November 16: Managing Expectations…

November 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Wednesday! My last work day of the week! Yeah! I hope its productive!

Highlights of the Morning and Commute:

  • The Twins woke up earlier than expected; so we brought them in our room and I asked them to rest since it wasn’t time to wake up. So I lay there with the two of them, resting their bodies and listening to me, while Hubby showered. It was so cute watching them. Each had smiles on their faces but were quiet, at first. Then Twin Husky grabbed the tail of this favorite Tiger stuffed animal that he sleeps with and pointed the tail to Twin Crazy’s nose. Then the giggling started. Each were laying down, looking at each other, smiling, and giggling. Every now and then Twin Husky would lift up his head and look at me and say “Hoooowooooooh” (aka “Hello”).
  • I showered quickly and headed downstairs. I helped with getting Red more cereral (she eats a ton), getting Twin Crazy more oatmeal (she eats a ton as well, but a lot winds up on her PJs), getting Twin Crazy bread and dry cereal, getting drinks, telling the Twins to stop playing with their drinks (e.g., spooning their oatmeal into their water cup), getting clothes for everyone except for Big Bro (who dressed himself this morning, YEAH!).
  • I had diaper changes and clothes changes for both Twins. I love that time with them. They totally get into the games that I play with them. Counting 1-2-3 as I take off a diaper, looking inside and making a big deal out of poop or pee, kissing their bellies, and now I’m also starting the “love game” with each of them. Me: “Did I tell you yet today how much I love you?” “I love you so much that I’m going to kiss your nose [I kiss nose]. I love you so much that I’m going to clap your hands [I grab their hands and have them clap]. I love you so much that I’m going to eat your toe [I grab a foot and pretend to eat a toe]”. Etc. Etc. They’re getting really fun and totally getting into the game.
  • Twin Crazy was having a hard time with her pink balloon that everyone kept stealing from her. She held strong and communicated “My balloon”. Great job for her with her words!!!! Bad job Big Bro and Twin Husky for teasing your sister!!
  • I ran upstairs to get dressed for work; downstairs I hear crying and Hubby yelling. What is going on down there? When I came upstairs everything was going fine…
  • We separated the drop offs this morning since I have an appointment tonight and wanted the extra car at the ferry station. It’s getting cold here. I dropped of Red. She had a hard drop off.

    • Now I’m on the ferry and thinking about today. I have to start the client deliverable – it just needs to get started. I also have some clean up from the meetings that honestly needs to get done. I also have a lunch meeting with the CEO of an other consulting firm and we are evaluating how our firms can work together to sell and deliver work. I worked on a project with this woman in the past and we provided her great value for what we did – she is interested in pursuing other opportunities and maybe formalizing what we can do together. It will be an interesting lunch. She wanted to meet with me and two Directors at the firm with whom she used to work. I’m glad to be part of it and I actually initiated the meeting. So I’m feeling good about where I am from a work perspective.

    Highlights of My Working Day:
    I feel like I was busy but did not accomplish what I wanted today….

  • I had a meeting with one of the presenters from our last forum and gave him feedback on how to push his “concept” to a more practical solution for the members of the forum.
  • I started working on the client deliverable that has been on my mind, but did not get nearly far enough to send to the Director – I was hoping to send him something by end of day today – I will likely want to work on it a bit more when the kids are taking naps on Thursday and Friday – this is really being imposed by me – not by anybody at the company… I’m hoping over time I will get better used to the 50% and actually honor it…. 🙂
  • I had a business development lunch with a potential partner. It was good to connect with her and we may be able to leverage her team for staffing on several proposals we have outstanding.
  • I also had a business development conversation with a potential client relating to a Request for Proposal that we will need to prepare – she indicated that the timeline has shifted to January so that gives us some breathing room to get the proposal prepared.

    • I had an appointment tonight so I am not at home now to care for the kids. I miss them on these nights. It is 7 PM now so they are probably running around and playing after dinner. And talking. And whining. And possibly fighting. I wish I were there to help them in their PJs and talk to them about tomorrow (my day off!!!) but instead I’ll have to suffer through some bread, cheese, chutney, and good wine. Poor me. 🙂

    20111116-202257.jpg

    OK I just got home and had enough time to sneak into Big Bro and Red’s room as they were talking (instead of going to sleep). They were thrilled to see me. We talked about Thursday and Friday. Big Bro wants to go on a Scooter ride to school tomorrow with me (but didn’t want the Twins there….. hmmmm…. i think he gets embarrassed at school when they are there). Red wants to go to the zoo. And a museum. And trace stickers. Big Bro wants me to read a Dinosaur book. And paint. I need to better plan activities with the older kids for these two days… I’m overbooked already!!!

    Til tomorrow –
    – Mama K

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    November 9: Busy as a bee

    November 9, 2011 by 2 Comments

    Today we woke up very early, probably due to DST. Twin Husky was singing and woke us up.

    Highlights of the Morning:

    • Twin Husky was singing, along with Twin Crazy, but it was Red who came into our room first. She was talking about the wallet that I helped her make and the pretend money. She was explaining to Hubby that we made a wallet and money together and that Big Bro gave his home-made wallet to Red too, because I had my old wallet up for grabs. So Big Bro is pumped about my old wallet, and Red is thrilled that she has two wallets, one of which is a hand-me-down from Big Bro.
    • I grabbed the Twins from their room. They were busy playing in the cribs, doing dives and jumping and laughing. I changed Twin Crazy since she was soaked through with pee. I need to change the way we do her diapers since now she’s a 100% stomach-sleeper. We’re going through lots of PJs and bedsheets these days.
    • I take a quick shower and then help downstairs with breakfast. Oatmeal is such a hit at hour house that I need to think through a more economical way to do it. We’re going through 4-5 packets of instant per day, between 3 kids. On the weekends I make the homemade stuff which still is fast — the 1 minute cook stuff. And I add brown sugar and butter to make it delicious. I can buy that stuff in bulk at Costco. I want to start doing that during the week too so we can save money and not go through the food so fast.
    • I helped to change Big Bro and Red. Red picked out her clothes the night before which helped. The “carrot” of the childrens’ vitamins after the dressing also helps a bit to get them moving.
    • We were so early today that we all took our drop-offs together. First Red, then Twins, then Big Bro.

    I’m on the ferry now and this will be my last working day of the week. I will be off Thursday and Friday and am looking forward to the time I will be able to spend with the kids. But, today will be VERY busy for me at work. I think it will take some time to get used to this arrangement — for me, my kids, and my colleagues. I am willing to tweak here and there to make it work for everyone.

    I am particularly excited about spending more time with the Twins. Time that I never really had with Big Bro and Red. I want to do arts-and-crafts with them. I want to take them to museums. To “sing-a-longs” at the library. To the park. I mostly just want to sit and talk with them.

    Today at work I will need to work on several proposals — 3 in total. Plus find time to work on my project. Plus find time to close out some loose ends with the meetings that just wrapped up. Plus find time to refine our selling materials for our other service offering that we are developing. I will be working back-to-back all day today and hopefully my time will be efficient so I can feel good about taking off the rest of the week. I can’t drop any balls or else this arrangement will likely have to change…. Through my career I’ve learned to use my Outlook calendar religiously. There are blocks of times for meetings, but I also block out time for myself dedicated to specific work that I need to do. And I’m true to those “bookings” of time. If I need to re-arrange, I do – but I never cancel. If someone needs to schedule a meeting, then based on priority I will have them schedule around my calendar, and schedule something on the next day if needed. This system seems to work well for me.

    Highlights of My Working Day:
    OMG more discussions and I am officially a part-time employee! My day today was VERY compressed and efficient – I essentially was back to back with meetings; I think this will work well for my company, essentially they will get more out of me for each hour I spend…. here are the highlights

    • I read materials for my client project to get a better understanding of the proposed partnership opportunity we will be evaluating; reached out to subject-matter-experts and secured one interview, and am in process of securing at least 2 others. Primary interviews is research where you actually TALK to the market. You typically can learn SO MUCH MORE than you ever could just surfing the web. You need to be prepared for these discussions though…. you need to have your must-have questions fully organized but still be flexible enough to let the conversations flow – this is where you learn and pick up on other aspects of the business that you may not have otherwise. So I’m excited that we are in process of getting these set up. This was client “billable” time for me.
    • I lead a discussion with another relationship that I cultivated and we proposed for strategy consulting work. It was a great conversation and there are some MINOR modifications to the language of our proposal. They really liked what they saw. The only major thing I have left to do is price the effort – which can be tricky. We bid on fixed price projects but sometimes it is difficult to really estimate the level of effort for the project. I will need to focus on that so we can give him the revised proposal with the price estimate on Monday. This is the first of the proposals that resulted from the meetings I lead earlier last month.
    • Had more discussions with my Directors on my reduced work week. All are in support and we worked on a communication plan so that everyone is aware of my availability, reachability. I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS. They gave me hugs afterwards. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive firm to work for.
    • I had another business development meeting for a separate proposal we will prepare. I consolidated our list of questions and the Director submitted; the potential client will answer these questions and from here we will be able to craft a compelling proposal.
    • I refined/repositioned marketing materials for one of the initiatives I am leading. I will need to restart outreach to solicit potential members next week with these materials.
    • I met with a consultant who drafted a proposal for a lead that I brought in from another meeting from early last month. This is the 2nd proposal resulting from the meetings I lead earlier last month.
    • I worked with our technology team to get my iPhone set up to receive/send work email. Although I will not be working, if I see anything client-related that is urgent I will respond or forward to a colleague as appropriate.

    I AM SO EXCITED! I’m on the ferry now, thinking about what I will do with the Twins tomorrow. I’m planning on taking all four to the museum on Friday since it is Veteran’s Day and school/daycare is closed. My stress level is washing away from my shoulders and I am looking forward to being a mom to my kids.

    Dinner and Bedtime:

    • I picked up Red, then Big Bro, then the Twins.  All were in reasonably good moods.  Whew!
    • As I made dinner, the kids were all drawing.   I like giving them projects so that they are entertained as I am busy.
    • Dinner was pasta with sauce on the side.   Kids were helping me with the other kids.   For example, Red got Big Bro a bowl for his sauce, Big Bro was serving sauce in the bowls, and Red was helping with the Twins.  They really do look out for each other which warms my heart so much.
    • After dinner, there was a mad rush of activity around believe it or not, an Amazon box.   Out of ALL the toys we have in this house, ALL four kids decided that it was the best fun to play inside of this box.  They took turns individually, then as subsets of kids, then even all four of them at the same time.  It was hysterical.
    Four kids and an Amazon box

    Four kids and an Amazon box

    • Then they moved on to the parade:
    • I then got some chocolate milk for everyone to get them to calm down for the evening.  I had a “mommy chocolate milk” (AKA Guinness).  I got Big Bro started on his homework and Red started on a picture while I took the Twins upstairs.    They are so easy.
    • Then we did Big Bro homework and I helped Red color in some pictures.  She is so funny.  She draws squares, and then indicates with a dot within each square the ones that she wants me to color.   She is so decisive and delegates so easily – tells me exactly what I’m supposed to do.  So cute.
    Everyone is upstairs, I am happy with a Guinness already down, and also looking forward to my day tomorrow with the kids.  I’m definitely going to have the Twins – I’m not sure what I feel like doing with Red.   I may have her join the fun as well.
    Til tomorrow –
    – Mama K

     

     

     

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    November 8: So much happening!

    November 8, 2011 by 2 Comments

    Chocolate Tuesday! That meant that Big Bro was up and ready. We woke up to all of the kids up at the same time.

    Highlights of the Morning and Commute:

    • I gave big hugs and kisses to everyone in the morning. This is a little thing that I do without fail, for each of them, every day. I even used to sing a song for it, but now with so many kids it would take too long….
    • At one point in the morning before I got into the shower, I looked at the kids and it was the funniest thing. They were all standing shoulder to shoulder, just watching me as I got my things together to get ready to get to the shower. It was so strange yet so cute. 8 big eyeballs focused on my every movement. I felt like I was on stage. I thought a perfect picture opportunity but by the time I got the camera the older ones (wiser) were out of there and I only had the Twins left in position.
    • Breakfast was great for all; Chocolate Tuesdays are always a bit easier than the other days. Twin Crazy was already dressed but she had oatmeal all down herself. She is getting very particular about being dirty, especially her hands. So she was reasonably upset. I gathered another set of clothes for her and got her changed when she was ready.
    • I gathered clothes for Big Bro and Red and had such a hard time getting them dressed. They kept rejecting the outfits. I know we have better luck when they pick out their clothes, but we will need to do this the night before just for logistics. I’ll try that tonight. Get them to pick out their stuff and I’ll have everything ready downstairs for the next morning.
    • We were running a bit late so we divided the drop offs. Hubby did Big Bro and the Twins. I dropped off Red. We took our time. I had a alot of extra hairbands on my wrist so I had her pick out her hairband for today and also she wanted extras to be kept at school. We wet her hair in her school bathroom and she showed me all of the pottys. And the wall where you line up and wait. She had fun showing me these things. I wet her hair and then I sat her down and took my time putting her hair into a pony-tail. Probably too much time. But I enjoyed this time with her. She then picked out the hairband for me to wear today. She gave me lots of hugs on my way out. I told her I wanted to “bottle them up”. She wouldn’t stop. I then suggested she give her teacher some hugs. That was a good transition for me to leave her room.
    • Her school is closed this Friday so I am looking forward to spending more time with her. I will take the day off if my reduced work-week is not approved by then.

    Now I’m on the ferry, the sun is out but it is cold. I feel like I had sufficient time with Red today but felt rushed with the rest. I feel a bit empty on those mornings when I do not connect with each of them in some special way. I helped Twin Crazy get clean, and joked with Big Bro about how he doesn’t want to kiss or hug me in front of his friends, but poor Twin Husky was a bit out of my reach this morning. I helped him when his leg get stuck in a chair but that was basically it. I’ll want to spend extra time with him tonight.

    For work today, I have several meetings set up but I don’t remember what they are for. I will also need to start on project work, and I really need to close up loose ends with the meetings that just passed. It should be a busy day.

    HIghlights of My Working Day:
    OMG so much happened today that I am really not sure where to begin. I just walked onto the ferry for home with the biggest smile on my face.

    • I had a quick meeting today to plan for a client project that I will be delivering. We talked about potential sources of information and people in the industry that we need to talk to, to get the information we need to complete the project. My colleague also found an AMAZING source document that will be the basis from which to start the work. I was drooling over it. It was the kind of thing that I want to close my door and read and immediately create the working documents that will serve as our deliverable. It was terrific. I will have fun with this project.
    • I also lead a team meeting for a firm initiative that we are partnering with; essentially we need to rethink our approach to our service offering based upon conversations we’ve (I’ve) had with potential members/clients. We need to think through the target audience and also clearly define how our offering will be different from others based upon our new thinking of approach. I put myself on the line to modify our sales materials and distribute to the team so that we can secure more clients to participate in the effort. It was another successful call and I feel hopeful for this initiative. It would involve more meeting planning and travel – but more client facing and relationship building, which I am excited about. I would also get credit for the sales initiative and developing a service offering from scratch.
    • I spent some time looking through a “Request for Proposal” and thinking through our firm’s questions for clarification, which are due on Thursday. The Director has asked me to consolidate the questions and send off to the client by due date — so he is pointing to me to lead the client management for this proposal.
    • I had a discussion with two Directors about my proposal for reduced workweek. Both support what I want to do, but both raise risks/concerns about me being out of sight out of mind. They therefore want me to be in the office for 2 of the 3 working days. They also want me to continue being aggressive with sales – this will be important for my personal development as well as the growth of the office. They see me as part of our office/firm leadership and they want me to make sure that I am aggressive and use my time wisely to be client facing and team facing. They don’t want me to back down on my approach to sales. They think I have what it takes play a bigger role in office management – even with the reduction in work week! I am so psyched about how things are working out for me – they definitely value my contribution and they NEED ME and WANT ME to stay, to continue to grow, and continue to work with our clients to build a strong management presence in our office. So happy. Really. So happy.

    So I am on the ferry now with a huge weight lifted off of my chest. This has been a long time coming. My company has been so patient with me. I have devoted 8 1/2 years to them and had to prove myself in different ways but also prove that I am VALUED, versatile, and willing to work together as a team to think through a working arrangement that will benefit me, my family, my children, and the company. I FEEL LIKE CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!!!

    Hoooo-hummm. But now what do I do for dinner?!?!?!? My poor kiddos. I’ll get better at this, really. What do I do with my Twins this Thursday and Friday?!??!?!?! The zoo, visit to the city, aquarium, hmmmmmm – the possibilities are ENDLESS.

    Dinner and Bedtime:

    • I picked up Red first and for some reason she burst into tears. She must have had a hard day for some reason. The teachers couldn’t really explain it. Then was the pick up for Big Bro and the Twins.
    • I cooked a REALLY quick dinner of mac-n-cheese, frozen peas, and frozen shrimp. Big Bro made “name tags” for the family and set them at the table where each person would sit. Red helped mix the cheese powder with milk. Twin Crazy was busy drinking (and spilling) water out of a cup. Twin Husky was playing with a pot and had some water in it so he felt like he was cooking too. Before you knew it, the dinner was ready and the kids were done eating at 6:15!!!
    • Afterwards we colored (Twins!), did puzzles, ran around with soccer balls, danced, and drank chocolate milk.
    • The Twins love brushing their teeth.
    • Red got upset that I forgot to give her a second half of a banana. My heart broke because of HOW she said it. The anguish in her voice and her face just broke my heart. I had to explain to her that I forgot to give her the other half of the banana — it wasn’t HER, it was ME. I forgot by accident, not on purpose, and that I was so sorry. I held her in the kitchen as she ate a banana and she looked at me with such a smile on her face. I wanted that moment to last so I was slow as I walked her up the stairs.

    Now I’m on the couch thinking back on the day, thinking about tomorrow (I will be quite busy), and also thinking about Thursday and Friday — what to do with the kids?!?!?!?! I’m excited.

    Til tomorrow –
    – Mama K

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    November 7: Back together again!

    November 7, 2011 by 4 Comments

    Back at work after a great weekend with Big Bro, Red, and my father. We woke up to the kids laughing and reuniting with one another, since the Twins came home late last night.

    Highlights of the Morning and Commute:

    • We woke up to children’s  laughter. Big Bro kissing Twin Husky as Twin Husky rolling around on the floor. Giggles. Red running around laughing. Twin Crazy a bit sick so a bit cranky.
    • Everyone was hungry – Twins are now actively asking for what they want with their words, which is making things much easier.
    • Red gives Twin Crazy her new water bottle and Twin Crazy downs half of the water. Red gets upset but I quickly wash the bottle and get her new, fresh water to stem a tantrum from happening.
    • Twins are getting oatmeal all over themselves.
    • Big Bro and Red are busy eating.
    • I help 3 of the 4 to get dressed.
    • We are early so all leave together – 3 drop offs (Red, Twins, Big Bro) and then me an Hubby to the Ferry.

    Today at work I will be starting a new project, forming a plan for a new proposal, and also tying up loose ends from the meetings we recently had.

    Highlights of My Working Day:

    • Today was a day about business development. We had an internal meeting to plan our response to a Request for Proposal, I had a phone conversation with a potential client as a result of our meetings from last month, and I scheduled a phone conversation to discuss our proposal with another potential client as a result of our meetings last week. My goal out of this new role was not only to generate value for our company and the members for these meetings, but also to walk away with potential consulting projects. My goal was three proposals. Now we’re at 2. I have one more to go to reach my personal goal!
    • I also started to organize my thinking around a project we are starting this week – I had the lead contact so I’m feeling responsible for this one.
    • I also started to prepare for some meetings that I will have on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ve learned through my career to NEVER come to a meeting unprepared. Even having the documents quickly skimmed and some initial questions/reactions is better than nothing. In our company, people remember the meetings where someone does not add anything — then why were they there???!? Not only should you participate, but have your thoughts organized. Contributions should be concise and to the point, otherwise you’re wasting everyone’s time. This gets noticed too.

    I’m now on the commute home – taking the ferry is not as fun when it is cold and gray. And it is cold and gray today. I have some “flat meat” that I bought over the weekend so dinner will be easy.

    Monday’s are always a bit rough for us as a family – and I think tonight will be worse since it will be darker earlier. I envision breakdowns earlier than normal, so am ready to start the bedtime routine earlier if we need to tonight.

    Dinner and Bedtime:

    • I picked up all kids quickly since it was cold and the sun was going down FAST!
    • Dinner took about 10 minutes from start to finish. Flat meat (pork), frozen string-beans zapped in the microwave, and cous-cous. Everyone was at the table eating within 15 minutes!
    • There was lots of fun tonight. I think all the kids were thrilled to be together again. Big Bro acting like a monster under a blanket crawling after his siblings, Red/Twins were doing “downward dog” positions as I cracked up, Twin Crazy didn’t mind me “bulbing” snot out of her nose (she kept laughing), kids were playing with balls all over the place (and then we made a game about working together to clean them up), and even puzzles.

    • There were only a few accidents. Red hit her head on an open drawer. Twin Husky took a swing at a bat and hit Red in the head by accident. Kids were tripping over Big Bro as he was pretending to be a monster under the blanket. And the Twins kept trying to do puzzles but really they were just running around with puzzle pieces getting everyone else anxious.
    • Twins had fun brushing their teeth and reading books. They gave each other kisses and went to bed quickly, saying “Nite nite” over and over again. Too cute.
    • Bedtime routine was terribly long for Big Bro and Red. A lot of time was devoted to “homework” which we probably should move up earlier in the evening.

    It was a fine Monday; I’m feeling pretty relaxed and enjoying my iPad and iPhone. It makes blogging and adding pictures much more fun and efficient.

    Till tomorrow –
    – Mama K

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    October 3: Off to the races….

    October 3, 2011 by 2 Comments

    I am coming off of a wonderful weekend with the kids. On Sat we went to a fishing pier, looked at fisherman and their crabs, ate snacks, and ran away from bees. Later that night we went out to dinner. People were looking at me like I was crazy — one woman and 4 kids out to eat??!?!?!? They were all great; coloring all around and they devoured their food. Then we went to feed the ducks. On Sunday, I took them to a museum along the coast and learned about crabs – we walked out on tide pools and slipped in seaweed (Twin Crazy and Twin Husky slipped and wiped out head first – their hands and feet reaching in the air – it was too funny – I would have taken pictures but they were so upset I didn’t have time. I needed to rescue them). We had long naps and a quiet rest of the day.

    Today I had to wake up extremely early and leave for the airport – my flight was at 8 AM so I missed seeing everyone get up. I’ll be gone through Thursday evening – and will probably not see them in time before they go to bed.

    This is a week of two big meetings that I am responsible for, starting with tonight’s dinner all through Thursday afternoon. I’m ready, I think. I’m actually tired before it begins. I should have tried for more sleep last night.

    Well, that’s about all for now; I am in a taxi now headed to the hotel, will have a conference call in about 8 minutes that I will likely take from the taxi, need to meet with the consultant who is helping me with logistics and the data, get ready and go to a cocktail reception for attendees and then stay awake and get to know everybody over dinner. And THEN…. prepare my self to be “on” for tomorrow AM.

    Missing my kids already –

    – Mama K

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    September 12: The shortest work-week EVER

    September 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    I took a few days off from writing and it feels good to be behind this keyboard. We had a great weekend with the children. On Saturday Hubby discovered a problem with his passport (expired!) so he needed to research a way to get that updated before Tuesday, when we go on vacation. So that gave me and the kids time to be together. Not doing much of anything, just talking, playing, eating. I brought out colored “sticks” (like the tongue sticks from doctors offices) and that kept all four occupied. After naps we went to a music festival on one of the town streets and I busted out to a Who cover band. Even the toddlers were running around crazy, dancing, having fun (they probably ate too much kettle corn). I had lots of beers. It was great.

    On Sunday we took a walk over to our local fire station and the kids dropped of “thank you” bags to them — puzzles, dominos, cards, etc. It is cute in the eyes of a child what they think the firefighters would like. Red’s favorite present was the Cinderella puzzle and Big Bro really liked the 3-D Darth Vader puzzle. The firefighters would kind enough to give us an entire tour of their station (I think they were starving for attention – our neighborhood is very quiet).

    FDNY in Memory

    FDNY in Memory -- Red in a fire truck

    Big Bro had a playdate and I sewed some jeans (pretty funny, the topic of another post to come).

    Highlights of our Morning and Commute:

    • Red wakes up early and eats up the attention I give her with her pony-tail. She wants me to wear the same color so we can match.
    • All of the sudden Big Bro AND Twin Crazy come in too. THey are all circling me now singing Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! All grabbing me and I am LOVING IT. It is so easy to give them morning kisses when they are right down in front of you.
    • Then Twin Husky comes running in to join the fun. they are all laughing and having a great time. We realized that the Twins are now saying Twin Crazy’s name (a bit botched up) and Red is now also able to enunciate it perfectly. So all kids are chanting her name and laughing up a storm.
    • Big Bro says he needs my help and if I can “work on him first”. I say yes. He needs to find the firefighter eraser tops for the pencils that the fireman gave to him. We go through several loads of wash in varying stages of cleaning until we find them. He is happy. WHile I’m in the laundry room I throw in some loads since I’ll need to pack for the trip tonight
    • All kids are fed except Big Bro. Sliced peaches and toast. Done.
    • Red is dressed, Twins are diapered. Big Bro has his clothes waiting for him in a pile on the floor. Done.
    • More chants with Twin Crazy’s name. Too funny.
    • I pack the bag for daycare (why do I always wait until the morning of?). She needed pants for both kids, diapers. Shoes.
    • Twin Crazy is having a hard time this morning. She apparently put yogurt all over her head to her hair is now soaked. Too bad, she had a bath last night.
    • Red gets ready to leave with Hubby. She almost leaves without her shoes. The Twins and I scurry to find her shoes. She’s off!
    • I pack up the rest of the kids. Twin Crazy still crying until I bring her a stuffed animal.
    • 1st drop off: Twins. Fast. Easy. I let her know that they are having a hard time.
    • 2nd drop off: Big Bro. We play on the swings. Then its time to line up. I tell him I need to leave. I ask him if its OK to hug and kiss him now or if I should wait until later today. He smiles at me, bashful, and gives me a hug. I’ll gladly take that from him.

    So now on the ferry, looking forward to vacation but still lots to do (everything). I hope packing won’t be too tough. I don’t think it will be. I hope Hubby is able to get his passport today. Otherwise it will be me and the 2 kids alone (which is OK, I ‘ve done that before) but its a 13 hour flight with a 6 hour layover. I have NOT done that before. I am wearing new drawstring pants that keep uniting themselves. How annoying. The last thing I need is to be running around at work with my pants falling off my ass.

    I’ll be doing “forum” work today. Also talking with my brother to get ready for the trip. I am sooooo looking forward to this for so many reasons.

    Highlights of my Working Day:

    • Got to the office, got myself settled with make-up, tea, water, graham crackers.
    • Spent 2 hours reviewing a presentation deck for a forum meeting in October. I suggested some ways to bring out the drivers of the data and ways to facilitate discussion with the group; so not only did I learn about the reporting, but I feel like I added a fresh perspective to the way the meeting could be facilitated and ways to create more value for our firm.
    • I spent some time putting to paper some criteria/thinking about how to “qualify” sales leads and then also whether or not as a team we should pursue certain opportunities – the way we make money in our business is through our time – so we need to make sure our time is optimized so we can be as profitable as we can be. Sometimes we chase business opportunities when we have little chance of winning. I think this is mentality left over from the recession; business has picked up since then but I think we still have a gut reaction to spend time with proposals where we are not well positioned to win.
    • I spent the rest of the day doing administrative items – time sheets, expense reports, etc.
    • I’M OUT OF HERE!   By the way, when I go on vacation or take a day off, I AM COMPLETELY OFF.   No email, no voicemail, no quick conference calls.   They all know this about me.

    I am on the ferry right now and I am OFFICIALLY ON VACATION!!! We are headed to the Dominican Republic (Hubby, Big Bro, Red, and I). I still need to pack! So, I of course am drinking a beer. I can’t wait to see the kids. I need to see my toddlers. I will miss them while away. They are so much fun right now. It doesn’t feel right taking a trip with only a subset of our family.

    Dinner and Bedtime:

    • I picked up all kids, 3 pick ups. Red LOVES her new school. She was running and smiling and bursting with energy when I got there. Big Bro was playing with his friends. Twin Crazy and Twin Husky were in shorts enjoying the warm weather and running up to the van when I pulled up.
    • I was busy cooking dinner while on a 4-way conference call with my brother, mom, and dad to talk about last-minute logistics. We’re excited!
    • After dinner I did not spend much time with the kids – I had to pack!
    • I kissed the Twins goodnight and was there for the singing (my favorite part).
    • Big Bro and Red were SOOOOOOOOOO excited for the trip. They know it will be a long travel day and that we will wake them up in the middle of the night before the sun comes up. Red helped to pick out her clothes, as did Big Bro. He, in turn, decided against some of my selections and wound up hiding them somewhere (I still don’t know where).
    • So, I’m finishing up this post so I can get my act together and go to sleep!!!

    I may not post for a while – it depends on what I feel like doing on my days off with my kids!  🙂

    Till later,

    – Mama K

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