A few weeks ago, my friend from work, AM, told me she wanted to join Weight Watchers. Our work group disbanded, so I suggested she try it online. This was about the same time that she told me she knows her boyfriend is going to propose. (possibly before Christmas).
On Monday, we went to lunch and she ordered a salad. I said, "did you order a salad because you want to loose weight for your pending engagement." AM, "yes, I don't want to feel bad about myself in a wedding dress." I said, "no matter what, you'll like a princess on your wedding day." AM, "I took your advice on going online." I said, shopping for wedding gowns? "She said "no, for weight watchers." Me, "oh, yeah, that makes more sense."
She said that she doesn't want anyone to know at work when she gets engaged. I said it can't be avoided. All it took was an email to our boss explaining that AM would be out from work because her sister had a baby, and he circulated a department wide email congratulating her on becoming an aunt.
This is going to be good!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Training Recap
I attended a training last week with a man first thought to have some form of untreated ADHD, but I think he just liked to hear himself speak. I apologize to my friends with ADHD for giving them a bad name. In one breath, 'Guy' was asking the trainer for advice on how get staff in the field to access the sight when most of them did not have computers. Later he was asking if the portal could be configured with Flash because it was "too boring."
The trainer was showing us how to upload photos to the portal and used a Steelers jpg as a demonstration. (Earlier in the class we had all established that we all grew up in Pennsylvania. Trainer now in Atlanta, me in Baltimore, Guy in Chicago). Trainer asked if I was a Steelers fan (yes!). Asked Guy if he was a Steelers' fan. "No, he replied."
Trainer - "Eagles?"
Guy - "No."
Trainer - "Bears?"
Guy - "No".
(crickets).
Guy, finally, "I don't follow any sports. It's too expensive." Then, a breakout discussion about the cost of attending a baseball game (tickets, concessions, parking, merchandise). I roll my eyes and tell him instead of Cubs, maybe he should go to a White Sox game.
At the end of the day, we're talking about our rental car experience. I was talking about the base model economy vehicle I rented, a Yaris. Said it was weird that I had to manually lock all of the doors. Guy said, "I requested a premium vehicle, but was upgraded to luxury. It wasn't a problem until they put me in a Mustang Convertible. I don't drive soft top convertibles, because they're too noisy. I had to get another car."
This is just an abbreviated version of the other observations, remarks, exclamations and discoveries by Guy throughout the training.
The trainer was showing us how to upload photos to the portal and used a Steelers jpg as a demonstration. (Earlier in the class we had all established that we all grew up in Pennsylvania. Trainer now in Atlanta, me in Baltimore, Guy in Chicago). Trainer asked if I was a Steelers fan (yes!). Asked Guy if he was a Steelers' fan. "No, he replied."
Trainer - "Eagles?"
Guy - "No."
Trainer - "Bears?"
Guy - "No".
(crickets).
Guy, finally, "I don't follow any sports. It's too expensive." Then, a breakout discussion about the cost of attending a baseball game (tickets, concessions, parking, merchandise). I roll my eyes and tell him instead of Cubs, maybe he should go to a White Sox game.
At the end of the day, we're talking about our rental car experience. I was talking about the base model economy vehicle I rented, a Yaris. Said it was weird that I had to manually lock all of the doors. Guy said, "I requested a premium vehicle, but was upgraded to luxury. It wasn't a problem until they put me in a Mustang Convertible. I don't drive soft top convertibles, because they're too noisy. I had to get another car."
This is just an abbreviated version of the other observations, remarks, exclamations and discoveries by Guy throughout the training.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Things I learned from my son
Things I learned from my son -
1) Ignorance is bliss - Good thing no one told me how much he weighed until after he was already out
2) Patience is a virtue - I actually have more than I thought
3) Time flies - I can't believe he's a year old.
4) It's all Greek to me - I think I'm starting to understand baby talk
5) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree - Watching my husband and my son together
6) Practice makes perfect - especially when it comes to bathing, feeding, diapering and dressing
7) Make the best of both worlds - I can be a good mom and have a career too
8) Rome wasn't built in a day - I'm not always going to get everything done, and that's okay.
9) Every cloud has a silver lining - when my baby smiles at me
1) Ignorance is bliss - Good thing no one told me how much he weighed until after he was already out
2) Patience is a virtue - I actually have more than I thought
3) Time flies - I can't believe he's a year old.
4) It's all Greek to me - I think I'm starting to understand baby talk
5) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree - Watching my husband and my son together
6) Practice makes perfect - especially when it comes to bathing, feeding, diapering and dressing
7) Make the best of both worlds - I can be a good mom and have a career too
8) Rome wasn't built in a day - I'm not always going to get everything done, and that's okay.
9) Every cloud has a silver lining - when my baby smiles at me
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Grandparents Are Coming
My son turns one on Friday, and we're having a birthday party for him this weekend. The grandparents are coming. My parents "Gigi and Granddad," and my husband's mom, "Grandma." Thankfully, my mother in law was fine with "Grandma." My mother, who could never be happy with Grandma (not sure if it's the age or the stigma), looked at every list she could find and tried out countless names before arriving at Gigi. (I think it was harder for her to come up with a name for herself than it was for us to name the baby!).
One of the name combinations she proposed for herself and my dad were, "Kiki and G-daddy." My parents are in their 60s. They wear glasses and sweaters and drive a minivan (my mom doesn't even own jeans). They are not a man going through a mid-life crisis who married a woman with fake boobs and long bleached blonde hair. Oh, and my dad - he wants to be called Grandpa. My mom won't let him.
My mother in law lives in San Diego. I've only met her 4 times. Last year when she came to visit, she burned herself microwaving soup. I know she's going to try to show me the scar sometime on this trip. She's arriving on Friday at rush hour. My husband wants to send a car to pick her up. I said that's fine but he has to be the one to tell her. He said, "why do I have to tell her, the driver will have a sign. I"ll tell him what she looks like."
"Gigi" said not to worry about her because she'll just give her jobs to do to help prepare for the party. This is the woman who uses a ruler to cut brownies the same size delegating to the woman who burns herself with microwave soup. All the while telling me that I should let everyone know I'm serving lunch at the birthday party because I didn't specify as such on the invitation.
*Please refer to my last post where I said I would be on the deck if anyone is looking for me.
One of the name combinations she proposed for herself and my dad were, "Kiki and G-daddy." My parents are in their 60s. They wear glasses and sweaters and drive a minivan (my mom doesn't even own jeans). They are not a man going through a mid-life crisis who married a woman with fake boobs and long bleached blonde hair. Oh, and my dad - he wants to be called Grandpa. My mom won't let him.
My mother in law lives in San Diego. I've only met her 4 times. Last year when she came to visit, she burned herself microwaving soup. I know she's going to try to show me the scar sometime on this trip. She's arriving on Friday at rush hour. My husband wants to send a car to pick her up. I said that's fine but he has to be the one to tell her. He said, "why do I have to tell her, the driver will have a sign. I"ll tell him what she looks like."
"Gigi" said not to worry about her because she'll just give her jobs to do to help prepare for the party. This is the woman who uses a ruler to cut brownies the same size delegating to the woman who burns herself with microwave soup. All the while telling me that I should let everyone know I'm serving lunch at the birthday party because I didn't specify as such on the invitation.
*Please refer to my last post where I said I would be on the deck if anyone is looking for me.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
R&R
R&R
Yesterday my boss was asking me about my son's sleep schedule. He'll be 1 in a week. (which I can't believe. I told 2 friends that if they were looking for me at his birthday party I'd be sitting on the back deck steps crying into my sangria- more on that later). He goes to bed at 6:30 and wakes up at 6 for the most part. I don't know why he's such a good sleeper (& yes I realize I'm very lucky). At 5 months he just started doing it. He also gave up his pacifier around the same time - just didn't want it anymore. I put it in his mouth before bed one night & he spit it out. I thought it was by accident so I tried popping it back in, but he just spit it back out. Never wanted it again.
The first five months were more difficult than the next five. I went back to work fulltime when he was 8 weeks old. Cried the first time I dropped him off at daycare. Walked the 2 blocks back to our house sobbing carrying an empty Baby Bjorne. Tried pumping at work so I could continue breast feeding. Was up twice during the night for feedings & my husband was traveling 3 nights a week. We also bought a house. I don't know how I did it.
My boss doesn't have any children. She said she can't imagine that sleep depravation & stress. I told her I've heard people say "you just do what it takes to make it work." It sounds cliche, but it's true. She told me the only thing she can equate it to is working in an emergency situation where there's adrenaline & harmony of everyone working together to get through it. And when you're done, you take R&R.
Really? R&R? Where the company pays for your plane ticket & 5 days salary for you to relax & recover. Yeah boss...sounds similar. When's my expense paid R&R from motherhood?
Yesterday my boss was asking me about my son's sleep schedule. He'll be 1 in a week. (which I can't believe. I told 2 friends that if they were looking for me at his birthday party I'd be sitting on the back deck steps crying into my sangria- more on that later). He goes to bed at 6:30 and wakes up at 6 for the most part. I don't know why he's such a good sleeper (& yes I realize I'm very lucky). At 5 months he just started doing it. He also gave up his pacifier around the same time - just didn't want it anymore. I put it in his mouth before bed one night & he spit it out. I thought it was by accident so I tried popping it back in, but he just spit it back out. Never wanted it again.
The first five months were more difficult than the next five. I went back to work fulltime when he was 8 weeks old. Cried the first time I dropped him off at daycare. Walked the 2 blocks back to our house sobbing carrying an empty Baby Bjorne. Tried pumping at work so I could continue breast feeding. Was up twice during the night for feedings & my husband was traveling 3 nights a week. We also bought a house. I don't know how I did it.
My boss doesn't have any children. She said she can't imagine that sleep depravation & stress. I told her I've heard people say "you just do what it takes to make it work." It sounds cliche, but it's true. She told me the only thing she can equate it to is working in an emergency situation where there's adrenaline & harmony of everyone working together to get through it. And when you're done, you take R&R.
Really? R&R? Where the company pays for your plane ticket & 5 days salary for you to relax & recover. Yeah boss...sounds similar. When's my expense paid R&R from motherhood?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
"Actually, I'm a Tiger"
Happy Birthday to my only and wonderful sister! For her entire life I've been saying we're 6 years apart. Today a friend at work said, well if you're 34 and your sister is 29, you're only 5 years apart. Tho this is the same friend I found sitting at her computer one day with her head tilted sideways because she couldn't figure out how to rotate a PDF. And contemplating even further...we're almost exactly 5 years and 9 months apart. Did mom and dad conceive my baby sister on my 5th birthday? Eww.
When my sister turned 21, I made a surprise trip to see her at college. She and her roommates celebrated by having a halloween/costume/birthday party. My sister dressed as Holly Golightly, and looked beautiful! My friend Jess, also in town to attend a John Mayer concert that night, was dressed as a tiger. She could be the mayor of John Mayer. She had a back stage pass. When she arrived at the party after the show she told me this story: "I met him, and he said, 'hey there kitten.' I said, 'actually I'm a tiger; I thought this would be a good costume with everything that happened with Siegfried & Roy earlier this month.'" I thought she was going to cry.
When my sister turned 21, I made a surprise trip to see her at college. She and her roommates celebrated by having a halloween/costume/birthday party. My sister dressed as Holly Golightly, and looked beautiful! My friend Jess, also in town to attend a John Mayer concert that night, was dressed as a tiger. She could be the mayor of John Mayer. She had a back stage pass. When she arrived at the party after the show she told me this story: "I met him, and he said, 'hey there kitten.' I said, 'actually I'm a tiger; I thought this would be a good costume with everything that happened with Siegfried & Roy earlier this month.'" I thought she was going to cry.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Dynamo
Married working mother of one 1 year old son. Moved to the suburbs (well if you can call Baltimore a real city, then I live in one of its suburbs) 6 months ago. Husband travels for work. Looking for a creative outlet lest I go crazy.
I'm not a blogger who can provide typical "helpful" blog hints. I don't make simple weeknight dinners, I make bad decisions. I don't have any tips for working moms, as I often feel like a fish out of water when it comes to motherhood. I don't exercise - I stress eat. I watch too much tv, eat too much junk food and probably drink too much wine (not willing to admit it). Maybe blogging will help me be one of those dynamos who makes easy weeknight dinners while running on the treadmill. Anything is possible, right?
I don't read blogs, so I don't know what writing one will do for me.
I'm starting to sound like Andy Rooney, so I'm ending this post now.
I'm not a blogger who can provide typical "helpful" blog hints. I don't make simple weeknight dinners, I make bad decisions. I don't have any tips for working moms, as I often feel like a fish out of water when it comes to motherhood. I don't exercise - I stress eat. I watch too much tv, eat too much junk food and probably drink too much wine (not willing to admit it). Maybe blogging will help me be one of those dynamos who makes easy weeknight dinners while running on the treadmill. Anything is possible, right?
I don't read blogs, so I don't know what writing one will do for me.
I'm starting to sound like Andy Rooney, so I'm ending this post now.
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