Pretty Happy

Things have been going fairly well lately. TT agreed to let me buy some plants finally, which made me happy. Better yet was when he agreed to go to the nurseries with me! We picked out a couple trees that would work for the back yard, but put that on hold for now since we have company coming in. Instead I bought a bunch of phlox for my front yard. I wanted to line the steps, and TT volunteered to help me prep the bed so the whole strip was dug up for me, old bricks and concrete chunks and all! (Our builder is really lame and didn't bring in enough good quality fill... Don't really wanna talk about it...) Anyhow, here is the finished product (notice TT and Merlot helping up at the top):



I also found out that work wants to try to get me some management experience. So on top of getting a raise and a promotion in this economy, they are really supporting my development. That means I have to learn how to delegate better, which is really difficult for such a control freak. (Is that the lawyer in me???) Regardless, I got my first "practice" today when my boss asked a coworker to help me out with some stuff. I got to actually "assign" the projects, which although I've definitely trained people on things before, I know my boss wants me to report back on how this goes relative to my ability to manage and lead. They're not looking to make any real moves too soon - the timeline is before the end of the year. Should be interesting...

And finally, if you know me, you may know I never took the bar. This is partially because I needed a paycheck to qualify for our mortgage, and partially because I just didn't want to (I don't need it for my finance job, so there was no pressure). It made me cry. Just thinking about it. Seriously. Cry. Not fun. Big baby. Right here. Anyhow... I mentioned to my bosses that I wanted to take the bar soon (I passed the ethics part, so I only have another year to take the rest or I'd have to take the ethics part again - boo), but I was going to have to self study because I don't have $3K for Bar/Bri. My manager asked my director if the company would pay for it, and my director said that they could cover it out of our "Education/Development" budget. Suh-weet! I was so nervous to take the Bar without the class, because I know I won't actually study for it if left to my own devices... Now I might have a fighting chance. Woohoo!

Now, just for fun, some puppy shots: