it's a winter wonderland

ahhh, everything is aglow with a fresh coat of... I.C.E this means that wonderland requires figuring out how long it will take you to bite it and fall ass over end.

Time for a Name

K's first, true wubby (Pumpkin Bear) is very close to needing to be wrapped up and packed away for adulthood reminiscing. We've found a suitable alternative (because there's no way the other wubby will ever be replaced). Now we just need a name. EDIT: Moments after I hit "publish" J decided he liked "Spooky Bear" ala Fox "Spooky" Mulder (X-Files). I am still partial to Bear Skellington - an homage to Tim Burton and the movie "Nightmare Before Christmas"/Jack Skellington. So, if the mood strikes you, what do you think the name should be. I won't guarantee that we'll go with the one that gets the most votes, but we'll decide that later.

Here Goes

I'm pursuing an opportunity. I'm nervous as hell, intimidated and generally wondering if I'm being foolish to put myself out there. True, I don't LOVE where I'm working now but Killjoy generally doesn't bug me by hovering over every little thing I do, I can do this job in my sleep, even though this place doesn't have a "Flex time" policy Killjoy does let me make up some time if I need to go to a DR appt or such, I have set hours that I do really like, I'm a few months away from being full vested in 401K and I have a paid vacation coming up over the Chrismas/New Year holidays. If I leave I won't have those things. Does anyone LOVE their job anyway? If they did would there be movies like Office Space?! I know I'm "talking" my way out of applying. I do that. I don't want to think the "grass is greener on the other side" because it may not be. All the things I like about my current job (as few as they are) may be tossed out the window. I guess I'm just going to do it. Hell, I may not even catch their eye. UPDATE So I just e-mailed it over. I had to write a letter about me, what I've done so far in my career, what I want to do, etc etc. It couldn't be a standard cover letter, either. Here's hoping I don't come across like a court jester. I figure if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. They'll either like what they see or not. I have to at least try.

p shy

As potty training K comes upon us, J and I have been going back and forth on how to begin the process. We're not in the throws of it yet, but it's coming...soon. During one of our conversations it came up that J isn't comfortable with having K in the bathroom while he's taking care of business #1. I tried to reassure him that it wasn't weird to have K around so that he could see what he needs to do, etc. I've accumlated numerous magazine and internet articles to "prove" to J that we won't be scarring K by letting him in the bathroom with us. It's all in vain, I think. I'm not as bothered by it as J. Of course, I sit down so woman bits are mostly hidden. I think J is hesitant about K being with me in the bathroom, too. He says it's fine, but there's a tone of voice that reveals his apprehension. So, I'm not sure what to do. Any potty-trainers out there want to give ass-vice? (pun TOTALLY intended!) UPDATE - In response to Christy's comment, J lets him cry and pound on the door. He doesn't like to hear it, but he'd take that over sharing the bathroom with K. Usually, both of us aren't in the bathroom at the same time so one of us will run interference.

Suuuupperrr-Genius!

I feel the beginning of a "mom-complex" coming on. In the past I've visited a message board and gotten to "know" some people there. One of the women has a son the same age as K. She has a tendancy to be an AW (attention whore) on the board and that's one of the reasons I don't visit there much anymore. I must be a glutton for punishment because yesterday I peeked in, only to find that her son is already counting to 5, eating all his veggies, keeping his hat on when going for walks outside and a handful of other things. So what's my complex? It's that K is no where near that and I feel like I should be doing more. Since both boys are the same age, shouldn't they be doing almost the same things? I know every child is different and develops at their own pace, but it still makes me feel like I'm failing. Worse yet, like I'm cheating K out of learning and therefore submitting him to a life of just horseplay and graham crackers. At the same time, I don't want to be one of "those" moms who plans out every single minute of K's day with fancy language programs and trapeze stunts. I know he's learning things. He's learning loads! He knows how to close the dishwasher and tries to turn the knob to get it to start, he knows to go to the bathroom when we wash our hands, he knows where his toys are, what dogs are (even though he calls them "arf"-s), he speaks a handful of words (maybe more if I could understand him) - I could go on and on. For whatever reason I have the image that I'm supposed to be like Hal from Malcolm in the Middle, sitting infront of K with flash cards and music playing. I don't know where I'm going with this post. I guess I'm looking to reassure myself that just because K isn't reciting the entire alphabet, counting to 100 or creating some brilliant algorithm, that it doesn't mean that he will grow up to be a git.

Breakfast of Champions (Ode to Bill Cosby)

This morning was like any other morning: Get K up, changed, dressed and at the table impatiently waiting for his toast and eggs, which Daddy was making at lightening speed. K eats the toast and 3 pieces of egg (of which I had to bribe him to eat) and then he's off and running around with his lovely/oh, when do we put it out of it's misery?/pumpkin bear. It's my turn to get dressed and Daddy is "on K watch". I finished putting on my shoes, started walking into the Dining Room and what should I see in K's hand? A chocolate chip cookie. I asked K, "Did Daddy give you the cookie?" K, "Yeaaah." (munch, munch) Bill Cosby would be proud

Like Fingernails Down a Blackboard...

Dear R It's pronounced Squ-AW-sh, not Squ-ORR-sh (aka Squash)and WAW-sh, not WOR-sh (aka Wash).

Gimmick or Good Idea?

I found these in a magazine and thought they looked like a good idea. That being said, good ideas for children are 80% gimmick to have parents throw money out the window. What sayeth the bloggers?

*UPDATE* A Little This, A Little That & A Little Pot Calling The Kettle Black

I'm going to start with a mini-rant: BossLady (aka Killjoy - I'll be explaining this next) has been wound up over attendance. Not mine, but part timers and another full timer, P. I completely agree w/her opinion on part timer but she needs to be a bit more understanding of P. It's not that I get along well with P or anything, but I will say that she works her rear off when she's here, shows up early and may stay late if needed, etc. So P has had 3 "occurences" since mid-May. Not terrible, but still averaging 1x/month. I can understand BossLady's point, but at the same time she needs to look at the performance overall. So, last Thursday P got in a car accident. She is fine (as well as you can be), but you could tell BossLady was annoyed that P would be gone another 1-2 days. She was concerned about P, but still annoyed. Where is all of this going? Well, BossLady has had her share of missed days recently! In fact, she was sick over the weekend and didn't come in yesterday (Monday). So what we have here is the pot calling the kettle black. Maybe she will remember that things happen and everyone can't have perfect attendance - even her! I've also given BossLady the name, Killjoy, because she is exactly that! The main interstate in our area is undergoing construction and last Wednesday there was a third major accident that closed the interstate both ways. I wrote a comment into a local news station saying I wondered what would have to happen before the authorities would do something. A reporter, M, from the station called and wanted to do an interview. I said sure, why not and over my lunch hour I did a face to face with her. When it was over I went back in to finish my lunch and my boss was all concered that I did the interview in the parking lot and did they get the company name in there because that would be bad, etc, etc. Basically all the fun I had with the spur-of-the-moment interview was zapped out of me as she put the "fear of the President" in me. I asked her if I should let the President know and she said no, but acted all funny about it. I decided to hell with her and went to tell the President. I did it simply and told him I wanted to let him know about the interview so that he wouldn't be surprised by seeing his business on the news. Guess what?! He was cool with it and the next day he even complimented me on how well I did. Sooooooo, take that KillJoy BossLady! On lighter news, K is walking up stairs with help. He never did crawl up them, he always stood up, grabbed our hand for help, and just went. There is nothing graceful about his going up stairs yet, but it will come. J seems to think K calls me "Ommy" (mommy) but I'm not sure. He's starting to say "me" and "mine" but there's still work to do. Mostly it's m's and e's that are coming out, so perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part that they are actual words. LOL. *UPDATE* If you want to see me in all my glorious dorki-ness (re: the interview) then email me. If I "know" who you are, I'll send the link. If I don't, then piss off! :)

Sooooo...

Would you: A) Stay at current job and pursue a Master's degree knowing full well that part-timer will probably be fired within the month and work load will increase BUT you could do the job in your sleep with or without her so no big change there, as well as possibility of career advancement/bonus-incentive for taking on extra work is practically nil. However, the chance of maintaining a decent GPA in the Master's program is pretty good while working here because of being able to work online over lunch hour. OR B) For-go even thinking about a Master's degree and keep pursuing other opportunities, which may mean getting the degree may not be able to happen at all due to learning a new job and being with my family in the evenings. The degree program I'm thinking about is completely online and would take approx. 2 years, maybe a few months less. Just something I'm tossing about in my noggin this hotter than hell lovely Friday afternoon.

Miscellaneous Stuff

I found Zany Mama's post interesting and decided to take the test myself. UPDATE: I didn't get to finish this post earlier, so here I am now. I think the "test" is pretty right on. I've known I was an introvert for a while but I didn't realize that I would score quite so high on the judging. Makes me look like I just criticize every little thing. After thinking about it, I guess I do. I don't know if that's a good thing, though. In a way it's bad because it could mean that I don't try and even be a little bit positive. I do try, albeit only 3/4 of the time. Being so "judging" could be good because I research things and don't take them at face value very often. I want to form my own opinion about someone or something. I'm not surprised at all by the "thinking" one. I work things out in my head a lot, hence the introvert too. What surprised me most is that on the chart I'm WAY over on the right for introvert and then WAY over on the left for everything else. It screams "extreme", no middle ground, no balance. I wonder if that means anything...

E-V-I-L

You Are 66% Evil You are very evil. And you're too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot. How Evil Are You? WOW! I've improved over the 50% from last year. :-P (can you tell I'm just biding my time until I can leave work for the weekend?!)

When Do I Get It?

Toddler-eese, that is? B at daycare says that K can say truck, bird and almost thank you. Wanna know what I hear? dduuuh-AT sssssss uck grrr bbbbbllll (think blowing a raspberry with LOTS of slobber) akk ooo-U I've no idea if he really is saying stuff (in which case am I bad mom because I can't understand a single thing he's saying?) or is it a big fake-out and the jokes on me? Yeah, I wish I could say I wasn't feeling a bit jealous of all the talking toddlers out there. Oh, and if you're keeping track... . . . . . . . . . . . Day 6! Part-timer called off again today. She better look like hell if she ever comes back to work after being "sick". If she doesn't...well, she will when I get done with her. . . . . . . . Ok, I can't do anything physically to her BUT(!!!) I can give a mean stink-eye!

Hmmm, PG Huh

Interesting. Especially since last week the rating was a big, fat R. LOL. I'm going to have to try harder...

If Only

The teachers I had would've let us read stuff like this! It's surreal, twisted and intense. This is the stuff I wish I could've learned in school. I might've done better...well, not in gym. I still would've skipped that class. Owl Creek Bridge More Owl Creek Bridge

O Happ (ier) Day!

Finally, someone who has a brain! We've hired a part-time person to replace the other and she is awesome! She knows her way around a keyboard and PC, can type decently and has a good personality. I hope she stays. She seems really excited for the job and did an amazing job today. I'm so not blowing smoke! She picked up on things really well. I'm happier. I just hope she stays for a while! :-)

What A Difference

Hard to believe that it's been almost a year. K has changed so much. I'm so proud of how much he's learning and how he's becoming a little boy instead of a baby. May 2006 April 2007

Memoria

What makes a memory? Does it have to be fun? What about the un-pleasant ones? Which ones stand out more? Why? What makes them more important than the others? What makes a memory different than something you remember to do (ex: fun in the park vs. learning addition)? I don't know what it is, but memories have been my "thing" over the past few days. The ones I have, Big Man has, the ones Little Man is currently making. I worry about what we leave behind. For us, for Little Man.