"Head...Shoulders...Knees and...SOCKS!"

This morning started just not well, but happily turned into a nice day! (at least until I got another parking ticket). In order to help out Spouse, we have changed up our morning routine. So I get to struggle with Child getting him up and dressed, while Spouse prepares breakfast and lunch. Which is totally fine, and forces me to get out of bed on time. During breakfast, Child starts making "the poo face." If you are a parent or work with little ones, you know this face. About 7 baby wipes, 1 new diaper, 1 paper towel to clean the carpet, and a complete change of clothes later, we were finally out the door! Once I realized that I was not going to make it to work on time, I succumbed to the "I'm going to be late" gods and stopped for some coffee on the way. Only got there 15 minutes late, not too bad, but I still got a damn parking ticket.

Once at work I got my 42 thank you letters written, I attended a retundant meeting, which was basically an hour spent mostly agreeing that we needed to write everything down on the board in front of us but never actually doing it. I also FINALLY got the Child signed up for swim classes!

Then around 11:30, I got a call from a dear friend who I have been out of touch with and meaning to call. She used to work in the cube right across from me until a bad judgement call, false accusations, and too many problems with her supervisor resulted in her being "strongly encouraged" to resign. Which was a total shame because - A: I really like her, and she's a lot of fun to talk to, work with, and hang out with, B: We share the same dark sense of humor, and C: She is totally amazing in her knowledge of the subject matter we work with and was our institution's primary resource on one specific aspect of that topic.

So she called to say she was in the District and could I meet for lunch. Of course! Hello - who doesn't like a yummy sushi lunch and a smoothie for dessert? We lunched for an hour, caught each other up on all the latest gossip, and I was so happy to see her happy again. This past year has been so tough for her, being unemployed, not sure of her future, how she was going to handle still paying her mortgage while back home living with Mom two states away. She has a contract job with the state, and she learned that she can move beyond our specific subject matter and work with new topics and materials. She has an awesome internship lined up with a company that doesn't normally accept interns, she is going to volunteer with a wonderful arts organization that can utilize all of her knowledge and language skills, and she's going to apply for a one year graduate program to build on what she already knows. So I say - good for her! I know how much it sucks to not be employed and applying for everything everywhere. Especially in our field where jobs are already limited, and the pay is not great. I am very proud of her for picking herself up, and moving in a new direction. I know it's not easy, but I'm glad that she has seen it through. Sometimes, although not always clear at the time, there really is a light at the end of he tunnel.