No rest for the… wicked?
I just put my niece back to bed for the 15th time in an hour and a half.
I remember Mom telling stories about me getting out of bed as a little girl of 4 or 5, sitting on the basement stairs as quietly as possible until some adult happened to find me or I gave myself away. Apparently, I didn’t want anything - I was just afraid I was missing out. What is the old saying about the sins of the fathers? Does that apply to aunts, as well?
I’ve been spending one night a week at my brother’s house for the last several weeks now. My sister-in-law works a night shift and leaves for work around 9:30, and he’s working a job that takes him out of town Monday through Thursday - someone has to stay with Wia and Emma. They warned me coming in that Wia doesn’t do a very good job of staying in bed… it’s so bad they have to 1) threaten to take away all her “babies”, and 2) promise that come the weekend, they’ll be able to pull several fully grown quarters from behind her ears. Some nights are better than others; last Monday she didn’t get up one single time after I put her to bed. Tonight, 15 times and counting. I think she’s just afraid of what she might be missing, which is simply me surfing the internet, silly girl.
What this is ultimately doing for me, however, is NOTHING. I’m already sleeping on the couch, and so I have back pains for at least the next day. Now, in addition to that, I’m actually losing sleep to get up with her and put her back to bed! I keep thinking, what would I do if it were my child? At almost 3, she’s definitely old enough for the big girl bed, but I think I might put her back in a baby bed. Or at least threaten it. Seriously. Thank goodness she’s so cute and sweet, or I might have to restrain her somehow. Tonight when I got here she sat on my lap, facing me, as she always does and said “I hope you can stay, Aunt Amanda.” Just kill me now.
Back in the saddle
I think I’ve fixed it. I spent the day installing a new keyboard and palm rest (who knew the trackpad was a whole big assembly thing?), and so far, so good. Now I just have to recover everything I lost when I did the system restore, and I’ll be back in business. In a way, it’s kind of good - starting fresh is always interesting.
I went to the state fair yesterday with Wia and Emma (and, of course, their parents). We had lots of fun - the girls were kind of underwhelmed by the animals, although the piglets, bunnies, and donkeys were a big hit. Also, I saw Casey and her daughter - but did I say anything? No. I’m a big dork. It was one of those instance where you’re not quite sure if you saw the person you think you did, and once you realize it actually was that person, it’s too late. Hey, the fair was crowded! The highlight of the trip, however, was the JUMBO strawberry shortcake. So, so good. I had to share it, but that was fine. Sadly, I only had time to take a couple of pictures… I find I’m really self-conscious about taking pictures of things other than family in public places, but it has more to do with the fact that I don’t know what the crap I’m doing than being worried about offending anyone. Which is too bad, considering I could use the practice.
There was this terribly cute exhibit called Little Hands on the Farm, and I think Wia is just the right age - she really seemed to enjoy it. The kids got an apron to wear and a little bushel basket to collect all their items.
They got cute little hats with the Pioneer logo.
And of course, she got to plant some “seeds”. There was a guy just on the other side of RC turning the sand in the sandbox, but being at the state fair, I doubt he found many “surprises”.
No zoo for me
I took a vacation day today. I needed a bit of a mental health day… in case you hadn’t noticed from earlier posts, I’m so over my job right now it ain’t funny. I’m feeling a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place, as it were; I don’t actually have a college degree, and while my current position is kind of an industry standard, it’s different in the “outside world”, so it makes me nervous to think of looking somewhere else. I’m afraid that I don’t have enough experience with industry-standard tools and techniques. I’ve also been given the opportunity lately to broaden my horizons a bit and dabble in project management, which makes me think maybe I should stick around and see where that goes. Of course, I’m not confident that my current manager would recommend me for any other job at this point - he’s kind of a pinhead. In our very first one-to-one meeting almost 2 years ago, he made sure to tell me two things: 1) he very rarely finds fault with anything he does, and 2) he tends to focus on the negative in regards to job performance, because he’s sure you’re already aware of the positive. What a winner. Anyway, it’s all those negatives, like not arriving before 9am (clearly he has no idea how many other people arrive at 9am) or only working 40 hours a week (they don’t pay me for more than that, but I’d work more if it was needed), or not showing enough leadership (he needs to brush up on his Myers-Briggs, I think; the I stands for Introverted, which doesn’t exactly translate to LEADER). Anyway, I just needed a long weekend to recoup a little.
I made plans with my sister-in-law to go with her, Wia, and Emma to the zoo today. Naturally when my alarm went off this morning at 7, the rolling thunder began. And I’m not talking about the sound of lastnight’s gastronomy experiment from El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant… I’m talking about actual thunder. The kind that accompanies a downpour of rain. I checked the radar, and it looked like there was a big front coming through, and “scattered thunderstorms” were forecast for the entire day. I went ahead and showered and headed over to meet the girls; I figured at the very least, I could stick around and play until after lunch. It had stopped raining right around the time I got there, but no one was ready to go, and we figured it would start up again at any minute… right. Nope. No more rain today. We could totally have gone to the zoo, but the weatherman LIED. Why do we trust them at all? Why? I was bummed. I was really looking forward to the koalas.
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