I've said several times that people in Charlotte are very friendly and chatty. Sometimes it's hard to explain how this is different from what we've experienced elsewhere. A perfect example of this happened today.
I went to the driving range for a while to practice chipping and pitching before my last lesson on Saturday. I decided to take a different way home than usual. I'm still learning my way around the city and thought it was a good time to explore. Happily, I ended up by Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell and - fortunately - there really aren't many fast food places convenient to where we live. Even though I'd been thinking of the good, healthy salad I was planning to make when I got home, I couldn't help but stop. When I pulled up to place my order, the voice in the box said "Hi, how are you?" rather than the usual "Welcome to XX, would you like to try a XX?" I've noticed that a few times at various fast food places around here. When I was pulling around to the window, I realized that I left my wallet in my golf bag, which was in the trunk. Oops! So, I popped the trunk and hopped out of the car - still wearing my golf shoes - ran around to get my wallet and then drove up to the window. I expected the woman at the window to say something about this. Instead, when I pulled up, the woman at the window said, "Do you play golf? You go girl!" We chatted a bit about golf and husbands and all that while getting my Mexican Pizza and change. When I was leaving, she congratulated me on my new hobby, wished me luck and said, "Have a blessed day!" Sure don't see that in Chicago. :)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Babies, babies, everywhere!
I'm an aunt! Emma Elizabeth Costello was born at 9:08 am on Wednesday... 5 lbs 14 oz. My poor sister-in-law (and brother) had a rough week with a few overnight stays in the hospital due to preeclampsia. Fortunately, everyone is doing very well now and we have a beautiful new addition to the family. I've been thinking all summer about how nice it would be to live near family. Now it's killing me that we're so far away. Ian and I are hoping to make it to Missouri for Thanksgiving so we can meet her. I don't know how I'll make it that long! Fortunately, Ian's going to be scheduling a couple interviews in the St. Louis area for October, so there's an outside chance we might be able to get together before Thanksgiving. I hope so! Until then, I've been checking online at least twice a day for updates to their blog or online photo album. (Hint, hint.) :) I'm sure they're probably a little bit busy with other stuff, though... like taking care of their new bundle of joy and all her diapers and feedings and whatnot.
We had some other exciting news this week. One of Ian's "pseudos" (family friends he grew up with that are virtually family - we all have those, right?) and his wife also had a baby girl this week, possibly on the same day that Emma was born, although I haven't confirmed that yet. Silly excited uncle emailed everyone with her weight and length and all that, but not exactly when she was born. Anyway, we're also very excited to welcome Ava MacKenzie Perez!
Fortunately, there's no shortage of babies to continue looking forward to meeting. Ian's brother and his wife are due in just a couple weeks. He or she will be the first grandchild on Ian's side of the family, just like Emma is on mine. It's fun to have both of our families going through these big life events at the same time. After baby Villanueva, one of Ian's best friends from college will be expecting his third child and a friend of mine from grad school will be expecting her first in November, my former boss and friend is expecting a little boy in December and one of Ian's friends from med school is expecting her first child in January. Phew. What's with you people? :) Just kidding. It's fun and exciting for everyone to be moving into the parenthood phase of life. I think we may be past the years of 7+ weddings to attend and we're moving on to welcoming many babies into the world.
All these babies have been making me a little bit nervous. I haven't really been around kids much for a long, long time. I've spent time with my friend Sarah's little girl, but I get to see them much too infrequently. She's really the only one I've seen much. Sometimes it's fun to be around kids, but sometimes I feel like I don't know what to do. Today we stopped by Ian's boss's house to pick up something and spent a little time hanging out with his three girls - 8, 3(?), and 18 months. It was lots of fun! The baby loved me and I, naturally, loved her. (It also doesn't hurt that her middle name is Mae!) She pretended to be shy when I first said hello, but after about 2 minutes, she was running over to me wanting me to pick her up. She continued to try to jump out of my arms, run away, run back to me and jump so I could pick her up again over and over the whole time we were there. She was adorable. At the same time, the 8-year-old was showing me a game online and the 3 year-old gave me her blankie. They were all precious - and a good confidence booster. Kids are fun! I'm good with kids! I was a rock-star babysitter, after all. I was addicted to Baby-sitters Club books and went to a seminar at the community college when I was 10 or so to become a Certified Babysitter. :) So I'm a pro. Sometimes it has felt like life has been very serious since we moved to Charlotte. Ian's working very hard, I'm not working at all. Both have their downsides. The girls' energy and excitement today was infectious. After telling their parents that I'm happy to come watch them any time, we finally left. Now I miss them, too, and I'm ready for more. Bring on the babies!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Waiting for Emma
I just got home from my second golf lesson. It's going pretty well so far. Ian seems pleasantly surprised. :) My instructor is the guy who owns the facility, so that's exciting. I'm taking group lessons that are supposed to be no more than 7 people. We had 6 in our first class, but there were only 3 of us there today. It's a pretty sweet deal... not all that expensive and a fair bit of individual attention. So far we've covered putting and chipping. We're doing pitching next week and then full-swing for the last week. Hopefully they'll keep going well. Ian and I stayed around for about 2 hours after my class to keep practicing. I'm going to get together with one of the ladies in my class later this week to practice together. Golf study group. :) It's been fun. I'm excited to learn enough to be able to actually go to a course and try things out. We'll see how it goes then.
I'm still trying to figure out what to do for work this year. I'm looking for full-time or part-time counseling jobs, but I'm trying to keep my options open. I just interviewed for a job at an independent bookstore not far from where we live. I figured that if working as a counselor doesn't work out, I could always work somewhere else part-time and maybe do a lot of volunteer work to get some social services experiences. I've found a couple places that might be good options for volunteering. We'll see, though. I still have some sorting out to do.
The biggest news is that we're eagerly awaiting the birth of our first niece, Emma Elizabeth Costello. My sister-in-law, Mandy, is due in a few weeks, but she's been put on bed rest after spending a couple days in the hospital for observation because of high blood pressure. Mandy's hoping Emma will come soon. I don't blame her. :) My brother, Kevin, is in nursing school and his schedule is pretty crazy. I'm sure they'll need lots of support both now and after Emma makes her grand entrance. Please send your prayers and positive thoughts their way!
September in Charlotte means that it's time for Charlotte Shout, a month-long celebration of arts, food and music. Ian and I are heading down to Blues, Brews and BBQ tonight to check things out and eat some great BBQ. I'm excited to see what it's all about. Should be a good time!
I'm still trying to figure out what to do for work this year. I'm looking for full-time or part-time counseling jobs, but I'm trying to keep my options open. I just interviewed for a job at an independent bookstore not far from where we live. I figured that if working as a counselor doesn't work out, I could always work somewhere else part-time and maybe do a lot of volunteer work to get some social services experiences. I've found a couple places that might be good options for volunteering. We'll see, though. I still have some sorting out to do.
The biggest news is that we're eagerly awaiting the birth of our first niece, Emma Elizabeth Costello. My sister-in-law, Mandy, is due in a few weeks, but she's been put on bed rest after spending a couple days in the hospital for observation because of high blood pressure. Mandy's hoping Emma will come soon. I don't blame her. :) My brother, Kevin, is in nursing school and his schedule is pretty crazy. I'm sure they'll need lots of support both now and after Emma makes her grand entrance. Please send your prayers and positive thoughts their way!
September in Charlotte means that it's time for Charlotte Shout, a month-long celebration of arts, food and music. Ian and I are heading down to Blues, Brews and BBQ tonight to check things out and eat some great BBQ. I'm excited to see what it's all about. Should be a good time!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Keeping Busy
I am now starting the third month of my life of leisure. My job search continues and Ian is already starting his for next year. I am very much hoping to be able to find some work in the mental health field while we're in Charlotte. It's tricky to get into this work, since I don't have any connections here, previous experience, or a license. It's been a little frustrating so far, but I did have a very positive informational interview with someone at Catholic Social Services (Charlotte's branch of Catholic Charities) last week. They're not hiring for counselors right now, but the contact was very encouraging and gave me some ideas for where to go from here. It's hard to look for a job knowing there's a good chance we'll be leaving in about 10 months. At the same time, I don't want to waste those 10 months when I might be able to use them to get some experience and do some good for someone. We'll see...
In the meantime, I've been trying to keep busy and positive. Without working, meeting people is a little more challenging. I've joined a book club. I'll be going to the second meeting on Tuesday. The first meeting was good, but I realized this particular group is probably not going to be the best way to meet people my age. I think I brought down the average age of the group by about 10 years. :) But it's good to have connections with lots of different types of people and they do seem to be serious about reading and discussing the books, which is good in its own way. Ian and I are working on getting involved with a Charlotte area Catholic Young Adults group. Most of their recent activities were during the weeks I was in Missouri, so we haven't done much yet, but there are a few things coming up. I've volunteered to help plan the upcoming Theology on Tap series. We're also going to a mini-retreat later this month (just 1 morning), which I think will be good. We've only really met one person in the group so far, so if nothing else, I should get to know some other people a bit. This Sunday should conclude our tour of the Catholic churches in Charlotte, so we'll be able to figure out which one to make our parish. It's hard to find a church with that perfect balance of good spirit, community, location, etc., etc. Unfortunately, the church I've liked the best so far was also the farthest away. It didn't sound like it would be too far away, but it was really a bit of a trek to get there... especially in Charlotte's Sunday morning traffic. We'll see. Maybe this last church will be the answer.
Then there's the physical activity stuff. Since I'm no longer walking all over Chicago (and I have an abundance of free time), I'm trying to work out much more regularly. I found a fabulous park near Ian's hospital and I've been running there a few times a week. It's funny what a big difference the scenery makes in my motivation to run. When I was running in my neighborhood, I had to drag myself out. The trail in the park is really pretty and runs along a little creek and then around a lake. I've really been looking forward to running since I found it. There are tennis courts just down from our back patio, so Ian and I have been taking advantage of those. Ian played varsity tennis in high school, so he's been struggling a bit to teach me how to play properly instead of just whacking at the ball. He's thinking of getting into a tennis league at some point. We'll see. I think it would be fantastic for him, but his schedule is so unpredictable (or just bad) that it's hard for me to imagine him being able to set up matches and whatnot. We'll see. Hopefully things will get better for him. This week I'm finally going to check out one of the yoga studios here. I signed up for a 3-week series of classes to make sure I keep going. :) It sounds like a great place, so I'm looking forward to that.
My final big new activity is golf. Golf is serious business in North Carolina. I've wanted to learn to play anyway, so now seemed like the ideal time. For my big 30th birthday, Ian gave me all the tools I need to get started. I now have clubs, shoes (they look like this, but pink), a glove, a book and lessons starting on Saturday. I'm very excited. We went to the driving range last weekend and practiced chipping a bit. Ian wasn't sure he should show me anything before my lessons start, but I really wanted to at least try to hit something before I show up for the lessons. Besides that, I thought I should try carrying my golf bag somewhere (it's a bit heavy!) and walking around in my golf shoes. :) I'm glad I did. I banged my bag into my ankle the first several times I set it down and I now have a big bruise there. Typical. At least now, I should be able to adjust that and concentrate on my lesson than on a throbbing ankle. :) The driving range really went pretty well. Ian seemed quite surprised. I think he expected it to be terrible. There's a saying that a husband should never teach his wife to drive or play golf. I don't know about the driving part (old-fashioned idea that most wives don't already know how to drive and a bit sexist all-in-all), but I can see the point in the golf part. I've heard it's often painful when you're first learning and it's probably not the best idea for a relationship. I tend to want to be very good at anything I do and an impatient learner, so it has potential to be not so much fun for Ian. So, I'm taking lessons. But things really did go well that first day and I'm excited about my lesson tomorrow. And after that, watch out Annika! :)
In the meantime, I've been trying to keep busy and positive. Without working, meeting people is a little more challenging. I've joined a book club. I'll be going to the second meeting on Tuesday. The first meeting was good, but I realized this particular group is probably not going to be the best way to meet people my age. I think I brought down the average age of the group by about 10 years. :) But it's good to have connections with lots of different types of people and they do seem to be serious about reading and discussing the books, which is good in its own way. Ian and I are working on getting involved with a Charlotte area Catholic Young Adults group. Most of their recent activities were during the weeks I was in Missouri, so we haven't done much yet, but there are a few things coming up. I've volunteered to help plan the upcoming Theology on Tap series. We're also going to a mini-retreat later this month (just 1 morning), which I think will be good. We've only really met one person in the group so far, so if nothing else, I should get to know some other people a bit. This Sunday should conclude our tour of the Catholic churches in Charlotte, so we'll be able to figure out which one to make our parish. It's hard to find a church with that perfect balance of good spirit, community, location, etc., etc. Unfortunately, the church I've liked the best so far was also the farthest away. It didn't sound like it would be too far away, but it was really a bit of a trek to get there... especially in Charlotte's Sunday morning traffic. We'll see. Maybe this last church will be the answer.
Then there's the physical activity stuff. Since I'm no longer walking all over Chicago (and I have an abundance of free time), I'm trying to work out much more regularly. I found a fabulous park near Ian's hospital and I've been running there a few times a week. It's funny what a big difference the scenery makes in my motivation to run. When I was running in my neighborhood, I had to drag myself out. The trail in the park is really pretty and runs along a little creek and then around a lake. I've really been looking forward to running since I found it. There are tennis courts just down from our back patio, so Ian and I have been taking advantage of those. Ian played varsity tennis in high school, so he's been struggling a bit to teach me how to play properly instead of just whacking at the ball. He's thinking of getting into a tennis league at some point. We'll see. I think it would be fantastic for him, but his schedule is so unpredictable (or just bad) that it's hard for me to imagine him being able to set up matches and whatnot. We'll see. Hopefully things will get better for him. This week I'm finally going to check out one of the yoga studios here. I signed up for a 3-week series of classes to make sure I keep going. :) It sounds like a great place, so I'm looking forward to that.
My final big new activity is golf. Golf is serious business in North Carolina. I've wanted to learn to play anyway, so now seemed like the ideal time. For my big 30th birthday, Ian gave me all the tools I need to get started. I now have clubs, shoes (they look like this, but pink), a glove, a book and lessons starting on Saturday. I'm very excited. We went to the driving range last weekend and practiced chipping a bit. Ian wasn't sure he should show me anything before my lessons start, but I really wanted to at least try to hit something before I show up for the lessons. Besides that, I thought I should try carrying my golf bag somewhere (it's a bit heavy!) and walking around in my golf shoes. :) I'm glad I did. I banged my bag into my ankle the first several times I set it down and I now have a big bruise there. Typical. At least now, I should be able to adjust that and concentrate on my lesson than on a throbbing ankle. :) The driving range really went pretty well. Ian seemed quite surprised. I think he expected it to be terrible. There's a saying that a husband should never teach his wife to drive or play golf. I don't know about the driving part (old-fashioned idea that most wives don't already know how to drive and a bit sexist all-in-all), but I can see the point in the golf part. I've heard it's often painful when you're first learning and it's probably not the best idea for a relationship. I tend to want to be very good at anything I do and an impatient learner, so it has potential to be not so much fun for Ian. So, I'm taking lessons. But things really did go well that first day and I'm excited about my lesson tomorrow. And after that, watch out Annika! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)