Sometimes I am my own worse enemy

It's true, sometimes I make things harder than they need to be... I over think things, which stresses me out, and by which time I've ultimately made things harder on myself. Take Halloween for instance - what could be hard about Halloween? Nothing really. If I did what I should have done, which was buy some cut and bake cookies with pumpkins on them, toss then in the oven, and then work at home this morning so I could easily run over to daycare for the annual parade around the parking lot.

But what did I do?

I made home made oatmeal cookies in the shapes of ghosts and witch hats and pumpkins, and then I spent the morning fretting over whether or not to attend the parade, only to decide not to, too much to do, get into the office, spend a very focused 90 minutes getting a jump on things, speed across town to miss the outside portion of the festivities, but I did get to see her trick or treating inside and grab a bunch of pics with my cell phone, because, of course, I didn't have the camera either. Jack's Mom sent me this... she was smiling at me and my stupid cell phone...



So what did I learn from this? I'm not sure. I'm good at juggling a lot of stuff, and I'm most effective at work when I'm busy, so maybe I should have just planned my day, knowing I was going to want to go to the silly parade. Even with driving across town and back, it only took me an hour, and it's not like I don't work at home at least a day each week anyway... It's hard, being a working mom, but sometimes, you just have to suck it up - you'll be glad you did, I am.

Ready for School

On the day before Halloween!

Norah News: Driving

By the look on her face, I think we have some trouble coming around 2014...

Deep thoughts

....Watching you at lunch today, I wonder when you got so big, able to make decisions for yourself
....When we got home for nap time and you needed to snuggle with your mommy (or was it me that was in need?) I see that you're still my baby
....I love the way you feel, smell and sound curled up next to me, and I wonder how long you'll like to do this as much as I do
....Then I realize my mom must have felt like this a bunch if years ago and vow to hug her every day I see her from now on
....I hope you'll do the same for me

School Pictures: October

Here she is, earlier this week, at her school photo shoot. It should be noted that this was actually the day she got sent home... so she's not feeling her best.

And here is a side by side of the pose we chose last time, and the same pose this time, roughly 6 mnths later - my how she's grown!

The sweetest words...

I know, I've said this before, but as Norah gets older, I reserve the right to change my mind... it's no longer "Mommy", which often gets delivered as "MOMMMMEEEEEEEEE!" under duress.

It's "I Wuv You"

What a great way to start the day!

Take Your Kid to Work Day

As I wrote yesterday, Norah and I were working together yesterday. The thing about working at home with her in tow is that you can't really just multi task all day, sometimes you have to concentrate on one thing or the other. So, since it was so nice out yesterday, I decided to concentrate on her for an hour or so around lunch time and take a walk. Here's a picture near our lake... pretty ain't it? Good thing I had my Crackberry on hand to capture these things, I mean keep an eye on my email.

On the way back, I realized there was a great peek a boo window in our newly acquired SUV stroller, so while I most likely looked like a lunatic (the people in our 'hood are used to this, as I sometimes walk over to get her with an empty stroller) I think she had fun.

Norah News: Funny Business

After Oma and Opa left on Sunday we spent some time clearing stuff out of the basement. Along the way, Matt came across some Ace bandages and thought it would be fun to dress Norah up as a Mummy for Halloween (yes, she already has several 'real' costumes) She also found herself interested in some of the baby gear that she's outgrown. Honestly, that's how you end up with pictures like this.
If she's happy, they can't call it child abuse right?

With the cold weather last week, we got to experience gloves for the first time... all seems well, though I must admit I haven't seen them again since about 20 minutes after this picture was taken..

Oma, Opa and the Pumpkins Visit

We had a nice visit from Matt's parents this past weekend. On Saturday, we carved pumpkins and then had a slightly chilly lunch outside. In this series of pictures, it will appear that we had dinner first, then lunch, and then carved pumpkins. What can I tell you? It's been a long day - see my earlier post!

Working From Home

Norah got sent home from daycare yesterday, and was not allowed back until Thursday. Lest you think she misbehaved, rest assured that she didn't, and she's fine! Just a little virus that's going around. So the good thing about these kind of days is that I'm not worried about her - she's just fine, but the bad thing about these kind of days is that she's fine - as in she wants to play!

Anyway we both have a lot going on at work these days, and the way things worked out, I did a 'split shift' of sorts - worked before Norah got up, and then later in the afternoon, when Matt came home early. I also worked on and off all day, depending on how things were going with Norah... let's just say she came to my staff meeting with me.

There was one meeting I really couldn't miss, so I set Norah up at the table with me with a bunch of things to do - stickers, crayons, coloured pencils, play-doh, snacks... and we played and listened to the meeting at the same time, with me also doing IM's on the side. Here's Norah, ready her meeting - and yes, I had jammies on too.

Watching Dad light the Pumpkins

We had a visit from Oma and Opa, Matt's parents, this weekend. We had a really nice time, and one of the things we did was carve pumpkins (more on that later, when I download the pics) Norah loves them! We put them on the deck, where they can be seen from the dining room, in particular from Norah's seat! Needless to say, she loves it! Especially when we light them at night (one up-side of early sunset) Last night, she was more excited to watch Matt light the pumpkins than she was for her dinner. She actually grabbed her seat and brought it over to the window to watch! Here she is:

Sad News at Work

I heard from a colleague in Australia last week that the following day would be his last with the company we both work at. I've known this guy, Cliff, for about 5 years, and was really sad to hear that he was leaving. To me, he was great to work with, always responsive, not afraid to give an honest response, and we shared a somewhat cynical sense of humour. This guy was often on-line when I was, which means the middle of the night for him, and we often saw emails from him all weekend. He's been instrumental in growing our business in his region of the world, and I was sure he was moving on to bigger and better things.

I was even more sad to hear this morning that he passed away over the weekend of a heart attack. Apparently he had been 'downsized' after all. He told another colleague that it wasn't a good time to be out of work, but he needed a break anyway - he had only taken 4 days off in the past 4 years!

This news comes at an interesting time for me. I've been doing some soul searching around my own career plan, and what it is I really want. My boss asked me to consider 3 key questions 1) What do I want, 2) Why do I want it and 3) What am I willing to sacrifice to get it? Cliff's story certainly puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Rest in Peace, Cliff

A peek into my morning

Norah slept in again today, and while I was able to arrive a little late at the office, it was still a hectic morning. I left her alone in the living room for a few minutes... while I was gone, I could hear a lot of grunting and moaning - when I went in to see what was going on, here she was, sitting on the coffee table, reading a book...

2009 Pumpkin Pictures

This past weekend was awesome! It was Columbus day, and we all took a long weekend. It was also Thanksgiving in Canada, so we had a turkey dinner. The weather was awesome, and we had a great time! We shared a couple of meals with some friends, and spent plenty of quality time together. We also made a trip to the local Apple picking place... remember the pictures from last year? Norah sure has changed!

Norah HGTV: Caulking

Last week, Matt was getting ready to caulk the gap between the tile floor in the kitchen and thehardwood floor in the dining room. We were talking about it, and he had a couple of tubes of caulking with him. Norah took it upon herself to get things started! Of course, we didn't capture that on video, but here she is, as she continues with her project. HGTV here we come!

Norah News: Queen Bee

While you may infer that Norah is Queen Bee in our house, here's the proof! I am fairly certain she doesn't remember Halloween last year, but this year she will certainly recall that she is our Queen Bee! I was trying to get a picture to print and send in a Halloween card to my Nanny Dot, but these were too funny not to share!

Hmmm Mom, what's this yellow dress all about?
Wings? Seriously. Wings?

Dad, what the heck are you doing back there?

Never Mind, I'll do it myself, a little tuck here, and a little tuck there...

Yay! I'm Queen Bee! But you can't make me wear the stupid hat!

Choose your Battles: Flip Flops?

It seems that now, since the temperature has dropped below freezing in the mornings and the leaves have begun to fall, Norah is totally into flip flops. Yup, those sandals with the thing between her toes. Having been a teen aged girl at some point in the past myself, I expected this at some point in my future, but honestly, not this decade...

This morning was a bit of a challenge - I had a meeting at 9:00 and planned to work at home today to test out some of our meeting tools I'll be using in the coming weeks. As a result, I also took a few extra minutes of ZZZ's instead of jumping in the shower. As I went about the rest of my morning routine, no sound from the room at the end of the hall. At 7:15 I poked my head in to see if Norah would stir, as she often does, but she was peacefully snoring away, and she's been a little off this week, maybe fighting something?... so I left her. I fired up my good friend the laptop and was working away until she piped up around 8:00. Did I tell you I had a meeting at 9:00?

So perhaps I brought this extra bit of stress on myself, but I had an hour to get her ready, fed and over to daycare, and get back here myself. Good thing we live close! Things were going as well as could be expected, and we were almost ready to go when she pulled her typical trick of taking her shoes off... the funny part was that she grabbed a pair of her flip flops that happened to be on the coffee table (never mind why...) and proceeded to try to put them on over her socks. If there is any doubt that this kid has Engineer tendencies, this ought to be proof! Anyway no amount of convincing or cajoling could get her to change her shoes, so I cut my losses, and took her to daycare with her flip-flops on. One has to choose their battles, after all.

Norah News: Hair Do!

Last night, Norah took it upon herself to do my hair.

She was sitting on my lap, facing me, playing, as we often do when we’re alone in the evening. As it got closer to bed time, I pulled the elastics out of her pigtails and put them on my finger. When I’m doing her hair, I do this also, and after I gather the hair, I take the elastic off and fasten it on. Apparently, she’s been watching.

She took the elastics off my finger, and put one of her index finger, and one on her thumb, just like I do. She then ran her fingers thru my hair, pulling this way and that until she got the look she wanted, and then she took her hands away – only to find the elastics were still there! She tried over and over again, and each time she seemed mystified that the elastics were not in my hair, but in fact still on her hand!

I guess I won't cancel my appointment at the salon just yet!

Norah News: Ruby Slippers Around the House

Norah has a benefactor of sorts... a family we know by association, who has two girls, just older than Norah. These girls pass along their clothes to Norah when they have outgrown them, and we have inherited more clothing than Norah could ever wear!

Last week we received another shipment of goodies, including a bag of shoes. You may recall that Norah is very particular about what goes on her lower digits, and shows strong preference on a daily basis for exactly which pair of shoes to wear. Well, she hit the jackpot this time - bag was filled with fancy shoes - frosted pink, black satin, and no fewer than TWO pairs of pink sequins shoes. The shoes are too big, but she gets a kick out of taking them all out of the bag, pairing them up and trying them on - even if she's wearing footed jammies at the time. Here she is in what I refer to as her Ruby Slippers. She looks mighty fine, don't you think?
In other news, she's becoming a really great help around the house - no longer content to simply Swiffer, she's moved on to helping with the dishes - she brings her dishes to the sink, where she hurls them over the edge with hopes that they will re-appear clean, she gets her own bowl and cup from the lower drawer where they now live, and most productive of all, she helps unload the dishwasher. She's been helping with the cutlery for a while now, but she's starting to sort the forks from the spoons, and last night, she started taking her own things and putting them away - here she is! And yes, that's her Ruby Slipper in her hand!

Norah News: Trail Crew?

We had a great family day on Sunday. We headed North, to our beloved White Mountains. Matt and I spent a lot of time there, both together and apart, in the days before Norah, and we were really excited to bring her there. It's also that time of year that people in New England go "leaf peeping" - basically driving around and looking at leaves. The mountains did not dissapoint, with the southern peaks still showing some green and the northern peaks in full color display.

We started off at the Flume Gorge, where Norah enjoyed a nice walk in the woods in her backpack. We then took a drive through Twin Mountain, over 302 and down Bear Notch Road to the Kancamagus Highway, stopping at various points along the way. We rounded it out with a visit to Lincoln Woods - the gateway to some of my favorite hikes - before heading for some Pigs Ear Brown Ale at Woodstock Brewery.

You can see some pictures here (go to the end of the album)

The one thing we've learned recently is that it's great to be back, doing our favorite things again, and showing Norah all the things we love. We've also learned that we have to adjust our pace and be ready to change plans on a moments notice. What I DIDN'T realize was that we'd be doing trail maintenance so soon... enjoy the video