One Car Family

We sold our Yaris to a college student today. We're officially a one car family again for the first time in 12 years. 

Thanks for being a reliable car for so many years, Yaris!

Mani-Pedi

Today I gave Korra her annual back-to-school manicure and pedicure. 

Open House

Today I went to my very first Open House as a parent. I thought that it might be the moment when I felt really sad about not being a teacher but I actually felt so happy. I felt so much joy to be more present with Korra (though I have to admit I still had a bunch of parents, students, and coworkers who wanted to talk to me). I felt so much relief that I'm not as stressed and overwhelmed as I would be if I was teaching this year. Former coworkers told me I looked healthy, happy, glowing. 

Korra met all 4 of her teachers. She's very anxious about having new teachers, changing classes, and mostly about not having me there at the school, but I think it's going to be a good year for her, too. 

He's ours now

Today we took Little Alex Horne to the vet. They checked to see if he is microchipped (he's not), if he has fleas or worms (he does), and got his first shots and blood work. He weighs 2.5 lbs and both the vet and tech confirmed that he is an exceptionality sweet, good kitten. They also told us he's about 12 weeks old which would make his birthday Cinco de Mayo-  which is also Mrs Reynolds' birthday. 

After spending nearly $300 at the vet, we decided he's officially ours- and then we spent another $100 on kitty supplies (litter box, kitten food, scratching post). Korra is excited that tomorrow he will be worm and flea free which means he can expand his territory from just the bathroom to her room, too. 

Now to continue the arduous task of introducing him to Mrs. Reynolds. God help us. 

Fun Work Projects

I'm genuinely enjoying my work projects.  
Yesterday I made a big list of team building activities for our staff retreat in October.  I'm making a big spreadsheet of options for promotional items (tote bags, water bottles, fleece vests).  I had our first Party Planning committee meeting today and now I'm planning a fiesta in August (taco bar and board games!) and a Braves game for September.  I just finished making sure all the hot desks (desks people who don't come into the office every day can use) have all the equipment and supplies they need.  And of course there's the files to shred.  It's so crazy to think that this week is usually one of the most stressful of the year (preplanning).  This is definitely where I need to be right now. 

Boxes of Files

One of my jobs at work is to clean out and organize the boxes of files stacked throughout the office.  Payroll, bank statements, project proposals, reimbursements, etc in 58 banker's boxes from 1998 to the present.  My goal is to sort through 3 boxes per day (keep, recycle, shred), take one trip to the recycling center in the parking deck, and then shred one large garbage bag of papers.  If I continue at this pace for 4 days a week, I should be done with this project in about a month.  I have a lot of paper cuts on my hands, but I kind of enjoy spending an hour or two listening to an audiobook while doing this task.  

Gizmo Watch

Today we went to Verizon to set up Korra's smart watch. She'll be able to text or call just the numbers we preprogram and it has a GPS in it so we can see where she is. No games, no internet access, and hopefully she won't lose it since it's strapped to her wrist. Now she can text us when she arrives at and leaves school! 

I'm such a sucker

I went from "we are definitely not keeping this kitten" to "if we don't find the owner AND Mrs Reynolds doesn't lose her mind, we can keep the kitten" in less than 24 hours. 

Also we named him. It's... Little Alex Horne. 

He's very sweet and snuggly. He plays pretty gently (for a kitten), holding back when biting and scratching so he doesn't break the skin. He's staying in Korra's bathroom until we can get him to the vet to make sure he doesn't have worms (we gave him a bath and he doesn't seem to have fleas) and he didn't cry during the night. Keeping him in there also seems to be helping with Mrs Reynolds'. She's hiding in our room a lot more but isn't walking around the house hissing so maybe that's good? We'll do our best to introduce them more slowly and thoughtfully than we did with Nobby. We're going to hang up Found Kitten flyers tomorrow and then we'll just wait and see. 

As you'd expect, Korra is absolutely in love- getting a kitten is her biggest dream come true. She's doing a good job of taking care of him so far- cleaning out the litter box and  playing with him until he's tired even though that means sitting on the bathroom floor for hours. 

Found Kitten

I only made it about a block on my morning walk when I find a black kitten. He came right to me and doesn't look underfed or scruffy so I'm pretty sure he belongs to someone, but I couldn't leave him at a busy intersection so...

I've posted about him on Nextdoor and we'll make flyers later today.  

I'll keep repeating myself. We are not keeping this cat. 

Acronyms

I am well aware there are acronyms in every industry.  They have proved to be my steepest learning curve at the new job.  I'm assisting a couple of managers with their calendars and billing which requires me to translate these acronyms for not only their specific electric bus engineering, but also the abbreviations for cities and municipalities.  It's overwhelming and frustrating especially since I have to repeatedly ask the people I'm supposed to be helping (that makes me feel like I'm not actually being that helpful).  

Yoga

Last night Korra and I went to our first yoga class together.  It was my first time in a yoga class in probably 3+ years and Korra's never taken a live class before.  It was really good!  We both liked the teacher and the studio and Korra said that her favorite part was that she didn't think about anything but her body for the whole hour (that's my favorite part, too!).  We bought a class pass so we'll definitely be making this a regular thing.  

Gap-toothed

On Tuesday we finished the last "tightening" of Korra's palate expander. Here is the difference it's made in her face/front teeth:

Late April

A few days ago

Now she just keeps the expander in for a few months and then she's done with orthodontics for a few years (until the rest of her baby teeth fall out). 

Work Visitor

Yesterday Korra came by my work for a bit. She was most impressed with the kitchen/break room and the big swings out in front of the building. 

Work Update

I've been slowly adding to my work responsibilities.  I'm managing one of the manager's calendar now and I'm helping another manager get caught up on expense reports.  I've started shredding old documents.  I made my first breakroom order and scheduled the first meeting of the party planning committee.  I facilitated my first staff meeting. It's quiet work, sort of slow.  When I get bored, I just change up what I'm doing- even going to unload the dishwasher.  I like it.  I feel like this is exactly what I need right now.  I feel competent most of the time, though as one of only 2 or 3 people without an engineering background, I often don't know what they're talking about.  Yesterday I baked the most perfect looking cookies I've ever made (they tasted good too) and shared them with my coworkers.  

Petting Zoo Party

Korra's friend had a small birthday party today that included a petting zoo! She really liked the chinchilla and bunnies (so did Nate!) 

Vasovagal Response

Yesterday I had my yearly check up. Everything was fine until the blood work. I warned the nurse. I have deceptively tricky veins. It seems like they're good but they're small and I have low blood pressure. Most nurses and phlebotomists don't believe me. Yesterday's phlebotomist didn't believe me. I also warned her that if she talks about missing the vein or has to do it multiple times, I get woozy. 

She assured me she had this. She said she found a vein easily and clearly those other people didn't know what they were talking about. After she finished, I told her "you're good! Thanks for doing it so quickly." She replied, "I'm not good. I didn't get it, but I didn't want to tell you while the needle was in. I need to try the other arm."  I barely made it through drawing blood in the other arm. I'm pretty sure I was only a few seconds away from either passing out or puking but thankfully she finished so I could lay down (which helps tremendously). They gave me a few minutes to recover but then it was time for not one, but TWO painful vaccines. It had been 12 years since my last tetanus shot and that one burns and then makes your arm really sore for a few days. In the other arm I finally got the HPV vaccine (insurance kept saying I was just a year too old to get it covered but finally raised the age to 45 and I was finally at a doctor that happened to have them on hand at the time of my appointment). That one burned even worse than the tetanus. Usually, I don't have any negative reaction to shots but these retriggered my wooziness and I had to lay down for another few minutes before I could walk home.  Definitely not my best yearly check up. 

Fridays

Yesterday Korra went to her last day of music camp and Nate and I both worked from home. It was pretty amazing. I got all my work done in the morning. Nate's parents and brother and his kids stopped by for lunch (Shake Shack!) and then I walked from there for my doctor's appointment (more about that in a separate post). Then I walked home and checked my work email before we spent the evening at the pool with neighbor friends. I know every Friday won't be like this, but both of us working from home on Fridays and having less stressful jobs is really amazing. 

New Tech

My work added me to their cell phone plan which means I get a new phone!  Today my iPhone mini was delivered AND Nate bought me an Apple watch (I'm insisting on calling it an early Christmas present). It's nice to play with some new Apple tech after spending all day cleaning old MacBooks. 

Old Computers

Today my task at work was to update the spreadsheet with correct information on each laptop (serial number, warranty information, specs, etc) and who has it and do a factory reset on 16 spare laptops so they could be either reassigned or traded in. Those 16 ranged in age of 1 year to 18 years! I also had to begin the process for one that's still under warranty (but only until tomorrow!) repaired. Lastly, I gave each laptop a thorough wipe-down and repeated sprays with that pressurized air cleaner because other people's laptops are disgusting. 

Things I Like About My New Job

It's really quiet. 

I can go to the bathroom whenever I want. 

I have all the supplies I need. 

There are big windows. 

Everyone has been really nice to me. 

My New Job

 Everything is new which can be scary but I'm also trying to enjoy it. Being outside my comfort zone and finding a bit of joy in the novelty. I've enjoyed meeting new people. Yesterday I organized the supply cabinets and that was grounding. I feel like I have a grasp on the office manager side of my job but the administrative assistant side is still murky. I think I'll start that part next week. I get to be the office fire marshal and I'm in charge of recognizing staff birthdays and ordering supplies. I have moments of "what the hell was I thinking" but overall this feels right. 

More Chattanooga

After showering, we met back up with Kyle and Ashley for dinner at Bitter Alibi for dinner. It was delicious and also there was this huge video game cabinet called Killer Queen that we played several rounds of against another group of people. It was pretty awesome. 

Afterwards, we went to Clumpies for ice cream. I really, really enjoyed reminiscing and catching up. 

Edwards Point

We met up with my high school friend Kyle (who lives here in Chattanooga) and his wife Ashley to go on a hike at Rainbow Lake. It was a pretty intense 4.2 mile hike round trip but the views were spectacular and there was a great spot to swim. 

Chattanooga

For one last summer adventure, we're on a weekend trip to Chattanooga. 

We're staying at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. Last night we enjoyed amazing pupusas at Conga followed by drinks at Five Wits and dessert at the Chocolatier. 

This morning Korra and I ventured out in the drizzly rain for breakfast at Neidlov's. Korra got a chocolate croissant and a hot chocolate. :)

Mostly we've just walked around and eaten delicious things. Hopefully the rain will let up and we can go on a hike this afternoon. 

First Day

Today was my first day of my new job. It was good though a bit of a culture shock. It's definitely different than working in a school. A fully stocked kitchen/break room with snacks and drinks and an espresso machine. The building has a big gym you can use. A brand new MacBook pro and then they asked what color iPhone I wanted. The ability to work from home when I want/need to. Plus only adults. 

They're easing me into the office manager and administrative assistant responsibilities. Today I created accounts and learned about the organization. I feel good. Excited. 

Imagination Play

Korra spent 5 hours playing stuffed animals, Legos, and Barbies with her friend today. I love that she has a good friend who is still into imagination play, too. 

Bike Trailer

I posted the bike trailer we used when Korra was little on Nextdoor. A neighbor asked if I'd be willing to give it to a man who is unhoused that she recently met who was looking for a bike trailer. She came and got it today and then sent me a picture of the man setting it up and attaching it to his bike. Glad we were able to give it to someone who needs it. 

Splash Pad with Oliver

Today Korra and I drove down to Newnan to see my "grandson" Oliver (Danny's son). We haven't seen them in over 2 years. It was a ridiculously hot day, but Korra and Oliver both had fun at the splashpad for an hour. This is the best picture I managed to get. 

Cabin for the Long Weekend

Picking up Korra from camp and headed up to the cabin to spend a few days with Nate's family!