Master Procrastinator

Yep, that accurately describes me. It's review time at work. I love, Love, LOVE review time. Seriously. No snickering on the other side of the computer, thankyouverymuch.

However, I have put off my review writing WAY too long. And I think I know why.

This year, a new added twist was thrown in. I'm not sure if this was the year to add the new element to the review process. You know, like most companies, we will have no merit increase, our 401K match is suspended and any bonus that we were eligible for if we hit any of our numbers is completely dashed away. So too, promotions seem to be suspended in the short-term for my team members who are looking to move upwards in the company. It seems that our experience is not satisfactory. Yet, despite RIFs as recent as January (that were not performance based if you recall), upper management has recently announced four new team members in Buyer, Director and VP levels that all have the magical QVC experience. Me: not bitter. Really.

Back to the new twist. This year, the new twist in the process was, get this--in addition to writing our self-review, we had to submit 3 - 5 team members to provide 360 degree feedback. For me, the writer, this ends up equating to one self-review on horrific numbers and nine 360-degree feedback forms.

Try telling my team members why this year, more than any other year, it's especially important to submit a good review and fully participate in the 360 feedback process when all of the above is the frustrating reality.

Guess what? The self-reviews are due today. I have three 360s done, but I haven't even touched my review. Uh-oh. Yet, I am blogging.

It's going to be a long day. But even though I'm down to the wire, I will submit quality stuff. I promise.

What the hell is wrong with my priorities?

Baking cookies on a Lazy Sunday

It was another lazy Sunday morning. Kyle and I were laying around in our room while the kids played in the living room. I was smiling to myself that Cate is so incredibly patient and motherly to Max when it's just the two of them.

Fast forward to lunch. I decided it would be good that I recognize Cate and her fabulous big sister behavior in playing so nicely with Max. There is nothing more she wants to be when she grows up than to be a teacher and a mom. So, I opened with: "Cate, I am so proud of how you play so nicely with Max in the morning. You are going to be such a wonderful mother. How did you learn to be so good?" Her reply: "No one taught me. I learned how to do it by myself."

Guh.

She also told me, "Besides, you're too mean."

Double guh.

Needless to say, that hit me. I almost teared up right there.

How do I redeem myself?

We had to stop at the store to get a few groceries, so we added eggs and flour into the kids' "Shopper in Training" carts and made our way home. Cate wanted so badly to go on pbskids.org, ("Mom, you never let me go on pbskids anymore!"), so I let her play to her hearts' content. Then I even let her print off some of the pictures she made online.

As the afternoon wore on and I felt Cate had finally had her sufficient fill of playing on the computer, I asked her if she wanted to bake some cookies. She jumped at the opportunity. Thank goodness!

We didn't have a full package of any one kind of chips, so we made four-chip cookies. Fortunately, Kyle's mom bakes a lot and just dumps in whatever she has on hand. Cate bakes quite a bit with Grandma Katie, so she didn't panic when I told her that was what we had to work with. She wasn't too sure about the butterscotch chips, but I explained that they were kind of a cross between caramel and peanut butter. She could handle that.

So she did the measuring, mixing, egg-cracking (no shell!) and dumping into the bowl. I did the final scrape down and scooping onto the pans. Max was the batter taster.

They turned out pretty darn good.

As far as my mothering skills and Cate's opinion of it goes...well, I'll deal with it. I'm hoping this is somewhat typical for a mother / oldest daughter relationship. Right?

Right?!

Things to do while locked in a bathroom at home

Okay, I'm taking the low road tonight. I don't have the patience to deal with yet another frustratingly long bedtime debacle with Max. So after repeatedly putting him back in his bed without speaking to him, and sitting it out in the middle of their room and trying to silently slip away without success (thanks for nothin' Super Nanny!), I had to go to the bathroom so damn bad. Of course, Max immediately popped his head up and I ran ahead and locked the bathroom door with me on one side and Max on the other side.

Before I go any further, I will disclaim that Kyle is indeed in the house, so no mistreatment or neglect of Max occurred while I was in the bathroom away from him. I will also disclaim that I love my little boy a lot, but this Momma's boy stuff is for the birds.

Anyway...

What does one do while alone in the bathroom after successfully completing the initial objective (and the hands have been washed) but decides to wait until the temper tantrum subsides on the other side? If you ever find yourself in such a predicament, here's a few suggestions (in no particular order):

* take a long, hot bath
* shave
* pluck those unsightly chin hairs
* mask and tone your face
* clip your nails
* if you actually store your cleaning supplies in your bathroom, clean the bathroom
* brush and floss teeth
* count the tiles
* drink plenty of water (because the toilet's right there when your bladder is full)
* do yoga (only poses suitable for small spaces)
* brush and floss your teeth
* gargle with mouthwash (and if necessary, take a swig)
* clean your ears
* brush your hair 100 times
* sing songs (the acoustics usually rock in bathrooms)
* practice your smile in the mirror
* write a soap message on the mirror for your loved one to see later after it's all fogged up

And of course, since I obviously have my blackberry with me (don't ask!), there's a whole other list of ideas:

* check out the NCAA basketball scores on cbssports.com
* keep up correspondences via facebook
* RAFT all work emails
* plan out the next day's workload
* jot a few thoughts about one's self-appraisal
* play BrickBreaker
* make a few phonecalls
* twitter
* read up on cnn.com
* check out tomorrow's weather so you can mentally prepare what to wear
* watch goofy things on youtube.com
* install unnecessary apps
* calculate stuff on the calculator
* review appointments on the calendar
* make up new appointments to look like you're busy and super-important or a social rockstar
* write haikus
* google your name (boring!)
* hide all the apps you have no idea what their usefulness is
* take pictures and send them to facebook or flickr
* blog about locking yourself in the bathroom. Make every attempt to sound clever, yet don't be too lengthy (also, try to not sound too crazy in the head doing it--duh!)

Okay...so the boy seems to be asleep. I can get back to the rest of my life now. It's been a blissful 45 minutes though. Hope you find some pf my suggestions useful. Make any additions you'd like in the comments section. This could be or may have been you at some time.

My Blog Personality

A fellow blogger I have been following for about a year referred to this site in his most recent post. Essentially, you paste in your blog address, or anyone else's for that matter, and it will return with a personality based on the writing style used.

Here's my return:

ESFP - The Performers
The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

They enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

If I recall when I took the Myers-Briggs personality in a work setting, (it was one of those "team-synergy" deals), I was more like an Introverted something or other (ISFP perhaps?)...but I do completely relate to the second paragraph. Although, I must say I am getting better at initiating conflict. :)

Now, I am compelled to take the MBTI for real! Stay tuned.

By the way, what MBTI are you?

Cate's Birthday Week

Cate started her birthday week last Saturday with a family party. We enjoyed Cate's favorites--marinated flank steak, roasted potatoes, broccoli and rustic bread. She was surrounded by her grandparents and godmothers (and Michael). It was a lovely evening. Her birthday cake of choice was a frozen custard cake from Culvers. She was a bit overwhelmed by the Happy Birthday song, but managed to blow all her candles out in one shot.

Her favorite gift, by far,was not the bike. It was the Star Wars Legos kit she received from Jeanine. The coolest part is that she puts the kit together, plays with it and starts all over again. Max is allowed watch patiently and not touch, which he does pretty well.

She's not at all interested in Star Wars Legos, right?

She's already fast-forwarding to summer and thinking about falling with her bike

Max very patiently watching and helping slightly

Monday, February 23, Cate was Star of the Day in her classroom and as they recognize birthdays in this manner, it was going to be an extra special day. However, Cate woke up sick and missed her special day at school. When she did get back on Tuesday, she was told she could bring her birthday treat later in the week and so her special day just got postponed a day.

This weekend, we hosted her first friend birthday party. Three girlfriends from her kindergarten class came over for crafts and cupcakes. Cate was torn between heart cake and heart cupcakes, so I made both. The girls all wanted the cake. It's funny that they're both chocolate, with sprinkles, but they still wanted the cake. I think it was the written message that sold them! The girls all had a fabulous time with each other, it was fun to watch the interaction.

The girls working on their flower necklaces

(oops--I deleted the original before making it larger)
Clockwise from the top: Evie, Cate, Isabel, Abbey

All in all, her birthday week was a rousing success. I can't wait until next year!