor impression, and the small group of people who saw her thought it was amusing. Makes me laugh every time. We taped Will trying to wrestle a bronze alligator, using his best Croc Hunter voice. You get the idea. It was a wacky day. Pictures to come.
We must have walked several miles, and I even achieved some color on my arms.

Me, me me…..I feel good. At the beginning of June, I started to change the things I eat, with the intention of losing some weight. At the time I was still working, and I had Kristin at the office to tell of my progress. But then I got laid off, and no one at home was really excited about my diet. Kristin was kinda like my cheerleader. She was a huge advocate of healthy eating, and she gave me a lot of encouragement. I was worried that I would slip back into my old eating habits without having anyone to talk to about it – and I did, a couple of times, and I hated it. I’d been doing some reading on Alli, the ‘new’ weight loss program that can help you lose 50% more weight than dieting alone. So I read about how it works and the possible side effects. I thought about it for a few days and decided to buy it. I’ve been on it for just over 2 weeks, and I’m down at least 10 pounds. Very exciting! It could be more than that, because I don’t have a scale, so I have to run over to The Teen’s apartment and use hers, and then her boyfriend told me that it might be 10 pounds off (over), so I really have no idea at this point. I know that I feel good, some things are looser and things I couldn’t wear a month ago are fitting, so I think it’s working. I’ve been walking a lot more, and sticking to my daily allowance of calories and fat grams. Grocery shopping has actually been fun, and I love trying new recipes and making healthy, tasty meals. And so far, no side effects from the pills. The icky side effects are a real incentive not to indulge in high-fat foods. I’ll report my progress here. I know someone reading this is cheering me on.

I suppose that’s it for now. This is my last day as an unemployed person, so I think I’ll just chillax.