bummer

Well, we had our meeting this morning. The meeting in which to discuss the status of our staff interpreter positions for the upcoming fiscal year. They've decided that they can't continue our guaranteed hours, claiming silly things like they can't pay us for hours we haven't worked, that it is falsifying our time sheets to have guaranteed hours.

They are, however, fine with us cutting our availability to them. We agreed to be available during work hours, four days a week. No more on call, no more nights or weekends. That will be better for my family.

And although I was furious and indignant (How could they?! Don't they know who I am?!) throughout the meeting, I'm not sure if I need to be so worried. Granted, starting July 1st (that's this Friday--what are we going to do!), I have absolutely no income. That's a slight exaggeration; I will have some work. Not enough to pay our bills, though. But I’m not sure that this is completely a bad thing. The limited availability is going to be very nice. They are continuing our benefits, that is important. And taking away my guaranteed hours also takes away all the guilt I feel. When they call me at the last minute and expect me to jump, I won’t feel guilty telling them to find someone else. This may give me some control over my schedule again.

I came home and freaked out to Brett, ordering him to get a job and sell everything he owns. But then I ate lunch and had a long shower. (-sigh- I could tell that Brett was being patient with me while I ranted about not being able to pay our bills. At one a pause in the scolding, he asked when I’d eaten last. Ha.) I’m still not happy, and I’m anxious about making ends meet. But we’ll be okay.

i'm not going to wake up, no matter what

ninja baby

She wiggles so much that her headband slides all around. Ethan calls her bows "rainbows". My babies are the cutest babies in the whole world!

wordy updates

I had some videos to share, but it seems that blogger won't accept them because they are from my phone. So we'll just do an update.

I feel like I've been working a lot lately. It's been really hard to be away from my babies. But, we do what we have to, right? At least I enjoy what I do. The Powers That Be decided to cut my pay and my guaranteed hours as a staff interpreter, so Brett and I have been trying to decide what to do now. The other staff interpreter and I wrote a memo back to negotiate a reasonable compromise. If they accept our proposal, it will actually be better for me. But we'll see what happens. We have a meeting on Wednesday, hopefully they will have decided what to do by then.

Brett has been doing a lot of music lately. He's joined a couple more bands and is out a lot jamming and bringing the awesome to everything he touches. Now, if only we could figure out how he can earn money doing that. -sigh- He's still mostly staying home with the babes, being the Best Dad Ever. But, because of my tenuous job situation, he's looking for work also.

Ethan is talking talking talking! He's starting to use "I" and "me" about half the time now, instead of only talking in the 3rd person. He's always telling stories about the things he's done or would like to do. He's sweet to Ellie and is learning how to gently put her binkie in her mouth and hand her toys when she drops them. He's running and jumping and swimming and getting so dirty every day!

Rayen is a mover! She's rolled over once, but mostly she scoots around kicking and rolling. She's using her hands a lot now, trying to shove everything she can reach into her giant mouth. She laughs and smiles all the time.

I love my sweet little family.

working on the bike

Brett asked Ethan what he was doing and he responded, "Makin' it faster." Ha. Just like Daddy.

(He's got a screwdriver in his hand, if you didn't notice.)

sibs

ethan loves trucks!

And he calls his Gatorade alligator..."Where's my Alligator, Mommy?" Ha.

ready for a walk!