Windfall

I just got an email from our mortgage company thanking us for making a payment of $88,847.23. Umm....you're welcome? I don't know who paid it but it certainly wasn't us. Should be interesting getting to the bottom of this one.

Change

Today I received the latest issue of the Gustavus Quarterly which is the alumni magazine from my alma mater. There is an article at the beginning of the magazine about the renovations to the Anderson Social Science Center. It doesn't sound like they're tearing the whole thing down and replacing it but they are making serious renovations to it.

In my four years as a History major (with minors in Women's Studies and Sociology) I spent a LOT of time in the Social Sciences building. I loved that building. It was incredibly quirky and if you weren't familiar with the building you could get quite lost in there. If I'm not mistaken it had once been a library and therefore certain staircases only went to certain areas of the building (i.e. the "stacks" or storage areas of the former library). You might think it would be easy to take any staircase and go to any floor but it didn't work that way.

I'm sad to see that they are making changes to the building and that some of the quirkiness might be disappearing. On the other hand it was one of the older buildings on campus and definitely in need of an update.

A lot of the school has changed since I graduated there 10 years ago. In March 1998, when I was a junior, a terrible tornado went through the town of St. Peter and wreaked incredible damage to the school. The damage from the tornado resulted in the school building a fancy new student union, cafeteria and even some new dorms. It's weird to see so much of the school change but I certainly don't expect life to stand still either.

Life moves on but I enjoy taking out my memories of college and brushing them off now and then. I'm not living in the past, but gosh darn it, I don't want things to change either. I have great memories of that place and I'm proud the school continues to develop and grow and change, but....

Can't I have it both ways?

They've done it now

My parents have four grandchildren. Three of them are boys and one is a girl. Since Hannah is the only granddaughter they often refer to her as their "favorite granddaughter". Well that came back to bite them in the butt tonight when Jake asked Grandpa, "Am I your favorite grandson?"

Oops.

Lincoln tried to save it by saying Jake was their favorite grandson "East of the Mississippi. East of the Rockies for that matter."

I am my own worst enemy

This week has been absolutely insane with one 10 hour work day and three 12+ hour days. About 75% of what I've been doing this week has to do with our holiday party next Monday. You would think that it shouldn't take that much time to plan a holiday party but it really comes down to the details. Could I get away with doing half the stuff I do and still have a successful party? Definitely. But would I have done my best? No.

I enjoy the party planning. I enjoy dealing with the little details that turn a regular party into a great party. So I may bitch and moan about what a hellish week it has been but in the end, I'm going to (hopefully) be very proud of how it all turns out on Monday night.

One down, many more projects to go

Whenever Mom and Dad come to visit they help out around our house tremendously. It's pretty funny that getting my kids to clean the kids' play room voluntarily doesn't happen very often but when Grandma comes to visit Jake is begging to stay home and help her.

Mom and Jake worked on the kids' room today and it looks fantastic. You can actually see the trains on Jake's train table instead of it being used as a "catch-all" for their toys. On top of that Dad and Jake went out and cut back my rose bushes for the fall. I'm sure that over the next week while they're here there will be many more projects completed.

Other than that I've got nothing to discuss. This week has been insane at work and I'm putting in all sorts of long crazy hours. Luckily that is almost over and Saturday I get to treat myself to a pedicure before diving into the craziness of Jake's birthday party on Sunday. It always seems like there is one thing after another around here.

Five years

Mom and Dad just arrived for a week long visit. They try to come out to Boston every few months and the last time they were here was for Hannah's birthday in August. This time they're here for Jake's birthday which is next week. Five years ago when they flew out here it was because I was about to give birth. It seems so strange that it has been five years. They've been out here for Jake's birthday in previous years but for some reason this one seems like such a benchmark. Five really is when a kid leaves "toddler" behind for good and moves into being a "child".

I can remember perfectly their arrival five years ago. I ended up having to schedule an inducement when I delivered Jake. Unlike when Hannah and my two nephews were born Mom and Dad knew in advance when the baby would arrive. With the three older grandkids Mom and Dad would hop on the next flight as soon as we went into labor but they were never present when my sister and I gave birth. This was the first time they were going to actual be here for the delivery and Lincoln and I actually had Mom in the room for us when Jake was born. I think it meant a lot to her to see one of her grandkids being born and it was certainly special for me to have my mom in there with us.

The night before I was going to the hospital to have the baby - at the time we didn't know if it would be a Jacob or a Rachel - I should have been in bed trying to get some rest. Instead I sat up in what used to be the craft room (it's now Hannah's bedroom) and spent hours painting flower pots to be used as favors for Rachel's upcoming wedding. (Yes, if Jake had been a girl he would have been named after my friend Rachel.) It was the most calm, zen-like experience painting all those dozens and dozens of pots and knowing that Jake/Rachel would be born the next day. I just sat there largely pregnant and very uncomfortable, and painted pot after pot after pot. I think I was probably up well past midnight and Mom and Dad arrived somewhere around 11:30 p.m. if I'm not mistaken. We had to be at the hospital about 7:30 a.m. the next morning.

Anyway, I just can't believe it has been five years....

Underappreciated

One of the duties in my job description is "employee morale". That means throughout the year I organize social events, games, outings, etc. I actually enjoy doing these things and I put a lot of work into them in order to make them as special as possible for the employees. I go to the mat for every budget dollar I can eke out of the company in order to get perks for our employees.

Planning a holiday party may not seem like the world's most important activity but I take great pride in it every year. A lot of work goes into it and if I do a really good job it will seem effortless to the people attending the party. It is the only event that gets a majority of our employees involved and it's one of the few times I can actually give them something tangible in the form of an employee "thank you". In the case of the holiday party that is usually a gift card that they can keep for themselves or re-gift during the holiday season.

It drives me absolutely batty when people look down on what I do because it's "trivial". When they tell me they don't have time to RSVP for the party because "they're doing really important things." Well you know what, you would be awfully miserable doing your "really important things" if I didn't bust my ass all year trying to keep up your morale. You may not notice it but all the little things I do actually help make our office a great place to work whether you appreciate it or not.

And that's all I have to say about that.