Inching Ever Closer

The progress on the house this week has been amazing --they pulled off the rotting columns and parts that are rotting from the porch. Now the pitted outdoor lights really stand out.

Here's my 'Ed' picture, taken when Den was out of town last week. Eddie was very specific about the 'E' he wanted and I was proud of the results. Meanwhile Josie is just enjoying her waffle any way she can get it. At this point she eats almost as much as her brother in a sitting and sometimes more.



View from the screened porch looking into the dining room through the double doors. If we'd known there would be a step down from the DR, we would have corrected it and insisted on not having the step. Ugh. Looking at the plans today, I realize it's there.

So the 'padding' of the dining room wall that I wrote about previously is not as bad as I thought. And on the plus side, they cut a hole in the wall to retreive the red monkeys from my childhood game of 'barrel of monkeys' I had let Ed play with (until I learned he was stuffing them behind the pocket door).

Had our second parenting class today. It started out really easy, very intuitive--positive reinforcement and all that, but got a little more complicated about how you praise--evaluative and descriptive. Fascinating stuff that cooraborated with an article that Den and I both enjoyed in the NY Times a year or so ago about kids and praise. I'm really liking the class. The concepts are certainly easy to get, it's thinking on your feet and in the heat of the moment that is difficult.

Josie has started squealing when she feels there is a need not being met. Real fun in the middle of church. Eddie has become very clingy lately. Ugh.

My boss has announced he will not seek re-election, but perhaps consider another elected position. This means in just about a year, I will be out of a job, or at least moved on to another job. Kind of excited about the prospect, but interested in what I'll be able to find that is even remotely close to the flexibility I have now (short of a couple key meetings, I work whenever I want to in order to get the job done). Pre-kids I'd probably try working on the hill or in a policy type of environment. It's going to be difficult not to fall back into the comfortable Federal Govt job but I pray I escape that trap (it's a perfectly fine job, but not one that seems to suit me).