announcement

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Ok. So. There’s this thing, which has been keeping me sort of preoccupied for the past couple of weeks, and I wasn’t sure whether or not to write about it and share it with the whole World Wide Internets(tm). I asked Dave what he thought, and at first he said it was too personal, then he changed his mind and was like “ehh…” Thanks for the help, honey. I’ve decided that since this little blog o’ mine is the closest thing I have to a diary, I might as well document it for my own personal future reference. So here goes.

Attention world: I am going off birth control.

That’s right. I know some people will probably think it’s too soon, since Dave and I have only been married for five months. But those are probably the same people who thought we were crazy for getting married after only a year. And you know, we both know who we are, and we know what we want. I’ve been calling Dave my “marriage and babies guy” for quite a while, and I know he’s the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, so why wait? We aren’t going to be marking days on the calendar or anything, and I think that it takes an average of about a year for most couples to conceive, so we aren’t expecting anything to happen immediately. We’re just going to throw caution to the wind and see what nature has in store for us.

Honestly, I was worried that I was pressuring Dave into the baby thing. I’ve been ready for years, and lately I’ve had to hold myself back from sniffing babies’ heads when I see them at the supermarket. (Um, not like they have babies for sale right next to the canteloupes or anything. It’s just that recently, since I’ve been going to get groceries in the middle of the day, most of the other shoppers are stay-at-home mom’s with their children.) I kept offering him out’s – like, maybe this isn’t a good idea while I’m not working, maybe we should wait until we’re more financially stable or until we’ve been married for at least a year, etc. But he seems to be almost more enthusiastic about this than me. I suppose it makes sense for me to be a little more cautious and nervous about it, since I’m the one whose body is going to go through all sorts of changes and the joy (ha!) of childbirth. But I also know that being a mom is something I truly want to be. And I’m pretty sure that I’ll be good at it – all I have to do is repeat what my mom did, because she’s fantastic.

So, that’s what all of those vague references to doctors were about. I wanted to make sure that I had the ok to go off of birth control, given my past history. It looks like everything is fine and all systems are a go, so to speak, so that’s good. This still feels weird to write about, because we haven’t talked about this with most of our family; although I guess by posting this, a few more people will be in the loop. (Hi!) It also seems a little gross to announce, “Hey everyone! We’re going to be having lots & lots of unprotected sex at our house! Yee-haw!” I know we’re married, so technically that’s allowed, but I’ve never really been one to talk about my sex life, so it feels kind of icky to start now. But like I said, this is my journal, so I have to be honest here.

Anyway, that’s the latest news from our part of the world. How are you?

helpful tip

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When you have a total childhood regression and buy halloween candy a good two or three weeks before halloween, and you tip your head back to pour the entire contents of a pixy stix straw onto your tongue, remember to breathe through your nose and not your mouth. Ow.

random bits

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Job news: Even though I’ve pretty much stopped looking while I focus on studying for the next few weeks, I heard about a possibility today that could be really good. But I don’t want to jinx myself by talking too much about it (or wanting it too much, which doesn’t seem to work well for me either), so we’ll file it away in the back of our minds and just wait to see what happens. It certainly won’t be the end of the world if I don’t get it, it’s just the first good job possibility that I’ve heard about lately. Oh, and I finally heard (only almost two weeks after the fact) that I didn’t get that other job that I wasn’t sure about. Which I pretty much knew, but come on, is it really necessary to take that long to make a decision?

Studying progress: I’m now on chapter 7. Which means I’m over 25% of the way through this book, and that’s in less than a week. So I can deal with that. Maybe this means I could actually lighten up on myself a bit and break up my day by, oh I don’t know, occasionally doing dishes or paying bills or doing something else useful since I’m home all freakin’ day long. But that’s doubtful. I enjoy feeling like I have some momentum, so I think I just want to hammer this exam out as fast as possible, and then I’ll worry about the state of the house. (And it’s bad, y’all. Really. You have no idea the amount of clutter that two people can generate in a week.)

The doctor update: I really like my new doctor. She has the same last name as one of the doctors on “ER”, and I got a kick out of that. No other news. Yet.

Linky-links: I’m doing some blog-cleaning on my link sidebar. I’ve removed several for various reasons. Some I just don’t read anymore (Tattoodles – sorry, and Adam & Sarah I love you guys, but the minute you demand my credit card number to read your very funny message boards is the minute you lose me). Some don’t exist anymore (like Catoptric & Chez Miscarriage). And some of you (Scott and Carl, I’m looking at you) just never write anything in your damn blogs and I’m tired of always clicking over there with false hope. So, it’s tidying time! Whee!

clearly at a loss for decent blog content

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I have a feeling that this full-time studying gig is going to wear me out quickly. I was all proud of myself because I’m already halfway through chapter 4 – I mean, come on! Three and a half chapters in two days? That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? Then I realize that I’m on page 70 out of 450, and I want to go lie down and take a nap. Yeesh.

I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. New doctor. I’m not sick, I just, um… oh hell, let’s leave that topic for some other time, shall we? I’m not good at talking about my personal health issues (particularly girly ones) on the Internet. I mean, I got totally spooked when some freaky eyeglasses fetish group found this picture of me and I got like 5 different emails inviting me to their message board and wanting to know details about the exact prescription for my corrective lenses. And that’s just my eyes, so I’m really not inclined to talk about this other stuff. We’ll file it under the cool and vague mystery that is me. Trust me, if anything life-altering happens, I’ll write about it. Until then, let’s just forget that I brought it up.

Oh, and for the record, I have no idea how the eyeglasses fetish weirdos even found that picture because it’s not in any of my photo albums, I just stuck it up there so I could send my friends and family a link where they could see a picture of my new glasses. It’s a couple of years old, which you can tell by how short my hair was back then (man, that was kind of a cute look, wasn’t it? But such a pain to style, I think I’ll keep my ponytail-able length for now). And I don’t even wear my glasses anymore, even though I should, as it would probably get rid of a lot of my headaches, but they bug me. I don’t like having them touching my face all the time. So there you go.

Moving on: cat news! And another reason why I don’t like being home alone during the day. Cleo, our normally sweet mild-mannered kitty, brought a dead bird into our dining room & started batting it around. She’s not much of a hunter, so I’m guessing that one of the other cats killed it, and she just decided to play with it afterward. (Btw, I need to get a picture of this cat’s feet on here, because they’re awesome. One paw has 6 toes, the other has 7. Kitty has thumbs, I kid you not.) So I screamed (again, can’t control it, it just happens) and chased her out of the house. There was no birdie to save in this scenario like last time, as this one had clearly long since departed this earthly dimension. Normally I make Dave deal with the dead things that the cats bring inside, but it was the middle of the day and he wasn’t going to be home for hours. So I took a deep breath (and I didn’t cry! Go me!), scooped the bird up with some paper towels, put him in a plastic grocery bag and deposited him in the trash outside. I did a little sign of the cross after I put the lid on the garbage can. I’m not sure why, it just seemed like such an unceremonious burial otherwise. Poor little bird. And then I scrubbed my hands with anti-bacterial soap and hot water for a good couple of minutes, because eww, death cooties.

Oh, and the two cats who do hunt on a regular basis (Beaumont & Greta) apparently have tapeworms. If you don’t know what that’s like, just… God, I can’t even describe it without my gag reflex kicking in. You can read about it here if you have a really strong stomach. (Warning: there are photos of poop and animal nether-regions on that site. I’m not kidding.) Anyway, apparently one of the ways they can get it is from eating rodents. Hooray for my little hunters! So, we got some medication from the vet’s office for them, and I get the joy of trying to shove the rather large pills down their tiny little kitty throats, once today and again in 2 weeks. I got Beaumont already today – I found an empty syringe from one of Teenie’s medications and used it to squirt some water in his mouth as soon as I put the pill in, so he sort of had no choice but to swallow it. It seemed to work pretty well, he didn’t even draw blood. Somehow I have a feeling I will not leave the Greta experience quite so unscathed, as she’s a bit more feral than the other cats. I’m already plotting how I’m going to sneak up on her when she’s sleeping. Yeah, I think I need a hobby. Or a job. Whichever.

more boring work stuff

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So I’ll bet you thought I’d have an update on that job I interviewed for last week, right? Well, guess again! I have no news at all, which I’m pretty much assuming means that I don’t have it. First, some background: the Giant Software Company has this rule that contractors can only work there for a year before they’re required to take 100 days off. It’s some loophole so they can’t keep temps forever, and if you really want to understand it, this article explains it better than I can. Ok, here’s the problem: I’ve already been gone 40 days, but that basically means nothing. I still can only work there for another 5 1/2 months (mid-March is my one year anniversary), and then I’m required to take 100 days off. I can’t break it up – 50 days now and 50 days next spring, something like that – it has to be 100 consecutive days in which I don’t work at the Giant Software Company. Which sucks, but that’s what happens when some idiot temps decide to get all uppity and demand benefits, and all they succeed in doing is royally screwing things up for everyone else.

Ok, back to that job that I interviewed for? Apparently the one big strike against me is that I could only work there for 5 1/2 months, rather than a full year. I’m guessing that’s probably the reason why I won’t get the job. Again, I don’t know if I have it or not, I’m just operating under the assumption that I don’t. And like I said before, I really don’t care. Meanwhile, Dave and I have talked it over and I think that since I’m already almost at the halfway point, I’m just going to make this period right now my 100 days off, and then starting in late November or early December, I can take on another contract for a full year. The challenge, of course, is going to be trying to keep my sanity intact for the next 2 months. But since I’ve taken on that new certification, studying should take up a nice big chunk of the next several weeks. So that’s good.

And in less boring, much happier news, I direct you to other people’s blogs – none of whom I have met in real life, but who I am inexplicably joyous for, regardless: Liz got married! Amalah had a baby boy! SJ found out recently that she’s having a boy! Sally got a great haircut, and she has an adorable new kitten! Ok, I think I’m starting to push it, so that’s probably enough. Hope everyone is having a happy Monday.

where is the funny?

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So, I feel like I need to apologize for the fact that my last post was not at all even remotely funny, but hey, I guess that’s just the part of my cool mysteriousness, no? I’m not sure that this will be any funnier, because I’ve been in this very strange dark mood for the past couple of days. I’m frustrated with the job search – or rather, the lack of results from it – and I’m tired of feeling useless because I’m home all day while Dave is at work and I don’t really seem to do anything.* Yesterday I made myself feel slightly better by cleaning, but the house is still a mess, and the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow, so there’s really no point in bothering, is there? Normally, when I feel like this, doing something fun like going shopping for a new outfit or a pair of shoes might make me feel better, but I have this little rule about not spending money on extraneous things when I have no income. Call me kooky.

* Disclaimer: Dave has nothing to do with this mood, and I know that he hates that I feel this way. If anything, the guy is just too damn supportive, because he’s constantly telling me to relax and try to enjoy my time at home and think of it as a “vacation,” and I can’t seem to do that. But really, how sweet is that? It makes me feel even more guilty for spending his paycheck on things we don’t really need. Such as, see below.

So! In an effort to feel less useless and more like I’m taking steps to do something positive for my career, I’ve decided to get yet another certification. I won’t bore everyone with the details because I seriously doubt that most of you care, but this one little thing alone should definitely fatten up my resume quite nicely. Which means, of course, that I now get to go to the bookstore and drop some crazy amount of money on a textbook so I can teach it to myself, because that’s a better option than spending even crazier amounts to take a class for it. (Example: There is a 3-day intensive workshop for this certification, which costs a mere $3000. Holy god. I think I’ll just go buy the $75 book and go at my own pace, thanks anyway.) So yeah, that’s what I’m doing. Wish me luck.

Oh, and about that job that I’m not sure about: I got an email from my recruiter (the guy who set up the interview) with the subject line that said, “good news!” Apparently he wanted to let me know that yes, they’re interested in me, and it’s basically a decision between me and one other person. Um, how is that good news? I mean, yay for me being in the final two, but seriously. That still means there’s a 50% chance that I won’t get it, and really, I think I would’ve been happier not knowing that I was that close and missed it.

In happier news: today is my mom’s birthday. I won’t write a big elaborate shout-out since she doesn’t read this site, but I will say that she’s one of my favorite people on this planet, and I feel sorry for anyone who wasn’t raised by her. (So, basically, the entire world minus me and my siblings.) Yay for mama!

Monday update

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Ok, the interview today? I have absolutely no idea how that went. I went into it with no expectations – I knew the qualifications that they were looking for, and I knew that I fit the description pretty well. But I didn’t really understand what it is that this group actually does (and yes, this is yet another team at the Giant Software Company), and I’m still not sure that I completely get it, even after being interviewed by three different people. So that’s kind of strange. I honestly just don’t know how well I did in the interview process – that big one a couple of weeks ago really shook my confidence, and these people all had poker faces, so I couldn’t tell at all if they liked me or not.

Bottom line: if they offer the job to me? I’ll take it. It’s a 6-month contract, so even if I end up hating it, it’s only temporary. And we could use the extra income. (More importantly: my ego needs the income to feel like a useful & productive member of this household.) But based on what I know of it, I don’t think I’ll hate it. It sounds like something that I would enjoy, and that I could do well. And if they don’t offer it to me? Meh. I don’t really care. Just have to wait and see, I guess.

In other news, after all that panic and chaos, the hurricane didn’t even cause my brother in Houston to lose electricity. Absolutely nuts. And in other, other news: I did nothing all weekend except play video games (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker! Aaaaah! I’m reliving my childhood!) and watch season 1 of “Lost” on DVD. We still have a few episodes left, so don’t give me any spoilers. But man, I am totally loving that show.