Author: Meredith

Two years ago, I was considered an entry level worker. I was two days away from celebrating a year since college graduation — and feeling very bitter about the piece of parchment that took a lot of pain and effort to earn. (Life isn’t always very kind to a young mother determined to complete her education regardless of the circumstances.) I had spent the prior 3.5 months unemployed due to an ugly situation instigated by a person who thought they were doing me a favor at the time. In the long run, I do thank said person because it was a favor in the long run. In the short run? Said person had no idea what a rotten “favor” that was. My family was teetering dangerously close to the nightmare many families are living in these dark economics times, and I was an emotional wreck in the inside. Still, I’d slap on my plastic smile every time I landed an interview and moved forward hoping for the best.

Everything changed one day when I got an interview at the University of Florida’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. That interview earned me the desk I have so happily come to inhabit Monday through Friday. It’s the desk with huge glass windows looking out into the hallway and through the glass front doors — the view out to the top of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It’s a building that afforded me the opportunity to meet The Tim Tebow last year (I absolutely had a fangirl moment as I saw him walking down the street, and I had no alternative other than to stop him and shake his hand.) I once saw Tebow and the Pouncey twins walking back from practice.

As a not-so-good Catholic, I felt it was more than a coincidence that my now-boss is a very devout Christian. It was as though a light was shining down on me saying, “this is meant to be.” My boss chose my résumé over all else because I wasn’t a student who’d leave after a semester. I had a family to help care for. I had that “stick in one place” quality. I knew deep down that I’d need to make this job my stepping stone from “entry level” to “experienced.”

Here I am now — I’ve gotten my two years of experience listed proudly on my résumé. While working here, I’ve had the opportunity to learn new things and validate skills that come naturally. I’ve been given the wonderful opportunity to work with family-oriented people who share very similar values with me. I’ve been privledged to work in a family-like atmosphere. I’ve found a job I’m happy to go to day in and day out. Sure, I have “menial” daily tasks, but the routine allows me to mostly run on auto-pilot for the more exciting tasks — like last minute projects that pop up, or working on the newsletters and publications. I’ve always got something to do, and I’ve formed a bond with my co-workers, the faculty, and the students.

I have no idea where life will take me in the future, but I’m glad to have the last two years in my memories. Here’s to many more!

We had been sharing our bedroom with our daughter at the start of the year since she was still breastfeeding — trust me, it’s much easier if you’re both in the same room when it’s the middle of the night. Our third bedroom was a computer room meant to become her room whenever she weaned. Well, getting pregnant initiates a series of hormones that made breastfeeding absolutely irritating. Let’s just say tender, sore, and swollen do not make for an enjoyable latching experience. So, I weaned her. However, her bed was still in our room, and a certain daddy was not too pleased with the little wiggle worm who’d come invade the bed every night. (There was also that whole issue of needing her to move down the hallway before Brian Jr. was born, but this was several months before his birth.) One weekend, he moved everything out of the computer room, thoroughly cleaned it up, and moved Tati’s stuff down the hallway to her own room. Tati and I were both upset at first. I’d grown very attached to my little girl curling up in bed with me, as had she. She cried the first couple of nights (I did, too). Then a wonderful thing happened — she began to enjoy her very own room, all meant for her girlie-girl self. Now, she’s as happy as can be and will play around instead of napping most of the time.

I’m going to try a different format today. As I was trying to catch the bus home earlier today, I got the distinct joy of watching the bus turn down the road to my stop — while I was a good one minute run away from it. Few things grate on my nerves quite like barely missing my bus, especially when I’m in a hurry to go home and feed a hungry baby. I called my husband to let him know the situation and continued on to my stop. To make the best of a lousy situation, I pulled out my notebook and pen for some actual writing time. I didn’t write the next best seller, but I did get to write out my thoughts and get a better feel for my thought processes. A couple of tasks seemed much more manageable afterwards. As a reward for waiting patiently, I got to chat with my favorite bus driver, Lori, on the way home. Lori’s one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, and she’s my silver-lining when I miss the bus before her. In talking to her, I found out that’s submitted her bid to drive the same route next semester (the bus system runs around UF’s semesters as student tuition funds about 51% of RTS‘s budget).

1. I am grateful for the probability of having the next newsletter’s cover figured out (as in the newsletter after this current one I’m working on).
2. I am grateful that the baby smiles, even if it’s not technically a “social” smile yet.
3. I am grateful that my daughter will still be able to fit into her Christmas dress from last year — it’s just too pretty to wear once or twice (she wore it for her 2nd birthday as well).
4. I am grateful that the presents are at least bought and stashed, even if most still need to be wrapped.
5. I am grateful that the new year will literally bring a fresh start.

Last year, we had some issues going back and forth in attempts to get our newsletter published on time. It felt like every time we needed to make a change with, say, a typo, we’d end up having to push back our publishing date 1-2 weeks. I personally wasn’t impressed with this, seeing as how I have become the editor of the newsletter. So, I offered to create the newsletter layout in-house and go directly to the printers. We got the license for Adobe InDesign. The fun began in January….

I searched for tutorials to assist me in my quest to become literate in CS4. I watched videos, took notes, and created a couple of files to learn. Of course, I really must say I learn best when I’m in the process of actually creating a legitimate file — which basically translates to, “I had to go back and relearn things as I sat and designed the layout for the newsletter.” It was challenging, but it was rewarding, fun, and absolutely worth it. The result? A fabulous newsletter — even though I did notice a couple of silly errors later on. Honestly, the newsletter had gone out with errors in the past that had nothing to do with me, so I wasn’t as embarrassed as I could be. When the time came, I was more than comfortable producing the 50th Anniversary Booklet. For the record, it was also very easy to work with our printers, Alta, Inc. I admit, I had a contact there already, so that may be the reason it was so easy.

I can now boast that I have experience with Adobe InDesign CS4.

1. I am grateful for the homemade chicken noodle soup I ate at lunch.
2. I am grateful that I’ve kept up with my water intake.
3. I am grateful that next year is a brand new year for moments of peace.
4. I am grateful that tomorrow I’ll have subject material for the best challenge of 2009.
5. I am grateful for moments of humor.

1. I am grateful that I have presumably cured my sore throat.
2. I am grateful for the rediscovery of chamomile tea with a splash of milk and a small spoonful of sugar.
3. I am grateful that some of the Best of 2009 prompts will have significant meaning to me.
4. I am grateful for hot showers.
5. I am grateful to have enough food to feed my family, a home to keep us safe, and enough leeway to grab a hot drink if I want one (and I bet you I’ll do so in the morning).

At first, I thought this would be hard to answer, but then I realized the answer was simple: Bacon Is My Enemy by Giyen Kim. I found her blog one morning in January while reading CNN’s news. The article wasabout her weight loss goal, but it washer writing aspirations and young mother status that roped me in. I admit that her writing style also happened to tickle me, which is what keeps me going back everyday.

What made her blog such a great find? She became a varitable nexus for me. Through her, I began reading The Brokins, who I believe actually found me first. I could be wrong, though. I heard about Dooce through Giyen’s Momversation postings, although it took a friend sharing a link to Dooce’s birth story for me to get hooked. Then she gave away an Acer laptop to Nicki from Suddenly Single Journey, and I just had to peek at her blog when Giyen raved about Nicki. I found a wonderful person who also loves writing — and the warm fuzzies I got from being welcomed as a “Bubble Buddy” really helped a bunch. Then there was Renee from Me, Myself, and Mommy who definitely found me through Giyen because I can still remember feeling awesome at the thought of building a readership. So if you’re keeping track, I got five blogs for the price of one. I suppose some of the credit goes to CNN for interviewing Giyen, too.

Again, this is actually Wednesday’s prompt, but I have a best restaurant moment that I’d like to share. At the end of September, a visiting professor from Ireland invited me to lunch. Dr. Matthews visits us often as she collaborates with several professors here at UF. She coordinated with me and IOM3 (the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining) for the career workshop last year, and she also coordinated travel arrangements for Dr. Jones to judge a competition in South Africa back in October. Dr. Matthews is overall very friendly and kind.

We went to Olive Garden, which is my favorite chain restaurant. I ordered the mushroom ravioli and water, and she ordered the Mussels di Napoli and a peach iced tea. Obviously, there were breadsticks and salad because I cannot have an Olive Garden experience without either. The breadsticks were a cardinal sin for me because I was still pregnant and trying to do the “no bad carb” thing to see if it would make a difference in the baby’s weight. (If you reference his birth story, you’ll find that it did make a difference after all. I have the consulting physician to thank for her suggestion.) We chatted about many things, including plans for the holidays and different traditions between the U.S. and Ireland. I was worried at first that I wouldn’t know what to talk about because she’s an engineer and I’m not, but it turned out just fine. For dessert, the waiter talked me into a slice of black tie mousse cake — another bad, naughty no-no, but no worries! Dr. Matthews had the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, and we brought my boss a piece of tiramisu. (It was a shame he didn’t make it, though I can’t remember why not — an appointment perhaps?) Overall, I had a fantastic time, and it was very heart-warming to have a professor take a lowly secretary out to lunch. Perhaps I’m not such a lowly secretary after all? 😉

Although this prompt was meant for Tuesday, I’m still going to follow it. In July, I went on a day trip to Winter Springs, Florida with my midwife and another client of hers to meet with a consulting obstetrician. Because I have had c-sections, I needed to consult with a physician in order to have a midwife attend my son’s birth at home. This is just how the laws work in Florida, and while it’s a pain I didn’t mind following the laws to ensure I could proceed with my plans. We were hosted by a very experienced and popular midwife, who so graciously opened her home to seven women and the consulting OB. Now, part of the consultation is going over the risks and benefits of a VBAC — basically, you receive informed consent for the “procedure.” This portion of the consultation is done in a group presentation format. Afterward, each woman meets with this doctor privately to review surgerical reports and patient history. Obviously, you have a lot of time waiting your turn.

So while we were waiting, we toured the outside of the hostess’ home. Her yard — and home — were absolutely lovely. She has a butterfly garden where she grows beautiful flowers that attract butterflies. She has a chicken coop where she houses egg laying chickens. She grows fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other plants as well. She also had a snail pond with literally hundreds of snails just hanging out, and they actually do eat the snails — escargot, anyone? (As an aside, I’m not brave enough to try eating them.) She has a screened in hot tub. It was just so much fun. I was incredibly disappointed that I didn’t bring my camera with me.

So aside from the function of the trip, I did get a bit of recreational value out of the day trip.