Four For the Price of One

So, this post is about a video. And truthfully, it's a video that will be most appreciated by proud grandparents, but I just have to share it with you all. Baby Zog was a fountain of tricks and knowledge tonight. He finally conquered climbing onto the sofa on his own (we'll blame the short legs he inherited from Grandma Donna for the delay in that milestone). He also has started counting, attempting to sing the alphabet song and, well, just singing in general. Often. Loudly.

If you are familiar with the lyrics to the ABC song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, AND you are fluent in "toddler speak" you should be able to understand most of what he's singing. He's my favorite soloist.

So I present to you the video I have dubbed: Four For the Price of One - Couch, Numbers, Letters, Songs. Click here to enjoy the video.

Southern Moon

At some point in the life of most toddlers the famous book "Goodnight Moon" will enter the picture. We were given about 27 copies of this book when I was pregnant and honestly, I never thought it was all that great. So, as the universe would have it, of course Baby Zog LOVES to read the book he affectionately refers to simply as "Moon" every night before bed.

But tonight, I thought it WAS all that great and here's why: If you'll look in the photo above, you'll see on the table what is repeatedly referred to in the book as "a bowl full of mush." My sweet boy pointed at this bowl full of mush on the first page tonight, turned his head to look at me and said, "I see grits!" Oh how my southern heart swelled! Of course you see grits son, of course you do.

The best part is that he said, "I see grits, I see grits" (which sounds more like "I see gits") throughout the entire book. He must have said it twenty times. Every time that bowl full of mush showed up, my boy was ready to proclaim his excitement for one of his favorite foods. Meanwhile, I think I have a new favorite book.

Mom Zog Update

Please accept my apologies for my long absence from the blogosphere. I am - for those of you who don't know - a working woman once again, and boy am I busy. Many readers of this blog know the story, so here is a quick rundown for those of you who don't know. I'll steal a page from my dear friend Matt's recent blog post and just list some stats:

Day told my position at SPC was being "eliminated": November 19, 2008

Last day of work at SPC: December 20, 2009 (after 9.5 years with them)

Number of hours spent at the Unemployment office: 3 (not too bad really)

Number of networking groups/sessions attended weekly during job search: at least 3

Number of new people met in the job search process: over 150

Number of months spent without a single interview: 5 long ones

Number of companies that eventually interviewed me: 2

Number of positions I was ultimately offered: 2

Day I started my new job: June 2, 2009

So, in the end, I was offered two very different, but very good positions. One at a bank; one at an ad agency. Ultimately, work/life balance desires won me over to the bank. I just couldn't bear the idea of late nights, some weekends, and business traveling right now. I would miss things like the photo above or afternoons like this. With the bank, I am done every day at 5:00 and pulling into the parking lot at Baby Zog's daycare by 5:20. God is good.

It feels great to be working again. The compensation is not as good as my last position with SPC, so the purse strings are still a little tight, but living without the fear feels so good. I am settling into my Business Development position at the bank and think I'm going to find it to be exciting and rewarding. I couldn't ask for better coworkers at this small, privately owned bank with only four branches and 60 employees. It's an enjoyable environment and so far, I wake up ready to go to work. I'm learning to "be a banker" pretty quickly and feel more confident everyday.

Thanks for the prayers, emails, thoughts, and resume passing over the last six months. This experience has taught me so much about expectations, best laid plans, attitude, perseverance, the goodness of strangers, and the grace of God. I'm sure you'll hear more about it from me in the coming months as I process everything, but for now, as I said, God is good and I am happy.