All About the Girl

My girl is getting to be so grown up. This week she will be 14 months old. Tonight we had three of her favorite foods for dinner: macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, and beans (baked beans). It got me to thinking that I've been meaning to post about my amazing little girl. So, here goes.

Last week she was moved up to the toddler class at her daycare. She started in the infant room when she was only 9 weeks old, on February 9, 2009. The requirements for her to be moved were: walking steady, no pacifier, and no bottle. Well, she gave up the bottle at 11 months (she loves her sippy cup), she only uses the Binky (pacifier) at bedtime, and she started walking (at home) one week before her 1st birthday. The only thing holding her back was that she absolutely refused to walk (without holding on) at school! Well, the 2 boys who are near her age (one is 1 week older, the other 1 week younger) were walking steady by mid-November, so they moved to the toddler class at the beginning of January. I guess my girl missed her friends, because once they left, she stopped walking (even at home) for a full week! After talking it over with her teachers and the daycare director, we decided to give her a try in the toddler class. Well, on the first day she was walking like a pro! Now, she doesn't even want to go in the infant room (at the beginning and end of the day). She's also walking everywhere else--when visiting family, around the stores, to the mailbox, yes she wants to walk everywhere!

She's also a fan of the park. We have a tiny playground in our neighborhood and I try to let her play for a little while when we get home (before dinner). Right away, she climbed up the steps, sat at the top of the slide, flipped onto her belly, and slid right down!

This girl loves animals and doesn't shy away from any animal--no matter the shape or size! She loves to laugh and point when the cats do something funny and gets so excited anytime she sees somebody with a dog. One of our cats is so wonderful with her, letting her pull her tail, poke her hears, and even lay on top of her. The other discreetly walks away anytime she sees the baby coming her way.

It's so incredible to realize that my world revolves around this one tiny little person. This amazing, stubborn, funny, daring, smart, miniature version of ME.

Another Day

Today I feel good. I got off work 3.5 hours early (chemical spill!), cooked tostadas for dinner, and am currently watching Gray's Anatomy. Tomorrow I will buy my plane ticket--to return to MS to get R and our stuff. I will be going the Friday before Memorial weekend, and by then I should have enough "annual leave" to still get paid for the day. (Yay benefits!)
I've been saving these random pictures for your viewing pleasure. Here are my kitties (Nabi at top, Reina in middle) and sister's kitty (Luna at the bottom). Don't let the peaceful picture fool ya, they're not exactly B.F.F. but they are slowly warming up to each other.
This is a view I just can't get over. This is what I see when I walk out of the front door of Wallymart. It's strange how familiar all wallymarts feel, and when I'm heading out the door, I still sort of expect to still see Starkville... not the mountains! :)
Finally, this was taken the Friday after Easter--I know, a few weeks ago. I just needed to show R that I wasn't kidding about the 1-2 inches of snow I had on my truck!

It's Been One Week

After completing my 3rd full day at work, I find myself extremely exhausted and ready for the weekend. This is the first time I've had a "real job" that required me to complete a full 8-hour shift (10 hours if you include the commute). By the time I get home around 6, all I can think about is crawling into my too-small twin bed and going to sleep! Of course, I make myself stay awake until at least 9--to eat dinner, help little sis with homework, and be otherwise "social."
Let me go back to last week...
We left Starkville around 8pm on Friday and made it into Albuquerque around 3:00 (4:00 MS time) on Saturday. The drive was okay and only slightly eventful. Nabi decided that she needed to use the litterbox approximately 10 times during the trip (okay, that wasn't entirely true--it was probably closer to 20). I had to stop and clean the litterbox at each gas stop we made, but it wasn't so bad, I guess. She alternated her time between prowling around the truck, sitting in my lap, and sleeping in her kennel. Guapo was very well behaved and only spent an average of 10 minutes sniffing everything in sight when we took him out for the potty. Birdy spent the whole ride covered with his blankie hanging from one of the hangy-thingys in the back with Guapo--the only time he started squawking was when Guapo poked his nose under the blankie. Reina was pretty wonderful. We started getting extremely worried about her when she went the whole night without using the litterbox. Actually, she didn't use it at all until we were already in Albuquerque (and only 30 minutes from mom's house)!
We had pretty good weather for the first half of the ride, but by the time we made it to the Oklahoma border, we ran straight into the cold front that was moving across the country. Once we reached Amarillo, we were getting hit with sleet and possibly some ice on the roads. We had a very close call with some kid in a 4Runner who couldn't keep it under control. Somehow he ended up skidding across 4 lanes of interstate and nearly made me clip his back bumper! Saturday found us extremely tired, but we managed to crawl out of bed and drive around town with the family for a few hours. We even had a little snow storm!
Sunday we attended church with gramma and had a nice time at her Easter Cook-Out.
Very early Monday, R flew back to MS to spend some time with his family on the coast (I already miss him like CRAZY). I hung out around the house, made a trip to wallymart, and cooked dinner for the family. Tuesday, I had every intention of sleeping in, but was woken up by the stirrings of an active family. By 10:00 I found myself walking laps around the mall with gramma (I prefer to call it long-term window shopping and NOT exercise). She treated me to lunch and let me pick out a few new shirts for my new job. I made another trip to wallymart (oh, the joys) and cooked dinner again.
Wednesday was my first day at the NEW JOB and I am happy to say that I think it's going to be okay. I can't say yet that I love it--I mean, all I've done yet is get introduced to like a million people (okay, maybe only 100) and get thoroughly confused in the labyrinth of halls, labs, and offices! I have my own desk and computer (in a shared office), the others in my lab seem really nice, and the Dress Code is CASUAL (I mean, you just don't know how happy this makes me)! I will probably spend the next 2 weeks or so getting acquainted with the lab equipment and standard protocols, and hopefully after that, I will begin work on a project of my very own.
I am absolutely shocked by the looooong commute (Holy Crap! 45-55 minutes to go 15 miles!?!?) and by how exhausted I am when I finally do make it home. I never realized what this whole 8-5 (1hr break) work day was all about! For those of you who have been doing this for years: How do you do it? How long did it take you to get used to the schedule? At least I have a space of my own and am allowed to write emails and stuff (although this blogging stuff will have to be done at home).