Post #666

Hmmm...how interesting. This is post number 666.

Today, we got up early, had first breakfast with Miller (he eats two breakfasts-one at home and then a second one at daycare. We follow the same pattern on the weekends). He played around the house and outside. Then I headed to Boca for a pedicure and drinks with the girls from work. I had a great pedicure, good conversation, a few glasses of wine, and then a quick sushi snack. I had fun with the girls but I missed my boys.

I got home to find where the 666 fits into the day. Ryan's friend Dave was over and crashed a helicopter into my coffee table and broke a chunk off. Pisses me off since that is the table I had to sand, stain, and finish. Ryan swears he can repair it but we will see. Then I was told Dad was naughty and he deserved a spanking. Reason, he let Miller bring his bubble blower in the house without making sure it was completely empty. Miller flipped it upside down and several hours later it was discovered and ruined a couple planks of wood floor in the tv room. Ryan will debate the meaning of ruined but they are all bubbled up and now damaged. Mom is still not a happy camper.

Miller ate a ton of chicken fried rice for dinner and is off to bed. I am going to watch a movie with the hubby and call it an early night.

Cookie Monster

I picked Miller up from the boy's "Happy Hour" at Nilsen's tonight. He talked a blue streak the whole way home. The first 5 minutes were all about his request for Cookie Monster music. No, not sweet Sesame Street Cookie Monster but death metal. The scratchy "singing" is what Ryan told Miller was "Cookie Monster."

This made me wonder about the "cute" things that are going to bite us in the future. For instance, last week we told him he had a runny nose and it needed to be wiped. He grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it up to wipe his nose (Ryan taught him this). Then a little later he spilled milk at the table and I said we needed to wipe it up. He again grabbed his shirt and wiped it (another Ryan specialty). We taught him to burp and I know that was a mistake but it's so funny. At least we haven't taught him to really call a ball a nut and a nut a ball (Emily started that one). I wonder what our parents taught us that they wished they hadn't?

Action Packed Weekend and Long Monday

My parents were in town this weekend. It was great to have them here to visit and play with Miller. We did plenty of activities including a trip to the Renaissance Festival. I was a little disappointed because they didn't have the food they had last year but overall it was fun. I even bought another pair of earrings from a vendor I had bought from in the past. Ryan and I were able to get dinner and a movie in on Saturday (our delayed Valentines Day). I also got a couple hours in at the mall with my mom (swimsuit success!).

We launched a new email provider today. Well, we tried. I have been up since 2:45 and at 7am we decided to roll back. It wasn't working. I had taken today off thinking I would be done by 7 and have the rest of the day to do some chores (wash car, trim plants, etc.). So far, it's 10am. I need a couple hours of sleep and it looks like the only chores I am going to get done is cleaning the house and finishing laundry. What a bummer.

Found It!

For the past month, there has been that disturbing odor in the house that we couldn't pinpoint. It moved from when you opened the fridge door to just lingering in the house. I had cleaned out the fridge, did major work in the pantry, cupboards, garbage can, etc. Fast forward a month or so...I went in the cheese drawer and started moving some bags of shredded cheese. I quickly found the source. A rogue bag of bean sprouts had turned to liquid and oozed all over everything in the drawer.

If you are paying attention, I said I cleaned out the fridge already. Well, you see the cheese drawer should only have cheese and tortillas in it. Not bean sprouts. I obviously didn't dig down through that drawer to remove the culprit.

This evening I tossed a full bag of outdated items from the fridge and gave it a good wipe down. I do need to go through the condiments again but I think I got most of the outdated items. I am so disgusted. I like a clean, organized fridge but if you have peeked in mine, you wouldn't believe it. At least I found the culprit and hopefully the house will go back to smelling better. Ick!

Balance Ball-Upper Body

Continuing on my so called quest to get in shape (half heartedly), I tried my upper body balance ball workout tonight. Same experience as the lower body. Definitely out of shape and worked some muscles I didn't know existed. The one thing that they don't put on the dvd as a disclaimer is if you are a DD in the chest area, there isn't much room for lifting that ball in front of you without giving your ta-tas a squish and lift. Also, I do not recommend using the ball after eating dinner. I thought I was going to bounce or push my supper right out of my gullet! Wednesday is the ab workout. Then I will start combining these three and other exercises.

Life, Death, and Taxes

Today was our annual trip to H&R Block to visit Rochelle. She greeted us at the door, gave Miller a ton of attention, and whipped up our taxes in 30 minutes. I know everyone sings the praises of Turbo Tax but I sing the praises of Rochelle. She is far from speedy (she likes the small talk) but she accomplishes what would take me days and several melt downs with Ryan in minutes. I don't mind forking over $200 to have this taken care of. Thank you Rochelle and H&R Block.

Miller on the other hand, woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He's been a whiny little monster since he woke up. We ended up putting him down for an early nap already. I would love to take one too but instead I am going to try to get some work out of the way so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend.

If he's in a better mood after lunch we might head over to the church carnival down the street. I will let you know how that goes and hopefully have a few pictures.

How To Get Help

Normal methods of trying to receive help at work have not worked. Here's the recent events that finally got the attention of upper management. Not a fine moment on my part but hopefully the lipservice delivered today is real.

Bullet style:

• Back to back meetings all day long for too many days, weeks, months, years(?)
• 200+ emails in inbox every day
• Critical communication/action to take by EOD (announced at noon after a very awkward meeting-not a good first impression on my part)
• Proper steps planned
• Proper steps ignored due to multitasking
• Poor communication (known minute the send button was clicked)
• Uproar
• Apology email
• Boss coaching on it "not being that bad" while I choked back tears.
• "Tomorrow we identify what responsibilities Erin can shed to turn 'unhappy' into 'sorta happy' to 'happy'"

We will see what tomorrow brings but not a fine moment on my part. I am my worst critic but at least people are noticing if things don't change, I am a risk (whether a business risk or a flight risk, you decide).

Out of Practice

Tonight I decided to hit my training courses hard. I quickly learned that my interruption driven work habits have now taken over my ability to focus, digest, and take quizzes. I think I am becoming stupid. My first 15 minute session quickly brought attention to my inability to ace the questions. The second session I actually "focused" on and aced. Ah...back to my old self.

I completed 4 sessions tonight (none of which were the required courses I need to take). I thought they were the tutorials that taught me how to use the LMS (learning management system) but they didn't quite cover what I thought they would. Tomorrow I hope to tackle a real course that counts. Uff! Now I know why people don't like going back to school. It's frustrating to retrain your mind to learn.

As mind numbing as this sounds, I am excited to focus on things that can make me better. My job has sucked more than all combined to date (since the re-org). I can't take much more. Time to abuse the system and gleam as much free training as possible.

First, the required management classes, then the additional project managment electives, and my whitebelt for Six Sigma. Then onto more classes, greenbelt, and hopefully a ScrumMaster for Agile development. Yeah, that's nerd speak for PM's and Operations. Nothing I want to do but since I am being forced to do it, I may as well rack up the certifications.

Rough Day

I started today out with an odd feeling. My morning routine was different, my drive to work was plagued with accidents, and then work had two major bombs.

The first was an announcement that one of our Deans passed away last night. He was a fantastic friend and colleague and he will be sadly missed by many of us.

The second was my peer announced his resignation today. I know it's a positive thing for him but I will miss his guidance and friendship as well.

I ended the day with 200 unread emails.

The silver lining was coming home to flowers and a cd from Miller and Ryan. It made my night.

Decision...

I was asked today if I would run the Corporate Run in April. I would like to do it because that will give me an incentive to not only start running but make an effort towards losing weight. The only problem is I HATE running.

So, I think I will make a tentative commitment and suck it up. It's only 3 miles. I should be able to do it with 2-3 months worth of prep work. My next concerns...new sports bra, shoes, and running clothes that don't chaffe. Oh, and I may need to FIND my MP3 player and update a very old playlist.

Should I go for it?