Category Archives: working mom

So.Many.Cuss.Words.

I am so-so-so super duper frustrated right now!

There are so many bad words going on in my head right now, it’s kind of ridiculous.

If I typed out exactly what I was thinking right now I would probably offend a lot of you. And embarrass my dad. And then my mom would probably call me out on facebook. {snort! 10 points to those of you that know what I’m talking about}

I’m working on a project for work. We’ve revamped our pricing. So I need to recreate 2 different spreadsheets so the look good. From there, each of those has 4 different pricing structures that need to be stylized as well. 10 spreadsheets that need to look pretty. Oh yea, and you know…have correct information!

I was working on the second one of them on Friday at 5 PM. I was about 2/3 of the way through it at that point and was just going to stay at work a little late to power through. Only to realize that most of everything I had done was wrong. The info was wrong.

I said bad words out loud. Luckily, I think I was the only one in the office upstairs at that point.

I opted to shut things down and call it a week.

Came in to work this morning only to remember that I had to start completely over. There’s construction going on directly outside one of my walls…as in they’re framing in a wall and tacking it into the existing wall. SO MUCH BANGING! AND CLANGING! AND DRILLING! In order to make my eyes not strain so hard, I’m using an auxiliary screen hooked to my laptop. It’s overheated my laptop twice now, completely shutting it down.

It’s 4:45 and I’ve finished 2 of the 8. It’s been that kind of day.

And I needed a break from said project. So you got my word vomit.

You’re welcome.

I think I may have a drink when I get home.

I had a pretty fun weekend. Hopefully I’ll have time to blog about it tomorrow.

Oh, and I looked pretty cute today. Why has no one told me how awesome wedges are before!?!

Sooo…Happy Monday?

Stuff. And things. And photo dump.

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I’m busy. So you’re getting a bulleted list today.

I’m back at work full time now. It’s weird. But right.
Reese has her first day of real-deal daycare today. I know she’s going to be super well cared for, but it was weird leaving her.
One of the FULL bottles I took to daycare leaked all over the bag I had all her extra clothes/blankets in for daycare. So, let’s hope she doesn’t want to eat more than usual. I pulled the extra onesie we keep stashed in the car…but it’s a newborn size. My thriving baby is no longer in NB size, so let’s hope she doesn’t need that tomorrow.
Losing an entire bottle of pumped breastmilk is kind of devastating.
Rylee was so stoked to have her sister with her at school today.
I’m wearing a new shirt. Tucked in and with a belt. Weird.
I hate renting out our other house. Have I mentioned that before? One of these days we’ll actually get to put some money into the house we live in, right?
I’m looking into gym/workout options. It’s time to regain control of my abs.
Ry was puking/sick Thursday & Friday of last week. Andy caught some form of whatever bug she had and was pretty much passed out all Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. He’s still recovering.
Reese has slept through the night two nights in a row now. I’m hoping this is a new thing for her.
I need to drink more water.
I just realized it’s Taco Tuesday!
And there’s a new NCIS on tonight.
I leave in just over a week for North Carolina…I am so stoked but I already know I’m going to be missing the girls like crazy.
I’ve got some ideas of stuff I want to blog about…now I just need to find the time.
Holy crap how is it October already!?

Ok. Times up. Now for photos.

I know I posted this one on instagram and facebook already but I just can’t get over it. I cannot stop looking at it.

Bed Head. Footie PJs. Telling me all about her dream.

Someone discovered the fishies.

Today’s outfit.

When my real life & my e-life collide

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So I’m sitting here feeding my baby for bed {real life} tapping away writing a blog post {e-life}.

My phone has been buzzing with text messages {real life} from women I’ve never even physically met before, but I have a fierce connection with {e-life}.

In the last two days I’ve checked the mail {real life} and found mail from two of the aforementioned women… a birth announcement from Brandy and a whole pack of goodies from Alicia {e-life}.

Tomorrow I’m driving up to Seattle for a tradeshow for work {real life}. I’m driving a Toyota FJ Cruiser that Toyota is loaning to me for 5 days {e-life}.

While I’m in Seattle for work {real life} I get to have a girl’s night out with a few of my favorite ladies on the interwebs…Brandee, Mandy and Mae {e-life}.

Then on my way home from my work trip {real life} I’m swinging in to have dinner with Tracy, the mind behind Liberating Working Moms, the other blog I write for {e-life}.

I just requested time off of work and will be leaving my family for 4 days {real life} for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Charlotte, NC getting VIP/behind the scenes action at a NASCAR race and Toyota’s race team {e-life}.

I guess I should just get used to calling this my life, but it still seems so unreal to me that because of my little corner of the internet I’m being given so many amazing opportunities.

Because really…my real life colliding with my e-life is a beautiful thing…

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.

10-minute update

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I just thought “Hey, what a great post title…I could totally make this a thing!” then I remembered how {not so} awesome I’ve been at blogging lately and promptly threw the idea out the window.

But really, I have 10 minutes at my laptop, with no kids to give you an update. While my phone is handy, I really, really prefer blogging from my computer. There’s just something so satisfying about hearing the keys click under my fingers. That, and I hit the delete key a lot less when I’m not typing with my fat thumbs.

Ok, so…8 minutes left…

I called about joining a gym. I’m thinking when I’m back to work full time I’ll try out their free trial. Something needs to happen or this girl won’t have any pants to wear when the weather gets cooler.

Being back at work feel good. It feels right. But, I do find it hard only working 1/2 days. I feel like I start a project, get 3/4 of the way through it, then it’s time to go. Then I rush out the door, pick up my sweet baby and proceed to forget all about the project I left behind.

She’s not sleeping through the night yet (something Rylee did at about 7 weeks). Normally, she’s only up once to eat. There’s been a few nights this week where she’s woken up at 12:30 but isn’t hungry, she just needs to be snuggled, then goes back to sleep. Then she wakes up a couple hours later to eat, goes right back down. Then up again around 4 or 4:30 to get snuggled again, then will sleep until 6:30 (or 7, if I let her). Weird and frustrating and sweet all at the same time.

Rylee really has a sweet & salty side lately. There’s moment where she’s sweet as pie. Then ~~most~~ other times? Not so much. She has taken to arguing with me…a lot. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely beside myself about how to “fix it”. She only really does it to me, not so much to Andy. I know it’s because of all the attention I show Reese. I get that, but it doesn’t make it any easier. In fact, I hate it. We’re working on that.

2 more minutes…

Andy’s back at work too. Ugh is all I have to say about that.

We really, really need to get Reese’s newborn pics done. And by we, I mean that’s all on me. Oh and we need family pics too.

Ry is going to a friend’s birthday party this weekend. She’s beyond excited. I’m excited because it’s at a fro-yo joint. And that reminds me, we need to go shopping!

And that’s all the time we’ve got today, folks…happy Thursday?

Reese was killing me with the smiles yesterday!

Ry seriously loves her little sister.

Reese has started occasionally playing with her hair while she nurses. It’s pretty much the sweetest thing on the planet.

When it all really started…

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Over the last 7 months or so I’ve been privileged to be partnered with Toyota and their TWIN program {Toyota’s Women Influencers Network}.

When I applied to be a part of the program, I figured it was a long shot…not to mention I didn’t really know what it would entail.

While I’ve learned so much about Toyota as a company over the last 6-7 months, and their vehicles, obviously, my admiration for Toyota and their marketing actually started more than two years ago.

And no, I’m not talking about my husband’s ~~obsession~~ love for his FJ40 Land Cruisers.

I was working at the bow company. We were in the midst of product launch and marketing campaign planning. I’m not sure how I cam across it, but I stumbled upon this video from Toyota on YouTube…

Yep, the Swagger Wagon…all I could think was BRILLIANT!

Then!? I found all of the other mini-webisodes they continued to roll out. I loved everything about the campaign…not enough to get me to buy a mini-van, but you get the idea. I immediately went to the office of our president to show him the videos. We spent the next hour and a half watching every single video and replaying a lot of them for different people that came in and our of his office.

It’s always nice to glean ideas from larger companies in other industries. It’s always good to have a company you admire. Toyota has long been that company for me. From the Swagger Wagon campaign to their Prius Family and the different ways they are marketing each of them, depending on their target market. Everything they do is well thought out and planned.

Since the inital shock of “you’ve been chosen to be a part of TWIN!” email wore off, I’ve had the opportunity to fly down to Toyota Headquarters to learn more about their company and drive some of their vehicles. I’ve been connected to an amazing network of women. Outside of just their marketing that I’ve admired for the last few years, I learned more about their philanthropic efforts…100 Cars for Good…their partnerships with the National Park Foundation, the National Audubon Society…their contributions to education and teachers {close to my heart for obvious reasons}…their efforts in teen driving education.

There’s still so much to learn about them. I’m really looking forward to seeing where things go from here. And I’m still really looking forward to doing some new car shopping in the next year or so!

Somewhere In The Middle

Mostly Average Accounts of the World's Okayest Mom.