Brandon's Puppy

I am employed!!

I was called back by the place I interviewed with yesterday around 10:30 this morning, to come in at noon today for "a few more questions". One of those questions was, "would you like to work for us?". YAY!!

Because there is a staff meeting, and the billing person goes in on Thursdays (she's currently outsourced, but that will change because of my hiring), they wanted me to go in tomorrow, which of course I am doing. I'm then taking Friday "off" to take care of a few things I needed to take care of this week, and then my first official week starts next Monday.

I'm not providing specifics about the company and its location, but here's what you need to know about the most important points: The place is great...quite a different working environment than my previous employer. It's also about 10 miles away, the same distance as the Metrorail station I used to park at to go to my previous job. Much better than the 25-mile commute (each way) I used to drive!

My job entails all sorts of things, including payroll, billing for patient services,administrative assistant stuff for my boss, and some HR stuff as well. My hourly rate is pretty much the same as my previous salary, but I don't have to pay for parking, and I'm saving on gas and tolls. Since my working hours are 9am-6pm, I pulled Brandon out of before school care, and because hubby gets out of work at 3pm, I'm paying less for after school care. The way I figure, it's actually a pay increase!

Probation is 90 days, and benefits become effective after 6 months. No big deal, because I can get the boys on hubby's insurance or sign them up for the state insurance for kids. I'm not worried about coverage for me for a while, since I did all my annual check-ups last month.

To be honest, I didn't even "feel" unemployed, since I've not yet received my last check from my previous employer. Believe me, I'm very grateful for this rather smooth transition, and for all of you and your prayers, happy thoughts, and wishful thinking! Positive thinking and geniune good vibes are very powerful things!

Yesterday

My interview went very well, I think. She was impressed by my background, and called my references soon as I left. They need someone ASAP, and she knows I'm available and can start immediately. I liked the place a lot. It has a great vibe, and I would indirectly be helping people, which is always a nice plus.
I won't say more so as to not jinx it. Keep those good thoughts coming, please!

Weird

-The 2-year-old prefers eating my Special K to the sugary stuff his brother requests for breakfast.

- Why is it that I get really hot in my living room, even though our light bulbs are those energy saver ones that don't actually get hot. Hubby has to put a blanket over himself because I blast the A/C whenever we turn on those lights. I'm only 32...am I pre-menopausal already?!

- When you're home the day flies by, but when you're sitting in an office all day it just creeps along. Why is that? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

We've got it covered!

Last night, I was flipping through the latest issue of the parenting magazine I subscribe to (since, you know, I have tons of time for leisure reading now), and read a great article in there about insurance coverage policies that aren't necessary. Kids' life insurance leads the list as one of the non-essential policies, and I completely agree. It's a bit backwards, don't you think, if the purpose of life insurance is to provide for those who depend on you and your income? The article suggests that rather than paying a premium for this kind of policy, simply put money in a savings account or college fund for your child.
Policies considered crucial are health insurance, homeowner's or renter's insurance, car insurance, life insurance and disability insurance. I feel good knowing we have three out of those five. Maybe I'll make enough money with my fabulous new job that we can afford to have five out of five.

The power of positive thinking!

So, a few minutes after posting the post previous to this one? The phone rang, I have a job interview tomorrow at 1pm! I'll post more about it, and the company, after it happens. In the meantime, please send good vibes. The physical location is ideal, and as far as I can tell from the person I spoke to and their website, the work ambience is ideal too.

The secret's out!

Remember this? I can talk about it now! Today is hubby's first day at his new job. He's now working at a high-end car dealership. No, he's not selling Ferrari parts. In fact, he's not selling anything! One of the reasons he loved this opportunity is because it has nothing to do with selling.
He's on the security team for the entire motor group, which includes four dealerships. He just called me, and he's thrilled! He has a lot of responsibility, which he is embracing. There's a lot of information he needs to cover today, so already there is overtime. His normal working hours are great, and he'll be home early enough that we can pull Brandon out of the after school care program and save that money!
I'm so excited for him! Now it's time for me to find my fabulous new job! Come on, phone, ring!!

Feeling determined

So now that I have a *bit* more free time, I decided to do some tweaking to this blog. Nothing most of you would really notice, just some behind-the-scenes stuff with the blogroll. I'm no longer using the blog roll hosting company I was using. Since I'm broke, I can't afford to pay them for ad-free service. The free service they offer requires that banner ads appear at the top of the page when one of the links is clicked on (if you've browsed through my blogroll recently, you've noticed this), and whenever I went through my blogroll those ads slowed down my computer. So, I re-vamped my blogroll with HTML coding. Not a big feat for you coding experts, but it is for me! I'm very proud of myself. I feel like I can take on anything today. So now I'm willing the phone to ring. I'm on fire, and I'll ace whatever interview comes my way!

Woof woof!

So my little sister and I are doggie-sitting my uncle's dog over the weekend. At first I wasn't sure if we would be in charge of one doggie or two, or if we would be keeping them at my house or just stopping by their house. I was a bit apprehensive about the former; I didn't want them confusing my leather couches for pet beds or finding little "presents" throughout the house for me to pick up. Turns out that Duke went away for the weekend with his mommy and daddy, so we'll just be passing by to feed and let out Babalu. And enjoying the additional benefit of perhaps lounging by the pool for an hour or three. Yeah, option two is definitely the better one!

Blurry vision

I'm wiping away tears right now, but they are not of pain and frustration. They are smiling, happy tears. Tears of joy and gratefulness.
I was visiting MBFCF, and that LinkWithin feature Marti has lead me to this post (which links to this post) and this post. In roughly three weeks, Kikita and I will be hanging out at Cuba Nostalgia, and I can hardly contain myself!
It is said that friends are the relatives you make for yourself. How lucky am I to count Marti and her clan, and the rest of my Babalu family, as both?!

Day 3

So today marks the third day of my involuntary vacation. On Monday, I had breakfast with my cousin and his girlfriend, who were in town from North Carolina. I pretty much napped all day after that. I have a cold, a parting gift from my former supervisor. She was sick for like two weeks, so I knew I'd get it eventually. But I feel relatively well considering, must be all that rest I'm able to get.

Hubby got some sort of stomach bug on Monday, so he called in sick yesterday. He wasn't 100%, but well enough to go with me to take Matty to the doctor, who has a bunch of little bites all over his body. Doctor says they are bug bites, he has sensitive skin just like his mommy. Then we went to Target, where I got Brandon this jacket for $4.98! Quite a bargain, right? I couldn't not take it, since a certain 6-year-old has lost all the jackets that fit him. It's a size bigger than what he's wearing now, so it will fit him for a while.

I'm not sure what I'll be up to today. There's stuff around the house I need to do, but I'd rather catch up on what's on the DVR. Let's see if the mood strikes and I do something productive later.

Silly boys!

Tightening the purse strings even more

As I am now unemployed, I'm being more frugal than usual. We have five birthday parties between this weekend and the end of the month. At first, I was going to get everyone gift cards, but that would mean spending at least $20 on each one for it to be a decent gift. Yeah, I wasn't really up for that even with a job. So I'm going to get creative. Two of the parties are 1st birthday parties for my friends' babies, so I might do something crafty, like a framed scrapbook page made by yours truly to mark the ocassion. Cute, right? Yeah, I just thought of that. Still brainstorming on the other three though.

Relieved

Okay, so that's not normally what someone says when they are fired, but I definitely am relieved. I've been totally stressed at work since last October because, for some reason, my (former!) supervisor had it out for me. It took her a while, but she finally got me fired. My last day was yesterday. I am glad, I no longer wanted to step foot in there. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, and her negative, black aura was putting a damper on my usually bright disposition. In fact, for the last two weeks my blood pressure was way too high, and I even suffered from palpitations. My doctor put me a on a beta blocker a couple of days ago for a trial period, and he'll re-evaluate me in 3 months.
I will be job hunting, but I will be taking the next week to relax, get some things organized around the house, and meet with my lawyer in regards to finding a solution to our financial situation. Clearly we will be a bit strained for the moment, but I have high hopes that something bigger and better is on the horizon. As for the former supervisor? I wish her no ill will, karma will give her what she deserves.

Meant to be

Hubby stumbled upon an opportunity recently that is perfect for him and a particular goal he wished to pursue in the near future. Thinking that we would have to pay for vocational school classes and courses, with money we don't have now, is one of the reasons why he couldn't pursue the goal at this time. It just so happens that there was another way to reach this goal, without taking courses, and that way pretty much fell onto his lap last week. Things happen when you least expect it, and at just the right time. I'll explain in greater detail when things are more official, but for now I'll say this is good. Very, very good.

Run-By Fruiting

Even though I'm a bit upset that someone, between yesterday and this morning, stole my ripe Papaya fruit before we could get it off the tree, I am reminded of one of my favorite lines in Mrs. Doubtfire:

In other garden news, our little seedlings are doing rather well. I'm getting more and more excited at the prospect of growing our own fruits and vegetables.

Easter Sunday

How was your day? We hosted our annual Easter egg hunt, which was very close to cancellation as Brandon was plagued by a stomach bug that had him lethargic all day yesterday. He had been looking forward to his egg hunt all week, and cancelling would have broken his heart. We told him we wouldnt' cancel, but warned him to stay away from the chocolate until we knew his tummy was better. As a precaution we've had him on a "B.R.A.T" diet all day, and he seems to be a lot better.
In spite of great sales this year, the boys' baskets were a bit scarce this year, thanks to our not-so-great financial standing, but we had a great time with family and friends, and that's what's important.
Below are just a few shots of our afternoon. Hope you had a lovely day!

Come on!! Let us go already!

I got eggs!

Awesome pic of the boys together!

The kids and their loot.

Are there meetings for this?

So, I’m re-reading Twilight (don’t judge me). I bought the box set at my favorite wholesaler yesterday. I had a rewards check from my credit card and my cost was only $9.03. I just got to the part where Bella is lost in Port Angeles, and she remembers that she left her self defense products at home, under her bed in her suitcase. A bit unfortunate since she's being followed by four shady guys, and that pepper spray would sure come in handy right about now...
Anyway, I'm reading it quite slowly this time, taking mental notes of the differences between the book and the movie. I know, I need help. But it could be worse, I could have an imaginary best friend like someone I know...

Error - UPDATE

Yes, I know there's something wrong with my comments. No, I don't know how to fix it. Sorry, but it's going to take a couple of days before my uncle can take a look and hopefully figure it out. In the meantime, you can email me at dufau1(at)bellsouth(dot)net, or hit me up on facebook.

UPDATE: Comments are working again (Thanks Val!). Go on, say something!

How does our garden grow?

Last Sunday, hubby planted four more of those tiny little pots with various seeds: another one with tomato, two with strawberry seeds, and one with sweet peppers. When we got home from work yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised to see that both of the tomato pots have sprouted (two pots on the left).

And remember that papaya plant I mentioned? She's much bigger than the 7 feet I estimated.

See how she's breaking the fence?

We can't move her, even if she were smaller, because she's rooted directly under the fence. But maybe we can grow another tree inside the yard from this branch:

Not sure if that's even possible though. I'll have to consult with my local gardening expert, aka my mom, to see if it can be done. But in the meantime, we're keeping an eye on these babies before they fall.

I can't wait to make batido de fruta bomba from my very own tree!