My Crazy Life

Okay, I feel like I've disappeared off the face of the earth lately and I owe everyone an explanation ... and I need to clear my head of all that's going on so that I can process it!

Work: Work is crazy and good and requires the epitome of multi-tasking skills right now. I'm balancing both my old job and my new job, and will continue to do that until my replacement is hired, which will likely be August. Thank goodness I've moved offices to the quieter side of the world because sitting by the front door like I used to made for a lot of distractions! Just this week alone, I've been balancing major projects for Kmart, Target and my new Convenience and Single Serve businesses. A bit of education for all of you since you don't work in consumer goods ... there is a definitive process and thought behind how items are placed on the shelves of your stores ... and it takes a long time to figure out how to make all those items fit, while also trying to "read your minds" to determine how you would like them best shelved. For example, at a place like Kmart, what makes sense to put at eye level - Advil or Sleep products? What should be on the bottom shelf that an older customer is less likely to need? How much space does each item need in order to limit the amount of work store personnel need to do to keep the shelves stocked? Its a giant jigsaw puzzle and I've been working on multiple versions all week. Of course, Kmart wanted them done within a few days and its a week long project so you can imagine how that's gone.

Let's see what else ... oh, Target needs their category strategy presentation done by the end of May and two weeks in May I'm traveling all week. That's a 6 week project to cram into 2 weeks. I haven't even touched what's going on in the new job and for the sake of not boring you, I won't. Let's just say those few hours a day I see Brianna are more precious since I often don't see her at all until I pick her up from daycare, partly because she's decided sleeping till 8 is a better idea than waking up at 6:30 (yeah!!) and partly because getting to the office early is the only way I can get anything done!

I'm counting down the days till Justin and I leave for Cabo even more now than I was a few weeks ago! Which also means, I'm actively trying to get in shape and lose this extra weight that's creeping up on me. I've got high hopes for success so we'll see how it goes. Stress doesn't help me but I'm keeping a positive mental attitude.

The highlight of my weekend should be eating crawfish (or mudbugs as Justin calls them) with some good friends this weekend. I'll post up pictures afterwards and hopefully, that will help the grandparents get their fix since they haven't seen any in awhile. I simply haven't had time lately to carry around a camera and snap pictures of her while also trying to keep up with her!

Head Shakin' Video

Disclaimer: We don't really put whiskey in her juice just in case you're listening to what we're saying while you watch Brianna be a funny girl!

Playing at the Park

Here's a few, okay a lot, of pictures from our trip to the park with Jen and Collin today.  We played for 2.5 hours...climbing stairs in the castle maze, going down the big slide and just enjoying this beautiful day!  I just love her expressions and the delight on her face.  I took a ton of pictures, just trying to capture all her faces.

We should both sleep good tonight is all I've got to say about it!

Updates, Pictures and General Life News

Wow, its been awhile since I've posted so its time first of all for some pictures of Brianna.  She and I spent last weekend with my family for Easter and not only did she get to see Grammy and Grandpa, but also Aunt Ashley and Uncle Scott, both sets of Great-Grandparents, her Great-Aunt Franna and my cousin Justin and his wife, Pam.  It was a full house on Saturday and as is her usual style, my mom cooked up a feast of goodies for everyone.  Brianna wasn't the only one taking a nap after lunch, that's for sure!

Let's see, what else has she been up to.  She learned the Baby Sign for "moon" this week at bedtime and now picks out the moon in all her books.  She's starting to learn about animals so I'm working to teach her "giraffe" and "elephant" since those two are pretty distinctive and are both in the book we read at bedtime every night.  If I knew what kind of sign to do for monkey, I'd add that to the list.  I guess the whole scratching under the arm ape kind of thing would work but not sure yet about that one.

On a less positive note, she's decided on occasion that hitting (better termed swiping since its not hard enough to be an actual hit) is a good way to express her displeasure at me when I either take something away or make her do something she doesn't want to, like get in her car seat.  A stern no isn't getting me anywhere very quickly so I've started ignoring it or walking away from her when she does it and we're at home.  Forcing her to be separated from me as a result of any bad behavior, even if its just by 6 inches, seems to drive the point home that she did something she's not supposed to.  I have a feeling she's headed toward that temper tantrum stage real quick and the wonderful concept of "time out" is right around the corner.

Helping Mommy "do laundry"

Sometimes, when things have to get done and you're home alone, you get creative on how to keep watch of the kids at the same time.  So, Brianna got to ride around on the laundry basket before we took it to the laundry room, where she helped me unload it, sort it and put clothes in the washer.

Pretty Flowers!

Easter 2010

New Bracelets.  I think she's going to have a thing for jewelry, much like all the rest of the women in the family!  These are part of the lids to a mason canning jar she found in Grammy's cabinet and immediately put on her wrists as bracelets.

Aunt Ashley celebrating 29.  Isn't she gorgeous?  Next year, its on to her 30's!  Oh, and that delicious looking dessert is my mom's Banana Split Cake.  It tastes fantastic!

Looking a little confused, but adorable, in her Easter dress and jewelry, courtesy of The Jones'

The scrape on her nose is from taking a nose dive on the porch Friday afternoon.  My parents have a handicap ramp for my grandparents and Brianna loved walking up the ramp, then down the porch steps.  She got a little ahead of herself and fell though.  Thankfully, the scab was gone by Tuesday and you can't tell it even happened now.

In general family news, Justin and I both are off on new adventures in our careers.  I accepted a position with Bayer as Market Manager for our Convenience and Single Serve businesses this past Monday and have already started transitioning.  That's the smallest of the sales position within our office so good training ground.  Its around $13 million in annual volume so no small chunk, but in relation to say, Target, where I am now, its a big change.  I'll be pulling double duty until my position is filled so its going to be hectic for the next few months.

Justin's launch into self-employment / franchise ownership is off to a great start.  Although we're still figuring it all out, we're up and running with LawnLab and have a little over 30 customers already.  More keep coming in almost every day so before too long, we'll be able to flip it into a full franchise.  Its nice to see him having such success with this and he seems much happier to be working for himself instead of someone else.

I think that's it for now.  Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!