Friday Highlights - February 8, 2008

I don’t know if you heard but we had a huge snow storm on Wednesday! It was totally fun and for some reason filled me with unwarranted happiness as I drove home in it from work. Once I got home I was compelled to take Langston outside with me. I thought I might shovel the walk and maybe part of the driveway…I just felt inspired. Probably because I am a new parent and always think that I’m doing something wrong, I had not really taken him out for snow frolicking. But Wednesday I just had to do it. Well…he LOVED it! He was literally spinning in circles giggling. It was very cute. He ate the snow…he blew on it…he sat in it…he punched it…he caught snowflakes in his mouth…he marveled at the neighbor’s snow blower…he got soaking wet and freezing cold and still bawled when I brought him in the house. It was probably the first time that I’ve seen a glimpse of how fun it is going to be to really play with him as a kid. It was probably THE highlight of the week.

My friend brought a blueberry cobbler over for our Bible study on Thursday and it was AMAZING! It was at least half cobbler…which I am a total sucker for. And there was even ice cream to put on top. I was in heaven….cobbler heaven.

I was invited/mandated to attend an all day meeting with an advertising/marketing firm that is going to be handling the messaging and collateral on our new product launches. I didn’t have a problem accepting…I mean, nobody looks forward to an all day meeting…but it did seem like I needed to be there. Then I found out that the meeting is in SANTA MONICA!!!! Oh baby. I’m not sure anything at my job has ever made me happier. I have been so bummed and depressed this winter and there really wasn’t a way presenting itself for Jeff and I to have a little sunshine escape and remain within our “do not exceed” budget. So, we checked and Jeff can get a free airline ticket from some frequent flyer miles he had…and with me being out there for work we will only have to cover 1 night’s hotel. It will be a very quick trip…but so incredibly nice to be in the sun for even a little while.

I heard from my very random hair stylist that he had changed styling locations. You may or may not know that my relationship with this guy began about a year ago when, downtown dropping off some reporter at the Amway and filled with despair, I thought to myself, if I encounter a hair salon between here and home I’m just going in and getting my hair cut. Well…I happened upon this place and they took me as a walk-in and I’d been working with Eddie ever since. I always felt like he was perhaps one hair cut away from being homeless. His stories were always very alarming and entailed things like chauffering someone who had lost their license due to a DUI because they would let him use the car and he couldn’t afford one of his own…or sleeping in someone’s closet because the rent was cheaper. I really felt like I had no choice but to keep going to him. Plus, he gave a pretty good cut. Well…my ill advised decision to grow my hair out one more time had left me lank, aged, depressed, totally lacking in sass. So, when I heard from him that he had switched salons but was moving but was also available to cut my hair…well, I gave him a call back and scheduled a life changing cut. Turns out that he is no longer working at the old place and trying to get out of his new place and possibly moving to another city…and the long and short of it is…could I just come to his house for the cut. Well…of course I can. So, I headed to the house he shares with like 8 other people and was met with a kitchen chair alone in the center of the dining area…next to it…a single pair of scissors, a comb, and a cape. I washed my hair in his sink (although he did offer to shampoo it for me…that just felt way weird in an already sketchy situation) and he commenced cutting. There was a lot of “stand up,” “turn this way,” “sit down”…cause, you know, it was just a kitchen chair. Then there were the stories of how he had lost his last job at the salon because they thought he was stealing…and how they were now telling all his clients that he was a cocaine addict…and, oh Eddie. Oh my. And, of course, there was also no mirror. So, I had no idea how this mood altering, whole new ‘do was coming along. He went upstairs to retrieve a hair dryer and some aqua net hair spray (his own?) and commenced styling. Of course he told me that when I do this at home I should definitely use a round brush and some product…but “Lucky you…I can do this without all that…” Anyhow, this other random guy came in toward the end, waiting for his cut, and he assured me that it was looking “very nice” …as only a random 50 year old man sitting in some strange guy’s living room watching a stranger get styled could say. Well, I walked over to the hall door, where a mirror was mounted, and actually liked what I saw. He did a great job! It is a whole new me! Although Eddie assured me that even after he moved he would likely be coming back every month or so for his clients here…I just sense that this was perhaps our last strange encounter.

So, those are the highlights for the week.

Thursday Highlights, January 31, 2008

Well, here I am again, back on Thursdays. Although, I wouldn’t exactly expect that these particular highlights are going to rock.

I overslept this morning. Almost a little on purpose. It’s just so cold out and bed was so warm and cozy…and Langston was still asleep…and I just couldn’t bring myself to get up. Jeff had the same problem, so we didn’t exactly help each other get motivated. It was just a lot of, “Oh man, I don’t want to get up.” “Yeah, me neither.” “I’m so sick of how dark it is in the morning…it makes me want to sleep in.” “Yeah, I agree.” Hey, I didn’t say it was interesting…just the ramblings of those postponing the inevitable.

Finally got out of bed and threw Langston in the shower with Jeff. Little boy is just a riot with that! I woke him up asking if he wanted to take a shower with daddy and he practically scaled the crib rails. When I picked him up, his feet were literally peddling, like Fred Flintstone, to get to the shower. So, I laid him down to strip him and he gets all worried, thinking that all of a sudden we stopped heading for the shower…and he’s going to get gypped of his shower…wild thrashings ensue. Finally I get his clothes off and I carry a dancing and giggling little boy to the bliss of the morning shower. It really is pretty funny.

Then when I got him out of the shower I had a genuine “awww” moment. I wrapped up this wet, naked little boy in a fluffy white towel and he just put his head on my shoulder and snuggled in…oh…does it get any better than that???

Laughter quickly turned to tears as I wrestled him into his clothes for the day. Cooperative he was not. He ended up with 2 stern warnings and then a firm crack on the thigh. Welcome to Thursday.

After dropping off Langston I was looking forward to driving to my meeting at the Learning Center. I hadn’t had time for breakfast (that oversleeping will kill ya) and I thought I could grab a quick snack there before my meeting. Well…about 2 minutes later I get a call from a co-worker asking where I was – our meeting was supposed to have started 15 minutes ago. Uh…wha? Yeah, my Learning Center meeting had been cancelled and I hadn’t put the new meetings in my schedule. So, no breakfast…I race to this meeting only to find that the 3rd person hadn’t even shown up yet. The guy finally gets there like 45 minutes late and the meeting goes just long enough that my stomach begins semi-audibly growling (it was like 10:00 at this point). I say semi, because I definitely heard it but I’m not sure anyone else did.

Thank heaven that meeting finally ended and I could have one of my new favorite special K bars…nutty honey. Fabulous.

Blah, blah, whatever, work, yeah, email, answer a call, blah, blah…when do I eat again? Oh yeah, I’m meeting a friend at a great new restaurant. And it was delicious! I had a cup of tomato soup (a winter classic) and a Michigan harvest salad and we topped it off by splitting a piece of Zingerman’s pecan pie. Oh, delish! And the conversation was great too. I’m so fortunate to know such smart, fun people.

And then back for more work. Interview here. E-mail there. Press statement here. Catch up on the on-line celebrity gossip there. And the day is drawing to a close.

Hmmmm…what should I make for dinner????

Wednesday Highlights - January 23, 2008

Since I have been terrible at keeping up with Thursday highlights lately, I thought I would get a head-start this time and go with Wednesday instead.

This morning I woke up on the couch. Jeff’s snoring had hit an ultimate low (or high, I guess) and sighing dramatically I flounced to the living room with my blanket and pillow and huffed loudly as I laid down on the couch. This high drama was wasted, however, since Jeff snored through the whole thing. But, at least it made me feel a little better. I get to sleep in an extra 15 on Wednesdays because Janice comes to the house and I get back the time it takes to get Langston to daycare. Jeff, however, doesn’t get an extra 15 because he actually has to get to work at 7:30 these days because of a sick co-worker. This morning he actually lost 15 because he was still snoring away when I went in the bedroom at 7:10 and woke him up. Oops. Well, because he was late that meant I started to run late because the whole delicate balance of the morning schedule was now out of whack.

And then Janice called to say she was going to be a few minutes late. All this insane snow we’ve been accumulating daily makes for extended commutes. This would be fine on any other Wednesday. But, I was supposed to facilitate an interview at 8:30. And it was now 8:20. Again, oops. So, she finally got there and I went flying out the door and …insert banana peel whistle sound here…fell down our snow covered front stairs. I ended up on all fours in a snow bank in our front yard. Very nice. At that point I wanted to go back in the house, lay down and cry for a few minutes. Instead, I kind of whimpered and limped to the van. I think what was mostly hurt was my pride…but I did kind of hurt my foot too and it’s been bugging me all day. But, since it was now 8:35 I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself, I had to connect those 2 fools via my cell phone and hope the connection held.

Imagine you are watching the second hand of a clock. Around and around and around it spins…ticking off a minute every 60 seconds…imagine watching the hand sweep around 90 times…because that’s what I was doing as I listened to this endless interview on my cell phone of all things. 90 minutes? Are you kidding me? Really? You’ve got that much to say…and ask???

And, I was starving. I hadn’t had time for breakfast and I thought the interview would be 30 minutes max and I could have a snack. Um, not so much. By 10:00 I was ready to eat my own arm off.

Thank you Steelcase for having a cafeteria. I went downstairs and toasted a blueberry bagel.

Next I worked some on a power point for one of the breakout sessions for this year’s Strategy Forum at work. I am not a designer. I am not a power point genius. These things are kind of hard for me to do and, in the end, produce a product that is barely above average. Not very fulfilling work.

Then it was off to lunch at Tokyo Grill. Mmmmmm…ginger hibachi….very yummy.

Then off to a meeting at the pyramid building. As NeoCon gets closer and closer there are more and more weekly meetings to get the product launches queued up. Fascinating stuff. I brought my laptop so I could surf a little bit to stay alert during the meeting.

Driving back to headquarters, shivering in the old Odyssey, waiting endlessly for the heater to warm up from 2 degrees to the 88 I had set it to, I couldn’t help but to ponder how freaking cold it is outside and wonder when and if it’s going to let up. I set a very limited budget for Jeff and I for vacation this winter – if we can make it happen for that amount, then cool. However, the longer this cold snap endures and the more and more and more snow we get…I feel like, forget it! I’ve got to get out of here!!! Is there anywhere in the world where the sun is still shining??? I saw a great 24 hour sale for AirTran out of Flint…maybe we can make something work with that. Otherwise, I may have to go into hibernation for a few weeks.

Well I guess my plans for tonight are to put on my flannel pajama pants nearly immediately upon getting home, throw on a polar fleece pull-over, fuzzy sock and earmuffs (if necessary)….build a fire in the fireplace and watch American Idol and Project Runway. Perhaps I will also cuddle my young son for as long as he’ll let me…and maybe occasionally hold my husband’s hand….if I can pry it off the mac. Is it really only Wednesday???

Holiday Highlights - January 3, 2007

Well, since I’ve been absent for so long (which one of my possibly three, readers remind me of) it seems like I should begin the new year with a short list of holiday highlights:

*The Christmas carousel. After Christmas 06, dad Holquist passed along an old carousel he had found in his basement. You plug it in and it lights up, the horses go around and up and down, and about 10 carols repeat. PS, there is no way to disable the carol portion of the experience, which will make sense that I noted as you continue to read. So, I brought it upstairs with the rest of the decorations, thinking that Langston would get a kick out of it. I plugged it in and turned it on in front of him…and I witnessed Langston falling in love for the first time. Yes, the carousel inspired the first fiery, all-consuming love that Langston has ever known. He woke up in the morning thinking of it....running into the darkened living room to sit in front of it, turn it on and gaze lovingly at it. He went to bed crying to be separated from it. It was never far from his thoughts. He could sit and just watch it for like 20-30 minutes at a stretch -- I'm not kidding. It also played those blasted Christmas carols over and over and over - so, when Langston was out of the room or occupied, I would sneak over and turn it off. Mere seconds would pass before Langston would crook his head towards it...run over, and turn it back on. The slightly off-tune, tinny, calliope Christmas carols were the soundtrack of the Holquist holiday season and beyond. Sometimes at work I think I can hear it. I’ll wake up in the night sure it’s still on only to find that I’m losing my mind. It's the one thing from Christmas we haven't been able to put away yet...I hate to think of the drama when we finally do!

*Christmas presents. Jeff and I wanted to exchange one nice gift. Nothing outrageous. Nothing too budget-busting…just something kind of nice and thoughtful. We finally confessed to each other that we couldn’t think of a single thing to buy for the other person. When we changed tactics and thought to combine our resources and get one thing for us to share, we still came up empty. How pathetic is that? So, we ended up just buying just some smaller items and at least having something to open on Christmas Eve.

*Christmas Eve at the Holquist’s. It was a long and busy day. Langston was becoming increasingly not himself…with lots of crazy running around and screaming and flailing around when I tried to corral him a little…not his finest moments and not mine either as I was really starting to lost patience. So, I was already clinging to the end of the rope when after dinner I happened into the small office adjacent to the living room. They have a lovely cream colored wall-to-wall that went from the living room into the office. And I happened to notice a nasty glob of mustard on the carpet. We had just had dinner – with sandwiches included – so I wasn’t totally surprised, but a little shocked that someone had just glopped some mustard and walked away…then I noticed another blob…and another…and then, in horror I realized: THAT’S NOT MUSTARD!!! And I saw the back of my young son with smears of yellow poop from the middle of his back down to his little poopy buns!!! Like my life flashing before me I could picture this wild, out of control spazzy boy throwing himself down on the floor and rolling around (NO!) or flinging himself onto the sofa (NO!!) or running crazily through the house dripping poop behind him like Hansel and Gretel (NO!!!) So, I shouted, “Langston, freeze!” and then ran up to him…picked him up…held him at arm’s length, and ran through the house to the bathtub and dropped him in it. Of course he was not excited about this and was twisting and jerking all around and yelling. As was I. After a VERY difficult clothing extraction and then wash down and diaper removal and further washing down and then rebuilding (good thing he got some clothes as a Christmas present)…I was all…that’s it…we’re going home! Christmas Eve is officially over.

*Christmas Day with the Hills. Everyone came over to our house, which should have made everything easier. And it did…but I just didn’t feel myself (see next story to follow)…extra tired, extra crabby (which I tried to hide) and just a little extra impatient. But even I had to laugh at this…while Langston napped we (Julie, dad and I) decided to do a puzzle while we watched Elf. It was just a 300 piecer and we thought we had plenty of time. Which, it turned out, we did. Except, we were missing a piece. Augghhh! How can that be? It’s so unsatisfying! We looked under all the furniture…looked in other rooms of the house…got all disgusted at the cheap manufacturer who missed a piece and probably loaded the puzzle with lead paint, too. This continued until Langston toddled in from his nap, went up to his grandpa and placed in his hand, the missing puzzle piece. We just cracked up. Turned out Jeff had stolen a piece at the very beginning and kept it for when Langston woke up. He’s a sick man.

*Day after Christmas….5:00 AM. I wake up…Jeff’s not in bed…but, he’s had a bad cold and lately gets up if he can’t stop coughing, so I’m not surprised. I also realize that I am horrifically nauseated and noting a distinct rumble in my tummy that means all is not well. After an extended visit to the pink palace bathroom I lurch into the living room and mumble to Jeff that “I’m really sick…” and he returns the comment. Seems he’s been making his own visits since about the same time. We were both in total intestinal agony. And then we heard Langston wake up! Thank goodness he was not sick…but his cheerful energy was almost worse. Realizing that neither of us was well enough to care for him we were praising the Lord for daycare. But that meant one of us had to actually take him there and get home without getting sick. Neither of us felt at all confident. But, Jeff took pity on my crashing waves of nausea (getting worse by the second – and in fact, I did puke my guts out about 30 seconds after he left…so it was a good thing he volunteered) and took Langston in. We spent the remainder of the day in bed. Then there was the fight of who had to go pick him up! Jeff is quite the husband (or I was quite pitiful – either could be true). We found out the next day that 80% of the Holquist family was similarly struck down at the same time…we have racked our brains to determine if it was a virus or food poisoning. Based on what we’ve been able to figure – it looks like a nasty virus. Yuck. What a way to end the holiday season.

*New Year’s Eve. Dave (my brother-in-law) got free tickets to the Griffin’s hockey game, with parking pass and food coupons, so we joined their family for a night of very minor league hockey. Although the people watching was worth the price of admission. We also enjoyed the cover band that performed during the period breaks. This was a very family-centered crowd so we puzzled a little when they broke out with “50 ways to leave your lover” (Mommy….what’s a lover??) and then really laughed when they had the crowd “sing along” on the chorus. Is this really a message we want to send to this crowd of happy families? Hints that they should ditch? Not much singing along, but a lot of laughs. But, the fireworks were fun and it was something nice for the family to do (I have to keep this in mind now) together. Bring on 2008.

And now here I am back at work. A new year. Major post-holiday blahs. No resolutions. Just hanging on. You?

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.