Bandwagon Resolutions

I am jumping on the bandwagon and setting some goals this year. It appears I took a hefty hiatus last year and didn't set any.

2012 Goals:

Family:

• Spending quality time with the kids (see also work goals as they are tied to this). Ryan and I started setting time aside with Miller where we do "dates." It's a fun way to still give him some needed one on one time and we really enjoy the little boy he is becoming. Mason obviously gets one on one time but until he's a little older, dates really aren't that exciting with him.
• Ryan and I need time alone sans kids. Although a date night once a month would be glorious, we know that once every two months is a more realistic goal. We would hate to tire of each other by July. ;)

Work:

• Continue to try to limit my working hours so I have time in the evening with the kids. There are times when I can't but I am trying to limit those to only urgent/crunch times.
• Network and try to build some resume worthy items. I feel now that I am done breeding, it's time to start preparing for either a chosen career change or be prepared for the inevitable layoff that will come sooner than later.

Personal:

• Find some time to read books again. I have quite a few piled up that need my attention and it feels more productive than watching tv.
• Find a hobby. I need a creative outlet or something to challenge my brain (or both). I think I will look into a few small ideas before I tackle the larger concept of learning to fly or going back to school for a JD or a PhD.
• Lose the jiggle. This one is easier said than done but now that I know there will be no more kids, it's time to focus on putting this body back into some shape other than flabby and round. I am not going to drop 20lbs in a couple months. I am not going to suddenly run a marathon or bench press anything. I just want to work on changing my bad habits into good ones. With that in mind, a better body and self image should follow.

Other:

• Remember to schedule some time with friends such as lunch, happy hour, or shopping without the kids. Notice the theme...spend time with kids but not all my free time. I think this is the cliche "balance" I am missing.
• Review our savings situation and my investments (this may even be a hobby). I have been investing since I was 16 but can't tell you anything about what I am in or how it works. Time to proactively figure out where my money is (and our money). Retirement is right around the corner, right?
• Take a real vacation with Ryan-only Ryan. Realistic goal-short cruise in the spring. Wish list item would be a longer trip in the fall. Next year...over seas trip. Time to plan this year for that one.

So there are my goals, in a public forum so I can't take them back. I figure they are obtainable (SMART) goals. Let's see if I can check these puppies off my list and possibly take them a few steps further than "initial" goals.

Christmas

Christmas 2011 recap bullet style...

• Friday, Miller's head collides with my nose. We debate for 2 days as to whether it is broken. Final verdict, definitely fractured, possibly a small break. Luckily, I didn't turn black and blue. It just hurts like mad and is swollen.
• Saturday, power outtage at 8am. FPL call at 8:15. No power until almost noon. Reminder of how dependent we are on power and hurricane survival mode kicked in. Warmed water on the grill for Mason for a bottle. FPL did a temp fix and in about 2 weeks we will have a new line run to the house. We got our hot showers in, baked, cooked, and had everything ready to go before Todd, Kaye, Sara, and Andrew made it to our house (their cruise ended Christmas Eve and their flight wasn't until Christmas day).
• Miller and Mason were the best kids. Both had a really good day. Mason was extra smiley. Miller played by himself for hours with lego's while we visited with the relatives. He go to stay up extra late opening presents and went to bed suprisingly well.
• Sunday, Santa brought Miller and Mason "just what they wanted." We finished opening more presents. Later in the afternoon, Jess, Jerry, Norah, and Caleb stopped over to share in the holiday cheer (eat more food) and let the kids run some stink off.
• After dinner we tried the new Kinect games we got. Disneyland was a little too hard for us to figure out so after Miller went to bed, we started dancing. Ryan was banished to another room and my dad went to bed. We stink at dancing but had fun laughing at ourselves.
• Monday, Ryan made us a big breakfast. Then we got cleaned up, took a few photos and the family was off. I will clean later. I am looking forward to a nap.

Emily is correct, we will never get a family photo with all of us looking the same way and smiling. Grandpa Jeff looks a little grumpy in this one but it was the best of the bunch. The rock and tree made for some awkward poses but at least we took some.

Holiday Prepping

I have been a busy lately. I have been working some extra long hours (playing catch up from leave, it's our busy time of year, and preparing to be out for 6 working days but 13 when you count the weekends and holidays). Last night I wrapped up the work related stuff.

Today was my first day off and I made a trip to Sam's Club to return a box of diapers. Mason has outgrown another size. I was fairly suprised at how quickly I was in and out and how friendly everyone was. Then I headed to Publix. I don't know what they did with their staff but the last 2 or 3 trips have been very pleasant. I got asked if I needed help by several workers and the checker and bagger actually spoke to me.

After emptying my wallet at Publix I came home to put it all away. Luckily I had cleaned the fridge and pantry before going there. It barely fits! I then cleaned our spice cupboard and another small cupboard. I wrapped the last presents that arrived and put them under the tree. I am cleaning up the last of the Christmas wrap and about to commence baking.

For a day off, I do not feel like I have sat down other than 5 minutes to wolf down lunch and then a few minutes to type this. Hopefully all of the prepping will lead to a smooth holiday weekend with family.

Mason Stats and a Weird Experience

Let me quick start with Mason's stats. We had his 3 month check up today (technially, he's just shy of 15 weeks). Stats are as follows:

Height: 26 3/4 inches (97%)
Weight: 17 lbs, 14 oz (97%)

As you can see, he's a healthy boy who is eating and growing. He is meeting all of the normal milestones.

Now, onto my totally unrelated weird experience today. I stopped at Walgreens (corner of University and Atlantic today). As I was getting ready to checkout, a young girl walked in (I am guessing she could pass as a teenager but she might have been older). Her eyes were red as she approached me; she looked sad/like she had been crying; borderline scared. She asked me where the corner of University and Southgate was. Both the clerk and I told her 2 lights down and pointed to University. My first thought was not of a curious nature because it was a simple question. Then she proceeded to ask me if I would give her a ride.

I instantly said no, I am not headed that way. She started to well up with tears and said she was so confused. The clerk and I proceeded to explain the directions again and the clerk backed me up by saying it was a nice day and only 2 lights down. Then the lady behind me agreed and also added to the direction giving because clearly our directions weren't making sense. She finally gave up defeated and walked out. She was standing at the light looking confused when I left.

Now, the clerk and the lady behind me in line instantly said I did the right thing by not giving her a ride because "you never know these days." She looked harmless but I agree; you never do know. I am tempted to say even if it was raining, I wouldn't have given her a ride. I might have bought her an umbrella if she added to her sob story.

For those that know the area...the only thing at the corner of University and Southgate is a gas station, a bowling alley, and a dog park. My guess is she was meeting someone and if they were that close, could pick her up. She had a cell phone and a purse.

As I drove away, my mind flashed to the worst case/scenarion (shocking, Erin, worry?). Of course it wasn't the worst case for this girl. It was me getting her in my car, her tazing me or holding me at gun point while she robbed me or took my car. The second scenario wasn't much better. It was having a dude waiting for me at the gas station and him doing something similar. I obviously read too many murder mysteries or watch too much tv but I had to justify that leaving her behind was the right thing to do.

Pink eye?

I rested a little yesterday but by bedtime, i started to think I might have pink eye. I know you shouldn't share medicine but i used a couple of Miller's drops and bundled up with an extra blanket. My eyes weren't very pink this morning. I think I will see how the day progresses before I head into a clinic.

In other news, we took a drive last night to look at lights. our neighborhood had one house completely covered in red and white lights like a candy cane. other than that, not much for over the top. Across the street, one block has arches and almost all of the houses participate. since that took all of 5 minutes, we drove over to Brian and Crystal's. They had a festive display and a lot of neighbors did too.

Once we got home, I played Ryan in scattegories. I was kicking butt until the last two rounds. He beat me by 2 points. argh! I will have to call a rematch.

Tis the Season...for Sickness

This week the Froyd household was touched by the holiday bug and I don't mean Christmas cheer. Mason has been struggling with a head cold (it's so sad to see a baby with a stuffy nose). The good thing is he has remained fever free and for the most part, is keeping up with his normal intake of formula and sleeping mostly through the night. He wakes up a couple times but mainly coughs and talks himself back to sleep. It was just the first two nights that required us to get up and perform nose maintenance.

Miller on the other hand got slapped with a 102 fever and head cold. He stayed home from school with me on Wednesday. His one eye turned bright red and didn't appear to have pink eye like symptoms but we decided to call the pediatrician Thursday to make sure. Both the nurse and daycare didn't think it was pink eye but the doctor said it was and I guess I am not going to argue with that. Miller was sent home with eye drops but the daycare ladies let him make a quick stop at school to share his holiday tradition with the class and run off some steam. Ryan stayed home with him so I could work in peace. (Wed he was a sick angel, Thursday, the fever had broke for the most part and he had energy to burn.)

Side note: the new daycare manager said Miller could go back to school today since he technically had been fever free over the period of time they require and since he started his drops early yesterday. Ryan and I were shocked. The last daycare manager would have made a huge stink and not let us bring him back until Monday. It's nice when the center manager is a working parent with a kid not much older than Miller.

Finally, it's my turn. I have had a low grade fever all week. I have a stuffy nose but not a full blown cold. I would like to keep it this way! I worked like a crazy person Monday through Wednesday and yesterday worked what I would call a normal day. I had already taken today off to burn some PTO. Instead of tackling my long list of chores; I am going to do what normal people do. I am going to go back to bed and then plunk myself on the couch and catch up on some tv. I migth even take a nap this afternoon.

Life After Outlook

I work for an innovative company that literally thrives on change (some good, some bad). You would think I would embrace change a little more readily, right? Not so. We switched from Outlook to Google Mail (aka: gmail for businesses). I want to think I will like it but it sucks. Yep, there, I said it. I am stuck in a mindset of how things "used to be in Outlook."

I didn't feel good Sunday afternoon. I don't know if I ate something, the kids germs were starting to get to me, or I was anticipating the Monday email horror that awaited me. It could have been withdrawal from work emails (Friday night to Monday morning without any blackberry service or webmail-oh my!). Either way, I tried to go to bed early but Mason had the beginnings of his first cold. He woke up in the middle of the night and needed some snot removal and vicks. Then Miller woke up and I had to sit with him (bathroom break and then "I had a bad dream, can you sleep with me?"). Then it was back to a baby that woke up before 5am and wasn't going back to bed.

Finally I bit the bullet and started work around 7:30. It's now 9:15 and I just wrapped for the day. I am super busy with end of year stuff (finals, new courses for January, training, etc.). Add in that dreaded email change and I was all out of whack today. The only saving grace is if I can keep this mad sprint up for a week (technically 5.5 days) I am off from the 22nd until January 3rd!

One last thing. I got a call at 5:30 that was a pure *ss chewing from a partner school. After the 20 minutes of active listening and polite responses, I called the main person responsible and politely did my own *ss chewing. It had to do with dropped balls and stuff from when I was on leave that I didn't really even become aware of until the 11th hour. The kicker, if people would just do their shit on time and adhere to my deadlines, it could all be avoided. There, I said it. Follow the process I set up and avoid the drama. Why is this such a hard concept? Whew. That felt good to get off my chest. I think I did enough fevered typing today to count as exercise. I am going to skip it tonight and go chill. Tomorrow, I will do a little extra.

Happy Holiday With My Florida Family

Last night we teamed up with friends, got a babysitter, and had a good evening out with lots of laughter and food. We mixed it up this year; ditched the kids and the gift exchange for an evening out. The crew headed to Buca di Beppo's for our annual holiday get together.

I wish we would have taken a group photo. Everyone was dressed nicely in holiday appearal. It looked like we coordinated with reds, grays, black, and sparkles. Mark even pulled out his red holiday sweater for the occasion.

The kids were good for the babysitters (or so each kid and babysitter is reporting). Miller was excited to tell us about his evening when he woke up and wanted to know when we could do it again. Little does he know, those babysitters aren't free. Man, if I lose my job, I am going to open off the books babysitting service.

A giant thank you to Jess for organizing not only the dinner but childcare too. It was a fun night and my cheeks are still sore from laughing. Happy holidays to my Florida family!

Birthday Recap and Dancing

My actual birthday was Tuesday. The boys let me open my presents that morning while they ate breakfast. It was fun to see Miller waiting for my reaction when I opened the presents from him. Then I sent the boys off to school and started my marathon day off.

I wrapped up all of my shopping, had lunch with a friend, and then made a huge dent in wrapping everything. I still have a couple hours of wrapping staring me in the face and I must get it done tonight so I can go stand in line at the shipping place tomorrow.

It wasn't a relaxing day but it was nice to be able to do some chores sans kids and without worrying someone was waiting for me at home.

One of the presents Ryan gave Miller and I was Xbox 360 Kinect (and a dance game). I have "danced" all but one night since I opened it on Sunday. It is basically an aerobics workout but with music and challenges to motivate you. I have tried all of the songs it came with (without unlocking additional things). Now I need to pick some I like and master them. Eventually it will feel like a workout and not as fun but for now, I am going with it and praising myself for the 45 minutes of cardio I am doing nightly. Sadly to say...I have gained weight while doing this. I know it's not muscle and I have actually cut back on calories (and drinks). I am going with water retention and am going to try to flush it out today with oodles of water. Wish me luck. I would like to stick with some type of activity and this one is the first thing I have done in months...or is it years?

Early Birthday

Ryan bought Miller and I the XBox Kinect game. It's been fun but I can't believe what a workout it is. I have been playing a dance game that not only makes me feel out of shape, but I also feel like a very stiff white person. Wowza. I will not play this with others present.

Yesterday Mason and Ryan made me turtles and then today Ryan and Miller made me cupcakes.

Saturday I cleaned house and then did my annual employee appraisal and two training sessions. I have two more to finish this week and I have to do some massive work on my inbox before they migrate us to Google Mail instead of Outlook. I am not looking forward to that chore. I think most of it will be done off the clock at home.

Today I ran to Pier 1 to get a few decorations. Then Miller and I headed to Target to get a few Christmas presents. I was able to write my Christmas letter today but haven't had a chance to address envelopes (mainly because they haven't arrived yet). That will be this week's chore. I am hoping to have Tuesday off to finish my shopping and start my wrapping extravaganza.

Ryan made me a crab dinner and I think Miller ate most of it. It was delicious. I had a pretty good "early" birthday even though it was chore filled. I am hoping the week flies by because Saturday we have a babysitter and get to hang out with our adult friends (no kids!). Before you know it, it will be Christmas. 

Sleeping Through the Night

Mason has been sleeping until any where between 3:30 and 5:00am lately. The 3:30/4:00am time frame isn't so bad to get up with him but as he creeps closer to 5, you are basically up for the day. It's getting closer and closer to a full night's sleep.

Last night we went wakeup free (for everyone). Miller didn't wake up to go the bathroom (nor did Ryan or I). Mason slept until 6 am. He did wake up earlier but talked himself back to sleep. Yay! I know it's not a permanent thing yet but you forget how nice it is once you start to get uninterrupted sleep again. Maybe Santa is bringing me an early Christmas gift!