2.18.2010

yakkety yak

It's been a while since I have posted. I am so swamped at work, I hardly have time to screw off on my Blackberry and on Facebook. Yeah, I know. Poor me.

My new(ish) position is completely insane. I am pulled in 10 different directions every day, by a dozen different people. I have 2 people who I manage, who have had a few PTO days recently, which means I HAVE TO COVER for them while continuing to do my job. This consists of, depending who has the PTO, either manning the front desk and answering phones, shipping an enormous amount of things, miscellaneous nonsense I haven't had to deal with in years, or hours and hours of word processing, formatting, report assembly, etc. On top of these duties, I still have to perform my usual duties: administering the office, writing checks, working in our janky accounting software, invoicing for not one, nor two, but 7 people in the office which has amounted to 50 invoices that are not cut and dry and include a lot of back-door work, balancing the founders various accounts, managing the founders various projects, managing the founders everything, fielding complaints and dealing with said complaints, remodeling the conference room and dealing with people asking me a thousand times a day when it is going to be finished, and many other tasks daily and still doing all I used to do in my old job. I am lucky if I get to enjoy 2 lunch hours a week.

I am whipped when I get home. I rarely get online. I am in bed by 9:30pm.

I'm still trying to lose weight. I'm sort of in panic mode now. BFF's wedding is in 4 months. In Myrtle Beach. I can't think of anything that scares me more than spending a few days in the south, on a beach, in the summer. I hate being hot. I don't wear bathing suits in front of people. I don't like sun or water. And, well, I like to keep my gross old body covered.

Still doing weight watchers, and have lost the 10 lbs I lost and gained several months ago. Have given up on the gym (see above...no time, exhausted + inconvenient), but recently got a used (free) treadmill. Have been waking at 5am to either do the treadmill or my Walk Away The Pounds dvds. The treadmill motor seems to be going bad, so it's not really functional right now and I don't have the energy to fight with it every day, so I'm doing the dvds. Husband is mechanically inclined, so just waiting for him to fix it.

Need to lose 32 lbs to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. My son will be 4 in May. This is now considered "Pre-School Weight".

The boy. Well, age 3 has been very challenging. But I have to say that as we close in on 4, things seem to be improving. He is a very strong headed boy, but he is also very sweet. He loves him some mama! The sassy mouth is a bit under control and he is more agreeable. He knows limits and doesn't push every one every day anymore. And he knows he has to "earn" special outings/things by behaving well. I purchased a "Barrel of Monkeys" at the beginning of the year - because sticker charts do not work anymore - and he earns a monkey for each time he gets dressed without a fight, brushes teeth, eats dinner, keeps the sass in check, etc.

When all Monkeys are earned, we have a special outing. Last outing was the Hands On Museum, Clover Leaf Restaurant, and a new truck. He still sort-of fights getting dressed and brushing teeth nearly every day, but it seems as long as I either distract him with talking nonsense or watching cartoons, I can whip his clothes on in no time. He was getting time outs every morning, we would have yelling matches, everyone was stressed out, it was terrible. So, things have definitely improved. I have to hide the toothpaste way down inside the bristles because "I don't like toothpaste", so, in order to brush with toothpaste I have to hide it. Daddy has little patience at all with this morning fighting, so I am handle getting dressed and brushing teeth. I am hopeful that my techniques will eventually sink in with my husband and he can take over. Until then...Whatevs. (see above...no time, no energy, etc)

I love his school, his teachers and having him across the street from me. He doesn't cry when I drop him off anymore. I get one kiss and one hug instead of the crying and clinging and whining I got every day for nearly 3 months. He can spell several words and some of the things he says seem (to me) like things "big boys" would say. IE: Mommy, why are Pine Trees used for Christmas Trees instead of another kind of tree? And one day when Daddy put him in a time out, he was really upset about telling me why he got a time out, because "I don't want you to be mad at me".

At school, his BFF is Dominic. This boy is super sweet, adorable, and has a fantastic personality. He even hugs me every time I see him. I have his mom's phone number and intend to set up a play date. Making the first move and talking to someone I don't know is completely out of my comfort zone, but well...the things we do for our kids.

Bedtime is better. We have gone from sleeping in his bed with him - what a terrible habit that was - to sitting in the chair until he falls asleep, to sitting in the chair for 10 minutes, to not being in his room at all after books are read, hugs and kisses are given and friends are tucked in with him. We leave the hall light on all night and that seems to help. There is the occasional middle of the night where he is afraid of one thing or another and comes into our room or just calls for me (ME!) in the night. When he calls for me, I send daddy in...because, guess who has a job and who doesn't.

Daddy is in his 2nd semester of school and is doing really well. Should have an Associates in Applied Electrical Science by the end of the year. He will be able to collect unemployment for another year after that, so will likely go on to UT to work toward an Electrical Engineering degree. As long as we can manage financially, this is the plan.

Finished our taxes this week and the most bizarre thing happened: despite making (gasp) $24k (!!) less in 2009 than we did in 2008, we are getting nearly 5 times as much back as we usually do. For the first time ever, we are getting money back from the state. For the first time since the boy was born, we were able to claim child care. Also got the credit for insulating our house, and several different credits because daddy is a displaced worker, a veteran and is getting re-educated. We are getting more back this year than we did when A) we bought our house and B) when the boy was born. We've dipped into the savings account a couple times, so for me and my constant freaking out about balances, this couldn't come at a better time. Plus I was really feeling guilty about dipping into savings for Myrtle Beach.

We've made it through a full year of daddy being unemployed, and I'm happy to say that we've been able to make the finances work without adjusting much (well, my shoe and purse purchases are under control - kinda sorta), have only dipped a bit from savings, and have not accumulated any credit card debt. It is lovely being credit card debt free - going on our 6th year.

We made a few inexpensive changes to the half bath and it has made a world of difference. It looks like a different room to me. Will use a bit of the tax money for a couple other small improvements. Also plan to get a DVR and a blue-ray player so we can stream in Nexflix. Never ever thought I would see the day that I wanted or saw a need for a DVR, but the day has come. I am just too damn tired to stay up and watch my shows and I really sort of like waking up at 5am to exercise. It's the only time there is no chaos.

I try to read some of my favorite blogs, and still read books at night before falling asleep. I have a couple hard cover books I need to finish up and then I plan to get a Kindle. The library doesn't work well for me, and I get sick of looking at stacks of books around the house. While I love most of the blogs I read, I have to say that there are a few bloggers who drive me absolutely insane with their constant complaining and misuse of certain words...I need to stop reading them, but it's like a train wreck, ya know?

I turned 40, which isn't as bad as it seems. Love that people seem shocked I am THAT OLD. Got a big butterfly tat on my back as my gift to myself. It's beautiful. Am already dying for my next one. The addiction runs deep.

Things are well. We are making it work. I am working my ass off. I only wish I was really working my ass off. Seems like I say that often.