Weekend Highlights

Discovering SuperTarget had to be the best of the weekend.  Jackson going with me was very fun and finding his new Spiderman dishes and cutlery made it a special thing.  The kids were all fun this weekend and with Alex's help Jackson discovered a sense of achievement in going on the potty.  He may wear that Finding Nemo underwear yet!

I made it to Mass yesterday.  I managed not to obsess about the work stuff I didn't finish on Friday and just took the weekend off from it all.  Katherine rolled over again.  This would be the second time she's performed this new trick.  Have I mentioned recently what a joy she is?  What a tremendous gift to be lucky enough to be her Mommy!

Jackson's shelf went up - thank you Jeff!  Now his room is "done" but I still maybe want to get some more things for the walls.  I think I will hold on that until something really cool strikes my fancy.  The desk in my room got put back together and so with the computer phone jack I can set up to work in there and don't have to move my stuff at dinnertime, won't have all my work papers on the kitchen table, can keep the printer there vs. the dining room, etc.  Not an ideal location to set up work and I'm nervous about it upsetting the feng shui balance I've tried to create in there but on the other hand I view my room as my haven, my oasis, my secure and comfy place, my nest.  I've been feeling a lot of "if only I could do this up in my room" as far as journaling, etc. goes.  I'm liking this idea.

R.I.P. Ruby

My beta fish died yesterday. Poor Ruby looked totally gross there in the bowl but I had to clean him out of there before Jackson saw it.  So the bowl is clean and the snal is in there by herself and no one has noticed the fish is missing.  Such a sad testimonial to Ruby's life.  I'm tempted to stop at PetSmart for another beta today but not sure if I should observe a suitable period of mouring first.  Is a day long enough for a fish who was with us for a year and a half?

In another matter I got about half as much done at the crop last night than I would have if I'd really prepared and taken the stuff I needed to finish Jackson's book or start the book that will have my baby pictures juxtaposed with Jackson's to highlight the fact that he looks so much like I did as a youngster.  It was nice to get out of the house with time to devote to the photos and scrapbooks.  I'm thrilled Maureen and I have discovered each other and are becoming good friends and Allison is the perfect consultant and hostess as far as I'm concerned.

Lots of errands today and oh, there goes that laundry pileup again!  I'm enjoying Jeff's homemade cornbread (we eat it with butter & honey) and a hot cup of home brewed Starbuck's coffee.  I'm invited to a Tatouage Party at the home of a former neighbor but don't know whether I'll be able to swing all I have to do and going.

I really don't want to say it and not do it and I'm a little, what shall I call it, ashamed, that I am thinking of going to Mass tomorrow just to meet the new pastor who I've just learned is a good friend of a good friend.  Or shall I say "whatever works" and get my butt to the church on time? 

It's a Glorious Day

The day is hot but dry and the sun is shining.  jackson is out playing in his little pool.  We're having friends over this afternoon and although I power shopped yesterday of course there are a handful of things I still need so I'll be at the supermarket AGAIN today. 

But I slept in - until nearly 10:00 - and Jeff brought breakfast in bed.  I cleaned up the kitchen and family room and he took Jackson outside.  Kate is swinging and snoozing. 

I'm off to tidy the powder room (aka the cat box), shower, then start getting some stuff ready for the afternoon meal.  We're having steak and shrimp (friend is a vegetarian); a salad with romaine, tomato, sharp provolone, red onion, and pesto, corn on the cob and mojitos.  I finally found some fresh mint at the store.  I've been regretting ripping out all of my spearmint and peppermint but it was taking over my life out there.  I do need to have some planted in a container so that I have it when I need it. 

I'm thinking a lot about my sister again.  A friend saw her at a reunion event a few weeks ago and just mentioned it to me on Friday.  I said I guess it's a good thing I didn't go to the event as it would have ruined Val's day.  Then I summed it up for her by saying that my sister hates my guts and I get the impression that my mere existence is an annoyance to her.  God forbid I should approach her to try to re-establish lines of communication for the sake of family and our children.  Anyway, it just makes me sad.  I guess she's also in my thoughts because I turned myself on to the FlyLady and right away knew that it's a system that Val would really dig.  Turns out she is into it, according to Mom, and I would just love to be able to pick up the phone and give her a call and ask her if her sink is shiny and her lace up shoes are tied on....I really do miss her and contrary to the advice of caring friends I cannot just forget her.

p.s.  the dogs had better learn how to drink out of Jackson's pool because he thinks their water dish is a pool toy and is contantantly dumping it out...woof!

Tell Me Something Good

The date is set and the godparents are Dillon & Rachel.  Jeff and I are thrilled with this choice.  Invitations are in the mail. 

Work is going well.  I've cleaned out about half of the 350 emails in my mailbox and have a whole slew of new candidates interviewing next week.  Our new coordinator is working out fabulously and is a huge help in getting things done!  The recruiting gods are smiling upon me at the moment.

I have put my toe into the pool of FlyLady and am loving it so far.  Over the weekend I will explore the menu planning stuff and may have to issue an ultimatum to hubby that he eats seafood every so often or else because I hear that following the menu plans works best when you follow the menu plans and don't try to freelance...we'll see about that.

For right now I have to dash off to Target and the supermarket to get the things done that I would normally have taken care of during the week so that I could flit around the house on Saturday a.m.  Off I go to get dressed and fly out of here! 

I need to get back to bed. I'm up after feeding the baby. I feel asleep in Jackson's bed and never got up to finish addressing the invitations for the Christening. Also, I never called Dillon to ask him to be Kate's godfather. Rachel said she would love to be Kate's godmother so Jeff and I are feeling really good about this decision to have the kids be godparents. I feel like I could start
my work day right here and now as I'm up and functioning but my hand is somewhat numb so I think I need to go get some more rest. I finally went to ask the dr. about the hand thing as I don't think it's carpal tunnel. He is having me get it x-rayed. I should have walked right over to the radiology place after my appt. with him yesterday but I needed to get to the office.
Baby steps. That's what FlyLady encourages and it applies everywhere, especially to this over 40 new mom returning to work after 2nd baby.
I was feeling really confident about the stability of my job at the moment but now I'm not so sure. I had a conversation with a colleague yesterday and learned that the oursourcing of jobs to India is impacting HR in that we have reduced HR headcount in proportion to the number of jobs going to India. There are a few HR opportunities to work in India but not everyone is in a position to go for those.
However, for the moment we are hiring like gangbusters at higher levels in tax and I think my clients prefer their recruiter to be in front of them on the ground. Not so sure they wouldn't want to make do with less and have a one stop shopping arrangement with HR manager and recruiter in one though. I couldn't be that person but the new HR manager could very well be....and they are trying this model out in Boston. Just a thought.
Going back to bed now.

Here We Go Again

Monday a.m. I woke before the alarm.  Actually, Piggers woke me but I recall thinking that I should get up to pump because I felt uncomfortable and I didn't know what time it was.  It was just before 6:00 a.m. so after feeding and changing her I came downstairs to release the hounds, have some breakfast, and check in.  I decided to let the coffeemaker turn itself on as it is programmed and I think it's very cool that it just starts making my coffee for me.  It's so rare that I'm down here at 6 to hear it start.  Last night I did my best to get everything together for this morning...my briefcase, Kate's bottles, Kate's & Jackson's blankets for school, their tuition check, check for Susana, the everpresent breastpump,

I find myself all excited this a.m .because Susana comes today.  It's been two weeks. We cut her back to every other week when the two kids in daycare full time cash outlay began.  It's so nice to come home to a house that's been cleaned all at once vs. one room at a time so by the time you're done you can't tell where you started because it's starting to get messy again.  The amount daycare costs each week still hasn't fully sunken in with me.  Jeff and I really need to reconfigure the way we handle our cash and expenses.  (Ha!  Like there's any cash after the expenses!)

Alex is sitting across from me as I type, eating a bowl of cereal.  She has her hair in pink foam curlers.  Remember pink foam curlers?  She'd put them in last night after her shower.  She'll be swimming today so that will be it for the curls but she's going to look very cute when she leaves for the Y this morning. 

Okie Dokie...it's 6:30...time to unload the dishwasher and get the business part of this day started!

What's That Smell?

Jackson has a pair of sandals that he wears every day.  Last week they finally succumbed to whatever sweatmonster has been working on the plastic bottoms all summer.  They reek!  I've tried washing them with hot soapy water and spraying with Lysol but you can smell them from across the room AND they make poor prince's feet smell terrible....it's mid-August - do I throw them away and go buy another pair?  Yesterday I took them off to change his diaper and get him ready for his nap...he wanted to take the sandals into bed with him.  Ewww. 

I took a nice nap also as I'd had a busy morning with the girls.  Alex and I took Katherine to have her first studio portraits and it went off without a hitch.  Baby girl's pretty white dress fit perfectly.  She held her silver rattle, she smiled, she looked radiant.  Next it was off to Hecht's to try (again) to exchange the fluffy white snowsuit from Uncle Stephen for a larger size.  I may as well just make the trip to Montgomery Mall because none of the Hecht's in VA have these suits out on the floor yet.  You'd think Maryland was the Great White North or something.  I'm trying again tomorrow in Tysons after work. 

Next, we took my sapphire bracelet back to the jeweler to have the missing stone replaced.  I was hoping against hope that it was under some type of warranty and I lucked out.  The jeweler examined it with the loop, determined there had been no trauma, and said they would replace the stone for no charge.  YES! 

Finally, we stopped at Papyrus and found invitations for Kate's Christening.  I lucked out as I don't think that's a common thing and I waited until the last minute to finalize plans for the event.  We doing it on September 19 and haven't even decided who the godparents will be. 

It's hard to concentrate around here lately because the house is in a messy uproar.  Jackson is "cleaning out" his toybox at the moment and the whole family room is strewn with toys.  There is "stuff" all over the kitchen island and glasses & cereal bowls in the sink.  We have a week's worth of newspapers here and there and the front hall has at least 6 pairs of shoes, assorted mail, etc. etc.  Our room is also a big mess and I have the ironing board set up in the guest room/Kate's room, along with the last piece of the bassinet that I can't figure out how to disassemble, and the big suitcase full of infant boy stuff that I'm returning to Stacey...

Oh and the cat has returned full force to using the corner in the living room as a litter box.  I am off to Petsmart for a gallon of Nature's Miracle to dump there.  Thank goodness Susana & Sarah are coming to clean tomorrow.  I need to get her a new key.  So the plan is to have a few more gulps of my coffee, clean up this kitchen, throw in a load of wash, shower, then head for Home Depot to get keys made and then stop at the pet store.  I will take Jax with me as I think he will find the key making thing to be of interest.   Let's not even get into the chores that await when I return from that as listing them will probably send me back under the covers....and Sunday is supposed to be a day of REST.  I will shoot for getting myself to Mass next week.