Monday, April 25, 2011

Hoppy Easter



Easter was super fun this year. K woke up to a trail of chocolate eggs that led downstairs to the closet where his new bubble lawnmower was. He thought is was so much fun to follow the chocolate eggs. He would screach with pure joy every - single - time he found an egg.




We then headed off to Grandma and Grandpas where the egg trail started on the street. The kids had clues left by the Easter bunny to help them to find their baskets. Karter and his cousins had such a great time. I was thrilled that Karter understood this year. The Easter bunny even ate some of the treats the kids left out for him and left them a note. So cute. The kids ended the morning with an Easter egg hunt outside. This was such a huge hit with Karter that we ended up hiding plastic eggs around the house all afternoon and him and Mark hid eggs all day today.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

New Job

Mixed feelings about this one ... but I know it is for the best. Thing is ... I truly like my job. I like my department, I like the other departments/subsidiaries I deal with, I find the work challenging and rewarding. The downfall is that I feel like I am married to my job. Every third month is quarter end. This means we have a lot of work to do in not a lot of time. Which also means no chance of time off and overtime can be quite extensive. This year has been especially challenging due to new accounting principles coming in, and we have really been working overtime since November. Needless to say that I am burnt out and stressed out.



We receive job postings daily for internal positions within the company. Late February there was a posting that interested me. After a lot of contemplating I decided to apply. This was a BIG step for me. The policy at work is when you apply for an internal positon, you have to inform your supervisor. It sucked because I consider my boss my friend. When I finally got the courage to tell her ... she screached. But ... after explaining that I just could not do the overtime anymore she totally understood. I am also not proud of the work that I am doing. I find that I am rushing to get through it due to time constraints... the time and detail needed is not up to par and that bothers me.



I ended up getting called for an interview and had it last Wednesday. I was nervous because it was with a department I do not deal with and my knowledge is quite limited as to what they do. It was not my best interview ... and afterwards I found myself not as interested as I first was in the position.



My boss called me into her office that same day and asked if I was interested in another job in the Finance department. She said that they did not want to lose me. I understood because I am super awesome and kind of a big deal. Lol. Just kidding.



After discussing the opportunity with Mark - we decided it was a no brainer and I happily accepted. Starting in May I will transition from g/l over to budget, forecast and strategic planning. I am very excited about this. The overtime will be drastically reduced, we are only overtime busy in late October and most of November. I really like the people in the budgeting group. I also love the fact that I can spend as much time as possible with my little man and hot husband.



So yeah for me. Now I just have to survive quarter end, but it is nice thinking this is the last quarter I will have to do!!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Phoenix Trip







We went to Phoenix for a week to visit my dad and his wife Dail. Highlights include a trip to the zoo and aquarium, daily visits to the lake, a baseball game and a bit of shopping. Karter did great on the plane. On the way home he had a big poop and thankfully daddy volunteered to change that diaper. I have no idea how he changed Karter in such a small airplane bathroom.


Things I was surprised about during our trip to Phoenix:

1. I was not expecting to see palm, orange and lemon trees.

2. I seen three pot holes the whole time we were there. Roads were amazing.

3. People were very friendly. However when I mention this people often say "yeah, but half of them are snowbirds"

4. Some people have chickens as pets - to keep scorpions our of their homes

5. Property tax is very cheap - as well as homes

6. The pride the city takes in maintaining the landscape is amazing. All brush was perfectly shaped and I rarely seen any garbage.

7. When we were hanging out at the lake (manmade about the same size as Arbor Creeks), a man was fishing and caught a turtle.


8. The first license plate that Mark noticed after we left the airport in Phoenix was a Sk Roughrider license plate.

Allergy Appointment

I must admit I have been nervous about Karter's appointment with the allergy specialist since the day I made the appointment. Karter HATES the doctor. As soon as they walk in the room he is pist off till we leave. He even tells the doctor to leave. Lol. Anyway - all I kept thinking of was how he was going to react to the doc poking him with needles. The night before his appointment we kept coaching him that he was going to the doctor and we pretended to poke him in the arm like the doctor was going to. To my surprise K was sooooo good at his appointment. I think it helped that the specialist has a good bed side manner. When it came to the point to do the needle poking - with a big smile I said "ok - time for the poking". Karter got a big smile on his face and just sat still for the doctor. We were so proud of him. In fact - the most Karter acted up was when we had to wait 15 minutes for the test results. But - Daddy acted quick and grabbed two tounge depressors and a cotton ball and the boys had a quick mini stick match. Good news is that K did not have any allergic reactions to what the doc tested him for. Bad news is that he has been diagnosed with asthma. Not a big deal - I also had asthma as a child and grew out of it. I am confident Karter will do the same.