A Bit of Cyn

I just returned from presenting findings for my first ever project of my own! I’ll admit I was a bit nervous, especially when my contact called me an hour before the meeting to tell me she was concerned we didn’t do all the things we said we would do. At the end of the meeting, I asked her if she felt we addressed all of the objectives we set out to address and she said we did! Yay!!

They will now review the full document in detail and provide feedback/input late this week or early next week. We’ll need to make some changes, I’m sure, then we’ll present to a large group at the company. Then we will officially be done with this project!! (And hoping they hire us to do more work with them.)

It feels really good to have done this project on my own, without my brother or my dad. And having gotten a positive response at the meeting today gives me more confidence that I really can do this and know what I’m doing. However, I still need to work on the whole selling part because that’s what really stops me. If I could just have the confidence to do that, the jobs would come so much more easily!

Wow, there was so much dust I think I had to blow multiple, multiple times! I’ve been thinking that I’d like to get back to blogging. In fact, I came back to update and realized I didn’t know the URL. Oops! I stumbled upon an old comment and used that link to get here. Yes, it’s been that long.

I’d like to say I have some amazing, enlightening, thought-provoking post for you at this moment, but alas, I do not. I’m working on a final presentation for work and really just don’t want to do it. lol I have a bunch of cleaning that needs to be done, but I don’t want to do that, either. (Ron has strep but didn’t find out until Sunday. Thus, the house is a wreck from the long weekend since the kids and Ron were home on Monday.) I’d love to be knitting, but I really can’t afford to do that until I get this report done. (You might ask: Then why are you blogging? The answer: I’m procrastinating!!!)

But I do plan on returning at some point with some more interesting posts. Perhaps even pictures of my recent knitting!

It really has been a looong time since I posted. A ton has changed, but the biggest one for me is that I started a contract position that requires me to be in an office. This is the first time in over four years! I’ve been working from home until this time. At first, I was very hesitant about going back to an office environment. The contract is only for 15 weeks and I was nervous about how I’d fit in. Fortunately, things have gone quite well.

I’m working with an old co-worker who is also a good friend of mine. That has made it so much more worth while! The work sucks as they really aren’t prepared for us to be there. They are very flexible, so I don’t have to be there at a certain time and can leave if/when I need to. (Which is nice because the commute is awful, especially since the bridge collapse!) But I’ve enjoyed the social aspect of being in an office. I’ve even enjoyed dressing up a bit more than I would usually (which is probably VERY strange for those who really know me). I’ll also admit, I’m really looking forward to a steady paycheck!!

As for the bridge…it was a little scary for me. I took that bridge twice a day to and from my new job. I didn’t work that day, so I wasn’t on it. As I was watching, I was thinking, “Wow, that would suck to know someone on the bridge!” Then I realized that my brother took that bridge to pick up my nephew from daycare and return home. I called him, but didn’t get an answer so I left him a message. I hadn’t heard from him after a while, so called him again. Turns out he hadn’t even heard about it. (So thankfully they were okay!) My brother decided to take a different way home to try avoiding traffic. Still, seeing the pictures is rather surreal. I am amazed at how many people survived, and feel deeply for those who lost loved ones in the accident.

In other, happy news…I’m an aunt again!! SIL (DH’s sister) gave birth to a baby girl today at 4:12 pm. Her name is Izabella Lee. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and measured 20.5 inches. I hear she has lots of dark hair (which is quite different from their son who has blond hair). I’m so excited to meet her!

Just in case you were wondering. My long absence had much to do with a conference I attended in Indianapolis. It was the AHRD conference. Initially I wanted to go because my dad was receiving two honors: Best Text Book in HRD for 2006, and he was being inducted into the Scholar Hall of Fame (which is a HUGE deal if you’re in the industry). I was really proud, and wanted to be there for it.

Once I got there, I was so glad for many reasons. First, I was able to spend some quality time with my older brother, alone. The first night there we went to the Women’s Big 10 Basketball Tournament where the MN Gophers were playing. It was just the two of us. I can’t tell you the last time my brother and I spent time alone where work wasn’t involved. It made me realize how much I miss him, and how sad I am that our families are not close. (He barely knows my kids, and I barely know his. Yet, we only live 2 miles from each other.) I’ve decided that I don’t want to continue this way. I’m going to try getting together with him next week to talk about it, and see if we can’t find a way to bridge the gap between us.

I also had forgotten how wonderful it felt to have my mind challenged. The company my brother, dad, and I own is an HRD consulting company. The concepts, ideas, thoughts are not new to me, but I did have a chance to attend some sessions where I just didn’t agree with the presenters. I was so excited to feel a part of something bigger again. I don’t think I’ve really felt that way since Sophia was born. I’ve already agreed to write at least one paper for next year, and present it. I can’t wait! (And, the conference is in Panama City, FL next year! Yay!)

My mom and I shared a room while my dad and brother shared a room. This gave me yet another great chance to spend some alone/one-on-one time with my mom. No kids, no spouses, no interruptions. We did some shopping, ate together, and just sat in our room talking. It was really nice.

And the initial reason I went: to see my dad receive his awards. It was really touching. I’ll admit, I almost cried when the presenters were talking about him and what he had done to be honored. My dad is one of the biggest names in the HRD field. People think of him almost as if he is a God in the field. (Which, as a daughter, seems hard for me to imagine, but…) It was so awesome to hear all these great things he has done for others, for the field, for his family, and for himself. I was so, so proud to be his daughter. I was able to record the presentation, so I can share it with the rest of the family that couldn’t be there.

So, I am around. I will try to get back into blogging. I need to. There’s so much to say, so much I don’t want to forget.

How’s that for interesting, eh? Nothing like a title that just sucks you in with interest and suspense, eh? LOL

Seriously though, not much happening in my life right now. On the health front, I’ve completed my third day of the new diet. I’ve cheated in that I had a bite of a twix*bar (just one, small bite) and ate about 8 pieces of Life cereal. BUT, that’s all the cheating I’ve done. I have NOT had a pop (most importantly, I have not had a Mt. Dew). This means I have gone three whole days without caffeine! Woohoo!

And for the record, I’m okay with the cheating I’ve done. The point is to learn to eat better and take better care of myself. I’m kidding myself and everyone else if I think I’m going to make it through the 6 weeks without cheating. At least I didn’t eat a whole pint of ice cream! Oh, and I did workout today.

Drew is in some kind of funk lately. Every day around dinner, the kid melts down. I mean MELTS DOWN! He is fine when I pick him up from daycare, but the minute we’re in the house it begins. I think I’ve figured out that he’s starving when he gets home, which is strange because they have an afternoon snack, then they have snacks for the kids to eat on the way home. But I couldn’t figure out what else it was. So today I had yogurt waiting for him the minute he walked in. Then he ate cheese, then a whole bunch of raspberries. I think I was right; he’s been hungry! At least now I know what needs to happen.

My dad was in Saudi Arabia this past week on work. He sent an email to my brother and I tonight saying there is a lot of business for us (the company the three of us own and work for) over there! This is pretty exciting. If all goes well, and my dad retires from the U of MN, and takes the current job offer at another university, he’ll have the time needed to work on these other projects. How cool is that?! It could be good money for us, great experience for us, and I may even get to travel there!! Of course, none of this is firm, so it could never happen. We’ll see…

Told ya I didn’t have a whole lot to say!

I met today with my first “real” client! It’s not work through my dad or brother. I met with someone that wasn’t family. I’ll be producing work that some one other than family will approve. It’s all rather exciting! (Don’t get me wrong. The work from my brother and dad is paid by a client; my brother, dad, and I are partners in a company.) Even cooler? I brought up an idea and he loved it! (It won’t work for this project, but he was really excited about it and wants to use it some time.) Makes me feel pretty good.

I now have two projects to get completed in the next week and a half. I’m going to see if Drew can go to daycare on Friday so I can get more work done. (I’d also like to get the house ready to put up our Christmas tree.) And what a great month to bring in a little extra money (with the holidays and all).

Drew slept much better last night. I was so thankful. I didn’t sleep great but at least I still feel like me. He’s apparently feeling much better, too, because he was playful from the moment he woke up. It’s amazing how resilient kids are. Hopefully he’ll continue to improve. (And stay healthy. Ron and I are going to Dale’s in WI Sat. for the night. My sister and BIL are going to watch the kids for us! Yipee!)

Has my little boy gone? The one who would fall asleep in his crib without any crying. The one who would wake a couple times in the middle of the night, need a little cuddle, then go back to sleep without any crying. Because seriously, I no longer have that little boy.

The last few nights have been so awful. Perhaps even worse than the newborn days (because you expect to be tired then). Last night he woke 3 times and cried for hours. The only time he stopped was when we turned his Crib Aquarium on, or if we let him go downstairs to play. Even when I was holding him (or Ron was holding him) he cried. Scratch that. He SCREAMED. It was crazy.

So if you see my little boy, the one who doesn’t fight sleeping and cry all night, could you please send him back? Let him know I’m anxiously awaiting his return. Thanks for your help!

And now I’m heading back to bed for a quick nap before busting my butt to get work done. It never fails, I alway sleep like crap the night before I plan to do work all day. Such is life as a parent.

I get more work! Gah! This is good and bad. I’m just finishing the one project for my dad (he leaves tomorrow). My brother called today to see if I was available to do some work. I said sure. So I did some work for him in between working with my dad. I’ll be doing work for him tomorrow as well.

I’m also working on a manual and a model with my Dad for a project in Taiwan. He’s sending me the stuff tonight and wants to have a something back to him by Saturday. Ugh! I’m going to check to see if Drew can go to daycare on Friday, and if not, I’m screwed.

Again, this is a good thing, but not so good. I was hoping to have some down time to get the house back in order. It’s been a month or so since I’ve really been on top of things here. Oh well, once the paycheck comes I’ll be thankful.

And…I’m getting a new laptop! Our company (the one my dad, brother, and I own) is paying for it. So I’m getting a brand new MacBook Pro 15-inch. It’s going to be soo nice, especially compared to my current iBook (which is over 3 years old). I can’t wait to get it. (Ron is so jealous. He really wants one. But he just got a new iMac earlier this year so it’s not like he needs one.)

to being finished with my project. I’d say I’m about three-quarters of the way done. Oh I so cannot wait to be done. This project has caused all sorts of issues for me. I’ve had to find alternate daycare, I’ve neglected the house, and Ron has been less than happy about it. (He keeps telling me we agreed that I wouldn’t work full-time but that I have been and he’s not happy at the things that are not getting done because of it. *sigh*)

On the positive side, it’s bringing in a nice amount of money!

Yes, that’s right. Sophia has a lovely stomach virus of some sort. She started the whole process at 11 pm last night. We changed her bed 4 times. Then she decided to get up for the day at 5 am. Drew wasn’t far behind getting up at 5:30 am. My goodness, kids!

Drew went off to daycare and I’m home with the sick girl, though she hasn’t had any “activity” since 6 am so things are looking up. She’s playful and wants to eat. She did eat and kept it down. Guess that’s good.

What else makes this crappy? I have a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) project with a deadline of Tuesday. I’m supposed to be working on it today. I’m tired, Phia’s home, she wants to play, eat, etc. and doesn’t understand why I’m putting her in front of the TV all day. *sigh* My mom is planning to come over this afternoon for a couple hours which is better than nothing. Still, I’m a bit stressed about this whole thing.

And that’s my post for the day! Off to work on said project. Wish me luck.