Vi-isms

In the spirit of "I hope you're writing these cute things down," here are some of Vi's silly words of late:

Vi: Boo and Lellow make Geen!
Me: That's right! What do yellow and red make?
Vi: They make....I think it's....something liiiiike.....WE DON'T PUT PLAY-DOUGH IN OUR MOUTHS!!

Me: What do you want to dream about tonight?
Vi: Uuuummm.... I think.... my sleep is about....Pincesses....Kanga-Woos.... and Kickens. (Chickens)
Me: That sounds great! Can I come, too?
Vi: Yeah! (looks at me skeptically) Are you thinking about Pincesses? Kanga-woos? And Kickens?
Me: Yes, yes I am.
Vi: Okay. See you there. Good night. I luzz you. (kiss, kiss) I kiss you.

Vi: When I was really, really born? I came out of your belly and drank hot milk from your nipples. I was soooo cute! I was so born.

Vi: I going to the toy store, 'bye!
Me: Who are you going with?
Vi: My husband. He's 14 years old, and his name is Darrell.

Dan, reading On Market Street, where S is clearly for Shoes: S is for saxophones.
Vi: No, no, no, no, no. S is for Shoes. And for Stephanie, too.

Vi: NO! I DON'T WANT TO!
(Had to throw in a little bit of the temper tantrums she's dished out recently!)

Nonsense words: Boutique. Gleeky. Muggy.

Vi, drifting off to sleep: You my best friend, ezzer, ezzer.

While watching a folk musician perform in the park at Mill Creek, Vi sat and listened to every song, then brought the musician a stick or a leaf. After each song. He sweetly accepted each gift.

I told Vi how to distract Dan from his probing questions about his birthday present. She waves her hands in front of his face and says, "Bacon, bacon, bacon!"

She requests "big long noodles and chopsticks" at least once a week. Still eating a lacto-fruitarian diet, for the most part. Picking out her own clothes. Sleeping through the night. Only wearing diapers at night and at naptime.

Suddenly, she's almost three.

Rising up from the ashes?

Here we are. May in Maine. The lilacs are moments away from full-aromatic-bloom, much to my delight. The birds and wind chimes and giggling children are filling the sound waves with that pleasant sensation that yes, Summer is almost here.

Thank God, because this Spring SUCKED! :-) Two unemployed parents, trying to make ends meet. We did pretty well, considering. I mean, we didn't kill each other!

Dan started his new position with Hamilton Marine today. He'll be the head of the electrical department. He is happy to be back in the marine world, has seen a few favorite customers already, and enjoyed learning more about the company's values from the CEO today. We're hopeful this is a good fit and grateful for the opportunity!

I am gearing up with a few gigs. First, I'm working at daycare, handling the receivables on a barter basis. This is fun, rewarding, and a huge discount on our much-needed, much-appreciated child care. Second, I'm the business manager for a marketing firm which focuses on local, sustainable businesses' image, messaging and overall strategy. Third, I'm an account manager for a sales rep placement group, working to fill short-term sales projects with high-energy, highly-skilled sales professionals. Busy, busy!

Vi is still loving pre-school. We feel really fortunate to have such a wonderful team of people in our village. They truly love our kid and treat her with the respect and kindness we want her to, in turn, learn as a way of life.

Our garden is planted, well... mostly. We're still going to put in some zucchini and squash. Dan keeps adding raised beds. Our backyard will soon be one big garden! I'm looking forward to lots of tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, beets, peppers, beans, peas and herbs. The soil is amazing this year; it holds water and is so rich. Dan's been reading everything he can get his hands on - even making deliberate trips to the library - to expand his gardening skills and philosophies. You know how Dan is - a vat of information. Well, be prepared for lessons you didn't know you needed to learn on tomato roots...or something like that.

Spring has Sprung!

thursday morning:

We have little flowers starting to pop their green heads up out of the soil. Brave, they are. Leaving the warmth of their dirt-blankets, hoping for enough sunshine for nourishment to realize their goal of flower-dom.

That's how I feel right now, too. Full of hope for a brighter tomorrow. Dependent on faith that I will find a way to nourish my soul through my career. Colleagues tell me how brave I am. I say, I must be brave, because I'm terrified! This is either the stupidest or the smartest thing I've ever done, leaving my job before securing another.

I hope we don't have any late frosts.

thursday afternoon:

My friends, colleagues and associates are amazing. I am truly inspired and full of hope for my career. How lucky am I to be in a position where I can hold out for a dream job...at least for a couple of months, I can hold out! I have some time to myself, time to network, time to play, time to rest...I have given myself the gift of time! The possibilities seem endless.

thursday evening:

Dan: "I got laid off today."

thursday night:

I'm just holding onto hope, trying to stay positive, and hanging onto the faith that the sun will come out tomorrow.

Setting my Priorities

For those of you who have scratched your heads at my odd facebook status updates lately...here is my best attempt to explain what's going on.

When New Year's rolled around, I didn't bother making any real "resolutions." I did join a gym, as a gift from my brother, Dan. I decided that this would be the Year of Lindsay. No more aches and pains, no more weakness. Just me, doing something - anything - for myself, for once. I hadn't even made it INTO the gym once before the effects of this attitude change were bubbling to the surface.

When I looked at my life, I realized that there were a lot of things I could never change. If I wanted to find less stress, more balance, more peace, less pain...I needed to do SOMETHING different. Continuing on with everything in the exact same place and pattern was going to get me nowhere. (Ever read the definition for the word INSANITY?) I realized that the one thing I could change is my job.

(What's my job, you ask? I am the Senior Consultant at my family's bookkeeping and accounting firm. I do accounting work, business consulting, software training, and most of the firm's marketing. I function as the Accounting Department for my clients. It's a great job, I'm good at it, and I love my clients. It's just time for me to move on.)

So, very quickly, I let my stepfather/boss (or boss/stepfather, depending on the task at hand! Kudos to him for playing both roles so well) know that I needed to leave. We put a plan into motion for my last day to be Friday, February 26th.

Where am I going? Nowhere, yet. I have been, bit by bit, communicating with my contacts in the business community and trying to decide what I want to do, which direction I'm headed, what should my next step be? I'm thinking of preparing for the CPA exam, or taking the GMATs so I can start work on my MBA. I know that I want to be working with driven, dynamic people. I want to feel like I'm bettering my community. I need a workplace full of integrity. I'm looking at every opportunity and deciding if it has potential to be the next, best place for me. I can see myself as the Executive Director for a non-profit...someday! Getting from here to there...is a process I have yet to define.

The right job will support me in my priorities to:
1) Kiss my kid
2) Pay my bills
3) Feel fulfilled

I don't think it's asking too much. Do you?