Catching up.

It has been a long time, so I figured it was about time for an update.

My job is going well and I am extremely happy there. I have never had a job quite like this before, I can go in... do my thing... and then go home. It's not a job that I'm particularly invested in so I don't come home and agonize over it. I don't have nightmares at night about everything that happened during the day, I don't feel obligated to work overtime and when I do want to I don't have to worry about getting in trouble for working it either. I have medical, dental and vision benefits. I can get time off almost whenever I want. It's a large enough company that nobody really suffers much if I call in sick. I make pretty good money and they offer great bonuses. It's also really easy work. I've never had a job that was this easy before. I have to admit that I usually like something that is a bit more challenging than that. But, with all the perks I can't really complain. The only downside is that I work in a department with mostly women. Office drama can get pretty catty from time to time, but so far I have managed to stay as neutral as possible.

Aaron on the other hand is having a very difficult time at work right now. He has worked for this company for at least 3 years now and has had a good run. Lately however, he is feeling undervalued. Many of his job duties have been given to an associate who was given a management position based almost solely on the fact that he is a good friend of the general manager. Aaron feels that as his duties are slowly being taken over he is now overpaid for the work that he does do... thus making him (in his mind) expendable. Nobody likes to feel expendable, and with the fact that we need two incomes, Aaron has come to the conclusion that he is ready to move on. He has become so disenchanted with the position that he feels that he is ready for a new field all together. He has been actively searching for a new position for a while now and might be starting something very big in the next few weeks... we'll see.

I have a new baby kitten... that isn't so much of a baby any more. His name is Evan and he is getting bigger and bigger... he's going to be huge! He and Aude don't get along fantastically, but they are slowly working out their differences... sort of. Aude has been extremely grumpy since we got him and very stand-offish. She has started making improvements however, and as long as she can get her space and if we take the time to play with her one-on-one she seems to be mostly content. She does enjoy playing with him (which is the whole reason we got a second cat) as long as he can figure out when it's time to stop. This will only improve with time as he grows out of his kitten hood.

We have definitely had our ups and downs. Aaron has started biking to work and is loving the exercise that he gets. We both purchased new bikes... unfortunately I fell my first time out. I fractured both my radius and my ulner styloid (both the bones in my left wrist.) It has been very trying to deal with my insurance company, but in the end I am just so glad that this did not happen before I had insurance. My wrist is not healing so the doctor thinks it is possible that I may have torn something in addition to the fractures. After a long struggle I was able to get the MRI that he said I needed. I am still waiting for the results... I could need anything from just some physical therapy to orthoscopic surgery... I'm trying not to think about it before I know what is needed.

Aaron's family has had a lot of medical problems of late. His mom has been in and out of emergency rooms and urgent cares with unexplainable chest pain for the last year or so, but the last couple of months have seen those visits double, if not triple. They think they may have finally found the cause. She has started a treatment program, but only time will tell. Aaron's grandfather on his dad's side recently had heart surgery and is currently in the hospital with internal bleeding.

My family is doing okay. Mom finished school and is very happy to have her time back. She is currently working on cleaning up the garage... a project she has put on the back burner for a long time now. She is starting to prepare for the CPA exam. She's not happy at her work, but they are going to give her the training hours that she needs to get licensed, so she's planning on sticking it out. Kim and Hector have called it quits. I miss having him around, but things seem to be going well. Katie is dating a new guy. The jury is still out on him... but that's probably because I don't see him too much. He's in the military and has been in Chicago for the past couple of months. He plans on buying a plane ticket for Katie to come out and visit.

As Aaron and I are coming up on our first year anniversary we are looking at trying to plan some sort of vacation. I've requested the time off, but it will all depend on what happens with Aaron's job situation in the next couple of weeks. We have however been fortunate enough to be able to spend our weekends together. So, we have been able to get some good hiking in. We took a nice day trip out to the desert a few weeks back... can't wait till my wrist is better and we can go back with the bikes! The weekend before last we went camping for a night up in Ramona. It's so easy to forget that camping doesn't have to be this big planned out event. All we had to do was throw some stuff into the truck and head up there. We both work late shifts on Monday so we were able to camp Sunday night, and come home and shower in time for work. We definitely plan on doing that more often.

Last Friday we went to see the Michael Buble concert. If you don't know who he is, please check him out. The best way to describe him is kind of like a modern day Frank Sinatra. It was great to get out for an evening. We both had a great time and it was an excellent show.

I think that's a pretty good gist of what's been going on... I'm planning on trying to keep up a little better... we'll see how that goes. Anyway, enough for tonight!