New Years Eve

I am burning my last day of vacation for the year by cleaning house, getting a haircut, and getting an eye exam. Most people take a day off and do something fun or relax. Maybe that will be my new years resolution; to learn how to relax.

On a semi-resolution front; I have vowed to start moving again. No, not houses but getting my butt up and walking. I would like to set a goal of real exercise but I think walking and the Wii Fit are about all I can realistically obtain at this point in time. I walked quite a few nights over the Christmas break with the family. Annie and I can haul pretty fast so I definitely feel like I am at least elevating my heart rate and stretching my legs.

I am sure everyone else will set some great goals. I can't wait to see what they are.

Happy New Years!

After the Holiday

The house looks like a war zone. After a week of 2 spotted dogs, a nasty cat, grandparents that spoil Miller rotten, an aunt who also spoils Miller rotten, presents that need homes, and general dust and grime, my house needs some tender loving care. I probably won't get to any deep cleaning until Wednesday but even picking up stuff and trying to put things away is a task in and of itself. I did manage to take down all of the Christmas decorations. The tree just needs to be disassembled and boxed up. All the ornaments are safely packed away for another year.

One of my "gifts" that I decided to give myself and have family contribute to is a bathroom remodel. Most of the accessories are purchased. I need to go get the hardware and we can proceed with fixing the walls and painting. I came home today to see my chair rails and base boards had been ripped off the walls. All of the hardware was also down. I guess Ryan's XBox 360 taking a nose dive yesterday sped things up. I can't wait to continue and get this room done.

It was the first room we remodeled (painted/changed) when we moved in. I love what we did but I am over the color scheme. What spurred this decision along was a very drippy faucet in the shower that requires the hardware removed before it can be fixed. I figured if we are doing that much; what the hell. Let's do it up! Not to mention I just needed a change and have some uber itches in the home fixing department.

Notice I said "Let's" in the previous paragraph. I plan on assisting but Ryan will argue that he will do 90% of the work. I know I will get stuck sanding, masking, painting, and holding. Plus, I have to pick out all of the stuff to bring it all together. It's probably true about the 90% but I had the vision, doesn't that count?

Anyhow, it was a nice surprise to see this started. I had a long but productive day at work today. I started organizing my 2009 stuff (folders, email, PTO tracking sheets, etc.). I am still dragging feet on my appraisal and employee reviews. I might go try to tackle my rough draft...or not. The house seems like a priority.

Christmas

I will let the pictures describe Miller's first Christmas.

The Happy Family

Gift baby after already opening more than half of his gifts.

Whoa! You gotta try this elephant out!

Fresh Air

What started out as innocent chores turned into an afternoon event. The family headed outside for some fresh air. Miller supervised while Ryan trimmed the palm out front and I washed my car. That darn palm was out of control and it appears the city no longer trims them. After I washed my car, I watered my plants. We both tackled the garage. It's not completely clean but we are working our way through the mess. It's amazing how much crap you can shove in there and how dirty it can get.

Miller enjoyed his fresh air but it knocks a baby out. He took 3 naps yesterday compared to his normal 2. I think he shows off for me on Saturday and then Sunday he's a lazy baby. He didn't want to go to bed last night because there was too much going on. He fought the sleep monster but lost the battle. After 10 minutes of full blown crying, he found his thumb and off to dream land he went. It's tough being a baby.

Today is my first day of vacation. Although I would love to sit around and do nothing, I have a list of things to accomplish today.

1) quick once over on the house (my sister arrives tonight and my parents come tomorrow)
2) get groceries
3) do my evals for work and write my own appraisal
4) make a decision on the job situation

I also hope to get a little reading done. I think that's a doable list.

Busy Saturday

Yesterday I was up with Miller and then started the cleaning marathon. I not only did the normal floors and dusting, I got 5 or 6 loads of laundry done, cleaned the fridge shelves, cleaned out the spice cupboard, washed cupboards, and some other deeper cleaning. Then I had a couple hour window to relax before we headed to the AC/DC concert.

We were in the 5th row from the stage. It was a good concert. My ears are still ringing and I think Ryan's head is throbbing (not from the music-hee hee). Luckily, we dropped Miller off at a friend's house and they graciously carted our butts home last night. Thanks Shannon!

Today I plan on washing the remaining linens and possibly my car. Otherwise it's a "read a book" day. Miller just woke up from a long nap. Something tells me he has a present in his diaper waiting for me. Yuck!

Does Money Talk?

I have a decision to make this weekend. I was offered the position I applied for outside of my current employer. They low balled me and won't negotiate. At the same time, I have been offered a promotion but no salary in ink yet. I have heard tentative ranges which are more than the other job. I will need to weigh the pros and cons but in this situation, I think the money might talk. I will list some pros/cons and see what you guys think in a post tomorrow. Deep down, I think I want to stay with my current employer because I am scared to take a risk. If the other job would have offered similar money or more, I think I would jumped ship. Hmmm...in these lovely economic times where the hubby gets a pay freeze, loses 401K contribution from his employer and no more pension...it might be shouting at me. Damn. I wanted it to be cut and dry.

Quote of the Day

"I think we'll start with a round of nog-a-sakes...One part eggnog, three parts sake. Some places won't make it fo ryou through because eggnog is seasonal." Andy-The Office

Done

I am officially done Christmas shopping and wrapping (unless I get stuck buying the daycare lady something). I hustled to 7 stores today and back to Target for a second round of gift buying. I worked inbetween loads to the car and took a few calls. It is all wrapped and under the tree. Now, I need to finish putting the wrapping paper away and relax. I can't believe the last two days of vacation I took I worked so hard!

The rest of this week is going to be insane. I have 500 emails in my work account, 3 appraisals to do plus my own year end review, several projects to launch on Thursday, a solid day of interviewing potential employees tomorrow, and normal work and meetings. I should be putting in some time tonight but I am so far behind the curve I think I will wait. I am going to have a glass of champagne, read my magazine and go to bed. I might squeeze in a walk once I toss a load of laundry in. So much to do, not enough time in the day.

Oh, Christmas cards went with Ryan to work and out in the mail today. You should receive them shortly if you didn't get one from Ryan. I took the easy route this year: photocard and letter. No cards to sign, no personal messages, just fold, stuff, address, lick and stamp. It still took me a couple hours and I was bummed I couldn't send the cards I bought last year on clearance. They were super cute but the pictures didn't fit. Oh well...maybe next year.

One More Update - Miller Stats

And for my third post today...

Miller's 6 month stats were incorrectly reported on Ryan's blog.

Height: 29 inches
Weight: 20 lbs 8 oz

Happy Birthday Grandma Joann!

Miller can't type, he's taking a nap after helping Ryan put up the outdoor Christmas lights. He wanted to say "Happy Birthday Grandma Joann!"

Miller's First Gift Exchange

My trip to Chicago was long and exhausting. I missed Miller (Ryan too). Ryan was a good dad and sent me videos of Miller almost every night. It was a great surprise and made my first trip away easier.

After I arrived home yesterday, we packed up the kid and headed to Jess and Jerry's for our annual Florida Friends Christmas party. We do a gift exchange each year and this was the first time Rylee and Miller were able to exchange gifts. Here are the action shots of Miller opening his present from Rylee. He was definitely more intrigued by the paper and the string for the pull along dog he received but what the heck do you expect, the boy doesn't know what good loot is quite yet. Paper is fun and so is string. Thank you Rylee! (My pictures of Rylee didn't turn out very well so hopefully Jess or Jon caught a good one. My camera was not cooperating and I was at a bad angle. I mainly got the present.)

"Ooohhh! This is for me?"

"I love tissue paper!"

"What the heck is this? It looks cool."

"Ta Da! Red string is awesome!"

Birthday Weekend

What a busy weekend. Friday, you saw my list. Saturday I spent the whole day wrapping presents and then cleaning house. Mr. Froyd and I got gussied up for dinner and my work holiday party. (The pictures of me are far from flattering so I won't be posting them. The good one of me is with a group of friends from work but Ryan's not in it.) Guess you will have to wait until next year to see us dressed up again.

We met Elaine and Eric for dinner at YOLO (you only live once). It was ok but nothing to write home about. Then we headed to the Science Museum for some drinks and socializing. We left a little early to go have more drinks at Dicey's down the street. Ryan summed it up by stating we like to drink and hear each other talk. Not stand elbow to elbow with strangers and have to yell into each other's ears. The wildness started to set in so Ryan made sure I left before I made a fool of myself.

The only bummer of the whole evening was my shoes. I didn't get blisters but they were killing me. Today I have 3 numb toes on one foot and 2 on the other. I wanted to take them off several times but Ryan kept yelling at me to leave them on.

Miller had a fun evening with Meagan and Crystal. Thank you ladies! He must have played hard because he slept in an extra hour this morning. He was super cuddly and cute today. I am going to miss him.

Yes, you read that right. I am going to miss him because I am off to Chicago until Friday afternoon. Long week ahead of me and I hear it's colder than a witches you know what up there. I am dreading it. I am not used to the cold anymore.

To wrap up my weekend, I stood in line at the post office for 40 minutes today. Ran a couple errands, worked for 3 or 4 hours, did some chores, and packed. It is time for bed.

Thanks for all of the birthday well wishes and presents. I am exhausted. Nighty night!

Happy Birthday Sean!

Happy birthday to my brother in-law, Sean. It's pretty easy for me to get his birthday right because it's the day after mine. ;)

Happy Birthday!

Update to Friday's Goals

Although I didn't get much checked off my list; I pretty much got 80%+ of my Christmas shopping done today. I think I visited 10+ stores today. I have a few things to pick up tomorrow and then after that I will probably turn to the internet or wait until I get back from Chicago.

I did find some shoes for tomorrow's Holiday Party and a shirt and jewelry for my other work party in Chicago. It was tough to not buy for myself today. I saw so many things I liked.

Maybe I can tackle the rest of the list tomorrow. I will try not to work too hard because it's my birthday! Whoot woo! Presents and hopefully some attention from Ryan and Miller.

1) Get up and feed Miller (usually Ryan tackles this on weekdays or I would have to get up at 4:30 to fit all the morning routine in and still get everyone off to work and school on time). CHECK!
2) Watch ER from last night. CHECK!
3) Pick up the house (clean tomorrow). NOPE
4) Make Xmas lists and hit the stores. CHECK!
5) Wrap Xmas presents. NOPE
6) Pack/ship the ones to go North. NOPE
7) Start the Xmas letter and cards. NOPE
8) Wash Miller's laundry. CHECK!
9) Put away my laundry and start all over again. NOPE
10) Be home in time to take care of Miller tonight (since this week has been awful and I have barely made it home in time to see him before bedtime). NOPE

Friday's Goal

I took today off to accomplish some Christmas shopping. So here is today's long list of goals. I will hopefully report back with at least half of these accomplished by end of day today.

1) Get up and feed Miller (usually Ryan tackles this on weekdays or I would have to get up at 4:30 to fit all the morning routine in and still get everyone off to work and school on time). CHECK!
2) Watch ER from last night. CHECK!
3) Pick up the house (clean tomorrow).
4) Make Xmas lists and hit the stores.
5) Wrap Xmas presents.
6) Pack/ship the ones to go North.
7) Start the Xmas letter and cards.
8) Wash Miller's laundry. CHECK!
9) Put away my laundry and start all over again.
10) Be home in time to take care of Miller tonight (since this week has been awful and I have barely made it home in time to see him before bedtime).

Wish me luck!

Interviews

Please cross your fingers for me. I took the leap of faith, applied for a new job, went through the initial interview last week and had 2 panel interviews this week. I feel pretty optimistic about it. I have some items in hind sight I wish I would have done differently (mainly getting tongue tied and using the same dang word over and over again). The items I am hoping to hear back on without drama: pay, start date, and basic work hours (Please dear god, don't let them be 9-6 people. Let me keep my 7:30-5 hours!). My current boss is under the illusion he can bribe me to stay with a re-org and possible promotion. I think that ship has sailed. Sorry peeps-I have given you the last 5 years of my life with pure dedication. You are a little too late.