Confessions of a messy

I am a messy. Neat-nicks drive me crazy. I admit it. I'm not necessarily proud of it. But it has worked for me for a very, very long time. I think I am a visual person, and I like to see all of my "stuff." What ever the reason, it's who I am.

Today I found the dog chewing on what turned out to be the fingers of a babydoll. Haven't recovered the body yet. But somewhere in my house,  the dog has hidden the evidence. I'm sure we'll stumble over it like some bad scene out of CSI or Criminal Minds...

Baby clutter has me ready to pull out my hair. I admit that, too. Cuz even though I am a messy, I think maybe I had begun a transformation. I'll never be neat. But not minding the big piles is a thing of the past. Perhaps in this area I am finally growing up. I actually covet an empty counter or table top. Sigh...

In the aftermath

I am the first one up this morning. Not very surprising. I don't sleep much anymore. It's been snowing for going on two days straight now, and it's beautiful, and I'm enjoying the time for quiet, peaceful reflection amidst the background of white.

The presents are all opened. Some are strewn about, some are piled up nicely waiting to be dealt with. And really, everyone did a pretty good job on the thoughtfulness aspect of their gifting. While some presents weren't a perfect fit, the thought behind them was.

So now we look forward to a new year. For most of us, there are things in our lives that need to change. Change is paintul. Change is not fun. But, change is what needs to happen. So whether we walk forward of our own accord or are shoved forward is our choice. I think I'm going to try walking on my own.

Ya Gotta Get Up

In slightly over 24 hours, the speakers in our house will be blasting our Christmas tradition - a song whose refrain is, "Ya gotta get up, it's Christmas morning."

I'm ready - mostly. There are presents wrapped and under the tree. The refrigerator is stocked with everything we'll need. (Oops, except for the bacon for breakfast. Where's the dang list so I can write it down?) We have a plan for church and dinner tonight to work around the baby's schedule.

But this year, I feel like my children have mentally moved on. Meredith is spending Chrismas Eve with her significant other and his family. Dana is here physically, but is so stressed under the expectations she's ready to get back to "her" life. Bailey has been mentally oved out since she went to Paraguay three summers ago. That's in a good way. She's always taken charge of her life. And my 18-year-old baby, Adam, is well, an 18-year-old boy. When we assured him that there would not be an X-box under the tree this year as requested, the girlfriend provided it instead.

Don't get me wrong. Good for her for being able to afford to give him such a nice token of her affection. But it also seems to be a symbol of the fact that he no longer looks solely to us for his biggest needs and desires.Not sure that it's good that he's looking to someone else (rather than himself), but he's beginning to look outside his home for that fulfillment. Bittersweet.

So when I hear "Ya gotta get up," blaring over the speakers, in my heart I will be praying that the kids aren't hearing "I gotta get out."

Time flies

So I can't really believe that my last post was in October. Grad school this semester kicked my butt, but in a good way as I just got my final grade. I am now 3/3 in classes, walking away with an A in each of them - as well as a formal acceptance into the KU School of Journalism.

And, we've taken on the role of full-time grandparents. I know why God gave children to the younger set. I love my Jayjay, she is sweet as sugar. But we're both exhausted every night when we go to bed.

Tonight is a company Christmas party for my husband, and it happens to be at the home of a dear, long-time friend. When I tried to go to my company party two weeks ago, the stomach flu hit with a vengeance as I was getting on the highway onramp. Too scared to stick my head out the window, I turned my car into what the car detailing place called a "biohazard." And car detailing places don't have to clean up biohazards, apparently. I'm super happy that we invested in a steam carpet cleaner. It didn't take care of the smell entirely, but it did a good enough job that I can take it back and have the detail place do the full enchilada without giving myself away.

I love my mom. She came to visit for Thanksgiving. We only have a tiny gravy boat, so we used a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup. The next week she sent me a gravy boat from Crate and Barrel.  I love my mom.

So there's a few weeks before I start my next class - Marketing Research. It's required, so even though it doesn't tickle me, I might as well get it out of the way. But before I do, perhaps I can spend some more time here, between dog walks.

In the elements for the gridiron

I saw two football games this week. Fortunately, though both involved some nasty cold and one involved relentless rain, both of my favored teams were victorious.

Thursday night (because of a lack of high school stadium space) my son played an away game against a very evenly matched team. It started out as a cool and crisp night. I was on the sidelines taking pictures as usual. Then a fine mist begin trickling down. At first I could keep my camera out, but soon the fine mist became insistent.and it had to hibernate under my jacket. The game was more exciting than a parent would want. It went into overtime (in the cold and the rain). We held them to a field goal on their attempt, and we scored a touchdown, thus ending with the win. There are a lot more details exciting only to me and the rest of our team, but I will spare you the motherly bragging.

Yesterday was a girls at the gridiron day with my friend Laura M. Her husband is works for the Corp of Engineers, and is currently serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Yesterday she invited me to use the second of their two season tickets to our beloved KU game. She is an alumni, and someday (knock on wood) I will be too. We bundled up, but not enough, and were extra chilly when it was over. The brisk walk back, with one good uphill stage really helped get the blood pumping.

So I like football. Not crazy-like, but really enjoy like. I don't spend hours on stats or armchair quarterbacking. I can tell when the teams are doing well, and when they're not. And since my son plays, I've made a concerted effort to understand more about the positions. All of which should help me to be a lifetime fan.

Ok so that was pretty boring. Hope you stayed awake enough to find an NFL game on your TV. I am aff to the library to write a paper for next week. Ugh.

Ugh...

Today at work we celebrated ugh. Our boss will be travelling during the Hallmark Bosses Day holiday, so we celebrated early. In honor of her love of the word "Ugh," we got her a stamp that said same. She can't wait to use it. Oh, joy. So in honor of my boss, things that could be awarded the word ugh:

• Barak Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Obviously I'm having a tough time getting over this.)
• People who are too proud to admit they made a mistake.
• Lima beans
• Baby barf
• Garage band screamers
• Teenagers with low blood sugar
• Whining
• Really, whining
• Passive aggressive people
• Mucus

You get the picture, don't you?

Really? Seriously?

Barak Obama won the Nobel Prize for peace.  Seriously? After just nine months in office? One newscast I heard today said that he was barely in office when the nominations were due. I've never been interested in how a Nobel laureate was nominated, but I've totally lost respect for the Nobel Prize institution.

Haven't lost it

I was relieved to find out yesterday that I haven't lost the academic touch. I got the grade from my first graduate class yesterday and am walking away with an A, or 12 quality points. Now I haven't been able to boast a 4.0 for a very long time, and admittedly it's a bit of a stretch to claim it after one class. However, since my perspective on life is from the perch of the latter stages of my fifth decade, I am going to do all the bragging and celebrating that I can. Yay me!

Debut Day

Jayden Nicole Olsen arrived on Monday, May 4. She weighs 8lbs 2 oz, and is 19.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. (More pictures to come.)

The scariest part was after her head was out, the doctor had to unwrap the cord from around her neck before he could deliver the rest of her. Her hands and feet were pretty blue for a while. But they ended up pinking up nicely.

Getting used to it

I can't hide any longer. In approximately 6 weeks I will be a grandmother. Meet Jayden Nicole:

While she is unexpected, she will be deeply loved.

Social Mooovers

My new career is in the dairy industry. While I am part of the 98% of the population who has been raised off of the farms, in the last four months I have learned that dairy farmers have an impressive story to tell. Since I work in the communications department, I am excited to find new ways to help us non-farmers understand the dairying experience.

Farming is physically demanding. Dairying is a volatile industry, so dairy farmers have to be great businessmen as well as part economist. They also love the land and their animals, and work hard to understand agriculture and veterinary issues so they can keep their herds healthy, happy, and well-fed.

I was checking out some links on YouTube, and discovered one that made me smile:



I think those are the cleanest cows I have ever seen outside of photoshop...

Education seduction

Nights like tonight make me happy. After 25 years, I have returned to the educational arena to pursue my masters degree in Marketing Communications. The first class I am taking is called, "Leadership and Management in Marketing Communications." The discussion is fulfilling, and I can't wait to return each week.

New starts

I am excited to start grad school in a couple of weeks. A new challenge is always a good way to keep things in life interesting. I love my new job, and I am hoping that the skills that new knowledge brings me will finally allow me to move beyond "project manager" in my career. Project manager is a fine and valid position, but after being a mom of 4 , and being married for 25 years, project management is something I can do in my sleep.

If all goes well, I think I will be taking a class this summer in Susainability Communications. I a super excited about that. Even though I am not a classic environmentalist, I really believe that it is the direction that we need to move as individuals, communities, and nations. My company has a sustainability division (current staffing is 1, I believe), and I think if the class goes well, it might be a real option to pursue.