AWOL

Talk about disappearing, huh?

The last two months feel like a blur. Between surgery, sickness, work insanity/travel and then my cousin being here for much of the last three weeks, we have not had much down time.

The hernia seems to be healing well. I have a final post-op with the surgeon in May (he is MUCH more thorough than Surgeon One). He told me I could do basic cardio, but I should avoid core specific exercises until after I see him next. It doesn't bother me to pick up Brex at all, so that's nice.

For three weeks, my cousin JR has been working intensely around our house. He came for a family visit in January. I chatted about my big plan for the yard and he said he could do it. He asked how much I was willing to pay to get stuff done and we agreed to the amount. Unfortunately, as with much of construction, everything has taken longer than anticipated. JR is also ambitious and has taken on more than I even dared to request. The poor guy had to get home last week and then come back for this past weekend (and is leaving tomorrow). He's in San Antonio so it's a 6-hour trip to get here. That said, he's done amazing work. Now it's just on me to get my butt in gear and get the landscaping done!

In terms of work drama...phew! The Creat1ve D1rector had verbally agreed to the offer and came to visit the office and meet all of us. I think we might have been a little too honest. Basically, but the end of the day, he turned around and rejected the offer! Yikes. Our Gen. Manager was furious. Personally, I think that Eey0re was a little too 'honest'. I heard later that he really enjoyed talking with me so I know I'm not part of the bad children club. To reinforce that notion, last week my GM called to tell me that they think they are going to move ahead with the promotion (didn't say when) given that we won't have a CD for a while now.
She really encouraged me that if/when Jrex looks for a new job (she's hoping it's 'when'), we'll consider cities where there are offices for our company. If I can live in one of our company towns, I have a bright future in the company. If not (she didn't say this, but I'm reading between the lines), the best I can hope for is this promotion. It's not a bad proposition since the available options include Boston, New York, SF, LA and Austin. Of course, we're 5-7 years away from any possible move, so it's unlikely that I'll advance very quickly.

The irony of course is that I always thought I'd be a stay-at-home mom if I ever had a kid! I liked having just a job and never planned on having a career. It makes me laugh to be in this position, but it's a fun gig while it lasts. It's nice to know I can swim with the big fish, but also nice that it doesn't feel like my life's meaning is defined by this job.

The Brex department gets more and more fun (and challenging). His language is really starting to explode, he's picking up words on a daily basis, we just have to be good at interpretation. For example, he's really into the word "Giraffe", but says "Aff!" Now that he's figured out "Cacka" (Cracker), it's the main thing he wants for dinner...

Our current challenge is at the day care. They put an activity center in the foyer. Most of the kids are content to play there for a couple minutes and then head out the door. Our kid however, not so much. When he gets into an activity, he can focus on it for 20 minutes or more. One example, we were sitting on the front sidewalk a couple days ago and I handed him an acorn with it's 'hat' off. He sat there a LONG time just fitting the acorn back into the lid and pulling it back out. So, at daycare, he settles in to explore that activity center. I'm usually rushing to get somewhere and don't have time for it. I give him a few minutes and then have to drag him from the building in hysterics. The first day he cried most of the way home. Sigh. Yesterday was a little better. Today I'm bringing snack distraction.