Friends...

I had a fantastic afternoon today. After feeding JJ lunch, I put him down for a nap, and left John in charge.

I then went to lunch with two amazing women with whom I don't get to spend nearly enough time. I read someplace that small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, and great minds discuss ideas. These women truly are great.

With recharged batteries, I then set off to visit a friend who is fighting cancer for the second time. Even as she is starting to lose her hair again, she's still one of the most beautiful women I know. It was nice to see her in good spirits.

I also got to see her daughter, another good friend of mine. She is quite pregnant with her second child, and I was able to hook her up with some really good deals on some baby gear from some members of my mom's group. It felt good to see her so excited.

Then, I stopped by my former place of employment and visited with some friends. I must admit that I often miss working there. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't have any regrets about staying home with my son. But they were also my family for quite some time.

Home was my final stop. John had just put JJ in his highchair for a post-nap snack. They were both so happy to see me. I love coming home.

Thought

Snoring is not sexy.

Quiet...

That is the sound of our big home, now empty except for the three of us. All of our family has returned to their own homes now. It's a little sad. But in only a month, we'll once again tidy the place up, prepare way too much food, and try to figure out where everyone will sleep. I can't wait for Christmas!

Exhausted...

In just two days, our home will be filled with family. I've been working all day to get things ready for everybody. I still have a lot of work to do, but they are absolutely worth it. I'm so excited!

Progress

Technology today astounds me. John just got off the telephone with a representative of AN ACTUAL COMPANY in Buffalo, NY. They have so much work going on that they are creating a new position for which they would like John to interview. They will be sending him a webcam tomorrow so that they can interview him "more personally". Of course.

Afraid...

Every once in a great while, I wander through a day in which something that happens serves to renew my faith in the human race. Today was not one of those days. I found myself at the health department this afternoon requesting JJ's official birth certificate for a couple of non-important (for this story) reasons. I filled out the proper form, fished $20 out of my pocket, and produced my driver's license for the clerk beyond the sliding two-way mirror. A few minutes later, she handed me JJ's birth certificate. I looked at it for a moment, and discovered that, although John's birthplace was correctly listed as New York, it listed my place of birth as "**********".

I asked the clerk why my place of birth was listed as "the stars".

She corrected me by explaining that it was officially listed in their records as "Place other than the United States". "Where were you born?" she asked.

"Kansas," I replied laughing, "And last time I checked, it was still part of the United States!" Although I was not rude about it, I thought my sarcasm was pretty evident.

And here is where it got weird...

"Yes," said young clerk, with a reassuring tone of someone who could be trusted, "You're right. It is in the United States."

Suddenly, I was very afraid. Is that where we are now? Did she really believe that I thought Kansas could have been nullified as a state? Or worse yet, does she really deal with enough people who might actually think that Kansas, state found smack in the center of the US, might not be part of our country, that she felt she had to explain?

I'm still a little shaken.

Progress

John received a strange call this afternoon. It was from the head of AN ACTUAL COMPANY, and by the time the call ended, John had been offered a job. (See, I told you so.) Put a hold on the happy dance though. It appears that this company is in need of a highly skilled person of John's caliber... part time. The strangest part is that, given the hourly wage they have offered, he could make, in 24 hours a week, almost as much as he made putting in 40 hours at his last job. The most unfortunate part is that there are no benefits with part time employment. He asked about the possibility of this job becoming full time in the near future, and the gentleman offered to create a full time position immediately... for less money, more driving, benefits, and a company car. Talk about taking the good with the bad!

I guess we have a lot to think about.

Thought

I just had a big plate of french fries for dinner. Being an adult rocks!

Definition

Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to Hell in such a manner that he anticipates the trip.

Correction...

I have been thinking about my post last night, and I may have reacted a little harshly. I was completely shocked that this town is so small that at least a full minute of our televised news was dedicated to two children and their underwear. How sad that there was nothing more newsworthy to report!

But I have come to a realization. This small town does not have enough murder, rape, and pillaging to fill a half-hour newscast, so they had to resort to a silly little fluff piece to complete their time. That is a good thing after all. The sad thing, as it turns out, is all of the multi-millionaire CEOs, doctors and scientists doing life-saving research who didn't have the luxury of wedgie-proof underwear when they were eight.

Evolution...

Two eight year-old boys invented wedgie-proof underwear. And it made the nightly news in my town - complete with video footage.

Progress

John received two interesting telephone calls today.

The first was from a recruiter asking if he was interested in relocating. (Duh!) He is working for a company looking to fill a position in Michigan. Of course, he later called back and asked John if he had a degree in Engineering. He hung up rather quickly after the no, so we'll see how that pans out.

The second call was from a recruiter in Dallas, Texas. Apparently, somewhere in Maryland (of all places), a shopping mall is being erected, and they need somebody to manage the... um... erection? (Sorry, Mom!)

Progress

Remember the interview with the actual comapny a couple of weeks ago? We sure do! The head of HR just called and told John that he has made it through the first two stages of the hiring process. Unfortunately, things are moving rather slowly because the company has so much work to do that they are having trouble keeping up. What a coincidence - that's just the type of problem John can help them with!

Happy Birthday!

My baby JJ is 1 year old today!

Tangent

I just noticed that the ceiling in our hallway is painted the same color as the walls. The ceiling throughout the remainder of the house is white. This observation would probably fall under the category of unremarkable if we hadn't been living in this house for over three years - and repainted more than half of it. Observant is (obviously) not my middle name.