Thursday, February 24, 2011
Bon Voyage
Tomorrow morning we're off to the airport for 9 glorious days on a Mexican cruise. Since the cruise wasn't very expensive, we splurged on a balcony cabin. We are both so excited to go on such a long (to us!) vacation! Pictures and updates when we return.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Day of mushiness
Most people celebrate Valentine's Day in some way. We usually celebrate February 12th instead, because that was our first date. This year was our 5th anniversary. We both didn't believe it when we realized it was 5 years already! 5 years since a cute, funny, charming guy met me at Powell's (our huge local bookstore), and walked me to a unique totally vegetarian Chinese restaurant. Apparently I passed the test and warranted more time, so from there we walked to a fun arcade that has all old school video games. He got points (cool and geek) for setting the high score on the Galaga machine. We capped off the day with a walk to a local cupcake shop where he bought me a cupcake and we sat on the sidewalk and ate them. All told, I think it was about 6 hours together!
I was totally smitten, but hesitant since I was still getting my feet wet in the dating world after ending a 4 year relationship. The real test was Valentine's Day, a mere 2 days after our first date. I sucked it up and emailed him to see if he wanted to do something - but no pressure! He was up for it and took me to a non-traditional V-day restaurant that served Korean food. It was certainly new to me, but he was happy to show the way and he showed up with a sweet little box of chocolates for me.
A lot has happened in 5 years - I moved to NY, my dad almost died and I moved home for a bit, B applied to nursing school in NY, B moved to NY, we got engaged and married, we moved back to Oregon, B got sick, B became a nurse, we bought a house, moved a hundred times, and both had a few job switches. There hasn't been any significant period of dullness in our entire relationship. We also had to learn a lot about communicating and having a successful marriage, which isn't always easy.
5 years in, there isn't anyone else I'd rather spend my days with. He makes me laugh all the time, and he makes sure I don't take myself too seriously. He's my perfect compliment. We have very different strengths and weaknesses, and those differences make us strong. We've learned so much about ourselves and each other over the past 5 years. My heart still skips a beat when I see him.
Babe - there isn't anyone I'd rather share my ice cream with, and you know that's a huge compliment since I don't like to share my ice cream with anyone :) I love you!
I was totally smitten, but hesitant since I was still getting my feet wet in the dating world after ending a 4 year relationship. The real test was Valentine's Day, a mere 2 days after our first date. I sucked it up and emailed him to see if he wanted to do something - but no pressure! He was up for it and took me to a non-traditional V-day restaurant that served Korean food. It was certainly new to me, but he was happy to show the way and he showed up with a sweet little box of chocolates for me.
A lot has happened in 5 years - I moved to NY, my dad almost died and I moved home for a bit, B applied to nursing school in NY, B moved to NY, we got engaged and married, we moved back to Oregon, B got sick, B became a nurse, we bought a house, moved a hundred times, and both had a few job switches. There hasn't been any significant period of dullness in our entire relationship. We also had to learn a lot about communicating and having a successful marriage, which isn't always easy.
5 years in, there isn't anyone else I'd rather spend my days with. He makes me laugh all the time, and he makes sure I don't take myself too seriously. He's my perfect compliment. We have very different strengths and weaknesses, and those differences make us strong. We've learned so much about ourselves and each other over the past 5 years. My heart still skips a beat when I see him.
Babe - there isn't anyone I'd rather share my ice cream with, and you know that's a huge compliment since I don't like to share my ice cream with anyone :) I love you!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The rest of the updates
While B had a shiny new job that he was excited about, 3 weeks in we got some awful news. He used to work for that department at a different hospital, and when he left he stayed on-call. He worked one shift while on-call. However, it turns out that either HR or his old boss didn't process the paperwork correctly and didn't record him as on-call, they recorded him as gone. That meant he wasn't an internal candidate, so he wasn't eligible for the job he'd had for 3 weeks. The only option - to re-post the job, and if ANY internal candidate applied he'd be laid off. It was a VERY VERY long week. Thankfully in the end no one applied! However, that was about 3 weeks ago and they STILL haven't officially hired him, which means they are shorting him 30 minutes of pay per day and $3 per hour. They say they are working it out, but it's still unnerving.
I was also one of 6 people chosen for Leadership Development Team at my work. It's a year-long program that involves a 2 day retreat at the coast, a 3 day leadership training, lots of meetings, and a year-long project as a team. The problem is that it's a few hours per week, unfunded (which really means my boss pays for it out of her grant funds). She isn't thrilled to have to do this, but she agreed since she knows this is a good opportunity. The flip side is that she wants to delay the promotion. She's worried about the time commitment of LDT plus adding on the responsibilities associated with the promotion. In the end, she is right and trying to make sure I'm not overwhelmed. I have 2 new employees I'm training, and the promotion will be much easier for me when I have them up and running to take over some of my duties. I'm bummed, but it's a wise decision to delay things. In the meantime my boss is giving me a few of the new duties to get my feet wet and we'll reevaluate the situation in the summer.
As for the birth control (KT, I knew you'd see that...and my fingers are still crossed for you!), I was just tired of the hormones. I've battle bad skin for years, and I was noticing that my skin was best the "off" week. When the day came to start the next month, I decided I really didn't want to use birth control anymore. I talked it over with B, and he was supportive of my decision. We're not trying to have a baby. We decided about a year ago we'd decide one way or the other when I turn 30 (late June). We're both still on the fence. Not the 100% no that we used to be, but still not close to deciding yes. For now, I've learned a ton from the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (highly recommend it), and I'm enjoying being hormone free. So far my body seems to be doing just fine. It's strange after 12 years to not take a pill each day (or put in the new ring - Nuva Ring is great if you're using hormonal BC). No plans for baby, but maybe that will change.
Hopefully I'll update before then, but if not, we're off on a Mexican cruise for 9 glorious days at the end of Feb over B's birthday. We couldn't be more excited about 9 days, away from work, alone together. Neither one of us has ever taking a vacation that long with a partner, and I've never taken a vacation that long period! So looking forward to it!
I was also one of 6 people chosen for Leadership Development Team at my work. It's a year-long program that involves a 2 day retreat at the coast, a 3 day leadership training, lots of meetings, and a year-long project as a team. The problem is that it's a few hours per week, unfunded (which really means my boss pays for it out of her grant funds). She isn't thrilled to have to do this, but she agreed since she knows this is a good opportunity. The flip side is that she wants to delay the promotion. She's worried about the time commitment of LDT plus adding on the responsibilities associated with the promotion. In the end, she is right and trying to make sure I'm not overwhelmed. I have 2 new employees I'm training, and the promotion will be much easier for me when I have them up and running to take over some of my duties. I'm bummed, but it's a wise decision to delay things. In the meantime my boss is giving me a few of the new duties to get my feet wet and we'll reevaluate the situation in the summer.
As for the birth control (KT, I knew you'd see that...and my fingers are still crossed for you!), I was just tired of the hormones. I've battle bad skin for years, and I was noticing that my skin was best the "off" week. When the day came to start the next month, I decided I really didn't want to use birth control anymore. I talked it over with B, and he was supportive of my decision. We're not trying to have a baby. We decided about a year ago we'd decide one way or the other when I turn 30 (late June). We're both still on the fence. Not the 100% no that we used to be, but still not close to deciding yes. For now, I've learned a ton from the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (highly recommend it), and I'm enjoying being hormone free. So far my body seems to be doing just fine. It's strange after 12 years to not take a pill each day (or put in the new ring - Nuva Ring is great if you're using hormonal BC). No plans for baby, but maybe that will change.
Hopefully I'll update before then, but if not, we're off on a Mexican cruise for 9 glorious days at the end of Feb over B's birthday. We couldn't be more excited about 9 days, away from work, alone together. Neither one of us has ever taking a vacation that long with a partner, and I've never taken a vacation that long period! So looking forward to it!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Ch ch ch changes
My how quickly life moves! Since I last blogged about 6 weeks ago:
- We moved...again
- B thought he was getting laid off
- B got to keep his job
- I got a spot on my work's Leadership Development Team
- My work promotion is delayed
- I stopped birth control
- I was supposed to take a trip to California to see a dying relative
- I canceled said trip to California when the relative died the week before I was supposed to go
- I found out the relative left me a very generous amount of money
- My grandma has gone more and more downhill since we moved her
Yes, it has been a very busy 6 weeks, but things are finally settling down. Although we had only moved into our apartment in the city in August, by the time the late fall cold started, we uncovered a very disconcerting moisture issue with the windows. It turned out to be a build issue, so there wasn't much that could be done about it. In the meantime, the wet windows/floors continued. Along with that came mold that was making us both sick. We decided to move, and thankfully they let us out of our lease without a penalty. We just moved last week to a place that's only 3 miles away, but it might as well be 300 miles. We've jumped ship from the trendy Pearl and we're now in an "up and coming" neighborhood. We're now in an old house converted into a triplex. The major perk - the rent is HALF of what we were paying! Additionally, we can both walk to work. So far so good!
More on the other bullets soon. For now, my bed is calling my name.
- We moved...again
- B thought he was getting laid off
- B got to keep his job
- I got a spot on my work's Leadership Development Team
- My work promotion is delayed
- I stopped birth control
- I was supposed to take a trip to California to see a dying relative
- I canceled said trip to California when the relative died the week before I was supposed to go
- I found out the relative left me a very generous amount of money
- My grandma has gone more and more downhill since we moved her
Yes, it has been a very busy 6 weeks, but things are finally settling down. Although we had only moved into our apartment in the city in August, by the time the late fall cold started, we uncovered a very disconcerting moisture issue with the windows. It turned out to be a build issue, so there wasn't much that could be done about it. In the meantime, the wet windows/floors continued. Along with that came mold that was making us both sick. We decided to move, and thankfully they let us out of our lease without a penalty. We just moved last week to a place that's only 3 miles away, but it might as well be 300 miles. We've jumped ship from the trendy Pearl and we're now in an "up and coming" neighborhood. We're now in an old house converted into a triplex. The major perk - the rent is HALF of what we were paying! Additionally, we can both walk to work. So far so good!
More on the other bullets soon. For now, my bed is calling my name.
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