Blah...update

Well, I guess I spoke too soon...I got the job!

Actually, it was pretty funny. Since summer is almost here, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and try to find a swimsuit during my lunch hour yesterday. Even though I've lost nearly 30 lbs. since January, it was not an adventure I was looking forward to. So I zipped over to Macy's, perused the swimsuit section and picked out a couple suits that I hoped would not cause small children to run in terror when I entered the pool. I had just pulled on this swimsuit that COULD NOT HAVE LOOKED MORE HIDEOUS ON ME. I was standing there looking in the three-way mirror, with my mouth agape at how bad I looked, when my cell rang. It was one of the people who interviewed me and she offered me the job!

So anyway, in a few weeks, I'll be a senior editor for publications at a major medical school. And I'll be making about $15,000 more than I am now, which will make our lives so much easier. Lately I've been feeling like I am one major expense away from disaster...this will help so much.

So even though it did rain all weekend, we ended up getting a little sunshine later in the week!

Blah...

I've been a little down in the dumps this week...hence, the lack of blogging. I haven't felt well, plus I have come to the realization that I'm not going to be offered a job I interviewed for about a month ago. I really felt confident about how the interview went and my references were all glowing. But I haven't heard anything and they haven't returned my call about where things were. So now it's just waiting for the rejection letter from human resources. I really wanted this job a lot...it would be a new challenge and more money. But I guess I just wasn't what they were looking for...

To add to my glumness, we've got the long Memorial Day weekend ahead of us and it's supposed to rain all three days! Thank you, Mr. Meteorologist! I think we might go see Shrek III this afternoon if the rain doesn't let up. What we'll do the rest of the weekend is anyone's guess.

Emma had her friend Lola over for a sleepover last night and they had so much fun...they played Barbies for like three hours this morning!


I think Emma's a little sad now that Lola has left. Looks like there's only one thing to do to brighten our spirits...GO TO TARGET!

Hope all of you are having a nice holiday weekend...keep your fingers crossed for a little sunshine for me and my gal!

Our new church

I had belonged to the same church since I moved here ten years ago...I loved the minister and it had a great singles ministry program. I was really happy there. Then two things happened...I adopted Emma and the minister I felt such a connection with left to go teach at seminary.

When I began taking Emma to church, it really hit me that there was zero diversity at my church. There are a lot of wonderful people there, but they are all white, middle-to-upper class folks. Emma was the sum total of diversity at my church, and that bothered me. So between that, and the fact that I really didn't like the new minister at all, I decided in January of this year to start looking for a new church.

It's not easy finding a new church, especially when you're dragging a young child with you every Sunday to a different place. But after a month or so, I was happy to find a nearby Methodist church that clicked. I absolutely love the minister (it's the first church I've attended where the senior minister is a woman - she is just fantastic.) Plus, it is that rare liberal Protestant church that isn't filled every Sunday with just white people. There are several African-American members, a family of Indian origin and, best of all, a significant number of Chinese adults and children.

We have been very happy there and this morning we formally joined the church. I am so pleased that Emma and I now have a church home that we can call our own. It really fills me with peace.

Anyway, on a totally different subject...after church, we met up with several friends at the zoo. It was a brilliant spring day and we had a wonderful time strolling around. Emma spent the majority of her time hanging out with the two 10-year-old girls in our little group...here she is with (big) Emma and Elena...


I swear, sometimes my 5-year-old daughter is conviniced she's a tween already. There were several girls in our group her age, but she adores Elena, and walked around with her and her friend all afternoon. Anyway, here's my gal after a long, but fulfilling day...


Hope your weekend was just as nice!

Bye-bye, Barney!

Another rite of passage at our house...I have given away Emma's last Barney DVD.

I know a lot of new parents bemoan the very existence of the annoying purple dinosaur, but I have to say, I really LIKED Barney - and so did Emma (actually, from the time she could talk, Emma called Barney "Bobbin.")

At one point, I think we had like 15 Barney DVDs. But as she has slowly lost interest and moved on to other things, I've sold them off one by one. I had hung on to her very favorite Barney DVD, "Rhyme Time Rhythm", for awhile, in case she still wanted to watch it. But the last couple times I've mentioned it to her, she hasn't wanted to see it. This week, I finally asked her if she still liked Barney and she replied "Mom, Barney is for BABIES!" So goodbye, Barney. I took the last DVD to the used bookstore today and hocked it.

Now all I have are my memories of my little baby and her favorite purple dinosaur...sigh!

Belated Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday. We made a last-minute trip to go see my mom and dad and spent the weekend there. I've been able to spend the last couple of Mother's Days with my mom and it's so important to me and to Emma. We had a fantastic time.

We all went to church together on Sunday...I know I'm a totally biased mom, but I was so proud Emma looked so beautiful and happy on this special day...




It's funny...I still think of Mother's Day as a day I honor my mom. I have a hard time believing it's a day for me too! I guess I see it as a day to reflect on how fortunate I am to have my wonderful mother and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful daughter.

Again, I hope all you moms had a great day...especially you first-timers! And for those of you still waiting, it will be your day to celebrate too...very soon, I hope.

What we're reading now

Emma and I have recently discovered a series of books called The Tiara Club. They're written by an author from the UK named Vivian French. I can't even remembered how stumbled upon the first one...it was probably a recommendation from Amazon.com or something. The books (of which there are like 12 or so) recount the adventures of a group of six young girls who have been accepted at the prestigious Princess Academy. Each book centers around one of the six girls - Charlotte, Sophia, Daisy, Alice, Katie and Emily (I love all of those names!)

Yeah, I know...it's SHOCKING that Emma would go for a series of books about girls learning to become "proper princesses" (one of her favorite phrases these days.) But as soon as we finish one book, she wants to start on the next one.

Anyway, highly recommended if you have a princess-crazy girl!

Mixed bag

Well, this was a typical Midwestern spring weekend. Saturday was absolutely fabulous...sunny and in the low 80s. Today was miserable with near-torrential rains all day and temps that barely made it into the 60s. Other than making a quick trip to the grocery store when the rain let up to a mere steady downpour, we've been housebound all day.

Yesterday was a totally different story...we were pretty much gone all day. The highlight being a few hours at a local art fair in our neighborhood. They have tons of stuff for kids to do and lots of interesting (and unaffordable, for me) art to gawk at. We saw tons of people we know there and Emma had fun with some of her little friends. Here's Emma hard at work at some art project...


As you can see, we visited the face-painting booth first thing...they really did a great job! And here's Emma showing off her groovy new shades from The Children's Place...


I swear, at 2 for $5, The Children's Place pretty much keeps my kid in sunglasses and flip-flops all summer!

Bangs or no bangs

I noticed the other night that, once again, Emma's bangs were falling into her eyes and needed trimming. I have been toying with the thought of letting her bangs grow out, but I've hesitated for several reasons. One...you have to go through that long period where the hair just hangs in her face unless you constantly pin it up with a barrette or something. Two...I've always liked the way that Emma's hair framed her cute face (hey, totally biased mom here!) And three...I think it's kind off a big step in a way. It's one more sign that your little girl is growing up...and part of me doesn't want her to do that just yet.

But despite all that, I've decided to give it a try. I'm sure there's a chance that at some point, I'll get frustrated with the hair-in-the-eyes thing and trim them again. But in the meantime, here's my sort-of bangless girl. Feel free to let me know what you think...positive or negative!