So much for a half-day vacation

Well, today was supposed to be my first of two half-days this week while my niece and nephew are here with us. But today just didn't go as planned.

It started with Claire having an accident and waking me up at 4:45 am. Claire NEVER has accidents, and of course she was sleeping in the basement vs. her room. All of the kids have been sleeping down there so they can all be together. Claire was alone on a double bed so no one else got woken up, but I needed to strip the bed and get it taken care of before I left. So I left a little later than normal.

During all this I didn't even realize that I was supposed to be on a 7am call...at 7:30 I realized it, called in and no one was on the line. No big deal, I was meeting my co-worker later to work on it anyway. So still driving to work and Arnie calls me. He was looking in our Yahoo account and read the email I got from Sheila Gray, the anchor at Fox 19 that I work with on my segments. Her email sent on Monday referenced "tomorrow", which was today. Arnie knew I was driving to work, not the studio so he called me. I had it down for Wed my normal day. So I sent Sheila an email. By the time I got to my desk at 7:45 I had an email confirming indeed my segment was today. UGGHHHH

So I sped downtown, way too fast and walked in at 8:20am (gotta love no traffic in Cincy, it is a 19 mile drive). They had switched me with another person and were kind enough to give me 15 minutes to catch my breath and review my talking points. 8:40 comes and I am live doing my segment. Disaster #2 avoided, back in my car heading north and calling into my next meeting which was scheduled in the last 12 hours...fire drill #1 on Project Speedboat.

I am in the conference room by 9:15 and we align on what we need to prepare for a meeting called for Thursday. I had my Brand Manager move our 9am to 11am so I could attend this meeting, so all seems well. I am back at my desk at 10am and have some emails to answer, key docs to read and decide I need to call my new boss to talk about my the marketing organization in my new job, who I want to hire, etc Before I know it it is 11am and time for another meeting. I thought the one rescheduled from 9, only for my new GM to remind me we had another meeting that was called in last moment on Project TFB. Ughhh, disaster #3 not avoided. I apologize to the team that I was supposed to meet with and get on the call.

At least on this call we were efficient and in 30 minutes aligned on who was doing prep work for meeting next week...and not me thank God. So by 11:30 I am in the meeting I re-scheduled and can add some value. Noon back at my desk, eating the salad I brought (trying to be good, but the Reese's pieces left on table catch me on way to fridge too). Getting through some email, dealing with urgent intern issue and returning phone calls on it.

12:30 head to meeting with my co-worker to develop materials they talked in 7am meeting. Both were asked by new Group President to provide some perspective on key processes and what we should keep, etc as we move to a new org design. We cranked it out in an hour, ready to share it with others...check one box, old boss asked me to do that for her and it is done.

Back at desk at 1:30, was supposed to be home an hour ago, thankfully had told Amber I may have to take some additional meetings and not to expect me before 2:30. Another Marketing Dir wants to talk to me about some staffing stuff so we head to huddle...by the time we are done time for my 2pm, was going to call in from car but still at my desk and still haven't begun to work on the presentation draft I need to have done by COB. Take phone call and begin to multi-task to get the presentation done. 3pm we are done but I am still working presentation...keep at it while I return a voicemail. 3:45 I hit send, at least accomplished my #1 task for the day. Clear out the rest of my emails and then call someone interested in one of the roles I have open in my group.

She is on West coast time so need to call after her lunch. Chat at 4 my time and shut down computer at 4:15. Four more calls on the way home and my mind is somewhat clear by the time I get home at 4;45...so I am three hours late, but Amber was my savior. She took the kids bowling and they had a great afternoon. I am now home listening to the normal bickering...this time over mini Chips Ahoy...we are eating later than normal so Arnie could go for a bike ride.

Speaking of which, that is only 45 minutes away so I need to see if my chicken is defrosted. What a crazy day, not the one I planned, totally all over the place but I guess they come every now and then. The only thing I know is I am taking my half-day on Friday, no matter what.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

So the long awaiting 'NY cousins" weekend is here and going great, but the generally consensus is "we are feeling hot, hot, hot." Gina, Kevin and the kids rolled in around 1:15 on Friday, the decided to leave Thursday night and ended up making great time. Unfortunately I had an afternoon of meetings I couldn't get out of so I didn't see them until around 6. We made a great dinner and actually ate outside in 95 degree heat, but everyone was just excited to be together and we got through it ok.

Saturday we headed to Kings Island our amusement park in Cincy. We got there by 11am and spent the first part of our day in the regular park with the rides. It was over 95 degrees so we were hot. The little ones were ok as there is lots of shade in Snoopy land and we even brought a shade umbrella that helped. The older ones didn't feel quite as good on the coasters. We went out to the car to eat lunch and cool off in the AC before heading to Boomerang Bay their water park. That was great. As many of you know I am not a water person, it takes a lot for me to get in and I was in. The water felt great and we had a great time wading in the little pools and going down some slides.

We stayed until around 7 when we were all beat and decided to go home vs. back to Kings Island. Today we went canoeing down the Little Miami. We packed a lunch, but not being very smart (must have been the heat) we decided to leave it in the car. Bad move. The other bad move was the bus driver showing us "the mid point" which had a cafe. We were doing a 12 mile which they said would be 3-4 hours....and we were over 1.5 hours in no sighting of the mid-way point. Once we got to over 2 hours we pulled off at a place that had drinks and chips. We got some stuff to hold us over and let my sister and John off. He had witnessed his mom and sister get tossed in some rapids...while he remained in the canoe and really didn't want to get back in.

So we felt refreshed, tied two canoes together so we had two tugs behind us and decided to let the grown-ups do all the had work...trying to have Ben or Jake paddle wasn't helping too much. It ended up we were less than 2 miles away and did the whole trip, with numerous stops to swim and jump off trees into the river in less than 3 hours. Gina ended up getting a ride back to our car and was waiting when we go there...after lunch back at the car we headed home.

So we are officially beat but had a great time. It was hot but being on the river felt great and hopefully John isn't traumatized forever. Tomorrow the car heads back to NY with Gina, Kevin, Emily and John. Katie and Jake are spending the week with us...going to a cool sports camp with our kids before flying home next weekend. More fun to come.

7/19 Blog - only four days until my sister visits

The countdown is on. This Friday my sister and her family are coming out to visit. We saw them in April, but it has been a couple of years since they came out to Cincy for a visit so we are looking forward to it. I had suggested that she send her two middle children out here for a couple of weeks this summer. I knew we couldn't get to NY with our cruise scheduled when it was, so asked if they could come out. They seemed really keen but I wasn't sure she would let that happen. But I pushed and she said yes, but only for one week.

She was going to drive out with them, leave her car here then fly back home, return flight a week later and then drive back. That seemed crazy so we suggested letting them fly alone, but she didn't want to do it. So now the good news is her entire family is driving out arriving on Friday, even John (the baby) and Emily (the oldest). So we get an entire weekend with all 6 of them before they head back. Katie and Jake will spend the week here and then Gina is flying out to get them. We just booked tickets tonight with miles, etc...because we had all hoped Uncle Matt would come out and they could drive back with him, but we couldn't pull that one off.

So we are all set. Now we get to plan the fun stuff. I think it will be Kings Island amusement park on Saturday and canoeing on the Little Miami on Sunday. Hopefully the weather will hold out. With work as stressful as it has been, and boy has it been the last 3 days...I can't wait to be hanging out with family and showing them the sights all weekend, not thinking of work at all. Now I just need to get through that "to do" list for the house before Friday...

July 14 Blog - oh how vacation seems so long ago

It has been a while since I last wrote, but I had a good excuse, we were on vacation. We flew down to Miami on July 2nd. This summer is our bi-annual trip with Arnie's family. So we flew down a few days early for some family time. We stayed on the beach and just hung out at the pool, did an Everglades tour and checked our the SeaAquarium...all great.

On Monday we boarded Royal Caribbeans Majesty of the Sea for a 4 night cruise to Key West, Bahamas and CocaKay which is RC's private island (which very funnily is right next to Norwegian Cruise Line's island). The kids had a great time with their cousins and grandparents. We enjoyed good food (and I actually lost weight...see what happens when no snacking in between meals), good entertainment and a great encounter with Dolphins. We didn't have good weather at all, but it really didn't bother anything.

The best part was no real reception and my mailbox was full by Monday so I couldn't send emails if I wanted to. I could delete what needed to be, but truly did no work until Sunday evening. It was great. The girls got their Bahama Mama braids and still have them in, so everyday I am reminded "it couldn't have been that long ago" but boy does it seem so.

I started the week with two back-to-back meetings with my new boss and organization. It is taking form, but trying to do all that and my day job is a bit tough. The kids have been in their 'skating' camps all week. Ben is in ProAmbitions hockey camp and loves it. The girls are in a local ice skating camp...and of course Claire is demanding a skating outfit for her show on Friday.

So we are back in the swing of things, counting down until our other cousins, the NY cousins come to town in a week...Yippie.