Caution! Meme ahead…

Melissa B. from Scholastic Scribe tagged me for the ‘Questions and Answer’ meme… Just to let you all know, yes I do like doing memes because I do suffer from writer’s block on occasion and I dearly love talking about Myself.

(In the meantime, please give a visit to Melissa, she has some truly wonderful stories… you’ll like her.)

 1. What was I doing 10 years ago - WK (my youngest nestling) had just started kindergarten, and I was still a SAHM doing a little freelance writing and slogging through Girl Scouts, soccer, room-mother duties, blah, blah, blah… I loved being at home with my kids, but after they both reached a certain age, I needed some grown-up time. Time to re-identify myself with adults. Three years ago I went back to work full time after a 12 year hiatus from the outside work world.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (in no particular order)?

• Feed two very insistant Labs√
• Call two other managers and make them think it was their idea to take over a task that I should not have been doing in the first place - calls made, prognosis good
• Shop for a pair of summer weight shoes √
• Attend staff meeting √
• Set up interviews for upcoming feature stories - contacts made, waiting for confirmation

3. Snacks I enjoy:

• Corn chips and salsa - hotter the better
• Pistachios
• Triscut crackers and sharp cheddar cheese
• Turtle candies

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Go back to school to study languages and comparative religion
• Pay off my parents’ and in-law’s homes
• Set up trust funds for my kids and each of my nieces (WK is the only nephew on either side)
• Make generous donations to Shriners Children’s Hospital and St. Jude’s, and several other charities (See ‘Right Thing to Do‘ up top)
• Travel - everywhere

5. 5 of my bad habits:

• I interrupt people all the time when they’re talking
• I worry about everything, imagining the worst case scenerios for all possible situations - none of which actually ever happen
• I’m not assertive enough in confrontational situations
• I forget anyone and everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries
• I spend too much money on books

6. 5 places I’ve lived:

• Lima, Ohio - born in St. Rita’s Hosptial
• Oak Ridge, Tennessee - first home after moving from Ohio
• Knoxville, Tennessee - attended college at the University of Tennessee
• Tullahoma, Tennessee - moved there after I got married
• Niceville, Florida - have lived here for the past 13 years

7. 5 jobs I’ve had

• Fast food cashier - high school
• Waitress - college
• Newspaper reporter - staff writer covering government and crime
• SAHM/freelance writer
• Content Manager for Internet company

8. 5 people I want to know more about… I’ve found that I like these memes more than most, so for all those out there who enjoy a good ‘look at me’ writer’s block freebie, please jump on this bandwagon and let us know more about you!

Krissy, my favorite Firecracker Mom asked me to write another ‘Six Word Memoir.’

As for my life:

‘ Not the worst, better than most.’

 

Wait… for… it….

The peeps came through with the swag and nibbles for good ol’ mom. I can say that they did very well in keeping to the spirit of Mother’s Day… spoil the alpha female and appease her to insure another year of good luck.

In light of my recent navigation debacles, I received this lovely GPS device. I set it so my directions are given in the pleasing lilt of Lee, the Australian tour guide.

Knowing how I feel about promoting a college that my own alma mater is bitter rivals with, while still displaying pride in my daughter and her academic accomplishments, we hit on a compromise. I can neither confirm nor deny any support of the Gator Nation… aside from my own UF coed.

Then, to help me relax in my new manager digs, I have a new pair of plush bunny slippers. Soft and oh, so snuggly, I can don these in the office, kick my feet up on my desk and command fear and respect from all who enter….

 

Wait..

 

For…

 

It…

 

 

 

For more of your Monty Python viewing pleasure… Rabbit with Big Pointy Teeth ~ enjoy!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, soon-to-be moms, wanna-be moms, grandmoms, and single dads working hard as stand-in moms.

The Life of a Child

A hundred years from now
It will not matter
What my bank account was,
The sort of house I lived in
Or the kind of car I drove

But the world may be different
Because I was important
In the life of a child

The good and bad of it…

I’ve been very distracted lately. There have been some staffing turnovers at my office and some of it directly affected me. It took a few weeks, but today the shuffling was, for the most part, finally complete. The results were both good and bad.

Good - (depending on how you look at it) my department head decided to follow her heart to pursue a different career path and turned in her notice. (Bear with me Hope, this will make sense.) Bad - she was my friend and had been very supportive of me ~ generous with her praise and performance evaluations. She had in the past gone to the mat for me, to secure raises when others in my position may not have received one. I will miss her, she kept work fun.

Good - before she left, my boss recommended to our regional VP that I be made interim manager. Bad - that was not a guarantee that such a promotion would be made official.

Good - the first Monday as acting department head, the other managers told me to have my pick of offices. I chose one with a nice sunny window, with a door, and a lock, and a huge desk and a big black chair. I bought a little potted ivy plant for the window and moved in. Bad - if I didn’t get offered the job on a permanent basis, I would have to move back out to the floor, back into my Meerkat Manor cubicle ~ away from the sun and my little potted ivy plant would die.

Good - during the ensuing five weeks, no news was good news. Bad - no news was making me a nervous wreck!

Good - If I wanted to be left alone in my office (say to check out what was going on with my blog friends) all I had to do was close the door. Bad - I didn’t have NEARLY as much time to indulge in that favored pastime as I would have liked. 

Good - the other managers were excited that I was acting department head and were including me in strategy sessions. Bad - I didn’t want to do all this upfront work only to be sent back to the minors if the job fell through. I wanted to see the projects through to completion. 

Good - the regional VP came to our office today to talk with ALL the department heads. Better - That included me. BEST - she made me an official offer on the manager’s position. Bad - She didn’t offer me as much compensation as I would have liked. Good - she did offer more than I expected. Better - it also included the potential to earn performance bonuses. BEST - I have a great bunch of people to work with, meeting those goals should be a no-brainer.

I don’t think all of this has sunk in yet. I have never been in a position of authority before, so I’m just winging it right now. I haven’t been able to relax and enjoy the news since the VP and I shook hands on the deal. I feel like I’m all ‘hyped up on Mountain Dew.’ 

The peeps are taking me out for a celebration dinner. I think a nice glass (or two, three…. ) of wine will be just the thing I need to settle my nerves. 

Come Monday morning, I might start hanging a few pictures on the walls in my office ~ make it a little more homey.

Random Wednesday

Mother’s Day is Sunday. While I will be phoning my mom with well wishes and to tell her how much I love her and miss her, I will also be hugging my own children and telling THEM how much I love being a mom, THEIR mom. Because they are what it’s all about.

(A handpainted gift from my daughter, JM)

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” ~  Pablo Casals (Spanish cellist and conductor, 1876-1973)

“If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.” ~ Dr. Haim Ginott (Author and psychotherapist, 1922-1973)

“A child enters your home and makes so much noise for twenty years that you can hardly stand it: then departs leaving the house so silent that you think you will go mad” ~ John Andrew Holmes (American physician and writer, born 1874)

Hubs went to Vegas, and all I got was…

Recently I got a kinda, sorta, sideways promotion. Along with moving into an office all my own, I now also have all the stress of managing a department on my own ~ albeit a small, very small, department.

The Hubs had to travel to Vegas last week on business and brought me back a new, upgraded Black Knight. He got it at the ‘Spam-alot’ kiosk in his hotel. It’s about 5x the size of my other one. I guess he was thinking that I needed larger limbs to cut off now that I would be stressing more at work.

It also came with TWO swords… I’ll be a complete menace with these.

Be jealous of my new office assistant ~ be very jealous.

 

Hubs also got the college girl this really cool T-shirt from ‘True Religion.’ This is the back graphic. 

I have been sorely neglectful in indoctrinating my first born in the joys of classical music. Hubs and I had to tell her who this was on her shirt. 

The Song Remains the Same

Hear my song. People won’t you listen now? Sing along.
You don’t know what you’re missing now.
Any little song that you know
Everything that’s small has to grow.
And it has to grow!

Melinda Zook tagged me for the ‘Six Word Memoir’ meme. (She’s got a really cool giveaway going on now, stop by her place and sign up to win a little sumpin’, sumpin’.)

This one was more difficult than I initially thought. Again, not being one to do something exactly as expected, I decided to make mine a haiku.

Aging gracefully
Adolescent heart beating
Callipygian

 

GET UP! Part Cuatro

I almost hate to admit this, but the Great Wake Up War was a bit of a wash this morning. It did take three alarm clocks going off at 15 minute intervals, but I didn’t have to resort to an arctic blast. I was really looking forward to using my Super Soaker… it was all so anti-climactic. With the invent of these new water heaters, I couldn’t even freeze him out in the shower by flushing the toilets. Dangit!

I don’t know what I’m more aggravated about: the fact that I’ve been fighting the morning wake up demons for so long or that the boy was more than capable of getting up on his own all along. I think some sort of retribution is still in order. I just have to decide what is most appropriate, and how stealthy I have to be to pull it off.

I don’t think this is over… we’ll see how tomorrow and the next morning go. I still have the Super Soaker armed and ready. I’ve been keeping it in the garage refrigerator, just in case I need it.

The Great Wake Up Wars:

GET UP! - Part Drei
GET UP! - Part Deux
If momma ain’t happy…

GET UP! - Part Drei

At 0′dark:30 tomorrow morning, I pull out the big guns in the great Wake Up Wars. None of this pandering to the enemy, I mean business. There won’t be any pussy cat-sized, wimp bottle of water. 

No, I’m bringing out the cannons. I mean business ~ The Super Soaker 500 with a fill capacity of about 32 ounces of ice cold water. That’s what I’m talking about! Let’s see the boy sleep through that kind of deluge. 

 

 

Related Posts:

GET UP! - Part Deux

If momma ain’t happy…

Scrolling Saturdays

Brought back for your perusal, an oldie, but goodie for Scrolling Saturdays. 

From Oct. 18, 2007 - Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But, names will never hurt me

A friend asked me the other day what WK stood for in some of my blogs. She knew it was a pseudonym for my son, but wondered if it meant “Wonder Kid.” I really liked that since, being the unbiased parent that I am, I completely agreed with the assessment. But, no, it’s simply his initials.

Not many people know that he uses his middle name (they do now!), so I had hoped it would lend him a sense of anonymity.

The conversation did get me thinking about what we call our kids.

My dad’s side of the family is big on nicknames. Good ol’ dad is pushing 70 and his brothers and sisters still call him “Butch.” Can’t remember the last time they used his given name. I had an aunt “Tex”, and uncles “Boob” and “Ghoulie.” Not sure how those names came about, but that’s all they were called.

I won’t say what I’m pushing, but sometimes my childhood nickname, “Grinch,” gets bantered around at family gatherings. When I was in high school my dad gave me an ID bracelet. I had that nicknamed engraved on it. The woman at the jewelry store was concerned. I loved it.

My own kids have lots of nicknames. When WK was younger I called him “Little Man,” but not so much now. Now, it’s “Rat Boy” - he is the consummate pack rat. When his sister was playing high school soccer one of her teammates started calling him “Melon,” as in “melon-head.” He retaliated by calling her “Man Legs.” It was all in jest, and they both still have fun with it.

My dad dubbed my daughter “Goose” before she was even born. She went by “Mumika” when she was little. The origin of that name is murky, but she still uses it on e-mails sometimes. Her soccer pals call her J-Rob.

Thinking back over my kids’ childhood nicknames was fun, but it also had me thinking about what some other parents call their kids – names that no one could interpret as a term of endearment.

Sometimes when my kids are being particularly silly or doing something completely out in left field I call them “dork.” But, that is about the worst thing they get called. If I get mad at them I pull out both names – lots of syllables - and draw the last one for emphasis.

How many times have we been out shopping and heard a parent call their child “stupid” or “idiot.” I cringe every time I hear that. Worse yet is at sporting events. It’s painful to hear and it’s not even directed at me. I can’t imagine what the child is feeling.

Words have power. The old nursery rhyme was wrong.

GET UP! ~ Part Deux

The first morning of Operation GET UP! didn’t go all that well. I still had to keep going back into the boy’s room to check on him. I mostly kept resetting his alarm clock and walking out.

I only had to use the Exorcist voice once when I found him sitting up in bed playing with his cat. CAME. UNGLUED.

If you can’t motivate them with reasoning, scare the bejeezus out of them.

The Hubs is out of town until the weekend. My true test will come on Monday morning when both of my men folk will be struggling to get up by themselves.

I use a squirt gun to keep the cat off the kitchen counters. Maybe I should fill it with ice water and use it on the boy. I’m a pretty good shot. Hmmm?