TGIT

Not quite Friday yet, but close enough.

These past few days I went to a conference for two days, had a dinner party for my two bosses one evening, and prepped the house for the arrival of the new puppy.  Not a bad week, but long and exhausting, especially with my Israeli HR director in town and demanding much of my attention. Whenever my “other” boss comes to visit from Israel (about twice a year) I end up with long lunchless days at work, and worst of all NO GYM.  When I don’t go to the gym, every bite I eat wracks me with guilt.  I’m serious.  Gymming lets me eat happy.  Gymless weeks are miserable weeks.  So here we are at Thursday already, and I’m in a great mood.  I’ve been in a great mood a lot recently, which is a nice change from a rather depressing April May and June.  Let’s talk about the reasons why!

• For more than a year now, I’ve been working at this job I have, a job I don’t absolutely hate, but one that doesn’t fit me to a tee.  This job is lucrative, this job is solid, this job has a pretty decent 401K match, and so it’s where I’m sticking until the Professor is out of school.  In May of ’09 he’ll be done and moving to our new place (which is wherever he gets a job).  The way I reckoned, my 401K match would be fully vested four months later, on September 1 of that year (my birthday!), so I was going to stay here until then, and follow him after that date.  OK, so this is a long setup, but the great news is that I found out I had it all wrong.  I’ll be fully vested in June of 2008 – more than a year before the date I’ve had in my head (and on my calendar) for 2 years.  This sounds like a small thing – but it is SOOOOO freeing to know that when he goes, I can just go.  We can move together.  We can choose a place to live together.  It doesn’t jack up our living arrangements, selling our house, even having a kid is less complicated.  When I found out it was like getting a reduced jail sentence.
• I’m getting a raise at work.  I’m very underpaid for my position ($16,000 under the midpoint for my  job – that’s the thing about HR, we know the stats, you can’t pull the wool over our eyes).  So I went to my boss with my stats and my salary surveys and my stuff and was like – dude, you know you’re getting a deal with me.  You know I could go somewhere else and make this amount.  You know you’d miss me.  And he was all – yeah, I’d miss you, you’re right.  Let’s work something out.  The figures aren’t ironed out just yet, but I’m confident I will get what I want, cuz it’s very reasonable and if I don’t I can and will find it elsewhere.
• My conference schedule let us out early on Wed, and I spent two hours in the library.  It was great.  I’m reading a lot about prayer, and also Shakespeare.
• The Professor’s had lots of work lately, and the temp jobs he’s done are ones that allow him to work on his schoolwork most of the day.  April, May, and June were about as tight as humanly possible, so these last couple of months it’s like a corset has been unlaced and I can breathe again.  We’re paying the bills and the Professor hasn’t had to totally sacrifice his summer scholastic accomplishments.  I feel like it’s been a win-win.
• The puppy is coming in just two days.  Prepare for pictures of humongous ears, big square paws, and a teeny little body.
• In preparation for the pup, we’ve been trying to limit our out of town travel.  It’s actually been nice, to just hang out at home.  Bella has enjoyed us, I know, and she’s chilled out on the meowing at all hours.  Little does she know what’s in store . . .

Bedtime.  Just one . . . more . . . day . . . til we can sleep in!