Blogger is blocked at work...

... or I'd update more often.

I interview Tuesday for a full-time chemist position instead of this temporary one I hold. If I get it, that would mean I'd have a four-day work week at the company and have 2 full days to get work done here at school, plus evenings. And I'd get benefits. So far they've accommodated my desire to observe the Sabbath, and they've given every indication that they would continue to do so. I guess I shouldn't screw this up.

Jalen and I had a nice long lunch Wednesday, and we both got to unload a bunch of feelings that had been kept inside. Without going into detail, things are looking up as far as our relationship is concerned. I'm eager to put these past two years behind us and move ahead... I was shocked by how deep his voice sounded when he answered the phone. My first-born is no longer a little boy.

The more I work in Greenville, the more I like the city. If I moved to the Woodruff road area and kept the same job, I'd never have to leave my neighborhood. EVERYTHING I could possible need is in the vicinity. If the county ever decides to open their new crime lab, I could probably be persuaded to stick around.

My favorite picture from the trip home - mother & daughter.

Waddya think?

This is my new beautiful neice (and Nyla's future partner-in-crime). Pretty much everyone in my family thinks she looks like me, but I don't see it. Do you?

Lunes

People are getting married, people are going to camp, people are finding Devil's claw in the cupboards... Me? Just finding out we make a product called Horny Goat Weed (!?). I'm afraid to ask what it's supposed to do for you.

PS: I'm also getting too big for my clothes. I had to wear a pair of my son's khakis to church this past Sabbath. I could barely button mine. *sigh*

Back from the metro...

Just returned from seeing the folks down in the booming metropolis of Clio, SC. I enjoyed being home again. Time seems to slow down whenever I'm there. I never feel hurried, and you never see anyone walking fast or appearing hurried. Of course, there aren't any jobs or supermarkets there, but no place is perfect. I saw a once BEAUTIFUL woman I knew whom all the boys used to idolize back in the day. Now, she has been visibly ravaged by excessive crack use. I literally felt my mouth drop open when I realized who she was. (No, I didn't do this to her face!) It's disheartening to see someone who was once so beautiful and full of vigor look like they're 20 years older than they actually are. Twenty HARD years.

I finally got to see my 5-month old neice who everyone says looks like me! I would post a picture now of the two of us, but I can't upload pix to this computer (the new job). I'll swing by my campus office and upload pix and let you decide. I personally don't see any of me in her, but everyone else seems to. Go figure. She's a cutie though. And heavy.

Is it football season yet?

EDIT: It's official: We reserved our villa @ Myrtle Beach Sunday.

Snippet

As Sweet Southern Summa told you, an elite group of adventurers went (fake)rock climbing this past weekend. I am now over the soreness in my lats, but I probably re-aggravated my as-yet-undiagnosed shoulder injury. It was still fun though. Nick has pretty much forced me to guarantee him a return trip. He did pretty well, scaling a couple of walls. He was so proud of himself.





I'll leave you guys with a picture of my younger brother-in-law. Why does it make me think of John Deere?

Joining the Snagglepuss brigade

Nick lost 3 teeth last week. I think Noah "helped" him lose one.

Typing with a kid in one arm is hard. Here's a picture Nick took today. Yes, she's getting a little color.



Is it just me, or have the boys watched too much Star Wars?

Blurb

I'm not dead. I've been working since last Monday for a major manufacturer of nutraceuticals and dietary supplements. I'm working as a chemist doing quality control. For the past week I've ground umpteen tablets and ruptured a gazillion softgels to determine their Vitamin C content blah blah blah. It's paying the bills for now. I'll post more later about what's been going on with me. Ciao.

PS: Night at the Museum is a pretty good movie.

PPS: Nyla and M.R.S. are doing well.

PPS: We just registered for Myrtle Beach.

Princess

My Parents

Hear ye hear ye!

She's here! The little princess arrived @ 1:52 pm yesterday. She's so tiny and precious! Her weight was 7 lb, 6 oz, and she was 19" long. I'm at a public library in Greenville posting this, and their computers have restrictions that prevent me from uploading any pictures. She has a head full of hair (and she poops a lot). I've already learned that changing girl diapers is a little trickier than changing boys' diapers. And in case you were wondering, yes, I am already wrapped around her finger. Gotta run.

She's almost here!

The M.R.S. is either having the baby this weekend or they're inducing her Monday (probably in the morning).

How much more childproofing do I have to do?

Right before bed sometime in the wee hours of the morning (I fell asleep AGAIN on the couch), I went into the bathroom to check things out. I accidentally knocked the M.R.S.' toothbrush out of the holder onto the floor. When I picked it up, I noticed there was something green on the toothbrush. Curious, I looked around and saw the same viscous green substance on MY toothbrush. Really curious by this time, I then remembered that we don't have any green toothpaste. After doing a little detective work I found out what the green substance was:



*Sigh* Back to the Godly Parenting drawing board.

Update: I just talked to the M.R.S. The dog has returned to its vomit.

Well, I do need a job.

My fellowship funding has come to an end. I've been retooling the old resume this past week and putting it out there for the world to see. To date, I've applied to a local environmental testing lab, a microbiology lab at a pharmaceutical company, a part-time QC lab tech position, and a forensics position. I'm in the process of applying for an adjunct position at our local technical college. (Desiree and I colleagues, perhaps?) Let's see what happens.

I was just offered the opportunity to sell insurance to small businesses locally. I initially told the guy no, then reconsidered. I'm gonna sleep on it tonight and give him a call back tomorrow. I'm really hoping that this 3rd shift job in a Greenville micro lab calls me. It would be a boost in salary, and I could still come in here and get my personal lab work done.

No baby yet. We go to the doc Thursday, and we'll see if we can nail down Monday as the day he'll induce labor. Last Thursday they did an ultrasound, and estimated "little" Nyla was ~ 7 lbs. 10 oz. I don't think I can wait much longer.

Feast

So, where's everyone thinking of going for the Feast? I was firmly of the belief that I was going to be in Myrtle Beach this year, but the M.R.S. threw me a curve last Saturday night with a Quebec suggestion. I'm looking into passport requirements now - it doesn't appear that we would need one to drive across the border. So - where's everyone going? And does anyone know anything about Quebec?

Doh!

I just got off the phone with my mom. She told me a funny story about this guy who was behind on his child support when he hit the state lottery. Knowing that his winnings would be garnished by the state when he went to pick up his money, he commissioned a friend to pick up the winnings for him. Unfortunately for the winner, the friend he picked was also behind in his child support payments. So when the friend produced the winning ticket, the state garnished the winnings anyway! The two friends then proceeded to get into a fight once they were outside. I don't know how true the story is, but it did make me laugh this morning.

A tale of two floors

I go home after lunch and am greeted by the smell of spring mint upon opening the door. Not an unpleasant smell, mind you, but the only thing that smelled like spring mint when Nick & I left this morning was our collective breath. Underneath the spring mint smell is a hint of bleach. I head downstairs to the kitchen to find the mop sitting in a bucket of bleach & water. OK, that explains the bleach. Turns out little angel Noah sneaked down to the kitchen to fix himself a glass of milk. I don't think I need to spell out what happened, do I? Let's just say I'll be stopping by the store tonight to replace the gallon of Mayfield that used to be in our fridge. At some point the darling little cherub went upstairs and (I assume) tried to make sure his breath was minty-fresh. When I get to the bathroom, the entire (LARGE) bottle of mouthwash has congregated on the floor around and behind the toilet. The M.R.S. is no longer flexible enough to maneuver around the toilet area so the green spill is waiting for daddy. I guess things could have been worse. At least he's been leaving all of his poop in his diaper.

Have you ever filled out a job application, spent $13 on transcripts, spent $14 to express mail it in order to beat the closing deadline, and then realize several days later that you didn't fill out the 16-page application packet that was supposed to accompany the application? No? Um... me... either...

Baby shower aftermath

Little sister - Your words meant a lot to us. The M.R.S. almost shed a tear while reading your card. I was touched as well. And I'll make sure Nyla loves the book.

Country Girl & Rebel - Everything was lovely, and the food and drink were exquisite as well. I've been pilfering those chocolate pacifiers from the M.R.S.'s stash, so I might have a couple of black eyes when yall see us this week. Thanks for taking the time to put the event together.

TMan - Thanks for keeping me company, and for helping out the ladies.

Thanks to all who couldn't attend, but sent gifts. I must say I've never been around so much PINK in all my days. This experience is certainly going to be different. Thanks to all who've offered advice, encouragement, and love throughout this pregnancy. Most importantly, thanks to all future baby-sitters of the clan.

Now if we could just work on that punctuality thing...

Thy Kingdom Come, for real!

While in the middle of dinner last night, Nick casually mentions that a fellow first-grader got suspended for having a knife at school yesterday. Naturally, that got our attention, but I thought that there might be a little exaggeration in Nick's story. Maybe the kid had a toy knife, or at worst, a butter knife. We've heard other stories about this kid's behavior on the bus, but nothing of this magnitude. When we questioned Nick a little further, he admitted that the kid had threatened to kill Nick. A little more concerned (the M.R.S. was instantaneously furious), we asked exactly what happened while they were on the playground. After a few more questions, we knew that this was no tall tale- the other kid really had a knife!

I went to talk with a school official, who couldn't go into extreme detail because of confidentiality and legal concerns. I did find out that things happened exactly the way Nick said they did, and that I was not the only parent to have discussed this with this official. Apparently the kid told quite a few others that he had a knife, and threatened others as well. He is not at school today, and shouldn't be back for a while. While I'm glad I don't have to worry about this particular kid for a little while, the situation is certainly a cause for concern. Homeschooling just rose another several notches in my eyes. And yes, Desiree, I did steal your title.

In other Nick news, I found a love letter he wrote to 2(!) girls in his class. This must be nipped in the bud - but it is comforting to know that he has a healthy interest in the fairer sex.

He lives!

I am not dead. More to come later.

Monday morning

Things that have made me smile so far this morning:

• Spotting a black lizard with a gold stripe basking in the sunlight as I walk across campus
  
• Finding 3 issues of ESPN magazine of my desk, put there by a coworker who knows my passion for sports
  
• The steak, egg, & cheese bagel I had this morning at McDonald's - all 2,000 calories of it
  

I wonder what this afternoon will bring.

PSA

I get these emails from time to time, but they've usually expired by the time I look at them. Spirit Air is offering some $0.01 (where's the 'cents' key?) one-way fares today. Click the following like if you're interested.

http://www.hotwire.com/