Our Poor Little Baby!!!

On our way out the door before the Old Guard Ball on Friday, Emma took her first horrible fall. She falls constantly, usually whines a bit, and gets over it pretty quickly. This time it was different. She started SCREAMING. We all kind of thought she was just being a grump, and my mom put her in her high chair. She kept screaming, and all of a sudden blood came pooling out of her mouth. Of course, I saw this, started freaking out and ran over to her. Then all three of us (me, my mom, and Dru) were all running around the kitchen to get a towel to clean her up, my mom was grabbing her from the high chair, and neither Dru or I could even hold her because we were all dolled up for the ball. Great. She's screaming, we'll all dressed up and can't console her the way we would like. She got a really bad cut on the inside of her mouth, and it kept bleeding for about 10 minutes. We eventually got her to calm down, and the blood stopped coming down so fast. It was probably one of the scariest things I've ever seen. You only ever see blood pooling out of someone's mouth like that in the movies, and the character is generally dying. Not a good thought for a parent to be thinking, I must say. I thought about her ALL evening, and we called my mom non stop to make sure she was okay. At least we did eventually make it to the ball, but my poor little baby wouldn't drink her bottle that night from the pain. She is totally fine now, and I don't think she even remembers, let alone has anymore pain. Sheesh. Being a parent is one giant heart attack. Here's a picture of the aftermath on her shirt after she calmed down.

The Old Guard Ball

I thought I would come post some pictures from the Old Guard Ball, which we attended on Friday, August 22nd, 2008. There's not much of a story to tell for the night. It was pretty straight forward. Go, eat, chat, take pictures, leave, drink. ;)

Okay, about that new job.

I posted a while back about getting a new job at Silverado. I got offered another job as a desk clerk, which I also mentioned. I did take that job after all. I knew it would pay more, but now that I got the job, I was told I'd be making MUCH more than the other job. $2.50 more an hour than Silverado, plus I use NO gas getting there. I'm THRILLED. So far I have had one training session and 2 regular shifts. I'll be working from 3-11p on Saturdays and Sundays, plus a few random evening shifts here and there from 6-11p whenever someone needs me to and when I can. I'm so happy about this job! It's an intimidating position to have because people come to me with questions that I have no idea how to answer, but I suppose those things come in time. My first request from a tenant was on my first shift alone. He came down and said he had dropped some expensive equipment down the trash chute by accident, and wanted me to get him in the trash room. My first thought was "do I even have a key to that?!" So I told him I could call the general manager to find out how to get in there, and he rolled his eyes and gave me an attitude about having to call her. So, I called the engineer on call instead. Turns out that was what I was supposed to do anyway. The engineer on call that day is the one that hates being called for anything, he's kind of a jerk sometimes. But, he came and helped this guy out. Yay for the end of that!

Right after that happened, a lady came to the door and knocked. I pointed at our entrance system box to gesture to her that she needed to use that to get in. She looked at it for a moment, got angry, and started pounding on the door. Great, I thought, a crazy lady wants in. I buzzed her in, and she poked her head in the door. She said "Why you no let people in when knock?!" (yes, just like that). I told her that the building is secure, and that's how we keep our tenants safe, and that it's my job to do what I did. She rolled her eyes, and said "all I want is soda! do you have a soda machine?" I told her yes we do, but it is for tenants only. are you a tenant here?" she said "only for people who live here?!" and then she started SCREAMING at me in some (what I believe to be) African language (sounded like clicking). She turned and left. Phew! What a day that was, and of course that all happened within 30 minutes of being left by myself for my first shift. That's all that really happened that weekend that I couldn't handle though. Sheesh, this job is crazy. I still love that I took the job though!

It's finally over!

That's right, I finally finished my computer class! That was the longest 6 weeks of my life. Never again do I have to take a computer class - well, at least not for my associates. I will definitely be looking over my class list and making sure I'm really sure of what I decided to take during a summer semester. So much for this being an "easy A!" The grades are up on Blackboard, and my weighted total is an 83.06%. I'm pretty satisfied with that grade, considering I was expecting a C. I did get a 92% on my final exam, which definitely helped my grade. Thank goodness the exam was a home test - I had my notes and my book in my lap ready for things I couldn't remember. Now it's time for me to let all unneeded info out of my brain to get ready for next semester.

I'll be taking College Composition II and Intro to Cultural Geography; People & the Land next semester. They are only one day a week each. Luckily this new job I have (oh, did I talk about that here yet?!) allows me to get a little bit of reading and studying in during slow times. Woooo!

Continued from last post

This is a completion of my last post. I wasn't able to post more than 5 pictures. I want to add the rest of the pictures, and also caption them here. The first few pictures of the last post are pretty self explanatory.
1. Dining room and front entry
2. Emma playing by the railing that I got my head stuck in when I was 4 years old. Thank goodness for EMTs!
3.Emma crawling in the living room
4. The kitchen that needs a little TLC
5. The corner of the floor by the front door that gave me a nice black eye when I was 5. A few times, according to my sister.

Pictures in this post:
6. Basement in progress
7. 4th bedroom, in the basement
8. Another better view of the basement
9. My childhood bedroom - tiny little thing!

My childhood home, revamped

Let me start by saying, I never should have gone! My mom works for a property management company. She was put in charge of flipping (sort of, no majors changes) one of the homes that her company owns. This house happens to be the house that I lived in as a child, and is about 5 or 6 houses down from our current house. My mom's office is also right across the street from our house, and she called me to say she was on her way to the old house to do a walkthrough of the progress, and asked me if I wanted to come along to see how the house is looking. How could I pass that up? I haven't been inside that house in nearly 13 years. Of all of my homes (and that's a LOT of homes) that is the only one that ever felt like "home." You know, "home is where the heart is." Other than there, I've never spent more than 2 years in a house. I spent 8 years in that home, and it was when my entire family was still "in tact," I guess you could say. I have so many wonderful memories in that house. So, we went in to take a look. I was instantly taking a trip down memory lane, and I decided to ask my mom when she thought they would be finished with the work. She told me it should be done in the next month and a half. Guess what that means? The house will be finished and ready to be rented out EXACTLY at the time our current lease will expire. Had she told me this project would take a few more months, the thought of moving in there would never have occurred to me, since I would have just brushed it off knowing it wasn't possible. Now that it's a possibility, I found myself actually sitting down making a list of pros and cons for moving and not moving. What did I find? The pros FAR outway the cons! Of course, my husband is totally NOT thrilled with the idea of moving, mainly because it's a pain in the ass. He also said he really likes the house that we are in. What he doesn't understand is that he isn't the one that has to deal with the logistics of this place. He isn't the one carrying laundry up 4 flights of stairs, or the one dealing with cleaning it's every nook and cranny. He also isn't the one that really has to suffer with cramming the play room/tv room/ and computer room all into one, in what is supposed to be our dining room - he's at work all day. Of course he loves this house, because what he uses it for is sleeping, eating, and playing on the computer. What would he care? My old house has a much better layout for the most part, and it's a lot more child friendly than this stair filled death trap we currently live in. There's also an extra room that could be turned completely into a play room for Emma, outside of our living space. There are cons though - I would have to give up my big kitchen, and we would have yard work that we don't have now. I'm willing to give that up. A major factor here is that I would LOVE to give my daughter the opportunity to live a short few years of her life in my childhood home. How often can a military family give that gift to their child?

I feel like this may be a foolish and impulsive thing to consider, but I think it might just happen. Dru said "I'll move, but I'll hold Emma while you move everything. I'm not dealing with moving again." As if he actually helped do ANYTHING last time. We had movers, and he didn't participate in packing or unpacking a SINGLE thing. That ass. Let me live my dream for my kid, gosh!

After all that talk...

about getting the job at Silverado, I've decided to take a different job. And yes, AFTER I spent all that money on clothing for Silverado, and have since lost the tags and receipts. It's a good thing I like the stuff I bought, so it isn't a complete waste. The day before I was to begin training for Silverado, I was offered another job. This job is for a desk clerk at my old apartment building. Let's weigh the pro's and con's here.
SILVERADO:
Pros - it's not a desk job
it wouldn't be nearly as boring
Cons - 30 minute drive to work
30 minutes drive HOME from work
gas prices, gas prices, gas prices!
It pays $1 less per hour
Training would have taken a long time to complete
DESK JOB:
Pros - 2 minute walk from my house
I already know the building and some of the people since I lived in the building for a few years
no gas used at all to get to and from work!
It pays $1 more per hour than Silverado
Training will only take one total shift before I'm on my own
My daughter can visit me periodically while on walks with grandma ;)
I'll be able to work on my homework during slow periods.
Cons - It's a desk job and will probably be a little boring at times. That's it.

Seems like a no-brainer right? Well, that's how I made the decision to call Silverado and appologize for such short notice on not being able to work for them. Too bad, so sad. At least it's not a place I ever go to eat, so I don't have to worry about getty snooty looks for being the girl that wasted everyone's time.

School Girl

Ah, college, how I love thee... or, not.
I'm not sure what possessed me to take a computer class during the summer semester, since I'm one of the most computer illiterate people alive. I can do the basics, using social utilities, and forums. Other than that, I'm no good. I probably good have handled the workload for this class just fine had I taken it during a regular semester time (16 weeks, I think) instead of a 6 week condensed class. I really thought it would be an "easy A." Boy was I wrong. It's not so much that the class is hard, sure, it's hard to understand for me at times, it's just the sheer workload that must be completed on my own time. I have no idea how people with full time jobs are getting this stuff done! I'm still behind, but luckily the teacher seems to be pretty relaxed about it, as long as you get it up fairly soon after it is due. I have a bunch of catching up to do between now and next Monday, the next class session. Luckily that's plenty of time. I have two more in class sessions left, plus the final exam which is taken at home the following Monday. I'm so thrilled this will be over with soon. Next semester I'll be taking English; College Composition II, and Intro to Cultural Geography, People & the Land. Those classes are only one day a week each, and I'm sure will be lots of work as well, but at least I have an entire "real" semester to do the work! I never thought I'd be wishing for a longer class. I must be growing up.

Emma walking!

Shopping without Emma!

For the new job at Silverado I had to go buy some new jeans, shoes and a belt. They specifically wanted me to have dark indigo wash jeans, all black "athletic" shoes, and a black leather belt with a silver buckle. Sounds pretty easy right? Not so much. It took me about 2 and a half hours to find exactly what I needed. I can't even imagine what it would have been like had I taken Emma with me. She's generally pretty good in malls, but only for about an hour before she wants out of that stroller. Not having to fit the stroller into dressing rooms was fabulous as well. I first looked in New York & Company for some jeans. The prices seemed lower than normal so I gave a couple pairs a try. Apparently they like to run small on their sizes. I tried on a size 6 short, which is my normal size just about everywhere. I'm even a 4 in some places. These jeans "fit," in the sense that I got them all the way up, and could button and zip them, but not without sucking in my gut to the point of breathlessness. Once I had them completely up, I let my gut out, and by golly was that an awful sight! I'm talking one GIANT roll hanging over the edge of the pants. It was incredibly uncomfortable. On to the next store I went! I found myself in Forever 21, feeling rather out of place. I'm not the clubbing type, nor do I really have the body for the clothing- thanks Emma! Much to my surprise I found a pair of jeans that fit pretty well in the correct wash. They are a bit too long but fold nicely under. They were only $12.50 so I bought two pairs. That was a relief. I felt like I was getting somewhere. With jeans out of the way, I was in search for shoes and a belt. I saw Lady Foot Locker and thought I'd give it a shot since it was right there. Sketchers was right next door, and I find myself wishing I had gone there first because their prices are probably better. Oh well. I bought a pair of entirely black Chuck Taylors for $44.99. Hey, they're technically "athletic," right? I won't return them no matter what my new empoyers say. That's the best I could find for what I could afford. I hate that I have to buy all these things before I'm getting paid. I understand *why* but I still wish I didn't have to. My credit card didn't appreciate it. With shoes taken care of, I remembered my mom telling me that New York & Company was having a belt sale. As much as I didn't want to go back to the store that made me feel like I'd gone up 2 sizes without realizing it, I went back. I grabbed the first belt I saw that matched the criteria, and it also happened to be the least expensive of the bunch, coming in at $16.95 before the 30% off. I grabbed it and got the heck out of the mall - well, after I stopped at Auntie Anne's, of course! When I checked my receits at home, I noticed they charged me $19.95 before the 30% off, which made me a little mad, but it's not worth going back because the mall is a good 25 minute drive from here.

I tried on my little ensamble when I arrived home, and it all works pretty well together. Silverado will be supplying me with a white button down shirt (which must be pressed and cleaned before each shift - professionally!) as well as an ugly south western style mini vest. Whoopdeedoo. I'll look like a fool, but I'm getting $10/hr for it, so what gives.

A fresh start

Emma has been observing as I attempt to get some things organized in our "play room," which triples as the computer and main TV room. It's technically our dining room, but it's been converted to this space because it's conveniently by the stairs to go up to the bedrooms, and it's also directly off the kitchen. Our dining room table fits nicely in our kitchen, so we basically gained a room. It is jammed packed full of stuff. Two computer desks, two desktop computers, a giant file cabinet which holds our giant printer, a big comfy chair, a cedar chest holding our TV, a toy shelf, and book shelf, you name it, it's in here. Along with the big furniture in the tiny room, this room is the "catch-all" for everything that comes into this house. I am terrible about finding a home for things, as well as putting things away that have homes. I think that only things in this room that actually have a place are all of Emma's toys. The grown up stuff took a back seat in here. The drawers are packed full of who-knows-what, with no order what-so-ever. So far I've organized and tossed everything from one side of the room. Emma got antsy though and would no longer happily stay in her exersaucer, so here I am wasting some time before moving on to the next desk. It shouldn't take too long, considering I'm pretty sure most of it is garbage :). That's my update for today. After all of this, I am taking it easy and making easy peasy pasta tonight!

An exciting time!

Emma is finally trying to learn how to walk! She's been standing well on her own for weeks, but she is now feeling confident enough to attempt a few steps at a time on her own. Generally I have to bribe her to take steps. I'll tempt her with a fancy toy and she'll either take 3 to 4 steps to retrieve it, or "cheat", as I call it, and crawl over to get the toy. It all depends on her mood I suppose. She would much rather try on her own than do with help now, though. Having that little lion walker has jump started her into trying. We're very excited about this, but I'm a little scared now. What to do with a little walking child... ? ... Goodness, we have a toddler.

Today's the day...

As of today, I have now become not only a full time mother and part time student, but I added a job into the mix. I got a hostessing job at a restaraunt called "Silverado" in Annendale. I've been itching to work, at least a little bit, for some time now. I worked from the time I was 14 to the time I found out I was pregnant. A part of me seems to really need to have that kind of commitment. Although I'll only be working 2 days a week, this will be my second job - technically speaking. I've been working at my church as the sole nursery caregiver for a few months. I decided to keep that job since I've been working really hard to revamp the nursery for the kids. It desperately needs cleaning, sorting, and tossing. I really want to make it a place that all kids feel free to play, and where parents can feel safe leaving their children. I, for one, never wanted to put Emma down to play in there. The place hasn't been really cleaned in a long long time, and there are many toys in there not fit for children with a tendancy to eat everything they see. It's not the type of place our church needs. With that said, I plan to continue working there for the little cash that provides, and add this new job on top of it. The money is really the issue. While we have plenty of cash to survive somewhat comfortably, I have felt that we need more money going into savings for things such as vacations, Christmas shopping, and unexpected expenses. I am hoping to feel more comfortable with our financial situation with that few extra bucks every few weeks.