Week In Review

Hello,

Just an update of my 1st week back to work. It seems a bit strange to come back to a new manager, new director and a new position. I'm sure things won't be this calm again for a very long time. I am going to start Six Sigma training (Project Management Certification)and will be working on several projects for our department. I love to dig into things and find things that need to be fixed and put out "fires"/issues that arise for our groups and internal departments. I am really excited about this new opportunity.

Tuesday I felt like I was starting a new job and even had the stomach butterflies to go along with it. Of course there was no need, everyone was happy to see me, and I was happy to see them. I hadn't been in the office since the beginning of September. I worked from home until I went out on official leave, December 10th. I came back to over 5,000 emails though. Many of which I could just delete since they were issues that had been addressed and the fact that I had a new position.

Wednesday came and went with it being pretty uneventful, still just trying to go through emails......argh!!!!!! I don't think anyone picks up the phone to call if there is something that they need anymore. There are some days that I think technology has taken the personal side of business away.

Thursday was a bit more hectic, not only did I have to go to work, but Rachel had her middle school concert that night. She had to be at the school at 6:30, I left work early enough to get home to catch my breath, but traffic did not cooperate, so I came in the door with enough time for a potty break and to take the shine off my face by applying a bit of powder. No more than 10 minutes later we were back out the door, so dinner for me was 10:00 that night (thank goodness everyone else had eaten prior). Rachel did a wonderful job singing in the chorus. She had a bit of a solo in one of the songs from the musical Rent that they sang. She also played her flute in 6th grade band and then played again with the 7th graders, who happened to be playing a piece with the 8th grade. We were very proud of here. She also had special surprise visitors from Cincinnati, her Grandma and Papa Schwarz attended her concert. She didn't know, and neither did Isaac that they were coming, so they were both very surprised and of course happy to see them. They also did awards, and Rachel received the 6th Grade Female Band Student award. We couldn't be prouder of her. She is definitely going to challenge her brother, Darryl. They are becoming very competitive music wise. I think I ate dinner and dropped into bed on Thursday.

Friday used to be my least favorite day of the week, because it was jeans day at work and I never felt comfortable wearing jeans. Well this Friday, I shocked everyone and showed up in jeans. Losing 72 lbs. will do that to a person. The jeans that I wore I hadn't worn ever (my friend Leslie gave them to me before I left Cinti - I love hand me downs)!! A couple of people didn't even recognize me, because in years past I would never wear jeans! I was sure glad when the day was over. I could tell I was missing my mid-morning naps!

Saturday was a blur - I am trying to take better care of my feet, and since reaching the bottoms of my feet successfully is still a bit trying, I try to do a pedicure every 6 weeks. So I was off for my appointment at 12:00; arrived and she was running "a little late". Well a little late turned out to be about an hour late, it really was not a big deal since I didn't have any kids with me. Then when I was done, I dashed back home to pick up Isaac to take him with me to get something to make for dinner. Darryl's girlfriend was coming for dinner and I wanted to pick up something a bit special. We didn't want to embarrass him - so off Isaac and I went well the others stayed home and cleaned the house! I love the look and smell of a clean house - they did a terrific job. While somethings may not have been done the way I would have done it, I've learned to let go, that is small stuff and learned to appreciate that they do it!!! FAMILY THANK YOU FOR CLEANING ON SATURDAY!!!!

Sunday was a day for the boys to work in the garden while Rachel and I went to church. We came home, had lunch and then Rachel, Isaac and I were off to Bray's Orchard (our local fruit and garden place). We arrived back with 2 flats of petunias, marigolds, cabbage, watermelon, green peppers, squash, zucchini, oregano, basil, dill, parsley, rosemary, and sage. The boys had already planted tomatoes and broccoli. I did a couple loads of laundry, made dinner, and took a 2 hour nap and still was asleep before 10:30.

Our garden is doing nicely. We have picked strawberries twice and Russell is going to pick them again tomorrow. The boys have already planted tomatoes and broccoli plants. We have 25 more strawberry plants due to arrive on Thursday along with asparagus plants. Even though the asparagus will take a few years before we can even pick, it will be well worth the wait since I won't pay 3-4 for a bunch of spears that look like wood.

Well, the natives are getting restless. I made angel food cake on Sunday to go with our home grown strawberries and they are anxious for another taste of angel food cake......so I'm off to get dessert underway. Why I do this to myself I am not sure since the 7 yr. old will just get hyped up on sugar. I guess we will crash him by giving him some benadryl for his allergies. The pollen and mold counts right now are effecting us all right now.

Good night for now fellow blogger family and friends!

Love,
Tina