Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Germs and Teachers...
Sorry if the following isn't very interesting. I have a bad cold and I am XXXXtra tired! My husband has a cold. The baby has (another) cold. I'm sure my daughter will land one before long. On an UP note, I managed to get a flu shot today WITHOUT EVEN TRYING! Remember last year? This time I was at the grocery store after 5 p.m. and there they were. Waiting, with needle in hand and NO LINE! Unfortunately, they said my daughter was too young so I couldn't get one for her, but at least I won't be passing it around to the kids.
We had our first parent/teacher conference today. As we suspected...she's a shining star. The only place we had less-than-perfect marks was under "social skills". The upshot is that she likes to "speak before she thinks" and she likes to "be the boss", sometimes even trying to overrule the teacher. Simple enough to overcome. I think. Unless she's just displaying her ADHD early. We'll see. We had a chat about it and I think we're all on the same page. She'll just need lots 'o reminders. "Stop and think...'Was that person asking ME for help? Is someone talking to ME?' If the answer is no, then you need to just sit quietly until called on". We'll see how it goes. Funny thing is that my sister reported being scolded for the exact same things at that age. Hmmm.
My school district offers only 1/2 day Kindergarten. After I mentioned that my daughter's only complaint was that school was SOOO much work, the teacher proceeded to say that "Sure it's hard work...we're cramming a whole day's worth of work into a 1/2 a day". Wow. Talk about trial by fire. I can't even imagine how much that must suck for kids that never even went to preschool. At least my daughter had the benefit of a classroom/learning environment prior to "real" school.
Anyhooo..off to bed. Nyquil, my friend, here I come!
Sorry if the following isn't very interesting. I have a bad cold and I am XXXXtra tired! My husband has a cold. The baby has (another) cold. I'm sure my daughter will land one before long. On an UP note, I managed to get a flu shot today WITHOUT EVEN TRYING! Remember last year? This time I was at the grocery store after 5 p.m. and there they were. Waiting, with needle in hand and NO LINE! Unfortunately, they said my daughter was too young so I couldn't get one for her, but at least I won't be passing it around to the kids.
We had our first parent/teacher conference today. As we suspected...she's a shining star. The only place we had less-than-perfect marks was under "social skills". The upshot is that she likes to "speak before she thinks" and she likes to "be the boss", sometimes even trying to overrule the teacher. Simple enough to overcome. I think. Unless she's just displaying her ADHD early. We'll see. We had a chat about it and I think we're all on the same page. She'll just need lots 'o reminders. "Stop and think...'Was that person asking ME for help? Is someone talking to ME?' If the answer is no, then you need to just sit quietly until called on". We'll see how it goes. Funny thing is that my sister reported being scolded for the exact same things at that age. Hmmm.
My school district offers only 1/2 day Kindergarten. After I mentioned that my daughter's only complaint was that school was SOOO much work, the teacher proceeded to say that "Sure it's hard work...we're cramming a whole day's worth of work into a 1/2 a day". Wow. Talk about trial by fire. I can't even imagine how much that must suck for kids that never even went to preschool. At least my daughter had the benefit of a classroom/learning environment prior to "real" school.
Anyhooo..off to bed. Nyquil, my friend, here I come!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
You know WHO?
That's just a little jab at the concierge at the Marriot in Santa Monica about his incessant name-dropping. The good news is that NEXT time I'm in town, he's going to hook us up to hang out with some MAJOR big name comedians! Because, why WOULDN'T guys like that wanna hang out with some random a-holes from the Midwest? It made me giggle.
The meeting was everything you'd expect. Leave it to Pharma to be predictable. What I DIDN'T predict is that they would force us to stay in our meeting the first full day until 6:15 PM!!! Oh...and SEE YA AT 7 FOR DINNER!
The low point of the trip was finding out, about 30 minutes after I arrived in California, that my baby had pneumonia! AND my company had somehow inexplicably dropped him from my health insurance when they ran an "update" the previous week. No stress. Really. Sigh.
I was geared up to turn around and come right back home, but the next day the baby was stabilizing and would not have to go to the hospital, so I stayed. I'm sure in the scheme of things it made my husband a better person.
Nothing exciting to report. Our two extra days in CA were VERY low-key. The meeting had sucked the life from both of us, so we basically ate dinner and went to bed both nights. Man are we L-A-M-E!!! Oh well. Glad to be back. I missed the kids. My daughter has been turning the "guilt trip" into an art form.
As a super special reward, my manager is riding with me AGAIN this week. No, it's not punishment. I actually got to come forward in front of the entire sales staff to accept an award for being number one in the country for one of my products. Ain't that spiffy? So much for my Grand Plan of staying in the middle and "under the radar".
That's just a little jab at the concierge at the Marriot in Santa Monica about his incessant name-dropping. The good news is that NEXT time I'm in town, he's going to hook us up to hang out with some MAJOR big name comedians! Because, why WOULDN'T guys like that wanna hang out with some random a-holes from the Midwest? It made me giggle.
The meeting was everything you'd expect. Leave it to Pharma to be predictable. What I DIDN'T predict is that they would force us to stay in our meeting the first full day until 6:15 PM!!! Oh...and SEE YA AT 7 FOR DINNER!
The low point of the trip was finding out, about 30 minutes after I arrived in California, that my baby had pneumonia! AND my company had somehow inexplicably dropped him from my health insurance when they ran an "update" the previous week. No stress. Really. Sigh.
I was geared up to turn around and come right back home, but the next day the baby was stabilizing and would not have to go to the hospital, so I stayed. I'm sure in the scheme of things it made my husband a better person.
Nothing exciting to report. Our two extra days in CA were VERY low-key. The meeting had sucked the life from both of us, so we basically ate dinner and went to bed both nights. Man are we L-A-M-E!!! Oh well. Glad to be back. I missed the kids. My daughter has been turning the "guilt trip" into an art form.
As a super special reward, my manager is riding with me AGAIN this week. No, it's not punishment. I actually got to come forward in front of the entire sales staff to accept an award for being number one in the country for one of my products. Ain't that spiffy? So much for my Grand Plan of staying in the middle and "under the radar".
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Off to See the Wizard...
Y'know...the face that's behind all of those serious corporate e-mails. We're having our annual company meeting next week. It's in Santa Monica. Which would matter if you EVER saw anything besides the four walls of a ballroom for three days straight. Hell, they'd save LOADS if they just had the damn thing at the Wichita Marriott.
BUT as I think I've mentioned before, one of my company buds and I are staying an extra two days. It seems foolish to waste free airfare to California! She has friends there, so hopefully we'll get carted around and shown the "good" places by some locals. We're staying at a nice hotel (which is going to cost a fortune) but since I haven't had a vacation this year, I figure I can splurge.
Have I ever mentioned that I'd rather have another hole added to my head than go shopping? Guess what I've been doing for the last two days? Garrrr. I have to dress "business casual" for four days. I managed to scrape together three pairs of slacks (the black ones will make two appearances) and four tops I think will work. I have no earthly idea what I'll be wearing during my "off" time since I failed to take casual-wear into consideration. Hmmmm.. I think I'd better go and try to secure a pair of capris tomorrow. I am grudgingly packing a swimsuit since I'd hate to really "need" one and not have it, but I am hoping beyond all hope no one has to see me in it.
Anyway, I'll be totally out of the loop until week after next. Wish me luck during my endless quizzes and 'role plays' (although I will admit I am really good at those...so many others HATE them!). Also, think of me night after night. I'll be the one at the huge dinners with free-flowing alcohol trying to gauge how much drinking I can get away with without a) making an ass out of myself, and b) not being wrecked the next day. Yeah, yeah...boo hoo, poor me...all that great food and free alcohol! But it really IS kinda hard! It seems inconceivable to 'not drink'. Because....there it is! But then one too many and you are SCREWED the next day. Nothing like listening to the driest doctor on earth drone on and on AND ON about disease states when you have a raging hang-over. Makes you wanna buy a bullet and rent a gun. Literally.
See ya next week!
Y'know...the face that's behind all of those serious corporate e-mails. We're having our annual company meeting next week. It's in Santa Monica. Which would matter if you EVER saw anything besides the four walls of a ballroom for three days straight. Hell, they'd save LOADS if they just had the damn thing at the Wichita Marriott.
BUT as I think I've mentioned before, one of my company buds and I are staying an extra two days. It seems foolish to waste free airfare to California! She has friends there, so hopefully we'll get carted around and shown the "good" places by some locals. We're staying at a nice hotel (which is going to cost a fortune) but since I haven't had a vacation this year, I figure I can splurge.
Have I ever mentioned that I'd rather have another hole added to my head than go shopping? Guess what I've been doing for the last two days? Garrrr. I have to dress "business casual" for four days. I managed to scrape together three pairs of slacks (the black ones will make two appearances) and four tops I think will work. I have no earthly idea what I'll be wearing during my "off" time since I failed to take casual-wear into consideration. Hmmmm.. I think I'd better go and try to secure a pair of capris tomorrow. I am grudgingly packing a swimsuit since I'd hate to really "need" one and not have it, but I am hoping beyond all hope no one has to see me in it.
Anyway, I'll be totally out of the loop until week after next. Wish me luck during my endless quizzes and 'role plays' (although I will admit I am really good at those...so many others HATE them!). Also, think of me night after night. I'll be the one at the huge dinners with free-flowing alcohol trying to gauge how much drinking I can get away with without a) making an ass out of myself, and b) not being wrecked the next day. Yeah, yeah...boo hoo, poor me...all that great food and free alcohol! But it really IS kinda hard! It seems inconceivable to 'not drink'. Because....there it is! But then one too many and you are SCREWED the next day. Nothing like listening to the driest doctor on earth drone on and on AND ON about disease states when you have a raging hang-over. Makes you wanna buy a bullet and rent a gun. Literally.
See ya next week!
Monday, October 03, 2005
Ommmmmmmm
Regardless of the fact I've now taken a whole TWO yoga classes, I've been trying to make a conscious effort to do some relaxation and "getting in touch" exercises, such as taking a moment when I'm outside just to be still and take it in. Also, I have a tendency to get short of breath when I get stressed out, so I'm trying to do deep breathing as well. I guess the best way to say it is that I'm trying to "relax my mind". I find that I often get too engaged in whatever it is that I'm doing, and if I actively notice that, I can take it down a notch and achieve some relaxation. I've been on fabulous, tropical vacations in the past, and it did not escape my attention that no matter what, I could not fully relax. So I'm working on that. I'd like to 'be in the moment' more often.
I've had a gazillion people tell me I need to mediate, but I cannot do it on my own. My massage therapist recommended using a guide, such as a tape or CD, so I think I'll try that. Is it weird that I CANNOT empty my mind? It reminds me of the scene in Ghostbusters, when they were supposed to empty their minds, but then here comes the StayPuft Marshmallow Man. That would TOTALLY be me.
Quickie Updates:
As I suspected, Neighbor Dad knocked on my door bolstered by a little "liquid confidence" the other night, and was his usual ass-kissing self when my husband went to talk to him the next day. It's all good. Oh! And the guy actually started a new job today (apparently he landed that manager job he'd been holding out for!) so we'll see how long that lasts.
My Giant Baby is seven months old, but is wearing 12 mo. sizes already. He's not chubby...just extra-long. My husband isn't a tall guy, but there are some random "tall" genes in the family, so I'll cross my fingers for the little guy. And my favorite part about play time with the baby last night was when he head-butted me in the mouth SO HARD that I got a fat, bloody lip. He cried a little too, but compared to me, he got off easy!
Later this week I have to go and buy a four-day work wardrobe for a big meeting I have next week. Unfortunately, I didn't reach my goal by then, but I do feel good about my progress, so that's better than a sharp stick to the eye. Plus, I'll make a point to save my tags and receipts so I can return everything for a smaller size in the next couple of months. I did that after I had my daughter. "Opps! I didn't try this on when I bought it and now I need a different size!" The key, of course, is to make it appear as "unworn" as possible. Is that wrong?
Regardless of the fact I've now taken a whole TWO yoga classes, I've been trying to make a conscious effort to do some relaxation and "getting in touch" exercises, such as taking a moment when I'm outside just to be still and take it in. Also, I have a tendency to get short of breath when I get stressed out, so I'm trying to do deep breathing as well. I guess the best way to say it is that I'm trying to "relax my mind". I find that I often get too engaged in whatever it is that I'm doing, and if I actively notice that, I can take it down a notch and achieve some relaxation. I've been on fabulous, tropical vacations in the past, and it did not escape my attention that no matter what, I could not fully relax. So I'm working on that. I'd like to 'be in the moment' more often.
I've had a gazillion people tell me I need to mediate, but I cannot do it on my own. My massage therapist recommended using a guide, such as a tape or CD, so I think I'll try that. Is it weird that I CANNOT empty my mind? It reminds me of the scene in Ghostbusters, when they were supposed to empty their minds, but then here comes the StayPuft Marshmallow Man. That would TOTALLY be me.
Quickie Updates:
As I suspected, Neighbor Dad knocked on my door bolstered by a little "liquid confidence" the other night, and was his usual ass-kissing self when my husband went to talk to him the next day. It's all good. Oh! And the guy actually started a new job today (apparently he landed that manager job he'd been holding out for!) so we'll see how long that lasts.
My Giant Baby is seven months old, but is wearing 12 mo. sizes already. He's not chubby...just extra-long. My husband isn't a tall guy, but there are some random "tall" genes in the family, so I'll cross my fingers for the little guy. And my favorite part about play time with the baby last night was when he head-butted me in the mouth SO HARD that I got a fat, bloody lip. He cried a little too, but compared to me, he got off easy!
Later this week I have to go and buy a four-day work wardrobe for a big meeting I have next week. Unfortunately, I didn't reach my goal by then, but I do feel good about my progress, so that's better than a sharp stick to the eye. Plus, I'll make a point to save my tags and receipts so I can return everything for a smaller size in the next couple of months. I did that after I had my daughter. "Opps! I didn't try this on when I bought it and now I need a different size!" The key, of course, is to make it appear as "unworn" as possible. Is that wrong?
