Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Little shots of happy

1. That Crappy McShitass stated of mind that I was dealing with a while back seems to have lifted over the last few weeks. I can't point to any one thing in particularly that sent that wicked little storm cloud on its way, but such is the way with these things sometimes. The way out is usually through.

2. Professor Simon's teaching lessons on cause and effect. Observe:That's right, tickle the fuzzhead (cause), you get a smile (effect).

3. Those of you who keep up with my wife's blog, or who know us in the flesh know that a while back, we were worried that Henry might have lead poisoning. Fucking lead poisoning! What year is this again? Long story short, the kid was showing all the signs, none of which had been apparent prior to us moving into this house we're in, which was built in 1946, lead paint's American heyday. Well, I'm pleased to announce that the results are in and my little boy is just fine. There may be lead in the walls, perhaps a bit in the soil, and maybe even some in my pencil, but none of it seems to have gotten into Henry's bloodstream. Beyond that, both his appetite and his energy level seem to have returned with a vengeance. Of course, now I have all this useless information that I culled from the Texas Property Code just rolling around in my head, looking to be put to use.

4. People keep asking me about how school is going, and I'm starting to feel a bit like a broken record telling them that I took this semester off because of the new baby. I know I'm going back in the fall, but that seems so very far away. Not just timewise, but also because, faithwise, I'm in an odd place. But that's fodder for another post. Still, there's some exceedingly good news on the school front. This little jolt of joy is one that I've been sitting on for a while because I just knew that if I made any sort of announcement about it, it would somehow fall through. I didn't dare say anything before it was absolutely 100% certain, so certain was I of my power to enjinxanate the situation. But we've hit the 100% mark now, so I can tell you. See, my employer has this cool little benefit called tuition assistance where they'll reimburse you the cost of your tuition for any higher learnings you may wish to pursue. There are some strings attached, but they're quite reasonable strings, not like those slightly psychotic strings that like to play mind games. Except the thing is, when I started at the seminary, the company didn't want to approve my request for reasons I never could quite get to the bottom of. Fine. I went ahead with my plans and got through two semesters. Then one morning, I happened to be having a friendly conversation with our company HR guy, and the subject of school comes up. Being the HR guy, he asks if I'm taking advantage of the tuition benefits, to which I respond with my sob story. "Let me see what I can do" he says. Barely an hour later, I get a call back from the benefits department saying they've approved my request. I got all my paperwork in and the check came through.

I suppose I ought to take it as some kind of sign.

10 comments:

Jenn C. said...

Heck, yeah! What an awesome sign to come in the form of a check!

Glad that the Crappy McShitass state of mind has passed. We all get those sometimes. Now I know the technical term. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

checks are good, especially if they come out of the blue. Time to buy me that new flat screen TV you promised me.

Tara said...

Dude that rocks! Baby giggles and tuition reimbursement all in the same post, gonna be hard to top that.

Steve said...

Sweet thing on the reimbursement. My company forked over about 20% towards my program as well.

That is so awesome. Wait until you notice on how that makes learning even that much better. :)

CamiKaos said...

thats a whole lot of news.

good news. good news is good.

good for you.

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

Love the giggle pics. You may win a Nobel Prize for that research!

sybil law said...

Hells yes, tuition reimbursement rocks!!!
That IS a sign. I think.
:)
Those pictures make me want to kiss and squeeze those cheeks - it's killing me!!!
Also, fantastic news on the non-lead poisoning! How freaking scary is that?!!!

Jason said...

Congrats on the tuition reimbursement. Checks are the best sort of "signs."

Lead paint is scary, we just bought a house and no lead paint was one of the (many) criteria. I was afrad I'd look over and find one of the kids chewing on a windowsill.

Simon is adorable, those smiles are even better than checks.

Keith said...

Healthy babies and healthy checks are a good combination. Glad to hear that you are feeling waves of positivity in your life.

That kid of your has a great smile. I miss those days sometimes.

Bubblewench said...

Glad to hear there is no lead poisioning!

Glad to hear the funk is lifting..

Glad to hear you got a Check! That part is awesome! Make sure you go thorugh that HR dude in the fall.

:)