Procrastinating...

Yes, I am procrastinating...right. now. 

I should be working on a few things that just have to be done, but I thought I would procrastinate a little longer by writing a quick blog post.  Don't shake your head.  You know you have done it.  I'm sure you have done your share of checking Facebook when you should be working, pinning on Pinterest when there is laundry to be done, or maybe even reading this blog when you should be...uhhhh...dusting?  Nah.

I am very glad we didn't procrastinate on having some fun times this weekend.  We had some big business to complete.  We needed to redeem some rewards.  Reading rewards.  I had one little (actually quite tall) five-year-old that was so geeked to redeem his first Book It personal pizza.  Who knew that pizza could be so exciting?  When you earn it, it must taste so much better.  Same with his Culver's ice cream for Reading Club.  Both redeemed on Friday night.  

He is behind the certificate.  I promise.

Yum!  So exciting.

Today we surprised the kids with a spur the moment trip to the Zoo Boo at Binder Park Zoo this afternoon.  Rain or shine, we were determined to have a good time.  It only poured once.  The kids were super happy to get to wear their costumes in public.  Jillian kept saying things like, "The audience is going to think I am a real bunny, Mommy!"  I guess the world is her stage.

My little bunny ready to leave.

Of course, Myles is Darth Vader.  He loves his mask.  It breathes like Darth Vader and says Vaderisms.  Don't ask me what it actually says.  He loves it.

Ready for action.

Hiding kangaroos brought this face.

Seriously, these are bears in a tree.  A little tree!  The kids learned a valuable lesson from their dad...  If you are ever being chased by a bear, don't bother climbing a tree.

Darth Vader riding an ant dressed as a cowboy.  Of course!  Cracks me up.

Ready to find some candy!

Headed on a hay ride.  Both kids had already ditched their costume heads.

Yes, Ben is using a light saber as a walking stick.

Prairie dogs like Halloween too.  Pumpkins, anyone?

Proof that I was with them....and that it was raining.  Why is it that after straightening Jillian's hair today, it gets wet and turns back into perfect ringlets?  Mine went from flat iron to frizz head in 30 seconds flat.

Good thing I procrastinated.  I was in a bit of a mood and now I have a big smile on my face.  Remembering the fun times of this weekend...worth it.  

Back to work! 

My new only child (for a few hours a week).

I had a great day today with Jillian.  It has occurred to me, I had two and a half years with just Myles and me.  Just now, at almost three and a half, I am getting Jillian all to myself.  I always love spending one-on-one time with the kids.  They each act differently without their "best friend" sibling.  She has my undivided attention and we can spend some fun time together.  I find her to be even more chatty, cuddly, and in love with me on our days alone.  I love it.

Gotta love bowling shoes.

Today was her first field trip for preschool.  A trip to the bowling alley.  She had a ball.  Literally.  Every single drop and roll down the lane had her jumping in excitement.

We met Ben for lunch in between loads of laundry (and loads of fun, of course).  She loves to pick where we go and having time with both of her parents to herself...quite amazing to a tiny tot.

I made some super scores at a consignment store today.  For some reason, I just love finding those perfect little used gems hiding in racks of faded pink shirts.  It is the thrill of the hunt for me.  Today, I conquered.  All the while, Jillian was conquering her reign in a princess castle they had at the front of the store.  Genius.

And now, it is dance time.  She is in class, learning her newest moves with eleven other darling dancers in pink and purple leotards and tutus.  And I - am writing a blog post.

I just had the most interesting conversation with one of the dads here.  He has a job very similar to mine for another company.  We were sharing war stories about market and product development and innovation.  I was sharing with him my constant pull to full-time.  I know my employer would prefer full-time and it would, of course, advance my career.  My issue...I just love these special days with my girl.  It seems like I am just now having the opportunity for this special one-on-one time with her.  Of course, I did not go into any of this with him.  Yet, he did offer a tidbit of his opinion on the topic of returning full-time.  He told me that I was young and I have thirty more years to work.  The job will be there.  You might as well delay now in these early years.  You have thirty more years to advance your career.  Interesting...from a complete stranger.  Something to ponder. 

Oh - and here is Jillian's hair tonight for dance.  For some reason, dance nights are always "try something new with her hair" nights.

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday's Love and I'm Better Off Without Lists...

Love List...

• This past weekend, Ben let Myles blow some leaves in the driveway with the leaf blower.  He was yelling a rebel yell with this low man voice the entire time.  Hilarious.  I wish I could capture the yell with words.  It is just something you need to experience.  Pure emotion expressed vocally...and like a man.
• I have a special hand sugar scrub in the main floor bathroom that we brought back from our trip this summer.  I told Jillian that she needed to ask anytime she wants to use it, so I can help her dish it out of the container with the little wooden spoon.  I love that she chooses to take the risk and use it without asking.  She is enamored with the smell and loves how soft her hands feel.  This girl is headed for high maintenance.  Maybe she is already there.
• Myles was talking to me this week about how "rambunctious" a character in a book was.  I love hearing him use words that I didn't teach him.
• A working meeting last night that was straight out of the movies.  A creative team working really late in an amazing innovation room at our corporate headquarters.  We ordered Chinese and powered through decisions until we dropped.
• I left Monday morning and returned tonight from a trip.  Ben was awesome hauling kids, making dinner, and keeping things together while I was gone.  It is never easy leaving, but knowing they are happy and safe at home sure helps.

I'm Better Off Without List...

• I saw two snakes on a run last week.  TWO!  
• Donuts and cider from the apple orchard.  I can't say no.  Seriously, something is wrong with me.    Stomachache or not, if we have them, I have to eat them.  It's ridiculous.  
• Reading Star Wars books to Myles.  I love that he loves them...but seriously?  I can't pronounce half of the words to his standard.  It is like there is this whole other Star Wars language out there...that I prefer NOT to learn.  In fact, I can get through reading a whole book to him and I have no idea what it was about.  I just think about something else.  Autopilot reading.  That is talent.
• Seeing shoes on the highway.  I will spend entirely too much time playing scenarios in my head to try and determine how the hell a pair of men's shoes ended up in the road.  Did a pissed off girlfriend throw them out of the car?  Did he run out of gas and he feet were hurting so he took off his shoes?  Really!?!  How does this happen?

Traditions

We have many traditions in our family that we started when the kids were just tiny tots.   Every year, we make more and more traditions.  I love that they have come to expect certain things at different times of the year, like going to lake Michigan in the summer, cutting down our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and of course, going to Gull Meadows every fall.  Each season they look forward to writing their Fun Things to Do list, decorating the windows with seasonal decorations, and talking about the fun things to come during the season.  Thank goodness the fall and winter seasons are jam-packed with fun traditions.  It keeps us moving through the icky winter months.

So...today was our traditional trip to Gull Meadows, despite the cold and rainy weather.  From wagon rides to the apple train, to picking apples...the kids have expectations about our yearly (at least) visit.  They know from tradition what to expect.  I love that.  Traditions are traditions...so we had to make it happen!  Trust me...the kids have been reminding us DAILY that we are past due on getting over there.  It doesn't help that we drive right by it at least once a day.  We talked them out of picking apples from dripping wet trees, but we still had a fun day.  Some picture highlights below!

 

Jillian ready to leave.  I was excited to use her old BabyLegs as leg warmers / boot socks this year.  Why not?

This frog umbrella is her new prized possession.  I mean, why wouldn't it be...right?

Myles climbing in the obstacle course.

Jumping on the giant blow up pillow thing.  So fun!  Add sprinkles of water to increase the danger factor...and fun!  Slippery!

Giant slide rides.  How fun does this look?  Too bad the kids are big enough to do it themselves.  I kinda think it would be totally awesome to go with them!

Apple train!

Yes, Myles looks like he is from England with that hat.  

The Zip line.  They both loved it.  Jillian is a little daredevil.

Of course, we had many poses from Jillian.  This one was my favorite this weekend.

She spun around so she could ride backwards.

Both kiddos on the wagon ride.  We literally rode the wagon around - never getting off at any stops because we didn't want to pick apples.  Riding the wagon is a tradition...we had to do it!  

*********************************************************

Drumroll please!  I'm happy to announce the winner of the awesome shopping pass to Norah's Nook to Tasha!  Tasha, please send me an email with your selection and address!  

nicole_bruinekool@sbcglobal.net

Thanks to all who entered!  A special thanks to Amy at Norah's Nook!

How not to get promoted.

It's been a while since I posted about work.  Sometimes I think it is harder to share things about my job.  Or maybe, I think that I already think about work entirely too much - why should I write about it too?  You know, it's like that dream you have where you are at the office all day and you wake up...and you have to go to the office.  It doesn't even matter that you just logged six hours of sleep in the workplace.  Anyway, as usual...I diverge from my point.

I have been making observations of some commonly made mistakes that women (myself included) make daily in the workplace.  I don't know if it is a part of our genetics, the way we were raised, or compliance to some sort of social norm.  Either way, it is limiting us.  We need to stop.  This list serves as a reminder to myself and anyone else that wants to listen to my soapbox rant.  Keep up the habits below if you do not want to get promoted.  It is a great way to limit yourself.

Apologize.  I do this all of the time.  Now, I bite my tongue (literally) if I apologize at work for something I did not do.  Frankly, this is something I do in all aspects of my life.  I am an "I'm sorry" person.  Most of the time, I truly am sorry that such and such happened, whether I was involved or not.  The thing is, if you do this at work...there will be someone that will be happy to let you shoulder the blame for something you were not responsible for.  Hey, why not?

Reject Compliments.  Now, I am not talking about the, "I like your hair today," "Cute dress!" or "Adorable shoes!" compliments.  I'm talking about positive comments about your work.  Accept them.  Thank the person that complimented you.  It is time to recognize that you did do a great job and you earned the compliment.  Own it, just like you owned the responsibility to get the work done in the first place.

Be a Wallflower.  Do you have a comment during the tenth meeting of the day? (A reality it seems in my world - so many meetings!!)  Give your opinion.  Have a voice.  I'm guessing you were invited to the meeting for a reason.  They wanted you there...for your opinion.  Voice it.

Be a Doormat.  Stand up for yourself.  Be confident.  Speak up.  Make eye-contact.  Project confidence.  Stand up straight.  Hold your ground.  AND - for goodness sake, learn to say no when appropriate.  Of course, I don't recommend rejecting a project from your CEO, but sometimes it is absolutely necessary to ask questions about a request.  What decisions will be made based on the project?  How will it help us grow our business?  What will you do with the information upon completion?  I am a pleaser, so this is a hard one, but sometimes it is necessary to assess priority between projects.  This is one way to get that done.

Segregate Yourself.  A surefire way to create a negative advantage to being a woman in the workplace is to use womanhood as a way to advance or explain a stagnant career.  I work in a man's world and frankly, you could ask any one of them and they would say I am just one of the guys.  I like it that way.  I don't want to be treated differently as a woman, so I certainly don't want to project that I am different. We are all there for the same reason, to get a job done.  It really doesn't matter whether you wear pants or a skirt (I should say pencil skirt) to work.  We have the same goals.

Alienate Other Women.  Find a mentor.  Be a mentor.  Women in the workplace need to support and build each other up.  One of my best moments from this week at work was getting one of my interns an interview for a full-time position at corporate.  I relish in her success.  I feel confident that I have a "society" of women at work that have my back.  I have theirs, too.

There is plenty of opportunity for women in corporate America.  Know what you want.  Set goals. Make it happen.  If you find yourself in a rut, seek out a mentor.  AND - if you are more advanced in your career, help out a woman who is early in her career.  I bet you will both learn...from each other.

Productivity High

Do you know that feeling you get when you get tons and tons of stuff done that you have been meaning to do?  You know, it's somewhere between relief and accomplishment, and....rockstar?  I loved today.  Jillian and I were super-productive ladies and got tons of things done.  

For whatever reason, I find zen in the fact that all of the books the kiddos have outgrown have now been relinquished to the basement...awaiting a future sibling OR a book donation.  Their bookshelves now resemble the library.  That is exactly where I scored this amazing set of vintage books.  I'm sure that is where the book purge began.  Anyway, for $3.00, I got these amazing classics.  Some of them are first editions and all of them have that old book smell that proves that they are from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.  Awesome.  Madeline was the super score.  We love her here.  I'm not sure if this copy will actually become a part of the book collection in Jillian's room.  It might just go straight into a shadow box.  It is super old and in perfect condition.  Only a true nerd would be this excited about this book score at the library.  I think the librarian even thought I was weird.

So we did laundry, work emails, Wednesday Wigglers, organized all of the toys in Myles's room, had lunch with Daddy, returned three rejected dresses from a quick shopping trip this weekend (you know - when you buy four for one wedding and return three because you couldn't decide which one to pick in the store??), read tons of books as we organized them, you know...normal Mom stuff. 

Yet, I think my biggest accomplishment of the day actually came in just five minutes of work.  I'm sure the "work" will be worth a huge amount to my little kindergartner when he receives this letter through his school "WEE DELIVER" program with the U.S. Postal Service.  I can't wait to hear all about receiving a letter at school tomorrow.  They sent a note home this week to launch the program, but he hasn't said one word about it.  I'm sure he will be so excited.  Stickers + Construction Paper + Markers + Felt Heart = A Happy Boy.

Tuesday's Love and I'm Better Off Without Lists...

Love List...

• Jillian was playing doggie this weekend and kept in her character for quite a while, drinking from a bowl, eating her snack from a bowl...the whole bit.  She asked me how Wilson learned to eat without his hands.  I love these pictures taken in her dog house.
• I got a love letter this week.  Seriously.  How awesome is that?  It was not a traditional snail mail, cologne-scented love letter, but it was a modern day love letter delivered today's way...a Facebook message.
• Myles gets out of school early tomorrow!
• Last night Jillian wasn't real interested in finishing her dinner.  She said, "Mom, I don't have a very good signal right now.  I think I need to go outside to get better reception."  Hilarious.
• Our local school system.  It is frankly, amazing.  Of course, my exposure has only been a month or so, but the programming offered to our children is incredible.  Reading club, mileage club (of course I would eat this up - and Myles loves running), Young Rembrandt's art class, iPads in kindergarten...the options for involvement are amazing.
• Trampoline time at my mom's house.  The kids LOVE it and it brings back fun memories.  They were super impressed with my flipping abilities.  
• My sister from Georgia has been in Michigan for a month!  Maternity leave is so fun - and so is cuddling with my new niece.
• Big family dinners in the middle of the week.  Tonight we were all at my parents house.  All three sisters!  How fun is that?!?

I'm Better Off Without List...

• Unsolicited advice that isn't right anyway.  Thanks, but no thanks.
• Remember that fun trampoline time I mentioned above?  Well...too bad I now remember that I am thirty-two based on the tweak in my neck.  Motrin anyone?