September 12: The shortest work-week EVER

I took a few days off from writing and it feels good to be behind this keyboard. We had a great weekend with the children. On Saturday Hubby discovered a problem with his passport (expired!) so he needed to research a way to get that updated before Tuesday, when we go on vacation. So that gave me and the kids time to be together. Not doing much of anything, just talking, playing, eating. I brought out colored “sticks” (like the tongue sticks from doctors offices) and that kept all four occupied. After naps we went to a music festival on one of the town streets and I busted out to a Who cover band. Even the toddlers were running around crazy, dancing, having fun (they probably ate too much kettle corn). I had lots of beers. It was great.

On Sunday we took a walk over to our local fire station and the kids dropped of “thank you” bags to them — puzzles, dominos, cards, etc. It is cute in the eyes of a child what they think the firefighters would like. Red’s favorite present was the Cinderella puzzle and Big Bro really liked the 3-D Darth Vader puzzle. The firefighters would kind enough to give us an entire tour of their station (I think they were starving for attention – our neighborhood is very quiet).

FDNY in Memory -- Red in a fire truck

Big Bro had a playdate and I sewed some jeans (pretty funny, the topic of another post to come).

Highlights of our Morning and Commute:

• Red wakes up early and eats up the attention I give her with her pony-tail. She wants me to wear the same color so we can match.
• All of the sudden Big Bro AND Twin Crazy come in too. THey are all circling me now singing Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! All grabbing me and I am LOVING IT. It is so easy to give them morning kisses when they are right down in front of you.
• Then Twin Husky comes running in to join the fun. they are all laughing and having a great time. We realized that the Twins are now saying Twin Crazy’s name (a bit botched up) and Red is now also able to enunciate it perfectly. So all kids are chanting her name and laughing up a storm.
• Big Bro says he needs my help and if I can “work on him first”. I say yes. He needs to find the firefighter eraser tops for the pencils that the fireman gave to him. We go through several loads of wash in varying stages of cleaning until we find them. He is happy. WHile I’m in the laundry room I throw in some loads since I’ll need to pack for the trip tonight
• All kids are fed except Big Bro. Sliced peaches and toast. Done.
• Red is dressed, Twins are diapered. Big Bro has his clothes waiting for him in a pile on the floor. Done.
• More chants with Twin Crazy’s name. Too funny.
• I pack the bag for daycare (why do I always wait until the morning of?). She needed pants for both kids, diapers. Shoes.
• Twin Crazy is having a hard time this morning. She apparently put yogurt all over her head to her hair is now soaked. Too bad, she had a bath last night.
• Red gets ready to leave with Hubby. She almost leaves without her shoes. The Twins and I scurry to find her shoes. She’s off!
• I pack up the rest of the kids. Twin Crazy still crying until I bring her a stuffed animal.
• 1st drop off: Twins. Fast. Easy. I let her know that they are having a hard time.
• 2nd drop off: Big Bro. We play on the swings. Then its time to line up. I tell him I need to leave. I ask him if its OK to hug and kiss him now or if I should wait until later today. He smiles at me, bashful, and gives me a hug. I’ll gladly take that from him.

So now on the ferry, looking forward to vacation but still lots to do (everything). I hope packing won’t be too tough. I don’t think it will be. I hope Hubby is able to get his passport today. Otherwise it will be me and the 2 kids alone (which is OK, I ‘ve done that before) but its a 13 hour flight with a 6 hour layover. I have NOT done that before. I am wearing new drawstring pants that keep uniting themselves. How annoying. The last thing I need is to be running around at work with my pants falling off my ass.

I’ll be doing “forum” work today. Also talking with my brother to get ready for the trip. I am sooooo looking forward to this for so many reasons.

Highlights of my Working Day:

• Got to the office, got myself settled with make-up, tea, water, graham crackers.
• Spent 2 hours reviewing a presentation deck for a forum meeting in October. I suggested some ways to bring out the drivers of the data and ways to facilitate discussion with the group; so not only did I learn about the reporting, but I feel like I added a fresh perspective to the way the meeting could be facilitated and ways to create more value for our firm.
• I spent some time putting to paper some criteria/thinking about how to “qualify” sales leads and then also whether or not as a team we should pursue certain opportunities – the way we make money in our business is through our time – so we need to make sure our time is optimized so we can be as profitable as we can be. Sometimes we chase business opportunities when we have little chance of winning. I think this is mentality left over from the recession; business has picked up since then but I think we still have a gut reaction to spend time with proposals where we are not well positioned to win.
• I spent the rest of the day doing administrative items – time sheets, expense reports, etc.
• I’M OUT OF HERE!   By the way, when I go on vacation or take a day off, I AM COMPLETELY OFF.   No email, no voicemail, no quick conference calls.   They all know this about me.

I am on the ferry right now and I am OFFICIALLY ON VACATION!!! We are headed to the Dominican Republic (Hubby, Big Bro, Red, and I). I still need to pack! So, I of course am drinking a beer. I can’t wait to see the kids. I need to see my toddlers. I will miss them while away. They are so much fun right now. It doesn’t feel right taking a trip with only a subset of our family.

Dinner and Bedtime:

• I picked up all kids, 3 pick ups. Red LOVES her new school. She was running and smiling and bursting with energy when I got there. Big Bro was playing with his friends. Twin Crazy and Twin Husky were in shorts enjoying the warm weather and running up to the van when I pulled up.
• I was busy cooking dinner while on a 4-way conference call with my brother, mom, and dad to talk about last-minute logistics. We’re excited!
• After dinner I did not spend much time with the kids – I had to pack!
• I kissed the Twins goodnight and was there for the singing (my favorite part).
• Big Bro and Red were SOOOOOOOOOO excited for the trip. They know it will be a long travel day and that we will wake them up in the middle of the night before the sun comes up. Red helped to pick out her clothes, as did Big Bro. He, in turn, decided against some of my selections and wound up hiding them somewhere (I still don’t know where).
• So, I’m finishing up this post so I can get my act together and go to sleep!!!

I may not post for a while – it depends on what I feel like doing on my days off with my kids!  🙂

Till later,

– Mama K