August 29, 2011

Hope everyone is doing ok and has power - we're good here. We managed to sleep through most of the interesting part of Irene, but did wake up in time to be outside to watch the neighbor's tree crack in the middle and gently fold in half, hitting nothing and staying out of the street. How cool is that? The fact that we didn't lose power is nothing short of a miracle, and we are soooo thankful because right now half the state is in the dark and may be for up to a week. That's a super bummer! So besides our yard being now a collection of leaves and sticks, no harm done. I had a nice easy drive to work as apparently most people decided not to bother. There clearly HAD been trees blocking several main streets but had already been cut up and moved to the side of the road.

In other exciting news, we also (as obviously many of you did too) had an earthquake last week. Josh said he didn't feel it, but it was very obvious in my 5th floor office at work. I was on a conference call, staring at the phone, and suddenly wondered if I was having vertigo or started drinking at work without knowing it. I turned my head to the side and noted that my monitor was shaking. I muted the phone and shouted to my staff, "is this building moving?" Not used to earthquakes, I guess many buildings in Hartford evacuated, which even I know is the about dumbest thing you can do in an earthquake. But at good ol' Aetna, they didn't even send out a note or anything. We like to not panic :)

The kids are still scheduled to start school on Wednesday, so tonight I did the annual "freak out and make sure everyone has the proper school supplies in their backpack" dance. Not a particularly fun dance, and even after all this time I'm still really bad at it. Somehow I missed the fact that Jocelyn was supposed to do an "all about me" poster, so Josh will be helping her do that tomorrow. Morgan's bus picks him up at 7:16am this year! Josh ought to have fun with that!

So to summarize - earthquake, hurricane, school-supply-freak-out. Hope everyone else is having fun too!

August 21, 2011

Well I'm sure you're just all on the edge of your seats wondering what we did on vacation... let's see how much I can remember.

We headed up Friday afternoon (8/5) and met Elisabeth & Family at the Howard Johnson's in South Portland. We hung out for the evening and ordered in pizza. Rob took the kids out on the lawn and played some football - so nice being related to someone that can't sit still! I tried to hold Reese but it didn't work out for me, and in fact I found it best to avoid eye contact.

Saturday morning we went over and visited Grammy & Grampa at the cemetery. Elisabeth remembered to bring painted stones to leave behind, and I brought a beer for Grampa. We walked around the cemetery for a while - I find them fascinating. Elisabeth and I agreed that there should be a little button to push to get an audio story of the people buried at each grave.

After the grave visit, we went over to Chuck E. Cheese's at the Maine Mall. The kids had SOOOO much fun! Jesse was hysterical on the basketball game, shooting granny-style and actually making quite a few! Jocelyn made several friends that followed her around the whole time. Then she found the stage where there was a camera shooting a live feed to a TV screen. Yeah, that was a hit. We collectively got enough tickets for 6 foam shooter thingys and some rulers.

We temporarily parted with Elisabeth & family and headed up to Sebago to get checked in and settled and meet up with Uncle Joey who did our grocery shopping for us and met us at the cabin. It was warm so we through the sheets on the beds and hopped into the water. Mandy & gang showed up around 7 and after we put the kids to bed we drank the night away down by the lake.

Sunday morning we were joined by Elisabeth & family and mom and dad for more swimming and italian sandwiches and birthday cake for Patience. Mandy and Elisabeth and I walked the kids down to the baseball field. We tried playing baseball. Patience got to go first because it was her birthday but when it wasn't her turn EVERY time, well, it seems that was a personal insult. Jocelyn was just as happy to prance around the infield not really paying attention, and was surprisingly the only child to hit the ball with the first swing. We switched to pickle and Timothy managed to run into Chase and knock him over, so now Chase was crying and Timothy was pouting because I yelled at him for not realizing that he's 5'5" 130lbs and Chase is not. With 3 of 7 kids in a snit, we decided it was time to pack it in and do some more swimming. That was a much bigger hit!

Mandy and Elisabeth and their respective crews cleared out a bit before dinner and the rest of us grabbed leftover sandwiches and then swam some more before bed.

Monday Mom treated us to lobsters and pizza. Dad and Morgan paced while Mom and Jocelyn and Jesse and I went out to pick it up. Jocelyn ate more than a whole lobster on her own. Jesse tried a bite then said he liked it but would prefer pizza. Timothy also had a lobster. Morgan and Dad stuck with the pizza. Joey was out in Naples on the Songo River Queen Tour.

Tuesday morning Mom and Dad cut out before we were up. The rest of us took a while to get out of bed and lolled around until after a late breakfast. Then Joey and Josh and Morgan headed over to Kettle Cove to rent us a boat for the afternoon. Morgan wouldn't get on the boat so Joey brought him back while Josh drove the boat over. We had more luck getting Morgan into the boat from the cabin, though it was still a bit touch and go. Once in though, he seemed quite content and we all had fun tooling around the lake. Then, suddenly, Morgan was unhappy. I got back next to him and managed to figure out that his shoulders were hot from the sun. I should have put him in a t-shirt! But once I covered his shoulders with a towel he quieted down and we headed back. We rested and swam for a while and then I took all the kids but Timothy inside while Josh and Joey and Timothy went back out on the boat and then returned it.

Wednesday we finally got around to going to the Ice Cream Dugout for ice creams. Jocelyn and Jesse had a competition for who could be messiest. It was a close call, I think they may have each independently set a world record. Morgan likes the ice cream part but not the cone part, but he also won't use a spoon, so we have to get a cone even though he won't eat it. When he gets to the bottom of the cone he scoops the end of the ice cream out with his fingers, putting an end to the myth that ice cream isn't finger food.

Thursday Josh and Joey took the kids on a drive around the lake and then picked us up blizzards from DQ because it was Miracle Treat day where they donated $1 from each blizzard to fight Childhood Cancer. You know, normally I would never advocate 2 ice cream days in a row, but it was a worthy cause, so what could we do??

Friday Uncle Joey headed home and Josh went out and got more groceries to keep us through the weekend as we try not to make a habit of leaving the cabin on the weekend and fighting all the traffic. We spent the weekend swimming and resting and swimming some more. I found spray on sunscreen horribly inefficient and it took a whole can just to coat the 5 of us (everyone but Mr. I-Don't-Burn) where as a regular bottle lasted me the whole two weeks. Sunscreening 4 kids plus myself was the only bummer of the whole trip, so I refused to do it more than once a day. So we swam during sunlight once and then waited until after dinner for the 2nd swim each day. Timothy burning on two swipes of his arms where I thought he did the sunscreen and he thought I did. Otherwise no burns except for Mr. I-Don't-Burn, but that wasn't until later in the week...

Over the weekend we bribed Jocelyn into jumping off the dock (with a life jacket on). It cost us $2 and the promise of another lobster. Money well spent as after only one jump she was addicted and did it about a thousand times over the next week (taking off the life jacket after only a couple jumps).

We had rain all day Monday so we went up to Bridgton to shop at Cool Moose and the party store - our annual outing. Josh and Morgan stayed in the car and watched videos on the computer. The rest of us ventured inside to get t-shirts and one toy each. Then we stopped at the fudge store and got 1 1/2 lbs of assorted fudge - yum!

Tuesday started out rainy as well so I took Timothy and Jesse and Jocelyn and we went to Mexicali Blues for more t-shirts (for Josh and Timothy) and a purse for Jocelyn and a wallet for Jesse. Then we went to the Salvation Army and got Timothy a suit, boots for me, Timothy, and Morgan, sneakers and snowpants for Jesse, and some assorted clothing (including of course, a blue velvet dress for Jocelyn). By the time we got home the rain had cleared and it was time to swim some more!

Wednesday and Thursday were gorgeous and we spent most of our time in the water. Jocelyn started getting the hang of swimming. She could already swim underwater fairly well but put her feet down whenever she came up for air. Then she sort of figured out the doggie-paddle. Then once she figured out how to combine the two she was quite pleased with herself. Jesse stuck to wearing a life jacket, which allowed him to go out deep with Josh and Timothy to play football. Jocelyn was too scared to go over her head until almost the last day when she finally figured out the miracle of a life jacket as well. Once that happened we even managed to coax her up onto the raft and she and I jumped off of it holding hands. After that she jumped all by herself, several times.

Jocelyn and Jesse were cutest when they were playing together nicely, which was surprisingly frequent. They would play on kickboards together in the water and then get wrapped up in towels and sit on the dock together. It was super sweet.

Friday we cleaned and packed and swam and cleaned and packed and swam one last time, getting out as thunder rolled in. We hustled into the car and were on our way home around 6pm. Jocelyn cried for the better part of a half hour, talking about how much she was going to miss vacation. Jesse fell asleep by the time we hit the highway and slept until CT, giving us quite a peaceful trip home! We stopped at a different rest stop than usual and ended up having to use port-a-potties. Jocelyn was NOT impressed with them.

Saturday it was time to get some school supplies so Timothy and I headed to Staples and bought about one of everything they had. Then we headed over to TJMax and Timothy picked out some new clothes while I grabbed an outfit for each of Jocelyn and Jesse (showing up at home with only things for Timothy would not have been a popular move!).

We've gotten the bags out of the car and generally into the right room, but actually unpacking them will wait. A bit more than a week before school starts. We got Jocelyn's PIN for buying school lunch in the mail, and her bus number and tag. The short bus will be picking Morgan up at 7:16am!!

Well that's the story of the last two weeks!
Rhonda

July 30, 2011

Jocelyn lost her 2nd (bottom) tooth yesterday. By the time I was ready to go to bed, Jocelyn was still not asleep. So I told Jocelyn that Uncle Jeremy (who is visiting - yay) wanted to give her one more hug.

Jocelyn: but what if the tooth fairy comes while I'm downstairs?
me: that can't happen, she only comes when you're asleep.
Jocelyn: she knows when I'm asleep? does she have a scanner?
me: yes

So down she ran to give Jeremy a hug. When she came back up she stopped by my room to say goodnight as I was brushing my teeth. Then she went to bed.

2 seconds later she comes tearing buns into my room screaming "YOU WERE WRONG!"

Apparently the tooth fairy CAN come when you're awake! She left Jocelyn a card with a picture she had drawn and a note about how she loves princesses and drawing and teeth. And she had drawn the picture and written the note all in the time that I had taken to brush my teeth!

"The tooth fairy must have magic!" said Jocelyn.

July 21, 2011

Jesse is a rock star.

Jocelyn and Jesse saw the dentist yesterday. Jocelyn was cavity free, but Jesse was not. Very much not. So much not on one side that they had him come back today to get two fillings (and he'll need two more on the other side after we get back from vacation).

My poor baby had to get fillings! Like with a drill! Ack!

I was so sad for him last night, but I didn't want to let on. I explained what was going to happen as far as the shot and the loud noise and that he might feel a little funny but that daddy would be there and that it would be over soon enough and he'd be fine.

I, on the other hand, was not fine. I was so upset I could have puked. My littlest man, still practically a newborn! I wanted to grab him and hug him until the teeth were healed. But I had to pull myself out of la-la land, put on my big girl panties, and deal with it.

So I put on my best fake smile as he and Josh headed to the dentist this morning, and tried to put it out of my head while he was gone. I was generally unsuccessful.

He came home so proud, with a big swollen cheek and numb face and a sticker on his shirt that said "Watch me - my lips & cheek are numb." He rocked the dentist, and he knew it. The dentist was so impressed that she gave him a shark tooth that was from her own stash- not from the toy drawer (from which he also got to pick). Josh said the dentist and hygienist kept whispering to each other, "have you ever seen anything like this??"

He sat in the chair and they asked him if he knew what was going to happen. He explained that he was going to get a shot and that he had to sit still they were going to put stuff in his mouth and that daddy would be there and he would be fine. They told him to raise his hand if something hurt and that they would stop right away. So every now and then he'd wave at Josh with his foot. Just once he raised his hand and they gave him a bit more Novocain.

I don't know how my whiniest child is also my bravest. He is so astoundingly whiney that I think he could qualify for some record. He is so amazingly brave that he could qualify there as well.

He is my rock star, and I'm just so proud.

July 17, 2011

Jocelyn lost her first tooth this week! The tooth fairy left her $5 and a note saying that she wouldn't get $5 every time. The tooth fairy also talked about how she liked princesses, and how she and Jocelyn have so much in common :). I asked Jocelyn about the note when I got home, and she said she'd read it to me but it banished (vanished). She was excited that she could read the whole thing herself.

Not a lot of other news this week. I really need to start writing these a few glasses of wine earlier in the day.

3 more weeks until vacation!

July 10, 2011

Susan and Jonathan and cousin Chelsea visited this weekend. Chelsea is 19 (Timothy is roughly equidistant between Chelsea and Jocelyn), and Jocelyn and Jesse fell in love with her immediately. Today after they left, Jesse cried hysterically for 15 minutes and then fell asleep. Jocelyn insisted we send her an email before they even made it out of the neighborhood.

Jocelyn was the funniest. She kept asking Chelsea questions (like, "do you like barbies?") and when Chelsea would respond, Jocelyn would shout "we have so much in common!"

They both followed her around all weekend, I'm not really sure she got much more than a random bathroom break for time to herself. Josh suggested Joey take her out for a ride at one point, just to give her a sanity break. I mean really, sweet as my kids are, they can be too much of a good thing!

What is it about getting attention from older cousins/family that is so fulfilling? I still remember a barrette that Diana made me when I was about 6 or 7 that was my most cherished possession for quite some time. I remember when MaryBeth took me out for the day when I was 9 or 10 and gave me a little pinky ring and we went to the shoe store. I remember when Michael would let us hang out in the ell with him and his friends and call us his girlfriends. I remember when Stevie bought me a plum and built a fire at camp, and of course when he sent me an Indiana shirt that I wore from age 5 until it fit when I was 12.

Those little bits of time and attention end up being so special. Chelsea earned such a spot in the history of Jocelyn and Jesse this weekend. She'll be with them always and I'm so thankful for it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Rhonda

July 1, 2011

There are 2 actuarial interns in my department this summer. They are eager and young and just so very refreshing. They haven't been beaten down by years of corporate life. And better yet, they hang on my every word and laugh at all my jokes.

I received an email from one of them on Tuesday afternoon. I later found out that someone had told him that if he emailed me, it should not be more than 3 sentences because I don't like for people to drone on and on. And so I received an email of 3 sentences that essentially said he knew I was very busy but would I be willing to have lunch with him and the other intern some time. I think he used the word busy 7 times in 3 sentences.

I replied "How about breakfast on Thursday" and assured him I was not THAT busy.

So Thursday morning I had breakfast with the 2 interns. Let's call them John and Mary. John wore a tie. We got our breakfast and sat down and I said, "So, what do we want to talk about?" Mary froze and kicked John under the table. John cleared his throat. "Well, I want to be a senior executive in a large insurance company like Aetna. So my question is, how do I do that?"

This is the first time I've gotten this question. I've had many meals with many interns and new students over time. I usually get the "what's the difference between consulting and insurance" question, since not too many people have done both. Or in a group of all females I'll almost surely get the various work-life balance questions. But this was a great and fun question!

I won't bore you with my answer. Between that and the follow-ups, we were quite chatty for the next hour. Mary warmed up pretty quickly and eventually ended up giving me a really big compliment while sounding completely sincere. She said, "Whenever you talk, I understand everything you say." Ok, that doesn't sound like much, but when you're an actuary, let's just say that makes you pretty special.

So two scared interns made it through breakfast with the big bad boss and seemingly enjoyed themselves.

In other Rhonda-is-scary news, apparently I'm scary. I was not happy about something today and trying to decide whom to tell of my discontent - level A or level A's bosses. I IM'd a coworker from another department to see what she thought. "Just level A is fine, they work really hard to stay off your radar, so if you tell them, they'll take care of it." I should note none of these people report to me, nor do I have authority over them in any way. They are all older with more experience than me, and odds are they make more money. I guess they scare kinda easy.

Actually that's a pattern with who is afraid of me - they are never the people who work FOR me. In fact, new people to the department always say the same thing. About a month in when we meet at the water cooler and I ask how it's going, they say, "I'd heard so much about you, I thought you'd be scarier. But you're really nice!" Thanks?

It's not news. I've been terrifying since I was a teenager and I've never known why, but that surely doesn't stop me from using it to my advantage. After all, the best leaders lead by example. But when that's not an option, brute intimidation works pretty well too.*

Hope everyone has a great long weekend!
Rhonda

*despair.com - arrogance