Yackety Schmackety

Bad blogger!  Bad bad bad!

So, since I last updated… 

I survived my two weeks in St. Louis, learned a little, and had a LOT of fun. I ended up meeting two girls (one from Louisiana, one from Cincinnati- ironic no?) who were SO much fun, and there was a group of about six of us who like to drink beer and did so on a regular basis.  With no kids!  It was a good time.  We had a lot of laughs and have kept in touch since.

My husband was a ROCK STAR while I was gone!  He did so well with the boys, which I knew he would, but he went above and beyond.  They all survived and are better for it.

Thanksgiving was fine, if not a little chaotic.  We went to Illinois to Phil’s parents’ house and were joined by my brother-in-law and his wife and kids, then my parents, my brother, and his boy.  So there were LOTS of people there and a lot of noise, but it wasn’t too bad. The trip back was kind of no-fun, it was raining and Eli was crying a lot, but we made it back in one piece.

Work is going well.  I seem to have a good week followed by a bad week.  Last week=bad.  This week=good.   Hopefully before long the good weeks will outweigh the bad, and I’ll just have a bad day every once in awhile.

The boys are doing really well.  Simon is very excited about Santa coming, which is good bribery material for a short while.  He wants *everything* to do with Spiderman. We saw Santa at the mall last night and I’m sure Simon gave him an earful about exactly what Spiderman toy he wants. 

Eli, Eli, Eli.   What a sweet baby he is.  He is now six months old!  He had three teeth for the last month or so, until today, when I found THREE more!  AND, he’s crawling.  He’s been working on it for over a month and finally has it down.  He is so sweet, always trying to keep up with Simon.  Already. 

We are looking forward to Christmas…Phil’s parents will be joining us here at the house and I can’t wait!  I am so looking forward to enjoying Christmas at home!   Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you are enjoying your holidays!  Until next time…

Whew, we have been busy!  The boys and I returned on Sunday from our two-week trip "north", also known as Illinois and Ohio.  We had a really good time.  I don’t regret taking them on such a haul by myself, but I don’t know that I’ll be doing it again anytime soon!  Ha!

We left for Illinois on a Friday.  An 8-9 hour trip turned into a 12 hour trip due to Eli having to eat.  We stopped 8 times, and it was very frustrating.  We had a good time in Illinois though, I got to catch up with friends, Simon was able to visit with his old babysitter, and we all relaxed quite a bit.  The next Friday we went to Cincinnati.  That trip was pretty easy.

Cincinnati was a lot busier.  My parents had a cookout so that we could catch up with family.  That was a lot of fun.  During the week we also went to the Cincinnati Zoo, Newport Aquarium, and dad took Simon to the Natural History Museum.  On top of that was the Fourth of July festivities.  We hardly had a break!  Simon loved everything.  Eli didn’t really care much!

The following Friday we went BACK to Illinois to join in the Tuscola sesquicentennial (sure I spelled that wrong) festivities, and also to see our friends for their baby shower.  My brother in law and his family also joined us so all of the cousins were together, it was a really nice time.

We drove back to Mississippi on Sunday.  Only 3 stops this time, so it was a really easy trip back.

I forgot how NICE the weather up north can be in the summertime!  It is miserable here now!  It’s rained every day since I’ve been back and it’s just THICK with humidity.  Gross.  Phil was out of town most of the time that we were, and when he came back with the rain, our yard is so flooded and our grass is about knee-high!  It looks like our home is abandoned!  Hopefully it will dry out and the heat will break a little bit.

On to other news.  I have a new job!  And I don’t have to go back to work until the 6th of August, which gives me a little bit more time off for maternity leave.  All of this blew up while I was in Cincinnati, and I had an interview on Monday and a second interview on Tuesday.  Goodness!  I’ll be a sales rep for a medical equipment company, a different one than I work for now.  Hopefully it is a good move for our family.  It will be an interesting change of pace and I’ll be much closer to home.  

Now about those boys of mine.  Simon is doing well, he is as chatty as can be and smart as a whip.  As for Eli, he is also doing well and growing like a weed.  He had his 6 week checkup on Monday and is now 12 pounds, 3.5 ounces.  Piggy!  And, he rolled over from front to back today!  He’s doing pretty well at night, he typically only wakes up once.  Feeding is so-so.  I’ve been nursing and trying to get him on a bottle, but he’s not liking the bottle so well.  Luckily, because of my maternity leave extension, I am hoping it will work itself out before I start again.

Well, that’s all from us for now.  I have yet to get all of our pictures uploaded from the trip- keep an eye out for them! 

Best.week.ever.

Or something like that.  I love premiere week…and it usually is around the time of my birthday.  Since I’m not having one of those this year, I have nothing left to celebrate but premieres.  Tonight, How I Met Your Mother and The Class (it’s new, looks cute in previews but who knows.  We TiVO’d it to check it out).  Tomorrow, I’m not sure (Tuesdays suck until AI time rolls around).  Wednesday, a new CSI NY, Thursday….THE OFFICE!  YAY! We set the TiVO for something new every night this week.  Some will be season pass-worthy, others not.  Others will be shows that we absolutely love that get cancelled before the spring.  (REUNION, ANYONE?!?) 

Anyway, Simon and I made it back from our quick trip to Ohio.  We left Wednesday afternoon, stayed in Cave City, KY that night (in a terrible Best Western), and drove to Cincinnati the next morning.  We ate lots of good food (LaRosa’s, Skyline, Frisch’s, etc.) and got to see my nephew, who just turned one.  I’ll have pictures for that later.

We also went to see Thomas the Train (pictures are already up on Flickr).  It was pretty cute, although Simon wasn’t nearly as thrilled as I had hoped he would be.  I think he was pissed that other kids might like Thomas too.  He’s 3.  He’ll get over himself sooner or later.

We left Cincinnati Sunday afternoon and drove to Jackson TN, where we spent last night (much better hotel this time!), and I was all set for a leisurely trip back to MS today…

Until 659 am, when my boss called me (of course waking me up) to say that JCAHO was in our area to do inspections this week.  If you’re unfamiliar with JCAHO, it’s like a health inspector coming into your restaurant, but much worse.  They do "unannounced surveys" and scare the bejesus out of everybody, looking to make sure all of your i’s are dotted and t’s crossed.  So they are coming.  This week.  I talked to my boss again later in the morning and he said they would be at my store tomorrow (Tuesday).  What a lovely finish to my vacation.

Long story short, I hurried back to MS, met Phil to deliver Simon to him, and went to work.  In checking my email, I received a schedule of where the JCAHO people were going to be and when, and my store wasn’t on the list.  By some ever-so-lucky twist of fate, my store and one or two others was spared an actual visit from JCAHO.  They’ll be calling me to fax paperwork tomorrow, but for the most part, I’m thrilled with this news.  I was so sick when I thought they were coming.  So, happy finish to vacation after all!

And, I’m done.  For now.  Done with travelling, chaos, business.  For now.    I’ll get stir crazy again soon and want to do lots of driving.  But for now I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for the next few months.

This has been a hell of a week.

While I really did enjoy myself at training last week, I hate that they take us out of work for an entire week.  Monday was SO hectic, mainly just catching up with stuff from the week prior.  I know I need to delegate, but sometimes it really just is easier to do things myself rather than fix them later.  Then I had my first Stampin’ Up! party to get ready for on Tuesday.

My party was pretty disappointing.  Besides my hostess and myself, there were only 3 people that showed up (I sent out 18 invitations!) and I think they were just there to be nice.  There were two others who showed up, one early and one late, and I hope to get orders out of them as well, but wow.  I guess my hopes were too high.  The latecomer did act like she wanted to host a party, which is a good thing, but it was still a disappointing night nonetheless.  Guess I can’t quit my day job quite yet. 

Not to be a downer, but this has had me in a funk all week too.   To sum up, a story ran in Cincinnati a few weeks ago about this 3 year old boy who went missing in a park while there with his foster mother and some other children.  Supposedly.  This week the news broke that he was, in fact, considered to be too much of a bother, being developmentally delayed and all, to attend their trashfest family reunion with his foster parents back on the 4th or 5th of this month.  So, rather than, oh I don’t know, find someone to watch him, they opted to wrap him and tape him in a rug and lock him in the closet for the weekend.  He was dead when they got home.  Shock.  The foster father took his body and burned it and they created this "lost child" story.  It has been all over the Cincinnati news, overshadowed nationally by the JonBenet freakshow, but sick sick sick regardless.  There is a special place in hell for those people.  And yet, even though my son is the same age which makes the whole story hurt even worse, I can’t stop reading about it.  Ugh.

Whew.  Sorry about that.

On to good news, my dad ROCKS.  He called me on Monday and just so happened to catch a commercial on TV for the Day out with Thomas coming to a train station near them!  While we’re visiting!  And he got us tickets!  For those of you who don’t have 3 year old boys, Day out with Thomas is a traveling kids’ show, I guess, featuring an actual "Thomas" train, that the kids can ride, and listen to stories and all of that good stuff.  I am so excited for Simon that I cannot even stand it!

Potty training has got to be the worst part of parenthood thus far.  Simon’s preschool director called me on Tuesday to say that the pull-ups are just not working for him, and asked if I could put him in "big boy pants" on Wednesday.  So we did, and actually he had two accidents at school and two at home.  We did again today, and he had three accidents at school and no pee-accidents at home (but two of the "other").  I SO hope this gets better.  I’m just glad we have old-ish carpet and furniture.  Hopefully by the time I get to updating around here again, we will see an improvement.

If I’m not back before then, have a lovely Labor Day weekend.  I plan on cleaning up accidents for my holiday, how bout you? 

One of the screwy things about Blogsome is that they do not have a "login" button that is very easy to find.  Which is my excuse this week for taking so long to post again.  Yeah, that’s the ticket.  Anyway, I have found the proper website (and bookmarked it, genius) so now I am back to fill your lives with my mindless rambling.

I returned Friday evening from my week-long training in Orlando.  It was actually a great time.  I flew our last Monday and met my friend Kimberlee for lunch at the Orlando airport.  I had not met her in person before, but she was just a doll.  We had a great lunch and I am so glad she made the trek to come and see me!

That afternoon, after some mishaps and confusion, I was picked up at the airport by a regional manager, along with several other location managers (like myself) and we got checked in to the hotel and went out for dinner.  The other location managers, save a few, were a great group of people.  Most of them were from Pennsylvania, some from Florida, one from New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and me, from Mississippi.  There was a core group of about 3 or 4 of us who "hit the town" (so to speak) every night to go out to dinner.  I haven’t eaten so well in a long time!  We went to a place called Salt Fish, Bonefish grill (yes I know it’s a chain but it was pretty good!), and we went two nights to a place called Seasons 52.  Let me tell you, if you ever find yourself in Florida (Orlando is the prototype, I know there are others in Florida) or Atlanta, GO FIND this restaurant.  It was one of the best places I have eaten in a long time!

Anyway, the point of us being there was training, of course, and that wasn’t too bad.  It was good to see how other managers were doing things (those who are new and don’t really know any better), as well as find out how things are actually supposed to be done by the people who make the big bucks.  And it’s always kind of funny to meet people in person that you get official, corporate-ish emails and phone calls from and find out that they’re not so scary. 

But, as much fun as I had going out and eating well , it was also time for me to head home on Friday.  I missed my boys.  Although, I think Simon and Phil had plenty of fun without me.  The nights I called and Simon was having cookies and real chocolate milk for his bedtime snack?  Yeah, I’m sure he’s okay with mom leaving every once in awhile.

Saturday, if you would like to check out the pictures to your right, we attended a cowboy birthday party for one of Simon’s little buddies, Noah.  Their neighbors have horses and were kind enough to bring one over for the kids to ride.  Video (of course) is here. He had a great time!

And that’s about all that’s going on here.  I can’t believe it will be September at the end of this week!  My first Stampin’ Up! party is on Tuesday, I’m so nervous!  I’ll be glad when that’s over with!

Now I know I don’t have any excuses to not update more frequently, so I will try to do better.  I promise.   

…until next week anyway.

This has been a "normal" week.  Phil’s been home, it’s just been us, we’ve finally been able to concentrate a little more on potty training (joy), but alas, next week will be crazy again.  Phil is going to North Carolina for work and Simon and I are going to Illinois!  I’m excited to go back again, but a little nervous about the road trip with Simon by myself.  Which is why we will be springing for the portable DVD player this weekend. 

Later this month, I have my travel arranged to go to Orlando for work!  I’m actually excited, even though I would rather not be away from the child for that long.  Or Simon.   But I am glad to get away, to fly, and I might be meeting a friend for lunch!  Yippee!  Of course, I will have to put up with the training for long days during the week, but it shouldn’t be too bad.  I guess.  Work has been better this week, of course, since the boss hasn’t been around.  I have a coworker that is becoming a problem, but everyone else is complaining about her too, so I know it isn’t just me.  That helps.

I posted not long after we moved about (I think) about meeting friends down here.  We’ve actually met quite a few people, mainly through Simon, but everyone is just SO nice and welcoming, and I’m really happy about that.  However, the first girl that I met here (who has a son just Simon’s age) is moving!  To Naperville, IL, of all places.  I’m really upset about it, it was very sudden.  In fact, she’s leaving at the end of this month!  She and her husband are so nice, and while they may (or may not, we never got to find out) be a little straight-laced for us heathens, Phil even commented that he was sad they were leaving.  So anyway, this weekend we are spending time with her and the kids (her hubby has already moved north).  I don’t know how I feel about Greenville seeming like a transitional kind of town, it’s hard to make friends with people when you’re afraid they might move any day.  Especially when we know/hope we’ll be here for awhile.  But, I guess you can’t NOT make friends for that reason.  And there are several people who seem to be pretty permanent.  Anyway, we introduced our friend who’s moving to IL to Italian beef this weekend- we made it for Simon’s party.  She loved it!  Too bad she has to move away from the tamales.  Poor her.  (We had tamales from Stareka deli tonight for dinner and they were so good!  I’m thinking about stealing the leftovers instead of leaving them for Phil.  Damn the south is not good for the size of my pants.)  I’m rambling…

I will try to post before or during the Illinois trip, but if I don’t, have a great week!  Enjoy the pictures of my goofy child.  He takes after his father, remember. 

I’ve been doing some tinkering and I think the comments are working.  So comment away.  Yes, that means you.  No, go ahead.  Say something.

It has been a long week at work and not the greatest, so I am SO glad it’s Friday.   Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot planned for the weekend.  Phil has to work tomorrow and I am thinking of taking Simon here tomorrow if we can get out of the house early enough (meaning, before it hits the high of 97 with about 1500% humidity).  If you don’t hear from us in a couple of days, it means the gators have gotten us. 

We are also continuing on our church journey this weekend.  I think we’re going Episcopal this time.  I think it will be interesting because the priest (is it a priest or a minister?  I dunno.) is a woman.  I haven’t really blogged about this yet, but since we haven’t gone to a church together in, oh, EVER, and since in the south, apparently it’s what all the cool kids are doing, we are trying to find a church.  Seriously.  If you tell someone here you don’t go to church, you get the same expression of "OH MY GOD" as we did back home if you said you don’t drink. 

The first church I went to here was the Catholic church.  It was very familiar, no different than what I’m used to, really.  We have a couple of friends who go to that church here.  I went on a weekend when Phil was out of town because I knew he wouldn’t go.  The second church we went to was a Baptist church.  I have never been to a Baptist church before, let alone one in the south.  It wasn’t terrible, just different.  I actually somewhat liked it until the pastor just got a leeeetle bit too talky and that was that.  However, I’ve been told by my coworkers (who are Pentecostal) that the length of time I spent in the Baptist church was NOTHING.  We are going to try another Baptist church at some point in time because a friend belongs there are they have SO much stuff going on for kids- it might be worth going just for that.  It just blows my mind how different people are down here about religion.  It’s not good or bad, necessarily, just different.  I have met several girl friends since I’ve been here and I feel like I’m "in the closet" about having a beer every now and then.  And now again.    Maybe it’s just because we don’t know each other all that well yet, or maybe it’s just because I really am a heathen.