I have my first one-on-one with my team manager at work this week. I'm interested to see how that goes. We meet with our TM once a month to discuss our performance etc. We just started working on live accounts last Thursday, so a lot of the review will be from teamwork and participation in training. Anyway, I love my job. I'm still thanking God, this was definitely worth the wait!
My shin is feeling quite a bit better and I think I might actually be able to run on Wednesday. I'm very much hoping and looking forward to it!

money and energy

Unfortunately, I'm not referring to the kind of energy I feel after a good night's sleep and a good morning run. Instead, I am referring to the kind needed to turn on the lights and heat the house.
We already had ours turned on when we moved in, it was being paid for by our home builder. Within a week after moving in, J called and put in our name. But we never got a bill. I kept wondering when it would come, but dismissed it for several weeks, thinking they may wait till a new billing period and do 1½ months on the first bill.
I guess I should know better than to assume. Today, I called our wonderful energy provider and explained my situation. The "customer service" rep I talked to assured me not only that J never called in, but that no one has been paying for our usage since December 13th, when the builder took it out of their name. WHAT?!? Being the honest person that I am, I admit that we have lived here since December. A part of me almost regrets divulging this information.
You may be wondering how this could have happened. I know I was. If we never called in, shouldn't our power have gone off? Apparently so. Mr. Rep happily informed me that their policy is to cut off power within 1 week if there is no one being billed for that address.
Ummm...okay...
Ours must have just slipped through the cracks. Oops! But it's not a problem, they will send me a bill for all energy used between 14 December and now. As a special extra bonus, I get to pay a $250 deposit! You see, I cannot be trusted since I don't have proof that I've paid for 12 consecutive months of energy usage in a timely manner. (I don't have proof because I haven't done so*, but that's beside the point!!)
I can't help but wonder, if I hadn't called, how long would it be before they cleaned out those slippery cracks and realized they were providing free energy?

*I realized I may need to clarify this statement. It's not that I pay bills late or fail to pay them. We've never lived somewhere for 12 months and had to pay for power. We lived in base housing in England and were only at our apartment in Illinois for about 5 months.

weekly church-hunting update

Well, since my husband said that I had posted about church yesterday, I decided maybe I should post about church yesterday.
We went to a quiet little church called Oak Hills. Well, that sentence is really only true if you replace the words "quiet little" with the word "massive". Oak Hills is Max Lucado's church. We didn't even find out about it until about 2 weeks ago, but it's only about 15 minutes from home. Anyway, I was a little skeptical about a church this huge with a pastor that famous. I was afraid it wouldn't have that warm and personable feeling. A place you could easily get lost in the crowd. But I decided to give it a chance.
Max Lucado was gone yesterday, another guy gave the message. It definitely hit home to J and myself, outlining characteristics and tactics of The Enemy. A big one being the fact that the devil likes to isolate believers, making it easier to get them off track. He talked about the importance of having Christian friends and and a Church family.
Oak Hills has lots of Life Groups that get together during the week for more study and fellowship. There are several open right now and we are trying to find one that will be a good fit for us. (I'm waiting for a call back from the chick who oversees the groups.) They also have several choices for Sunday School classes, depending on which service you go to. Next week, we are going to the Young Married's class before or after the main service.
Needless to say, we are both pretty excited about the opportunities here. I pray that we'll know soon if this is The Church for us!

Should've bought some firewood!

So apparently we have to make it through several more days of "winter" before we get our pleasant February weather back. I'm not exactly sure what this picture is trying to portray, but it appears to be bouncing balls of ice.

It's Saturday morning and I'm *supposed* to be running another 5k. Unfortunately I have really painful shin splints and haven't been able to run since Monday. But the weather is almost cold enough to make me glad that I can't go. Weather.com says it's 35 out there, but feels like 28. With 87% humidity. It's also cloudy. And a little drizzly. So I'm not too bummed about it.
Last night I went out to dinner with a chick from my work. That was a lot of fun for me, since I haven't gone out with anyone other than J in...well, I don't know. A LOOOONG time. She had originally invited me to go with her and a friend, but her other friend canceled, so the two of us went to Olive Garden. Good fun! :)
It's a 3 day weekend, but we don't really have any plans. After I clean house, I think we may just be kind of lazy today. It always feels more justified when it's cold and rainy outside.

asdf jkl ghgh fjgh ddkk sskk aakk ffll sdddf

zyfd ccfd ckkf vbbn bmmb buvqq qpoz zxww wpossz
bvcm cvbm mvmv bcbc bvvc cmmg hrgmg ytytr ttppq

Really, try typing it.

Not as easy as it looks, is it?

We are learning to type at work. (It's hard to portray the proper amount of sarcasm for that sentence when it is written, rather than spoken. For the sake of saving time, just try to imagine it.)
Our learning tool is a program called KeySoft, which is supposedly going to make us all type faster *and* more accurately. There are small color-coded stickers which cover up the letters on our keyboards. Then there are typing exercises such as the one above (but with about 15 lines each) to help us achieve this goal.
I can type fairly quickly and accurately when I'm typing words and sentences, but I can't believe how difficult it is to type random letter combinations!! My WPM went from 63 with 3 errors to 34 with 9 errors between the assessment (all words) and the first exercise (stupid random letter combos).
I am determined to stick it out, though. Partly because our team leaders promise that it will make us type faster and better. But mostly because it's required if I want to keep my job.

mommy!!!

Last week I was getting ready for work in the locker room at the gym when a lady started talking to me about my curling iron. (As some of you already know, it's kind of massive.) Anyway, we talked for a few minutes. Later, the conversation turned to membership fees and several of us were discussing how much we pay. I piped up and said that since we paid our dues for a year up front, we got a discount and the price really wasn't *too* bad.
Lady looked at me somewhat sympathetically and said "but...you're on your mom's membership, right?"
I was somewhat taken off guard, "Uhhhhh....no, actually it's me and my-"
She cut me off, "I mean, you're a member, but it's under your mom's membership, isn't it?"
"No" I replied. "I have a membership with my husband."
She proceeded to go on and on for a minute or two about how young I look...that I could pass for 16...that she was just sure that I was in high school.
I'm not even sure she believed me when I said that I'm 23.
She has been really friendly ever since then, though. :)

trying to be happy

I'm trying not to think about Shelby and instead focus on happier things. As a part of that effort, I don't want the sad post to be at the top of my blog.

Here are some things that I am happy about:

Yesterday I ran in the UTSA Diploma Dash. It's a 5k at the college a few miles from here. They have one every year and lots of people show up. It was a blast. My first "real race" where you get a number and everything. The races I ran at Alconbury were kinda small. The only bummer part was that yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far. My lungs and throat were not loving that!!
Anyway, I talked J into coming with me. He wasn't overly excited to begin, but once he saw the sponsors giving away free stuff he was sold! :) Starbucks coffee, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, breakfast tacos, fruit, pens, waterbottles...it was great fun!
My job is still wonderful. I actually enjoy going to work every day! I've learned *SO* much already about mutual funds and I know there's still tons more to learn. It's like I'm in school again, but they're *paying* me for it! :) I've gotten used to the early mornings, so I can get to the gym at about 5:15 and have time for a good workout before I have to get ready for work. I can't run in our neighborhood since there aren't many street lights yet, but the neighborhood behind the gym is well lit and has plenty of sidewalks.
I bought tickets today for Elizabeth's wedding in April. I'm only going to be in California for 4 nights. I wish I could stay longer, but it should be fun anyway.
Well, I need to get stuff ready for tomorrow, so this is it for now.
P sout home dawgs.

CORRECTION: I bought tickets today to go to California for Elizabeth's wedding....

Sad news

Right now I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't posted about Shelby and what we've been going through.
But since I did, I'm sort of obligated to share the latest (and last) update. She continued to get worse throughout the day and passed away approximately an hour ago. We're pretty heartbroken right now. I don't think I can say much else. I'm probably going to start crying again.
Scooter seems to be doing well. I hope he doesn't get any of the infections Shelby had.

Poor Shelby

I'm getting more and more worried about little Shelby. We think she may also have a lung infection. She's listing badly whenever she is in the water. We've had to start force feeding her since she won't eat otherwise. We're going to pick up some more medicine for her this afternoon in hopes that it will help also.
Today she is just laying on the rock and won't pick up her head unless we touch her. I feel so sad for her, but I guess there isn't anything else we can do to help. I'm praying that she'll make it through this.

the astronaut drink

The break rooms at American Funds are filled with convenient things for employees to use on our 15 minute morning and afternoon breaks. For instance, there are coffee machines, an ice and water machine, milk in the refrigerator, styrofoam cups, plastic forks, knives and spoons.
We recently discovered that if you don't want plain water, but also don't want to pay for a soda, there are several other free options in the cabinets. Various types of tea, hot chocolate, and of course, tang.
Tang? I can't even *remember* the last time I drank tang. Though I do remember, as a child, discussing the fact that astronauts drink it while they are in space. I wonder who decided to stock each breakroom with a generous supply of this wonderful orange powder in a clear tupperware container. Obviously someone who cares deeply about the happiness and well-being of their valued employees.
I was amused by this for the better part of the afternoon.

Gone are the days when I think it foolish to spend money on a doctor visit for a pet.

I can't help it. I just love the little dudes.
Shelby went to the vet today. She's been acting lethargic and not eating like usual. J noticed her shell getting soft and there was some white stuff on it. Now we have some antibiotic for her and Scooter so they will both be healthy.
Here's a pic of Scooter chillin' with the homies.