Category: Workplace Drama

Can You Define "Bloggy"?

Published by dee on February 6, 2007

I haven’t been feeling very bloggy lately. I go through my daily routine and nothing really seems like it needs to be written about. Yet, for some reason I still feel the need to write. So here I am. I guess it’s time for a little bit of catch up.

Zach is being a bit of a terror lately. I think we have definitely hit the “terrible 2’s” stage of defiance. No matter what I say to him, the answer is “NO!” Getting him dressed in the mornings is a major chore. He fights me every step of the way until I am so frustrated I can’t wait to drop him off at day care. Then two seconds later he lifts his arms, gives me a hug, and totally redeems himself. When he’s not frustrating me, I sit back in amazement while I watch his latest accomplishments. I love to listen to him talk and sing. He is learning so many new words and his speech is getting more and more clear. He may just be a normal 19-month-old kid, but to me he seems like a genius in the making.

Work has been really busy lately. It always is this time of year but for some reason it seems even more stressful this year.

The diet is going okay. As of Sunday morning I had lost 4.5 pounds, but on Monday (my official weigh-in day) I was only down 2 pounds so that was what got recorded. The Super Bowl snacks are most likely what did me in. This week is going to be really tough. My boss took me and my mom out today for our birthdays and even though I had a salad, it had lots of fattening stuff on top. Then we had cake and ice cream back at the office to celebrate. I think I’ll do all right the rest of the week. Well, until Saturday when we do our family birthday dinner. February is just always a tough month.

I’ve become a little bit of a wino since Christmas. My sister gave me a set of wine glasses that I absolutely love and I want to drink wine just so I can use them. She also gave me a big bottle of White Zinfandel which has come in quite handy. My only problem is that I’ve never really drank wine much before so I don’t know what I like. I know I like White Zinfandel and this really cheap peach flavored wine that I found and that I don’t like Merlot, but other than that I’m pretty clueless. I tasted a Riesling when we were in Hawaii and I liked it but I don’t even know what else to try. I’m afraid to buy something I don’t already know I like because if I don’t like it then I’ve just wasted my hard earned money. This new “hobby” of mine is also not good for the diet.

Thanks to the suggestion of a good friend, I’ve been doing a little re-evaluation of my priorities. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes with all of the things that I feel like I need to do. I’ve been trying to spend a little less time on the internet and more time doing the things I need to be doing. I spent a big part of the weekend cleaning and organizing my house. I de-cluttered, re-organized, and just generally made things look better and it felt great. I also went through my blog subscriptions and cleaned out about half of them. There were so many that I just really wasn’t keeping up anymore so I figured I needed to cut back. As a result, I’m spending more time actually working at work and I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing. Now I just need to quit that bad habit of adding new blogs to my feed reader.

And finally, the bad news of the day. I found out yesterday that my sister-in-law had a miscarriage. I want so badly to talk to her, to comfort her. But again, I just don’t know how. What do you say to someone in that situation? They were both so excited that she was pregnant. All she could talk about when we were at their house was baby, baby, baby. I can’t even imagine what she must feel like right now. I feel like such a schmuck for telling her how perfect and easy my pregnancy was. I hurt for her, for the baby that is no more, and for my brother-in-law who was so excited at the prospect of becoming a father.

And that’s pretty much what’s going on with me. Exciting, huh?

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Ahhhhhhhhh

Published by dee on November 22, 2006

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving but for me it almost feels like Christmas. I am really looking forward to the four day weekend. I’m just downright giddy actually that I don’t have to go to work tomorrow even though this week has been one of the best I’ve had in a long time.

Having Zach come to work with me this week was a lot of fun. It was a lot of extra work chasing him around and trying to keep him quiet, but I loved getting the extra time with him. If anything, I think I actually got more work done this week because I worked so much harder and faster than I normally do. In between changing Zach’s dvd’s, trying to quiet him down, and keep him from climbing on the storage boxes, I rushed around to complete the necessary work.

Zach and I worked until about 1:00 every day and then we came home so that he could get a nap in and I could finish up whatever I was working on from home. Somehow I managed to get my work done, get several piles of laundry washed, pay my bills, and even have a little time left over before 5:00 came.

I think I’ll miss him next week when he goes back to day care. It was fun getting to hang out with him all day. The tantrum he threw in the office kitchen wasn’t so fun, but its all give and take, right?

The next few days will be both fun and relaxing. We’ll spend Thanksgiving day at my mom’s house with my brother and sister and their families. Then we’ll have Friday to just hang out and do nothing. Saturday is my nephew’s birthday party and then Sunday we’ll go to church and have a Thanksgiving meal with my dad and his wife. There will be lots of family, lots of food, and most importantly, lots of down time.

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Why is it that not two minutes after Hubby walks out the door (while I’m holding a soaking wet baby wrapped in a towel) the dog decides to shit on the floor? And, why is it that as soon as I turn around to clean that up Zach decides to pee on the floor? They’re both working against me.

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Thankful

Published by dee on November 22, 2006

The holidays always seem to be a time for reflection and this year is no exception. With Thanksgiving being tomorrow (here in the U.S. anyway) I decided to take some time out and list some of the things that I am thankful for this year. I wish that I took the time out to be thankful more often, because once a year really isn’t often enough when you have a life that is as blessed as mine. Here are some of the things that I am particularly thankful for this year:

My Family- Both my immediate and extended family are a treasure to me. I may bitch about them much of the time, but when it comes right down to it, I don’t know what I would do without them. My family members are some of my best friends. They are always there when I need them to offer their help and support. Through both tradgedy and celebration this year, I have grown even closer to my husband’s family and for that I am very thankful.
Zach- He gets a category all his own. My son has taught me so much about myself in the last 17 months. He has taught me the true meaning of unconditional love. He has taught me how to have more patience than I ever knew was possible. He has taught me how to sit back and enjoy the small pleasures in life. My life has never been the same since I found out a little over two years ago that I was pregnant with him.
Home- As a kid my family moved around quite a lot. I never really felt like I had a “home” until now. Even though we don’t own our house (we rent) we have stayed in one place for over three years now. Hubby and I have created a life and a family in this house. This house and even the city it exists in have become “home” to me.
My job- I complain a lot about my job. We all know that it isn’t my ideal work situation, but it could be much, much worse. I have a boss who is very understanding and supports me in whatever ways he can. He allows me to put my family first and take time off when I need to care for my son. When I get in a jam with day care, he lets me bring Zach to work with me or take my work home. Plus, the occassional bonuses are really nice. If I have to work outside the home, I suppose this is the best place for me to be. I think I have finally come to terms with that.
The Internet- I know it sounds cheesy, but I seriously never would have guessed how much a computer and a broadband connection would change my life. My family web site allows me to keep my entire family up to date on what is going on in our lives. Zach’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other various family members can all watch him grow up even from hundreds of miles away. This blog has allowed me to meet many amazing new friends that I never would have met otherwise. It has helped me to come out of my shell and be myself both online and in the real world.
Music- I’ve often said that if I had to choose between losing my sight or losing my hearing I would choose to lose my hearing. The two hardest things about not hearing would be that I couldn’t hear my child laugh (which I could give up if I could still see the smile on his face) and I couldn’t listen to music. Music means so much to me. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t listen to some kind of music. Music is the soundtrack to my life. Songs bring my memories back to life. For example, when I hear a song like “Push It” I am automatically taken back to my high school days. I can see myself standing in my sister’s bathroom, braiding my hair, and getting pumped up for the volleyball game that I was about to go play in. It feels like it was yesterday. That memory and many, many others are so much more vivid because they are connected to a certain song that I can play over and over again on a whim. My life would be so different without music. Music can take me from depressed to happy, from angry to mellow, from happy to nostalgic. I don’t know what I would do without it.
Friends- Some days I don’t feel like I have a friend in the world and other days I feel so loved. I have very few really good friends in my life, but the ones I do have are friends for life. They always seem to know just when I need them, and I honestly don’t know what more I could ask for. I know that I don’t always reciprocate the love that they show me and I feel terrible about that. They surely deserve all of that and more. I am so thankful that I have them to share the ups and downs of my life with.

So, what are you thankful for?

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Another Picture for Distraction

Published by dee on November 20, 2006

It seems that my posting will be rather scarce this week. Zach’s day care provider is on vacation and I wasn’t able to find a back up day care on short notice so Zach is going to work with me. Today went pretty well. I took a backpack filled with toys, snacks, and a few dvd’s to entertain him. He got restless a couple of times but after a little walk around the office he would settle back down. He held out until after lunch and then was getting a little fussy so we headed home and I finished up some work while he took a nap. It was really fun to have him with me all day. I spent all of my free minutes chasing a toddler around. I don’t see the trend changing for the next couple of days.

We did have a great weekend. I spent Friday night with one of my best friends drinking and being stupid. We drank way too much, stayed up way to late, and took way too many pictures after the drinking way too much. But we had a fabulous time. Sometimes you just need to get goofy with your girlfriends, you know?

Saturday we had our family portraits taken. The photos all came out really great and I spent much more money than I had planned to spend on them. We also had some individual photos taken of Zach which came out so cute. He was amazingly cooperative up until the last few minutes. I’ll probably post a few more pictures here, but they are all marked private on flickr because they are going to be Christmas gifts for most of my family and I don’t want to spoil the surprise for them.

Saturday night and Sunday were spent mostly lounging around the house which was wonderful. We are always so busy that any chance to spend doing nothing just feels great. I’m definitely looking forward to doing more of that during our four day weekend coming up.

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Humpday is Overrated

Published by dee on November 15, 2006

I would give just about anything right now to be able to go back home, crawl in bed, and stay there for the next week. I am so physically and mentally exhausted that all I want to do is shut down for a few days and receive no outside stimulus. I’ve had a dull headache for over a week now that seems to think it has been invited to stay. I’m not sure where it gets off making those kind of assumptions, but you all are more than welcome to kick it out for me. I just don’t have the energy. On top of that, it seems my sinus cavities are filling up and putting extra pressure on my head. Just wonderful. With the amount of sleep I’ve been getting lately, I should be feeling better by early Spring, just in time for my allergies to kick in again.

The good news is I get to leave work early today. The bad news is that I’m leaving work early so I can go pick Zach up and take him to the doctor. His “cold” has been going on for at least two weeks now and he has all sorts of green slimy gook coming out of him. He was also crying and holding his ears lastnight after his bath so I have a feeling we’re on round number 6?, 7? (crap, I have no idea what number) of ear infections. At least it is only the first of this cold season. In a sick, twisted kind of way I’m actually hoping it is an ear infection and that it will help to explain part of why he’s been so crabby lately. If so, I’m hoping that we get it cleared up quickly and that my sweet little angelic boy comes back.

The really sad part of all of this is that I would actually rather be at work today because I have so, so much to do. I will lose a good three hours of work time by taking him to the doctor. I might just bring him back to work with me after the doctor’s appointment instead of going home. Might. I’ll have to see how he’s acting.

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Can I Just Go Back To Bed?

Published by dee on November 6, 2006

I got sent home from work today. It’s a shame really because I was feeling rather productive which is unusual for me. Apparently there was some kind of electrical problem in the building. About half of our electrical outlets in our office went out, including the one in my corner where I plug pretty much everything in. I still had power in my laptop, but I couldn’t do much of what I needed to do without my printer functioning. A few minutes after the power went down, the maintenance department came around and told us that they were going to have to shut down the power to the entire building while they fixed a wire that had burnt out and they didn’t know how long it would be down. Bonus! So, here I am at home working. I thought briefly about picking Zach up early, but decided to let him go ahead and get his nap in at day care.

The weekend was good, but nothing too exciting happened. Hubby and I attended a party with my Sister and her husband Saturday night. It was fun, but Hubby was on call, my Sis is pregnant, and her husband doesn’t drink so I was the only one of the four of us drinking. It made for a much more mellow evening than we usually have at these parties. Everyone kept commenting about how quiet Hubby was being. There was lots of yummy food though which I totally over indulged in. Unfortunately, I paid for that the rest of the night with a bit of a stomach ache that kept me awake.

I’ve been sitting here this afternoon staring at my computer, knowing that I should be getting some work done, yet avoiding doing it. I have too many other things on my mind. There are so many other things I would prefer to be doing, like cleaning up the mess on my desk. I have so many projects that I’ve started and not had the time to finish that are just laying around taunting me. Plus, there are all the books I want to read that I never seem to have the time for.

I’ve also been sitting here staring at this form that needs to be filled out. Before I started working at my current job, I worked for a company that contributed to a state retirement program. It has been almost five years now and a few months ago I was informed that I had to withdraw the funds I had contributed and either roll them over to another account or take the cash. I’m still sitting here with the form because I can’t decide what to do with it. It is a rather small amount of money, roughly $1000 or so. I could certainly use the cash right now, but would only end up with probably about $700 after taxes and penalties. If I roll it over I could actually have a start at a retirement plan, small as it is. My company doesn’t offer retirement benefits so that would be the smart thing to do. I hate making decisions on stuff like this.

Even after eating way too much this weekend, I still managed to lose 3.5 pounds this week. The first week is generally the easiest for me because the pounds just seem to fall off, but I think I’ll be even more committed this week. I actually planned out fairly healthy meals for the whole week and went grocery shopping so we have everything we need to make those meals. Now, as long as my Lean Cuisine meals don’t thaw out in the office fridge during the power outage today I should be set for the week.

Well, back to work. I suppose I should at least bust out a letter or two for work before I go pick up the boy from day care. If I’m lucky I’ll get an extra hour or so of snuggle time in with him tonight.

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