January 18: A power day

January 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I HAD A GREAT DAY!!!!!
I was solo this morning with the kids and I was excited about it. I had as much ready the night before as I could…. the extra clothes packed for Twin Crazy and Twin Husky, the jackets ready by the door, the shoes ready by the door, the lunch-bags out, the clothes piles ready, the coffee machine programmed….

So I woke up, got a shower, threw on some clothes, and started the day with the kids. It was so smooth and everything went great; Red had an issue with her socks again, but that was expected.

Highlights of My Morning and Commute:

  • Me changing diapers in the Twins’ room where it is sooooo much warmer compared to downstairs…. Twin Crazy mentioned “potty” so we ran in there and low and behold, there was a nickle’s worth of pee-pee in the potty. She obviously went in her diaper when she woke up, but I couldn’t get over that little bit of pee-pee in there!!!!!!!!!!! We were so happy.
  • Kids at the breakfast bar eating oatmeal, cereal, bagels, apples, blueberries
  • I turn around to see Twin Crazy unchanged out of her pajamas and putting on a pair of pants! Big Bro helped her with her socks. She picked out a shirt – one of Red’s shirts.
  • Red helped me pack up the car
  • I dropped off Twin Crazy and Twin Husky first; then Red and I dropped of Big Bro. I picked her up so she could see Big Bro going into his classroom.
  • Red had problems with her socks again in her school lobby. I tried to be patient.
  • I dropped off Red and had so much fun with her friends. I wanted to take a picture of her and her friends and then they wanted to see the picture so I reversed the image and I was also in the picture. The kids had a blast and all of them were hanging on to me and laughing. It was hard to leave… but I was working from home today and had a conference call to get to….

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    Highlights of My Working Day:

  • I grabbed coffee, and ate a Trader Joe’s frozen breakfast.
  • Conference call at 9 AM to do initiative planning for a meeting in April. We are getting closer. I secured two meetings with what could be key sponsors to the intiative. We have our first meeting on Monday and will need better materials to review with them. I asked our partner to put some thought into showing some case studies and also the benefit of bringing this industry collaboration group together in the first place. We have to sell the concept and that means there must be something “in it” for everybody involved.
  • I quickly got ready for my face to face meeting. Hair, make up, suit.
  • I had another conference call for a debrief on one of our forums. It was a good call.
  • I quickly hit the road for a face to face proposal meeting. Me and the Director met beforehand to go over our approach to the meeting. I lead a lot of it and felt good about our positioning. It was a great meeting; we did well selling ourselves and establishing a good connection with each of the clients. We have to make some refinements to the proposal which I will try to do before Monday.
  • On the way home, I rolled down the windows and blasted music. I felt great.

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    Dinner and Bedtime:

  • I met my mom at my house. She is here through the weekend for a belated Christmas celebration; and my brother arrives tomorrow. She loves my new room. I found her napping in my bed….
  • We went to pick up the kids. Red came running so fast to me that I pretended to fall over. We then made a big deal about the Legos at Big Bro’s aftercare program. Pick up for the Twins was cute since our daycare provider was taking them for a walk – they both came running over to us.
  • My mom played with the kids (Legos) as I cooked dinner. Twin Husky was cooking some dinner of his own.
  • After dinner we ran around a bit, did some acrobatic flips, made a game up about cleaning up our toys, and also did tattoos.
  • Red and Big Bro helped Twin Crazy and Twin Husky get changed for sleep. They helped with the new diapers and getting their pajamas on. I think even Twin Crazy helped with Twin Husky’s change. It is so cute how they all get along and help each other out. I love it.

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    It was a VERY relaxing afternoon after a power morning — with meetings and clients. I feel on top of the world. I had a great day at work – made a lot of progress and had a great face-to-face meeting – looking very professional and taking ownership of the meeting while positioning our firm favorably compared to other consultancies – to win, you have to know and believe in why you are different from the rest. I have this story down, and I believe it, having worked at other consultancies earlier in my career.

    So now my mom is here, my kids are sleeping, and I am happy. My brother will arrive tomorrow. I’m keeping the kids home except for Big Bro. He is upset about that but I promised him a scooter ride to school, with only me. No-one else. And that seemed to satisfy him.

    Til tomorrow,
    – Mama K

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    January 5: My daughter sings me to sleep

    January 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

    I usually have off on Thursdays, but the condition of my new working arrangement was “flexibility”. So, here I am on a ferry headed into the city to participate in a 1/2 internal strategy meeting. The morning was fine, up until the end:

    Highlights of the Morning and Commute:

  • Twin Crazy, Red, and Twin Husky were busy eating cereal and bananas. They liked talking about the bananas and the little drops of milk that had spilled on the counter, and on their chairs. I said “No problem, we’ll just clean it up. No problem.” Then the parrots begin their sing-song repetition of “No problem, no problem.”
  • Big Bro was slumbering upstairs in his new sheets. It took some work to get him out of there.
  • Twin Husky had a huge milk accident – on counter, seats, and floor.
  • We had a bagel incident with Big Bro – it dropped into the pile of milk on the floor. Ooops. Need to start again.
  • Twin Crazy was acting silly, trying to make me laugh. It worked.
  • Red was perfect this morning. Ate, dressed, even got Twin Crazy ready with her coat. My little helper!!!

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  • We shuffled all kids in the van but we knew it would be tight with drop offs; No one had their shoes on (including myself). I choked down my instant coffee and someone’s leftover banana. Twins were fine; I had to put Big Bro’s shoes on and fly with him to his line in the kindergarten yard; then had to run to van for Red’s drop off. I ran her in there with no shoes on – so ghetto.
  • We raced to ferry parking lot. Very stressful. But all in all I think the kids went great this morning…. there were no real mishaps except for the bagel on the floor in the milk. If anything, the milk should have been picked up earlier. Getting ready in the morning is a string of events that all interlock together – if we mis-step on any one item (kids don’t like their shirt, don’t eat breakfast, etc.) it throws us all off. So I try to organize the clothes that THEY pick the night before. I try to pack the bags and get the stuff we need the night before. All in all I think Big Bro did great this morning. I wouldn’t want to eat a bagel if it fell onto a floor of milk either. The stress arises from THREE drop offs in the morning. On mornings where we divide and conquer, we are less pressed for time. Who ever heard of getting FOUR kids dressed and out the door, two lunches packed, three drop offs, and two parents commuting to work? With no help? Is this crazy? (yes).

    • So now I’m on the ferry thinking about work. I will have to work on a proposal in the AM and then will be tied up the rest of the day with the strategy meeting. I need to start thinking about what I think I group needs to do over the next year – we are such a small team now that we have to be very careful how we spend our time – we need to spend our time profitably (spend the right amount of time on the right client opportunities) and strengthen client relationships. That, I believe, should guide what we do in 2012.

    Highlights of My Working Day:

    I had a good, busy day. It felt good to be around my colleagues — where I feel heard and listened to. I feel “seen” there. My opinion matters and they actively seek it out. I know my role in the group and I am driving business in areas we have not been in. It feels empowering, risky, but fun.

  • I started the morning with a meeting with a Director and analyst about a proposal we will be submitting. I reworked it significantly compared to the version that was previously put together. I came to the table with thoughts on what to do, how to position our experience, and how to differentiate ourself from our known competitors for this piece of work. I made the changes to the proposal that we agreed to and had that complete before our strategy session started. I was going from meeting to meeting, without a break.
  • Immediately afterwards, I got together with our entire team to work on our strategy for the upcoming year. It feels good to participate in these meetings and have my voice heard. I say something, and people listen to me. They notice me. It was a good meeting and I feel good about the upcoming year with me and my role at the firm.

    • Now I’m on the ferry home to the kids. I’m not sure what to do about dinner. I’m thinking about ordering a pizza. I am physically drained. I think partly because I’m a bit sick and have not been getting much sleep. I also have a lot on my mind and am seeking closure but I know the process will take much longer than I would like.

    I just want to rest on my bed.

    Dinner and Bedtime:

  • I ordered a pizza on my way off of the ferry. Pick ups for the kids were great.

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  • Unbelievably, the pizza got to the house just as we were putting away our coats at home. Just in time!!!
  • By the time Hubby got home, we were all fed and playing with Legos on the floor.
  • A series of children’s books arrived that talked about “feelings” — How do I feel when I feel scared? Angry? Scared? How do I feel when I miss you? The girls were really into the books. Twin Crazy immediately fell in love with the “scared” book. Red fell in love with the “miss you” book. Big Bro was curious about the “angry” book, but pretended not to care.
  • I ran around with the kids and chased them and tickled them with Red on my back.
  • Bedtime took a long time. I’m wiped out.

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    I’m typing now while I’ll listen to Red on the “kid monitor”. She’s singing “Santa Clause is coming to town” and messing up the words. They already went through their requests of “I’m scared” and “I want more mommy time” and “I want to come downstairs and give you a hug.”. Too cute. Her singing is making me sleepy.

    I think I’ll sign off now and let my little girl sing me to sleep for a change –
    – Mama K

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    November 4: Back home!

    November 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    This morning I wore a newly purchased outfit and finished up our meeting.   I had to leave a bit early to catch my flight home, but I made a point to personally say goodbye to each of the clients that I met on this trip.   All in all, it was a good trip.  I had time to myself to relax and soak in life.  I also had a good time with the meetings and things were relatively interesting.  I had amazing food and even came home with jackets and trousers to round out my wardrobe.

    I missed my children but I knew I would have some extra time with them today since I took an earlier flight back.   I met my dad at home and walked into a house that smelled of a roast cooking.   Together we walked to pick up the Twins.   It was so sweet reuniting with them.   Twin Crazy was jumping up and down and jumping on me and throwing her arms around my neck.  Twin Husky was excited, but he was playing “cool”.   My dad was with us so they also thought that was interesting.   They are not used to being picked up early.   Twin Crazy was busy scaling up the stroller to get in – Twin Husky was hesitant – it seemed like he wanted to stay there and play a bit.   I feel like both have changed somewhat in the 3 days I’ve been away.  Twin Husky looks bigger to me.   Twin Crazy seems more expressive. Both are adorable and my dad (a Twin himself) is so proud to be the grandfather of twins.

    We then went to pick up Big Bro.  He was happy to see Pop Pop and also happy to hear that his new bike lock came in the mail.   We all walked home together.  He held my hand and talked about the past few days to fill me in on what I missed.  Apparently Twin Crazy unwrapped a lollipop and ate it.   So cute.   It was a beautiful day.  We passed a playground but Big Bro wanted to get home quickly instead.

    Pop pop stayed back with the kids while I picked up Red.   Her face was beaming.  I love that child to pieces.   We walked in and she immediately ran to Pop pop.  He has a way with her.   They are always goofy together.    We had a great dinner, then all sat down to Shrek and some popcorn.

    The kids are all in bed now — I think sufficiently exhausted.  I think my dad’s exhausted too.   We’re going to sit back and relax for a bit now and will likely call it a night early.   My dad only has tomorrow and will leave very early on Sunday morning.    We will be with Big Bro and Red, while Hubby heads to his folks’ place with the Twins.

    I’m not sure what we’ll do tomorrow, but I bet there will be some time devoted to Big Bro’s bike and his new bike lock.

    Till next week –
    – Mama K

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    August 11: Flying high and evening reunion

    August 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    Today will be a very unusual day in our household.   I am taking a day-trip flight to present our findings and recommendations to a client audience of 15 people including the Senior EVP.   This means that I had little to no time with my kids this AM – only Red was awake (sortof) when I left the house…and hubby had to do the morning routine and get 4 kids out all on his own…

    Highlights of the Morning and “Commute”

    • I woke up much earlier than normal.   Showered, and ran downstairs to make some instant coffee.  I got dressed in a dress and black blazer, and actually blow dried my hair to make it more presentable.
    • Red woke up during this time.   She is always the early riser of the bunch.   She was a bit cranky.
    • Big Bro last night asked me to leave him a note with the names of the games on my iPad – I downloaded some and then wrote the note as I promised.   So I left the note for him by his bed.  I also left a note for Red – “I ♥ you   – Mommy”
    • Since she was cranky we went back into her room to find her note.   I sat with her and read it to her and told her Big Bro received a note so I HAD to leave a note for her too.   She looked at me and started to smile – still holding it in but then jumped on my lap and gave me the biggest hug.    That made my morning and the feeling will help me through the morning since I didn’t have time with my other children.
    • The ride to the airport was easy – we live very close.  I parked in the hourly parking lot.
    • Got the ticket at the kiosk – business select – breezed through security
    • Grabbed fruit, yogurt, coffee, and juice – the best breakfast ever.   I ACTUALLY ATE!!!    AND I DIDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYONE EXCEPT FOR MYSELF!!!
    • Make up in bathroom (this I guess was part of my usual routine — but there was lots more counter-space and lots more light)
    • Now on flight.   And its quiet!   I don’t have any kids jumping around or trying to run down the isles or looking behind or kicking the seat in front or needing an activity or complaining that they are hungry/thirsty/tired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • However, I do need to prepare for a major presentation I will give 3 hours from now.
    • Text from Hubby:   “Everyone was in a bad mood.   [Red] crying and not eating.  Twins fighting over yogurt…. spilling all over.   Dad exhausted and heading into long day.  [Big Bro] was sleeping in and ok.”
    • And another coffee on flight… my third…. yes I’m flying high at this point
    Highlights of my Working Day:
    • Met up with Director and grabbed a taxi to the client.
    • Looked through presentation and made some last notes to myself for talking points.
    • Met with client 1/2 hour before the meeting so she could give last minute guidance; also sold the concept of another project to her and she is excited and completely on board.  She needs to coordinate with some others in the organization but it looks like we can add them to our list of interested participants in the study we are jointly conducting with our partner.   YEAH!!!
    • Had a 1 hour presentation where we presented some very sensitive material.   I tactfully handled areas of sensitivity that I knew of, however there was a person on the phone who was not part of the process at all and was extremely defensive.   We were challenged by him since 1) we tried to include him in our previous interviews/discussions but he sent a proxy instead — so he was working with us on the first time with a lot of these issues; and 2) he was on the phone and not face-to-face.   Face to face with these kinds of meetings is so much better so you can establish actual connections to the people.   In the end though the leadership gave us high accolades, again, so we felt good about the work.
    • At this point it’s 1:30 — grab taxi to airport.   We’re at different terminals, so I’m on my own.  Go thru security, I’m starved…
    • Grab lunch — pizza, and a BIG heffeweisen beer.   I’m psyched.    During lunch/beer I start writing the proposal that is due this week.   I actually made a lot of progress and then realized my flight was boarding so quickly closed down and ran to the gate

    Work and beer go together wonderfully

    • Continued the proposal on the plane; talked business with the guy next to me — he had some ideas for this Blog so I am grateful for meeting him.
    • Grabbed another beer — the day is getting better and better.
    • Grab car – head home.   I go to ferry station to drop off the Audi and pick up the mini-van.
    • Head home and continue to work on the proposal for another hour.   Get it to a point where I can email to a Director on East Coast so he will look at it and then give me his feedback (he is 3 hours ahead of me which works well).
    • Talk to Hubby.   The plan is for me to pick up the kids and get to the ferry station in time for them to see the boat arrive.   I’m on my way!!!
    Dinner and Bedtime:
    • Pick up kids — WHAT A REUNION.    I did not see them a lot the previous night, and definitely didn’t see them in the morning.  So this was fun.  Big Bro was talking about the note I left for him.  He likes it and said he’s always going to keep it.   I have to write him more notes [feeling guilty…]
    • Red was wearing her pajamas from the night before – I guess Hubby had a hard time dressing her this AM.    Then I notice that Big Bro is wearing the same shirt as yesterday (that he also slept in).   I’m wondering if he at least changed his underwear and socks?   Oh well.
    • Ferry came in and all kids were fixated on the boat, and seeing Daddy.
    • At home with everyone!    I played with kids; tickled, hugged, laughed, ran, I love the reunions.
    • Red needed to pee and wanted privacy; Twin Crazy was running around; Big Bro was playing with a beach-ball “globe”; Twin Husky was cranky — wanting Daddy and his doggie blanket.
    • Dinner went great; Big Bro ate like a champ.   Hubby brought out mangos which were a hit
    • Afterwards we played – animals, balls, cars — and the kids all helped putting toys away
    • All kids went to sleep quickly
    So, it was an unusual travel day with significant work presentations… hubby had to pick up the slack in the AM for me to be able to even do any of this.    The kids looked good and healthy – they were a bit smelly from old clothes but that is the least of my concerns.   We were happy to be back together and getting back into our normal routine together.
    All in all a very good day –
    Till tomorrow,
    – Mama K
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    August 10: A bag with a computer, presentations, high heels, baguette, package of cheese and chutney

    August 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    Highlights of the Morning and Commute:

     

    • While getting ready i heard Red crying; she was in one of those moods where she just laid there in a ball crying, and didn’t tell me what was wrong.  I try to be patient but it is hard.   What is it sweetie?   Why are you upset?  Did you have a good night sleep?   What can I do to make it better?   She was handling her loosened pony-tail.   Is it your hair?   do you want met to fix that for you?   Still no answer.   Twin Crazy came into the room and pointed to Red, “talking” in her baby talk and me responding “Yes, Red is upset.  She is sad.”   Twin Crazy is very empathetic and she gets it when someone is upset.  I have an idea.   Can you help me with my lotions?   She helped hold the bottles as I got my face cream and eye cream on.  That seemed to help.
    • Twin Crazy came in with two toothbrushes and was saying “brush”.  She loves to brush her teeth.
    • I still couldn’t find my brush since Twin Crazy took it downstairs yesterday and it never made its way back upstairs.   So Red, Twin Crazy and I went downstairs.
    • I fixed Red’s hair in a pony-tail and I asked her to tell me how Daycare does it.   She directed me with water first, then brush, then put in pony-tail.   So I told her that I was going to follow her directions exactly as she told me.   She seemed VERY happy from that point on.
    • Finding clothes was a bit of an issue this AM since we have 6 loads of unfolded laundry in our back bedroom.  I had to do some searching.   I came out with jeans for Big Bro but he wanted shorts so I asked him to go and look for some.  He got overwhelmed with the back bedroom but then I found him fishing for some in the dryer.  He was successful and found a pair of his favorite shorts.
    • I then diapered the Twins, talked to them.   Twin Crazy was reading a book.   Twin Husky was playful and I asked him if I could kiss his belly.   They are so sweet.
    • OK!   Time to get in the car!!!    I pack up the bag with their jackets and shoes.   Big Bro finds some books to bring to school.   Both drop-offs went wonderfully.

    We are on the ferry now, it is grey but the water is flat.  Some people are chatting with each other but many are reading books or listing to music.  I wonder what they do for work.  I wonder what their situations are with kids – do they have any and at what ages?   I feel so old to be having these kids so young.  We see some of these faces at daycare in the mornings but for some reason we mind our own business.  This is a nice way to commute, probably one that cannot get any better.

     

    Today at work I am going to be hustling:

    • I have to get the presentation complete for our huge meeting tomorrow
    • I need to confirm objectives for potential project so I can start that proposal
    • I will have a face-to-face meeting with an old client who will give us some insight on potential business opportunities and guidance for 2 proposals under consideration so they do not die.

    So – it will be a busy day for me.  I will again need to hit the ground running.  I wish we had a good bagel place by our office.

     

    Highlights of my Working Day:

    • got myself ready in the ladies room – make up and hair
    • grabbed tea, water, and an entire box of fig newtons.  This was my breakfast.  I need to get better at this – I need to start bringing in something healthy to eat – yogurt, fruit, or something.   This is getting ridiculous.
    • worked on the presentation that I will deliver to the “expanded” client team, tomorrow.  The content is there, it just needs to be repackaged for this new audience.   I received feedback from our client as to what to include, so I hit the ground and attacked the presentation.   It was in great shape for Director review; very few edits.   We went to press with it and then sent it to the client for them to print on their end.  Tomorrow’s meeting makes me a bit nervous since we may have some push-back from people – especially if they are on the defensive.   But the Senior EVP will be in the meeting too so hopefully that will keep the meeting tame.
    • sent out a draft of project objectives and key questions for a proposal due this week; once potential client confirms, I will be able to write the proposal.  I will likely write it on the plane tomorrow if I receive feedback from him early enough.
    • joined a business lunch that was rushed but got chicken parmesan so that made up for my shitty breakfast.
    •  went to face-to-face meeting with an old client – he is moving on to another company so this was really to catch up with him and also gain his help in understanding who we can contact within the company for work and also follow up on status of two outstanding proposals to them.   On the way back from the meeting the Director and I talked through a go-to-market plan for this client/organization on who we should be talking with; we are going to start setting up meetings to do this; i love this kind of stuff – being more client facing versus managing a team to get the work done – project management is fine when the team is dependable but it is really hard when they are not – then the work falls on you and I just don’t have the time available to deliver a team’s worth of work myself – I only have a limited number of hours in the day and fewer than what most consultants are able to do.
    • picked up the presentation materials, packed up my computer.   I’m now headed to an appointment so I have all sorts of things with me; iPad, computer, presentations, my high-heel shoes,etc.   I sort of look like a bag lady but with too much technology.

     

    Commute Home:

    During Wednesday nights I have these appointments so Hubby holds down the fort and we now have a NEW mother’s helper so I don’t feel guilty.    If I’m lucky,  I will be able to see Red and Big Bro off to bed, and only if they are dragging out their teeth, PJs, and book routine.   So I’ll think of them now and miss them.   Wednesday nights are hard for me for so many reasons.
    4:45 PM:  NOTE:  There is a woman on the train who is bouncing her baby too much.   he’s in a baby Bjorn but she is honestly physically comforting him too much.   She must be a new mom.   She does not realize that she is creating a spoiled child who will not be able to soothe himself – creating a being who will be dependent on her for his satisfaction.   What the hell is she doing?  She’s bouncing all over the place and hopping.   I know I did this with my first, but by 3 and 4, you know better and I want to tell this woman to stop it but I know I can’t.  There she goes again, bouncing all over the place.   Even though the kid does not need to be bounced now.   STOP IT PLEASE YOU ARE MAKING ME NUTS WITH THE BOUNCING YOUR KID IS NOT FUSSING NOW AND YOU ARE CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL DRAIN YOU FOR YEARS ON END.   Whew.  That feels better.

     

    6:50 PM.  OK.   My appointment finished and I had to wait and wait and wait for a train to take me back downtown to take the last ferry home.   It is absolutely freezing outside.   I really have had it with where I live.   I don’t know if I’ll have time to grab the glass of wine I was hoping for.

     

    7:34.   Yes, I did.  Unfortunately I had to guzzle the glass of wine.  I shoved just one bite of baguette with some Mt. Tam cheese; had to wrap the rest, including the chutney.  So now I have a bag with some presentations, a computer, a baguette, and a saran package of cheese and chutney that I’m sure is fallout out all over the place.   There are few people on the ferry tonight.  I feel buzzed with the one glass of wine that I downed in less than 10 minutes.   It is freezing outside.   Think October/Nov weather.   I hope the kids did well tonight.

     

    8:05 PM:   I’m still not used to the iPad and as I’m walking home in the freezing cold (windy, cold, snot dripping from my nose) I hear the Bee Jees coming from the iPad in my bag.   I need to figure out how to work this thing.

     

    8:15 PM:   tuck Red and Big Bro in bed.   Ask them how their day went.   Scratch Big Bro’s back.   Talk to Red about a lot of stuff I don’t remember now.   I tell them about my trip on the airplane tomorrow and how I think I’ll be back in time for their dinner.   Big Bro asks me to see what games are on my iPad and tell him…. I tell him I’ll leave him a note so he can see it in the morning.   Now I have to figure out games on iPad…. I’m going to finish the baguette and cheese with hubby as I do this….

    Till tomorrow

     

    – Mama K

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    July 27: BIG meeting with Senior Executive VP at client

    July 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    My morning and commute:

    I had a great morning. I got ready for work – had to dress well for the Executive Presentation later today. I will do hair and make up while at work. Red and Twins were already downstairs with Hubby, who had breakfast under control

    * Red and Twins were eating at the dining room table, Twins in their booster seats. This is because they were all eating yogurt. Twins self feeding with yogurt is a very scary sight. It was everywhere but they were doing great. They love the spoons. Yogurt was in their ears, hair, all over their faces and necks. Their arms were covered and their shirts soaked. Sooooooooooooooo cute.

    Yogurt morning

    * I ran upstairs to get extra clothes that were requested by daycare for Twin Crazy. Big Bro was still in bed. “Mommy…. can you help me?” “Help you with what?” “Getting up.” “OK.” So he needs some mommy-time. I went over and hugged and kissed him good morning. I felt the warmth of him cuddled in his blanket. I said “Ohhhhhhhhhhhh you’re so warm and cuddly…… do you feel lucky?” “Yes mommy!”. How cute.
    * He had to pee but we decided for him to walk downstairs with me holding hands so we could spend more time together. He agreed. It was only one extra minute but I think both of us needed the extra time together.
    * Red’s PJ tops got stuck on her head while getting changed. Her nose was in the way. So I took the opportunity to tweak her nose and get her laughing as we struggled to get the top off.
    * It took several minutes to wipe down Twin Crazy and Twin Husky from their yogurt adventures. They loved it. “Is there yogurt HERE? Yes. Is there yogurt HERE? Yes.” We made a game of it and they had a good time getting clean.
    * OK – Time to go! Twin Husky seemed to repeat this statement even with inflection. How cute. It’s harder for me to notice their level of speaking ability, compared to the first two children. I have less time to focus on what they are saying and learn what their sounds mean.
    * We were running late. Had to run to the car without giving the twins diaper changes. So not only did we drop them off with hair sticky with yogurt, but they were also sopping wet with diapers sagging almost to the floor. Not only that, but she requested me to bring in more diapers and I forgot (I was too focused on the extra clothes for twin crazy). So I had to scour the mini-van and found 3 diapers. We really should have changed them ourselves this AM. I’m not sure how shes going to last with one remaining diaper for two kids for the rest of the day…..

    Today at work I will need to focus on:
    * preparing for the presentation this morning. It has been several days since I’ve seen the presentation draft and I need to refresh my memory of the content.
    * working with our analyst who will be starting on Draft 1 of the white paper.
    * if possible, closing the loop on the next steps from our partnering meeting yesterday.

    Lots to do today! The sky is grey. We are approaching the city now. On the ferry I just met a developer for the iPad so am learning lots of crazy features that of course now I’m forgetting, but at least I know who to talk to if I have any questions on iPad, iPhone, etc. going forward. Gotta go!

    Highlights of my working day:

    * decided to buy quick breakfast (breakfast tacos and HUGE hazelnut coffee) since I need the food/energy for my meetings today
    * make up and hair in ladies room
    * worked with analyst to make sure she is on track for outline and drafting of white paper
    * quickly prepared for Executive presentation; had admin print and bind. Reviewed content to refresh my memory of issues. Coordinated with director on how to deliver and present the material
    * I throw my heels in my bag and put my walking shoes on… it is sunny outside and we enjoy the sun on the walk over. Outside of the office I do the “shoe switch” but at that same moment I notice that I have dried yogurt on both sleeves of my dress. Shit!!! I quickly pick these off.
    * presentation went EXCELLENT. The person was actually a Senior EVP and very high up the chain — very funny and personable guy. We established rappore immediately over small talk re: iPad. During the presentation he was very quick, very on-point. He kept me on my toes. Afterwards, we received great feedback and thanks from all clients. Director comment: “That couldn’t have gone any better than that. Great job Kim”. YEAH!
    * We quickly run for sandwich; while in food court there is a farmers market. I of course seize the opportunity to buy strawberries, peaches, and cucumbers while waiting for my take out lunch.
    * we run to office for another conference call with another set of potential partners for a different business development opportunity which could be huge for us. I was actually supposed to be in Seattle today for this meeting – half of our team is there and we took the call from our office.
    * Worked with the analyst on the whitepaper to see the progress; made suggestion on visuals and how to package the content. Quickly crafted some visuals in powerpoint for use in whitepaper; we will meet with the client tomorrow to talk about the first rough draft.
    * There was no time for me to follow up with the business development go-to-market approach as I had originally planned. Oh well, I’ve learned that I can’t do everything all of the time. This can wait until tomorrow or Friday.

    Busy day!

    I had an appointment in the city after work so Hubby is solo with kids tonight. Then I get the news…. the new, undependable mothers helper has proved herself to be undependable again tonight. Hubby is solo with all four kids. I’ll need to take care of him tonight. 🙂

    Hopefully the kids will be awake by the time I get home; at least enough for me to read a book and tuck them in.

    Till tomorrow –

    – Mama K.

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