The whole nine yards

Where to start? It seems like it's been a long time since I've given any real updates on my new life out east.

Picking up where I believe I last left off... I had the house to myself for a few weeks (well, the dogs were here too.) Those few weeks went very quickly and were, for the most part, good. I got a little bored and stir-crazy here and there, but it pushed me to take a little more active initiative to meet some new people which has worked out nicely.

Carl, Kathleen and Lily all returned to Baltimore about two weeks ago, and the last two weeks have been, well, a whirlwind. Carl's been flying out for interviews, studying 12 hours a day for this big test he took today. Kathleen has, of course, been working everyday and somehow squeezed a day trip to Kansas City in. Lily turned two and is, well, busy like a two year old. I've been enjoying all the action, but I will admit, it was a bit like a tornado hit after having two pretty quiet weeks of basic solitude.

After 1.5 weeks of trying to be really helpful with the baby, house and dog, I decided I wanted to take a little break, so I took off this past Saturday for a pub crawl in Canton (a nearby part of Baltimore county.) This pub crawl started at noon and I just couldn't fathom beginning to drink that early and being able to stay out very long. I left the house saying, "I can't imagine I'll be gone longer than a few hours." 8 hours later, my big brother finally called to check up on me. :-)

It really turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The group of people that were having the pub crawl is called "Meet 4 Fun Maryland" and has an age range of about 22 - 62. Now sometimes this can be a bad thing, but I have to say, this was fun. It was so entertaining to hang out with people from so many different age groups, so many different walks of life. There's just something that will forever seem entertaining to me about watching 50 year olds flirting. With two single parents some might think I'd be used to this, but I guess I just don't get the opportunity to see it so close up usually!

Anyway, the day turned out to be a lot of fun and I think it was just what I needed to feel a little more in touch with my less... homemaker side. I think I also gave Carl a bit of a "what did I get myself into when I agreed to let her move in" scare, but I don't really intend to make it a habit. I'm still working on the balance of family time and going out time, but I think it will kind of work itself out - especially once I start my other job next week.

So, speaking of that other job, many of you know I ended up moving out here in a bit of a rush, because the job I really wanted to take started on October 13th. When I was fully packed up and halfway out the door (on about October 11th), I found out that the position wouldn't be starting until the end of October or possibly even until November. I decided to go ahead and move as planned, because I a) didn't have anything left in my apartment, b) had already rented my apartment and c) knew Kathleen needed some help with Carl being in St. Louis.

As luck, and the Baltimore public school system, would have it, the program got even more delayed and is now not starting until next Monday. The nice thing is this gave me some time to get settled in, get into a bit of a routine with my DBSA job, and just relax. I think this is particularly good because I have a feeling this new job is going to bring a lot of stress to my life. At least for the first few weeks.

When I first found out about the position and the organization I was completely excited. It's an afterschool program that focuses on schools who are below proficiency rates in reading and math. The program has an awesome curriculum and really goes beyond your standard book learning.

After going through training, orientation and a month of back and forth with the office here in Baltimore I'm still psyched about the curriculum, but the organization.... not so much.

I know I'm someone who likes to have a little more structure in life than most. I like to know what I'm walking in to - I like to have things planned out. But this is just crazy. Pretty much every question I've asked has been answered with, "In a perfect world, this is what would happen...." Hmmm. Well, I can understand that this isn't a perfect world, but I would like to have some basic, little tiny idea of what I'm walking into on Monday. Instead of telling me what it would be like in a perfect world, let's try, say, this world.

If for no other reason than - I'm working with 1st graders. I need to have some idea of how the afternoon is structured. I need to have a few plans in place so they don't eat me alive. First impressions with kids are sooooo important. Yes, I'm confident I can win them back, but, man, wouldn't it be easier if I could just look like I kind of knew what I'm supposed to be doing off the bat? There's nothing like trying to keep 1st graders focused when you have no idea what you're doing.

Regardless though, I know this is going to be a good learning experience and I am excited to get started and see what it's really going to be like.

In other news, Grandma Murphy and my mom got here Monday night, immediately broke open a bottle of wine and we've all been having a grand time ever since. Lily is most impressed by the idea that this is me and Carl's mommy and her mommy. She just gives us this look like.... "hmmm, I don't know what you're trying to pull over on me here...." But we're all definitely enjoying each other and looking forward to turkey day tomorrow! Gobble gobble.