Thursday Highlights - December 13, 2007

Overslept a little so had to sacrafice shaving my legs to the cause...I love winter and the thick opaque tights that go with it! I swear I could go 2 weeks without shaving before the forest would eventually break through these tights. Yesterday at daycare their "sensory exploration" time was hair gel, so a morning shower was definitely a must for Langston. He is hilarious in the shower with Jeff - he totally loves it. I hear him in there just whooping and giggling...he loves putting his hands in and out of the spray. And then it's very fun to wrap him up in a big fluffy towel and take him back to the changing table for the big dry-off. He especially loves when we towel off his hair. I don't know why...strange kid, I guess. Sigh.

The past few weeks have just held daily clothing crises. I hate everything I own, I don't know why I bought any of it, it's all wrong, I'm too fat. It's just exhausting to try to put something together from what lurks in my closet. I keep reshuffling the clothes thinking I will come upon some gem...and I never do. I settled on an old denim skirt that never gets a negative review and my tall boots. Of course I was regretting the skirt by mid afternoon when it kept coming unzipped (!) What is with that?? I swear it's not even tight...just another reason to be in crisis.

As soon as I freed Langston from his crib (where he is warehoused while Jeff and I finish getting ready) he beelined for the living room and his Christmas carousel. His "papa" (Jeff's dad) gave him this old plug-in carousel that plays Christmas carols. He is obsessed by it. He will sit and watch it for like 15 minutes at a time. Let's just say I'm glad that he enjoys it so much, but I'm quickly tiring of its "play-list" -- I mean really, Handel's Messiah? -- on a department store toy carousel? -- isn't that reaching a bit? Anyhow, even though the living room was totally dark, he bolts in there and sits down in front of it, willing it to start turning and singing -- too funny. As I retrieved him I promised that when he got home we would play with it again.

While dropping Langston off at daycare I noticed the sign for the dreaded Christmas party. Oh really, must we? I'm so not interested in watching some Christmas program by my one-year-old's classmates. You know I love my son to death, but I don't love those other kids...and if I'm going to take an hour from work, I would prefer to just hang out with Langston. Anyhow, I did not sign up to bring treats but I did sign up to bring a book for the gift exchange. Good heavens...the kid is ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Work was pretty slow. I went out at lunch and shopped for the United Way family our department adopted. Looking at their list of requests I was struck by the simplicity of the needs. Things I take so for granted. Good grief, when I had to fill out my sheet listing my "wants" for the family gift exchange I was hard pressed to come up with anything that I wanted - let alone needed. There are so few "wants" that I've not already satsified. It was such a good reminder of how much I have to be thankful for. I had fun picking up things for the mom and daughter. Although I thought I was buying silver gift wrap and when I got back to work and started to wrap I realized I had bought clear cellophane...uh, what do you think THIS present is huh? Big mystery. Good thing someone else had bought some.

Then this afternoon I gave a presentation to a group of Steelcase salespeople about our PR strategy and resources. It's kind of fun to be on the firing line sometimes. They were hitting me with questions, questioning our tactics, looking for resources, etc. It's definitely a good exercise to be in the hot seat - I got kind of fired up over the whole thing.

And now I'm back at my desk. DesignTex sent me a pie (yum), DVS (a vendor) sent me an extremely random cd of their employees singing Christmas carols (I'm totally not joking) and a basket of homemade Christmas cookies and I found two new friends on Facebook. I love it!!

This week-end Jeff and I leave for Chicago to celebrate Jeff's birthday - which should be a total blast. We are staying at a B&B within an active monastary! Can't wait to see what that's all about.

Thursday Highlights - November 29, 2007

Well, today started bright and early at about 2 a.m. with Jeff attempting to cough up a lung. The old “dry, hacking cough” was not only frustrating Jeff – but was shaking our bed like an earthquake and keeping me from my own sweet sleep. I tried handing him a lozenge, but no dice. He finally struggled out to the living room to just sleep on the sofa. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Oh poor you…you have to leave and go to thezzzzzzzzzzz” I was filled with compassion.

Morning started again with my alarm and I hopped out of bed, eager to get to my breakfast meeting with my friend Lisa. We planned to meet at Real Food Café. All that stood between me and some steaming hot coffee and conversation was getting myself and little boy ready to go. Fairly easy for me…a little more complicated for him. But, he showed a good appetite today, wolfing down some yogurt and applesauce with a big glass of milk. He seemed to be in good spirits too….smiling and laughing and ready for the day. I felt bad as I squeezed a teaspoon of his anti-biotic into his waiting, eager, innocent mouth...it’s such a strong prescription it is wrecking havoc with his digestive system. The things I’ve seen and cleaned up and that have run down his leg are too grisly to report here. And yet, we just keep giving him more! I feel like, “Open up Langston….time for your diarrhea!” Well, I got him fed and popped back into bed so that Jeff could get him dressed and off to daycare. We felt hopeful when we heard some grunting from the crib…perhaps if it was taking a little effort to expel the package, it wouldn’t be quite so soupy…I later found out that our assumption was incorrect…Jeff confirmed that it was indeed a nasty watery mess so bad that Jeff himself ended up having to change his own shirt!

Well, after a lovely pecan and cherry pancake and aforementioned steaming coffee and lovely conversation, I headed into work.

Once at work I was just on fire! I was a cleaning machine! I decided to clean out my workstation and files. Basically, this just means tossing into the trash all the things I thought someone might want from me at some point…I realized that I typically immediately throw away materials that hordes of people want the very next day and keep materials that no one ever wants to see again. Sigh. But, it’s clean, clean, clean!

I even found a very special storage location for my award for completing the company’s “mission critical leadership curriculum.” At a “special ceremony” at my desk (the day before Thanksgiving, 2 co-workers present and jeering) my boss presented me with this precious memento commemorating my program completion. I was able to choose my gift and all were amazed that I chose the ginormous calculator/clock/calendar combo with the huge Steelcase logo. Oh, and it’s missing one of the rubber feet, so it also wobbles. And beeps with every button you push. What they didn’t see were the 2 other lovely items I could have chosen….a lapel pin (for those of you attending the Rotary Club in 1978) and a clock/business card holder combo for my desktop. Because people are constantly wandering up to my desk looking for the time and/or my business card. It really was the least of the evils. My one co-worker, who has 2 classes yet to go before “graduation”, said that the gift selection had actually demotivated him to complete the program.

Then I broke down and bought a 20 ounce diet Coke for a meeting. Can you believe that thing was $1.50!!! I hate the man.

Lunch was chili at the Learning Center. Yum yum. I also had a chocolate chip brownie. OK, so I was weak! It just looked so good sitting there…and I had a free meal card so I didn’t even have to pay for it…the man owed me one for the diet Coke.

After lunch I cruised over to Employee Sales to pick up my 2 chairs (for me) and desk (for my sister). It was blissful to just pop the seats out of the mini-van and glory in all the open space. This would be one time in the 7 years that I have been stuffing items into cars that Paul, the Employee Sales merchandise loader, would not repeat, “That’s NEVER gonna fit in there!” over and over (while I forced it all in anyway). And Paul didn’t say it wasn’t gonna fit. And it all did.

Meeting…blah blah blah…gale force winds at the CDC….drive back to HQ….blah blah blah…one more call…and now it’s 4:51! Gotta love that.

Tuesday Highlights, November 13, 2007

Since I have a few minutes I figured I would catch up on my highlights. OK, they’re not Thursday highlights – but I can’t vouch for what Thursday or Friday is going to look like…or, for that matter, even today…which is why it’s Tuesday highlights. Bear with me here….I’m sitting in the Santa Monica showroom biding my time until my PR presentation to the West Coast sales team at 4:00. It’s presently 11:15. Hence, the available time to contemplate highlights.

Tuesday morning started off crazy. Jeff had taken his car into Honda the previous night because of some kind of gripping or clutching…and not in a good way. So, we had one car between all of us which meant we all had to be ready to leave at the same time…and a little bit early to compensate for all the ferrying around. I got up early enough to pack my back for California and get myself ready. Although, I would find out later that I apparently did not have enough time to pack my toothbrush…for the second trip in a row! What is wrong with me? Why so forgetful of my teeth? Anyhow, Jeff was a gamer and got little boy all dressed and ready to go. He also sprayed down the boy’s bed-head hair and slicked it down. Which looked hilarious…sort of like a Swedish Alfalfa…but I digress. Even though I had plenty of time to pack, get ready myself, forget my toothbrush, and smooch Langston, I still found myself running around like a maniac and leaving the house later than planned. That seems to always be the case.

Anyhow, as we drove down the road I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses (I would say “also” forgotten, but I wouldn’t find out until later that night about the toothbrush thing, so for now, it was just one known lapse of memory) and had to squint in agony at the sun directly in my face. How does the sun know how to always be just below the rear view mirror and completely out of the reach of the flip down shade? It’s just maddening.

Langston was given this “American Idol” hot pink microphone that plays an extremely appealing (sarcasm my friend) 2 measures of “funk” that loops when you press the button. Langston is in love with this item. His face literally beams with joy when it is handed to him. And believe me, you will get tired of the funky rhythms far, far sooner than he will tire of pushing that button. Anyhow, we hadn’t noticed but it had gotten pretty quiet back there. Jeff turned to look and cracked up…apparently the microphone is also a sucker! The little darling had figured out how to take off the top and was greedily scarfing down some kind of deadly strawberry sucker that was who knows how old. Nice. Joy turned to sorrow as it was promptly taken away. How could we be so cruel?

But, when I dropped Jeff off at work he ran inside and taped it all up and returned it to literal squeals of unbridled joy. Sometimes being a parent you get the privilege of making another human being so happy – really unable to contain their pleasure. I don’t get that feeling too much in my other roles.

Anyhow, after dropping Jeff at work and Langston at daycare (he’s now in the toddler room – how did that happen?) I made it into work.

I knew there would be a bit of a firestorm awaiting me. It was the day of the Diversity Forum at work. This is an internal meeting for leaders to inspire them to action around diverse issues and inclusion. Let’s just say that a lot of things had been put off to the last minute on this and the whole team was really starting to feel the pressure. I had a thin line of sweat already at my hairline and I was just walking in the door. We had to do a technical run-through with the technical team…then a full walk-through with the presenters…then make sure the stage was set correctly and we had all the mikes we would need…and get the registration tables set up (I’ve never seen such heinously ugly name tags – just all CAP names on a ginormous white sticker…blech) including name tags, books that were being given out, magazines that were also being handed out, and the event booklet. And that booklet was the source of my angst.

The agenda, speaker bios, last year’s updates, etc. were all to be provided attendees in this super cool attendee booklet. Remember the old “last minute” thing – well, we still didn’t have the booklets. After the 5th person came and asked me if the booklets had arrived and after the 3rd time that one person in particular had asked, I just about lost my grip! Auugghhh! Where are those stupid books??? After my third call to the design firm who had created the books I got a firm drop-off time of 12:30…and the event was due to begin at 1:00. Gulp.

Well, of course the booklets arrived, of course the sound and technology went fine, of course the box lunches were in the room for the speakers as planned, of course the program got started late, and with all crises averted I was able to head off for the airport.

The plane out from Grand Rapids was brand new! It was so nice…I was in the exit row and almost had TOO much legroom!! I could barely reach my bag. But I was not complaining.

Arrived in Minneapolis and walked about 14 miles to the next gate, bought a bag of pita chips and had a pretty easy time of it to L.A. But I always forget how pickin long it takes to get there. The flight from Minneapolis was almost 4 hours and it felt like every minute of it. Probably especially for my row-mates when I started chomping on those chips.

Got a cab pretty easily to the hotel and $50 later I was checking into the Huntley. What a beautiful hotel. And I felt like I fit right in wearing my yoga pants and sweatshirt…they probably thought I was a celebrity on the down-low. I get that a lot. While I was checking in I think I may have had a celebrity sighting. But it is unconfirmed because I couldn’t recognize anyone. All I know is that a little gaggle of about 5 impossibly thin, ridiculously blond, fantastically sparkly and mini-skirted young chicks came in the back way, with some paparazzi in tow, and headed straight for a special elevator. While I gawked, the desk clerk tried to ask me a couple of pertinent questions…after saying “huh?” distractedly twice as I tried to identify a famous person, he was kind of like, “listen up, sweatshirt, I don’t have the time for this…put the binoculars away and deal.”

Then I indulged in a very rare treat…since it was almost nine at this point I went ahead and just ordered room service. There’s really nothing more wonderful than noshing on a chicken sandwich, sitting on a down comforter-covered bed while wearing your pajamas, as ocean breezes blow in through the open window, and you watch Bones on TV. It was quite spectacular.

After some fruitless web surfing and finishing the puffy-shirt episode of Senfeld, I pulled the covers up and went to sleep – realizing that I would likely be waking up again before dawn. Which I did.

Thursday Highlights - November 1, 2007 edition

Well, I wish that I had a better day to share my stories…if I had my act together earlier I could have talked about my family vacation to Disneyworld (I don’t think that I would recommend a big trip to Disney as the ideal family vacation with a 1 year old) or my exciting adventure in New York City (launching our new product, the Walkstation, on national TV on Good Morning America)…even my crazy drive home from Chicago at 2:30 in the morning (got home at 6:30) would have been more engaging than the report of today’s activities you are about to read…but I press on regardless.

I do have to back up just a little bit to last night. I had just gotten home from Trick-or-Treating with Langston (who was a huge big sport even though he was baking like a potato in his very well-insulated costume and kept getting wedged into his car seat as we drove from stop to stop) and after tucking him in bed I decided to call my parents and give them an update. Well, I was super cold for some reason – so I changed into my comfy clothes and started the call…well, I added an afghan…and then my fuzzy sox…and then another blanket…and I was still just one massive goose bump. When I started physically shaking and chattering I rung off. I called to Jeff who brought me a heating pad cranked up to “high” and yet I still could not get warm. This, of course, is very unlike me who finds a way to work up a sweat in the dead of winter. But, anyway…I went right to be with a fever of 101.5 under about 8” of blankets.

Now it’s this morning. The phone ringing actually woke me up. It was 9:15 and my boss was asking if I was going to make it to our 9:30 meeting. Oops. Still pretty achy – definitely sweaty -- not ready for work at all. I took my time getting ready…pausing to pop into the USA Network Law & Order: Criminal Intent marathon and watch the last 30 minutes of an episode. I only ever watch that show in re-runs, but it gets me every time! With my hair almost dry I called my friend Tina for lunch. Her birthday was yesterday and it had been forever since we talked.

So, our favorite place, the Red Geranium at 11:30 it was. It seemed a serendipitous choice when I saw that their special of the day was tomato soup…um, add a half grilled cheese to that and I’m in heaven! I wish that I had my full appetite back to really enjoy it…but, it was pretty tasty nonetheless. I also love stopping in at the Red Geranium because they have the Advance community newspaper there and I love the crossword puzzles in that paper, so I took the opportunity to snag one for later.

While there, our waitress gave me a catalog for some gourmet food party thing she “hosts” – is that really a legit thing to do when you are waitressing somewhere? I don’t know. I left the catalog on the table. Jeesh.

Then back at work where I tried to catch up on some things for our Diversity Forum, sending out emails to a bunch of people asking if they’d be willing to be voice-over talent for a part of the presentation and got many “witty” replies…including a guy who wonders if he can do his in the voice of Howard Cosell…everybody’s a comedian.

And fever or no (I’m not sure if I still have one) I am ROASTING!!! Shirt sticking to me…hands sweating…internal oven throwing out flames…I think I’ll go home early.

Well, I’m off to pick up my stuff at the dry cleaners (I had a coupon that expired yesterday so I made a mad dash to the 24-hour martinizing place to make use of my $5 off before it was too late) and then home to toss Jeff’s meatloaf in the oven. For some reason he felt compelled last night to make a meatloaf for dinner tonight. When contemplating a meal choice to whip together I can’t say that meatloaf is the first thing I’d think of…but, whatever floats your boat. I also think it shows that I did not truly have the flu because if you can make it through the smell of frying onions and not barf, you must not be sick.

Finally, the day will wrap up with a Bible study at our house tonight. It is my turn to lead and this group is about to be wowed with insights into John 2. Woo hoo!

Monday Highlights, Kind of, October 15, 2007

Well, it has been one of those weeks…weeks where all of a sudden it’s Saturday and I remember it didn’t even cross my mind on Thursday to send out some highlights. It’s been one of those weeks where I look around my house in quiet despair, not even knowing where to begin to get things restored to some kind of order. I settled for asking Jeff to please, please, please take the fans that have populated our non-air conditioned home all summer, downstairs. He looked at me like, THIS is the thing you want me to do? This is the best ya got? In my current frazzled condition – yes.

It’s times like this that I think of the characteristics I see in other women and wish I possessed.

A “STYLE.” I don’t think that Tim Gunn would consider someone digging through piles at Goodwill and Value City…or, if it’s a really special occasion, Marshall’s, really pursuing “style.” Neither do I. Every season I think, this is it…this is the season that I get my act together and finally develop a wardrobe that adheres to some rule of fashion. As opposed to the one rule I am currently following – cheap. Well, I’ve taken a big first step: I have gone through my closets and given away 3 giant garbage bags full of clothes to Good will (a certain kind of “circle of life” don’t you think?) and now have not much more than empty hangers clanging around in my closet. So, first step done…next step means budgeting some money to refill it…and then, the critical step, not immediately repopulating the closet with crap. That’s the part where I always seem to drop the ball. POSSIBILITY OF ATTAINING: 65%

THE FEMININE ARTS. I have a friend who cans. I have a sister-in-law who cans. I have a mother-in-law who cans. I don’t can. I have never canned. I think I once made freezer jam, but that was like at least a decade ago. What could be a better example of providing beautiful things for my family than lovingly canning delicious foods? I can just picture the scenario…fall leaves blowing past the window…a fire crackling in the fireplace…a pot roast in the oven…and I say, “Hey honey, would you hop downstairs to the cellar (of course it couldn’t be a basement) and grab a jar of applesauce?” I feel like I may be further from accomplishing this than the wardrobe thing. I mean, it’s a struggle for me to get the casserole (um…not even a pot roast) in the oven instead of stopping for take-out on the way home. I feel I’m doomed to failure in this and it’s best to commit it to fantasy. But, whenever I hear these women talking about their canned goods, I still dare to dream. POSSIBILITY OF ATTAINING: 1%

MANICURED NAILS. My hands are a national tragedy. Constantly either all cut up or in some state of healing, my hands are not the hands of a pampered office worker. I mean, how do I do it? It’s not like I’m a farmer…but my hands look like I am. I don’t have beautifully trimmed, shaped and polished nails. I have hangnails and unpolished nails and a frightening amount of hair that grows on my knuckles. Surely I could do better. I’m not even hoping for some kind of acrylic set up that is always perfectly polished…all I want is some decent shape and to stop biting my hang-nails. You’d think I was 12 years old. POSSIBILITY OF ATTAINING: 50%

“I MADE IT MYSELF!” Oh man…the accomplished seamstress or cook or scrapbooker or quilter or woodworker just brings me down. I love looking through those “how to” books and in my fantasy life I can do ALL of these things. I love to receive them. Sometimes I even half-heartedly try to do these things…and sometimes I even have limited success. But, it seems like when it comes down to a competition between watching Survivor or learning to quilt, Survivor always wins. I could try to come up with all kinds of excuses…but, at the end of the day I have come to the conclusion that I may be missing the obvious…I’m just kind of lazy! Well…if wishes were changes…you know the rest. I must get more focused! It’s ridiculous! Just wait til this winter…I swear I’m busting out my knitting needles…just you wait! And, my sewing machine is still all set up downstairs just waiting for me to stitch up some pillows…or that torn apron I swore I’d fix a year ago…or, well…you know. POSSIBILITY OF ATTAINING: 75%

Monday's Highlights on Thursday - October 4, 2007

Well, today was actually kind of boring. The kind of day where I ate my lunch in my car with the windows down while reading a decorating magazine (a whole magazine on storage…really, what could be more inspiring) and listening to the Jim Rome Show on the radio.

So, I’d hate to serve up the bland dish that was today when a steaming serving of activity it sitting back there on Monday. So, here are Monday’s highlights on Thursday.

I got a call on Friday afternoon that the CEO would like me to go with him to Indianapolis because he was “nervous” about being interviewed by INdiana Business Today. See, he’s going to Indy to help our oldest dealer celebrate their 85th anniversary in business and in partnership with us. I can see why this would be terrifying. When I think of all the heads of state, celebrities, and glitterati that Gerry Dick (host of INdiana Business Today) has interviewed, I can see why my boss would be apprehensive. It sounded like a really good use of my day. Of course I agreed to go.

We all met at the jet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday and upon touching down in Indy headed to the zoo (really), where the dealership’s employee celebration was taking place (in the dolphin house….really). So, with lots of water but no dolphins in sight I settled in for some weak coffee and shellacked pastry (really, this dealership owner makes millions – he couldn’t spring for some better grub?) and listened to the parade of speeches and the presentation from the zoo director and then the CEO provided his “colorful” remarks. Then the big employee drawing! What was on the line? Airline tickets? Electronics? Gift Cards? Um…no…Zoo tickets!!! Woo and Hoo!!! I mean, I like a good zoo as much as the next person but again, could they come up with nothing better?

Then I hop into the car with the CEO and the dealer owner to head to the dealership for the big interview. Sitting in the back seat while the men talked and, understandably, ignored me, I felt like I was on a business trip with my dad. I guess I’ll always feel like I’m 12 years old in these kinds of situations. We arrive at the dealership and as we walk in the door I’m assaulted by waves of cologne…not hideous cologne…but aggressive nonetheless. Who is the drenchee?? None other than Gerry Dick!! Live and in person!! Oh my. Cologne AND a golden tan. Love it. Hand shaking, back slapping, mutual admiration, and game faces ensue. After a 15 minute interview that is so softball the interviewer is actually throwing underhand (it’s a good thing I was there to help out in this stressful situation), Jim and everyone else leaves for the rest of the day’s activities. Except, see, I don’t have any other activities. It is 10:45 a.m. and all my activities are done. Of course I have piles of activities back at the office that are begging for completion. But here in Indy, I got nuthin. Oh, and since it’s the big 85th, they gave the employees the day off, so it’s a totally empty dealership.

Is it downtown where I can maybe walk around or find a coffee shop? Or even near a strip mall for a bagel or something? Um…not so much. It’s in an industrial park…by the highway.

The first 15 minutes just flew by.

The next 300…not so much.

The business owner and his wife (wife #3…the former receptionist, now VP of Marketing…but, whatever) were kind enough to take me out to lunch. However, at this lunch I was informed that “nobody cares about the environment – it’s just a bunch of hooey…really, it’s all just the flavor of the week…why do they keep pushing the environment?” And then he several times identified people as “minorities” – as in, “you know who I mean…Brian…the minority.” Oh my.

Later in the day I took a scenic stroll around the industrial park…oh, those distribution centers are certainly lovely…and check out the loading dock on THAT building! That just takes the cake! Oh, I just love interacting with nature as I’m serenaded by the hum of the expressway.

At 5:00 the cocktail party celebration for customers began. Realizing I would have absolutely NO ONE to talk to at this thing I hid in the empty conference room until 5:30. I just didn’t know how long I could survive as the wall flower. At 5:30 I came out and took a little shrimp cocktail. So beautifully presented. A little bowl with one giant shrimp skewered on a fork, gently nestled in a dollop of cocktail sauce. So elegant...so charming…and, with the help of that fork, so easy to eat! Right? Um…not so much. I took one bite and couldn’t quite bite through it…and couldn’t get it off the fork…and then it flopped off the fork and dangled from my mouth as I tried to break it off, and I tried to hold onto the little bowl, and the fork, and with the other hand pull off the shrimp…it was a powerful way to start the party. I think it really established me as a playa. People looked at me and were totally impressed.

Small talk, small talk, small talk…toasts aplenty…the CEO got up to speak again…and Gerry Dick joined the group on-stage to present some general thoughts on Indiana business (which he read off a card…tsk tsk)..and then, at 7:00…back to Grand Rapids. I watched a show I had downloaded to my iPod while the power brokers broked around me on the plane…and finally was back at home.

Thursday Highlights - September 20, 2007

Well, as I sit here looking out the window at a perfectly perfect Michigan September afternoon I have to admit I’m having trouble concentrating on the task at hand. Or any task. What I really wish I was concentrating on was a book, as I sat outside in the warm – but not hot – sunshine, sipping the season’s last lemonade.

Boo.

I hate this desk job.

Today I actually woke up basically ready to face the day. The windows were open, so the air was just the tiniest bit chilly, but refreshing. The hardest part was really that it was so dark – the worst part of fall.

I would like to say that I was highly motivated by my work for the day, the opportunity to contribute to helping Steelcase be the most powerful contract furniture brand in the world, or even the chance to be a loving example to the most adorable baby boy in the world. But no. What got me to throw back the covers and hop in the shower was the prospect of a morning meeting at the Learning Center where I could get free coffee…and that someone on our team is celebrating a birthday, so there would also be free breakfast snacks. That’s a little pathetic. But hey, it worked.

Langston was playing coy and just kind of looked at me when I went to pick him up out of his crib. He was all…yeah, I’m awake, but don’t expect me to cheer for you. I got some extra delicious snuggles in before stripping him down for his shower.

He’s taken to rubbing his hands in his hair as he’s eating. That meant that last night’s cantaloupe and avocado had given him some nice matted sections to his hair. Into the shower with Jeff he goes! He actually doesn’t mind this too much – except for the part where he goes under the spray to rinse out the shampoo. But oh my word, when I grab him out of the shower with a big, fluffy towel he is irresistible. I just can’t stop myself from pinching those adorable buns and smooching the bottoms of his pink feet.

After dressing him and feeding him and throwing him back in his crib so I could finish getting ready, I turned on the Mary Poppins soundtrack. Since we play music for him at night when we put him to bed, I purposely turn on his “morning music” loud, keep the light blaring, and try for something more danceable, so as not to confuse his “cues.” Man, I should write a book or something. It’s this kind of thoughtful parenting that is making Langston the well-adjusted child he’s become! Anyhow, whatever I play for him in the morning will be in my head for the rest of the day. So, all day I’ve been hearing “spoonful of sugar” in my head.

Work started with an intro to Second Life. Steelcase has a “store” there and one of the guys who works on this gave us an intro to not only Steelcase’s store, but the concepts behind Second Life. OK, that is whack. The fact that millions of real dollars are being spent in this “virtual life” is just crazy! But, it was pretty interesting to hear about – even if I do still wonder why we care if a bunch of freaky virtual lifer’s learn about Steelcase. But, then again, I’m old.

Mmmmm. The French Roast coffee was so good. So was the coffee cake at the birthday party. Yum, yum.

I went back to my desk to log onto the earnings conference call only to remember that I had organized a conference call of my own for the same time. OK, I’m officially a moron. Fortunately, everyone else was late, so it seemed like everything was planned. Jeesh, get it together, Hill.

Lunch was the weekly order of chili…sitting in the sun…thinking that I should have maybe just gone home and started dinner. I’m not very good at providing good, healthy meals for my family. Pretty much, the dinners have been feeble.

I went through phase of cooking crock-pot meals in an attempt to not only make a good home-cooked meal, but also to not have to come home from work and cook an entire meal. That resulted in several week’s of meals with very similar scorched, mushy, unappealing results. So, I gave up on that.

Discouragement led to many take-out meals, turkey sandwiches, jars of spaghetti sauce, and frozen pot-pies.

But I’m back, folks – with fresh enthusiasm and a new plan. I went on the Southern Living “freezables” recipe site and printed off like 10 that looked good. I figure that if every other week I make 4 meals…and eat only about 1/3 of each meal at a time and freeze the rest, then I’ve cooked 4 meals and got 12 for my efforts!!! Pure genius, I tell you. In just a few week’s time the freezer will be packed with nutritious, delicious meals!! So…last night I made a big pan of macaroni and cheese and tonight I am planning to get home and make some meatloaf. I can’t guarantee that I will be able to maintain this energy level – but, like I said, this could be the key to one week of work yielding three weeks of meals. We’ll see.

Since it’s so beautiful out I am also hoping for a long walk with baby and husband. This time of year I feel like we can’t waste even one nice day.

PS - it's my wedding anniversary on the 23rd -- so the photos are in honor of the blessed event!

Thursday Highlights - September 13, 2007

Well, I’m back in the office after my 4 day trip to Boston. I have to go to a professional development conference/seminar each year and in the past I have pretty much stuck to ones that focused on communications. This year I decided to do something different and go to a class on investor relations. Since I support that department I thought it might be helpful to learn a little bit more about the subject – or at least get to know the vernacular enough to fake it better in meetings.

If you’re anything like me, when I’m at off-site classes, I am certainly not dressing up for the occasion. Hey, I don’t know any of these people, I don’t work for them or with them, we will likely never see each other again – who am I trying to impress? Um…not so much with the finance types! Out of the 120 or so attendees, at least 80% of the men were in full suits…I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve been around a bunch of men in business suits – as you know, the man’s wardrobe here in GR consists almost entirely of different colors of khaki pants (the rainbow of colors that lie between “desert stone” and “nutmeg.”) paired with short or long-sleeved golf shirts. It was actually kind of cool and I found myself enjoying the care they took with this more formal approach, that indicated a respect they must have for themselves, their work, and those around them. I was kind of digging it.

But then, just as I’d settled my black cropped pants-clad behind into the ballroom chair and pressed my knit shirt against its back I took a look at the women! I would say that 95% (the percentage of the total women in attendance minus me) of them were dressed to the NINES! Pencil skirts in muted tones drew the eye down toward what had to be $300 shoes with ice-pick thin spike heels. Their clear polished nails nonchalantly toyed with strands of pearls or thick gold ropes. Tailored blouses were perfectly tucked in over flat stomachs. Smooth, conservative hair styles framed powdered, unblotched skin.

Let’s just say that I was not only the most casually dressed person there (even the wait-staff wore formal uniforms) but I was definitely among the most full-figured. Frump-o-rama in both attire and physique. Boo!!! I hated those women who are not only named Barbara and Lynn and Elizabeth and Carolyn but work out for 3 hours after nibbling on a dressing-free salad…this was definitely not my crowd.

I immediately hated and regretted every item of clothes I brought with me, wondered when I last even cracked open a package of pantyhose (I think it was in 2004 for a wedding), realized I had a hand full of hang-nails and that I could no longer breathe from sucking in my gut so hard. I also took off my name-tag as I didn’t really want anyone to know exactly who I was or where I was from.

I knew I hated numbers…why did I have to go to this seminar and discover even more reasons to hate them?

Oh well. Inner poise…confidence that comes from within…this would be my mantra for the next three days. That, and a refusal to make eye contact.

At least I had Jeff. He found all kinds of great places to explore in the evening and, in total Jeff style, we took subways, busses, hiked, all over town to get there. Among other things we ate “the best cheeseburgers in the world” in Harvard Square, souvlacki on Newbury Street, and Cuban sandwiches in Jamaica Plain. We also did a little shopping, took a tour of the Samuel Adams brewery (I’m not a beer drinker but it was kind of interesting to learn how it’s made), and watched the Cubs baseball game. He also kept me from taking things too seriously (No, you’re not a frump! No, you shouldn’t throw all these clothes away…Yes, finance people DO stink…really).

For some reason we got on the topic of “red eye” in photographs and I told him that I’ve never “red eyed” – that my eyes are just too dark – that it just has never happened. Of course he didn’t believe me and spent the whole trip trying to catch me off guard and get a picture of me with red eyes. Not only did this produce a number of wildly unattractive photos (which isn’t helping the old self-esteem, buddy) but it also meant that I saw a lot of Boston’s sites through the veil of flash-bulb after-effect (thanks, Holquist). And, I’m happy to say – he was never able to do it. He was beyond perplexed – I finally just confessed that I am, in fact, an alien and that finally explained the mystery.

Also, every time we left or returned to the hotel we had to greet/say good-bye to Catie, the hotel dog. She was a beautiful black lab, I have to admit, and sweet as could be. The hotel rescued this service dog that developed cataracts. You can take her for walks…play with her…it was actually very cute. Jeff is such a sucker for a pet.

And we had really good luck coming home. We got bumped onto an earlier flight to Chicago – and bumped into exit row seats (which on United you usually have to pay for but provide leg-room extreme!) and we also got moved to Economy-Plus (the plus is for legroom, baby) seats on the Chicago flight to Grand Rapids. I can’t really complain.

Things I learned at my seminar:

1- where the New York stock exchange is (11 Wall Street)
2-that PR people are “jealous” of IR people (PU-LEEZE! As if…)
3-that NASDAQ is totally virtual, with no trading floor at all
4-what an 8K, 10Q, 10K and proxy are
5-the importance of transparency, disclosure, compliance
6-the meaning of “buy side”, “sell side”, “ask”, “take” and “shorting”

..totally worth it, huh?

And, things I learned about Boston:

1-they love their rain boots. I can honestly say that in all my fall/springs in Michigan I’ve seen maybe two people, total, sporting the rain boot. There, it was literally every other woman! Every time I pointed it out Jeff would say, “But it’s raining!” and I would then have to say, “But it rains in Michigan and no one wears them there!” -- Riveting conversation, eh? Anyhow, I actually think they’re pretty cute and would try to start a fashion trend here in GR except I’m afraid they would be one more thing that would painfully grip my calves in an unattractive way.

2-their subway system is the oldest in the nation and I am not at all surprised. I felt like I was riding a gutted underground city bus…it lurched and squeaked and moaned and shuddered and bounced from side to side in these super narrow tunnels…I pretty much just had to close my eyes and pray for the best. Although it didn’t help when Jeff added, “and they have the most accidents as well…debris falling from the ceiling, hitting the sides of the tunnel or other trains…” Again, not surprised…and thanks, Jeff.

3-there were just tons and tons of people of Asian descent. I couldn’t really tell if they were Asian or Asian-American - just that there were so many of that ethnicity. I was really surprised – I just hadn’t realized that Boston was such a hub for Asians. Interesting.

And now, I’m back at work and happy to return to routine and, particularly, the most adorable little boy in West Michigan. I love the smell of him, the sound of him, the sight of him, the touch of him…oh, it’s good to be home!

No Highlights....None at All...September 6, 2007

I have to confess that there is NOTHING to report today. Literally nothing has happened. I could talk about the excitement of my foot falling asleep so I moved it. I could mention that I'm on my second Rubbermaid jug of water of the day. Would you be curious to note that I received and reviewed the agenda for my investor relations seminar next week? How about the fact that I changed two pictures of Langston I keep on my desk? Cause that's all I've got. Oh, and I had a bowl of chili for lunch. Um...yeah...that's really.

So, I was surfing the website of a band I like and they had these very cute little bios for each band member. I decided to copy their format and fill it in for Jeff. I mean, I'm always talking about me and Langston...but what of this mystery man I married? So...here it is...a little insight into the man I love:

BACKGROUND: A South-East GR boy by birth and pleasure, Jeff grew up the oldest of two. After challenging the sanity of the teachers at the area Christian school district, he moved on to provoke the professors at Calvin. Four years of elaborate pranks with Mardi quickly passed and he wound up at RBC Ministries, where he has remained for fifteen years. Many fix ups followed. His mother despaired. His sister donated to Goodwill all the baby clothes she was saving for a niece or nephew. Then, out of nowhere he heeded Mike’s advice and “made a move” on his friend Jeanine. The tortoise became a hare and within a year he was married and expecting a baby. Now he spends his evenings playing with his son, surfing the web, watching the TiVo, walking with his wife, and wondering what he ever did before :)
NICKNAME(s): Jeffrey, Jeffrey Lee, J-Lee, Holquist, J-Ho
EDUCATION: Degree in poly sci from Calvin College…a future county water commissioner perhaps??
ATTRIBUTES: Good cook. Family man. Determined. Funny. Home tech expert. Loyal friend.
PUNCTUALITY: His hair may still be wet and his shoes untied but he’s technically on time.
SAMPLE QUOTE: “Little boy, little boy, little boy…” often spoken to his son Langston to, depending on tone, express love, slight frustration, or a warning. “Shelly Belt, Shelly Belt!”…when you need to shut up or book it out of there.
FINEST MOMENT: Less than a year after he met her, my grandma died. The circumstances surrounding the time he knew her made it all the more shocking when he was the one, out of all of us, who cried at her funeral.
MOST LIKELY TO: Keep something. Correct your mispronunciation. Snicker at what he’s reading. Stop for a diet Coke. Turn on the sprinklers. Defend all things Apple. Sleep through anything. Consult Zagat’s. Make it from scratch. Share his opinion. Turn on the air. Quote a relative. Think it through. Go to Vegas. Buy it at Costco.

Thursday Highlights - Friday Edition - August 31, 2007

Well, Thursday got away from me so I had to wait until today to contemplate yesterday.

I guess the big thing that happened was that I learned that Langston does not share my enthusiasm for bike rides. Or at least he did not share it last night.

I love a good ride around the neighborhood – I’m not militant, but when I’ve got This American Life in my ears I can’t hear my own wheezing panting (which depresses me when I do other forms of exercise)…also, I feel like a 10 year old again when I’m screaming down a hill at a million miles an hour, and have to resist the urge to really lean my head down between the handlebars to really get streamlined…and, it does give me a great opportunity to monitor the action on a variety of abandoned houses around SE Grand Rapids (oh ho, there’s a notice from the city on 1942 Plymouth….look at the height of the weeds on 321 Orville, that house must be abandoned...I see they finally posted an eviction notice on the house on Mulford…etc.) So, I had been thinking all summer of getting Langston out there with me. He enjoys walking around in the stroller so much I thought that he would REALLY get a charge out of riding along in the buggy!

So, after being donated a tow-behind buggy from a friend and buying a baby helmet and getting all the tires inflated, buggy cleaned, etc. – we were finally ready to go.

Of course nothing is as easy as it seems. I tucked Langston into the stroller while I got the whole bike contraption ready to go. I thought it would be so easy. Langston tried, unsuccessfully, to not be judgmental of my efforts as I struggled, tugged and despaired while bumbling my way through attaching the buggy to the bike. Two bikes, one wrench, one cut finger, numerous splashes of sweat, and one hammer later it appeared that we were at least equipmentally ready for action.

Langston’s confidence level seemed low as I wrangled him around into the buggy. Not really sure of which straps went where I pretty much just used all the straps available to pin him in. He was particularly unenthusiastic about the helmet. But I was not to be deterred…this was going to be fun! We were going to ride like the wind…laughter and joy were mere moments away!!

The first thing I noticed as we set out was that towing about 40 pounds does add an element of difficulty. I’ve been riding all summer…but I never had to start out in such a low gear just to get going. I was sure that it would get easier as I got used to it. Bwahahahahahahaha.

The second thing I noticed was that Langston was not, shall we say, loving it. For the first 3 blocks or so he alternated between grim endurance and wails of protest. But again, I was sure that as soon as he got used to it he would LOVE IT!!!

Yeah….as I started up the big hill at Plymouth that extra 40 pounds was really kicking in.

Yikes…am I only about a quarter of the way up? I’m dying here!!!

Oh man…I’m only half way there and I’m already in the lowest gear…the audible sound of my panting is stopping traffic.

Yay!!! Gasp…gasp…gasp….we…gasp….made…gasp….it….gasp….gasp….Lang…gasp….ston….gasp...whew…gasp.

I never realized how uneven the sidewalks are until every major break we went over made Langston bellow out in despair every time we went over one. So, for every 30 seconds of resigned silence there was another 30 seconds of loud complaint…and that doesn’t even count the piercing cries every time we stopped to cross a street. If we were moving, bump-free, then he could somehow stand it…but dare to stop or go over a bump and you’re gonna hear it, mom.

I kept looking back to see if he was OK and he was just kind of slumped…alternately crying and silently begging for mercy.

I kept thinking that he would start to like it….and that I would somehow get used to being the horse in the horse drawn carriage scenario…I kept waiting for it to become the idyllic vision of my imagination…when I realized it was just not ever going to happen I turned around and slowly headed for home.

About a mile from home Langston realized that he would have to amp up the complaints…so his irritated yowls of displeasure turned to shrieks of rage. So, imagine me sweating, beat red, muscles shaking…towing this buggy of howls…and having to pass my neighbors out for walks, children playing in their yards, families at the picnic tables eating ice cream…let’s just say they weren’t nodding and smiling in approval.

When we finally got home Langston had passed through despair and rage and was now just limp. The river of snot that had poured from his nose was now flowing all around his pacifier and into his mouth…his face was all blotchy and hot…his eyes were swollen and empty…all he could muster was the occasional “sniff…sniff………..sniff” as he noodled into my arms. I felt just terrible!!! Bad idea!!! Langston had a horrible time!!! I’m a rotten mother!!!! I tortured my child!!!!

After a glass of cold milk and some animal crackers the light started to return to his eyes. When his dad came in he gave him a grateful smile and lots of hugs and snuggles as Jeff took him to put on his PJs. He brought him out to give mom and hug and a kiss….and Langston wasn’t quite ready for that yet. He gave me a small, forgiving smile…but he wasn’t quite up to surrendering to my care at that point….his expression said, I think I’ll stay with dad right now if it’s all the same to you.

Um…maybe I’ll just take some solo bike rides for the next little bit.

Thursday Highlights - August 16, 2007

Well, today began with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday sung by Jeff and me to our little baby one year old! I can’t believe that Langston is a year old. Although, while feeding him this morning I looked at my watch and cringed remembering that a year ago at that time I was being wheeled into surgery! Eek! But, how could I have known what a super fun and wonderfully amazing little boy I would now know. Yay!

After dropping him off at daycare I sped off to In the Image. I took a volunteer opportunity to hand out free shoes to Grand Rapids public school kids this morning. It’s actually a pretty great thing that Steelcase lets its employees do – volunteer on company time. So, I worked with families of school-aged children…helping them each get a new pair of shoes for school. Every family I worked with was Hispanic and in all but one family, only the children could speak English. It was very interesting – and very fun to send off these kids with brand new shoes. Although, it was boiling hot in there and by the end of my shift I was a total sweathog. One poor elderly woman I was working with was literally dripping with sweat. It really isn’t the heat…it’s the humidity….and the heat…that place was stifling.

Which wasn’t a good thing because after the volunteer gig I was going to pick up Langston to go get his (our) picture taken for his one year birthday! Since 99% of the time I am the one taking the pictures, I am never in them…based on our photo collection any stranger would guess that Jeff is a single parent. I had this wonderful vision of these adorable pictures of Langston (his first professional shots) and then a few thrown in there of him cuddling with his dashing, sophisticated – yet approachable - mommy. So, I stopped at home to perk up. I put on a plain black ¾ length sleeved shirt and a black skirt (see “sophisticated” above)…touched up the make-up to make my eyes pop and diminish my wrinkles (What? You’re his mother? You look MUCH too young!) Then after picking out some outfits for him to wear and his new toy truck (a FAVORITE hand-me-down from his cousin Justin) and a couple of his books I headed off to Appletree to pick up the birthday boy.

After an uneventful ride over to Pure photography (http://www.purestudiophotography.com/) we were ready for our close-up! Things started out so great….I had changed him into his totally studly khaki shorts and blue checked linen shirt…he was sitting adorably in front of the backdrop…smiling, cooing, charming the sox off all of us….oh, it was all working out so well….it was just like my vision!! Then the photographer suggested getting out the truck for him to play with. Oh my word! He just lit up…he started playing with that truck and it was like he was on fire he was so excited! Then the photographer suggested a change of scene…maybe a few with mommy (oh…well….only if it’s OK with YOU!!!) and that’s when the wheels fell off the truck, so to speak. He loves the truck so much that his only passion, from that moment on, became locating and reuniting with the truck as soon as possible. He was like the Terminator…nothing could sway him from his mission. So, pretty much any time I picked him up he started writhing and screaming….and basically became Langston crazy man for the rest of the shoot. So, I now call the event Sweathog II as I chased after him, tickling, chasing, cajoling, pulling away from the lights and cords, bribing with teddy-grahams, and then starting all over again. Oh my word…I just hope that she got a decent picture or two….I particularly hope she captured the beautiful moments of me “cuddling” Langston while he squirmed and squealed…really, he does like me…really, I promise.

After loading him back up in the car seat and turning the air conditioning on full blast I started counting down the minutes to the Heath flurry I decided to reward myself with. In the all the hub-bub I forgot about lunch and by 2:00 I was cranky and starving and convinced that every picture I’d just paid an arm and a leg for would now feature a crazed lunatic child with his sweaty, flustered, nutjob mommy.

And now…I’m in the peace and quiet of work…I’ve already written to my husband to let him know that I will not be whipping up cashew chicken for him tonight…I just don’t think I’m up for it. Which shouldn’t bother him because He is very excited that the 3 foot Costco birthday cake he bought is ready for pick-up.

I stole an idea from a mall photo studio and we are going to attempt to duplicate it tonight. Get a ginormous cake decorated…dress your kid in his skivvies…plop him in front of the cake…and fire away. They’ll probably end up being cuter pictures than the ones I paid someone to take. Oh well. It should be a pretty big riot at any rate.

So, that’s the day…oh man…I can’t believe it’s already been a year!

Thursday Highlights - Friday Edition 08/10/07

By mid-day yesterday nothing had happened, really, at all. So, I couldn’t bear to write a recap. So, I decided to wait until today and see if Thursday evening picked up at all. Actually, it kind of did…

All day Thursday I was in the final day of a 3-day class at Steelcase’s learning center. It was the last class in a series of classes my boss asked me to complete. Really the only thing that kept me going was realizing it was the last class and soon I would be done, done, DONE!!! This class was called EXECUTE and it was all about leadership and coordinating and synergizing and leveraging and A3s and Gibson’s Grids and FMEAs and objectives and SIPOCs…can you see why I felt like I had nothing to write yesterday? Did I mention that I’m now done with not only the class but the series??? You can’t see me but right now I’m doing my own interpretation of Jeff’s signature “Vegas Dance” which includes a shimmy, some fist pumping, and a soundtrack of ya duh dun duh duh dah!

The class actually broke a little early so I had time to book it out to a shoe sale…buy one pair, get 2 pair FREE!!! Of course I felt obligated to get 3 pair of shoes…but one pair was for Julie, so I feel like I was spreading the love.

I left right at 5:00 so I could get home in time to make a picnic dinner since we were planning to head out to Fredrick Meijer Gardens for a concert.

When Jeff came home he said that the refrigerator people could deliver the new fridge that night (Yes, our fridge died the previous night… it’s never fun to reach for the fudgcicle you are craving and get a handful of mush in return…fortunately we could haul up grandma’s mini fridge from the basement so we could save important things like milk, yogurt and jello! That thing has really come in handy…you just never know when you might need the services of a mini fridge…and it’s very exciting when you remember, hey, we’ve actually GOT a mini fridge!). This was good news but also bad news since it meant we had to totally clean out the old fridge (running at about 50 degrees) so they could haul it away. In a way it was very freeing. I mean, what a wonderful excuse to get rid of the 12 bottles of salad dressing with only 2-fingers of dressing left in the bottle…GONE! The jar of pickles where only 2 pickles remain…GONE! The jar of chocolate fudge sauce with the caked-on lid and 2 spoonfuls of sauce…GONE! It was actually quite a relief. But, it did add a pretty big job to an already limited time schedule.

After totally racing around with no time to catch our breath, Jeff’s mom and dad came in to babysit Langston. He was napping in his crib, woke up, and just started screaming…as if on cue. So, then I did some running around trying to pull together milk, food, diaper change, etc. And I felt bad that we were then essentially leaving the parentals with a very unhappy baby.

Sorry mom and dad…um….we’re off….uh…have a good time!

It was a pretty sticky night, threatening rain, hot. We didn’t think there would be a big crowd to see Dar Williams and Over the Rhine. And we were right. We walked right in and got a nice seat, met Julie there, started our snacking and then, kind of randomly this woman takes the stage with a guitar and starts singing. I am sorry to say that none of us knew who she was. Was she an opening act? Someone who just saw her opportunity and wandered on stage to serenade us? What was up? After about the 5th song we decided, hey, this must actually BE Dar Williams (this was about 2 songs after Julie had said…hey wait…that’s a Dar Williams song…but, this girl doesn’t sing nearly as good as her…so, I don’t know…) Oops. It was about this time that we noticed the woman in her 40s sitting right by us in a very determined lotus position. She seemed very proud of her flexibility given the many, many, many times she felt the need to bend at the waist and pick up something (what?) in front of her. She also knew every single song that Dar Williams sang (and there were many….most what I would classify as “complaint folk”) and sang along loudly and with a lot of expression and hand motions. I am not kidding. She was also the first and loudest to laugh at anything that Dar Williams said that even resembled wit or humor….including thigh slaps, head thrown back, and then, the inevitable bend forward to bang the ground. It was pretty fascinating. And annoying. We bet that this woman followed poor Dar Williams from venue to venue, sending love notes, filling albums with news clippings and photographs…and is possibly on the receiving end of a restraining order which necessitated her present viewing location at least 250 feet from the stage.

We also became pretty fascinated by this very sketchy looking guy who was just kind of roaming around everywhere. He would kind of mosey up to the stage. Then kind of stroll around behind. Then he would head off into the crowd. He was wearing this oversized baseball cap, weighed at least 400 pounds, seemed to do a lot of sidling up to security cards, etc. Imagine our surprise when it turned out he was “Juicy” the sound engineer for Over the Rhine! Too funny.

We really liked OTR and wished that they had been the opener. Dar was just kind of a downer and that crazy woman was just too distracting. But, we only stayed for about 30 minutes of their act because it was getting damp and dark, we thought our baby might be going wild on his grandparents, and it had been a long week.

But, there really is no better place to watch a concert. So relaxing.

We got home and heard that although he had been pretty cranky for awhile, a healthy dose of Tylenol had seemed to do the trick (he finally has his appointment with the ENT on Monday) and he had played hard, taken a long walk with “Papa”, and fell immediately to sleep.

After they left and Jeff drove our cast-off groceries over to his aunt’s house (they have curby pick-up today) I was alone in the house and wandered into the nursery to pick up sleeping Langston. I rocked and whispered to him and prayed for his future and our wisdom and snuggled him until the cares of the day melted away to nothing. With many smooches and whispered “I love yous” I put him back in bed.

A good end.

Thursday Highlights - August 2, 2007

This morning I woke up and went in to get little boy out of his bed and was greeted by a wall of stink. I had to part the odor like a beaded curtain to get into the room! It was slithering down the walls and hovered like a green cloud just below the ceiling. How could Langston be smiling and playing in his crib? Didn’t he realize that he was projecting a skunk-like plume of reek right at me??? As much as I love him, I almost didn’t want to pick him up…I was afraid of what might shoot out of the diaper onto my freshly showered self. But, I was the mom…I went ahead and picked him up. I tried to lay down some prep work on what I knew would have to be tactical perfection in order to remove, dispose of, and clean up after this explosion. I put several cloth diapers down on top of the diaper changing pad, flipped open the baby wipe container with wipes at the ready, pulled out a fresh diaper…and cautiously laid him down. His newest fascination is a flashlight…so, I turned it on and plopped it in his hand and gingerly started the diaper removal process. So far, so good….it was a crazy, freaky, ridiculous amount of bright orange slush…but I was super proud of myself as I used wipe after wipe without contaminating myself with even a droplet of ooze. Hey, it was actually going pretty well. After about wipe number 10 I thought I was ready for stage two of the process…onesie removal. Slowly and carefully I started shifting it up his little bod…and was just about ready to start the sleeve transition when…oh no…not really…oh come ON…yeah, unbeknownst to me a very generous amount of sludge had actually shot out the top of the diaper into a fat pile in the back of his onesie…precisely where I had put my hand to take it off…are you KIDDING me??? So, all my hard work had been for nothing…the diaper pad got all crapped on, I won’t even speak to you of what was going on in my hand…and I still had to get the thing off of him! Gagging and blowing and shifting on the balls of my feet I was finally able to free him. At which point I hollered for Jeff. There was no way I was finishing this on my own. After about the 10th yell (he's no fool) he came in and helped me wipe down Langston’s back, shoulders and neck…yes, neck…what kind of projectile offal was I dealing with here??? And then took Langston into the shower with him because no amount of baby wipes could remove all the traces of that load. Yikes. Yikes. And again…yikes!!!!

Utterly exhausted I gathered up all the offending materials…diaper containing Chernobyl-like fall out, 35 used wipes, 2 cloth diapers, and the onesie and headed into the kitchen for bagging.

Then I toweled off and dressed the now super clean baby (traces of the stank still lurking in the air…kind of like smoke damage after a house fire) and got him dressed. Lately, he is pretty happy to just be popped back in the crib to be warehoused while I finish getting ready. As long as I turn the lights up, throw in some toys and put in an energizing cd -- (these days we’re playing the broadway cast version of Guys and Dolls…he particularly enjoys “I’ve Got the Horse Right Here”…and this morning he got a bit of a giggle out of the line “call it hell, call it heaven, it’s a probable 12 to 7 that the guy’s only doing it for some doll”…I kept singing that line as we left the house and he kept bouncing and giggling…show tunes…oh, his father would be so pleased) so long as he doesn’t think I’m putting him to bed, he’s good to go.

We left the house in a flurry (as always) and shot off to Steelcase employee sales.

I bought two small pedestal/file cabinets to replace the ones I’m currently using as bedside tables in our bedroom. The new ones I bought are shorter by a drawer – which will allow for my new lighting concept per the bedroom update I’m working on. I needed some more vertical space and I think these new cabinets will be perfect. This week-end I hope to paint them white and glue down the tops. Anyhow, I had to go and pick them up. I really can’t wait until I get my mini-van (could be any time!) so I don’t have to keep facing the baleful expressions of the guys at employee sales who have to maneuver my purchases into the Buick. If I had a quarter for every time Frank sighed, “that’s never going to fit in there” and then magically, with some additional pointers and suggestions, was able to fit it all in…well, I think I’d at least be able to buy myself a decent meal. Anyhow, they got all loaded up and off we went to Appletree.

Langston really seems to like it there and was smiling and laughing and scooted off to play as I told Miss Carrie and Miss Amy why I had brought Langston an extra set of clothes for the day. Apparently this is going around…a little intestinal bug. Since Langston’s been on anti-biotics for about 30 days, I am not surprised that he is extra susceptible to viruses. They said they have a 3 strikes, you’re out policy on “loose” diapers…but, no phone call yet…so, he must be doing OK.

I then headed off to the Speedway for a pop…and….well….I have to make a confession: trash pick up day isn’t until Monday…and it’s just way too hot to put that in the garage…and no diaper genie in the world could possibly contain that diaper….so, I took my double-bagged sack of spoilage and tossed it in the gas station trash can. I’m not proud…but I just didn’t know where else to turn!

The rest of the day has passed fairly uneventfully. The heat drove me to try a new, and possibly sketchy hair do. I put part of it up and flipped the back. I’m not sure if I’m working it…or if it’s working me. I had a very long meeting where the end result was a list of people to invite to another meeting. I printed out a visitor’s guide to Door County, Wisconsin…which I have pitched to Jeff as a potential spot for our family “mini-break” in August. I got the world’s most annoying sales call. I checked out televisionwithoutpity’s recap on So You Think You Can Dance.

Tonight I am going out with Jeff and Auntie (Jeff says to me this morning…I didn’t realize that was a ME, you and Langston thing…I thought just you and Langston would go with Auntie…um….no) because Auntie wants to buy Langston some shoes for his birthday (which I can’t believe is days away). That’s actually very nice of her. Of course we are not headed for Value City or Target…we are going somewhere at Breton Village Mall. Should be a riot.

Thursday Highlights - July 27, 2007

Well, I just kind of ran out of time yesterday to get this out, so I will just have to give you yesterday’s recap today.

First, I must back up to Wednesday night. My very good-natured son has handled his two ear infections with minimal complaint – which almost makes me feel worse. Like, please, at least put up a fuss so I can try to comfort you instead of watching you gamely trying to soldier on. Anyhow, then he got this full-body rash (either an allergy or a virus…no one can tell which)…and still tried to keep a stiff upper lip. Well, last night he took this late nap and when he woke up he was just bawling and wouldn’t stop. So, I think…maybe he’s hungry…so we put him in the high chair…still bawling…and start feeding him. It would go like this…bawl, bawl, bawl…then a very brief pause while he moaned his way through a bite of food and then immediately start bawling again…it finally got to the point where the food would just lay in his mouth while he sobbed. It was about the most pathetic thing ever. Finally, my sister said…you know, this is not him, he’s obviously in pain…what could it be? So, we think…hmmm…maybe he’s cutting a molar. As he continues screaming I hold his head still as if in a vice and Jeff roots around in his mouth looking in there with a penlight…and, sure enough…hugely swollen, bright red gum. Oops. At least we did have some Orajel on hand that really helped.

So, based on the previous night’s despair I thought I better plan to stay home with him on Thursday.

He slept great – didn’t stir at all until almost 8:00 (he usually gets up at around 6:45ish). I was almost worried. I kept checking on him to make sure he was still breathing! But, when he got up, it was like we had Langston back. He was laughing and jabbering…so much happier. Literally and figuratively like night and day. But, I wanted to be sure, so I decided to stay home for the morning. Since I was staying home and all, I thought, why not take a walk? So, without even combing my hair I threw on a tee-shirt and shorts and loaded Langston into the stroller for a little adventure. And thought nothing of it (I will return to this later).

After a long and peaceful nap and waking up just as happy as when he went down, I decided that it was fine to take him into daycare and head into work. So, I dropped him off and he crawled madly for the toys and gave me a big giggle and I grabbed a bite to eat and went into work.

Waiting for me at work was an email from the President of Steelcase. He wrote that he had an early breakfast meeting and saw me walking down the street this morning. Augghh!!! I kept replaying my ratted up hair, no make up, the gigantic tee-shirt and blue tee-shirt shorts. Yikes. Not at all the way that you want anyone you work with to see you. Especially not the president of the company. Crap. Another career expanding event.

The afternoon sailed on by without incident. Then Jeff and I and Langston headed off for Lansing to visit my parents. Jeff is so sweet because at least half the time he is the one who suggests that we should drop over for a visit. So, the grandparents got some Langston time and I had a particularly good serving of nacho chili dip…delicious. And, we got home in time for me to watch a show I had Tivo’d, which I now love, called Damages. That Glenn Close is so chilling!!!

So, kind of a boring recap, but, such was my Thursday.

Thursday Highlights - July 19, 2007

Well…it’s been quite a day! I woke up to the sound of what I thought was an airplane taking off. Turns out it was just Jeff cranking up the window air conditioners and series of fans he has “circulating the air” throughout the house. We hollered our good-mornings and the day began.

Langston was pretty grimy from yesterday so I decided to give him a bath/haircut combo. He was getting a little shaggy over the eyes and I thought that the piles of hair were also probably pretty hot. I swear he’s the only 11 month old you could use a pair of thinning shears on…but, I guess it’s better than being a cue ball. Well, I bring him out to the sink…strip off his jammies, lay him down to whip off the diaper and as soon as I pull the tabs I realize it is LOADED with some very “loose stool.” Crap! All those anti-biotics he’s been on…they always warn on the label that it could cause this…but so far we’d gone unscathed. Um…not anymore. So, I kind of “gathered” everything back together and made a run for the changing table. None of this has phased Langston in the least, by the way. After the toxic clean-up we headed back for tub time…even more necessary now, I might add.

Well, the bath did kind of distract Langston while I took mad snips at his hair…but, he doesn’t make it easy. I think that I did better than last time’s scraggly disaster…but, let’s just say that his hair isn’t going to be getting in his eyes any time soon. Tee hee. Fortunately, Langston has no idea these things are going on around him. He was most concerned that “little Langston” was still in place throughout the experience. Any freedom from the diaper and he must immediately make VERY sure that all his pieces and parts are still intact. A lifelong concern, I guess….and endless fascination.

I scurried around getting him dressed because I had an 8 o’clock conference call. I had the number with me so I could just call in from home. But, of course time goes so fast. Especially when combining Langston’s morning prep with my own. And, the fact that there was about 1000% humidity in the house wasn’t helping either. I had a fan in the bathroom blowing directly on me and I was still all sweaty along the hairline. Yuck. I just hate that.

So, the call went on…with Langston jabbering and talking in the background. I’m sure everyone appreciated how he howled when I took the remote control away from him. I quickly left the room to somehow preserve the integrity of the call (yeah…I’m not calling in from home…yeah, I’m not distracted AT ALL!)…when I returned…like 3 minutes later he had literally gotten into EVERYTHING he is not supposed to. Books and magazines were scattered all over the floor…he had pulled the vcr off the shelf…he was sitting among a stack of cds and dvds, chewing on Jeff’s shoe. I’m such a good mother.

Well, after a totally breathless race around the house with my arm hooked under his arms…toting him around…stuffing things into the diaper bag, putting the dishes in the sink, stuffing my stuff in my purse, grabbing a bottle of water…FINALLY we got into the car and headed off. I had the air conditioning on high and guzzled said water as we cruised down the road. It was only 8:45 and I was already exhausted. I really don’t know how single mothers do it.

When I left him at daycare he was sitting in between two other kids (poor, sad little expressionless blobs) in the group high-chair table…he had a fistful of cheerios in one hand, a sippy cup of milk in the other, laughing and talking…so cute.

Work has been really quiet. So, I’ve been wasting a lot of time. A lot of web searches (can anyone explain to me how I can have full and total access to televisionwithoutpity.com but the moment I try to enter in my “pampers points” on the pampers website I get the access prohibited screen? What is with that?). Returned some phone calls. Updated my calendar. Cleaned out a drawer. Watered my plant. Boy, is it already 10:00??? This day is FLYING.

Anyhow, then I had lunch with my friend Sharon. That soup and salad combo at Olive Garden is pretty good. Although we both agreed that while the breadstix and soup were still terriff…the salad was getting a little lackluster. A lot of big, white chunks of iceberg lettuce…the dressing seemed a bit watered down…you know.

Then I got a phone call from the Grand Rapids Press. Turned out that the reporter was writing some story about Steelcase being listed on an application for a charter school from GVSU. This is true…but, it’s a long, tangled story and I’m not really thinking that we want to start talking about it right now to the media. Her deadline was early afternoon and I told her that I would try to track down the guy she wanted to talk to. Well, after a bunch of tracking down I finally get an email from him that he’s at some board meeting up in the UP and isn’t available until Monday. Actually, I’m pretty relieved. So, I call this girl back and tell her the sad tale of the board meeting and that it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to make her deadline…and I apologize. She says, “It doesn’t seem like you’re very sorry at all…and you haven’t tried very hard to help me” and hangs up on me. That just means I’ll be so much MORE likely to help her when she calls back again. I just had to laugh…boy, she sure told ME! What she doesn’t realize is that after my time working at the cable company, when all those sleazebags hosting porn sites with their cable modems would call and cuss me out when the service went down…I got a pretty thick skin. I mean really, once you’ve heard it from Herb the porn purveyor can Beth at the Press really make me feel bad?

Well, now I’m starting to think about how nice it will be to get home for the day. It’s been a long week. Mostly just because not much is going on. Everyone’s on vacation I guess. My phone has only rung once today – and it was hateful Beth at the Press, so it doesn’t really count.

So, I will spend some time thinking through some projects I want to do around the house…maybe make some preliminary plans for Langston’s birthday party (Can you believe he’ll be a year old in under a month? I can’t. Actually, you probably haven’t given it much thought…some friend.)…maybe check out some photographers on-line…or hopefully, scoot out of here early so I can get a head-start on the night. You have to take advantage of these things when you can. We are going to Lansing to have dinner with mom and dad tonight. That should be fun.