Caleb and Me: Made it through the first week....

First off, let me apologize to the many of you reading this that have emailed and/or called me this week, but I never got back to you. Thanks so much for being so concerned about me and checking on how my first week at work went! I wasn't trying to ignore anyone, but by the time I got home, I was just SO tired. All I wanted to do was hug and kiss Caleb, play with him as much as I could, and go to bed. I've always had such respect for single moms, but now that I'm becoming one, I'm even more in awe. I know I'll make it through this with God's help like so many others have, but this is absolutely the hardest thing I've ever gone through.

Now, about my new job- Everything went fine. I only have to do one week of full-time training, so I've already made it through that, and I'll start my part-time schedule Monday. They ended up switching my hours around, but I think it's for the better. Now it's going to be Monday-Thursday, 7 p.m. to midnight. That will give me all day to be home with Caleb, and if I have a day class or two during the week, it's not a big deal. I may be a little tired working so late, but I'll survive. For those of you concerned about me being downtown so late at night, like my mom and dad were, I will be working with another male teacher's assistant who is very nice, and there will be some other people working there with me as well. I'll try to make sure I always walk out with him or one of the IT guys that are there. The pastor's wife is buying me a cute little thing of mace from the hospital gift shop to add to my safety. Seriously though, I'm not worried. The building I'll be working in is in a nice part of downtown right by the ballpark and movie theater so there will be plenty of people around I think, even that late.

My training went well. It was pretty overwhelming the first day. When I got home I thought my brain was going to explode. Everyone there couldn't be nicer though, and I think I'm learning pretty quickly how things work. Mostly it's just grading stuff and helping students online through chat or over the phone. I can even listen to the radio and watch movies if I want to while I'm grading. Half of my time this week was just spent talking to everyone. It's a really relaxed place.

Caleb had a ball with grandma this week. She seemed to really enjoy being home with him. I think it was harder on me than it was on him. In fact, I know it was. I cried the first couple days being away from him, even though I knew it was only for one week.

I took him swimming today and he can REALLY swim now. He absolutely refuses to wear his floaties. He just jumps in and can kick his way all the way from one side of the pool to the other. I still need to be there to help lift his head out of the water, but he's really figuring it out.

Oh, I'm still applying to various government jobs because you just never know. I'm also finishing up my application package to the graduate school of psychology. Thanks Jessica, Tara, and Michele for writing letters of recommendation for me when I know you're all so busy!