Just an update

A quick update on the life of Lissa:

Finally things were looking up. I took the job at clinic A. Things just came together and worked out. When I first called to take the position it was all sunshine and roses. Then the immediate call back….oh whoops, it’s actually 4 days/wk, not 3. Is that a problem? Um, yeah. And the world whooshed around me. I asked, Can it be 3 days? I can’t do 4. And the reply, “I’ll see what I can do.” An agonizing couple of days passed. Then the most amazing news, “Yes, we can do 3 days. Can you work Tu-Th instead of W-Fr?” YES yes yes! I will. While the other clinic I was interviewing for was talking about all their perceived shortcomings they saw in me and saying crap like “we think if we have more time we can talk them (the doctors) into you”, THIS clinic actually went out of their way to hire someone for one day a week (and absorb that extra cost) so that I would come on board. THAT is the caliber of clinic and appreciation of me that I want. And that is only one of the many reasons why I was interested in the job in the first place. I feel valued there, like they see things in me that I know are there. They can see what I will and can bring to their practice. And because of that, I will be great for them.

Ah rosy happiness and joy.

So I started that position 2 weeks ago. One week ago my best friend Ash told me that her and her husband would likely be moving to Cali. NOOOOO! She wanted me to come with. Unfortunately it is not so simple for me. I still own my house. I am likely about 10-25k underwater on it. I can’t fathom moving to another state while still owning that house. I probably won’t be able to sell it and even just break even for 2-3 years. Plus as above mentioned, I have finally found an incredibly perfect job in a wonderful hospital, the kind of opportunity I have been working toward my entire career. It’s a big thing, to walk away from that and start all over again. And yes, she is my best friend and I can’t imagine living in this area without her. Part of the reason I chose this area in particular was because it was so close to her. And I don’t have any other friends up here. But it’s not so simple, picking up and moving to Cali. And I just can’t do it. I can’t. And that’s a hard thing to decide. She may stay up here after all. I am hoping and wishing and will work to make that so. I think Seattle is a better place for her. And obviously, I am here!

Ok, well that’s the big news of the moment. I have to head to bed soon so I’ll write more….later!

Take Care,

Melissa

The post-weekend update

Well, we had a lovely weekend. All went as planned, which is nice for once! The only downside is the the stupid truck still isn’t fixed! I am starting to lose it over this truck. I am starting to get grumpy and pissy and snappy at Shawn….so he had better just get it fixed already!

The weekend was great. Saturday I got to sleep in…so nice! We only had Morrigan because Wesley decided not to come. Apparently our house without video games is not nearly fun enough (bear in mind that he is all of FIVE years old and cannot live without his video games–sad.) and that he would rather not be there. Shawn was a little bummed that Wesley didn’t want to spend time with him but he didn’t want to force the issue. It was kind of a nice treat to have just the baby though. And I expect that next time, Wesley will want to come because he’ll have felt left out this weekend. Which is good!

Shawn brought Morrigan home….by the time he got off and picked her up and got back, it was almost 11pm! She was wiped, so right to bed. I had dinner ready so we just ate and watched a movie. Very nice “just us” time.   Sunday we all just hung out at the house, played with the baby, vegged on the couch. It was so relaxing to not have anything to DO.

And Monday, the big test. Shawn had to work 11a-7p so I was to have the baby ALL DAY. By MYSELF.  Doo..doo..doo..doo. It went SO WELL!!!  We had to take Shawn to work since the truck wasn’t fixed. So we all got up in the morning and drove him in. Then Morrigan and I stopped at the Dollar store to pick up some things (namely bibs and baby spoons) which went pretty well. First solo baby & store trip. Back home about 12:00p and Morrigan went down for her nap. I got the house picked up and watched an episode of ER. Then it was 1pm and she got up, we had lunch (ala spaghettios, jello, and hot dog) and played until about 3:30pm. Then it was down for her 2nd nap. I got a shower, scooped kitty boxes, did dishes, etc. Then at 5:30pm, up from the nap, we had supper (ala fishsticks, spaghettios, and banana) and then got cleaned up/changed to go back to pick up Shawn. Left at 6:30pm and dropped Morrigan off at her mom’s at 8pm. It was a good day and she was so happy and smiley the whole time. Only a couple bits of squawking and those were quickly squelched. It was really nice! I’m excited that I do seem to have ”some” mothering skills!

Had another nice evening with Shawn and Tuesday he didn’t work until 4pm. I ran a bunch of errands in town until he got off work and then we had one more night together. The rest of this week we’ve both been working and he’s been staying with various people in town. He had yesterday off but didn’t get into town til the afternoon and hasn’t yet figured out what is wrong with the truck. Today he doesn’t work until 1:30p so the “plan” is to tow the truck to a shop and have it diagnosed and find out what the heck is going on and how to fix it and can he do it and how much is this going to cost now. So hopefully he will follow through with that plan so we can make some progress and get him BACK HOME. I have to get up after 4 hours sleep tomorrow and be at Petco to sit for adoptions for 4 hours before going to work tomorrow evening so that is going to suck. Sunday is my only day off, luckily Shawn has it off too so we can spend it together. *sigh* I just hope the truck is fixed by then and I don’t have to stress about it any more. I am seriously starting to lose all patience and sanity over this thing.

But the family stuff is going well and I am definitely lightened and encouraged by that. Next weekend is December 6-8th so I’m looking forward to it! We should have both of them that weekend.

~Lissa

Yay! It’s the weekend!

Ok, just a quick post before my shift ends at work. I am so excited! It is finally the weekend! After this last stressful week (see the last post) I am ready to have a nice relaxing family weekend. I’m picking up Shawn in about an hour and taking him home with me. He has to work today so I will get plenty of time to sleep in and relax before he gets home late with the kids in tow. They’ll go straight to bed and we’ll have a lovely dinner. Then Sunday is family day at home to just relax and enjoy each other’s company….nice! Monday Shawn is working so I’ll have Morrigan +/- Wesley on my own for the first time….ALL DAY! So that should definitely be interesting, hopefully we’ll have a good day! And Tuesday I don’t know what shift Shawn is working, but I’m going to sleep in, run errands, and relax. Yay! I can hardly wait. I’ll let you know next week how it all went.

~Lissa

The surprise weekend

Well, Shawn has “moved” in. We still need to get his things from his ex’s and his friend’s houses and see if there is anything he has in storage that he wants at the house. But technically he has moved in as of yesterday, Friday October 24, 2008. Which coincidently was our 2-month anniversary. (I know, it seems crazy-fast but I think when you know it’s right, you just KNOW.) I didn’t get to really enjoy the moving in day as I worked the night before, picked him up in the morning, and promptly went to bed while he ran errands in town. Then when he got back home, I got up and got ready for work and left. So, it doesn’t quite feel real yet. Luckily I have the next 3 days off so I’ll be able to enjoy having him settle in!

We hadn’t really planned our weekend out too much, just figured I’d sleep on Saturday and get up in the evening. Then Sunday I have a seminar in town all day to attend. So we were just going to go with the flow. But last night he got a call from his ex, Crystal. She asked if we could take Wesley & Morrigan this weekend as she has to work all weekend and her babysitter quit. Of course, we are happy to have them!! I know it will make the weekend a bit hectic, but I am so glad that Shawn is getting to spend so much time with the kids. It means so much to him and I love the feeling of family that surrounds us. Shawn has spent the last several months since his breakup with Crystal in unstable living arrangements and without a vehicle so that has made it difficult to spend any consistent or significant time with the kids, which I know has been really hard on him. I’m so happy that being with me is helping him in some ways to re-establish a close relationship with them. And I’m excited to further my relationship with them too! Plus I just bought a ton of stuff for them last week and I can’t wait to see their reaction, especially Wesley! Hopefully he’ll love some of the stuff.

So this weekend will be very busy but I’m glad that we’ll have the kids once again. I’m so glad that Crystal isn’t going to be defensive about Shawn being with me/the kids being around me or any of that. I hope that we’ll get to spend plenty of time with them as we are certainly happy to have them anytime that we are available and she needs to work. I know that she is pretty stretched financially so not having to pay a babysitter all the time should be helpful to her. We had already planned to have them Fri/Sat/Sun next weekend for Halloween so this will be 3 weekends in a row!! I’m so psyched about it all, I hope that I make a for a good figure in their lives. They are such good kids.

Ok that’s it for now, I’ll probably post after the weekend and let you know what all we got up to. I know we have more pumpkins to carve!

~Lissa