June...came and went too soon

Tomorrow I'll be 22 Weeks.  You probably know that we had our 20 weeks ultrasound and discovered we're having a girl.  :) For the record, I had strong feelings that it was a girl.  Ask Mike - I wouldn't even consider boy names.  The ultrasound was an amazing experience--it was crazy to see a BABY and to see our baby moving around (she was very active - we saw mouth moving, arms and legs stretching, and even a partial somersault).  Mike couldn't take his eyes from the screen and would frequently laugh or exclaim.  The technician basically said she is 100% certain it's a girl, by telling us she can't officially tell us it's 100% certain.  I feel great, other than having an insatiable sweet tooth, and I feel her moving around A LOT, especially before bed.  I am keeping active - our community pool opened Memorial Day and I enjoy sitting by the pool and going for a swim on the weekends (although I'm growing increasingly self-conscious about my body...I want to wear a sign that says "I'm not chubby, I'm pregnant").

We made the announcement to family by texting this picture

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I accepted a full-time engineering position at John F. Scanlan, an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) company.  My title is Mechanical Sales Engineer and, as far as I can determine, my role is to help engineers from consulting firms (who are installing HVAC systems in a project). This involves helping them understand the products we sell, answering questions about pricing and logistics, visiting the firms when needed to consult on a project, and contacting the parts manufacturers.

My first week I spent mostly with a salesman who has worked with the company for close to 40 years and knows the products inside and out.  He walked me through the manufacturers catalogs and the computer programs used to select parts.  Thursday and Friday that week I trained at his home office at his beautiful lake house (see below).  This week he was on vacation, so I continued giving myself a crash course in the products and HVAC systems.  I also visited some firms with a salesman and my boss and did some big-girl stuff--like getting over the terror of making and taking phone calls.

This window offers a gorgeous view of the lake

I am SO happy to be working!  I am not really tired at all (would've been a different story in the 1st trimester).  It's actually less exhausting than my part-time job where I walked around for five hours.  I do get very hungry between meals, so I have to sneak snacks in throughout the day.  The commute takes me a full hour and the route is pretty brutal (NE extension and the Schuylkill), but I just accept that it is a slow commute and I listen to NPR.

The shipping/employee entrance in back

The office is above the warehouse were some parts are stored and shipped from.  It looks a little rough on the outside...but then it IS West Philly.

The inside gets lots of natural light and is very open (as you can see).

My desk

There is a full kitchen that the company keeps stocked with sodas and other drinks, snacks, cookies and some lunch staples for the employees.

Most likely my pumping room

 

This is a storage room attached to the ladies room.

Earlier in the month we were able to hang out with Kelly and Sean at Mom and Dad's house while they were housesitting/vacationing (Mom and Dad were visiting the Dardens).  Meghan, my good friend from college, and her boyfriend came and had dinner with us one night.  Dan (another friend from college) stayed with us for one weekend and the next weekend Mike visited some friends in Queens, NY (where he was struck with food poisoning).  I stayed home and visited Kelly, Sean and their new baby Mark in the hospital.

We are heading to Pittsburgh this weekend through the fourth of July.  The last time we visited was Thanksgiving, although Mike's parents and sister have come out to see us since then, so it will be really good to see everyone.  Mike's parents are throwing us a baby shower--we're really excited for that!

Memorial Day Weekend

Guess who called me last week?  Casey Crowley!  (A best friend from NC).  She saw on Mom's facebook page that the formerly Mischinski daughters were all pregnant and she could hardly believe it.  It was wonderful catching up with her, when I talk to her it's like we've never been apart.  She's saving up this year to go on another service trip to South Africa, is an aunt as of last week, is looking to leave her teaching job and start something new, and she and her boyfriend are getting quite serious (if you catch my meaning).

To illustrate how far Casey and I go back:  a picture of us at a 4-H event.  Nevermind that my face is pudgy and we're coloring.

Tuesday we finally made it to Theology on Tap, a Catholic faith group for young adults.  It was a blast!  We have a really youthful, enthusiastic priest at St. Mary's who has a great knowledge of Catholic teachings and a wonderful sense of humor.  There were probably 25 young people there, none were married.  Still it was a great opportunity to meet people our age from several parishes around (and for Mike to enjoy some good brews). Father gave our baby the prenatal blessing.  =)

I had a wonderful birthday.  I managed to stretch it out over three days since I couldn't really celebrate it on my actual birthday (I worked from 4:00PM-9:00PM).  Mike got me Chinese take-out (one of my favorite treats) for dinner on Thursday and Chrissy called me.  On Friday Dad took me out to lunch at a favorite local restaurant where I got a great breakfast sandwich.  I got cards from the Colliers, Mom and Dad, and Gammy (thank you all!) and a package from Chrissy, a few from Mom and a few from Kelly.  They all picked out beautiful maternity shirts for me, many of which I can wear to my new part-time job.

Me and Dad at the Energy Station

My work (three stores down from New York & Co.)

Saturday we visited Mom and Dad and had dinner (Mike smoked a rack of ribs) and eclair, my traditional birthday dessert.  Sunday we cleaned our apartment and had Kelly and Sean for dinner (spaghetti :D).  We all went for a walk after dinner then Kelly and I sat and talked while Mike and Sean played guitar.  Monday we all were at Mom and Dad's where we spent the day...

Interviews.  The two phone interviews with the Harrisburg Co. went okay.  The second interviewer wasn't very good, he seemed disinterested and just went through the motions of asking a list of questions.  I ended up not getting that job.  But I did get the other mechanical sales engineer job in west Philly that I interviewed for, which I accepted.  :)  So I officially have a full-time position! YAY!

I may have picked up a student to tutor in calculus over the summer.  It isn't official, I am going to meet with the young man and his mother soon and see if we can make it work.  She wants a structured program that goes through a whole textbook and for us to meet three times per week.

Memorial Day we spent with Mom, Dad, Kelly, Sean, Janet and Jack.

Mike made amazing ribs and BBQ sauce

The boys smoked pipes together

Trying to burn the huge stump that bothers Dad so much

Pulling down dead branches to burn

Playing Apples to Apples