Week over Week

As I sit in the dentist's chair waiting to learn the fate of an upper left molar, I'll attempt to explain why I think this week has got to be better than last:

1. After celebrating mr price's bday in lovely style... He became deathly I'll with the flu. poor guy; never seen him look so miserable. and it lasted alllll week. which meant a couple things: (1) he was in quarantine upstairs and i brought him food and drink, little more than sliding it on the bedside stand and bolting for the door for fear of catching this dreaded illness or worse... passing it on to the Shorty. (2) sick and in quarantine = needs help, not helping. so all morning, evening and middle of the night duties were passed to yours truly.
2. between the snow and the below freezing temps, there was quite a bit to maintain around the house - dripping pipes, running the pool pump, fishing leaves out of the pool (which involves holding a large aluminum pole for extended periods at below freezing temps and no, i did not stick my tongue on it), carrying the citrus trees to the cabana, and other manual labor.
3. still in the wrist brace
4. severe tooth pain brought on by a girl scout cookie. (they look all sweet and innocent...)
5. our cousin's dog had to be put down. broken hearts all around.
6. VERY heavy work load this week + a work event which meant having to stay late
7. earlier in the week I declined some additional (& substantial) volunteer work. by mid week I found myself having just agreed. hello rush advisor. what? yep. for all the fun I am SURE it will be; i still might be crazy.
8. the nanny missed monday due to a cut foot. while it was surely an accident, it totals a LOT of missed days. So tuesday involved a very serious 'talk' with her and the other nanny-share mom. no fun. but definitely necessary.
9. Friday was a 'snow day' funny thing about snow days when you work from home: NOTHING CHANGES other than it's cold and a bunch of other people are working from home who usually don't so conference calls start late, people no-show and progress is gerenally slower and more frustrating.
10. All weekend plans were cancelled - not just because or Mr. Price's aforementioned illness, but because all three other families ended up sick, too. Did I mention my hands are raw from contant washing?
11. this was the last week to get in all final details for a large fundraiser of which I am on the board. many emails and phone calls. see item #6 above which indicates: it is not ideal timing to need to wrap up a bunch of loose ends.
12. despite substantial effort - the car search is still no closer to closure. oh, and the cabana renovation has not had a finger lifted in it's direction... which leads me to additional odds and ends, but at this point i'm exhuasted myself.

But some lovely things happened last week, too.

• Besides for the birthday celebration and the lovely new shoes that had their debut
• I had a lovely lunch on Friday with Arin, little Will and my babino at 34th St Cafe
• Late Saturday night while the babino slept and Mr. Price felt up to it...I saw a movie for the first time in ages. Loved the cinematography & lighting plus very interesting dialog and speed to The Social Network. It was pretty darn good I have to say.

So the bottom line: this week I'm looking for a multi-digit percent improvement over last and i'm pretty sure that can be achieved. =)

Sent from my iPhone

The Enemy of Perfection

So this evening as I ate my dinner, talked about work and fed the baby with the (seemingly attention-starved) cat sitting in my lap, it hit me: I haven't blogged in awhile. Was it the business trip that took a week of prep to match my week on the road? The photo sessions and related post-production endless task list? Maybe it was because of the newly-crawling, teething kiddo and adjustment to the time change and all that entails? Could it be the trips to the vet and the kitty-girl overcoming her illness that just about sent her to kitty girl heaven? Maybe it's the house redecorating? It surely wasn't the distraction of UT football. For all the times I get super busy, I still find time to blog. Why haven't I? I have tons of stories, updates and vignettes in my head, just bouncing around and itching to get out... so why?

My cousin recently emailed and asked us to compile photos and stories for my Grandmother's upcoming 90th birthday (yet another undone-to-do) and something she included at the end of the request was compelling. Maybe I should think on it a bit more until it REALLY sinks in... but on to it: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough" In an effort to make things just right, don't put so much effort into it that you don't finish it and move on to the next thing.

You laugh. Think this was directed at me? Case in point?

So yes, I have managed to skip over some blog-worthy happenings which about drives me bonkers. It's one thing with things are just crusin' along, nothing to report, and I'm feeling the creative impulse to scribble. But uggh, to have content yet haven't captured it is like an itch I can't scratch. Did I mention I *actually* worked out? YES! THREE, count 'em THREE trips to Vinyasa Yoga (that's three 90 minute sessions of power yoga in a heated room). I mean, that's SOMETHING.

With all these things scrolling through my cabeza, I kept thinking I'd back-blog them. But alas, I give up. Maybe I'll have a very slow next couple weeks and have the chance to do just that. Ah, note to self: next week is Thanksgiving. Is it possible? (Time to bust out the Charlie Brown!)

And so in summary, I offer the following... Here 'tis:
-work trip damn near did me in... but I made lemonade: flew the boys to meet me in San Fran and we enjoyed spectacular weather. Even the locals were in awe.
-for now, I've managed to stave off the 2 week trip to Brazil. Seriously? Brazil. Don't get me started on the irony. and related eye-rolling frustration.
-The kitty girl is in full recovery. However, she has a new problem... for years she was a bit, shall we say, overly fluffy? (read: morbidly obese and on diet food for years, to no avail). She has dropped from ~20 lbs to a frail 5 1/2 lbs and as we have been working to pack the pounds back on, she has made progress. Along with it, she's become less irritable. whew. few things as mood altering as a cranky kitty. ESPECIALLY an hour after the baby has gone to sleep.
-yoga. see above. Mmmmmm. yay.
-the house make-over has been delightful. makes me wonder why i didn't do this early.
-we had our first over-night away from the bebe. Mr. Price and I got away for about 36 hours for a lovely stay at Barton Creek Resort while the shorty's delighted Nana got the pleasure of snuggling and playing with the little charmer. And a good time was had by all.

that's all I've got for now, team. Diving back into photoshop for the balance of the evening for a photo shoot of a babino with several large souvenirs of recent fun-gone-awry (aka scratches, bruises and bumps) that we'd prefer not preserve. good times.

over & out.

Self Portrait on Mescalin

If I were to draw a self portrait, it would really be more of a caricature, resembling me, biting the corner of my lip while attempting to focus through the sleep deprivation and aphasia, juggling multiple items with each limb -except for one foot, pushing down on the gas peddle- while shoveling bites of food in my mouth, talking on the phone -handsfree, I assure you- and pumping. (what?! yeah, I said it...)

Of course, there would be a big silly grin on my face and my hair, dusted with dry shampoo, would be pulled up into a pseudo-french twist. Any remaining mental energy (that little bubble above my head in aforementioned caricature) would be plotting out the next 8 things I need to accomplish within the next 7 minutes, prioritizing for the order most efficient - oh, and re-evaluating the balance of my life (what are we doing for date night this week?)...to ensure things are as they should be...

Yes, the image I paint is that of a working [breastfeeding] mom. And yes, the breastfeeding part does get it's own shout-out because it is incredibly difficult and time consuming to maintain.

I know I'm not unique in this, but I have a whole new appreciation for what new parents mean when they comment dryly about 'how much work' a newborn is or the level of sleep deprivation. Ironically, I only have the energy to even comment on the sleep deprivation now that it is improving-- we are on the downhill slide with the shorty sleeping through the night(!) at least for the time being... I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop (aka the teething to kick in and the sleep schedule to run amok.

Regardless of the strain, physical/emotional/mental -- I'm sure I'll look back on it as 'not that bad' and even in the throws of this attention-deficit delight, there is a calm happiness. Oh, hello. So good to see you!

Right here, right now

These are the things on my mind right now on this lovey rainy morning where i've been so fortunate to work from my kitchen table (and yes, in my pajamas). When not on the VP's WW Town Hall meeting or plowing through emails and fielding urgent work calls to my cellie, i took a couple moments to peel an orange, watch the rain fall and listen to "Dear Mr. Fantasy" off the blog. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Here's what's on my mind:

1) Peeling oranges. Turns out, I love peeling oranges. seriously. always have. never really appreciated this until earlier this week when a co-worker seemingly went bonkers at seeing me peel an orange, belaboring how much she *hates* peeling oranges. Didn't know you could hate it; I enjoy it quite a bit. it's fun to punch my nail into the peel, it smells so good when that delicious orange oil squirts out and then the gratification of scratching off the bits of rind that remain... you get the picture

2) I had the funniest dream last night that keeps replaying scenes in my mind. Mainly that the shorty came along (which in the dream we knew exactly how early he'd arrived) but i realized that i couldn't remember what labor was like -- so that was good-- and he was okay, even if three months early - and then i was holding him and he was a sweet fluffy grey kitty. We were SO excited and SO in love with the little furry fella. =)

okay. that's all i got for now. happy friday, friends!

A Tale of Busting your Tail

Once upon a time, in a town not far away at all, there was a girl who worked very hard. Too hard, some might say (often even herself). But she continued to bust it, which often meant long days and sleepless nights, laden with stress.

"I'm tired of this crap!" she'd say. But it didn't matter, the work and the foul-ups that she had to handle, just kept coming.

Then one day that was another one of those 'the sky is falling' kind of days, the boss man had a meeting with her. "You can't let this fall through" he'd say, "you've got to make sure this happens, it is crucial for the business" and on and on. She took it like she always did. "I need you to bust your a$$ on this."

Okay, buddy, this was pushing it, she thought, and quickly jumped in with a pointed, yet light-hearted "Do you imply that I am not busing my a$$?!" He assured her he wasn't and carried on.

And then it happened: sandwiched in between rattling off reasons why this was so important and things she could do to make it better, he slid a folded piece of paper in front of her and said, "you deserve this." She was a bit confused and as she started looking at the paper he said: "but you can't tell anyone!"

It occurred to her that she might have just received something very valuable with that sheet of paper... But there hadn't been raises or promotions in so long, it was generally accepted that it was just a myth that they ever happened at all. Nonetheless, there it was, laying in front of her.

Though there was no time to slow down and appreciate her good news and affirmation that the results her work had been impactful to the overall business, that monkey of frustration that had been on her back just seemed to crawl off and sit politely at the corner of her cube.

And then her phone rang again...

The End.

Flashback: 2006

Three years ago today, Aug 28:

The back and roof to my house was ripped off

Our pool was bright green

We were living in the 650 sq ft 'cabana' in our backyard

At least half of that space was completely inaccessible, stacked to the ceiling with boxes and furniture

Mr. Price was one week out from massive jaw surgery: his mouth was wired shut, we was on a liquid diet and he was HEAVILY medicated (and decided at some point in the day that pureed pizza and milk would make a nice snack. mention it today and he'll still shiver at the thought)

Our two cats who were terrified of each other were co-existing in this space with us -- which means I woke up approximately 6 times the night before to separate the cat fight before finally locking on in the bathroom only to hear him cry for the rest of the night

Thinking that we had about a month to go before moving into the house, we had not turned on cable or internet in the cabana - so I set up the TV and DVD player so he'd have something to watch in between medications

...And I had my first day of work at this job.


See-- things could always be worse. ;)

My work here is done

Sure, I spent 3 weeks in Asia. Sure, can point to $17MM of earnings and three teams now opererating proactively and efficiently. Sure, a couple execs now know me personally and apparently been telling others what a 'great job' I did while I was over there.

But that is NOTHING compared to the accomplishment realized tonight.

While on an 8pm call with Asia, my Swedish co-worker and new friend who was the recipient of the bulk of my time, insight and grammatical corrections (he was asking, I wasn't volunteering the corrections!! ) ... said... in perfect context... "Bless his heart" (if only you could hear it with the thick Sveeee-desh accent.

Ah - Sweet Fulfillment.

Last Hurrah

Big work trip coming up: 3+ weeks in Asia! Trouble is, I found out about the trip last week and my Chinese work visa hasn't come through just yet. Actually, that turns out to be a good guy because it has helped me postpone my trip by a few days (they wanted me to leave tomorrow, the 16th). Once my paper work is complete, we'll finalize my itinerary and i'll be off to the other side of the globe as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, had a lovely weekend states-side and headed to H-town. Quick summary of the whirlwind 24 hour celebrations:

• Cassie's 30th Birthday and Surprise(!) Engagement Party ...got to know that I'm HUGE a fan of the surprise engagement party, having attended my first SEP (if you will...) at my own engagement announcement =) Saw tons of old friends- fantastic evening
• Got to stay with the lovely Sara T & Boyd - whose house would classify as 4 stars if you could rate it... in fact, I wouldn't have minded to extend our stay by several days... but alas, a few more fresh baked cookies, another cup of coffee, an hour of 'bejeweled' (a method of time-loss and meditation fueled by play station) and we were on our way, leaving their beautiful home behind.
• Spent the afternoon with EmCon and precious little Georgia and her (not-so-little) baby brother Deacon (said by G as "Deaccoli"...she learned his name the same day as the word 'broccoli' ...let me just say: so damn cute.) Deacon *might* be the happiest baby ever. Remind me to tell the "rice and beans" story at some point. I might wet my pants laughing trying to type it up right now...

Wahoo! Home by dinner. Ran a bunch of errands today and going to start packing for my multi-latitude, multi-country work trip (where I insist to do some sight-seeing). Read the multi-country part as: 'several inter-asia flights' meaning: better not pack too much or you'll regret it because (1)not sure of my trust level of these airlines track record on lost checked luggage (2)i'll be lugging my bags all over the bloody continent. Packing challenge? Um, yes. Slightly. More where that comes from soon...

Anyway - how fortunate to get to see all those fun faces before heading to another continent for several weeks.

Back by popular demand...

pictures of poopsie!

these are a week old - it just takes me that long to process pics lately - which actually is pretty quick: I just had a few pictures from sunday dinner and the downloading, editing was moved along due to an event I photographed on thursday night and i had to get those pictures to the client asap.

damn, she's cute.

'tis a shame she isn't more expressive...

(this emotion lasted approximately 4 seconds)

I spent most of the day saturday with the triplets (after photographing a 2-year-old's bday party) and it might have been the best stress relief I could have possibly found.

Honestly, I didn't think about the sky-is-falling nonsense of work. Even Sunday as i prepared for the start of the work week (and my blood pressure and anger started shooting up again), I would just think of little Faith curling up in my lap, or Claire wanting to swing with me or Ava asking when she could get a necklace like mine... and it all just faded away.

Unfortunately, I was too enamored with their sweet nature and hilarious antics to bust out the camera for some snaps of the little firecrackers.

So enjoy the pics of Madeleine and I'm going to try to focus on happier times =)

in the meantime, happy monday.

Punchy

You know when you hit those patches where you're really stressed out? and you've been real stressed out for awhile so it's starting to feel like normal... but then you're annoyed once you realize that this uber-stressed level is becoming the norm... and the annoyance makes the stress worse... oh, fun with the downward spiral...

I've realized that I've become quite punchy lately. Let's call it "edgy with a sense of humor" or maybe 'bitchy with a grin" or even "apathetic and ah, whatever - who cares?"

Needing a break or a time-out. Remember that 80's sit-com where the girl was from outer space and could freeze time by touching her two pointer finger tips together?? The theme song ended with "...you could be swinging on a star..." Well, I remember it enough to know that I want that ability. I want to freeze time-- just long enough to catch up on a few 'to do' lists... Alas, all that's happened lately is that my my work day has extended to the point that I was leaving work at 8-9p last week (booooooo). Really? And what about the meeting that started at 7:30? Are these people insane!?!?!

While I'm ranting & reminiscing: there was a children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" that has been running through my mind lately. I'm not *exactly* sure what it was about, but I'm pretty sure that the theme is essentially giving someone an inch and they take a mile. As in: you give a mouse a cookie and next thing you know, they want milk to dip it in. Once they have some milk, they want you to heat it... and so forth. Metaphorically speaking: I think I'm going to quit baking. Or at least for those who either (a)take it for granted or (b)think it means they are then entitled to can expect [fill-in-the-blank] .

So anywho-- I've been quite punchy at work lately-- 'cuz it seems i don't really have time (nor patience) for anything else. Needed toothpicks to keep my eyes open at dinner on Friday. Punchy-ness, in my case, means I say/do things with much less of a filter than I normally reserve for a work environment. I think from the outside looking in, this would be amusing, but frankly - i can't remember any of them right now and this gripefest post is already too long.

Sister needs a break. If for no other reason than I am becoming a complete and utter bore. (Ref above: whiny post)

Notification

Scene from my morning:

Walking into the building, there's a woman ahead of me, prolly 40 feet or so... mid-late 40's, dressed professionally, smart-looking blonde bob, rolling her computer bag in: swipes her badge on the door. Pulls on the door, didn't open. Swipes badge again... pulls on door... again- no go. Swipes a third time, pulls, alas... no entrada. Seemingly a big frustrated/defeated.

By then, I'm at the door, ready to swipe my badge and ask her, "Ya ever think, 'So is this how they let me know...?" as mine works and I open the door

To my surprise, she bursts out in laughter and says, "If it was, I sure wouldn't mind... that'd be great!!"

Ah, from a perfect stranger: honesty; cynicism.

Happy Monday.

Time Machine

Is it possible to start a week actually *further* behind than you were the week before? (I have learned that the answer is yes) Because if I had a time machine, and could go back to last week, I would be ahead of where I am right now... however: IF I had a time machine, there is not a snow ball's chance [in hell] that I would do it. Why?

Last week:

• Dear Mr. Price got what must have been the most vicious case of food poisoning I've ever heard of... let alone witness. Wow. I will spare you the details. Bless his heart. (My mom had it too... I actually had a weather forecast from my Dad of symptoms-- real time.)
  
• After pulling an all-nighter (haven't done that in awhile), I worked from home to take care of the aforementioned - and between conference calls and frantic emails, I made trips to the pharmacy, grocery store, doctors office, back to the grocery store, etc


• Drove to Dallas for a meeting with a partner/client = 7+ hours in the car for a 40 minute meeting, rushed lunch at Mi Cocina (now THAT I'd repeat), all with a co-worker I barely know.


• A few hours before leaving... I learn that my dad, sister, sister-in-law and niece all got sick, too. Hmmm... whhhhoooooo'sss in for a road trip with a stranger and a possible 6 hours of vomiting?? OOhh!! Oohhh!! Me! Me! Please, sign me up! (It turned out just fine)


• Worked past 8pm each night last week, worked on Saturday... then again on Sunday. Booooooo.


• Wrote the check for our property taxes and for our new roof while paying bills - now THAT was fun.
  

Um, so those were the major highlights.

However... there is a silver lining. (**Note: There is ALWAYS a silver lining)

1. Last week is over.
2. I somehow never got sick. My brother ended up getting sick while in Cabo last weekend (that's not the silver lining part, just sayin' I'm glad it wasn't me). That means that the whole fam somehow got this awful bug and I, some how, was spared.


3. At family dinner this week, we learned that Madeleine will spring into action by singing or playing Beyonce songs -- even if she's cranky and about to fall to sleep. This brings a whole new value to my iToy: You Tube videos


4. Thanks to item #2, I learned about the current phenomenon of people dancing to the "Single Ladies/Put a Ring on It" video, taping themselves and uploading it to YouTube. **More on this later!**


5. To help celebrate that it is a new week and that last week is o-v-e-r-- we made ice cream sundaes. WITH Magic Shell!! (iToy pics will have to suffice)

So happy new week! I think my mantra (at least for the next few days) will be: "It could be worse... on top of this, I could have just puked for 6 hours straight..." =)