Still in Alabama!

Well, it's 4:23PM on Sunday, August 30 and I should be somewhere in Virginia by now, but I'm actually still at my parents house in Monroeville.  I'm starting to think I'm never going to get to DC! ;-)  My carefully planned trip got thrown just a little off schedule.  We had the most fun going away dinner last night and I stayed up way past my bedtime.  Even the dogs wanted to stay up and say goodbye!

I kept telling myself I needed to go to bed, but I was having so much fun with my family and friends that I couldn't make myself hit the hay.  I finally went to sleep at about 1AM and when the alarm clock buzzed at 5:50AM, I knew there was no way I was getting in the car and driving to Washington, DC today!  Plus, it was pouring rain outside and who wants to start a 14 hour drive in the rain??  Not me!  So, I re-worked my plans in my head and immediately turned over and went back to sleep!  I am glad that I did because I probably would have made it as far as Montgomery today and stopped!  My parents weren't too sad when they found out they were going to get one more day with me. :-)

So, I am definitely leaving tomorrow regardless of how tired I am or how hard it is raining!  I am excited about the drive, but very nervous at the same time.  I think the farthest I've ever driven is around 6 hours, so 14 is going to be a serious undertaking.  Hopefully the books I downloaded onto my ipod will keep my mind occupied! 

I will post again when I arrive in DC.  School and work both start Wednesday, so my posts should definitely become more entertaining in the coming weeks!  Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

JSPB - Just Super Phenomenal Buds!

This blog post is dedicated to my former co-workers at Johnson Sterling Paul Benefits, Inc. in Birmingham.  No, JSPB does not stand for "Just Super Phenomenal Buds", but that is pretty much what those folks are to me!  They were the ones who actually gave me the idea to start a blog in the first place - only they wanted it to be created exclusively for them!  Sorry ya'll - I knew I'd only have enough time to manage one blog!  But don't worry - I'm still going to keep ya'll entertained. :-)

I started working for JSPB in June 2005.  My last day was July 30, 2009.  Those poor people had to put up with me for FOUR years!  Their hearts need blessing for sure!  My two bosses (Tom and Dan) became like a second father and brother to me and two of my co-workers (Carrie and Kate) became like the sisters I never had.  My other two co-workers (Bruce and Kurt) made sure I never went a day without a hearing a funny joke.  If there is one person out there who can come up with a joke on command it is Bruce!  I'm hoping he's going to compile them into a book one day. :-)

These people were there for me through it ALL - from break-ups to breakdowns to blind dating to making the biggest decision I've ever made - to pack up and move to a brand new city a zillion miles away.  I would have never made it through the past four years without them.  I've kept every document they ever passed over to me - from my job offer letter to my very last paycheck stub.  I showed my Daddy everything I had kept yesterday and he said "Those sure are some really great people".  He sure is right - they are great people and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to be with them for the past four years. 

So JSPB - this post is for you!! :-)

P.S.  My co-workers always teased me about my use of smiley/wink/sad/crying faces and exclamation points in emails.  Therefore, this blog is going to be full of them!

Here I go!

Hello there!  I hope my first post finds all of you well!  For those readers who may not know, I have moved from Birmingham, AL to Washington, DC to start a brand new life adventure!  The title of the blog is in honor of my favorite Little Golden Book - "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse."  I'm sure there are lots of you who remember it!  I feel exactly like that little country mouse coming to the big city with her little hankie and apron!  Of course I moved to DC with all of my aprons, cookbooks, needlepoint projects and sewing machine in tow.  :-) 

I am earning a masters degree in Human Resources Management from Georgetown University (school starts September 2!) and will be working as a full time nanny for a wonderful family in DC.  They have two precious girls and a third baby on the way due in November.  My hands are going to be FULL!  I am so excited about this new journey and I hope that I can keep all of you entertained with lots of funny stories along the way.  Everyone has told me to "please keep in touch" and "email me and let me know how it's going".  As much as I would love to email everyone individually to keep you posted, I thought a blog might be a little more time friendly considering my free time is about to be VERY limited!!  Obviously I haven't done much with making the blog look pretty, but hopefully I'll have it looking a little less boring by the next post. 

Until then, I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!!