I know it's been forever and a day since we last updated the blog. Things just got so busy between our new jobs and whatnot that we neglected to do what we created the blog for in the first place - to write things down so we wouldn't forget them. So much has happened in the last few months that I need to catch y'all up on, so here goes.
My job at Equifax has been going wonderfully. It has been such a great place to work and I absolutely love the people there. I haven't felt this "at home" somewhere in a long time - which is a very refreshing feeling. It has been a crazy few months there (which is reason #1 as to why I haven't updated the blog,) but things are finally starting to settle down. I've been putting in 50 hours a week for the last couple of months as the deadline approaches for employers to get their 1095-C forms printed and sent out to their employees. The IRS pushed the deadline from 1/31/2016 back to 3/31/2016, which made things a little easier on companies to get their stuff together but harder on me because now I have to deal with this madness for another 6-7 weeks. We'll get there eventually though... and as I mentioned the people I work with are so wonderful that they make it worth coming in and dealing with the craziness that we do right now. I technically have another 3 months on my contract, but my manager has already let me know that her boss (my hiring manager, Mark) wants to bring me on permanently once my contract is up. I told her nothing would make me happier than to stay at Equifax, but the salary would have to be there in order for me to entertain the thought. She told me that last week all the team leads had to rank their project managers, and that I ranked right up at the top with the 3 people who were already permanent project managers (who have been doing this job the longest.) It was very humbling to hear a compliment like that, but I know I've worked my butt off to gain the knowledge and experience that I have in these short 6 months. So, we shall see where this journey goes from here... but I'm optimistic that all my hard work will pay off for me.
Mommy B has been slowly but surely getting into the groove of her supervisor position. She has been putting in some long hours too and it has not gone unnoticed. As a matter of fact, there have been numerous meetings with the higher-ups at her work in which she finds them fighting over her. I told her as awkward as it may feel because you are in the same room as all of this is taking place, it was a good problem to have. She has still kept her eyes out for other teaching positions because that is what she ultimately wants to do. As such, she had an interview just last week for a nurse educator position in an area she knows fairly well. It would mean getting her back to something she is a little more comfortable with and hopefully back to a normal number of hours as well... not to mention hopefully an increase in salary. Just like with my job - we'll see how it plays out and see what happens with it all.
Alli has been loving her new school. I get her up every morning at 6:10am to get out the door by 6:30 so she can catch the bus by 6:40am. She arrives at school by 7:20 or so and stays until 2:40pm, at which time she catches the Chesterbrook bus to go hang out at her old "baby school" (as she calls it) until Mommy B or I pick her up along with her little bro. In October, she was selected as the first "Terrific Kid" of the year. She got to stand up on front of all the Terrific Kids from the other grades and accept her award from the principal of Jennie Moore Elementary School. She was a little shy at first, but she embraced it after a little bit and has been impressing us constantly ever since. Her memory never ceases to amaze us, and Tatsy asked her the other day how many times she has missed the bus and she accurately responded, "Four," then proceeded to recount who took her to school each time. In all fairness, we actually have only "missed" the bus twice, and the other two times we drove her on purpose. She completed her first season of Little Kickers soccer and seemed to enjoy herself while participating. It didn't hurt that a few of the kids she goes to school with from JME were on the opposing teams and her coach was our neighbor, Mr. Mike. She was probably the fastest kid out there, but was still a little nervous about getting into the action.
Aiden has been following in his big sister's footsteps as many second-born siblings do. He recently moved up to Room 10 at Chesterbrook and has been loving being the only Meibers there for the majority of the day. He too completed his first year of Little Kickers soccer and after spending most of the season on the sideline because he didn't want to play - finally came out of his shell with two games left in the season. He was out there running around, getting in the mix with the other kids, and in his final game even took a fast break all the way down the field and scored his very first goal! Talk about a Proud Dad moment - and I was right out there on the field with him when it happened. I wish Mommy B could have seen it, but she was taking Alli to her last game at the same time. We signed him up for Spring soccer too so we can get him back out there again, and hopefully he'll continue his improvement.
There has been lots of other stuff going on, and now that things are settling back down a bit at work I'll try my best to get back on here and update things. It's been far too long in between posts, and I don't want anyone to miss out on the action of our crazy lives!
