Don't Wake the Carnies

Hello.

I’ve been quiet over here.

I haven’t been motivated to hop on the computer much after work these days, well because of the Olympics and because I have needed a break.

My parents are in town visiting until Monday, so yeah, extra help! And Josh is off wheeling until tomorrow.

Also, we are headed to the circus tomorrow. I’m hoping that it is quite normal and not carnie-like, and that there are also no clowns. We’re taking in the early show, so I’m not too concerned. Hopefully there will be pictures, and I will post them because it has been forever since I put up any photos.

Also, I rediscovered one of my favorite things (thank you, Canada):


Oh, and one more thing. We have a vacation planned. Though not until 2009, September to be exact, we are headed to Hawaii. I have known for a good week and a half and can’t keep my mouth shut up about it any longer!! I suppose you wonder if this could fall through. Doubtful. One of our friends is getting married and they have decided to do a destination wedding there. Josh is in the wedding, so you know, we have to go. And we’ll be adding a few days on top of when we have to be there.

That is all.

A Matter of Fact

I can't imagine what it would be like to be the only male in a household of three females. And especially ours. Drama is already a given, and being that two of these females are very young, it can only make me wonder what things will be like when those two little girls are teenagers and start getting PMS.

Tonight, Josh stated that the three of us can be, um, somewhat of a job. And then the light bulb moment hit him:

"That's exactly what the three of you girls are. A J-O-B. Jenna. Olivia. Beatrice. JOB."

Eh, I guess he got it right, huh? Only we see ourselves as the best damn job he could ever have.

The Day In Which I Spoke In Front of 200 People

I've mentioned my work situation and how busy I've been. Well, that all came to a close last Wednesday. Still busy, but the ginormous main thing of it all happened Wednesday. Big announcement. Highly important. I dealt with most all of the communications efforts for this thang.

So, about ten minutes before a company-wide presentation is being made, it has come to our attention that there is no moderator. By the time I'm found, I'm told that I will need to do it. Uh. Crap. Me is not a public speaker as I will skipsy all over my words or start to babble with some weird fillers. No way. I cannot remember the last time I spoke to a room with more than six or seven people. 200? No.

I was thinking I might just go hide somewhere, like the bathroom, but I knew I would be found. And, well, that just wouldn't be professional of me, now would it? My whole time in front of everyone might last a couple of minutes max. Basically, doing an introduction was what I was going to be doing. These types of things I can mess up so easily, and not to mention, it was going to be recorded. There is nothing in the world that freaks me out more.

Then, if you've seen the movie Bridget Jones, then you will know what I am talking about. In the movie, she does an introduction for an author and has a nickname for him. Instead of Fitzherbert as his last name, her head is telling her "Titspervert". Or something like that because it's been a while since I have seen the movie. In any case, I was a bundle of nerves for the entire five minutes of knowing about this and possibly stuttering in front of everyone or turning beet red or screwing up someone's name.

Technical issues came up right before this whole thing was supposed to take place. I was told to ask the audience - my co-workers - to simmer down. Now we are looking at twice I am going to have to get up in front everyone. Have mercy.

In order to get everyone's attention, I start waving my hands in the air. I was good and ready to start jumping up and down or doing a cartwheel or something when one nice man did one of those ear piercing whistles. Or, maybe he just yelled. I cannot remember. I could feel my beating heart throughout my entire body (as this happens everytime I have to do some sort of public speaking). And then something inside me clicked:

"Good afternoon, everybody. For those who don't know me, my name is Jenna and I am [insert title here] at [insert company here]. As you know we have a very exciting announcement that we want to give you full details on. We are having a bit of technical difficulties, and it will take just a few minutes to fix. If everyone can keep the noise level down, we would appreciate it and will begin the presentation in just a few moments."

Then stares. Then maybe crickets. Maybe a "free bird" somewhere out there in the audience. I don't know. Then people smiled. And started talking again. Whatever. I should have used the words "simmer down". No, I shouldn't have. I was clearly a professional, right? Anyway, did you see those words that came out of my mouth? No way. How did that happen?

Anyway, what seemed like an eternity later, our head honcho walks in the room, and I'm pointed at to get this show on the road. Thank gawd. So up I go in front of everyone again, and here is what I say:

"Good afternoon, everyone. Jenna from [department] here again. Before we begin the presentation, there are just a few things I need to let you know. For those on the conference call [I won't bore you with all the details/instructions here]....

...Okay, so I know that I'm not the one you want to hear from today, right? That would be [head honchos name]. So without further adieu, here he is, the man of the hour - [head honcho]."

There was clapping. Not for me, sillies. But before the clapping, at the part where I say I am not the one they want to hear from, there was some laughter. Did moi make a little jokey there? I guess. Sort of. I did not rehearse any of this since I only had five minutes of lead time. I was given four little itty bitty bullets to make sure that I covered and those were the instruction-related portion of the spiel. I ad-libbed the entire thing, hoping and telling myself to attempt to look professional and not come off as an idiot and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD, do not turn red. Mission: accomplished.

What I really want to say here is that I really, truly just hit a major career milestone. Not with my little announcement there, but the whole thing that surrounded it. I learned something through all of this, and when I thought that I just couldn't take any more of this work, the end result was truly amazing. Never in my life have I had so many executives and the like come up to me and tell me what a fine job I did, with talking in front of everyone and with everything I did for this thing to happen. It took so much out of me. So much...indeed. And, perhaps you will completely understand when I tell you that this whole thing...well, it was a bit like being engaged again and having one month to plan an entire wedding. And then the wedding happens, and the day after you are left with "What in the world do I do now?"

That's it, exactly.

I'm not really one to boast about myself much, but it has been a long time where I've done something that I am truly proud of. I am so proud of this because it was a personal accomplishment, something I never thought I would be a part of, and I made it through in one piece with more kudos than I ever could have imagined. If I must say - Go, me!

Waiting, Always

As bedtime comes, the girls are tucked away into their beds and receive numerous kisses and hugs while we secretly hope that it doesn’t take them long to get to the land of slumber.

And then we wait. The wait can last for nearly two hours or it can be unusually short at ten minutes. This wait. It will continue every evening until the girls are out on their own and in charge of their own lives. Whether it is waiting for them fall asleep or waiting for them to come home from a date or some other activity. I will always be waiting. I will always be awake.

As I wait, I will divide my time up in doing some things around the house. The whole time I will wonder how long I will wait on this particular evening.

And then silence. The wait lingers on until I know for sure that dreamland has begun.

When the wait is over, I always go into their room. I always re-tuck them in to make sure they are warm. I always give them another kiss on their cheek or forehead. I always whisper “I love you” into their ears.

Sometimes they’ll be upset that I’ve disrupted them for a moment. Sometimes one of them will toot from the disruption. Sometimes one of them will smile. And sometimes one of them will whisper “mmmm…I love you, too, mama.”

As life can be so chaotic at times, it is this one time of the day where I am able to appreciate what I have, with a clear head. My little family. All under the same roof. All safe in their beds.

If waiting gets me to these “always” moments for years to come, I will wait. Always.

Quirky

I was tagged by Mariana at the private blog of “The Schuller Family” to talk about 6 quirky things about me. It literally took me a week to come up with this list, and I've only got 5. Because, me? Quirky? I guess that means weird, right? Well, here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. The only way I like to drink soda is in a cup (prefer glass, but hard plastic will do), and with ice. But, once the ice starts melting, forget it. I do not like the waterish concoction that forms at the top if I am not using a straw.

2. When I find or receive a piece of jewelry that I love, I will wear it for long periods of time. I have worn the same necklace now for a year and a half, with the exception of wearing my (favorite) pearls to a special occasion once or twice in the last year.

3. I don’t like slides. Ever since an incident that happened back in 1996. I am flat out scared of them.

4. I prefer Target instead of Wal-mart. I prefer Banana instead of Gap. I prefer the Gilroy and Napa outlets instead of any mall. I prefer i-tunes over buying any CD.

5. After I drop the kids off at daycare, I come home and clean – and then go to work. Not clean, like dust and mop, but straighten it up. I like to come home to a clean house, and I like to go to work knowing the house is clean.

Okay, so this isn’t the best list of quirkiness ever created, but I really don’t feel quirky. I’m normal, and what some would describe as boring. But I like me that way.

I’m not going to tag anyone, but if you feel quirky and have a list, I’d like to see it.