Today was back to reality. Mario went back to work after a 5 week hiatus. This happens once a year, or so, between seasons of the television show he's working on. The writers need to get a jump on the next season before the animators start work on it. Usually he works through hiatus, either on extra stuff for the show or at another studio. This time the hiatus was fairly short and he really felt like he needed that vacation.
This was all perfect timing because we got our current foster placement, Joy, the week before hiatus started. So, I had the first week getting to know her myself, figuring out her schedule and feeding. Then Mario was off for the next month...and that was wonderful!
I love being able to tag team parenting. I loved being able to book all my shoots without having to think about lining up child care. It all works quite well between us. When I needed to get out and run around, he was with her or when he needed out, I was with her. He was able to spend time catching up with friends, working on personal art, and doing daddy duty. We were also able to really take her out to parks, the zoo and aquarium, and even have a nice family lunch or dinner. I think it was a great time for bonding with the little turd.
The countdown to his going back to work started 2 weeks ago...more for me than him probably. So, today while he was back at work...we were missing him. I didn't have any shoots or any pressing work, so that was nice. Man what a day though! Joy was having one of those bi-polar toddler days. Laughing one minute...crying the next. I was going between frustrated and laughing at how fast it all changed. It was all I could do really. She ate and slept well, ran around, played...but Monday was just too much for her.
I'm sure we both just missed having dad around. Luckily he worked it out that he can get home at a normal time. So we were able to cook dinner together and took turns hitting repeat on her favorite cd...anything to keep her on the happier side. By the time Aunt Angela came home, she was a pretty happy camper...of course it was then off to bed.
The one thing about Joy, and reason I've decided to call her Joy in my blog, is that even when she's in a crappy mood like today...she's still fun to be around. She wakes up happy and really is a Joy to be around! Tomorrow I hope we are on more of an even keel! The housekeeper/babysitter will be here cleaning. So during nap time, I'll run off to a shoot and hopefully be back before she's up. There really isn't anything better than seeing her little smiling happy face when she wakes up in the morning or from a nap. We really love this little girl!
Monday, February 22, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
Things that are making my head explode today
I know these are small things, but over the last few weeks, they've been making me crazy.
1. Why all the Christmas stuff can't go in one place. 90% of it's in the garage. Then there are things in this closet, some things in a drawer, and two boxes of ornaments that are sitting in the middle of a bedroom. The organizer in me thinks this is ridiculous. What's the point? It was pointed out that I was raised to appreciate logic...this is not logical.
2. People who are passive aggressive. Come on people, talk to each other. You are all human beings, communicate! Drop the power trip you are getting from being passive aggressive...it's not communicating anything. There is far more power in just talking your issue out with someone. I know it can be scary to say what needs to be said and the other person might not like it, but it goes so much farther than these stupid mind games where people are supposed to know why you are acting mad but saying everything is ok. Here's the other part of communicating...listening to what the other person has to say. And I'm not talking about you just telling someone why they are wrong and a bad person...I'm saying work through problems together. Imagine what could be accomplished if we use communication!
3. This is a little business complaint...people who don't pay their bill. I have one client who has two invoices due since September. There have been lots of promises and it's in the mail...and I've seen nothing. And now communication has stopped. I've even sent messages saying that I don't want our professional relationship to end or be hurt, I just want the issue resolved(see communication!). However, I think I have to take this up the line. It's time to speak with someone higher up at the company. Unfortunately, if that doesn't work, I have to take it to small claims court. I feel like it's such a simple solution to pay the bill. Even if it was a money issue, I would take payments. Oh the excitement of owning your own business! After 10 years, I'm still learning!
4. People who don't understand how loud they are. One of the things taught to us by my father was to be aware of how loud we were walking. His apartment was on the second story. We were taught to be very aware of how loud it might be for her below us. This definitely came full circle when I lived on the bottom floor of a two story building. Now with a baby, I'm fully aware of how loud people are. On the one hand, I don't think a child should be raised in an absolutely quiet house. I think they need to learn to sleep with noise around. However, we have a light sleeper and a loud adult in the house. I know most of the time adult doesn't hear how loud she is. However, there are times when it's deliberate. I don't see any reason for someone to stand outside a napping baby's door and yell for Mario. Also, slamming the front door in irritation, knowing that the baby is sleeping, is really rude. Not to me, go ahead and slam the door. However, you are being rude to that baby you love. They are affected. This is where I use my communication as much as possible...who am I kidding, it's irritating as hell.
I know these are all things that are really a small part of the big picture. I know they will be gone soon enough and I will have forgotten about them...the Christmas stuff is already mostly forgotten. However, these are the things I feel like I'm complaining about most lately. Poor Mario and Colleen have heard enough about my trying to collect payment and how loud someone stomps down the hall. I also know that if I vent now, it keeps it from building up. Already better!
1. Why all the Christmas stuff can't go in one place. 90% of it's in the garage. Then there are things in this closet, some things in a drawer, and two boxes of ornaments that are sitting in the middle of a bedroom. The organizer in me thinks this is ridiculous. What's the point? It was pointed out that I was raised to appreciate logic...this is not logical.
2. People who are passive aggressive. Come on people, talk to each other. You are all human beings, communicate! Drop the power trip you are getting from being passive aggressive...it's not communicating anything. There is far more power in just talking your issue out with someone. I know it can be scary to say what needs to be said and the other person might not like it, but it goes so much farther than these stupid mind games where people are supposed to know why you are acting mad but saying everything is ok. Here's the other part of communicating...listening to what the other person has to say. And I'm not talking about you just telling someone why they are wrong and a bad person...I'm saying work through problems together. Imagine what could be accomplished if we use communication!
3. This is a little business complaint...people who don't pay their bill. I have one client who has two invoices due since September. There have been lots of promises and it's in the mail...and I've seen nothing. And now communication has stopped. I've even sent messages saying that I don't want our professional relationship to end or be hurt, I just want the issue resolved(see communication!). However, I think I have to take this up the line. It's time to speak with someone higher up at the company. Unfortunately, if that doesn't work, I have to take it to small claims court. I feel like it's such a simple solution to pay the bill. Even if it was a money issue, I would take payments. Oh the excitement of owning your own business! After 10 years, I'm still learning!
4. People who don't understand how loud they are. One of the things taught to us by my father was to be aware of how loud we were walking. His apartment was on the second story. We were taught to be very aware of how loud it might be for her below us. This definitely came full circle when I lived on the bottom floor of a two story building. Now with a baby, I'm fully aware of how loud people are. On the one hand, I don't think a child should be raised in an absolutely quiet house. I think they need to learn to sleep with noise around. However, we have a light sleeper and a loud adult in the house. I know most of the time adult doesn't hear how loud she is. However, there are times when it's deliberate. I don't see any reason for someone to stand outside a napping baby's door and yell for Mario. Also, slamming the front door in irritation, knowing that the baby is sleeping, is really rude. Not to me, go ahead and slam the door. However, you are being rude to that baby you love. They are affected. This is where I use my communication as much as possible...who am I kidding, it's irritating as hell.
I know these are all things that are really a small part of the big picture. I know they will be gone soon enough and I will have forgotten about them...the Christmas stuff is already mostly forgotten. However, these are the things I feel like I'm complaining about most lately. Poor Mario and Colleen have heard enough about my trying to collect payment and how loud someone stomps down the hall. I also know that if I vent now, it keeps it from building up. Already better!
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Goals for the New Year?
This year I'm concentrating on balancing my personal life and business life better. So, the idea would be to come up with goals or ways to make sure that balance happens. hah! I spent January ignoring the goal thing and just generally denying the fact that it's really a new year. Today I finally decided to stop trying so hard...in other words I decided to give up and just go with what I have.
1st goal -you already know, more writing on this blog! I'm already happy that this is happening. It's my mini therapy session. I like the documentation, working through a situation in my head and then getting it written down. Sometimes, the result is way different than what the original idea started as. It's an interesting process to me.
2nd goal- Read more. This is one of the things that has really taken a hit in my life. When business is crazy and life is busy, I seem to forget to read. However, this is the one thing that really lets me turn it all off for a bit and get lost. What could be better to help me balance life and turn off work after hours! Read some damn books woman! One of the things I made an effort to do when we moved, was bring in all my books from the garage. I purged the books I didn't want and kept the stuff that seemed interesting. Now they are in my room on a book shelf ready to grab and go.
3rd goal - No more phones at the dinner table. This is purely a rule for me. However, it's funny to see how people turn off their phone when they notice that you are sitting there staring at them while they browse facebook. The other trick is to keep talking until they can't concentrate on their phone. I figure, if we are going out to dinner, we should be talking and enjoying each other company. There are the odd times when this rule can be broken...when I have to look up a bit of information that has to do with the conversation or educational purposes. This really hasn't been as hard to keep up as I thought originally.
4th goal - and probably the more embarrassing goals I absolutely needed to set...no more phones in the bathroom! If I really need entertainment in the bathroom, I can read a damn book...then that helps cover goal #2!
These goals are aimed at making time to do things that I enjoy in life. This is also a way for me to get my life back from facebook. It's not enjoyable for me, yet it takes up so much of my spare time. I'm not sure when facebook became my go-to for when I'm bored...but it also became my go-to for when I'm not bored also. I feel like it became a habit to pick up my phone and look at what people are doing. I mean when I have to make a rule not to bring my phone into the bathroom with me...that means I'm spending too much time on facebook! This is precious time that could be spent playing with our little girl or reading a book to her.
I have to say, I don't feel like I'm making any big leaps or commitments here, but I'm pretty content with the little changes I'm making. I feel like I am trying to be more conscious of where my time is spent and investing my time in something that I consider to have more quality than political bullshit or drama. When I started writing this blog, I thought they might be half ass goals, but really they are all about enjoyment...what could be a better goals to meet!
1st goal -you already know, more writing on this blog! I'm already happy that this is happening. It's my mini therapy session. I like the documentation, working through a situation in my head and then getting it written down. Sometimes, the result is way different than what the original idea started as. It's an interesting process to me.
2nd goal- Read more. This is one of the things that has really taken a hit in my life. When business is crazy and life is busy, I seem to forget to read. However, this is the one thing that really lets me turn it all off for a bit and get lost. What could be better to help me balance life and turn off work after hours! Read some damn books woman! One of the things I made an effort to do when we moved, was bring in all my books from the garage. I purged the books I didn't want and kept the stuff that seemed interesting. Now they are in my room on a book shelf ready to grab and go.
3rd goal - No more phones at the dinner table. This is purely a rule for me. However, it's funny to see how people turn off their phone when they notice that you are sitting there staring at them while they browse facebook. The other trick is to keep talking until they can't concentrate on their phone. I figure, if we are going out to dinner, we should be talking and enjoying each other company. There are the odd times when this rule can be broken...when I have to look up a bit of information that has to do with the conversation or educational purposes. This really hasn't been as hard to keep up as I thought originally.
4th goal - and probably the more embarrassing goals I absolutely needed to set...no more phones in the bathroom! If I really need entertainment in the bathroom, I can read a damn book...then that helps cover goal #2!
These goals are aimed at making time to do things that I enjoy in life. This is also a way for me to get my life back from facebook. It's not enjoyable for me, yet it takes up so much of my spare time. I'm not sure when facebook became my go-to for when I'm bored...but it also became my go-to for when I'm not bored also. I feel like it became a habit to pick up my phone and look at what people are doing. I mean when I have to make a rule not to bring my phone into the bathroom with me...that means I'm spending too much time on facebook! This is precious time that could be spent playing with our little girl or reading a book to her.
I have to say, I don't feel like I'm making any big leaps or commitments here, but I'm pretty content with the little changes I'm making. I feel like I am trying to be more conscious of where my time is spent and investing my time in something that I consider to have more quality than political bullshit or drama. When I started writing this blog, I thought they might be half ass goals, but really they are all about enjoyment...what could be a better goals to meet!
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