Excitement

There are several things that are making me happy/excited of late, and I thought I'd share.

1. My team will be moving to a new space at work in a month or so. Yes, this will be the 9th time I've moved in my nearly 11 years with my employer, but the space we're moving to is different from the rest of the floors in my building because it once belonged to a company who was leasing the space and it's, well, cooler than where we are now.
2. The big birthday reveal of telling The Geej about our upcoming trip to California is happening on Friday. I can hardly wait!!
3. I got a bargain on a new digital camera that takes really great photos like this one:

Isn't that pretty? Thank you, Costco!

4. That new HBO show "Boardwalk Empire" looks like it's going to be awesome.

5. I did some research and decided to switch our household over to AT&T U-verse for our cable, landline and internet in order to take advantage of their "bundle" offer. And not only will I be saving us $60/mo., I'm also getting two $200 Visa gift cards for switching and going with a promo deal they were offering. So SUCK IT Time-Warner.

6. We're growing watermelons in our back yard. For REALS!!

7. We've got some cool projects on the horizon at work and some (hopefully) positive changes are at hand for my team. Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

8. These pistachios are seriously some of the best nuts I've ever put in my mouth (insert crude fellatio joke here). You can get 'em at Costco or Whole Foods and I HIGHLY recommend the salt-and-pepper and south of the border flavors. Totally addictive.

9. Baby wombats.

10. And speaking of marsupials, this lady's possum is very well taken care of (and no, that's not a euphemism for her ladyparts).

Good tidings.

Oh Internets, today is a good day.

The supercalafragalistic weather continues. Chamber of commerce weather. Sit out on a patio catching rays and a sweet buzz weather. SXSWeather.

I got to attend (the first part, at least) The Geej's "100 Day Party" at her school this morning. Man, I love the kids in her class. So creative and hilarious. They've been doing these posterboards where they ask the students things like, "If I could have 100 of anything, what would it be?" and then record each of the kiddo's answers. (GJ's answer to this question: "sparkly shoes," natch.) I noticed another 100-related posterboard today that asked, "If you traveled for 100 miles from Austin, where would you be?" GJ answered, "Alaska", and her classmates said things like "Dallas," "Asia," "Mexico," and (oddly enough) "Kansas." But my two favorites? "A cake store" and "Pixie Hollow". Oh to be 5 again...

After the party, I went to the doctor and got my stiches removed. I still have steristrips on the incision, but I got to see it before he put them on. It doesn't look too bad, aside from some residual bruising (now in the yellowish-green stage, always lovely), and after these strips fall off (some time this weekend), I can start putting on the scar gell stuff to minimize what this sucker looks like. I'll post pics later because, be honest, you wanna see, don't you?

At the doctor's office, I got the final pathology report on the thyroid and lymph node that were removed, and I could bore you with the medical mumbo jumbo, but long and short of it is the "pathological staging" of the tumors were T3, NX, MX. This means, "the tumor is either larger than 4 cm or it has begun to grow a small amount into nearby tissues outside the thyroid" (T3) however it had not spread to nearby lymph nodes (NX) and there were no signs of distance metastasis/spread (MX). In other words, I'm a lucky, lucky gal.

Next week, I have my first appointment with an endorinologist to figure out what's next. But right now, I'm feeling pretty happy about how everything has gone.

After the doctor's appointment, I treated myself to lunch at Torchy's along with a Dublin Dr. Pepper. Oh yes I did.

Then I went to my "Plan B" school for a tour with the principal. I'm not gonna lie: I was prepared to be disappointed. I'm not sure why--I guess it's just because I'd had my heart so set on The Geej going to my "Plan A" choice school, and when I got the news that wasn't going to be happening, my heart just sort of sunk through the floor. But, oh my GOSH, y'all! This school? I really, REALLY liked it. The principal was awesome, took her time with me, answered all my questions (and answered them well), led me on a very thorough tour, and I saw a lot of happy, productive kiddos being well attended to by engaged teachers. I can picture The Geej thriving here and her wonderful spirit being appreciated and encouraged. I called the AISD offices as soon as I got back and requested a transfer change to this school, and I'm certain it will be approved. And she can be happy there until 5th grade or until we move into a different school zone--whichever comes first.

Everything's going to be okay, y'all. It really is.

Scenes from a wonderful weekend.

Saturday afternoon was spent playing with the Malcontentettes.








Saturday evening was spent playing with Peach and Olive while dining at a "singing restaurant" (what The Geej calls anyplace with live music).

Sunday morning was spent swimming with her friend George, followed by an exhausted viewing of Dora, and lunch prepared by our hostess.

Whew.

Oh happy day!!

Mr. Wonderful got the job, people. He just found out today, and will be talking with them more (re: details, when he'd be able to start, etc.) next week.

I am so excited I might keel over. Seriously.

When I got the news, I just burst into happy tears. I can't believe he's going to be here. For real. Soon.