Who's bringing the White Castles?

One of the past holidays this year I ended up having to work. Although the work day ended short I had to work passed closing time.  Working late left me with no time to prepare an appetizer I was supposed to cook and bring to the family party. At this point I was stressing because either I went home to cook my dish and show up 2 hours late or I could get something store bought (which ended up being completely sold out of ready-made dishes). I didn't want to show up empty handed so I opted for White Castles. Classy, right?

That story got me thinking about my life over the last year and half back in the work force. I began thinking about the areas I seemed to really accomplish well as a mom with 55,000 things on her plate.  I felt really great about my ability to balance schedules of my own family's day to day activities.  It seemed I have been really great at the day to days, but it's the "extras" I seemed to be lacking.

The "extras" in working mom lingo is anything outside of the 8 to 9 to 10 hour day (which ever your reality might be).  The sheer energy of getting ready and getting a kid to daycare or family member's house is just about all the energy a normal person would have left...for the ENTIRE DAY, but then you have to work, pick them up, go home, make dinner, give baths, do random household stuff, spend time with your spouse, and then finalllllly go to sleep.

The "extras" might be that family dinner on a week night or going to the grocery store after work. It's not that us working moms despise these "extra" activities, we love them! It may just mean we go to those "extra" events looking a little tired, maybe a little late, or maybe the dish we bring isn't homemade. The most important thing is that we are THERE sharing our precious moments with the people we work so hard to enjoy. So don't feel guilty about bringing the White Castles.

Traveling Salesperson

‎August ‎09, ‎2010
7:43 PM

I used to think the "traveling salesperson" (my attempt at being politically correct) who I rented cars to at my previous job were so annoying when they complained about their job.   I mean seriously. I was just as educated, if not more, and I was renting cars...and cleaning them. I pretty much despised people who had uber-cool jobs which allowed them to TRAVEL and get paid- how unfair!  Well, I became one of those annoying people this week.

I started a  new job which involved a two week training to Minneapolis, MN (I like to call it Minne-AN-apolis just because).  Amping up for the new job, the travel seemed really exciting. Staying in a nice hotel flying in Sunday to Friday, jetting home for the weekend and shooting back for the last week of training. After the FIRST night of the FIRST week, I felt terrible for despising all of those rental car customers.  I completely knew why they hated it.

When family is removed from the traveling equation, it's just sad :( You are not the one getting your husband coffee in the morning or wiping your kids butt. You're certainly not home to tell them you are going to cook them a homemade meal and then regretfully get their favorite drive-thru because your too tired.  I missed all of the things that so annoyed me. Suddenly on my weekend home, dirty underwear on the floor didn't really bother me, wet towels on the carpet will inevitably picked up, and Candyland can certainly be played passed the third round and not be as annoying as you think.

I miss home :(

But I love my new job. I love my family more. I love Jesus the most :)

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE ALL OF THE CUTE THINGS BELLA SAID TO ME ON THE PHONE MY FIRST WEEK GONE & MY WEEKEND HOME- IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT'S FINE, I DON'T BLAME YOU.

• "Do you remember me, Mom?" - my heart broke
• "Ahhhh. Just what I needed. The sun to go down because the sun was burning my eyes."
• "I will neber (how she says never) be too big for you to hold me, Mom."
• "I love you more than Daddy."
• "I love Daddy more than you."
• "Member when I was a baby and I just wanted you?" -I love it when kids say "member" instead of "remember" and tell stories about themselves being a baby.
• "Why are you going to Minnesota again?"

My FIRST Blog :)

August 7th, 2010
5:29 p.m.

So this is it...My Blog. I feel a little 90's just now beginning this endeavor, but I have meant to do it since the Perez Hilton craze in the early 2000's.  Then, there was high school graduation, then college, then marriage, and then three months later pregnancy...BELLA (who was undoubtedly the best one year wedding anniversary present ever).

I actually thought in the hospital  I would definitely be taking up blogging now I would be a stay at home mom, but between my procrastination of losing my baby weight (all 65 lbs. of it), nursing for 13 months, and returning to the workforce when she turned 2, it moved to the bottom of the pile. Now I'm starting a new career, getting ready to begin my masters degree, and enrolling Bella in some kind of Saturday Extra-Curricular, I decided now would be the perfect time (sarcasm).

Major motivation: I want other working, born-again mothers to know, they are NOT alone. They are not the only one who forget to pick up their kids at daycare. They are not the only ones who make meals which require one baking dish and less than 4 ingredients. They are not the only ones who can't remember where their kid goes on which day and who the heck is picking them up. And most importantly, a diary for my precious Bella, so she knows just how much of my 8 hour work day was spent thinking about her & trying to give her the BEST example of career & Christ. :)