Playing Catch-up for the Past... Well, it's Been a While

Hellllloooo out there in blogger-land!  It's late, I'm tired (this is very familiar...) so this will be a short first-post-back.

The past year and a half have been... well, busy, to say the least.  My (not-so-new anymore) job has been insane and awesome at the same time.  It's been a rocky year at work, but I think I'm finding my niche, finally.  I still spend many late nights at the office, have so many stacks of work on my desk that they could all support a skyscraper, and can't seem to find enough time in the day to get everything done.  But I work for and with some incredible people... so it's totally worth it.

Just a few highlights... in the past 18 months, I have...

Gotten a new nephew (Westen Paul, now 1 year old - this is during a recent camping trip.  Boy that kid loves dirt.)

And a new sister-in-law, Kali.  She's awesome.


I also went to California for Addie's first trip to Disneyland!  Sadly, I sucked at taking pictures of her with my point-and-shoot camera, they were mostly with my phone.  Lame.  But I was there the other day when she rode a pony!

 
You can tell that's a real pony by the look on her face.  She LOVED it.

The last year and a half has been filled with so many ups and downs, it was like an emotional ride up and down Mount Everest on a tube.  Scary.  But I lived. 

PHEW.

Under Constuction

I've decided to start blogging again.  Stay tuned. 

Life in the Fast Lane

There should be a saying about life being in the warp-speed lane.

I know, it's been THREE months since I last posted! It's ridiculous. At first I was just lazy and had nothing going on, but over the last few months, life has sped up. Just a few highlights (because there's no way I can remember everything) of what's been happening: In February, I turned 34. Last night I went to a singles activity that was eerily like the Stake Dances of old - down to the music. I danced with a good-looking guy to Alphaville's "Forever Young" and I was able to say it took me back 20 years. Seriously, I felt like I was 14 again. Except I bumped into the younger brother of a very good friend from high school, and he was probably only about 10 when I was going to Stake Dances - so now I feel old.

In March, we found out that Addie is going to have a baby brother! It's so exciting, thinking of having another baby in the family. It's a bit odd, too... because my world revolves around THIS kid so much!




But I'm so excited to have a nephew sometime at the end of July or beginning of August. I can't wait!

In April, I got promoted at work. YESSSS. It finally happened. I was so excited (and heartbroken) when my friend Emily told me she was leaving to accept a position with another firm; I was going to miss her like crazy! (It's been two weeks now, and I DO miss her like crazy. Is it weird to have separation anxiety with a co-worker? Nah, not a co-worker - a FRIEND. One of the best.) Anyway, the attorneys she worked for requested ME as her replacement - ME?!? Are you kidding me? I guess it took some prodding from them to get the "powers that be" to be okay with moving me into this position. I've been with the same firm for 7 1/2 years - 3 1/2 as a file clerk and 4 as a project assistant. Now comes a new chapter - I am a legal secretary to four attorneys. With this comes a loss of certain freedoms (I kind-of liked being my own entity as a project assistant, responsible only to myself and my supervisor, and not having to answer to any specific attorney), and it also comes with greater responsibility. But with that responsibility comes knowledge and experience - and a giant pay raise. NICE. It's been a great learning experience so far, and it'll be even better when they hire someone to take my old position. Right now I'm doing both jobs, and it's exhausting. I haven't even had time to make it to the gym! The overtime pay will be nice, though, and there's always Indy and Bo who wait for me to get home so we can go for a walk, so at least I'm getting a LITTLE exercise.

That's it, in a nutshell. I'm sure I'll think of more stuff, but right now I'm tired and my bed is calling my name. I'd say I'll try to be better about posting, but I can't make any promises.

Maybe I'll just surprise you all. :)

Blood Drive

Have any of you ever donated blood? I did once or twice, about 15 years ago. The next time I tried to go, I was told I wasn't eligible because of a medication that I'd been taking. So - I assumed that I wouldn't be able to do it ever again, because I still take the medication. So, for around 15 years, I've passed up the opportunity to donate blood when the occasion came up, thinking I wasn't eligible.

Turns out, I am!

There's a law firm in my building that does a blood drive every year. An invitation to sign up went around the office early this week, and I sadly deleted it. Then, a friend at work approached me and asked if I'd sign up with her. I told her I couldn't because of my medications - but then I got thinking, what if things have changed? I decided to call the Red Cross and ask if I was able to donate blood with the medications I take. After a short conversation, I learned that YES - I can participate in blood drives! I was so excited. With images of the devastation in Haiti floating around in my mind, I called the law firm in the building that was doing the blood drive and made an appointment. So I marched down there today, and proudly gave a bunch of blood. Needles don't bother me, so I sat there happily for approximately 7 minutes with a needle in my arm. (I'm weird, you all know this about me.) I didn't pass out or get woozy or anything!

And now I have a bandage on my arm and a giant headache, but I like the idea that I helped save someone, somewhere, who needs blood. :)

Sabbatical

Coming back to work after 2 1/2 weeks off is... tiring. Note to self: prepare better, mentally, before coming back into the office after an extended absence.

Where I work, we get the opportunity to take up to 7 weeks off as a sabbatical, after having completed 7 years of employment. Since I completed 7 years this past November, I became eligible to take a sabbatical; but in my current position, I couldn't take that much time off without being a huge burden on my co-workers, not to mention the fact that I'd come back to not just a mountain, but a whole mountain RANGE of paper piled on my desk. So, I split my time off into two parts, the first of which I took December 17 to January 4, and the other I will take in the Spring. To say I was stressed about taking time off work is an understatement - I'm surprised I still have any hair, since I seemed to constantly be pulling it out trying to get ready to be away for over 2 weeks. I worked hard to make sure I had processes in place and people lined up to help so I didn't have to worry while I was gone. I learned that I'm a control freak when it comes to my job, who knew??

Most people do something noteworthy with their time off - travel to Europe, go salmon fishing in Alaska, take a cruise, or go on an extended road trip. But I didn't do any of that! Since it was the Holidays, I hung around home and went shopping, ate, played with Addie, ate, watched NCIS, ate, cleaned a little, ate, hung out with family, and went to the Cheesecake Factory and ate some more. For those that haven't splurged on this yet, Red Velvet Cheesecake is a slice of pure heaven - TOTALLY worth the calories and fat!

Anyhow, my time off was very relaxing and low-key - I loved every minute of it. And when I got to work today (30 minutes late, because I have to get used to being back on a schedule again!), I found over 700 e-mails waiting for me - but it took me less than two hours to sort through them all, and my desk was as clean as it was when I left - other than a few stacks of paper. I discovered that everything had gone smoothly, with few (if any) complications, thanks to Mug - she really saved me, and made my vacation worry-free! I owe you, Mug! You are the BEST!

Now I can look forward to the next half of my sabbatical. Is it April yet??!?