February 7: Rain on our Faces

Chocolate Tuesday! It is raining. But it’s a soft kind of gray rain so it’s not that bad. It’s the kind of rain that feels good on your face as you walk through it. Especially when you haven’t put on your makeup yet.

Highlights of the Morning and Commute:

• We had crying children in the early morning hours while it was still dark and both wound up in my bed. So I’m a bit tired this morning. Although it was great to wake up with them so close.
• Chocolate Tuesday! Twin Crazy and Twin Husky are full-fledged Nutella-lovers. Red and Big Bro happily joined them. We had tortillas, bread, and bagels galore with the chocolaty-goodness.



• Twin Crazy and Twin Husky turn TWO this Sunday – we’ve been having fun with them talking up their birthday and getting excited. Red and Big Bro want to go out and buy presents for them (I think just a ploy to lobby for stuff for them too). I had fun saying “If it’s your birthday this weekend, raise your hand.” Unfortunately I couldn’t get both of them to raise their hands at the same time…. I will keep working on that for a photo. It was so cute to see Twin Husky’s smiling face with his chocolaty hand raised in the air, and Twin Crazy’s face holding back a smile with her hand in the air. I catch them singing Happy Birthday every now and then so they are getting ready.
• I helped wash hands – everyone was so sticky. My favorite is still diaper changes. I get to talk to each kid and focus on them. Dressing with Big Bro and Red went without a problem. But Red REJECTED her new shoes this morning and opted for her Dora sneakers – the ones she kept saying hurt her feet!! Unpredictable.
• I caught both Twin Husky and Twin Crazy each taking turns putting on Red’s new shoes and walking around the house laughing. Then Twin Husky found his favorite silver sparkly shoe so was walking around with them too.
• The three drop offs were quick and efficient. I talked with Big Bro’s teacher about how Big Bro read his ENTIRE book last night with very little help… he just plowed through the thing and wouldn’t stop! He was excited to pick up a new book.
• Red was excited that I was dropping her off this morning. She was all smiles. We ran through the parking lot with the rain on our faces and talking about the rain. We talked about how it feels good on your face and how it wakes you up in the morning. We skipped over puddles.

Now I’m on the ferry, knowing that today will be busy. But if I can just hunker down and focus on what I need to do, I should be OK. I can’t afford to get too many out-of-the-blue emails that distract me. I might just take 2 hours off email so I can plow through some things. I need to finish our kickoff deck, start planning the meetings in April, and possibly start the outreach for our extra meeting. This plan is aggressive.

Highlights of the Working Day:

I had a great day at work. Very busy, very productive:

• I met with my team related to a new project we are starting next week, to debrief them on what we need to do for the project, what we learned the last time we worked with this client 2 years ago, and what we need to do differently for this project versus the last. They understand the budget in terms of time, and understand their roles in the project. I shared immediate next steps for them to do to prepare for next week.
• I completed the Kick-off presentation and shared with the team and the Director-in-charge for his review.
• I completed the go-to-market materials for the new initiative that we are trying to launch – a meeting in April. I feel good about the selling message and forwarded everything to the team for their review to see if the message could be made more compelling. I plan to distribute everything tomorrow and see what kind of response we get.
• I also started to think about the planning for the other two meetings we will have in April. I need to make this my main focus next week.
• I also responded to my thoughts on another project sold from another office but needing our time; I have some questions as to scope and also reservations on time commitment.

I am now on the ferry home and it is still gray outside. But not raining. Someone sitting next to me smells like Ass. I have chicken defrosted in the refrigerator and we also have cherry tomatoes so I think I’m going to try the Chicken and Tomato recipe I featured previously. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Dinner and Bedtime:

• I picked up all the kids and enjoyed their smiles and hugs. Twin Husky was wearing silvery-glittery shoes.
• The kids played while I made dinner – the Chicken and Tomato recipe — it was quick, easy, and DELICIOUS!!!!! Seriously. It was very good. I made a side of pasta and put the sauce in there too – along with some veggies and left over quinoa. Dinner wasn’t a big hit for the kids but I enjoyed it!
• The Twins were tired and the older kids were dirty (no baths over the weekend) so Big Bro and Red bathed while Twin Crazy and Twin Husky got ready for bed. Twin Crazy went pee-pee in the potty!!!
• Big Bro read along with me his new book from school. He is trying really hard and I am so proud of him and how well he’s doing.
• Red had a difficult time going to sleep again tonight. She fights it. She props herself up to keep from going to sleep. I rocked with her and she eventually gave in.

It is quiet in the house now. Too quiet. I have a 1/2 day of work tomorrow so I’m looking forward to that. I’d like to take Big Bro and Red out to buy Twin Crazy and Twin Husky their birthday presents – there won’t be much of an opportunity for me to do this alone with them between now and Sunday.

Til tomorrow,

– Mama K