Changing work schedule

Today I started my new work schedule, which is really my old schedule, for the most part.  I don't know how full-time working mommies do it and keep sane.  I went back to work full-time in December, after a few years of 32 hours per week.  I just can't get it together!  Our company merged, so the new company policy is to work 35 hours per week to keep benefits, so that's what I'm going to do.  Since Dan works a contract, we get our benefits thru my job.  I know that doesn't seem like much, but being able to log some hours from home will be awesome. 

Well, the past few months, I've been a bitchy, stressed out mess at home and at work.  My house is a complete disaster. I can't keep up with laundry, can't volunteer for much at Zoe's school, can't even have lunch with her.  By the time I got home from work, I was physically and mentally exhausted.  I actually like to cook, but just didn't feel like doing that or much of anything.  I would get up very early and try to do house stuff before getting Zoe ready for school, then rush off to work.  After work, I would rush home to meet the school bus and take Zoe to whatever activity scheduled for that day.  It really felt like I was doing everything I did at home before, plus working 40 hours, with little or no help. 

So, I really hope I have made the right decision.  Tomorrow will be a "home" day, and I am actually looking forward to cleaning, straightening and getting my house in order.  I will log in remotely to work.  I was so much happier before, when I had this schedule.  I hope I can find that happiness again.  Of course, I'm totally stressed out now and have convinced myself that someone will complain.  I never had complaints in the past, but I still worry.  Jobs are scarce out there and I'd probably never find a job that allowed me to have a flexible schedule.  So, hopefully all the years I've put in and work I've done will keep things going smoothly.  Fingers & toes crossed.

Girly Day!!

Zoe dubbed yesterday “Girly Day”. It was fun. It’s nice to do something girly every once in a while and get pampered. She and Lizzie really seemed to have a good time at the nail spa. Something tells me we’ve created monsters. I have to hand it to My Nail Spa, they were awesome with the kids. I’m sure it could get frustrating, but they treated the girls like princesses. They got to pick colors for their fingernails and toenails, and tiny decorations to make them really fancy. They even got to soak their feet and sit under the nail dryer.

After that, we took the girls to lunch. They picked Burger King. Yuck, thankfully Ali and I ate something else since we were at the mall. Then we went to Gymboree and they picked out some clothes. Both of them picked out hats. Lizzie picked a fabulous floppy sun hat, while Zoe added another “secret agent” fedora to her hat collection.

We rounded out Girly Day with a trip to Build A Bear for Lizzie’s birthday party followed by cupcakes. On the way out of the mall, the girls stopped by the exhibit for the Broadway show "Wicked".  Can't have Girly Day without pink feather boas and tiaras!  (And a magic wand of course!)

All in all, I think the girls had great day getting pampered and having fun. Now I just need to make my appointment at My Nail Spa.

Spring Break 2010

My first official spring break with Zoe wasn’t too bad, all things considered. Next year, I think I will take the easy way out and just go visit family in Virginia for a week. I can pawn her off on grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc. Spring break kind of snuck up on me this year. We created a list of potential activities, so we could choose one “fun” activity a day.


Day 1 – Went to the Lego Store. Zoe made three Lego people, which was cute, but we have like a thousand of those tiny Lego people. Then we went to Claire’s to ask if they could pierce both ears at the same time. They said yes, want to do it now? So we did. Zoe did great. She is very happy about her earrings. Then we visited Game Stop and took a look around at the games on sale.

Day 2 – Met grandma for lunch at Bear Rock Café. I try to do lunch with my MIL and Zoe when we can. After that, we went to the 10th circle of hell, known as Chuck E Cheese. Ugh. Zoe had a great time, so I guess that is what counts.

Day 3 – Ate lunch at Burger King. (Zoe’s favorite, not mine.) Then went to a free golf clinic for kids. Zoe had a blast. It was neat to see all those kids out there playing in the sunshine. I got to read my Kindle for a couple of hours. Can’t beat that!

Day 4 – Daddy took today off, not one of Zoe’s better days. They went to the movies to see How to Train your Dragon. That was cool. Had a little quiet time at home. After the movie, she went back to being bad and pushing daddy’s buttons. She succeeded.

Day 5 – Zoe started the day off by pushing Daddy’s buttons some more. She managed to tick him off again. For our fun activity, we had breakfast at Denny’s and then headed to Build A Bear. We had a great time. Got home and Zoe took up her favorite activity called “How quickly can I tick Daddy off”. She may have scored her best time yet. Got to spend quite a bit of time in her room, screaming, throwing things, etc. Good times!

All in all, it wasn’t too bad. The last couple of days were a little shaky, but that’s it. I think we are all looking forward to her going to school on Monday.