The New Job--and more importantly--Can someone meet me in the Dallas airport?

I feel like the awkward girl in those teeny-bopper movies, who lands the hot guy, but it's all a big secret. I got a really big promotion yesterday--I mean HUGE--but I'm not allowed to talk about it until a formal announcement is made. And I am just DYING to talk about it.

I want to first say 2 things---thank you all so much for cheering me on through Twitter as I was applying and going through my interviews. My anxiety was through the roof and knowing you guys were out there helped a lot.

The second is that although I have been less than thrilled with my current job and what it has become over the last 12 months, I am grateful to have had it and for what I have learned.

So the new job-- it's a consulting and process ownership position. I am responsible for the processes and the "making it work" piece for an entire line of business. It is a really big deal. I no longer have direct reports, nor do I report to anyone on site. My boss is actually located in Texas (hence my title). There is travel, extra vacation, a laptop and a pretty decent bump in pay involved. This is where I have been looking to go for my whole career. This is why I haven't minded being called a braniac or a nerd all these years. I have this uncanny ability to retain job information (why this never worked for me in school, I don't know) and recall it and apply it to all sorts of situations. Only in my work life am I able to talk completely out of my ass until something makes sense. And it has finally paid off for me.

Now, don't get me wrong; I am terrified. Insanely so. It's the good kind of scary though, you know what I mean? Like there is so much out there before me, and did it--I've made it to the top on my own merit.

I can't help feeling like a superstar.

this is how we do it (in the morning)

 

I get asked a lot how I accomplish things with 3 small children and a full time job.  It always catches me off guard; I don’t think that I am doing anything that is extraordinary—I just do things.  My aunt was amazed, recently, that not only were my children awake and at my mother’s by 7:30 am, but that they were groomed, and dressed, and were ready for the day.  Yesterday I facebooked that I had a whole meal going (meatloaf, mashed potatoes and the whole deal) plus I had baked cookies.  A friend commented that when she was working, that her family was lucky if they had cereal, or sandwiches for dinner, and she only has one child.

 

I don’t know, I guess I am flattered, though again, I don’t feel like I am at all special.  How we operate differs a little bit based on the day—Mon and Wed I have an extra 30 min in the AM because Hub takes the girls to daycare/preschool.  Tuesdays and Fridays I leave by 7 to get the girls to my mom’s.  Thursday is a fantastic day because the girls stay home with Hub, so I don’t have to get anyone up or dressed.  Bud is pretty independent in all of this—I leave his clothes out and FIL is there to guide him through breakfast and making the bus on time.

 

Aside from those little things though, here is a typical morning for us:

 

• 5:30 AM- my alarm goes off.  I snooze it once or twice and am out of bed before 6.
• Make coffee, pack Bud’s lunch and school bag (these are things that I could do the night before, but they work as a motivator for me to get out of bed in the morning.  They are necessary. I will have to do them regardless, and if I don’t get out of bed, I WILL BE LATE!)
• By 6:15/6:20 I am in the shower.  Out no later than 6:30. 
• Start to wake the girls up while I get dressed and groomed.  Start to wake Hub up as well.
• 6:45 really push Lucy to get dressed already, change and dress the baby.  Brush Lucy’s hair.  Make sure bags are in the right car and ready to go. 
• 7:00 leave (or 7:30 as the case may be—I will use the extra 30 minutes to maybe put on makeup, or give the girls some pony tails—or even just let them sleep in a bit.)

 

The key in the morning routine is that I never sit down.  I pour a cup of coffee and take a drink every time I pass the kitchen counter.  I take my breakfast with me to work.  The girls eat breakfast at school or grandma’s.  It is all about being a well oiled machine.

 

We have routines for the evenings as well.  And Hub has a pretty good housework routine because he is home during the day quite a bit.  We plan meals, eat dinner together on most nights, and usually have time to play a game or read with the big kids before bed.

 

For the most part, we put very little effort in to keeping things going; it’s just a matter of keeping up on that little effort to make it work.

 

What works for you in the morning?

Friday Free for All-- Just Random Updates and Junk

• I’m emailing this post, in case the font looks weird
• I had a pretty decent time last weekend, despite having to hold my tongue a few times.  My mother and one aunt arrived at my other Aunt’s house Friday evening, and we had dinner and watched a movie.  My cousins were there too and it was fun exchanging looks with them as my mother snored and then pretended not to be sleeping.  We spent Saturday running around, to various places—a Mennonite general store, a farmer’s market, a large supermarket run by the Mennonites (where I bought fresh ground peanut butter, sweetened with honey—YUM), a shady kind of antique store, and finally to Christmas Tree Shoppes, which was double the size of the one here.  We spent about 2 hours there before meeting my sister-in-law for dinner.  My mother kept saying Thai food, but it was really a mishmash of Asian foods type of restaurant.  It was good anyway though.  We watched another movie with snacks that evening, and came home Sunday morning around 11. 
• My husband is going to a holistic medicine type guy today.  The guy is a chiropractor too, so he is having an adjustment, and then acupuncture and some other crap.  If you had ever met my husband, you would understand how odd this all sounds.  He brought it up in casual conversation yesterday as in “I have an hour and a half appointment with this guy tomorrow.  And if it works out, I think you should see him for your migraines as well.”  Hub is usually against anything that is remotely alternative and can give me a hard time if I want to go against the norm which is why it caught me off guard.  I’m all for it though.  I can’t wait to hear how it turns out. 
• Speaking of slipping things casually in to conversation, FIL starts his radiation therapy today.  I don’t think I posted here about it, but I tweeted briefly.  Prostate Cancer.  Prognosis is excellent; they caught it really early.  Hub went to a few appointments with him to be sure everything is as FIL says it is.  Supposedly, this directed type of radiation (right to the affected area) shouldn’t really put a damper on any of his life activities.  Right now he is on schedule for 9 weeks, 5 days a week.  The appointments will take less than an hour.  We are optimistic—but any thoughts and positive energy you could send our way would be appreciated.  You may know that he lives with us and he is a big part of our, and especially the kids’ lives. 
• He bought the kids a swing-set this week, one of the big wooden dealies.  I think I am more excited about it then they are.  The weather has been great all week, close to 60 degrees (In BUFFALO!!), but everything is still too wet to set it up.  It’s going to be great though to send them out in the yard to swing and slide and climb.  We have a great park not too far away, but imagine the convenience.  YAY.
• I’m looking forward to getting my Ebay store opened up this weekend.  I have boy’s clothes up to size 5 and baby girls up to 12-18 months if anyone is interested.  :) 
• I’m also looking forward for much needed haircuts for Lucy and Me this weekend.  I can’t even get a brush through her hair, her ends are so bad.  And I haven’t had my hair cut or colored since June.  Necessary. 

 

 

Like a Lamb

The beginning of March always leaves me feeling a bit like a panting dog; thirsty for water on a hot summer's day. Spring is so close that I can taste it, and yet, here in Western New York there is still much snow on the ground and there is not a tulip busting through fresh spring soil in sight.

But, it is kind of warming up. In fact this weekend we will boast highs of 40 degrees. Surely some snow will melt and the muddy smells of spring will seep up through the grass. I can't wait.

I'll be spending the weekend with my mother and my aunts in Rochester, sans kids. I'm not exactly sure what we will be doing aside from going for Thai food on Saturday night, but I'm sure it will be fun. Hopefully my cousins will be able to join us for some of it. In my mother's words, we'll just be chilling. (Chilling. With my mother. OMG)

We are leaving right after I get out of work on Friday, so I have to have everything packed and ready tonight. It's kind of an overwhelming thought. I'll need to get all of the kid's crap ready for Hub too. I may as well not even go to sleep.

And speaking of sleep (along with new beginnings), the baby is still sleeping. All night every night. It is glorious--so much so that you almost forget not sleeping for the better part of 2 years. And when you have a sleeping baby it makes it more feasible to talk about possibly having the fourth and final baby. Maybe. Maybe not. Nobody is saying yes right now, but nobody is screaming 'HELL NO!!' anymore either.

Time will tell, I suppose. Maybe next spring.