10 Amazing Things I've Discovered As An Adult

1. Bleu cheese
2. Mushrooms
3. Mushrooms with bleu cheese
4. Nude colored bras
5. The necessity of thongs for reasons other than the bedroom
6. What I want to be when I grow up (what I am now!)
7. Silence is a powerful tool
8. How to spend time by myself and, further, that I need it
9. That I was damn lucky to be born into the family and country I was
10. It is okay, and sometimes better, to say no

Vacations, dates, and school

Well, the house swapping attempt failed.  None of the Chicago houses/apartments/whatever that we were interested in were available when we wanted to vacation.  I have, however, gotten several inquiries a month about people wanting to come to our house (France, Canada, Seattle, Spain...), none of which I could accommodate.  Guess that's how it goes.

I went on two dates with my husband this weekend.  He surprised me with a Groupon to a steak house, Embers, on Friday night which was good but not excellent (I prefer Jags).  Then, on Saturday we double dated with a co-worker of mine and his wife and saw the Hunger Games.  I gave the movie a B+ and the company an A.  Had that awkward (for me at least) moment at the end of the night where I didn't know if I should shake hands, hug, or just say bye and walk away.  I chose the last option and assume that was socially acceptable.

Nicole's kindergarten packet came in the mail.  I read her the dress code and she frowned (no temporary tattoos!  Only white/navy/black tights!  no nail polish!) but her excitement is stronger than her disappointment.  She goes for testing on May 7 (9th?) at a time yet to be determined.  I wish I'd get a report about her results on said placement test but I don't think I will....

My desk is getting clearer.  This is a good thing (makes me feel organized and on top of things) and a bad thing (gives me anxiety that I'll run out of things to do).  On to keeping busy...

Looking to Swap

I'm loading information about our house on homeexchange.com. We're paying a discounted rate of ~$12/mo for 3 months. Goal is for the homeowners of this house http://www.homeexchange.com/show.php?id=177365 to want to come to Cincinnati in June.

Now, our willingness to house-swap is getting some raised eyebrows from Jim's co-workers. One guy says "I'm cheap, but I'm not trading houses to go on vacation cheap." We don't see it that way at all (and I suspect everyone else registered on the site sees it our way too).

For the record:

• I am not worried at all about theft
• I am a little freaked out about someone else having sex in my bed but I'm reminding myself that if I was at a hotel THOUSANDS of people would have had sex in the bed I'd be sleeping in each night.
• I hope that the kid-themed bedrooms Chris and Nic have aren't too big of a turn-off.
• If we can't find a swap partner in Chi-town for this summer, our intention is to renew for a 1-year term next time, potentially determining the location of the vacation itself by the availability of a property
• I am not sure how to feel that we're just the fourth property in Cincinnati to be listed. Is this good (no competition) or bad (no one wants to come here)?

Yeah, still around

I never realized how NOT busy i was at my old job until i started my new job. Strangely, i have the same amount of stress but a hell of a lot less time at the new gig. At my old job i actively maintained my own blog and kept up with lots of others on a daily basis. My blog was so emotionally important to me that i asked for a paper version of it for Christmas just in case something happened to the electronic record. Now, if you look at the dates and infrequency of my posts you'd think i'd died.

Well, i'm here. Behind on sending baby congrats cards, birthday gifts for Nicole/Chris's cousins, etc. but i did get Valentines cards + desserts done on time. :)

ME

• still loving my job. A lot of my life is my job right now. I'm on a lot of committees which keeps me in meetings on a daily basis. I'm on the building committee for our new space, head of the branding committee, just joined the Athena Award committee & 2 new committees through GCMCP, a minority attorney association that i technically can't even be a part of but who wants to benefit from my skill-set. This is on top of participating in every practice group meeting, attending networking meetings & fancy after-hours dinners for the firm. Whew. I still like to be involved so this laundry list looks like a lot but fits me just fine. Not sure i can add much more and still keep up though.... I got a raise and a bonus at the end of 2011 and get regular accolades from my boss and the Partners. This was a great career and general move for me.
• being so busy means that my book writing has taken a WAY back seat. I had friends edit it a year ago then i revised and had 2 people i trusted re-read it and edit again. I'm on my fifth round of editing. I'm honest enough to say that it's good enough but not great. I have no time to find an agent (that process was taking up hours a night in research, writing inquiries, etc.) so i think i'll head down the self-publishing route. i do think, regularly, that i should take out all sex scenes. i get embarrassed just thinking about my mother or grandmother reading them. I need to finish this editing process and just get it out there but my free time is so valuable that the idea of sitting down to do it is a drag.
• XU teaching is going well. Good class, good students. I got asked to teach the selling class again in the fall. I thought before answering the request from the department chair 'do i really have enough time and energy to keep doing this?' but ultimately i enjoy it and am professionally rewarded by the effort so i said yes. besides, its way-cool to say i'm an adjunct professor. :)
• though i've not said anything to him about it, i feel that my relationship with my husband took a turn in the last several months. if i reflect i think it was at the same time that he got snipped (sorry dear if you didn't want that public). I don't know - maybe it's the fact that he took medical action to solidify our family and that sealed the deal that we're 'whole'. ?? I know part of it is the extra time we spend together carpooling to work where we get an extra hour of 'us' time a day. Maybe it's a blend of all this + raising the kids and feeling professionally successful. I think it's the sum of it that means i have reached a point that I personally fulfilled in about every way. anyway, i've felt a deeper connection with him both emotionally and physically that i find very very very rewarding.
• I think BECAUSE i've reached a point that i feel very 'whole' as a person i've actually come up with what i'd tattoo on me. My whole life i thought tattoos were great but nothing ever stuck out as something i'd want on me permanently. now i have a concept but not yet an image in mind. Jim says go ahead if i feel strongly about it.
• I can't tell you how much i'm looking forward to the end of March when i'm going to Wheeling, VA with the girls. I literally get emotional when i think about how much i love them and miss them. like right now as my eyes are all welled just writing about them. *deep breaths*
• TV shows that DVR/DVDs have allowed me to come to love: Big Bang Theory, Revenge, Parenthood, Design Star, Shark Tank & So You Think You Can Dance. People said it but man it's true - DVR changed my life.

The kids

• They say the frickin' cutest things. I keep meeting to make a box to write them all down in and like the theme of this post, never make the time.
• Nicole is in ballet again and loving it. She's so smart. I know all parents say that about their kids but man, is she. Her vocabulary and thought process are a marvel. I take a lot of pride that i am the one that taught her to read. we picked her kindergarten and are REALLY excited about St. James.
• Chris is an iPad fiend. his favorite game is park math which is actually above his paygrade but who am i to downplay enthusiasm for learning? He also likes doing flashcards because Nicole does them and he's rewarded with gum. We sound out words letter-by-letter (he knows the phonetics for each) and i coach him to put it all together. My goal is to have him reading by 3 1/2. He's in tumbling classes which are ridiculously expensive but they get justified by 'that's why we work' like all expensive things.

Jim

• Softball starts soon & he's hiring a hitting coach. I'm interested to see the result
• His work is good - busy but manageable. He too got a nice raise at the end of 2011 and i'm quite proud of him.
• He and i are getting ready to be busy again with a second rental property we're in the process of buying. Good investment for a reasonable amount of work. That house, provided this all goes through (short sale) will start rehab in March/April most likely.

Looking forward to November's elections - my office is VERY political which leads to both good conversations and razzing. I'm certain that my friends and i will continue the debate as well. I have some hope of converting Lisa to vote Republican (too bad there isn't a Libertarian with a realistic chance...) but she'll probably vote for Obama again just to spite me. ha! *wink*