Still Here

We obviously didn't win the Mega Millions last night :(

In other news... I can't believe how busy things are this year. I don't even know where all the time is going. I've pretty much been working just abou every night after Marshall goes to bed. Freddy started graduate classes so it's just me and the Marsh on Monday's. I'm also running my first 5K on May 4th, which I have a feeling that it will be more of a run/walk for me considering how my training is going. The only time I can train is in the evenings after dinner. Then I come home and work :( In addition I am scheduled to sit for the PMP exam at the beginning of June so I need to start studying for that next week. Oh yeah, and I was accepted to start graduate classes in the fall so I'm working on getting all the paperwork in order so I can register for my class soon. We're a little behindon the 8-ball but I'm also trying to get Marshall's christening set up with my family church back in Michigan. Oh... right... and I'm also trying to get ready for a Bridal Expo in 2 weeks that I will have a Scentsy table set up at.

And did I mention this guy! The Marsh never stops! And don't judge his hair... this was taken back in February and we got his hair cut the next week :)





~AKO

Crazy Week!

Holy cow I can't believe how fast the past week flew by! It has been that long since I've even been online as well. Work has been crazy busy. My 2nd day back from leave and my boss gives me a project that has to be completed by the end of March to save the company over 1 million dollars. No pressure!!! So I've been working extra hours after Marshall goes to bed to get stuff done. On top of that I've been sick the last few days with sinus congestion. I've always had bad sinuses and seasonal allergies so when the weather bounces back and forth I usually get blessed with a lovely sinus infection. So not only am I working a gazillion hours, I'm also sick and so tired.

I had big plans this weekend too. Freddy has been gone for reserve duty since Thursday and doesn't get back until tomorrow. Since the weather was going to be in the mid-50's I was going to go out with Marshall to have some quality mommy/son time. But I'm just too tired to feel safe out with him alone let alone driving the car. I'm hesitant to take any nyquil because it will put me in a coma and I won't be able to hear the baby cry. Freddy has promised that I can take some nyquil tomorrow night and he'll be on baby duty so I can get some sleep.

I haven't even had any time to get recent pictures of Marshall off my camera!

Oh... and don't forget to turn your clocks ahead tomorrow :)

~AKO

Ouch!

Holy crap am I sore :( I calculated the numbers and I'm now walking almost 80 minutes per day since I started going back into the office on Tuesday. Wake up time is now 5:30am so I can shower and get everything together before Marshall wakes up around 6:30. We have to leave the house by 7:00 so I can have him at daycare by 7:20 so I can catch the 7:33 train into Hoboken so I can catch the 7:50 PATH train into NYC so I can get to the office by 8:30. How'd you like that sentence :) This is all so I can leave the office by 4:45 in order to pick Marshall up by 5:45ish. Anything after 6:00 and they start charging you for every 5 minutes you're late.

Anyway... back to the walking. Since there is no parking near the daycare, I've opted to walk Marshall over there, which is about a 15 minute walk. I should add that I have to walk up and down a pretty decent hill to get there. Then another 5 minutes from the daycare to the Light Rail station. Then another 5 minutes from the Light Rail station to the PATH train platform. Then another 10 - 15 from the PATH train at World Trade Center to the other side of the island to my office by the Brooklyn Bridge. That's not takin into account the stairs that I have to walk up and down to get in and out of the PATH stations. We are now on day 4 and my legs and ankles are on FIRE!

The positive is that it earns me 2 activity points every day :)

My recent absence from cyberland can be attributed to the fact that I've been alseep by 9:00pm every night. I hope I get used to getting up at 5:30 soon.

Here's Marshall waiting patiently in his swing while mom gets her crap together so we can leave the house on time the other morning.





~AKO

Back to Reality

Has it been a week since I've been online? This week really got away from me. First and foremost, Marshall started day care on Monday.





He is such a little flirt that it did not take long to win the heart of his attendants. Ms. Ana and Ms. Becky have been so attentive with him and take the time to talk with all the parents when they pick up and drop off that it has really put my mind at ease that we made the right decision with the center we chose.

When we picked him up on his first day, this is how we found him. Snug as a little bug without a care in the world.





He even has his own crib and cubby hole.





In other, not so excitng news... I went back to work on Wednesday. I've been getting up around 6:00am everyday, which has been a hard adjustment. Especially when Marshall doesn't sleep through the night. I've been working from home, but when I have to start going into the office next week, 5:00am will be our wake up time, with Marshall getting up around 6:30am. It took 2 full days to get through all of my emails. My boss can't wait to send new projects my way. But he was considerate enough to wait until Tuesday to schedule a catch up meeting with me.

My mom is also in town this weekend since she can't go more than a month without seeing her grandbaby. She's been here since 9:00pm and hasn't let him out of her arms :)

~AKO

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Holy crap it's cold. Now, as you know I originate from the frozen tundra we call Michigan where it is very common for the temperature to dip into the negative numbers this time of year. However, when your apartment is also an icebox no matter how high the thermostat is turned up it makes it very difficult to stay warm. I've got Marshall sleeping in his fleece sleepsack right now. The only saving grace is that for some reason our bedroom heats up to the temperature of hell overnight so I know that baby will stay warm while he's sleeping.

Today we braved the cold 10 degree temperature for a trip into the city to visit Abuela Olvera who is leaving for Ecuador on Friday for a few months for warmer weather. Luckily we got this cool reindeer suit for Christmas to keep us nice and toasty warm on the trip.





Oh... and the Jets lost the AFC to the Pitsburgh Steelers. As a Michigan native I am conditioned to not side with the Green Bay Packers so I will have to root for the Steelers in two weeks. I'm not sure what our plans are for Super Bowl Sunday but hopefully they involve a nice quiet evening at home.

The countdown has started for my return to work: 25 days.

~AKO

Jersey Bound... And Other Stuff...

Wow! I can't believe it has been two weeks since I last post. Who knew time could get away from you like that. Anyway, now that I've recovered from Game 163 (baseball fans will know what that means) I have moved on to the ALCS. The New York Yankees are in the ALCS for the first time in 5 years. They swept the Twins last week, with in true Yankee fasion a few nail biting moments. On the other side of the division, the California Angels swept the Boston Red Sox. So now it is the Yankees and the Angels doing battle for the American League title. The Yankees are currently up by 1 game, with game 2 scheduled for tonight. We are supposed to get our second Noreastern any minute now so it is likely the game will be postponed.

In other topics... my job is kicking my ass right now :( I'm hoping once we get into our year end freeze next month that things will quiet down a bit. Right now everyone is trying to get everything in before the freeze. I'm really looking forward to enjoying the holiday season this year.

And, we are jumping the Hudson River to New Jersey! Yep... that's right folks we are moving to Jersey City. We'll still be renting but we will be in a little bit safer and quieter neighborhood. I'll feel a little better as well being home by myself when Freddy is away at drill or training. December 1 is moving day so I'll be without my beloved Internet for a while... The good thing is that we'll be closer to the city so we will be able to go out like we used to. Right now it takes us so long to get home to our house in Brooklyn that we rarely go into the city aside from work.

So... that being said... I need to go start boxing stuff :)

~AKO

Not Enough Hours in the Day... And a New Toy

Almost a week since I last left a post... The past week was just one of those weeks where there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. We had sales people in town for production training, which, as one of the managers, I was involved in. This meant that I was going to be in training sessions all day Tuesday, Wednesday and the first half of Thursday. It also meant that I was going to fall a little behind in my regular day to day tasks. In addition, one of my employees had a huge upgrade Wednesday evening that had issues, which meant I spent all day Thursday and a large portion of Friday working on that. Basically, it means I have to do some work this weekend to catch up :(

In other news... I finally got my new toy!




Hello Friend!!!


Yes, I finally got my new camera! My old one, a Kodak Easy Share, had served its purpose well and, after 5 years, started to fail. After staring at the picture for two hours two weeks ago, I made the plunge to spend a decent amount of money on a high quality camera. In addition, no tax and no shipping from the online PX (AAFES) store was also an incentive. I love my Military Star Card!!! One of my employees jokingly calls the PX the "special club" :)

On Wednesday, my new Nikon D60 SLR camera arrived! I can tell you it is a little intimidating with all the buttons and menu options, but yesterday I read that user's manual cover to cover. Of course Freddy tried to start playing with the camera right away and, since he didn't read the manual, couldn't even figure out how to turn off the flash! Boys... when are they going to learn...

And, the victims...er... subjects of my first round of professional photography. I'm sure I looked rediculous crawling around on the ground trying to get candid shots of my putties. They were not as excited about my new toy as I was!


Miss C-Lo, none too happy that I kept following her around this morning.



Thoughtful Hadley... he was really just watching the lens move back and forth.



Sweet-faced Harley... not quite sure why he was just awoken with a flash.




Now the dilemma... continue to play with my new toy or break down and get my work done...

~AKO

Too Much

Sometimes I think my day is just too much with 10 people vying for my attention at any given point of the day. It seems like every day I'm in back to back meetings and when I'm not, there is always someone at my desk asking for help. Now, I know I'm a manager and responsible for my team and their issues, however, most of the time I can never get my own work done! As a result, I spend many days in the office until 8 or 9 in the evening. Since I arrive to work normally around 8:30-8:45ish, that is a twelve hour day. Multiple twelve hour days in a week equals EXHAUSTION!

In addition, some people apparently feel it is perfectly fine to do a half-ass job and get rewarded for it. When just about everyone in the office doesn't want to work with you some would think you would catch on. It also must be nice to sit all day at your desk and surf the Internet when members of your own team feel they cannot come to you for help. In this economy people should be working their asses off to keep the job they have and be grateful they have a job.

Thank God it's almost Friday and I got to come home to this today...





~AKO