Friday Off

Well, I have been enjoying my first Friday off due to my new schedule. I am loving it, but my pocket book might not. I went in search of new bedding for the guest room today and that involved 4 stores and lunch. I still need to get a head board to go with the awesome mattress set we happily inherited when Johanna moved out. A trip to Ikea is in my near future I think.

Dunkin donuts please

I can now post from my iphone! YAY! I am a genius!

Growing Up

Ella made me so proud the other day. We were talking about the end of the school year and how I hadn't heard her mention one of her buddies very often toward the end of the year. She looked at me and said that they were not really such good friends anymore. Me, being curious (and not being a big fan of this buddy anyway) asked why.

She turned to me and said, "Mama, she thought she was the boss of me. She's not. I am the boss of me. Me, and you and daddy!"

I distinctly remember the queen bee from elementary school. The foundation was established very early. If you didn't resist and stand up for yourself you were seen as an easy target. I want Ella to be kind and open to all types of friendships. Just as importantly, I want her to be aware enough to realize that in the real world we don't all always get along and cutting it off and moving on is sometimes the best decision she can make for herself!

Raising a girl is HARD, but at least I am using my experiences and learning from them in guiding her. I loved that her decision was pretty matter of fact, she wasn't worried about being ostracized or that she was 'hurting' someone's feelings. She wasn't mean or nasty. She just said enough is enough. I am moving on. Go, Ella!

Freak Out

Ok, I got a comment that freaked me out a little bit. Nothing blatantly strange, just mildly so. Still, it is enough to prompt me to make this blog private to invited readers only. I think I got most of my regular readers in my initial flurry of invites, if you know (PERSONALLY) someone who likes to read this blog let me know and I am happy to invite them.

Thanks.....

PS and if you got an invite to my blog but didn't know I had a blog ... I couldn't remember who read it and who didn't so consider yourself invited to read, or not, up to you ;.)

Blondies

Everyone keeps commenting on how blonde Max is! I keep hearing, I don't remember Ella's hair ever being that light. Well, it was & I have proof ;) Ok, I admit it we get our highlights done at the same salon!

One Great Weekend!

I love Summer. This should be no surprise to anyone! One reason I love summer so much is the longer days and the great outdoor summer time parties.

This weekend we drove up to PA to spend the weekend with one of my coolest friends, Mari & her husband Jim. They moved into a new house back in December and we had yet to get up there to visit. This was their house warming/1st Pool party. It was so much fun. Her house is beautiful and it has great outdoor space. AND a pool. If I didn't love her so much I'd be jealous ;)

She and Jim were great hosts and we relaxed, swam, ate and hung out for the weekend. It was one of the best weekends we've had in a while. Somehow over the course of the weekend I managed to mangle my back ... again! UGH. Its been over a year since my last really bad episode. A small price to pay for such a good time!

2 Trips to St. John!

Yay, its official. We now how our 2009 St. John trip in the works, having put the deposit on the house with our friends who will be joining us! August 2008 - just Hung, the kids and me! June 2009 - a decidedly larger crew, but that's what keeps it interesting.

No Explanation Required

It's a Miracle

Ella finally made it off the SACC (that's School aged child care for those non-parents out there) waitlist! This program is in-school aftercare that is superior and cheaper than private afterschool care through a daycare center. $500 for the latter, $278 a month for the former.

To put it in perspective, she's been on the waitlist since BEFORE her brother was born!

Here's our waitlist experience:

January 8, 2007 #53
January 29, 2007 #53
March 15, 2007 #48
May 2, 2007 #42
June 11, 2007 #39
July 11, 2007 #38
August 20, 2007 #37
(SCHOOL STARTED)
September 10, 2007 #35
April 4, 2008 #18
May 19, 2008 #18

It seems silly but we are so excited!!! Once you are in you are in, she's in the program until we withdraw her or until she goes to middle school. Plus, her bro will get priority enrollment when his time comes (they'll overlap in her school for 2 years). Fall of 2012 is not as far off as you think!

Last Day of School!

How did this happen?!?! Where did the entire school year go? If life continues to accelerate at this pace Ella will seemingly be 18 tomorrow! A little first day of school, last day of school picture show.

And he says it doesn't matter how much longer troops are in Iraq

For those who have been under a rock, McCain was recently quoted (from the Today Show I believe) saying that it really doesn't much matter how much longer we are in Iraq. That is more about how many casualties we have there. I say there are casualties as immensely horrific as losing your life or a limb. Somehow losing your soul seems the worst of all.

I am stealing this from a friend of a friend's blog, but it is worth sharing.

http://mediastorm.org/0020.htm

(I am still a Hillary girl...but I have to say Go Obama. McCain would be a disaster in so many ways.)

So this is what they mean by golden handcuffs!

My boss, God love him, has basically made it impossible for me to ever leave my current organization. Well, as long as he is there anyway!

I've had the benefit for telecommuting 2 days a week (Tu/Th) since Ella was born. For some reason I think he thought I would quit. I didn't ask to telecommute. I was asked if I wanted to. Well, uh, hell YES!

As it is I have always had full-time childcare for her (and now for her brother). My telecommute days are days when I simply do what I do from home. My job is something that, with a few minor exceptions, can pretty much be done from anywhere. So aside from the occasional appointment I run to or minute taken to make a blog post, I am no more or less productive from home. Depending on the task, I can actually be MORE productive at home. So many less distractions. But I digress.

I have long thought about switching my Thursday telecommuting to Fridays. I just never got around to it. I have also long contemplated giving up one or both telecommuting days to be able to take advantage of our flexible work schedule, put in more hours in 9 days and get the 10th day free! I never could make the plunge. Never could talk myself into giving up the tc days. Well, it seems I don't have to.

Starting Monday my new schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, Thursday in the office, all Tuesdays telecommuting from home and Fridays will alternate between telecommuting and OFF. There is no net difference in the number of days I am physically in the office - still 3 a week either way. Yes, I will have a slightly longer work day on the days I work, by about 40 minutes. So worth it for an extra 26 Fridays a year off! So this is what they mean by golden handcuffs.

Going to the Beach

Packed. Ella just got on the bus. Max is off to Jeannie's. I am off to the beach with my bud, KK. It's been two years since our last girls (grown-up Girls) only trip to St. Michael's. The kids are in good hands, Dad is prepared for the task, and Mama is OUT!

Yay! 8 meals in a row without sharing food with my kids shoving bites in my mouth in between entertaining them! 3 days with out "Mama, (insert question here)?" It is gonna be a great weekend. Add to that my toes in the sand. I am a happy happy girl.

A/C Update

Well, it seems our A/C is now working. YAY. $349 is way better than what I thought we were in for ... replacing two compressors/units. EEEEKKKK....

We'll see if it holds up!

The Boy: 16 Months

Hello...anyone there? 16 months old! Hard to believe. He loves the phone. He loves pretending he is talking on the phone. Anything will suffice. The remote. An Ipod. A cracker. Doesn't matter, he'll try to talk to it. He is IN LOVE with Gramma Mezo. They had an overnighter a few weeks ago and they are now officially in love. Not Ella/Gram level of love (yet) but LOVE.

He is chatty but not necessarily in a way that we understand. He does say Mama, Daddy, Night NIGHT!, and cracker pretty darn clearly. Cracker is my favorite because he sounds like a Macaw, it comes out Cra-CAWWWWW! If he is particularly hungry we get a Crack-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! LOL. He also says "Neee Neee" which we think must be Jeannie. He waves. He blows kisses. He gives real kisses. He's a lover not a fighter. LOVE THAT BOY! The absolute cutest thing he does currently...and this is entirely of his own doing...is go and get on his little tiny scooter & then look at us and waves bye bye. Like he's going somewhere. Everytime he gets on that thing, which is often! Very cute. (Yes, I realize I use cute ad nauseum).

He has offically come into his own. I may be speaking too soon but that month or so of whining and groaning is over, methinks he must have been seriously teething and unequiped with the coping mechanisms we have as grownups. This is the beginning of my favorite stage!