Changes

I'm typing this while Baby Ella is napping. That's right, I'm back to nannying Ella, who is now 10 months old, eating solid foods, crawling, standing up without help, jabbering, drinking from a sippy cup, and beginning to cruise around the house. Here's the story...

About a month ago Jina, Ella's mom, called me and asked, "We're just wondering if you'd be interested in coming back to us if we paid for your health insurance." I told her I'd consider it and thought about it for a few days. Things with my supervisor at PBK hadn't been going well since I started as Shipper/Receiver 6 months ago, and I was fed up and burnt out. I had actually considered looking to other stores in our company to see if they needed either a shipper/receiver or stock coordinator. So once Jina threw this new option out there, it didn't take me long to decide to come back. I sat down with Chad, Jina, and Ella, and they laid it out before me: health insurance, paid vacations, and salary. And the joy of being a part of their lives again and watching Ella grow. They basically pulled out all the stops, and I said, "when can I start?" I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it feels to have these wonderful parents say things like, "We want you to be a part of our lives and our daughter's life because we want her to emulate you as she grows," "you're an amazing person and we're so blessed to have you in our lives," and, "have we told you lately how grateful we are that you're back with us?" I'm just floored. So I'm now with Ella for the next 9 months to a year, and then we'll re-evaluate and see where I'm at in my life, where their family is, etc, and go from there. I'm still working at PBK on Fridays and Saturdays so I can keep my discount, work with friends closer to my age, and maintain connections with Williams-Sonoma, Inc. So I'm now getting the best of both worlds and couldn't be happier!

Hmm...I don't think I've posted about the vacation I'm taking this coming Sunday. It just so happens that Jina's company (Big Fish Games) is taking their employees on an all-expense-paid Alaskan cruise for a week, and I get to go as a nanny! Big Fish is paying for two nannies to go to watch kids a couple times during company functions. So I'm getting paid to go on a free cruise to a land I've dreamt of going to for the past five years, and I'm going with some of my favorite people. We're going through Norwegian Cruise Line and will be on the Norwegian Pearl. You can see it all on their website. We leave from Seattle (pretty much all Alaskan cruises leave from Seattle...yay for no flying anywhere!) this coming Sunday and cruise Alaska's inner passage on Monday. The ports we're stopping at include Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria, B.C. We already have plans of kayaking in Juneau and getting one day fishing licenses to catch salmon as they're running in Skagway. I'm eager to explore, take in amazing vistas, check out some cool Native American museums and stuff, and just hang out in Alaska. I really hope to see a whale and moose :) And perhaps the Northern Lights? We may be to far south for those, though...
Fun times!!

Ella is stirring so I should go check on her. I'll post pictures of Alaska when we get back!