Tunes for a 2 Year Old Stuck In My Head

"We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, floating through the sky..."

Alex has discovered Disney's "Little Einsteins." I admit it's a refreshing change from Bob the Builder. There aren't many other shows he's attached to... he had a brief stint with "Go, Diego, Go," occasionally enjoys "The Wiggles." But he is now OBSESSED with Einsteins. It's a cute show, and we have to watch at least one episode a day. The music keeps getting stuck in my head, though! I'll be sitting at my desk and I'll catch myself humming some of the tunes.

What's even funnier is that Craig and I have had to help each other decipher which episode Alex wants to watch. "I want the something," means the one where they go to Egypt to see the Sphinx. Sphinx is kind of hard for a 2 year old to say, let alone understand. "Rocket ship" usually means he just wants to watch Einsteins.

I don't think he's ever paid as close attention to any other show. He'll narrate the show, and tell you what's going to happen before it does. At least he's learning things from it. If he's going to enjoy TV, at least it's a good message that's teaching him something.

So "Rah Rah Rah, for Rocket!" (All you Einstein-loving parents know exactly what I'm saying, don't you? Admit it! You sing it too!)

Going Green

I am attempting to go green. Well, maybe not totally green, but I'm trying to make my little corner of the world a little bit greener. I bought two "green" grocery bags at the store today. I was actually really excited by this. The bags hold a lot more than I thought they would. We took a bunch of plastic bags to the recycling drop off in the store, and grabbed two of the green bags. My plan is to buy a couple more green bags each trip. They cost $1.50 a piece. But anything that reduces the number of plastic bags out there has to be good, right?

I mean, we just emptied out the big pile of plastic bags before Christmas, and we're up to a mountainous level again! I try my hardest to use them over again, whether for cleaning up after the dog, lining the little garbage cans in each room, as lunch bags, but I don't even make a dent in the stack.

An estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That's 1 million bags used per minute. And, according to the EPA, more than 380 billion of those are discarded in the U.S. Less than 1 percent of those are actually recycled. (the previous infomation was taken from oprah.com)

So I'm going to try out this green grocery bag thing. We already switched to the compact flourescent light bulbs and we're trying to use more rechargeable batteries. I'm not building a windmill in the backyard yet or buying an electric car. But maybe these little steps will help make a difference down the road... especially if other people take little green steps along with me! So how about it? Anyone else out there going green, even in small ways?

Happy Birthday, Jonathan and Nathan!

Today is my nephew Nathan's Birthday. At age 4, he's about 18 months older than Alex. I'm sure as the two of them get older they will be good buddies. His brother Jonathan turned 7 on Saturday, too. The picture to the right shows Jon, Nate, Alex, and Matt. I can't believe how big all the boys are getting. Yes, there are currently 4 grandkids on my side of the family... all boys. We keep hoping to break the streak, even though we love all our boys dearly. We'll just have to see what happens, whoever has the next baby!

Potty Training Plateau

We've reached a potty training plateau at the Hofer house.

Alex decided over Labor Day weekend last year that he wanted to use the potty. My brother Mike and his wife Jen were in town. I think Alex just wanted to impress Uncle Mike. The kid announced he wanted to use the potty and proceeded to go potty and earn about 100 stickers over the course of the weekend.

Well, we've had to increase the rewards (now it's a sticker AND M&M's), switch to pull-ups (while they are more expensive, I don't mind. We don't seem to go through as many as we did diapers), buy "big boy underpants" for the ultimate reward, but we've made little to no progress since then.

My mom even bought one of those "potty ring" deals. You put it on the seat and it makes the opening smaller so little bottoms don't slip through. It has Bob the Builder on it. Alex loves it.

Unfortnately our love affair with the potty ring was short lived. Less than a week after we started using it, Alex slammed the toilet lid on it, the splash guard went in the water, and Alex flushed before Daddy could fish the plastic splash guard out. (As a result, Craig will likely have to remove the toilet from the floor and explore the plumbing, as the splash guard is stuck somewhere between the toilet and the sewer output. Hopefully that repair won't end up being another blog topic!)

If we put him on the potty, he'll go. We've tried to make it a routine. Go first thing in the morning and ask constantly during the day. He simply won't tell us when he has to go. Pee or poop. And as for the "looking for signs..." forget it. This kid will be a fantastic poker player.

I'm not sure how helpful they are being at daycare, either. I know that he sometimes goes in the potty there, but I just don't feel like they're making enough of an effort. I've talked with his teachers, explained that we're working on it, but I think they get too busy with 10 kids in the class to pay as close of attention to that as they need to.

The next trick will be to place clean underwear underneath the pull-up. So he knows what it's like to feel wet. Hopefully he won't like it, forcing him to tell us when he has to go. It won't be fun, but it may just do the trick.

Friends

I've seen a lot of my local friends this week. For the longest time, I felt like it was hard to make friends here in Milwaukee. After a few years, that changed though. I made really good friends with a couple of people I worked with. Then good friends from the Quad Cities moved up here, so that was an instant friend! EASY! I joined a FABULOUS book club full of strong women.
Met some more great people through work. Changed jobs, kept up the friendships with the old work buddies, and have even made a couple of new work buddies. I feel really lucky to have such a great circle of friends.

Thursday nights a group of girls from the TV station and me get together to watch "Grey's Anatomy." Unfortunately, because of the writers strike, we're out of new episodes. So we've decided to keep getting together anyway, and we're going to make it a game night. I'm really excited about this, because I like playing games almost as much as I like reading... which is a lot.

I've also managed to keep up with the book club friends pretty well. We're getting together for dinner tomorrow night at my new favorite restaurant, Guadalupe. It's going to be so great to see them!

I also love hearing from all my friends scattered across the country. I hope you're all enjoying the blog. I hope some of you will be inspired to start your own, or drop me an email or post a comment. Friendship is such an amazing gift, and I feel really blessed to have as many great friends as I do.

Catching Up

We are enjoying a weekend of catching up as a family. We slept in today. Well, Alex got up at 2AM and 6AM. At 6AM, I brought him into bed with Craig and I, and we all managed to get about 2 1/2 more hours of sleep. It was glorious!

We've had a semi-lazy day. Vacuumed, went to the grocery store, we're heading to Kohl's in a little bit to get Alex some new gym shoes. Then tonight the three of us are planning to go to dinner at Maggiano's. YUM! It's nice to spend so much time together after the craziness of the last couple of weeks.

My presentation went great! Everyone liked what I have in the website so far. We're shooting to launch it in the middle of February. I'll post the link in here, so everyone can check out my work.

I started a new book last night. It's called "The Friday Night Knitting Club." A total chick book, which I need after the last couple of books I read. Both were pretty heavy subject matter, so I consider this one a cleansing of my mind.

Stress and Nerves

I have a big presentation in front of a group of relative strangers tomorrow. I've been tapped to fill a pre-created website with content for an initiative to get Milwaukee list as a healthy city.

I've never met the people on this panel, but they send snarky emails sometimes. I'm pretty new to all this converting of files and creating/building of webpages. Go ahead, put me down because I don't know how to make a JPG from the PDF you sent me. Obviously you put the picture in the PDF somehow. How hard is it to send me the original file?

But I digress... I don't want to win an award for crabbiest new blogger of the year. Just wish me luck. That's all I need!

I did get to work out today. I ran on the ellipitcal for 35 minutes. My legs are sore, as it's been over a week since I had time to do any sort of physical activity. My goal is to go again tomorrow. I'm sure I'll need to relax after showing off weeks worth of work to a room full of critics.

Off to get some sleep! This lovely presentation is at 730 tomorrow morning! EEK!

Road Rage = Not a good way to start the day

So much for the 1-2 inches of snow we were supposed to get. It was closer to a foot. My 30 minute commute took me over an hour today. The combination of stress and frustration over being late and having zero control over the situation put me in a tremendous bad mood for the day. Driving in snow is not complicated. You take your time, and pray everyone else does too.


Unfortunately for me today, everyone was driving horribly on the unplowed roads. It took me 15 minutes to go two blocks... right next to the parking ramp I needed to get into! UGH! The drive home was equally bad. One of the busiest intersections on my ride home... the traffic lights were out. The funny part is it's right in front of a huge police station. You'd think someone would have called to see if a couple of officers could come out to direct traffic. That would have made sense!


On a better note... my book club is finally getting together again! The holidays are always crazy, so we usually take December off from reading. It's been a couple of months since we've been able to meet. We are heading to Habanero's for "drinks, dessert, discussion, and disbursement" as Therese put it. I can't wait for some girl time! It will be great! Last year we reorganized, and read more books that we ever have as a group! I hope we can keep it up this year. I also hope we can challenge ourselves with the books that we choose. If you want to see what we've read this far, check out my goodreads.com profile.


I'm relaxing with a glass of Pinot Grigio tonight. I think I deserve it. Here's to a better day tomorrow!

A recipe for you...

My mom made this awesome breakfast casserole this weekend. I promised to share the recipe if we liked it. The recipe was from a Register-Mail article on a Galesburg church cookbook.

Blueberry Brunch Bake

1 lb. loaf day-old French bread, cut into 1/2” cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
Options: additional blueberries and maple syrup

Place half the bread cubes in a greased shallow 3 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with blueberries. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the eggs, yogurt, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Gradually add the milk and maple syrup until blended. Pour half over the bread. Top with the remaining bread and cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 F. for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Sprinkle with additional blueberries if desired. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with syrup. 6 to 8 servings. Note: If using frozen blueberries do not thaw before adding to batter.

Now, this is pretty bland as is. The maple syrup helps, but I like things a little sweeter than that. Next time I make it, I'll probably add about a 1/2 cup of sure to the liquid mixture before pouring over the bread.

Enjoy!

Back to normal

CRAIG'S HOME!!! YAY!!!!
Sorry all you Packers fans, but I'm really glad to have my husband back! The game last night was a real nail-biter. I stayed up till the end, then had to go to bed right away to get rested for my event.

The organization I work for plans a huge breakfast every year on MLK Day. I was part of the planning committe for it, so I had to be downtown at 430AM. OUCH! I haven't had to do that since my TV days. It's kind of like riding a bike though. I was fine at the beginning. Awake, jazzed, really excited to see if we had pulled it off. Then guests started to arrive. More than 1000!!!! Many elected officials... the mayor, county executive, both U.S. Senators, many of the state representatives and aldermen. I even got the new auxilliary bishop to give the invocation! He's only been here since December! I thought that was pretty cool. I felt ridiculous going up to these people and telling them when they were to speak. But everything went great.

It's kind of a surreal feeling after the event. Before and during the event, it's all adrenaline. Afterward, it was like, "What just happened? Months and months of planning and we're done now?"

Jess and I headed back to the office and after deciding we couldn't concentrate, we headed out for a much deserved lunch. Neither of us had a chance to eat anything. By the time we went to grab coffee, all that was left was decaf -- major disappointment. So we headed to the Applebee's in the mall our office is attached to. It was a very relaxing lunch. We stopped at Old Navy on the way back where I picked up a very cute, very cheap pair of sweat pants. When we got back to the office, we each had a flower arrangement on our desk with a nice thank you note from our boss.

That's something I'm not used to. I managed to pull off some pretty amazing feats while producing news. I solo produced an hour of news when Miller Park opened. I produced an hour on so many Brewer's opening days and Summerfest opening days that I lost count. Oh, and when Pope John Paul II died? Yeah, it was a Saturday. I boothed a 45 minute "cut-in" and wrote two hour-long newscasts BY MYSELF. No one ever acknowledged it.

Today, I got flowers from my boss. Recognition for all the hard work that went into a job well done. What a novel concept!?

Then our boss told us we could skip an afternoon meeting and head out. I was home by 230. I took a nap for about 45 minutes. HEAVEN!

Grandma's finally here!!

My mom got here today a little before 1PM. I don't know who was happier to see her... me, Alex, or Shadow! We all pretty much attacked her the second she walked in the door.
After some play time it was time for Alex to take a nap. I ended up heading into work for about an hour. I enjoyed my quiet time. There was no one in the office but me. It was so gloriously silent. I finished what I needed to get done, then headed back.

Alex, Mom and I all headed to church at 5PM. Then after church it was a trip to my favorite restaurant, Guadalupe. It's on Bluemound in Wauwatosa. It's fairly new, been open maybe a little over a year. The food is great, the margaritas are WONDERFUL, and the waitresses just dote on Alex. And of course, the little flirt just eats it right up. They always come over and talk to him, or talk to us. We've been there so many times, they're starting to treat us like family.
I love that feeling!

After dinner, we had to go for some custard. Didn't want to go all the way out to Kopps, so we settled for Culvers. The flavor of the day was coconut cream pie. YUM!
Alex was showing off for Grandma and she loved every minute of it. We got him all ready for bed, and now we're just relaxing. I'm watching Craig's live shots from Green Bay. He lucked out tonight, and they have him live inside Lambeau Field, instead of outside. I worry about him in the cold tomorrow. I just hope he packed enough layers!

Mom is in the kitchen getting a breakfast casserole ready. It's got blueberries, cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and french bread in it. If it turns out really good, I'll post the recipe here tomorrow. I can't wait to try it!

We're going to watch a chick flick, then call it a night. Tomorrow we'll run some errands... my hometown isn't exactly small (30,000 people) but they don't have a Kohl's or a Sam's Club. So I usually take my mom when she come up. Then we'll watch the game and cook some more.

It's been nice having another body in the house. I really miss my mom, and wish she lived closer. It's great having her here, not just for the help, but for the friendship and love. It's hard sometimes living so far from home. But we make the best of the time we do have together.

The home stretch, for now.

I made it through another week. In less than 12 hours, my mom will be here to provide some much needed relief. It was a crazy day. I got a good night's sleep and so did Alex. So it was off to a decent start. Then when I went to fill Shadow's water dispenser, the bottom came off, and I flooded the corner of the kitchen. We were making good time up until that point. I lost it while searching for giant towels to mop up the mess. I had myself a little pity party, tears and all, until Alex asked me if I was okay. Then I once again pulled myself together and went on with the day. It's been a really long two weeks.

I hate sounding like a whiner. There are a lot of people who have it worse than me!

New topic... the event is Monday. I have to be there by 430AM. I ended up working a little late today. I feel bad because there were still a few things that needed to be done, but I had to leave to go pick Alex up. I hope Jess (my co-worker who's also working on the event) didn't have to stay too late. I forgot to do one thing with the script, so I will probably have to go in briefly tomorrow or Sunday to take care of that. No big deal, and again, not complaining. Once the event goes off without a hitch, I'll post some more information about it.

Now I have to go attack the mountain of dishes that didn't get done yesterday. Yes, it's 11:10PM, but the dishes still need to be done!

As stated previously, the Packers better win, after the two weeks I've been through. And Craig better get to go to the Super Bowl out of this!!! My grandfather would be rolling in his grave over that Packers comment. Better stop for the night, before he comes back to haunt me. Sorry, JaJa!

The ice cream is calling to me

It's freezing cold out. There's a mountain of dishes waiting for me in the sink. Alex has gone to bed. Shadow, our dog, is snoozing on the couch (and breaking wind, too. I don't know what's gotten into that dog!) as I prepare to blog. There's a container of chocolate ice cream with mini peanut butter cups and a peanut butter ribbon calling to me from the freezer. I do not want to feed the ice cream beast! But OH! How I LOVE ice cream!

It's been so busy at work that I haven't had time to work out. Normally I get to work out at some point during my day, but it's been over a week. I've been eating bad and not exercising. UGH! I feel like such a slug. Next week is my week though. I've scheduled work outs into my day. My new year's resolution isn't outlandish... well, actually there are two resolutions. I want to eat healthier, and exercise more. I think those are very realistic. I just need to do it. So once I get through this mess with stressful event planning and Craig being gone, I will really give it my all.

Well, if I'm going to get started next week, I might as well indulge now. I'm off to silence the ice cream beast!

My New Skirt

I've been eyeing a skirt in a catalog since last fall. It finally went on sale, I ordered it, and it came in. I LOVE IT! I went to get coffee today at Stone Creek (guilty pleasure) and two people complemented me on the skirt. That made me feel good! I ordered it from this British company called Boden.

Their stuff is kind of pricey, but of course, I got one of those "we're having a sale" emails, and it ended up being 70% off the original price. Sometimes you just have to spoil yourself, especially if you're looking for something different to wear to work!

I've been bad this week about not making my own coffee or lunch. Heck, today, I forgot to make lunch for Alex! So we were a little late to school and work today.

A trip downtown.

Alex and I took a drive downtown tonight. My coworker/friend Jess had a Lia Sophia party at her place. She lives in one of those great high-rises near Cathedral Square. Normally I would have gone alone, but as that's not an option, Alex came with.

It was cool to see the city through his eyes. He was thrilled by the cars, trucks and cranes. He kept looking up at the tall buildings. He also decided that "Mommy lives in the city."
He came to visit me at my office downtown just before Christmas.

Alex was definitely the hit of the party. He kept commenting on how pretty the jewelry was. The sales rep LOVED that. I'm a sucker, and I bought a necklace and two pair of earrings. It was buy one get two half off. That's how I justified it. I fought the urge to book a party though. I've already done Tupperware and Pampered Chef in the past 5 years. People are going to think the only reason I have parties is to sell stuff!

My brain is fried from all the writing I've been doing at work. I got the script done for my event. I haven't done much reading this week. I just can't wait for my mom to get here so I can have a bit of a break. I'm going non-stop at work, and non-stop at home. It will just be nice to have another body around to entertain Alex. I think it's time for bed now.

Funny comments from the two year old

Alex is cracking me up this week. I'm a big fan of dialogue, especially if it's funny.

Every time he talks to Craig on the phone he says, "I miss you Dad! Happy Birthday!"

This morning before school, he said: I don't need to go to school today.

Me: I think you do.

Alex: No. I need to go to the grocery store.

Me: Really? What do you need from the store?

Alex: Milk. Bananas. Cranberry Juice.

He's also taken to talking about money. Everytime change falls out of Craig's pocket, Alex grabs it and puts it in his bank. He also keeps saying "I have four dollars."

And the kicker today... he's starting to get a stuffy nose, so I said, "I think we need to turn on your humidifier tonight." Alex's response? "I don't know about that."

The kid cracks me up!

I'm doing well, thanks for asking!

I want to give a shout out to all my friends and family who have called/emailed/contacted me in any way to make sure I'm doing okay. Thanks Erin! Thanks Therese! Thanks Sara! And thanks to all of you who aren't close by, but are supporting me in spirit. If I haven't mentioned you by name, I'm sorry.

I started this blog to help me maintain my sanity while Craig is off being the award-winning photojournalist he is. I thank GOD that I am not working in TV right now. Because if both of us were working crazy hours and we had to try to figure out what to do with Alex in the meantime, I would probably be insane. Because the journalist in me would be saying, "I want to go field produce in Green Bay/Dallas/Phoenix/fill in the blank." But the mom in me would be saying "Who's going to take Alex to school/tuck him in at night/feed him breakfast/make sure nuk and tiger and blanket make it to bed with him/fill in the blank." So while I miss having the coolest job in the world, I'm settling very nicely into the second coolest job in the world.

While the blog is helping keep me sane, my compulsive list making is also helping. I have a home "to-do" list that I update every night. It helps me feel like I'm staying on track and getting things done to cross off "dishes" and "bath for Alex."

My office looks like a stack of post-its threw up on my desk. I've got turquoise lists, yellow lists, purple lists. But it's helping me focus on things I can control.

So to all of you worried about me, I appreciate it. I'm managing well, but it's nice to know I've got such a supportive group of friends.

Blast from the past

I enjoy checking out my hometown newspaper. It's called the Galesburg Register-Mail. I worked there one summer while I was in college. It was just as a circulation clerk (Sure Ma'am, I can give you a vacation hold!) but it cemented my desire to go into journalism. I flirted with the idea of being a pharmacist my freshman year of college. Bad idea. Chemistry is fun, but not the right fit for me. Anyhow, back to the story at hand.


After perusing the news section, I generally check out the lifestyles section to see if any of my classmates (or kids I used to babysit… man am I old) got engaged or married. I check out the birth announcements and the obituaries.

Normally I don’t pay much attention to the ads, but today one caught my eye. It was for a bed and breakfast in one of Galesburg’s historic homes. The Carr House has quite a history. http://www.thecarrhouse.com/

My friend Amy and I have quite a history with the Carr house as well. When we were juniors in high school, we paired up for our first project in our American Studies class.

We decided to do a “walking tour” of Galesburg’s historic homes. We dug up a lot of cool books in the special collections section at the public library. We drove around looking for these homes, planning to videotape some of them as they appeared at the time. (Do you see the journalism theme? And that wasn't even the first time I did a project involving me playing reporter!)

Some of these homes were run down, others were in great shape. Time was not on our side, and the sun was rapidly setting. We had a flood light that plugged into the lighter of my trusty Plymouth Horizon (I loved that car, by the way. Wish I still had it!!!) and we tried to get some video of the Carr House.

Well, two kids with a flood light and a video camera as the sun is setting is probably a little disconcerting to a homeowner. The house never had any porch lights on or anything… until we paid it a visit that fateful early fall night. I’m sure we really scared the poor woman living there by herself. From that time forward the porch light was always on and the front part of that house was lit up like it was expecting visitors.

I always felt kind of bad about that… but it certainly makes for a great story. Amy and I still talk about that story today more than 16 years later. I would LOVE to check out the B&B that this house has become!

Made it through another day

Craig was home for about 36 hours. He had his usual Monday morning with Alex. I'm sure by the end of the week, Alex will be missing daddy big time. We had a blast yesterday at a birthday party for the daughter of our friends Hank and Sara. Katie turned two yesterday. She looked stunning in her little party dress. It also convinced me that the next baby needs to be a girl!!!

I made it through the day. I had a lot of stuff pile up on me before I even walked through the door. Media inquiries, interviews I had set up and forgotten about. A final meeting with the event planning committee. I just kept making lists and crossing things off the list.

The biggest challenge right now is scripting the event. I'll be working on that all day tomorrow.
I actually have started writing what our CEO will say. I even brought my computer home to try to get that portion of the program done. It's kind of a funny sight right now. I've got my work laptop and my home laptop fired up at the same time. I have to get some of that homework done.
Now for a quick list...

Things I'm looking forward to:
- My friend/coworker Jess's Lia Sophia Party.. and also my friend and former co-worker Steph's Lia Sophia Party
- The end of the writer's strike
- The end of the Packers season (though they made it this far, they damn well better make it to the Super Bowl. I'm a Chicago Bears fan, you have no idea how painful it was to make that last comment. I still hurt a little bit.)
- Getting together with my bookclub babes. Sooner rather than later!
- Going on a big date with Craig when this is all over with.

Buck up, Buttercup!

So one more week of flying solo. The Packers had to go and win their game on Saturday.

I was half paying attention to the game as we were getting ready for church. They were losing when we left. Alex was squirmy and fussy in church, so I was really happy when we could leave.

I flipped on the game in the car to listen for the score. As soon as I heard the announcer say Green Bay was up by 20, I burst into tears. Of course, that freaked Alex out. "What's a matter Mommy?" I heard from the back seat. I pulled it together enough to drive home. I realize that "crying mommy" is a little scary, so I didn't want him to see that.

We did okay last week, it was just hard not having Craig here for moral support. And with this big event a week from Monday, it's going to be an interesting and stressful week.

Thank God for friends! My friend Sara said she would help out and pick Alex up if I need to stay late at all next week. I don't know what I'd do without my friends.

I feel bad for Craig. If Dallas had won, he'd be spending the week in Texas. Instead, it's another week in Green Bay. It looks like the Packers will go all the way though. They face the Giants next, plus they have home field advantage. But I digress, this isn't a sports blog after all!

My mom will be coming up next weekend to give me a hand (once again, THANK GOD!!!). I have to be in to work next Monday by 4AM. And not knowing when Craig will get home, that could get a little weird. So wish me luck as I embark on solo week two. And pray that I maintain my sanity!

Waking up to feet in my face...

So even though my husband is out of town, I didn't sleep alone last night. My bed buddy has blond hair, a killer smile, and the cutest little snore.

Oh... did I mention he's two years old?

Alex didn't sleep well last night. And as a result, neither did I. He woke up about midnight. I wasn't really asleep yet, so I went into his room and he was screaming. Not crying but screaming. I tried but couldn't wake him up. It was kind of freaky. I managed to pick him up and rocked him in the glider for a bit. When I tried to put him back down, the screaming started again. Must have been a nightmare. I ended up bringing him to bed with me because I still had to get up and go to work, and potentially shovel the fresh coat of snow that fell overnight.

Alex decided to sleep with his feet in my face. He kept kicking me most of the night. At least both of us got a decent night's sleep.

Alex does miss his daddy though. We were watching "The Lion King" tonight, and there's a scene where Simba and Mufasa are wrestling and Simba says "Dad, we'll always be pals, right?" Alex looked at me and started asking questions about where Craig was. He really misses his daddy. Both of us can't wait till he comes home.

The bad news is... Craig will likely be gone next week too. It's a double whammy for me. I have a HUGE event that I'm in the middle of at work. Next week is crunch time. So having to be a single parent for another week is not at the top of my list of things to be excited about. So we'll just have to wait and see.

Right now, I'm planning on making us a really great home-cooked meal for Sunday. Maybe lasagna or something like that. I'm sure after a week of dining out, he'll be ready for something home cooked. We'll just make the best of the time we have together on Sunday when he's home and see what happens next! Who knows? Maybe Craig will end up going to the Superbowl?

I can't wait until football season is OVER!

Flying Solo

I'm halfway through a week of flying solo. Craig is in Green Bay for Packers hysteria. Normally he gets to go up there and come home, but he's spending a whole week up there. I miss him, but I'm also starting to realize how spoiled I am!

The hubs... he's pretty good. He was always very helpful in the mornings after Alex was born. But once I went back to work... MAN! Did I have it good! He got breakfast ready, packed Alex's lunch, and had him ready to be out the door by 8:30AM.

Well, Mama's got to be to work an hour earlier now, so Daddy really has to do it all himself.
I hope he knows how much I appreciate all he does in the morning! I'll make sure to tell him next time I see him (likely after the Superbowl if the Packers keep winning).

Alex has been uncharacteristically cooperative. Mornings are usually filled with drama. Alex is not a morning person. He comes by that honestly. I have never been a cheerful, chipper morning person. But the last couple of days, Alex has really been good. I've been about 15 minutes late for work, but they've been really great about it. (If I was still in TV land, I'd have had a talking too about being late) It is just a huge juggling act. I'm getting up earlier, so I can be ready earlier, and have some non-rushed time with the little guy. But we're getting by.

What really hit me was on the way home from work today, it was REALLY snowing. All that went through my head was "Who's going to shovel tomorrow morning?" Oh wait! That's me! I managed to oursource walking the dog! (I've hired the neighbor kid to walk her. Yeah, I'm that woman. Can't even walk her own dog when her husbands out of town. SAD!) But didn't stop to consider what to do if it snowed while Craig's gone. I know everything will be fine. I will survive, to quote Gloria Gaynor. It's just a little overwhelming!

The past couple of days have really put things into perspective for me. It's made me appreciate my life even more. I always had a great deal of respect for single moms, but now even moreso. I also have a new appreciation for my older sister. She has three boys ages almost 4 to almost 9. She's blessed to be able to stay home with them, but my brother-in-law has to travel a lot for his job. I can honestly say I don't know how she does it! She is truly super-woman!

So whether you're a mom flying solo on a permanent basis, or just temporarily stepping into that world, my hat is off to you! It's not easy! And you deserve a break.

By the way... whenever I get a weekend with my husband again, we are going out on a date. There will be a babysitter. There will be drinks and dinner, a movie AND dessert. Period.

So Much To Do So Little Time

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with all that you have to do that you feel like you’re going to throw up?
I would get like this periodically when I had to produce two newscasts in one day, but I just have so much to do it’s insane.
And I feel like I have no idea where to start, and no matter what I get done, it’s not enough and the to do list just keeps getting longer. Just an observation. No time for anything else.

Welcome to Diapers and Deadlines

I've finally done it! I've started a blog. The idea of a blog first surfaced last year. I was working as a TV News Producer, and my station was looking for ways to increase original content on the website, so a bunch of off-air people were recruited to create blogs. Unfortunately, the off-air blogs never materialized, but I came up with so many things to write about, I decided to just do it on my own.

In the time since then, I've left the glamorous world of television news and made the jump to a new career. I'm now in the wonderful world of public relations. My TV skills translate nicely (managing deadlines and projects, keeping people on time, planning, scheduling, etc.) to my new position, and I love it! I feel like I'm learning something new everyday. It also allows me more time with my wonderful husband Craig and our adorable son, Alex, 2 1/2.

My hopes for this blog are many. I want to work on my writing. I am, after all, an English major who's been masquerading as a journalist for the past 10 years. I hope to smooth out some of my bad TV writing habits. I hope to share my thoughts on motherhood, the joys and the challenges of being a working mom, and a wife. I still feel like I'm growing up, so there will be many thoughts and musings on that as well. I hope you enjoy what I write, and I'm always looking for comments and feedback.