Back in the Saddle Again

…or in my case, back in the swivel chair.

I started back to work last Monday. I worked half days last week which was my husband’s brilliant idea. It was a great idea to ease back into the work day. I wasn’t sure how it would go since many days during my maternity leave I was still in my pjs around lunch time.

I was dreading going back to work. I would much rather be home with Canaan. Sunday before I returned to work on Monday was an emotionally rough day. But Monday was not bad at all. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as hard to be at work as I had imagined. I think it has been easier knowing that Canaan is at home with her Dad. Even though it would be great for Matthew to be working right now, it is nice that Canaan doesn’t have to be in daycare at the moment. I am sure that day will come, but for now she’s at home.

Top 10 List - why it's not the end of the world to work on July 4th

This is my top 10 list, in no particular order.

1. knowing Matthew has a day completely to himself (and Max) to enjoy and sleep in a bit
2. somehow getting up earlier than any other work day and getting to work before 7 am
3. knowing I will not get many calls at work today and will have fewer interruptions
4. seeing 4 hot air balloons on the way to work with the mountains as their backdrop
5. seeing the antelope (grown ups and a baby) running in the field I drove by
6. ZERO traffic
7. enjoying a beautiful morning after rain last night
8. absolutely NO line at Starbucks this morning
9. hearing God Bless the USA on the radio on the way to work
10. recognizing that MANY Americans work 365 days per year all over the world to ensure protection, safety, and freedom for me and all of America

Happy 4th of July!!

Walking Washer

I am pleased to report that we had an uninterrupted night of sleep last night. I seriously do not think Max even moved all night. When the alarm woke me this morning, he was in the same spot as when I turned off the lights last night. It was wonderful to have a good night's sleep! In fact, after the alarm went off Max wasn't sure he wanted to get off the bed. He was really slow and tired this morning. On a normal day, he tries to get us to play fetch with him as soon as he's awake. It was nice to see that he got so much exercise yesterday and was still worn out this morning. Once I got home from work, he was a recharged Max.

It turns out it was even better than I thought that I got a good night's sleep. I have so much work to do this week. Our quarter ends this Sunday. Normally, that does not mean a bunch of additional work, but this quarter I have a lot going on. I take care of the fixed assets for my region of the company. Each year every store and facility has to go through the fixed asset list to make sure they still have everything on the list. This causes a lot of work for me mostly because people wait til the last minute to take care of everything. I thought last year was a lot of work when I had to make all the changes for 13 stores/facilities...HA! This year I have to do it for 34 stores/facilities. It is challenging to find the time to take care of this on top of all my other work...but even more challenging to figure out what people's notes mean. I sent a list of specifically what I needed on each list. Half of the lists I got back were not complete so then I have to follow up with everyone. Apparently, these folks did not learn to follow directions completely in kindergarten. Fun, fun, fun. I seriously feel like I could work from now until Sunday non-stop in order to finish my work. Talk about stress. Today I realized that I feel like I am in quick sand and my head is just barely above ground. Each time I thought I was pulling myself out just a bit, something else would come my way that was equally important. Man am I ready for a vacation!

We had a Mr. Mom episode at our house this evening. I had a load of laundry in the dryer and another in the washer. When I went to check on the status of both loads, I found that the washer had moved. I've never had this happen. At first I assumed Matthew had moved the washer to get something from behind it. But when I asked him, he had no idea what I was talking about. Has this ever happened to you? I am not sure if you can tell much from these pictures. Just look at the lines on the tile. You will see that the dryer is straight and the washer is not...though it was just an hour ago. Strange... (Please ignore the mess and dirt in my laundry room.)

Team Build

Yesterday my team at work had our annual team build. This year we decided to spend part of our day at a goat farm. I work for a natural food store (on the accounting team) and our stores purchase goat cheese from this farm.

Not only were the goats precious, but I also learned a bit about goats and goat cheese. This particular farm started about 16 years ago with 5 goats. They now have over 130 goats. We got to see a bunch of babies which was really fun. We saw one that was less than two weeks old. I wish I had a recording of their baa-ing. It really sounded cute.

• This particular farm has seen three sets of quintuplets born. This year was the first in which all five babies and the mother survived.
• Some of the mother goats after giving birth do not even look at their offspring.
• The kids are taken from their moms after they're cleaned so they can be fed pasteurized milk so they won't get a disease that can come from the mother's raw milk.
• There were two male goats that impregnate 60 or so female goats.
• Goats are very social creatures and do not do well alone. This farm will not sell just a single goat. Buyers have to purchase at least two goats.
• This particular farm cuts off the horns of the kids so they will not fight with each other.

Company Picnic

We went to M's company picnic on Saturday for a bit. There were a lot of games and slides for the kiddos to play on but not much for adults. We had a good time visiting with folks though so that was fun. It was a beautiful, yet warm (close to 100) day. Then we came home and M mowed the lawn while I pulled weeds. I must say that I have enjoyed pulling weeds the two times I have done so at the house. I don't really enjoy pulling the weeds, but it is fun to have a house with a yard.

Here's a picture of us at the picnic. We don't seem to take many pictures of us anymore so I've decided to start taking the camera when we do fun stuff. That way we can look back and see what we looked like. Plus, I just really like pictures of us!