Under Contract

Sorry it's been awhile. Last week Tom was out of town and I was staying with someone in Washington (with no internet access). The cool thing is that the house I was staying at is actually my future house! Tom and I are officially "under contract" for buying our first home. I am so stinkin' excited, I can't hardly stand it. I'll take a picture soon and post it. The plan, as of now, is to move in around Aug. 15. YAY!!

For the past 2 weeks, I've been training in Kinston for my job. It's been going really well and I am still loving my job, which is unusual and new for me. The mortgage lady we're working with actually made a crack about the number of jobs I've had over the past few years. I was thinking, "Um, you don't know me that well, so you're not allowed to say stuff like that". ANYWAY...today in training, we had to watch this documentary on a child who was severely abused and eventually died at the hands of his parents. It was so sad. I really had to do everything in my power not to break down and cry. I seriously pray that we never have to deal with a child fatality in Beaufort Co.

On a more positive note, I think Tom and I are going to see the movie 'Stepbrothers' this weekend, which I'm super excited about. "This is how we do it..."

Working Girl

I've been postponing this blog because I wanted to get a picture of my office, but I keep forgetting to take one and I don't want any of my coworkers to see me taking the picture in fear of them thinking that I was, well...stupid. So maybe I'll post a picture later. ANYWAY, I LOVE my new job. I was pretty nervous about, but I have an awesome team (there are 6 of us in my unit) and a wonderful supervisor. I just can't say enough good things about them. On my first day, they had put a big banner in my office that said 'Welcome Kristen'. They also put together a little welcome basket with some practical and some funny things in it. For the past 2 weeks I have been training/reading the PS manual/shadowing other workers. The reading part can get boring, especially if I'm doing it all day, but most of the information is interesting and important for me to know. It's mainly all the laws/statutes/state policies regarding child protective services. I love it when I get to go with other workers out into the field. Starting next week, I will have 4 weeks of intensive, formal training and then I will start getting cases of my own! It has been hard getting used to the 8-5 routine. It will be nice when we are actually living in Washington, because right now we are living in Greenville so I have to get up extra early to make the commute. blah. BUT...we found a house in Washington that we want to buy, so hopefully it won't be too much longer. More on the house later...

Cliveman

Cliveman is what we affectionately call our dog, Clive. He is such a sweetheart and really just a great dog. Yesterday Tom called me at work (more on work later)and basically said that he had just saved Clive from drowning. Here's what happened: Tom was throwing the bumper into the river for Clive to swim out and bring it back. Well the water was kind of choppy and Clive couldn't see the bumper on one of the throws. He did however see the crab-pot with a neon orange floating device attached to it (the same color as his bumper). So he tries to get it, but of course he can't because it's attached to a giant crab-pot underneath the water. He swims hard for about 5 minutes but gets nowhere. By this time he's starting to struggle and has gone under a couple of times. Tom is trying to yell at him to "release!" "drop it!"...but Cliveman will not give up. So what does my heroic, wonderful husband do? He strips down to his shorts and jumps in after Clive. He swam out and brought Clive back safely to the shore. I'll say this: it's a good thing I was NOT there. When you don't have children yet, your dog becomes like a child to you, and I would have been hysterical, thinking that Clive was gonna drown. So this blog is dedicated to Cliveman. Here are some pics of him in our empty house in Goldsboro, and hanging his head out of my car window. Don't be jealous, he's the cutest dog in the world.