Resolutions

I never make resolutions at New Years because that would be expected. I don't like to conform. Instead I find myself making resolutions while I am on vacation. You know, "I'll eat better when I get home, I'll exercise more, I'll clean my house more." This past trip to NY, I resolved to blog. It was probably the nagging of several people whom I saw in person that prompted this resolution. So here I am, blogging. It's day one. That's the day people have the most enthusiasm for the resolution. I'm so enthusiastic, I want to blog again. Twice in one day. But that would be ridiculous!

Bring your child to work day

BC did not get cut from his job at the copier giant. I apologize for not writing it sooner. We were terribly disappointed but I am sure it is for the best and when we received his paycheck this week, we were reminded of this blessing.

The kids went to work with BC last week. Bring your child to work day originally started as bring your daughter to work day. It was to encourage young women to work. The founders of this idea would be mortified to hear about my children's day.

Here is what my children learned about the copier giant that day:

Engineering and sales: The girls did a great job of using their sales skills to convince their dad to buy them ice cream at 10 am. Bubs was particularly interested in the "vacuum sucking machine" and the engineering behind it.

Measurements and freight scales: Every other week BC and some coworkers weigh themselves as part of a weight loss program they created. I think between the 5 of them, they are up 3lbs. They use the freight scale in the shipping area to weigh themselves. Since this was their weigh in day, the kids got to go with them. The 5 fathers weighed more than the 11 kids.

Stress relief: Sometimes the workplace can get too stressful. You know, the weighing in, vending machine trips and occasional meetings. BC and his buddy Alfred showed the kids how they play Kan Jam in the hallway by setting up two garbage cans and getting out the frisbee. And we wonder why the company isn't doing well.

Meetings: The kids did attend one meeting where they doodled on the white board. Who doesn't doodle during a boring project planning meeting.

Even if this day did not encourage my girl's to be engineers, it was a great day of bonding with dad!

Today's the Day

We think today is the day BC's company is going to swing the ax to several hundred people in R-town. We're not 100% sure. This is something we have been anticipating for several months. We've known it was coming but wasn't sure when. Rumors have been flying! The latest rumor is that it will be today.

If BC is laid off, he will start looking for a contract position in NC. Right now he has only been looking for a permanent job since he is currently employed full time.

In honor of the lay off, I told him to dress in his company garb. You know, the shirt, lanyard, etc. Show your loyalty and make it harder for the person laying you off.

By the way, we watched the movie "Up in the Air" last night. How appropriate! The movie is about a man (George Clooney) who lays people off for a living. It was a good movie as long as you don't get offended by the occasional F word from the people being fired and brief nudity.

Celebrity Julia

My brother George met his girlfriend at college. It's where all of us siblings have met our spouses except for Frushie. She met her husband in 10th grade.

George introduced us to Julia at Frushie's baby shower. I thought this was a bold move on his part. If I had three sisters who essentially mother me, I would think I would introduce her to them one by one. It might be overwhelming, right? Well George didn't think of that. BC says it was the right move. He said, "it's like ripping off a band-aid." No one wants to do it but it must be done so get it over with. Nice!

Yesterday I asked Celebrity Julia what it was like for her to meet all of us at once. It kind of came up because we were talking about my mom's Swedish drunk friend Margaret. I started to laugh because I was remembering Julia meeting all of us, at a major event, and meeting drunk Margaret too. I am sure she thought we were crazy. Julia said it was completely overwhelming for her. In my book, she passed the test that day.

Celebrity Julia loves my kids and they LOVE her. This is how she got her name. She has celebrity status in our house. My girls would talk about her but when they saw her, they became speechless. They would stare, smile and blush. They have gotten over being starstruck but she still is a celebrity! They fight over who sits next to her, run to her the minute she walks in the door, etc. Julia is a teacher who wears very hip outfits and awesome jewelry.

My uncle always refused to get attached to my cousins boyfriends until he knew it was a done deal (they got married). He said it was too dangerous because when they broke up, he was heartbroken. Too late for us, we have fallen in love with Celebrity Julia too!

Wake up

I like to sleep! If I could marry sleep, I would! Last night I made an agreement with my kids. They would not wake me up in the morning before 9 am, just this one day. There goes my Mother of the Year award. My kids agreed they could play the Wii downstairs and be quiet to not wake us up. Unfortunately my mother in law wasn't here to hear the agreement. June called us at 8 am this morning. We didn't answer. So she called back. So much for sleeping in.

Are you in or are you out?

For the past year, BC and I have been trying to move to another state. One that is warmer and cheaper to live in. After we made the decision, we didn't waste any time. We put our house on the market and BC started looking for jobs. We thought for sure that BC would find a job before the house would sell. Yes, the job market is in the toilet but we thought the housing market was in the sewer. Apparently here in R-town, the housing market was just on the rim of the toilet and not inside. Our house sold quickly and we set a record for our street on how much a house is worth in that area. Unfortunately, BC has still not found a job in our warmer, cheaper state. Right now we are renting an 1100 square foot cottage (really it's a house but it sounds better when I call it the cottage). We have almost all of our stuff in storage and we are living with the bare minimum. I mean bare! It's been an adventure.

When we announced we were moving, many people wanted to get together with us for "the last time". We did. One friend wanted to throw a going away party for us. I was against this idea but she was quite insistant. She picked a date close to our house closing, assuming we would be moving to NC soon after. As the date got closer, I got more and more uncomfortable with the idea. What was she going to tell people, "Come celebrate the fact that BC and BC-ette sold their house and don't know where they are going to live!" We didn't know at that time where we were going. Thankfully the "going away" party turned into a let's "help them pack" party. Only a few people were invited.

After a while, we had said all of our "possible goodbyes". At that point we stopped socializing. We had reasons in this order:

1. I hate saying goodbye. One time is enough.

2. We were leaving at any moment so who could make plans for next week when you might be moving!

3. It became awkward that we were still here!

4. And didn't I say goodbye to you already?

It's been a year since we decided to move and not much has changed except for not having a home of our own, or our things. This past week, I have made a conscious decision to get back in the game. Make plans, socialize, see people and remind them, yes, I am still here! So I'm in. At least until there is a job prospect that makes me feel confident we are going.

April Fool's Idea

I came up with a great April Fool's joke to play on my dad. Here's the background:

My younger brother's name is George. I call him George because he reminds me so much of George O'Malley from Grey's Anatomy. He's on the shorter side, athletic, kind, sweet, girls love him, and he is studying to be a doctor. He can be a little clueless sometimes yet he's brillant. George and I are thirteen years apart in age. As the older sister, I find it my duty to harrass him whenever possible. Recently George skipped out on Bubs and Grace's birthday party. He had a medical test to study for. My response is, you knew about this party for over a month. Plan ahead!

I must have complained to my dad about George missing the party. Dad probably asked about George being at the party and I probably made a smart remark like the one above. My dad then intreprets this as me being mad at George. Last week my dad and George had lunch. As my dad is driving home he calls me.

Dad: George thinks you are mad at him.

Me: I am mad at him.

Dad: Don't be mad at him about not coming to the party.

Me: I'm not really mad, I just like to give George a hard time. This is my right you know.

Dad: But George thinks you are really mad. He says you aren't returning his phone calls and texts.

Me: What??? I haven't had any calls from him.

Dad: Don't be mad a George. You should talk to him.

Me: I am talking to him.

Dad: Don't be mad at George.

Me: Dad, I am talking to him. In fact, we are having dinner with George and Celebrity Julia (his girlfriend who I will talk about another time) on Saturday.

Dad: Oh, you are? Hey maybe mom and I should come too. No, maybe you guys should have dinner alone and make up.

Me: Why don't you and mom come to dinner so you can see that everything is fine.

Celebrity Julia and I were making the plans for dinner through email. I was responding back about some of the details and said, "Let George know I am not mad at him. Apparently Dad is worried that we aren't speaking and that I am not returning his calls." George's response was, "oh Dad....." George knows my dad hates it when there is any tension between any of his kids. Dad makes it a bigger deal than it really is.

We all went to dinner on Saturday night. As we were saying goodbye to George and Celebrity Julia, I told them about my great April Fool's Day idea. I'm thinking about calling my Dad and telling him I'm never talking to George again and while we're at it, Elaine (my sister) really ticks me off too!! George laughed so hard and said, "Dad would totally have a heart attack. That would be so funny!!! You've got to do it! "

My only concern is my dad will think it's serious and never get the part that it's a joke.