For so long, I hated Corporate America. I always loved my co-workers, but otherwise it seems like each job always had some awful aspect that made it almost unbearable. Either a bad boss, horrible executives, poor management and admininstration, stressful work, low pay & benefits… you get the idea. For so long I prayed for a better job. And many seemingly ideal opportunities narrowly missed my grasp, usually when I was most desperate. It was torturous! But once I finally gave up, this job landed in my lap.

I have to say – I know now why God took so long to answer my prayer. A) This job had to become available; and B) He wanted me to really appreciate it once I got it. What a blessing! Here are the top 10 things I love about this job:

10) Flex time

9) Federal holidays (hello, Veterans’ Day!)

8 ) Bank benefits (generous insurance, retirement, paid maternity leave, even paid in vetro for those who need it!)

7) I have always loved to give my co-workers holiday treats (like the Easter bouquets here), and now that my local group is smaller, I can still do them despite having a rather high-needs baby. Plus they can now be more elaborate without breaking the bank.

6) My boss. Cindy actually wants me to succeed, unlike some of my previous bosses. She has many strengths that I can learn from – she’s a strong woman, very articulate, assertive, quick, hard-working, and savvy. Yet she is also utterly kind, caring, and understands that work-life balance. Like when my cat died shortly after I started the job last fall, she told me to take the rest of the day off. She has even offered to babysit so Brad and I can go out for dinner!

5) I love what I do. I’ve gotten to learn an interesting new industry, develop new skills, feel what it’s like to work in the tallest building in Dallas, learn to work in a “virtual company” where everyone is located literally across the globe (lots of video & web conferences and IM’ing)… it’s been a fun adventure so far.

4) My co-workers love what I do. I make their lives easier, and they show their appreciation for my help.

3) Everyone I’ve met so far is extremely professional, articulate, helpful, hard-working and kind. They celebrate life events here. In my first week, I noticed a stack of “Happy Retirement” napkins in the break room. What company even has any employees retire, say nothing about celebrating the event? And even though I’d only been here a few months when I had Levi, my co-workers gave me generous baby gifts without insinuating a contractual obligation to enthusiastically return to work 6 weeks later. Our insurance company even sent us a baby basket!

2) My pay is great, and in my first 8 months I’ve already been given a bonus, a raise, and “Spirit Points” so I can buy a digital camera from the company catalog.

1) Wardrobe of PJ’s: $0. Commute: $0. Getting to work from home: priceless.

Can you believe it? What a dream job!!!

Tonight some of the old VarTec girls and I took Libby to Spaghetti Warehouse to celebrate her, ahem, 25th birthday. She really had a lot of fun. This is my friend whom many of you prayed for a couple of years ago when she had a severe stroke (actually, three strokes in a row). As you can see, she is doing great! She is not letting that stuff slow her down.

This was my first time to go out with the girls since Levi’s birth. It was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone. I made Libby a photo album for her birthday gift, so being reminded of all those fun memories made me really crave some good girl time.

I had planned to take the little guy along, but that was just not in the cards. He stayed home, screaming for the majority of the night, with his poor dad. Z-Dub’s birthday is in a few weeks, so maybe they can meet him then when he’s in a better mood.

Libs, here’s to you! Go Louise! It’s your birthday! Go Louise! It’s your birthday! With Love, Thelma (inside joke)

It happened again today. A salesman (who looked about our age, by the way!) came to our house, and when Brad opened the door, the first thing the guy asked was if our mom or dad were home. What the heck? This has been happening to us ever since we moved in almost 6 years ago. We’ve stopped keeping count, but I would put it up near 10-15 times total so far. We might look young for our age (especially Brad), but in our teens? Come on! I must say though – I guess it’s a good problem to have.

Obviously Brad is not alone in his suspicion of squirrels. While trying to research what our little squirrel neighbor is saying when he swishes his tail and “chit-chit-chits” at our pets, I ran across what may be the funniest site I’ve ever seen. It happens to be devoted to the organized efforts on the part of the squirrel race to dominate the world. I especially liked the page about whether there are squirrels in heaven.

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/page1.html

Some of you who read our Christmas newsletter may remember the anecdote about Brad’s glee when the old squirrel kicked the bucket on our front sidewalk last fall. For those who missed it, here it is:

“It was Friday [October] 13^th, which developed into an ominous day indeed. In addition to the loss of [our cat] Bob, we also experienced the unusual passing of Brad’s arch-nemesis, the squirrel that lived in the trees outside our kitchen. Brad, who has had an aversion to what he calls ‘rats with fluffy tails’ ever since a particularly traumatizing incident during his childhood (long story), insists that the little rodent was taunting and glaring at us from outside the windows, conjecturing various methods to murder us in our sleep. Alas, the little old guy crawled into the middle of our front sidewalk and gave up the ghost just a few hours after Bob was moved to her final resting place. So he succeeded in exacting his final revenge by leaving his carcass on our sidewalk for disposal.”

Anyway, we think the old squirrel bequeathed his “mansion” to his offspring, who quickly moved in, did some minor remodeling to the nest, and procreated. So now there’s a whole family of squirrels living in the trees near our kitchen window.

The other day, Brad heard some commotion coming from our media room. Upon further investigation, it appears that one of the baby squirrels jumped onto the outside window ledge while Sushi (our cat) was on the inside ledge. They were separated by only a few inches and a thin pane of glass. The squirrel was fluttering his tail, making little clicking sounds, scraping the window with his hands, running side to side, etc. We aren’t sure what he was doing, but man, it sure drove Sushi nuts. The blinds and curtains were almost obliterated by Sushi’s attempt to break through the window to say “hello” to his little friend.

Today, Brad was in the kitchen when he heard banging on the kitchen window. He opened the blinds to see that the banging was actually coming from the same little squirrel again, who was now sitting on the window ledge, as though asking to see Sushi! It’s like “TV for squirrels” – he bangs on the window, and then he can watch the entertainment of all kinds of commotion coming from the animals inside.

We’re still not sure what he’s doing. He could think Sushi is his mom for all we know. Or maybe he just values the entertainment. He might be taunting Sushi, who’s a prisoner of his own home, by saying, “Ha Ha – you’re inside and I’m outside,” or “Mmm.. I’m a delectable squirrel with big fluffy tail. Don’t you just want to eat me?” But I must concede – the thought has crossed my mind that maybe Brad’s theory isn’t so ludicrous after all – maybe the squirrels really ARE hexing us. After all, how odd that this would all occur around the next Friday the 13th.

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