Alphabet Meme

The proverbial kick-in-the-pants....

A. Age
I turned 37 in May. I really am not the kind of person who identifies with their age. I look at the number and never feel like it applies to me. There are plenty of days that my body feels like my age and older, but mentally I can't reconcile the number to me. I don't dread birthdays like so many others because I truly feel like it's just a day that I get presents and extra attention...how is that something to dread? :)
B. Bed Size
Queen
C. Chore you hate.
I HATE pulling weeds! Probably because we don't do it until they're already very long and have strong roots...but I'm not a fan of being in the sun for long periods of time and have never been one to play in any kind of dirt. No gardening or landscaping for me.
D. Dogs.
LOVE them! We currently have two basset hounds, one male and one female.
E. Essential start of day.
I guess it would have to be brushing my teeth. I don't always eat breakfast and I'm just starting to play around with different types of coffees (thanks to our pretty new Keurig), so neither of those are essential. Oh wait... I absolutely can't start my day until I've fed the dogs, otherwise they'll just whine and whine until I go crazy.
F. Favorite color.
I love greens
G. Gold or silver.
Both. I read somewhere recently that the long held belief that you can't wear both at once is no longer the case. I wonder if that's true because I have jewelry in both that I'd love to wear together if I could.
H. Height.
I am 5'8". I was taller that most of the boys when I was in junior high and much taller than my female friends. Didn't really like that so much. I am still taller than a lot of my friends. It's not so bad now.
I. Instruments played.
None.
J. Job title.
Right this minute, it is Receptionist/Office Support. Hopefully very soon it will be something on par with Office Manager. Keeping my fingers crossed... I'd appreciate it if you would too. :)
K. Kids.
My son and daughter will be 13 years old in 12 days. I'm still processing it...
L. Live.
I was born and raised in Southern California, but was never the definition of a California girl. Never. Now, I live in a suburb of Denver and love it. THIS is where I belong.
M. Mom's name.
Marvell
N. Nickname.
The nickname that is directly derived from my name is Tyff. But I am also Mommy, Timmy, Babe and Beautiful.
O. Overnight Hospital Stays.
When I was 3, I had the measles and was in a quarantined hospital room. I'm not sure for exactly how long, but it was a matter of days. I gave birth to my twins via C-section, so was in the hospital for 4 days then. The only other time was when my son was 2 months old and spiked a very high fever. He (and I) were in the hospital for 3 days while they attempted to figure out what was causing it, and what wasn't. Thankfully, it was none of the bad stuff that they could test him for and once the fever broke they diagnosed it as something viral.
P. Pet Peeve
School supply lists
Q. Quote from a movie
"I love ya more than my luggage."
R. Right or left handed?
Right
S. Siblings.
2 sisters. They are polar-opposite twins and are 3 1/2 years younger than me.
T. Time you wake up.
Whichever comes first: The dogs needing to go outside or my alarm at 5:30am. I have no idea how late I could sleep if the dogs didn't wake me up. On the weekends, they never let me sleep past 6:30. :(
U. Underwear.
Is not all that exciting. Have never worn a thong and strongly believe that given my weight, I should keep it that way.
V. Vegetable you dislike.
I don't like beets. That may actually be the only vegetable I don't like.
W. What makes you run late.
Sleeping in "just a little longer". Screws me every time...
X. X rays you have had done.
Lots of dental x-rays, ultrasounds during pregnancy, my knee and one mammogram.
Y. Yummy food you make.
French toast, omelettes, pumpkin bread, spaghetti, shrimp scampi pasta.
Z. Zoo animal.
I have always loved the Przewalski horses. I think they are beautiful.

A Shift

Well, we are 2 days into Shell's new position and have already learned a lot. Yesterday morning was a big fat fail, but what went wrong was highlighted and those things went 100% smoother this morning. She's struggling with sleeping at night, but that is something we both saw coming because it's a problem she has always had on the weekends too. I figure it'll take a couple of weeks to become her new sleeping pattern. I had to work at Pet*Mart the last two nights and didn't get home until after 10, so I only got to enjoy having her there for a short time before we fell asleep, but I'm hoping that we'll have some *quality* time either tonight or tomorrow.

Speaking of Pet*Mart, I've decided not to continue working there after the end of this month. It was quite a challenge to juggle two jobs, 4 classes and my family for the last two semesters and I always felt like I was just making it work. I need to be more present for my family and in my schoolwork, so something needed to give. I think that my full-time job probably suffered too and I can't let that happen either. Especially since it looks like I'm going to get a promotion which will mean that I'll be packing more into my 8-hour days and I need to be at the top of my game for that. So, bye-bye part-time job....at least through the next school year. I hope that they'll be willing to hire me back next summer if we need some extra money.

As for the promotion, I'm meeting with our Vice-President next week to discuss the new position and what it would mean in terms of a salary increase. It would be fantastic if it could make up for the shift differential that Shell lost along with the money that I won't be making by working part-time, but that may be wishful thinking. I'm hoping without expecting...

My kids will be 13 years old in 3 weeks... Still processing this one.

My nieces are coming next week for a two week visit. This makes me thrilled and wary. I miss them a ton and really enjoy them when they come, but events during their visit last summer caused the argument and resulting 4 month silence between my mother and I that I'm hoping will not be repeated again. I've already talked to my mom about some things that I think will help prevent the same issues from popping up and I was very happy that she agreed with me. I really just want to enjoy them while they are here. My oldest niece will turn 17 next month and will graduate high school in the spring, so I don't anticipate that she'll be coming out to visit next summer. We are planning to go to California for her graduation and then make it our vacation as well, but I don't think I'll have much time with just her. I'm looking forward to some good long talks and simply happy moments with her and her sister.

The Fall semester starts in 6 weeks and I'm trying very hard to read as much as I can before I jump back into textbook reading. There are so many books that I want to read, but I decided to do something a little different this summer. I've stuck to reading only memoirs or autobiographical books and am really enjoying myself. I started the summer with a fiction one before deciding to limit myself and really enjoyed Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult. I am a big fan of hers and this one didn't disappoint me. I hardly ever buy books anymore and usually just get them at the library, but Shell bought it for my birthday after I had mentioned wanting to read it. Since then, I've read True You by Janet Jackson, Brady, Brady, Brady by Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz, Foxy by Pam Grier, and Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald. I'm currently reading Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) and am reading One From the Hart by Stefanie Powers with Shell. I just got a notice from the library that my next book is ready for me to pick up, so I'll probably start The Way I See It by Melissa Anderson tomorrow. There are still too many on my to-read list, but I'm doing the best I can. I do miss it though.