This week has been crazy! We moved in last week, got everything mostly unpacked. Memorial Day we finished all of the boxes we could (all that's left now are books because we have no shelves to put them on yet :))
We also dropped a heap of money on getting a washing machine (open box model that was nearly $250 off the original price) a new lawn mower (we looked for used, but I guess it was a bad weekend, there wasn't really anything on craigslist), and a new playset for Alisabeth thanks to a grant from the Nana Foundation. (It took Jason and Robyn nearly seven hours to get it all put together, but it's awesome!)
We also used some of the gift card money that the previous owners left for us as part of the closing to purchase the needed supplies for the things the inspector pointed out. So our roof is back in order and all the seams are sealed. Our staircase is fire resistant, out chimney is nearly CO2 proof (complete with an alarm just in case), and our rain gutters now empty a bit farther from the house. I think there were a few other items but that's all I can remember.
Jason also got a key hook for next to the door so I can stop losing mine and I picked up a curtain rod large enough for our nine and a half foot window in the living room. We are not resistant to outside observation at night! (Of course I never go upstairs in the evenings, so that was mostly for Robyn's sake, but it was nice to get the curtains up. We need to get a few more panels for such a large window.
It's amazing how many things there are to do!
We also spent a few hours weeding in back and front and really didn't make a dent, but at least the tulips can breathe again.
We also re-started our garden . . . we had everything ready to go, but it just grew too fast and ended up killing itself before we could get moved into the house so we threw away our beautiful pea and tomato plants and started over. We added carrots, lettuce, and squash. Oh how I love watching food grow.
Jason is also doing amazingly in his classes. He is realizing more and more that we are alike in our nerd-dom. The other day he was creating a webpage and learned a better technique for creating his layout and had a hard time not doing that because he needed to finish his assignments. I'm glad to see him enjoying his classes so much.
Alisabeth is resigning herself, slowly but surely, to preschool. She goes back and forth on whether or not she likes Miss Brittany. The days she comes home with her hair done are generally days where she likes her :)
She is also settling in well to the new house. She loves her swing set and she is enjoying having a room and a separate play area. Yesterday I brought home color samples and she picked out the one she wants for her room. The color is Lantana purple. I'm pretty okay with that.
I also plan on painting a chalk-board wall for her. I priced it out yesterday, one can covers about 45"x60" (double layer) and only costs $10. I think that's pretty do-able. It also says that it can be washed with soap and water, so I'm thinking she's going to love having an entire wall to draw on.
Robyn is doing pretty well too, she had quite a few successes in the last few days with getting quick job interviews and she has a lot of hope that she'll have a job soon. This weekend she went back down to Flagstaff to pick up her car so she'll have everything she needs to get herself up and going soon. We're super excited for her. I know she's been feeling a little homesick so I'm hoping the additional freedom will help her feel like this is really home.
Also this week she was driving around looking for the temple and she stopped to ask for directions from a couple. The man was holding a very young kitten in his arms and said that they had almost run it over, would she like to keep it. Lucky her it was a black cat, so she brought it home to make sure it was okay to keep it, Jason gave it a bath to try to clear up his alergy issues and we now have three cat's living in our home. Robyn's kitten is much more of a hunter than either of our boys. Already (my guess is he's about five weeks) he's pouncing and chasing. He's doing well and eating up a storm. Robyn started him on milk and quickly realized that he had teeth already and therefore could handle soft kitten food. Today (about a week later) we got him kitten solid food and he tackled that with a vengeance.
The first couple of days were touch and go with the bigger boys. Midnight doesn't seem to care much since he's gone through this process before, but Bageera is feeling a bit of strain and often is found either eating the kittens food or pinning the poor thing to the ground. Slowly he's getting better as he realizes that the kitten is not a threat to him.
As for me life is going well. Work is starting to ramp up and I received pretty high commendations for my efforts thus far. On Thursday they fired another girl from our office who had started about six months before I came on. I was a bit nervous about that, but the office manager and one of the other partners commented several times that they are more than pleased with my progress and glad to have me. Now I just have to keep it up :)
Of course this leaves us with two partners (who shouldn't really be doing much of the work anyway), one in-charge (a manager level associate accountant), and two of us grunts. That means I will probably be doing quite a lot within the next several months.
I feel nervous and confident at the same time. I taught myself a little about one of the sampling programs that we use because only one other person in the entire office knows how to use it and he was gone on vacation. I also used that program to pull out a couple of samples and then used that for the preliminary work on our next audit for the school districts.
That was an interesting experience!
The first one was at a middle school. Judy, the partner for the audit, came with me and I did the tests while she did the interview portion. Then the next day we were scheduled to go and do the same thing at an elementary. This time Judy met me at the school, introduced me to the principal and the bookkeeper and then said "I have to go, she'll do everything and if I need more information I'll give you a call" and then she walked out.
It was fascinating! I was there, alone, doing a test I had done once before, unsure of how to deal with issues like the fact that they didn't have receipts and documentation for a lot of it like they should have, and trying to get a feel for their procedures at the same time. All the while they were shaking in their boots worried because they're brand new at their jobs, received no training, and were worried that this was going to reflect badly on them because of their missing information.
In the end I just tried to be confident and positive. I tried to get them to laugh and lighten the situation and I told them a few suggestions for improving their controls (checks and balances) so that in case of something happening their butts would be covered. In the end I think they walked away relieved that I was gone, but hopefully also with a better understanding of how to protect themselves from accusations and mistakes.
I'm learning a ton every day. I'm working hard and so far it seems to be paying off. I just hope they hire at least one other person with experience soon so I don't get dumped into things that are above my head. (Brandon, the in-charge, says I'm doing fine, but that's only because I'm really good at bluffing my way through).
Outside of work I'm also doing well. I've got about ten people editing my first book (none of which have gotten back to me. . . hint hint). And I'm about 3/4 of the way through the second book. I did have a minor setback in that I saved over BOTH copies of what I had started on the third book, but que sera sera. That will teach me to be more careful about saving things when it's three o'clock in the morning.
Life is going well for us all right now. Things are progressing, we're excited. Where's a piece of wood when you need to knock?
