Soccer

Did I tell you about Kiddo's first soccer practice on Monday? No? Well then...let the venting begin, shall we? **** To begin at the beginning, Kiddo had his first soccer practice this past Monday. He really had forgotten about it and I didn't say anything to him because I knew that if I did, he'd be too excited to eat a decent dinner. But, I suppose I need to start even before that... We signed him up nearly a month ago and were told then that we would be informed as to when and where our first practice would be and who our coach was. Tick...tick...tick. Nothing. So the day of the first practice comes (and I only knew the date because I picked up a flyer when I signed Kiddo up that had the meeting schedule for the AYSO figureheads) and still no word from them about where we needed to be and when. Finally, around 4PM when I was leaving work, I decided to try to call them...again. And as I was nearing home I got a call back from someone who apologized profusely that we had not been contacted, but stated that we were not the only family who was dealing with this lack of knowledge. She told me to be at one of the local elementary schools at 6PM and that the children were not required to wear their uniform, but that the cleats and shin-guards were vital. (Duh!) So we do our part and show up on time, with gear in tow and water out the wazoo... And we wait around, greeting the other moms and dads and kids we know and trying to find the coach. Guess what? The coach we were assigned to never showed up! Thankfully, one of the other coaches kindly offered to absorb the kids on our team who otherwise would not have been able to play. Kiddo had a great time, and never knew that anything was amiss. He kind of got a hint that we might have to go home and not play if the coach didn't show, but then the other coach took him under her wing and let him play with her. Crisis averted. I did, however, make another call to the woman I'd called earlier that day and voiced my intense displeasure (as kindly as I possibly could, because it was not her fault the coach didn't show) and requested that she please call me back as soon as possible. She called back just after 8PM and said again how sorry she was but that they were trying to track down the no-show coach and figure out what happened. Apparently all the AYSO big-wigs had meetings upon meetings that afternoon after they were alerted (by my call) to the fact that the coach was MIA. So later we find out that this coach had been called away on business last minute. What? It was so last minute that he couldn't make ONE phone call to let the AYSO know that he wouldn't be there so they could make other arrangements? Guess not. What have we learned from all this? 1) We know that our coach is a flake (maybe) 2) Our practices are every Monday at 6PM all the way across town 3) Kiddo is going to have an absolute BLAST playing soccer 4) Whatever hassles there may be, Kiddo having a blast playing soccer is the most important thing. After all, that's the whole point, isn't it? TTFN JMS

The Weekend Recap

Little Bit had a rough afternoon on Friday. The copious amounts of fruit she ate that morning at breakfast didn't agree with her, and while riding around in the car with me and Kiddo (of course, it would have to be in the car) everything came back up. YUM! We were already almost home when it happened so she sat quietly (I couldn't believe it) until I could clean her up once we reached home. Inside, she got a bath and the car seat got a preliminary scrubbing but not a full-out wash because I knew I'd have to use the seat again before Hubby got home and there wasn't time to run it through the washing machine and let it dry. She didn't have a fever and was otherwise acting fine, so I thought, "One-time thing... Probably something didn't agree with her," although I was monitoring her closely. About an hour or so later, we got back in the car to take Kiddo to church. She did it AGAIN! Twice! I had to call Hubby to come rescue us so Kiddo could get to where he was going and I could go back home and give Little Bit ANOTHER bath! We weren't going anywhere at this point so I just put her in her Jammies and we snuggled in my bed and watched WonderPets. (A friend said that the WonderPets have great healing power!) She fell asleep early and slept all night. Saturday, she was completely herself and ate like she'd been starved for 3 days! She never had a fever, she just felt kind of yucky. It's amazing how needy they are when they don't feel well, and how blasted independent they are when they feel fine! Sunday was church and then later in the day, dinner with friends we hadn't seen in about 6 years! Their two kids, our two, and the son of two more friends all had a great time. 5 kids ranging from 2 years to 5 years and 7 adults. It was chaotic, but a very nice evening. It was after 8PM by the time we got home! I couldn't believe we'd stayed so long. Hope everyone's weekend was as wonderful as mine. (Oh, except for the puking! That was sarcasm!) TTFN JMS

More work stuff

It's somewhat quiet here today. Don't get me wrong, I'm still crazy busy - but less-so than the rest of the week. Hubby and Little Bit came to the office this morning after they dropped off Kiddo at Kindergarten. They brought me a clock that belonged to CD before he died. It's silver and glass and looks great in my office. It's nice to have a clock that reflects an accurate time! :) They got to meet 2 of my bosses and one of them, the President of the company, disappeared in to his office and reappeared seconds later with a big zippy bag full of balloon animal balloons! He asked Little Bit what color she wanted (of course, she chose pink...she's such a princess!) and then -ZIP!- there was suddenly a pretty little balloon french poodle! So cool! She was very excited about her new "toy" and it was a fantastic first impression. Then Hubby and the Operations Manager spent a little time talking about me (all good...thank you very much!) and then everybody went back to work or, in Hubby and Little Bit's case, whatever they were doing before they came to see me. Anyway - I'm beginning to make myself at home at the office. I'm getting everyone's names down quite well, have mostly figured out the QuickBooks software and am gearing up for a 2nd round of Payroll on Monday. Feelin' good. I've got a picture of Kiddo and Little Bit on my desktop (the computer screen, that is) and another one of them on one of the shelves. I've swept, dusted, cleaned and organized. All this on top of the regular work they've had me doing. So I guess that's it for now. I feel very blessed right now. TTFN JMS

Deets on new job!

Ok - so you want details, eh? **** I got this job because a friend from church gave my resume to a friend of his. His friend called me, requested an interview, and the rest is history. I half wonder if they weren't afraid of losing me to another company because after my 2.5 hour interview on a Wednesday, one of the 3 folks I interviewed with said, "You can expect to hear from us in a week or two..." I heard from them on Friday. You cannot imagine my excitement and relief when I answered the phone to hear my new boss say, "When can you start?" Anyway - I am the Office Manager and my duties include things like Accounts Payable & Receivable, Payroll, and general office support. So far, I'm learning...and it's A LOT of information to take in...but I really like it and think that after a couple of weeks of this, I'll be just fine. It feels strange to be responsible for other's paychecks, but since I do have some familiarity with the process, it's just a question of learning THIS way. I really like everyone I work with and for and...this shocks me for some reason...I have my own office! Granted, it's kind of a walk through to the reception area where the office supplies and the fax machine are...but I don't care. I've got a HUGE window and there's a little bitty Hummingbird that comes to visit me each morning. He flies up to the window and looks at himself in the reflection of the glass. Then, once he's satisfied he's still beautiful, he flies away. I see him a few more times during the day because there are two lovely blooming crepe myrtle trees on either side of my window that he visits. I made a comment to one of my new bosses that I was going to get a shepherd's hook and a hummingbird feeder and put it right outside my window. His response? "Whatever you want to do!" Well, OK then. Anyway - I'm very busy, which is good. I'm trying to readjust myself to working hours. I've spent too much time over the last few weeks staying up late and sleeping in. Now I'm up and gone by the crack of dawn again. It's amazing how just a few short weeks (it was less than 1 month that I was unemployed. 3.5 weeks until I got a call saying, "Hey - why don't you come work for us?") can really mess with your inner clock/schedule. So that's it for now. I'll write more again soon! Hope all is well out there in blog-land! TTFN JMS

NEW JOB!!!

I'm gainfully employed!!! YAY! Big sigh of relief. So now that I'm working and back to a semi-regular schedule, maybe I can start posting regularly again! More later, OK? TTFN JMS