They like me, they really like me!

To our other friends who read this blog-THANK YOU! I love that you care. :) AND that you let me know I was mistaken in thinking I only have 2 faithful readers. Lets face it- I AM pretty witty and interesting. HA!

~KC

Killing time

So I am currently sitting here in the Burlington, VT airport waiting for a colleague to arrive whose flight is late and I have nothing I particularly want to do on my computer, so I figured I'd update the blog. You know, for those two faithful readers out there (Hi Dad, Hi Kristin).

This past week Charlie has started a new rotation (job) at the 5 sided building in our area (think, think- what building does she MEAN!?!), much against his wishes. He is still employed by the government but his "leadership" at his original agency thought this rotation (it lasts for a year) would be good for his career development. To but it mildly, he does not feel it is helpful to his career at all. The duties of the rotation are not very mentally stimulating and are nothing like what he has been doing for the past 4 years, which he had loved.

In my opinion, the thing that stinks the most about the whole shebang is the schedule. We are three days into it and I can say that I'm not a huge fan. The schedule changes weekly, on a 5 week cycle. The first week (this week) Charlie works "days". Days is apparently code for "incredibly early in the morning". He has to be there at 5am but gets off at 1pm. So this week he's been getting up at 3am. Ugh. It is nice to have him home when I come home but I feel like I have a kindergartner as I say goodnight to him at 7pm. :)

Oh well, next week the schedule will be "swings" which means 1pm till 9pm. Hopefully not as bad- no waking up at an ungodly hour. After that are overnights or "mids". (I have now been indoctrinated with the shift work lingo). This entails a 9pm to 5am deal for the work week and then (wait there's more!) working overnight for 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday. The next week, Charlie has "admin" hours which means he can do in whenever so he reaches his 40 hours a week. Next up, another weekend to work this time during the day for 12 hours. Another admin week and then the whole thing starts all over again. I know, I can't follow it either. I still have to consult my "cheat sheet" that Charlie gave me with his schedule on it for the next year. We are trusting that God has plan in sending Charlie on this rotation and the he will be blessed somehow through the experience.

There are a few blessings hidden in this experience...Charlie is compensated with a shift differential pay when he is scheduled to work hours outside the normal 7am-6pm realm. so there will be a little more in his paycheck most weeks. Paisley does seem to mind this deal either as she is not home alone as long now.

Well, that's all for now, my colleague's flight is about to arrive. Signing off from Vermont! And just cause she's so awesome- ( and I have no other relevant pictures to post) here are a couple shots of Paisley playing in the snow last month.

~KC

(Almost) Spring Day

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous and spring-like in the DC area. So we decided to "celebrate" and enjoy it outside. The day began with Paisley's first "sunning" of the season. She loves the outside and when the weather is nice she will lay out on the deck and sun herself as long as we let her. She even does it in the middle of the summer when its absolutely sweltering.

After breakfast we decided to try and find a swimming spot for Paisley that one of our neighbors told us about at a local park. Many of the parks in the area have rangers that will issue tickets to dog owners who are found with their dogs off their leads. (grr...). But our neighbors told us about this spot and said they have never had a problem. So we found it and Paisley had a blast. She loves to swim and got nice and tired.

Also over the weekend, some bulbs I had planted in the fall began to sprout and my crocuses bloomed! This gives me great satisfaction as Charlie has deemed me as having a "black" thumb. This is not true, I am just busy and don't always have time to water potted plants. So they die. However, plants in the ground are a little more my speed as they seem to require less maintenance. I choose the flowers I planted mainly because of my Mom as most of what I planted are what she planted in our garden when I was a child and they remind me of spring and home. I planted daffodils, tulips, crocuses and something else I thought looked pretty on the packet but can't remember what it was. Silly me.

And just because we love our dog this much, here is a video of Paisley swimming:

~KC