long story short

i got the job. we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that the prayers and the twin-sets worked their mojo. i start on the 15th. and i've already started looking for houses and making plans. this is going to be the biggest job i've ever done, in scope, function, emotional investment, etc. i'm excited, hopeful, a little scared, and more than anything, ready to do something. i didn't even have to dicker on my salary package. i have slept better in the last 4 days than i have in a solid month.

i got to put my nephew to sleep last week. that was pretty spectacular. this little scrap of a boy who looks so much like my father, so much like my brother, but is entirely himself, and who loves me, just because i come see him and rock him to sleep sometimes. he's teething, and it's pretty relentless, apparently. i'm very grateful not to remember my teething days. talk about being cranky...it took me singing most of the songs on james taylor's greatest hits, and a couple of elton john songs to get the little monster to shut it down for the night. and even though the 25 pounds of need that is my little nephew didn't go to sleep for two hours, and my arms were a little sore from holding him, i wouldn't have traded that time for any job, or amount of money, or relationship...it was utterly priceless. i think that child has a mark on me, invisible, but deep and abiding, and it's amazing how i feel about him, even though i didn't grow him or bring him into the world. i start to run out of words when i try to talk about that, even in my journal. it's bigger than that, i guess.

life is so full right now, with comings and goings, adjustments, moves, hellos and goodbyes. my 15 year old dog is not doing well, and that's kind of sad. mostly i'm sad for my momma, because beau has been her fur-baby since my brother and i left home. and i know that him shuffling loose the mortal coil will be hard on her, and that makes me sad. beau is a good dog, not the fetch kind of dog, but the love on you kind of dog. beau is the kind of dog that will curl up in your lap or at your feet and watch all of the godfather movies in a row and eat popcorn with you. he's old, he smells, he has fluid around his heart, and his one joy in life is a tie between licking the cat's butt or eating out of the cat's litter box. he also likes trying to chase down deer, but he's older and slower, and mostly just tries to cover their scent when he goes for a walk. he's a mutt, through and through, and as much as he's peed on the corner of my bed and barked me out of bed in the mornings, shoved me off the couch, etc., i adore that dog. there will never be one as good as beau, again. and that's ok. life is a wheel, and we are all on it, fur friends, and otherwise.

mil besos--rmg