Madeline still isn't too sure that she belongs to our family. Her two older siblings drive her crazy and don't let her sleep due to the constant noise. She has been smiling more at people though and has seemed to accept her fate.

I'm getting a lot more comfortable at work. I'm able to help most of the people by myself which makes me feel a lot better about being there. My partner, Ahmed, started at this position just after I did so we're learning together. He has many years of banking experience but only these few weeks of doing this job. He is from the Sudan and speaks many dialects of Arabic which is a great use to us because about a third of the people we help have that as a native language and only use broken English. He'll be a busy guy because they line up just to speak to him. Then he comes over to me to ask what to do.

We've had many accounts frozen over the past month or so due to the Patriot Act. These people call in and tell us they have gotten letters in the mail and have had their accounts frozen. It is frustrating all around. A guy from Argentina came up to me and asked if his visiting friends could open an account to buy CD's to get their money out of the volatile Argentinian currency. Painfully we had to tell him that we couldn't. Normally we don't open accounts for any foreigner but our branch has an exception but we have to follow the government rules. They must have a tie to Mayo clinic by being a patient or visiting one along with a current visa and passport.

Madeline is getting quite a bit stronger. She can lift up her head and hold it for quite a time. Her eyesight has improved so it is a lot harder to sneak past without her knowing. She has been colicky but has been getting over that to being a happy little girl.

My new job has been going well. I've had two weeks at a desk and I went to Minneapolis last week for 5 days of training. I really like it so far. Lots of regulations and new computer programs to learn but that is going OK. We do lots of foreign accounts from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE for people visiting Mayo.

The week in Minneapolis was fairly low key. Six new people from Rochester and fifteen or so others went up there for new person training. We stayed at a nice hotel downtown. It was attached to the skyway so we could go all over the place and still be indoors. We went out to eat for every meal and somehow that got old. I enjoyed being with everyone else and we got along well. We went to an arcade and we played racing games against each other and I played Skee-ball for tickets and got a deck of cards, a bracelet and a Chinese handcuffs. We also went to a bar that had dueling pianos. There were 4 guys that traded off and played and sung 80's tunes.

At the hotel, I really enjoyed the down time. I could watch whatever I wanted on TV in peace and get some good sleep.

I have two more weeks of training in February and after that I should be going full at the bank.

I did turn in my two week notice at Menard's yesterday. I had tried to work there part-time but it just wasn't working out.

been quite busy lately.

Maddie is quite big. Over 8 pounds. She likes to smile and be carried around.

Olivia really likes to read and to not be asleep.

Zach likes to play with his toys and survive his sisters.

I finished up my first week at US Bank. I'm a banker. It is going good but I'm not very productive yet. They say it could take a few months.