Big changes ahead

This is a big week for our family, as we have a lot of changes coming our way. I plan on enjoying the heck out of the kids this week (I hope that is possible-they did drive me a little batty today with John away at the race, but we got through) while they are on what they call 'mid-winter break'. I mean, it hardly felt like winter here today at 68 degrees, but that is OK by me. Anyway, I just hope that we all get through all the change that is to come and that we make it there in one piece. Change is good, right?? Its never easy, but, I'm ready for some change, so I think we'll be just fine.

Valentine Bakers

We've been cooking and baking a lot this week. Our neighbors, Tammy and Mark just had a beautiful baby girl, so we took them dinner Monday night. T helped me make the brownies for dessert. I was trying to get her to pose like I did in a picture when I was about this age and doing the very same thing. This evening, we prepared for the Valentines Day parties tomorrow. J looks very comfortable here with his rolling pin, helping me make heart cut outs for his party. (Oh, don't look at my horribly messy house in the background....it is my weekend 'project' while John is at the Daytona 500)

Here is my schedule tomorrow:

7:45am Drop off T at school

8:50 am Drop off J at school

9:15-? am Parents Day at J's school

10:15-11:40am J's Valentines Day party

12:30-2pm T's Valentines Day party

(Somewhere in here I am treating myself to some Starbucks-I'm gonna need it)

John asked me what my day looked like tomorrow since it is my last one before I go back to work (the kids are off next week, so he means last morning to myself...well you can see that theory is shot). I, however, will be enjoying every minute of it, partying! That is just fine with me, as all I'd be doing otherwise is going to the gym and maybe a little shopping. Partying is much more fun.

Went to a meeting at Coke today. The traffic was horrible getting there, but dare I say, it actually felt good to be at 'work'. It wasn't really work because it was just a meeting, but I really like the people in this group-not the stuffy accounting types at all. And, there is always a lot to drink at any Coke function-today I tried the 'new' Dasani Plus water. Also, Vitamin Water is in large supply as it appears this is a huge area of growth for the company. Since I love to drink (as I have said, the only thing better than a good Diet Coke is an alcoholic beverage of some sort), it is very fun to try all these new beverages--for free! Anyway, I still have a week and a half 'off' before I go back, but at least I've met a lot of the people and I like what I see so far. We'll see how it all goes. The kids are off next week, so we'll enjoy not setting the alarm clock and doing whatever we please the entire week. I'm really looking forward to it.

Love Hurts

That is the title of an old song...and the reason I call it 'old' is because I am now hearing songs from my youth (80's) on the OLDIES station on some of the machines at the gym. Since when did Journey become an oldies band? Anyway, I was trying to snap some Valentines pics of the kids for the grandparents and this is what I got:

1. J looks like he is in pain (hence the title of this post, Love Hurts), but he is just being silly

2. T looking a lot like Mommy some would say (except Mommy doesn't have those pretty blue eyes). Note J's adoring look-both Mommy and T get that look often!

3. The result of Mommy telling T to keep her eyes open:
4. Finally a decent one, but still with messy hair and a skeptical look for J. I can see him saying, "Riight", like Denise does.I love these kids.
Say, "I love you" to the ones you love this Valentine's Day. If you've never experienced the pain of love, then you never get to experience the rewards. Like they say, "No pain, no gain".

Bad Hair Day

Not really, as this is what most days look like for J who won't let you comb his very fine hair. This is the result of going to bed with clean, slightly wet hair. Gotta love it. He does!!

Where have I been?

I don't know! That is the best answer I have. It seems like forever since my last blog post and that is because I have been busy! First and foremost, I landed a job and am preparing to go back to work in a few weeks! Ohhhh, so now you understand why I have not blogged. This all happened so fast and I did everything in my power to try to get out of it but.....not so much.

As my dear friend Denise suggested in a recent post, I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I'm not sure I'll ever grow up, but for the past three years as a stay at home mom, I have been trying to figure out what next. I'm not sure I'll ever be 100% sure about any career choice, so I did decide to stick with what I know and look to see what was out there. I had a pain in the a-- recruiter working for me (barely) and he did get my resume into Coke. Well, to make a long story short, I had a great opportunity to work for some really great people presented to me last week and I decided to take it. I will eventually be able to work from home a few days a week (maybe more as the job can be done from home), will have TONS of flexibility, all while working for a great company with a great name and, lets not forget FREE soda! Well, not to bring home, but to drink while in the office. The corporate HQ even has a 'soda finder' where you can search for your favorite Coke products throughout the buidling (like the old faves such as TAB-Aunt Barb's favorite) and you can go to that machine and get yourself a Diet Coke for free! The only thing better would be working in a brewery, but I doubt you'd be able to drink on the job there. There are other perks, but most of all the flexibility was key. In addition, since I've never cared much for Accounting (which I will be doing here), I will have an opportunity to go back to school to earn an advanced degree on their dime, if I so choose. So, like I said, it was a very good 'deal' I just couldn't pass up.

Since I decided to take advantage of this opportunity, I've been busy enjoying the kids, my friends, and FREE time. Will I ever have that again?!! Also, I've been searching for daycare for J. He'll have a tough time at first, but a place we looked at today looks promising with lots of fun toys (and he actually wanted to get down and play instead of the tight grip in previous center visits where he said, "Mommy not going to leave me here"-talk about guilt trip). I will really miss my little man-he is so funny these days, but I know he will have so much to do and be stimulated all day at daycare, so I don't worry about him too much. I am thankful that he isn't a tiny fragile little baby and instead, a talkative almost three year old who will surely give me a full day's report. T, on the other hand, is BEGGING to go to after school care. I think a few weeks in she'll miss her after school peanut butter sandwiches (school lunches are CRAPPY and mandatory) and the TV downtime.

So, that is the big news here. Oh, that and J is actually doing a little potty business these days. So proud! For a headstrong kid, I thought it would be a lot harder than, "Do you want to sit on the potty?". He gets a big kick out of it, actually. I am going with the no pressure route. Whatever I can get out of him is fine for now.