She strikes again

The biter strikes again…for the FOURTH time. It’s the same boy every time- his hand, his elbow, his thumb. He must have a crush on her, why else would he keep coming back for more? Tomorrow we have a birthday party to attend for another classmate…can’t wait to listen to the other mom’s trying to figure out who “the biter” is. (The school issues a report to the victim’s parents stating what happened, but not disclosing the offender.)

New year's Eve

Sorry, I'm playing catch-up from the holidays. For New Year's Eve my 2 BFFs from high school were both in town. I don't think that has happened in at least 8 years or so, so we left the hubbies and kiddos at home and had a girls night out. We had a 4 course meal at The Grove (over looking Discovery Green) and rang in the new year with silly hats and champagne- proper 30 something fashion!

For you April......Junior year is the best I could do.

Cousins

Over the Christmas holidays my brother and his family were visiting from Poland. We managed to get a photo of all the first cousins wearing clean shirts at the same time...amazing. Ages: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 14. Yes, my parents got a new grandchild every calender year from 2002 to 2007.

The Biter

Yes, I have "the biter." Not a biter, but the ONLY biter in the preschool. Up until now she has only bitten her sisters (or pulled their hair), and only when they have taken a toy from her or wouldn’t share. (Frankly, they deserve it sometimes.) Friday I had 2 "Incident Reports" to sign when I picked up the girls. Not only did she bite, but she bit the same boy TWICE- once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Let’s see….teething (two year molars), potty training (wearing panties on weekends- yay), transitioning to toddler bed, and mommy going back to work all at the same time. I think we’ll cut her some slack.

Why am i working again?

I’m going to like it here…
I normally work 7-3:30, which allows me to beat the traffic, pick up the girls and be home before 5:00. Wednesday we had a late meeting that got out at 4:15. My supervisor still needed to take a digital photo of me for …something (I don’t remember what). He said, “Sorry to keep you so late, usually we are very mindful of letting our people get home to their real lives.”

Even on a depressing payday…
I woke up this morning very excited to go online and see my first paycheck deposited into my account. My paycheck (minus taxes and savings, but not health insurance) was almost exactly enough to cover one month’s daycare for three children….depressing. On the plus side, I get paid every two weeks, not twice a month. So I get two "extra" paychecks a year.

Next subject

First sorry no pictures lately. I’ll eventually get around to posting about Christmas.

Funny quick story, then I’m going to bed.

Today I was in a meeting with 6 men, one my age, the others 10-20 years older. (So imagine sitting in a room with your dad, grandpa, uncles and brothers). Since it’s only my second week I was there to be a fly on the wall. My supervisor was facilitating a meeting between a building tenant and the custodial service provider. The subject came up of the feminine hygiene product vending machines in the ladies bathroom being empty. Questions that came up- Should we maintain them? Who should stock them? Who collects the money? And then someone asked, "Does anyone even use those machines?" Suddenly six pair of eyes were looking at me. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny to me. I said, "Keep them stocked or take them down"- and they went on to the next subject.

First week

It’s 8:15 on Friday night. My kids are going to sleep and I am too, so this will be brief. Let’s see, my first week of work….
The lowlights:
I won’t have a computer for three weeks. In the meantime, I get to read the 400-page contract with our maintenance/ custodial/ landscape company and call every department in every building we manage to update the point of contact emergency list. Woo-hoo.
The highlights:
When I have a computer and my own building to manage, I’m going to really like my job. I got to see several of the federal building downtown including the holding cells at the federal courthouse -with prisoners in them! (yea- I walked right in front of them- yikes- I tried not to look up). There are four other property managers in my department and my boss. My boss lives less than a mile from me in Hearthstone and he is a volunteer firefighter and plays Santa in the annual holiday lights parade on Hwy.6. One co-worker is my age, Vietnamese and married to a Hispanic woman- so we have lots to chat about. Another co-worker has a daughter the same age as Lily- to the DAY (actually born on the same day).
The girls: Lien had a great week; we knew she would adjust right away. Lily cries when Tai drops her off, but then has a great day. Mai is another story. Some days are great and some she cries on and off during the day. This morning she was crying before school, asking for her teacher from THCS. We talked about missing her old teacher, but being excited about her new teacher and new friends and she went to school and had a great day.
I DON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL NEXT WEEK- YAY!!! Thank goodness for slow security clearance!

Happy New Year!

• New year’s resolutions I can actually keep-
• Leave work at work
• Make sure I tell my kids (and husband) “I love you” every day
• NEVER talk on the cell phone when I pick to kids up at day care, look them in the eye and say “I missed you, how was your day” then listen to their answers
• Attempt to walk the tunnels for 15 minutes of my lunch twice a week (I only get a 30 minute lunch)
• Take a nice vacation
• Celebrate my 10 year anniversary in style