the weekend

[magicicada]

i obtained my interview suit yesterday. it took a couple of false starts, but i am pleased with the result. the first time i went out by myself, i spent nearly an hour looking in the wrong department. i called base and decided to return and go back out with sylvia. she had been napping, but woke up early and daddy really needed a nap himself. so, back out we went. oddly enough, i ended up buying the very outfit i had been considering when i called home. however, i still feel better having taken the time to make a good decision. the resulting suit is a purple plaid with eggplant slacks and a black shell shirt. i came in well underbudget as jcpenney is a good place for sales, it's the christmas season and the retailers are still fairly desperate. i decided to go for the gusto and get socks to match. feeling downright giddy, i spied a display of sweaters and do something that i do not think i have ever done. i bought the sweater in the front that caught my eye. i always buy the more decently priced stuff towards the back. it is a very soft fuzzy red sweater with a complex nordic print and sequins. but wait, there's more, i also got a very snazzy black mock turtleneck with snowflakes all over it. then i proceeded to the sock section where i got not only the matching trouser socks, but went for more of the nordic insanity, including a pair of socks with moose on them. the total for a snazzy suit jacket, slacks, shirt, sweater, turtleneck and 4 classy pairs of socks was around $111. not too shabby. i feel really good for having treated myself for once.


today started well, with sylvia allowing us to sleep late. well, until 9:30, but that was pretty good. she seems to be in much better spirits. her nose is still a bit runny, but she is continuing to improve. we generally slacked about reading the sunday paper, but h_postmortemus did make sure that i got out in the garden to finish planting my bulbs. gardening during this time of year is really for the hard core. i felt quite silly all bundled up, putting down my knee cushion so i did not have to squat in the cold mud. however, i had gotten a good start when jeff came out with the phone. it seems that joan from hr block wanted to speak with me. i thought for a brief instant that he was talking about a classmate of mine named joan, but nope, it was joan from the leesville office wanting to know if i was still interested in working for block. that would be a yes. orientation is wednesday. talk about a powerful suit, i didn't even need to wear it to get the job ;). i had brief thoughts about returning it, but i've always wanted an outfit like this and the job for block is only seasonal. i'll probably wear it wednesday just to make an extra snazzy first impression. and oh yes, when i was done, i did finish planting the bulbs, and was humming by the time i was done. there's something about a day in the garden, even if you're in the shade and it's 45 degrees in the sun.


as much as i am looking forward to this, there is one snag. jeff is going to be in charlotte from wedneday to friday night. that means the neighbor will need to watch sylvia. which is ok, as i completely trust her, sylvia is very comfortable at her house, the boys love her, etc. however, the orientation is in the next town, a half hr away and jeff will be three hours away. we haven't been separated overnight since we got married, and not very much before then. tonight i did the nighttime routine all by myself to make sure there would be no snags. i accomplished bath, reading and rocking(not nursing) to sleep just fine and was rather proud of myself. my main fear now is that i am going to go absolutely nuts taking care of sylvia without relief for 3 days. dinner is going to be a succession of degiorno pizzas. i am not even going to try to be fancy with stuff like that. we might go out to the mall a bit, but i'm thinking at some point we will be sick of the sight of each other. on the other hand, i'm sure we'll survive and papa has promised to call often.