Whattaweek.

This week flew by (as they seem to these days), but it was a good one.

The weather has been great. My team is in good spirits at work. My kid is in good spirits. Even I'M pretty jolly these days. I guess a recap is in order...

The sleeping-in-underwear-instead-of-pull-ups thing is still going well. 100% success rate. Granted, she was waking me up 2 to 3 times a night during the first couple of nights, but now she's either sleeping through the night accident free, or just waking me up once with her plaintive, "Mommy, I need to go tee-tee." And then she goes right back to sleep. GOOD girl!!


I had the weirdest, most intense dream the other night. It was one of those that seems like it lasts for hours, and--even if you wake up at some point during it--you go back to sleep and it picks up right where it left off, like a DVD on pause or something. Freaky. Anyway, I was traveling in Russia with The Geej, and the government got suspicious of her dual citizenship, and tracked us down and basically took her from me, saying that she was adopted under "false pretenses" (it was believed that she had significant medical issues, which she totally never did), so they wanted her back. Not only that, but they already had a couple lined up that wanted her. The American embassies were worthless, and I couldn't get ANYONE to help me. I was powerless, and they were taking my baby away from me. The day before my travel visa was set to expire, they took Geej from me so that she could spend time with her "new family." I was psychotic, enraged and totally alone. It was horrifying. A couple of hours after they took her, however, they brought her back and told me that the couple didn't want her and that we were free to go. I was overjoyed, of course. When I asked what happened, they told me, "She talks too much. They don't want a chatty child." So yes, it had a happy--almost comical--ending, but damn it was harrowing during the nightmare itself.

Wednesday night, Bookhart came over for a long-overdue sit on the deck, drink beers, listen to music and talk about life session. The weather was amazing--even a bit cool. I had a nice time, and it made me realize I miss hanging out with Bookhart on a more frequent basis. She's the bomb, but then you probably already knew that.

I got my first ever Team Leader Survey results back. These are conducted twice a year, and are anonymous. Not only can your direct reports fill them out, but anyone who works with you can as well. I was thrilled to learn that my scores were almost perfect, and my comments were overwhelmingly positive. I'm so proud and happy. I guess I'm doing okay so far...

I finally went and bought those 5 remaining bags of mulch I needed to finish out "Operation Flowerbeds" here at my casa. Damn. I've got two more random things to plant (my mom dropped off a couple of big plants that she bought then decided she didn't need or want, and now I've got to figure out where the Hell to plant them), and I'm freakin' DONE people!! This has taken 3+ weeks, over $300, and lots and LOTS of sweat and dirtiness to accomplish. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Badger, Malcontent Mama, and La Turista, look out. There's a NEW gardening junkie in the club!

I guess the BIGGEST most EXCITING news I have is that (drum roll), it looks as if Mr. Wonderful has sold his house!! Holy crap, people! This is huge. And here's the best part: they buyers want to close on June 15th. Pull out your calendars. Yep, that's soon. REALLY soon. So yeah, we're both sort of in the OMFG stage right now. But what it boils down to is he's going to be here. For good. Soon. I cannot freakin' WAIT!

Finally, here's a photo of some baby owls. Oh, I mean owlets.If this doesn't make you smile, there' s probably something wrong with you. There's this guy in Austin who has an owl habitat and an "owlcam" set up on his property, and he's been recording the daily events of this owl family for a while now. I saw these suckers when they hatched, and now look at them. Could you DIE?! The image archive is hilarious. I'm telling you, I've been sucked into their world. I'm fascinated by them and in love with them all at the same time. You should really check it out. Especially if you've got kiddos who might be in to this sort of thing. It's awesome.

Later, dudes.