Up to Date

Well, again not too much going on here, but some randoms:

The Olympics are over, and tomorrow I get Oprah back! Tomorrow they're going to reveal the real person behind ELMO and Daniel can't wait!!

Daniel is saying "amen" at the end of a prayer (if you make it quick enough).

Dave and I started watching some tapes loaned by our friends Patrick and Lydia of a TLC show called "Dry Dock" about the 23 day cruise ship renovation of Royal Carribean's Sovereign of the Seas. It's actually the ship we went on for our honeymoon so we are hooked. Since we won't be going on a cruise again for a long, long time, it's the best we can do for this year.

I will admit I have not had a haircut since November, and I have been on the hunt for a new reasonable stylist (my old one was closer to my workplace but 40 minutes from home). Things are getting pretty bad, as I have been resorting to the ponytail a lot. I think March is the month for a new do, and after we get the gas bill I will see if I can afford highlights also. This could possibly fulfill my 2005 new year's resolution- keep your fingers crossed!

UPDATE: We got the gas bill, it was lower than the previous month's bill, so I have a haircut appointment next week!

I think I preferred the dead deer.... please someone send me a new view from my kitchen window!! 

Trip to the ER

I knew that title would grab your attention. Yes, we were there last night. Before you get too excited, we are all just fine.

Daniel woke us up at 11:30pm with the croup. He's had it before, but this time he was having a hard time breathing along with the loud "seal barking" cough. We called our doctor who advised us to go to the Vanderbilt Children's hospital ER since the troubled breathing was happening even after Daniel calmed down. Our doctor told us what the treatment would be once we got there and how long we would expect to be there. We feel so fortunate to live within 30 minutes of a world class children's facility.

So, we checked ourselves in at 12:25 am and waited about an hour until we saw a doc. Daniel was in high spirits the whole time, wandering, looking at the other babies, wanting to play. It was a United Nations waiting room. By 2:00 am we had our medicine but had to wait an additional hour for the breathing treatment at 3 am, which worked immediately. After an hour of observation, we were discharged at 4 am. Daniel was happy and playful the whole time. We sang songs and tickled a lot. We watched the Olympics together. Daniel likes snowboarding.

We left to drive home in a full blown ice storm, so we didn't make it back home until 5am. Daniel immediately fell asleep and has done well today considering his adventure. We are tired, but enjoying the pretty snow today. So glad it's a Saturday and tonight we will all sleep well!

Randoms

We've had a lot going on, but not too much is blogworthy. Here are a few randoms:

Daniel had his 2nd haircut today. Initially I thought it was going to be a disaster but he calmed down once he discovered the Dum Dum sucker (his first ever). Thank God for whoever created the Dum Dum.

I had a romantic lunch date with Dave today for Valentines Day. We ate at one of my favorite downtown spots, Amy's. I managed to score a parking spot right in front of his building and it felt just like the old days when we used to carpool and I picked him up there every afternoon.

I drove down Church Street just because they turned it back into a 2 way and I wanted to try it out, and I passed Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell driving in a Saturn (he certainly is loyal to our local economy).

I wanted to see Garth and Tricia on Oprah today, but Oprah's been pre-empted for the next two weeks by the Olympics. If I see one more news person (Katie Couric, Robin Roberts) trying out snowboarding I'm going to cry. Enough already- just skip to the figure skating and be done with it. And we all know Michelle Kwan never should have gone over there in the first place, Emily Hughes belonged on the team.

Back to Daniel... and his current obsessions: Eating at the big table, ELMO, Sesame Street, Boohbah, reading books, cars, cars, and more cars. Itsy Bitsy Spider and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Potato chips, jello and cookies. Saying "Peas" (Please) and "Jews" (Juice). Giving hugs complete with pats on the back.

Happy Valentine's Day!

UPDATE 2/15: This morning Al Roker and Matt Lauer are trying out the Luge together. Agh!
UPDATE # 2 on 2/15: An hour later Katie Couric is trying to ski! She falls down - Agh! Agh!
I am officially not watching the Today show until the Olympics is over....

Financial Peace

In January we started "Financial Peace University" with our church community group because our church was encouraging all members to go through the course as a result of our last sermon series, and because Dave Ramsey goes to our church and provided the course materials for free.

We have been fans of DR since our marriage in 1999, but we have never officially gone through the course until now. It's been an eye opener, because the key to the success of the plan is couples working together. It's like a 13 week marriage counseling class. So far, we have enjoyed it and we've had some great conversations regarding our money. We have even made some changes that will make bill paying less stressful for me. I feel like there is always room for improvement in the area of money management, no matter who you are or what you know.

The people in our group who seem the most committed to this course are those of us trying to make it on one income. Since I have officially quit my job, we are down there in the trenches now, and it is a war. We live in a very affluent area of the city, and we are well below the average income for our neighborhood. For us, it's do or die by the budget. It's nice to be working with other couples with the same attitude.

You can't push DR on people- they either love him or think they don't need him. His plan is like Weight Watchers, unless you are commited to doing the work, you don't get the benefits. But he is right, when he says "Live like no one else, so (later) you can live like no one else". We plan to do so.

No, we are not potty training yet but Daniel has been extremely jealous of his potty training friends who have been over this week. He just had to try it out. 

I love my blueberry pancakes!! 

Last Day

Today was supposed to be* my last day of work in Corporate America! I decided to part ways with my employer to focus on my new organizing business, Solutions. I had a great part time gig going, but sometimes you just have to know when to say goodbye. I was there almost nine years! That's about 1/4 of my life so far and 82 % of my after-school career. (Yes, I just created a quick spreadsheet to get that 82%). I have a few reflections on my life in Corporate America. I think I might go back someday, so I need to document this:

1) Company culture and mission counts: If you're not proud to be there, you won't stay.
2) Slackers abound but can only advance so far: There is a Modelnetics term called the Peter Principle- the idea that in hierarchical organization structures individuals tend to get promoted to their level of incompetence (yes, I had to go look it up). My biggest frustration- it is easier for lazy people to hide in large organizations, but eventually most of them will self destruct. They'll just drive you nuts until they do.
3) Never burn your bridges and watch out for office politics. So cliche and so very true.
4) Don't count on getting a pat on the back: After you do a job for awhile, you make it look easy and get taken for granted. No one will ever know but you and that's ok. Give up trying to get those kudos and get on with your life outside of work.
5) To be a good supervisor you have to know what your people do in their everyday jobs and acknowledge their frustrations. Sometimes I felt like a career counselor more than a boss, but I never just pretended to care. I actually did and it felt good.
I'm sure there's a lot more but you're probably asleep by now....

* I actually didn't even get to go into work today for my goodbye lunch, because Daniel had been running a fever last night. Oh well, we'll try again later.