Blog Explosion

Wow - talk about being a slacker. Of all the millions of things going on in my life this past month or so, blogging has not been one of them. I feel like I haven't had a moment to catch my breath since I've started my new job. Not that I'm complaining, but I certainly have a lot of catching up to do here. Ready? Here we go.

1. I had my first real bonding opportunity with the women from my Sunday School class during the first weekend of Feb when they invited me on their annual retreat. It was in an almost luxury cabin in the woods. We all spent the weekend relaxing, sharing, getting to know one another better, etc. It was very nice to be able to get away for a while and have some girl talk. I've been starved for girlfriends since leaving college and leaving my friends in Tuscaloosa.

2. Now for the main reason I haven't been able to blog about anything. My mentor at work (the woman I'm filling in for during her extended maternity leave) wound up leaving a couple of days earlier than planned and left me flying solo. That's not completely accurate - I have lots of kind and helpful coworkers, but they have their own mountains of work to do. Seriously though, the woman I'm filling in for is in charge of all local and regional marketing, including coordinating grand openings of new branches, in all regions of all of our states, plus assisting with corporate advertising. That's a ton of responsibility, and I love every minute of it. It's beyond stressful, but I freaking love it.

3. Another even that, under normal circumstances, would have warranted its own post is that my friend Candace got married. On Valentine's Day she married her sweetheart in Knoxville. Yes, Knoxville. We wound up spending about 14 hours in the car, I believe, and we missed watching the beautiful bride walk down the aisle. That was extremely upsetting, but it really didn't seem to bother her. (She's not quite as sentimental and all-around sensitive as I am.) The wedding was nice - small, but nice. I could tell that the mother of the bride had put lots of creativity into the event, and I hope the happy couple loved every minute of it. It's totally surreal to imagine her married.

4. I briefly blogged about this already, but on Feb 16 (President's Day - it's awesome to work for a bank and have a spouse who works for the state), we had our new storage building "installed" (it was built on our property, not delivered) and Z and I built our porch swing frame with an arbor around it. It was cooooooold that morning, and we were out in the backyard pounding raildroad stakes into 4x4s. Talk about sturdy. The next weekend we created a rose garden in our backyard. Along with 16 rose bushes, it contins an iron, decorative hanging plant stand which holds 4 hanging plants, 2 birdfeedsers, and the most gorgeous stained bird bath you've ever seen. Even though the roses are nowhere near blooming yet, our backyard looks so much better! (The product of two people raised in the country and cooped up in dorms and apartments for the past 6 years.)

5. Of course during the last weekend of Feb we had tornadoes and snow like just about everyone else in AL, but Z and I also had a lovely visit to Hoover that weekend to shop for work clothes at the Galleria and meet some family for dinner at the Fish Market Restaurant. Since we live about 2 hours away from just about everyone now, we have to grab those little moments when we can - and it was a very fun evening.

6. On March 2, my beloved Granny (no really - she's the world's greatest Granny) had hip replacement surgery. She had the other hip done about 15 years ago. After that surgery, she developed a blood clot and had to stay in the hospital for weeeeeeeeks. This time, though, everything went very well and she's already been home for several days now.

7. My mom's side of the family is quite musical. Most of us sing, and many of us (but not me) play at least one instrument. I grew up singing in children's choir at church and then went on to audition for and perform in my high school's concert choir. Now, our high school didn't have the best athletics and our football program always sucked, but our marching band and concert choir were at least state-renowned. Anyway, I haven't been part of a choir in a long time. For the past month or two, though, I've noticed that during hymns at church, the choir director is noticing me. Eventually he introduced himself after church one day and said that he could tell I sing (whatever that means - is everyone else not even moving their lips? I don't know.) He originally asked me to join the choir over a month ago, and I really intended to being going to Wed night practice, but for about 4 Wednesdays in a row, I swear, we were either having tornadoes or I got stuck in terrible traffice (my commute is pretty bad now). But last Wed, I finally went to practice, and I really enjoyed it! Yes, it was hard to rush home, rush to get dinner on the table, and rush out the door, but it was lots of fun, and I figure these things will be a lot harder when we have children, so I better live it up now. Anyway, it was a good release.

8. I received the starter for some Amish friendship bread several days ago, and it finally came time to bake it last Sunday night. It was pretty freaking delicious, and instead of giving away any of the starter this time, I kept all 4 portions, which makes two loaves each. I plan on making friends with the neighbors, finally, and letting Z butter up some coworkers. Eventually I'll have to kill the starter, though, because it multiplies and I don't have time to bake tons of bread all the time, even though it is amazing.

9. This past weekend, my great friend and her family hosted their annual spring-time get together - their Daffodil Party. It's an evening in their beautifully landscaped gardens visiting with old friends and celebrating spring's arrival. It's pretty wonderful.

10. We finally bought a lawnmower last week. Sat morning, before we left for the party, Z mowed the lawn for the first time as a homeowner.

11. I stayed home "sick" today. I didn't feel quite so bad as I just didn't feel too good. And I'm freaking exhausted (see #2 for explanation), so I looked at it as a mental health day, necessary for me to remain a good employee. It turns out, I'm even more appreciated than I thought. Even though my manager has told me that he is working with HR to make me a real employee, I was still surprised that he called me this morning after learning that I was home sick. He said that he panicked and had to cancel meetings that I was to head up because I've done such a good job in taking over the responsibilities that he has no idea how to cover for me. He told me how necessary I am and that he called HR and told them to fast track the process! That made me feel pretty great.