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.

Thursday Highlights - July 12, 2007

Well, the old “get up and exercise, fatty” alarm went off at 6:05 this morning…and I don’t even remember turning it off. The next thing I knew it was a quarter to seven and little boy was hollering for some attention. But before you judge, let me at least try to win some points by telling you that I had already gotten up and exercised the 3…yes 3…mornings previous! Yes, I have finally reached critical mass (and I do mean mass) on my need to get back in shape. I’m very sick of the majority of my clothes still being tight. So, no more excuses! My strangling waist-bands tremble in fear! My straining zippers are ducking for cover! The 2/3 of my closet that I dare not venture into because it’s too depressing are crooking their fingers and beckoning. Soon, my old friends…soon we will be reunited!

Ok, that paragraph exhausted me.

Back to the day. Well, I scrambled around getting some stuff done around the house before I left, because the Bible study BBQ is back on….at our house tonight. So, I squeezed in some light dusting, put away some toys, put light bulbs in the paper lanterns I will be dramatically strewing throughout the branches that hang over our patio, and put some tea lights in the votive holders I hauled up from the basement to twinkle on the tabletops. I can’t help it…I just love parties…and any excuse to strew and twinkle! Poor Jeff spent all last evening creating his ka-bob “experience.” I call it an experience because in my world you cut up the vegetables and drizzle with some lemon juice and olive oil, you cut up the chicken and marinate it in some soy sauce and vinegar and call it good. That is not Jeff’s way. First there was brining the chicken. Then he had to mix up this special Greek marinade with all kinds of pestling of spices, careful measuring of fresh squeezed juices, then all the pounding and slicing and smelling and sieving….maybe that’s why I’m on “decoration” duty.

Then it was breakfast with our beat writer from the Press. It turns out that after 7 years covering Steelcase he has quit his job to go and work for an on-line industry rag, the Monday Morning Quarterback! This is the publication that has been the thorn in my side every since I’ve worked here. The publisher has this major hatred for the CEO and does really juvenile things like posting pictures of his cottage, photoshops pictures of our company sign with the words changed to say something pathetic, etc. So, I was actually kind of happy to hear that this guy was joining that publication. He really wants to mend fences and knows that it’s not professional for the publisher to be doing stuff like this. Plus, he said that he doesn’t want to ruin the relationships here that he has built at Steelcase over the years. So, I’m hoping that this will make my life easier in the future.

Blah, blah, blah…work, work, work…and then it was off to Forest Hills Foods to get some dessert for tonight (again…if Jeff had been in charge of this portion of the meal he would still be hand-shaving chocolate) and some lunch for myself. Delicious purchase by the way. I got this spicy 7-grain salad that was totally delish. I had to get some lunch because I had to go to a noon-three meeting – that asked us to bring a sack lunch! What kind of person schedules a lunch meeting, at the Learning Center (where you can oh so easily provide a meal ticket for your guests) and tells you to brown bag it? So, I did. But, when I got to the meeting he was all chagrined, because I guess someone had informed him of his gaff, so he did give us all meal tickets. Since I already had my lunch with me I just pocketed the old “bon appetit” card for use on a rainy day.

The meeting was on the company’s launch process. I had not originally been on the invite list for this gathering but my boss’ boss found out about the meeting and inserted me. I don’t really know why. I don’t believe that I added anything more than the one or two forced “yes, I’m not just a bump on a log, I am adding this modicum of value” comments. But, since it was on a topic I know nothing about it was actually a good learning experience.

Then I got back to my desk (after the meeting went nearly an hour long) to find an email from the IT group telling me that my new Blackberry would soon be ready for me. New Blackberry, you say? What of this? Well, I have been having trouble with my pancake-sized, early model BB – it occasionally refuses to dial into voicemail. Much like when your car is making a funny noise, of course it would never refuse to work when I was showing it to our tech group. Well, when I noticed it was doing it again I ran down to the IT department to show them. There I ran into the VP of the department. We’ve always been friendly – when we’ve been in meetings together I’m usually the one who is asking him some important question like how to turn on the “back light” on my device or how to change the font on my email. Anyhow, I ran into him and when he asked, I described the problem. So, he tries to fix it…trying a number of different things…I’m saying, Bob, you shouldn’t be wasting your time on this…you have more important things to do! Finally, he relents and I go back to the tech department where I’m told that it’s just some bizarre quirk with Nextel and that even Nextel doesn’t know why or what to do about it. OK. So, I just take out the SIM card and move on. On my way out to the grocery store I run into Bob! He asks about the BB. I give him the short answer. And he says, can I ask why you’re using such an old BB? I say that it’s really not that old – it’s less than a year old – it’s just the only one that the company allows you to order. He says that’s ridiculous and I need a “cooler” model. I tell him this one’s fine and that it’s no big deal…but he says he’s going to do something about it. Of course I don’t believe him. But there it is! I will be getting a cooler one! Bob came through for me! And, as my friend Sherry says, now the people in the tech department know that when I have trouble the VP comes down from on high to fix it. I love it!!!

So, now I wait for 5:00 when I will go pick up my sweet mop top from daycare. Lately, he’s been all the time doing this very exuberant “gasp.” Like all the time. When I bring him his anti-biotic he gasps with joy. When I put him in his high-chair he gasps with joy. When he sees me opening the applesauce he gasps with joy. It’s super cute. I hope that he continues to see this much excitement in all the little things in life.

Thursday Highlights June 28, 2007

I woke up and went in to get little boy up and for the 3rd day in a row he was already awake. What cracks me up is that he will be sitting cross-legged in his crib reading a book. When I walk in, he just looks up as if to say, “what’s up mom…just sitting here getting a little reading in.” Oh my word. He is going to be such a nerd! I love it! I predict glasses by the first grade. When I took him to his new daycare this week they asked if there was a particular comfort item he liked to take to bed – like a blanket or a stuffed animal – I had to tell them that his bedtime comfort item is actually a book. So fun.

Then I had to race into the office. Important meeting? Deadline to meet? Big workload? No…I had to come in to the quarterly departmental birthday breakfast with our senior VP. Because nothing says happy birthday like coming into work 45 minutes early. In my bitterness I ate a bear claw. And drank 3 cups of coffee.

Then I started just madly hacking off items on my “to do” list. Just a crazy level of checking off tasks completed. Let me give you a sample. Item #4: Check and see if there are any Michigan wine tours for the fall. I thought that might be a fun way to celebrate our wedding anniversary in September, since we did some Sonoma Valley wine tasting on our honeymoon. Since our anniversary is in September it is critical that I start my research now. Critical, I tell you. I actually found out that on our anniversary there is some kind of “stomp the grapes” event in Leelanau county…might be worth checking out! See! I’m so productive!!

Next I signed up for an investor relations conference in September. Boy, I am really tackling those September to-do’s! It’s in Boston and should be a blast. Yay…number crunching in autumn…it doesn’t get any better than that.

Then I heard that our Bible Study reunion BBQ was cancelled. We had decided to take a hiatus from Bible studying in the summer. But, we thought it might be fun to get together once a month purely to eat. Because eating really knows no season. Our first one was to be Thursday night. And what a great night for a cook-out…gentle breeze, warm sunshine, low humidity. But, the host husband came down with a kidney stone and was busy puking all afternoon. Strangely he didn’t really feel up to hosting friends for a cook-out. He’s so selfish. We’ll have to tackle that issue when our Bible study reconvenes. I didn’t care for his self-centered attitude.

I picked up little boy at daycare – smiling and laughing and eating a toy (him, not me) – he makes me so proud. On the way home we stopped at the greenhouse for the super clearance sale. I got 2 big hanging plants for $1.50 each. I love it! For once I was a good mother and actually determined ahead of time that if I put these plants in the back seat Langston would eat them. Proactively I stuffed them into the front seat and hoped for the best.

I got home to utter bliss. Earlier this season I had an excuse…I had wrist surgery and couldn’t really use my hands very effectively. Then I was in rehab and really supposed to take it easy. Then everything was healed but I realized I was just a super lazy person. Um….I’m speaking of weeding the front flower beds. Which are quite big. And get very weedy. Especially when you don’t ever weed. So, back when I had the surgery excuse I hired Tina's employment training juvenile delinquents to come out every other week to weed. What a wonderful way to spend $25. Anyhow, I was feeling guilty now as I noticed how many weeds there were, how terrible it looked, how lazy I am…and determined that I actually had to take action and just get out there in the soil and work. I decided I would start this week-end. But, as I mentioned, utter bliss…I came home from work and noticed immediately that the kids had been out and the weeding completed! Oh, I’m so happy. It looks wonderful and I did nothing more than come home. No bending, no stretching, no back cramps…I love being lazy sometimes.

We later decided to cheer up our kidney-stone-friend’s wife by bringing over some of Jeff’s special recipe margaritas. Yum yum. I also brought her one of the hanging baskets. Turns out that Thursday was her actual 10 year wedding anniversary. Spending it helping her husband puke wasn’t a very festive way to celebrate. She very much appreciated the margaritas and hoped that their week-end plans wouldn’t be ruined by the kidney stone. She feared she was being selfish. Please. He’s the one with the problem! No, really, we all felt very sorry for him. He looked like death warmed over. I have heard that it’s about the worst pain you can experience. So, hopefully he is feeling much better now.

Home to watch the results show of So You Think You Can Dance (Jeff and I are both hopelessly addicted to this show….I don’t know what to say) and we enjoyed all over again the recaps of our favorite dances.

Is the day already over? When did I work out? When did I read something thought-provoking? When did I challenge myself to be a better person? Oh shoot. I guess there’s always this week-end. Now that I don’t have to weed I really have no excuse.