It's official!

It's official...Steve is gainfully employed! I am happy to report he was formally offered a job of "Special Projects Manager" today from the company that purchased the production part of his company. They basically said they thought he got a "raw deal" in the whole mess and his attitude through the entire thing has stunned and impressed the owners. So, this will be a desk job, with an office and a nice title. He'll remain at the current location (which is much closer to home) working under his old boss (who he likes very much) and retain his current salary. At this time he will be able to keep working his 6:00 - 2:30 shift which means he can continue picking up Jenna. He'll stay hourly so OT is guaranteed. Plus, due to all that he's been through, they sweetened the deal in a way that I can't post here since this is a public post, but trust me to say that it was an extremely generous gesture. I couldn't have dreamed this ending if I'd tried. It's like "too good to be true" and "having your cake and eating it too" all rolled into one! If you want to know more, email me. I don't mind filling you all in, but I just hesitate to post something sensitive like this on a public forum.

Anyway, this is effecting first week in January. He'll get one last paycheck from MLSP and his final retention payment (which came in HANDY at Christmas) and then officially go onto PP payroll. They get paid weekly which is nice, but will be an adjustment. So all in all, just wanted to thank you for your prayers. Going through this was probably one of the worst things we've been through as a married couple this far, but God is good and faithful and he has truly answered our prayers beyond anything we could have asked or yes, even imagined. I can't take any credit for it...just give Him the glory. None of this could have possibly happened without Him. It's by His grace that Steve could go back in to the job after a weekend with such a stellar attitude that the OWNERS of the company noticed and not only that, but make him their "special project" in order to keep him on. It's just surreal...I can't believe it's happening.

Anyway, thanks for your support and concern. We are glad to have each of you as friends.

Merry Christmas!

I know I'm late, but it is still the holidays, so the heading still applies.

Boy, it's been a busy couple days for us. I had all sorts of activities last week including ornament exchanges, a surprise birthday party (Happy Birthday Rachel!), dinner with friends and a Christmas party. Then, Friday began the family festivities. Saturday continued them and then Sunday, Christmas Eve, we were able to spend alone...just myself, Steve and Jenna. We ended up eating at Chili's (Steve's favorite) and going home to drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas Vacation. Then of course, Santa Claus came and Jenna was ecstatic. She slept WAY better than I did. I was up most of the night with anticipation for HER! Santa was extra good to Jenna this year. She got the Butterscotch pony she was begging for. It's a good thing Santa came through on that because she was visibly disappointed when it wasn't sitting under the tree (we had it hidden for after the other gifts were opened). Christmas day night was spend with the Taylor side of the family. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE our get togethers (even though few and far between) because they are so NORMAL! I love each and every one of them and always have fun no matter who is there.

We were off work yesterday and spend the entire day taking down the Christmas decorations inside and out. Steve got to rearranging the garage closet in order to get the Christmas stuff back in and that got me in the garage cleaning out the remaining boxes from our move last year. I made quite a dent in them. After we deliver the remaining boxes to the donations center and a girl we are giving some baby clothes, there will be just a tiny spot left of boxes that I know need to come in the house and their contents redistributed, but I'll just have to find the time. Right now, I have about 10 boxes in the foyer of things that just need to be redistributed. That is one of our activities for today. I have laundry left to do and then get a few groceries. Once that's done, we should be ready for work tomorrow. Couple days of work and then I'm off again until Wednesday the 3rd when Jenna goes back to school.

I am hoping that each of you had as wonderful Christmas as we had. I am looking forward to an awesome 2007. I'm not making many resolutions this year for obvious reasons (who ever keeps them?!), but I do have a few. I'll post those in a few days. Until then, I'm going to work on getting some Christmas pictures up on this blog. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Busy, busy, busy

Mood: BUSY!

The last few days have been super busy. I'm learning new things at work everyday, but it's stressful feeling like a certain level of expectation is out there and not really knowing what that is or whether you are meeting it. I think everyone at work agreed this was an extremely long week and everyone is looking forward to the weekend and then the holidays. Jenna's last full day at school was Wednesday and then 2 half days on Thursday and Friday. Monday Micah is coming to sit with Jenna and Tuesday she's going to Let It Shine. Wednesday and Thursday Steve has taken off and Friday we are both off. Today we are going to see the Rockettes and the Music City Radio Show which I think Jenna will really enjoy. I am thinking it will kick our Christmas mood up alot.

As for Jenna, her newly pierced ears are doing well and she loves showing them off. I think someone has already gotten her a pair of earrings for Christmas. Speaking of...she has decided that she wanted one of those interactive Butterscotch ponies that are life sized and at Target. Of course she didn't decide that until after "Santa" had done all her shopping, but it's ALL she's talked about! At this point in the year, it's one of the "HOT" toys and you can't find it anywhere. Not to mention it's $300 retail. Oh, you can find it on Ebay for like $600. Except I'm not one of those parents who will spend double the price of something just so my 5 year old can play with it 30 minutes and then we donate it to charity next Christmas. But, I will say it because a challenge for me to try and find one. I happened upon a used one on Craigslist and can you believe I was able to secure it?! The best thing is that the wonderful woman who sold it did so at about $60 less than what it retails at. She had gotten it on sale when it first came out so she was just wanting her money back. I was thrilled. I cannot WAIT until Christmas morning! Also, Jenna was wanting a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's something she saw in a magazine and has been watching the MM Clubhouse on TV. Of course, I delayed in buying it because I thought I had all the time in the world. Then I find out you can't find these anywhere either...they are ALSO a hot toy this season. How do 5 year olds know what is going to be a hot toy? Anyway, I ended up finding one on Ebay. I bid on it last night and won it! I will admit that I'm paying more for it than retail then you have to figure in shipping, but there's no tax, so in the end, I'm probably paying about $10 more than I would have in the store. But since I was going to buy it online anyway, it probably about evened out (at least that's how I'm justifying it!).

Steve and Chase have gone to look at cars for Chase and Jenna is watching TV. I'm going to let her watch the rest of this show and get her in the bathtub. I have had my shower, but she's needing another one. She coughed all night Thursday night and so I was up all night checking on her and I know she didn't sleep well. I was exhausted last night and so was she. She fell asleep on the couch about 8:30 and didn't wake up until about that time this morning. I went to bed about 10 and got to sleep until about 8:20. When she heard me up, she was up too. I've already fixed 4 dozen Christmas cookies this AM and we'll decorate them after the show (maybe).

This week will be even crazier but I'll try to keep you updated on our holiday activities!

Notice anything different???

Do you notice anything different in this picture? Look closely now...

Yes, ladies and gentlemen...that's my baby girl with PIERCED EARS! On Thursday morning this week, she woke up and said, "Mommy, I want to get my ears pierced today". Well...she said that once before and when we go to the doctor (our pediatrician will do it for a small fee), she decided (after she'd had a shot) that she really didn't want to get them pierced. This time, I made the appointment for this afternoon so she'd have two days to chicken out. But she didn't. After the first ear, she said, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts" but she didn't cry. Dr. Mary said, "Are you ready for the next one?" In my mind, I'm thinking of all the things I'm going to have to say to coax her in to having the second ear done. She says, without hesitation, "Yep." So, ear number two and then it's over. She thinks she's a princess and was so proud of herself. I'm proud of her too for deciding she wanted something and not backing down. I gave her every opportunity to wimp out and she held strong. So any of you "Santas" reading that are wondering what to get her for Christmas...earrings are a good idea now!

It is bittersweet for me though...it's just another way that shows me my baby girl is growing up right before my very eyes... :(

OUCH! Ever done this???

Tonight, I was peeling potatoes for beef stew (for tomorrow night's dinner) using a paring knife. It is a great knife and super sharp. Jenna was standing in a chair beside me "helping". I was telling her how she should NEVER use a knife or any sharp object. Only Mommies are able to use them etc. A good lesson in how DANGEROUS things like this can be. Just as I'm giving her the run down of all the bad things that can happen if you cut yourself, the knife slips and I slice my finger, quite nearly to the bone. OUCH! Of course, I uttered profanity that no child should ever hear their parent say. And Jenna, turns her head away because by this time blood is really starting to pour and I'm going, "Oh, my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" because I'm wondering if I should search the beef stew for the rest of my finger tip! Really, the cut was quite deep, but after running cold water on it and applying a paper towel tightly for a few minutes, the bleeding stopped. Of course, in my moment of panic, I called Steve who was trying to get his prescription filled and made him turn around to come back home. It was humorous looking back on it but I can tell he didn't see the immediate humor. Anyway, I'm even typing on it, so it's not too bad.

I'm about to try and get my Christmas card labels done lest the cards not make it by the new year! I took the day off tomorrow to organize my home life. Due to all the activity that is the holidays, we've put up our Christmas decorations (inside and out) piece-meal and so my house is a mess. Because I'm training on a new job at work, my office is a mess and I can't possibly handle everything in my life being in chaos. So, tomorrow is for organizing my home life. Then I'll be better equipped to work on organizing my work!

My Beautiful Ballerina

Mood: Festive

Today Jenna Grace had her very first ballet recital. She danced one dance to Away in a Manger. There were about 7- 4/5 year olds and they were SO CUTE! The way Jenna flits and dances around the house, I hope she decides to stick with ballet. Right now, she goes to class at the church which has a worshipping arts center. But it all depends on what time and day the class is. I think my little ballerina is most beautiful!

In other updates: Steve has a few leads on new jobs. One is an estimating position with the new company. There's no offer on the table. Just talks among the higher ups about the creation of this position. He also got a bite on a resume I sent in to a posting I found on career builder. This one is managing a print shop, so it will be interesting to learn more. As for the not-so-near future, we are still trying to decide. What direction we go may depend more on whether he stays in printing or more specifically managing.

As for me, I was told this week that I was changing jobs AND managers. I am eternally thankful to have a job, but the fact that it's changing in a BIG way and that I've got yet another manager AND am starting training immediately is a little unnerving. Well, it's more than a little...it's really FREAKING ME OUT! I quite nearly had a panic attack on Friday. The training started then with my co-worker and friend Allison and I thought I was going to stop breathing. It's not necessarily a matter of whether I think I CAN do it. Because I know I can, it's more that I feel such pressure to learn and learn quickly. And of course, I know absolutely nothing about the job I'm being expected to do. Although, I can recognize that my learning curve is steep, so perhaps I won't have such a hard time this time. We'll see.

I'm sure the holidays are going to be busy as usual. We're off to a Christmas cocktail party tonight...should be FUN!!!