Something New

As promised, here is a bit more of what has been going on-

I really am enjoying my new job. It is challenging and interesting and I really feel good about what I did every day when I go home. I feel it made a difference that I was there. And that is something that makes me happy.

Joe is still job hunting, but he's only been here a few weeks, so I'm not worried about it. My family is off of work and school this week, so we're taking Ramona over there Tuesday so Joe can work on his job stuff uninterrupted and meet up with some employment agencies. Then we're going to Zoo Lights! I'm excited about that.

We're getting the apartment together. Slooooowly but surely. We still need to buy a lot of stuff, but I'm kind of waiting to see what we get for Xmas first. (Although I did blow quite a bit of money at Ikea yesterday.) I had a lot of fun going up to Ikea with Joe and my sister and her fiance. Joe's parents watched Ramona while we went, and it was extra fun because Kathleen and Mitch had never been to an Ikea before. I got a computer chair, an easy chair, a coffee table, a mirror, and four dining room chairs. I have more stuff I liked and will get later, but like I said, I want to see what happens at Christmas.

I feel weird. I have been blowing a lot of money on material stuff (new clothes, Christmas presents, housewares, and furniture) since we moved back. I haven't really spent much money on things over the last few years. I feel kind of bad about it, even though I know it's not a big deal. I mean, I need all the stuff I'm buying. It's not like I'm just throwing money away on stupid crap. But I still feel guilty. Not so much that I don't deserve nice things as much as I don't like spending money on myself. I think I get nervous or worried about spending money in general. I don't know. I didn't use to have this problem. I guess I feel like I'm not any more deserving of nice things than other people who don't have them are, so I feel bad about having them because other people who are just as deserving don't. Does that make any sense? Oh well, after I get the house the way I want it I'll stop spending money on it, and I've been buying mostly quality stuff that I really like that will last a long time.

Ramona is happy and enjoying things. She is such a sweet, happy kid now, and it makes my heart melt to see her big toothy grin all the time. Her hair has gotten much darker and thicker all the sudden, just over the last week or so. It's still not anything to write home about and you could easily find hairier newborns, but for our little baldy it's pretty impressive.

I took her to JC Penney to get pictures done. They are pretty terrible. She was in a great mood, but had absolutely no desire to sit still and get her picture taken. We'd sit her down, the photographer would ring some bells and make noises to get her to smile, she'd give the lady a look of attitude, and she'd stand up, walk over and grab the bells out of the lady's hand. Then she'd start knocking down the set and pulling on the lighting. Then she'd walk out of the studio into the showroom and start taking down picture frames. So we got a few pretty terrible pictures of Ramona where she looks either really stoned or really confused. Then the photographer wanted to do family pictures since we would be able to hold Ramona still. I was kind of annoyed because I was not dressed to do pictures (and we weren't in any way color coordinated) and I was wearing a sort of low cut shirt, which meant Ramona was pulling it down in half the pictures and covering me up in the other half. But we did buy some, and I pick them up the day before Christmas Eve, so I'll bring them to family Christmas if anyone wants some.

Well, that's most of the recent goings on. Bring on the short work weeks and holiday parties!