Tag Archive: workin mama (not to be confused with ‘working girl’)

Endings & Beginnings

March 9, 2010 | about mommygeekology, making memories | Tags: , ,
16 Spoke Up - Say Something

It’s Tuesday! I feel this deserves an exclamation point because it’s Not! Monday! It also deserves an exclamation point because it’s the the Second-to-Last! Day! of this job. Thank baby jebus.

I left Company L last May because of layoffs and pay cuts and honestly, it seemed like a sinking ship. I got another job offer for a position working with Company I that sounded like a dream, so I jumped at it. It wasn’t so bad until I realized that my boss hates babies, particularly my babies, and also thinks that children should get sick on a schedule. And when I leave my kids with my day care provider when they are are sick rather than keeping them at home in order to keep from calling out of the office, and my day care provider gets sick, that should happen on a schedule. I should provide at weeks notice for times when I will have to call in sick. I’m only kidding a little.

From an actual email from my boss this year after I had to call out a few times b/c of vomity* children: “We spoke about your pattern of attendance last November**… You have used 3 out of your total 6 Sick days allotted for the year… please make an effort to plan your time out of the office more carefully.”

What. The. Fuck? Who PLANS VOMITING except for bulimics? Is she saying that my children are bulimic? Or is she just really, really stupid? I’m going with stupid. This woman is the worst boss I’ve ever had – and two of my previous bosses sexually harassed and/or propositioned me.

When Company L approached me a couple of weeks ago, I figured it was for some contract work. I left on good terms, and I had worked there for 3 years – I had worked hard, and I had worked in 4 different departments. I know the company & the business process & the people very well. I implemented an enterprise-level CRM & web integration solution while heavily pregnant. Dammit, I loved that company and they ruined it with their pay cuts & their sinking ship. So I thought.

They didn’t want contract work, they wanted to hire me back, in an expanded version of my previous position working with multiple departments, as the Business Tech. Admin. The pay is a little higher, the hours more flexible, and it’s with people I want to work with. The only downside is no more commuting with my husband & working near him. But I also won’t be constantly miserable and fearful that I am going to lose my job if my kid gets anything worse than the sniffles and keeps me out of work.

I wasn’t sure about the stability of the company at first, but I spoke with a few of my old coworkers – it’s a smaller crew now, but things are looking up. Salaries have been restored, there are no more forced furloughs, and certain crappy managers (including the worthless President) have left or stepped down.

I’m excited. I’m excited to do a job that I know I will love. I’m excited to have the flexibility to work home if it’s necessary. I’m excited to be with people my own age again (it’s a much younger company than the one I am now as far as average employee age) and I’m excited because they already know me – I already know them. I can hit the ground running. They remembered my work and asked me for this position first. I feel sort of important, you know? Wanted. Needed. It’s a good feeling.

I’m mostly excited to be done with the stress of this job. The stress of being a full-time working mother who needs to fear for her livelihood because her boss refuses to be flexible.  Because only one other person here is the parent of young children. Because the job wasn’t as described in the first place, so it’s unfulfilling.

SQUEE.

* Yes, that’s a word.  Anything can be a word if you submit it to Urban Dictionary.
** She wrote me up for my “attendance patterns” after she forgot that I needed to be out of the office to take my mother to get scanned for cancer. But she has a mind like a steel trap! She wouldn’t forget that! She asked me to reschedule the cancer appointment. Because another employee had vacation that day, and it would be the end of the fucking world if someone wasn’t there to answer the phones. No, it would be the end of the fucking world if my mother had had cancer, you douchecanoe. Oh, and I HAD TIME LEFT OVER at the end of the year. GAH!

PS. My kids are very sick, so I’m a little slow on email and on geek projects, but once they’re better I’ll be back up to speed. MUAH. Email me anyway.

PPS. Ewokmama wrote a great post about her experience as a working mama, too, and I love it, so I am sharing.

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Mind dump.

January 20, 2010 | General, about mommygeekology, featured | Tags: , , , ,
18 Spoke Up - Say Something

This post is exactly what you think it is. Brace yourselves.

  • Hubby is away until Thursday night. He’s in Florida until then. In fact ,as we speak, he is attending his Uncle Frank’s funeral. Not what we expected to be doing this week… apparently he had high blood pressure. No one knew, he hadn’t been treated for it. Please, folks – go for a yearly checkup with your doctor.  Meanwhile, I’m single parenting it until he gets back.. but not really. Uncle J (who is not really an uncle, but DaddyGeek’s best friend from childhood, who moved here last year and who is also Geeklet’s Godfather) has been a huge help. I mean, above and beyond. Seriously. He shoveled a space for my car at the apartment complex. Just for us. He helps with the kids, he helps get Geeklet to sleep and puts up with the incessant questioning and requests by Cupcake. He cleaned my kitchen. He cleared the snow off of our second car, which we aren’t even using this week, just so we didn’t have to do it later. He takes the trash out. He’s been awesome. Last night my mother did a whole judgy-thing about why he was there helping… apparently I’m not allowed to have help? I don’t know. Whatever – he’s been awesome, she can keep her opinion to herself. Things could have been far less awesome this week. For example, I could have had to deal with my massive head cold, the girls’ massive head colds, plus Cupcake’s puking on Sunday night 4 hours after DaddyGeek’s plane took off all by myself. But I didn’t. Mother can judge away, but the kids are doing better for J being around.
  • Work. Work work work. There is a lot of it and I am barely keeping my eyes open after the kids go to sleep, so projects have been moving more slowly than I’d like. Thankfully I punched out a lot of work last night and today, so I’m nearly back on track. I don’t see it letting up this month at all. Oh, PS — did you know January is ALMOST OVER?!
  • I got a new planner. It’s a GTD planner, and I love it, and it’s helping me be organized, and I love love love it. Seriously. Love. It. I’m usually a digital gal but I truly enjoy literally penciling something in. Or, penning it in. I hate pencils. It’s a texture thing.
  • I am behind on blog reading, and I feel sorely out of the loop. It’s making me cranky. I have over 350 unread posts that I can’t get to. Also, my fishes, farm, deserted island, restaurant, cafe, zoo and pet on Facebook are feeling neglected. (lol)
  • Taxes soon. I do taxes for my whole family (incl. brother, mother, sister, us) and I am not looking forward to all. those. fucking. numbers. I hate numbers. Speaking of taxes, next years taxes are going to be all sorts of borked. Also I have to start setting aside money for estimated tax payments. Not fun, y’all!
  • I have about 4 posts planned in my head about songs that are meaningful to me, but I never get around to writing them.. I really should, because they are cluttering things up. Do you care about songs?
  • I’m pissed at Mother Nature for starting 2010 off with the Haiti Earthquake. I’m pissed there isn’t more I can do.
  • I finally decided I really do need to stop eating such disgusting food and do something about my weight, and my health, and my general fitness. I ate four donuts yesterday morning. FOUR. And another today, even though it was stale. Not good. So for lunch I had a Lean Pocket. It was hardly satisfying.. though could have been worse. I wanted to eat two. I ate one. Now if I can just keep that up, I can lose the baby weight, which is no longer baby weight, and is actually pastry weight, but saying pastry weight doesn’t sound as legit so baby weight it is.
  • Speaking of babies, I don’t have any anymore. I have two toddlers. Geeklet is 14mos now and is walking and running and climbing and doing things she shouldn’t do, and saying things like “ceiling” and “nana” and “daddy” and “yes” and she thinks it is funny, oh so funny, when you shake your head yes or no at her. She also loves: spinning, trying to eat lightbulbs, the TV clicker, anything that is electronic that she isn’t allowed to have, mashing the keyboard. Cupcake is 3.5 and is amazing. She’s getting ready to be rid of her bedtime bottle (no judging you whore) and we are so close to really getting somewhere with this potty training (again with the lack of judging!) and bedtimes have been better on a whole. She is saying adorable things, and her favorite joke right now is to substitute the word “underwear” anywhere in a sentence unexpectedly to make you laugh. She also loves jumping around, playing tag with herself, saying grown-up things like “You can say that again!” and “Oh brother!” and she knows how to work the DVD player. She also DM’d @chibijeebs for me the other day, which was oh so sweet of her. (lol)

Since I can’t get over to your blogs/twitter/whatever why don’t you tell me in the comments what’s up with you?

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Job {Write of Passage}

January 11, 2010 | about mommygeekology, featured, making memories | Tags: , , ,
12 Spoke Up - Say Something

Summer, 1998. I am 14 years old. I dance several times a week at a dance studio in my town. I have long brown hair. I don’t usually wear makeup but I feel confident, and pretty.

My first job was at a local convenience store. The owners were Peruvian, an older married couple. The wife was my boss, and her husband worked the counter with her. He smiled a lot, spoke little English. He had white hair and was affectionate. At first, I liked to think of him a the Grandfather I didn’t really have.

It all started innocently enough. He would comment about how skinny I was, that I should eat more. He offered me tata and snacks for free. His wife was so austere, so stern, so harsh, it was a welcome reprieve when he spoke to me. It was a small store, and it was usually just me and them.

I can’t pinpoint when, but at some point he started to make subtle advances. He would put his hand on my waist as I walked by, murmuring about how tiny I was, about my “beautiful dancer’s body.” He’d come up behind me and put his hands on my waist, my shoulders, touch my hair. I didn’t do anything about it. I was young. I didn’t quite understand what was going on, though I knew I wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. I rationalized that he was just a nice, lonely old man. Like a grandfather. I clung to that thought, using it as a rationale to continue working there, continue talking and joking with him, continue ignoring what was really going on.

He became bolder. He would tickle me, taking the chance to slide his hands under my shirt and touch the soft skin of my belly, the smooth curve of my back. I giggled, I danced away, I pretended it was ok.

Even bolder. He would slide his hand up underneath my shirt, complimenting my beauty, my grace. I tried to ignore it. I joked, I spun away, I stopped rationalizing and went with a full-on mental block. It wasn’t happening.

One Sunday morning at 5am, putting together newspapers, I hit my breaking point. My mother was there with me, helping me put the papers together. While she was in the back and I was carrying papers out to the front of the store, he pushed his hands up beneath my shirt and touched my bra. I ripped away from him. I didn’t speak to him again. I quit my job a week later, and it was a year or more before I told my mother what had happened. Not until my sister wanted to apply for a job there. I couldn’t bear the thought of her going through the same thing.

———–

May, 2009. I am 24. I am working at a corporate office, and I am pregnant and happily married. I love my job.

Nearly 2 years ago, I discovered I was pregnant with Geeklet. We were thrilled, and after a couple of months I decided it was time to tell my boss. He took me out to lunch. He drove. We talked.  He was a good friend of mine. We worked in a small department, all sitting together in a large office. Three of us, only three of us — young Greek guy that I was sure was gay, whose attitude often rubbed me the wrong way, and Gustavo. He was from Peru, and he was a true gentleman. He held doors for me. He opened car doors and offered to get me a drink at company functions. He was proper and kind and sensitive.

He was even kind, and gentle, and a gentleman, when he asked me to have sex with him.

He was kind, and sweet, when he told me he’d nearly cheated on his then-fiancee (now wife and mother of his child) while she was still in Peru.

He was gentle when he told me that he wanted to have sex with another woman, but didn’t want to pay for a prostitute. But I seemed nice, and he thought I might have sex with him.

He was sweet when I refused him.

He thanked me for not slapping him.

He drove us back to work, and he was polite throughout the entire afternoon.

He was polite when HR called him in and questioned him about the incident.

He was gentle and remorseful when he admitted to asking me for sex.

He was gentlemanly and polite when I changed departments because I could no longer work next to him.

He was polite when I confronted him months later to tell him that I thought I deserved an apology.

———–

I’m at a new job now. I work in a department of women. My husband works here. It’s a good arrangement. ‘Nuff said.



Say Something

Burnout

December 18, 2009 | about mommygeekology, featured | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
9 Spoke Up - Say Something

I am burning out. I need to find a balance between home, school, work, other work, kids, cleaning, laundry, relaxation. I can’t find it right now. I can’t find it right now, and I am burning out.

Three times in the past two weeks, I’ve just gone straight to bed as soon as the kids were asleep. Note: that’s unlike me. I like to stay up and do a little something. The problem is that it’s not that I didn’t have anything to do. I have plenty to do, too much to do, and I keep taking on projects.  I am hooking a fucking rug as a Christmas present for chrissakes. WHO THE FUCK HAS TIME FOR THAT?!

Part of it is the holidays. Part of it is just the regular ebb and flow of life.

Regardless, I still need to find balance. I need to stop jerking around to each part of my life, trying desperately to complete a task before I am pulled away again. I should be doing other things than blogging right now but I’m exploding. I need to get some of this out.

I need to breathe. I don’t feel like I have time to breathe. And when I find time, I don’t feel like I have the energy.

How do you do it? How do you balance? What do you have going on in your life? Write me a book in the comments, I don’t care. I want it. I need to know how you’re managing. Or not managing. I don’t want to be alone in this struggle.

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Yearning.

November 10, 2009 | about mommygeekology | Tags: , , , ,
13 Spoke Up - Say Something

I am filled with yearning.

I have always enjoyed my time commuting. First, it was just 10 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon to and from high school (Traffic on the way back, all the seniors leaving the school at once. That school parking lot was always crazy jammed up). I drove around town in my little red car feeling young and free and – oh, wait, no, I was in high school. I felt angsty and angry and frustrated. But when I turned on the radio and sang to my favorite songs, everything else seemed to slip away. It was a small moment of peace.

Then college. I was still living at home, commuting to a state school about 40 minutes away according to Google Maps, but about 15 minutes away if I caught traffic at the right time and sped up RT3 like Hell on Wheels. I did that every morning. I listened to music, any music – Reba McIntire, Martina McBride, Joss Stone, Dashboard Confessional, Dispatch, Incubus, Staind – anything I could sing along to. I was a music student. I felt it was my right. I cried when I hit a pothole so bad my radio fell out of my dashboard because it meant I had nothing to sing along to.

Then a real job, and a baby. I drove slower, the music was softer. I stopped singing for a while. I don’t know why. You’d think, that with music being such a strong influence in my life, being a music student at a local college – you’d think I’d sing my baby to sleep every night.  I didn’t. I felt embaressed. I feel stupid about it now. I wish I’d sung to her. I drove my baby to my mother’s every day and then went off to work. I sang loudly on my way to work after dropping Cupcake off. Those were some of the best parts of my days. A chance to forget everything that bothered me.

Now another real job, and two babies. I still don’t sing to them every night, but sometimes I’ll hum a little tune. Now I’ll sing along to Backyardigans and Phineas and Ferb, and Cupcake asks me to sing the songs that are on the radio, even the ones I don’t know. She wants me to sing so that she can sing with me. She wants to follow my lead.  I am commuting with my husband now, so I don’t sing as loudly. I don’t sing as often. I love going to the store alone because it means a chance to sing, unprofessionally, improperly, just pure emotion. Just sing.

I am filled with yearning.

I want to be on a stage again. I still remember playing Meg in Damn Yankees in high school. It was such a rush. I remember singing during the Spring Sing event, a solo during a choir concert. I remember performing in college. I remember feeling important, sparkly, talented. I remember dancing and singing and delivering lines, my body seemed so light. I felt electrified. I remember blood pounding in my ears at the curtain close. I remember taking a bow. I remember dancing and screaming and celebrating as soon as that curtain hit the stage again, the sound of applause almost distant beyond the congratulatory calls and whistles of my fellow castmembers.

I am filled with yearning.


Say Something

GTT: Job Venting (a guest post)

November 5, 2009 | featured | Tags: , , , , ,
8 Spoke Up - Say Something

The boobalicious Chibijeebs has some work woes that she doesn’t want broadcasted at her blog, so I offered up my (albeit a bit dusty from disuse of late) space to vent away. It’s all in good fun, and where good fun is involved, you know you’ll find Girl Talk Thursday. If you have a post that you’d like to write but can’t write in your own space, feel free to email me or leave a comment here or at Girl Talk Thursday. I’d be happy to feature it here, and I know the other gals at GTT would be thrilled to have you at their spaces, too.  And don’t feel like it has to be TODAY TODAY TODAY because it’s Thursday!  We’ll be reading, commenting and dishing out the girl time fun all week until our new topic next week. xoxo ~ MommyGeek

—————————————————-

The lovely MommyGeek (seriously: love her) has been kind enough to lend me some blog space because I’m paranoid.  Well, and because the set-up at work combined with this particular issue would make me VERY easy to identify by anyone who knows me IRL, and I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of exposure.  *ahem*

I willingly and openly admit upfront that my complaint really isn’t that big of a deal — all things considered, I have it pretty good.  But this is fresh and I’m still worrying over it and it spilled over into my personal life, so yeah.

The office is half of a very large shop on one of the owner’s property; his house and a pool house (where Grandma lives) also occupy space here.  (I guess before Rob built the shop, the office occupied space in Wade’s (owner #2) basement, so they’ve always played it close to the vest, so to speak.)

Before the end of the day Friday, Rob asked me if I would be interested in house sitting for them.  I sat there in stunned silence because I wasn’t sure just what this entailed — they DO have three kids and a dog: was it just house sitting, or was it really babysitting?  I recovered by asking when.  He told me that they were all going to Hawaii in two weeks for a week, then Grandma would be returning with the kids while Mom and Dad stayed on for an extra week.  He told me I could stay in the pool house if I felt more comfortable, and mentioned something about the hardest part being feeding the dog (even at the time I thought, if it’s just a matter of feeding the dog, I could do that before I went home/when I got here in the morning).  I told him I’d have to talk to The Man-Thing, and he assured me that it was no big deal if I couldn’t — that they’d find someone else — but that he thought I might like the “commute.”

Instantly, I was filled with dread: I can’t really give you a logical explanation, but the idea of house sitting makes me anxious to the nth degree.  I’d being staying in a strange house.  Alone.  In the dark.  I’d be sleeping in a bed not my own, when I already have “issues” sleeping in my bed.  What do I do with my clothes?  Do I bring a week’s worth?  Where do I put them?  What do I do about dinner?  Are they going to make sure the kitchen is stocked, or is that up to me?  Who looks after MY home while I’m looking after yours?  (Obviously this was before I met The Man-Thing and/or operating under the assumption that he’d be house sitting with me.)  WHY doesn’t anyone think about THAT when they ask you to house sit for them?!?  This is now the third time I’ve been asked to house sit by a boss/superior; I don’t know if they think I’m trustworthy or a push-over.  Or a trustworthy push-over.  Either way, it fills me with dread and I haven’t done it for anyone yet.  Hell, even my parents’ house gets cursory every-other-day visits when I “house sit” for them, and I lived there up until three years ago!

As I was leaving, he excitedly asked me if I wanted a tour of “where [I'd] be staying.”  I really didn’t want to, because I was all anxious and had pretty much already made up my mind to not do it, but I figured I’d humour him.  I totally felt like I was trespassing, especially considering Grandma wasn’t home at the time.  It was rather awful.

When I got home, I brought it up to The Man-Thing, all pshaw about it and stuff.  He waited until I was finished before suggesting I do it: he’d be fine for a week on his own, and besides, with Rob being the younger of the two owners, he’d likely be the one to continue the company when Wade retires, so if I do him a favour now, it might pay off down the road.  I looked at him, aghast.  First, the mere thought that this particular incident might possibly affect my future employment sent me into paroxysms of horror; and secondly, thanks for implying that I don’t think you’d survive a week without me — could you TRY to hide your excitement of a week in your underwear eating pizza, plz?

It SO wasn’t how I’d expected the conversation to go.  I expected we’d discuss either me going home after work and both of us coming back to “work” at the end of the day, or him coming out here to meet me at the end of the work day.  I certainly didn’t expect the damn-near Alone Time Happy Dance, simultaneously leaving the neurotic one (me) staying in a strange place ALL BY HERSELF.

For some reason, I couldn’t even articulate what was going through my head, other than to blast him for wanting to get rid of me (which, naturally, he didn’t take very well) and voicing shock and dismay at the thought I might lose my  job for saying no (in his “defence,” he’s currently involved in a course that is examining networking, and he figured this would just be one more way to make a “connection”).  He bristled and got defensive; I clammed up and cried.  Then?  We didn’t speak.

FOR TWO HOURS.  (Simply because we’re both horribly stubborn assholes who wait for the other one to “crack.”)

That was all resolved… blah, blah, blah.  I then had to come in on Monday and tell Rob that it wasn’t “going to work for us,” making up some BS excuse about The Man-Thing starting another course that week, and… <enter petered-off babbling here>  He told me it was no big deal, again repeating that they’d find someone else.  *phew*  Awkward and guilt-inducing (because I swear to Ceiling Cat I have the deadly combination of Catholic AND Jewish-mother guilt), but done…

…until Grandma came by with the mail Tuesday.  I guess Rob hadn’t told her that I turned them down.  She asked if I was going to be “staying over”; when I explained why I wasn’t, this look of panic overtook her face as she started worrying out loud about who they were going to get — ALL the (extended) family was going to be away/unavailable at that time.  She started talking about how she KNEW she should have waited and gone when Rob et al got home.

Oh, fuck.  Hi, Guilt!  SO not nice to see you again.  *sigh*

(I haven’t changed my mind, but I still feel ridiculously bad about it.  Oh, and I didn’t tell The Man-Thing the latest with Grandma because, well, just because.)

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A Little Inspiration (Updated, Repost)

August 27, 2009 | about mommygeekology, making memories, philosophy | Tags: , , , , ,
1 Spoke Up - Say Something

Beside my computer at work, where I plan to spend many a lunch-time hour composing witty and sometimes informational posts here on iMommy, I have a whiteboard. I love my whiteboard. In fact, I wish that I had some extra dough and no responsibilities (ha!) so that I could get an electronic whiteboard like this one.

On my (seriously technology-deprived) whiteboard at work, I’ve written a few inspirational phrases. These are often the reminder that I need to calm down, let it roll off my back, or even spur me to action. I’m considering taking them with me everywhere! Maybe I’ll put the phrases into a ScrapBlog with pictures of my loving family, then export it to a .jpeg and print it on photo paper and carry it in my purse…. and then I could have these lovely phrases with me all the time!

  • Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world.
  • Say “No.”
  • Don’t put up with something that doesn’t work right.
  • Unplug your phone.
  • Breathe deeply.
  • Take control of your environment.
  • Talk it out.
  • Keep a sense of humor.

I realize that not all of these are always achievable, but usually at least one of these little reminders helps me get through my day.

Sometimes, though, all I need is a picture:

Sisters

Sisters

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Liveblogging my life.

August 6, 2009 | about mommygeekology, making memories | Tags: , , ,
19 Spoke Up - Say Something

Today, I’ve decided to live-blog my day. Because I’m out of ideas for blog posts right now, and I haven’t posted for a week, and my poor bloggy blog feels neglected, and I feel like I need to write something, or I’ll just scream. No, I don’t expect you to read this. It’s mega-long.

6:00am: Alarm rings.

Wait, back up. Let’s be honest here.

5:15am: Geeklet wakes up. I stick the binky back in her mouth, cover her with her blanket and say a little prayer that she goes back to sleep. I may, or may not, have said “Just go to sleep for another 45 minutes, kid.”

6:ooam: Alarm rings. I turn it off, fall back asleep almost immediately after pausing to ensure the baby didn’t wake up, and have a strange dream about the alarm sounding like big, fuzzy colored caterpillars.

6:11am: Geeklet wakes up.  She is making whiny noises, because she is hungry. I want DaddyGeek to make the bottle so I can feed her in bed, but before I can ask, he sleepily mumbles/asks if it’s OK if he sleeps in until 6:30am. I don’t say anything, because my mother taught me not to say anything if you don’t have something nice to say. I get the baby and go make a bottle and feed her.

6:20am: Geeklet and I are settled on the sofa, she is having her bottle. I put on the latest episode of Drop Dead Diva, a show I swore I wouldn’t watch but to which I am now addicted.

6:41am: Realize I forgot to wake up DaddyGeek – open the door and wake him.

6:57am: Cupcake is still not up, my show is over, and I am considering watching the episode of The Closer that I haven’t yet watched. I realize I should brush my teeth, maybe take a shower, but decide instead to wear a ponytail again today.

7:00am: I realize that Geeklet has pooped already.  I suggest to DaddyGeek that he should change a diaper, I don’t tell him it’s poop. He suggests I make coffee. I win! I feel better about him sleeping in.

7:15am: Coffee is made, but Geeklet’s diaper hasn’t been changed yet. I refuse to change that damn diaper. Hubby is nowhere to be found. He must be in the bathroom.

7:20am: He was in the bathroom. I’m not sure, but I think I should wait before going in there. I use this as an excuse to get my computer open. Cupcake is still not awake.

7:21am: My computer is out of hibernation, and I quickly jot off a reply to AmazingGreis regarding moving her blog over to Wordpress. Silly girl, she doesn’t think she has any subsribers. What am I, chopped liver?

7:30am: After a little more mindless web surfing, Cupcake has woken up. I go into the room to see if she wants me to carry her out, as is the custom, but today she tells me to go away — she wants to “Get out of bed all by myself.” I almost die from the cuteness, but am revived by reading my Twitter stream.

7:41am: After lengthy discussion with DaddyGeek regarding getting a better design for his blog and silently consider harey-carey because GOOD LORD the man is picky. Don’t ever go clothes or blog shopping with this guy. NIGHTMARE.

7:57am: Quickly dress Geeklet and Cupcake to get out the door and start the morning commute.

8:06am: Begin loading the car, including the super-stinky trash that must go to the dumpster today or I’ll vomit when I get home.

8:09am: Everyone is in the car, thank god. Put the windows down so the car doesn’t stink and drive over to the dumpster. Unload stinky trash, and we’re on our way!

8:16am: Call my mother to tell her we are 10mins from the house. “Heads-up” phone call, morning tradition. She stays on the phone with me until I get there, talking to me about my brother.

8:28am: Try to get some dirt of Cupcake’s nose, she freaks out. Toddlers = Evil.

8:37am: After everyone is settled in, I give kisses & hugs and head out.

8:48am: My mother calls. We manage to talk about the fact that Cupcake picked the healthy cereal over the unhealthy cereal for the next twelve minutes.

8:58am: I arrive at work, still talking to my mother. Luckily she recognizes the sounds of the office and excuses herself, we hang up. My coworker is shocked I am here so early. More on that in another post, entitled “Being a Working Mother Fucking Sucks Donkey Balls”, or somesuch. Stay tuned!

9:06am: Decide I am going to live-blog the rest of my day.

9:11am: Get a cup of french vanilla, mild blend coffee. Second cup of the day. I won’t finish it, but I like to sip on it while I sit at my desk.

9:14am: Twitter isn’t working?! What is happening?! AHHHH!!!

9:34am: Realize that I should be doing a CSV Import into the CRM client that we use, because the marketing team needs the leads. Oops. I’ll start that.

9:36am: Twitter still isn’t working. I am going to cry. How are people going to know I am live-blogging if I CAN’T TWEET ABOUT IT? Also, I have no idea what anyone is doing and I am starting to feel panicky. I’ll check my email, maybe someone emailed me.

9:37am: SWEET! AmazingGreis emailed me. She is hosted with JustHost, my current host, and my current recommendation, in case you were wondering. Love the easy sign-up process, easy two-click install of Wordpress and general usability of the system. By the way, did you know that I switched Issa’s blog from Blogger to Wordpress in less than 24 hours? I feel like a fucking rock star.  Oh, and that template is a free template. Awesome, no? I did tweak it a bit though.

9:40am: Thank God. Twitter is sort of working. At least I know what MommyMelee is doing now. Oh, sweet tears of relief….

9:43am: Story in Boston about “Grounded Unicorn Finally Freed” was not actually about a unicorn, but a boat. Damn.

9:48am: OK, Twitter isn’t really working, but at least I’m getting some work done here. CSV import is on it’s way. Did I mention that lately, I sort of hate my job? The system I am “administrator” for — it sucks. A lot. And it’s broken.

My mornings are hectic.

10:10am: Just read Nic’s post at Violence Unsilenced. I am struck speechless by her powerful words… and her pain.  Please, go read. Support her. She is so brave to tell her story.

10:35am: My mother calls. Geeklet has learned, at 9 1/2 months, how to have massive temper tantrums. She screams about everything. She needs to vent, and I can’t blame her…. thankful that I don’t have to deal with it all day, and feel horribly guilty that I feel thankful. *sigh*

11:03:am: Twitter still down, apparently due to a Denial-of-Service attack. That sucks. Who hates Twitter that much?

11:49am: Working on Issa’s new site — added Google Friend Connect, and then troubleshooting a problem with her feed. Turns out I forgot to set the timestamp so her post last night isn’t showing up on readers because they think it was future-posted… like, this afternoon. Oops! ((blushing))

12:34pm: Goddamnit, the cool comment-reply plugin is not WORKING on Issa’s blog and I can’t figure it out. FAIL.

12:37pm: Ok, turns out I just needed to be more patient.  The plug-in is working, just not at lightning speed…. lol.  Well, I never said I was a patient person. I always get my gifts early, and I hate waiting for surprises. Or results.  That’s why I always quit dieting and working out…

12:45pm: I haven’t had lunch. Stomach is growling and hurting, so hungry! Bonus: Husband works with me, he has gone to get lunch, he is awesome. Unfortunately I was distracted by IMing with Issa and coworkers, so I have no idea what he is buying. Oops.

1:26pm: I swear, I’m doing real work, too… but I also figure out how to at least get Issa’s blogger main URL to redirect to her new URL. Was hoping to redirect posts, too, but no luck. Blogger doesn’t like that. Naturally… ;-)

1:42pm: Twitter appears to be back in business, which is a good thing, because seriously I was really getting anxious there for a little while. Also, I needed to complain about being hungry, and how ELSE would I do that?

2:01pm: Several months of searching, and I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted.. but Kay from Chains of Yesterday just sent me the link like it was nothing! She rocks. A plug-in to let you respond to comments on your blog AND email the original commenter ALL AT THE SAME TIME…. It’s magic.  Will be installing and testing today!

2:41pm: Damnit, AmazingGreis’s site is not redirecting for everyone in the world… except me. Me, I get her page fine. Everyone else? Stupid JustHost page. WTF?

3:16pm: OK, turns out the Greis issue was a patience issue, too. Whoops! Looks like I have a “problem.” I need some sort of OverEager Anonymous Group or something. I don’t know. Anyway, her DNS hasn’t resolved yet, can take up to 48 hours. Hopefully won’t take that long! I think it’ll be resolved more quickly than that, but we’ll see. Meanwhile, I wait. Because I can’t even load her template or anything until it’s finished. Geez!

Ok, I’ve missed a whole chunk of time. The end of the day is always a blur. Summary? Greis’s site was up, template uploaded, posts imported, I did a dance of joy. I left for the day, hit the grocery store for my mother, got stuff for dinner tonight (chicken fajitas made by my dearest-most-darlingest-husband (I have to say that or he won’t cook for me anymore and I’ll starve) ) and picked up the kids. On the way home, talk to a friend of ours who is starting culinary school in less than two weeks! (So maybe I could get with him if DaddyGeek refuses to cook for me… or not) So happy for him. My mom called, I forgot the damn fajita mix/seasoning at her house, but thank goodness we had some at home. Dinner saved!

We ate dinner by 7pm. Bathtime was at 7:47pm, and by 8:28pm the bottles were made, diapers changed and pajamas donned. DaddyGeek went in for bedtime with Cupcake, I put Geeklet down to sleep (easy, thank goodness) (though I just heard her sqwaking in the other room of course) and got back on the computer.

9:06pm: Nearly threw the computer out the window because I can’t upload a check to my bank via our depost at home feature, because the stupid check is written stupid and stupid stupid dumb. Didn’t, because it’s not the computer’s fault. This time.

9:11pm: I buy a new theme for DaddyGeek’s website and try to install. It won’t.

9:12pm: I post a thread to the user forum. I check my email a thousand times in the next ten minutes to see if anyone psots a reply. Nothing. Obviously.

9:30pm: Go get hubby – he has nearly fallen asleep and I am almost sure that Cupcake finally fell asleep, too.

9:32pm: Dissapoint hubby because his site isn’t done. :( Fail.

9:46pm: Hubby wants to know if he should go to bed. He just farted, so I am going to say yes.

9:47pm: Hubby calls me mean because I blogged about his fart.

9:48pm: I giggle with glee at my blogging. I am so funny.

9:48pm: Going to bed. Ok, so I’ll probably eff around online, and play with Greis’s site a little more and watch the rest of this episode of The Closer (see, I got around to it), and then I’ll go to sleep. But this is done.

Goodnight!

Say Something

Um, what?

May 8, 2009 | General | Tags: , ,
10 Spoke Up - Say Something

The board of directors at my new job just announced that they are replacing the CEO/President, effective pretty much immediately.  I just came on board here. Now I’m concerned that this company is going to change – majorly – in which case… was it the right decision?  Geez. Like I needed this to brood over this weekend.

In other news, I have a question — when I reply to your comments on the blog, are you getting an email notification? I have installed a plug-in that should… just not sure if it’s working.

Say Something

Before & After

May 5, 2009 | about mommygeekology | Tags: , , ,
20 Spoke Up - Say Something

I feel sort of like a new woman. Seriously.

New job. New blog. New apartment soon. And now, new hair.

Before:

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Yeah, I totally just posted that picture online. What?

After:

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From the front. (note the earrings!**)

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The left side. Gosh my eye area is a bit dark.

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My favorite pic. Doesn't my hair look shiny? You can't see it, but there are some awesome earrings** in my ears, too.

I was even able to semi-recreate the look two days post-hair-cut!

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I look thrilled, don't I? Taking pictures in the mirror is hard.


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Taking pictures holding the camera out in front of you is hard, too.

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See? Not quite as shiny. I just can't get it!

** Those earrings I’m wearing? A great bloggy friend, Renee from But Why Mommy?, sent those to me. Just because she’s awesome. Seriously, she was paying it forward – and I totally missed the post and didn’t even enter the giveaway – and she sent me a little package tied with a pink ribbon just because she wanted me to smile.

So do me a favor. Take a peek at her site. Leave some comment love. And then take a look at her Etsy store. These earrings are amazing – I get compliments on them nearly every single day, and when I do, I say smugly, “A friend of mine made these. With her own two hands. Seriously.”

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