Millennium Mom

Tips on how to make the most of the Holiday season...Fox 19 Dec 21, 2012

2011-12-20T05:54:00.001-08:00

Making the most of the holiday season…for busy moms

It’s that time of year, where days seem like minutes and the stress level is through the roof. So much to do, so much to buy, the holidays can often seem like more work than fun. But they shouldn’t be, they should be about creating memories that last a lifetime and taking time to reflect on the past year and year ahead. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of the holidays.
1. Take your kids to your old holiday traditions. Think about memories from your childhood and what made the holidays special and re-create that for your kids. In my hometown we have Christmas on the Farm with Eggbert the talking egg. For years it was no longer in operation but this year they started it again, I can’t wait to take my kids. Here in Cincy it may be Festival of Lights at the Zoo, the trains at Union Terminal or others, but take the time to cherish what makes Christmas time so unique.
2. Pay a special visit to someone. If you haven’t seen a relative or old friend for a while, make a call and set up time to re-connect. I like to catch up with old high school friends when I return to NY for the holidays and it really does make them seem more special. Start sending emails now so you can find a time that works for the both of you.
3. Make a holiday treat and hand deliver it to your neighbors. A few families in my neighborhood do this and I think it is terrific. Make a yummy treat (we get chocolate sprinkled popcorn, pretzels with melted M&M’s on them and others) and hand-deliver it to your neighbors. It gives you time to say hello and personally wish them a wonderful holiday season and a great activity to do with your kids.
4. Give special gifts that money can’t buy. Many of us stress when we can’t get our hands on the sought after toy, or can’t afford the latest gadget. Think about gifts in other ways, gifts that money can’t buy like family game night, 1:1 time with your children or date night with your husband. Any child would take a special day out with mom and dad over the toy they will likely only play with for a few weeks. Make certificates and hand them out to make it official.
5. Write a journal about the past year and your hopes for the year ahead. Steal away 30 minutes and think about the past year and its highlights. What “firsts” did you or your family experience…lost tooth, special vacation, sports victories, good grades…take a moment to reflect on the year and think about 2012 and your hopes and dreams for the year ahead. Write down a few things you hope to accomplish to drive you as you enter the new year.
6. Next year start shopping earlier – if I can leave you with one thought it is to buy throughout the year. I know this isn’t second nature and top of mind, but your stress level will be significantly reduced if you just buy things throughout the year, when you see something you like for someone. Keep a running list so you don’t forget what you have purchased. I guarantee this will make next year’s holidays even more special as you will have more time to enjoy them.

Getting to know Vietnam

2011-12-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

So frustrated, I just wrote my blog for the day and lost it...ugghhh...so here I go again.

Yesterday we spent the day getting to know Vietnam. The first half was a cultural tour around the city. Our first insight was locals don't call it Ho Chi Mihn, they still call it Saigon, the name before the war. Ho Chi Minh was a hero from the north whom they re-named the city after when the war ended, so a bit of an insult to people in the south. We started our tour in the city center, not far from our hotel, at the post office.

This gorgeous building was originally built to be the train station, but at the last minute they switched to a post office. It definitely looks like a train station for sure. The architecture was beautiful and it had a buzz about it for sure. Outside a large Catholic church (who was holding mass in English when I went in) was surrounded by about six bride and grooms getting their pictures taken. Our guide explained that there are certain days that bring good luck for bride and grooms, so they get their pictures taken on these days. It can be as much as 8 weeks prior to the wedding itself. Yesterday was one of those (or just a beautiful day) and we saw tons of them. Their dresses were beautiful and not all that different from Western weddings, and like Western brides, they were happy to pose for a picture.

Next we hit China town. 10% of Saigon's population is Chinese, a bit less than 1MM, but China town takes up 25% of land, so it is huge. We walked around quite a bit looking at various shops, like India these are very busy store fronts with various types of rice, herbs, etc. For a good three blocks they were all TCM (traditional chinese medicine) places that smelled very interesting. They had every root, tree bark and oil there is - including snake oil with a King Cobra right in the bottle...totally true.

We ended up at a Chinese temple dedicated to the sea goddess. While hundreds of years old and not very well preserved, it was still breath-taking. The ornate detail was unbelievable, what craftsmanship. We learned a lot about how Vietnamese Chinese get ride of bad spirits and make wishes. I bought what they call a seven day cone and made a wish for my family, the incense (spelling?) will burn for seven days with my wish on it.

Next was lunch, and like Korea it was a 6-8 course meal. So much food, you wonder how they are all so skinny. But then you realize it is quality not quantity here that drives their health. Everything is fish (so arnie would not survive) and veggies - no rice, no break, no meat. We had fish in lettuce, fried fish, fish stew, fresh crabs, shrimp in garlic and on and on. So yummy and filling but all very good for you. Maybe not the beer we had with it.

Our last stop was the War Museum, the departing words of our tour guide (who did not go in) were "please don't hate me" after. Of course the story is from Vietnam's POV, as you would expect. Given I don't know much about the war, can't say I had factual data either way, but it was moving. I could only get through 2 of 3 floors, the graphic details go to me. Had never seen photos like that, as I don't normally wish too. Those of you who know me know I can't even watch movies with that much blood and guts. Hardest parts were rooms on chemical warfare and seeing the multi-generational effects.

After our tour ended, three p&G folks from the Vietnam office (the country manager, HR manager and a sales guy) took us to stores to understand more. We went to a "modern retail" store called Lotte, like W-M or Target in US, then lots of HFS (high frequency stores). We don't have these in US, but they are huge in LA, Asia, CEEMEA, little stalls that sell products, often in smaller quantities, and often limited categories. So the one who sells rice, doesn't normally sell shampoo, who doesn't normally sell coffee. Great to learn more, P&G is "younger" here but growing fast so great to see.

Tonight we head to Beijing, our last stop. We are counting down, four more days until we are home, very exciting. Can't wait to see everyone live, versus via Skype. The trip has been easy from keeping in touch perspective, I start every morning by talking or skyping with the kids to see how their days went. Being 12-14 hours ahead is easier to manage for me than even Europe. So far the trip has been great, and last night's dinner at The Deck was our best yet, let's hope it continues in China.

The tropics of Singapore

2011-12-08T15:19:00.001-08:00

What a shock it was to exit the airport in Singapore...I think the last time I felt the heat and humidity like that was on my honeymoon...boy are we close to the equator. The weather in Seoul was about 40 degrees, in Singapore it is closer to 90. Most would celebrate that change, but those who know me know I don't like the heat, and dislike air conditioning even more. Despite all my R&D colleagues telling me all the time you can't get a cold from temperature change, it is a virus and it comes from germs, I get a cold from temperature change ALL THE TIME. So, while I am not wearing my winter coat here, I am wearing a blazer or sweater everywhere I go, and then die of heat when I walk outside :)

The island is great. For those who don't know where Singapore is, essentially it is in Southern Asia, North of Indonesia, and South of Malaysia. It is a tiny island (I would get maybe 25-30 miles wide by 20 miles high) with about 5MM people living on it. There is a bridge connecting it to Malaysia. The gov't keeps a short leash is is fantastic at driving growth. There are SO MANY cranes here building buildings, all high rises to house people or companies. They incent companies to come here with big tax breaks (hence why P&G moved it Asian HQ here about 7 years ago).

They also make sure it is a great place to live. You probably heard about the American teenager who got caned (spelling?) for using graffiti while he lived here. There is no gum allowed in the company (just ends up on street), you can get the death penalty if you are caught with large amount of cocaine or heroine, alcohol and tobacco are REALLY expensive (think $15 for glass of beer) because of extremely high tax rate. They check your gas levels before you leave the country to ensure you don't buy cheaper gas in Malaysia when you go there. Yes it is a bit big brother, but people who live here LOVE it because it is safe, clean, growing economy and easy to live.

There are SO MANY malls, everywhere, but not like US. But they are about one city block, by one city block, and about 5 stories high. From the high end designers (people are really rich, so lots of high end shopping and nice cars) to Zara and others. The food is very diverse because the population is diverse, so you can get any type of food you want - a burger, pasta, pizza, Korean, Italian, Sushi, Indian and so forth. We have some free time tomorrow before flying to Vietnam so hoping to see some more.

I have been able to talk to Arnie and the kids everyday which has been great. We are now 13 hours ahead so my morning is their evening and vice versa. Not sure why I am up now, got up at 6:30am after going to bed at midnight (had a 3.5 hour leadership team call...yuck), but I just couldn't sleep anymore. So I cleared out email (they all come in while I sleep as it is daytime in US) and now get to blog.

I hope everyone's holiday parties, shopping, plans are going great.
I need to do some in China to make sure I am all set, and then of course the last minute dash before we go to NY like every year :)

Finally, yesterday was my dad's 66th birthday. Of course I think he is the greatest dad EVER. It was great to hear his voice, and even better he arrives in Cincy tomorrow with my mom, so my kids get to have a week with Grandma and Papa...doesn't get any better than that.

So much for shopping...Asia here I come

2011-12-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

I guess I should have said, so much for shopping in Cincy. I guess this year will be online or in Asia. I am writing this while sitting in my hotel room in Seoul, S.Korea. I arrived yesterday after my 14 hour flight from Detroit. Actually flew on a new Delta jet with the new business class...will take a picture on the way home if I have the same. You have your own little "pod" feels very futuristic in fact, and not very "social" as you are completely blocked from view of everyone around you based on design. Good news is the beds lay flat, so I got a lot of sleep, probably too much given I woke up at 5am, but overall, already adjusted to the 14 hour time difference.

I will be in Asia for 12 days, 3 in Seoul, 3 in Singapore, 3 in Vietnam and 3 in China. I have never been to the 4 cities I am going to, so should be a great trip...if not for the timing. Hard to believe that someone I squeezed in a 2 week trip between Thanksgiving and Christmas, not standard timing, but the calendars were pretty clear as you would expect.

You all know me, I am pretty good on the holiday planning. Only major shift is I decided to have our "annual holiday brunch" after the New Year. I only have one weekend to host my team for a dinner and do the brunch, and it is the one after I arrive back from this trip...so just too much. My great husband said 'just postpone it' vs. me staying up to midnight the night before my flight to get the invite out to everyone. He was right...no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

The kids are not happy, wish I was there, as do I. Good news is my parents arrive on Friday, coming up from Florida to help. Claire has her first Reconciliation (Catholic sacrament) while I am gone so they will help with that and overall. Good news for me is they will still be there when I get back and be able to help me cook my dinner...maybe I should have had that brunch after all. My dad is actually in the hospital right now, but they say he will be out soon and able to travel. Had an odd bite looking thing on his forearm and went to an urgent care. Two days later he is being admitted with a big infection, ends up it is Staph MASR, probably got it in the clinic when they opened it up to drain it...hear these nightmare stories all the time, now he will live with it for the rest of his life.

I already spoke to the kids twice since leaving, and set up my Skype account when I arrived to be able to "see" them as well. Hopefully it will make the time fly. I actually find Asia time difference easy to manage as my night is there morning and vice versa, so with school, etc it is very manageable. I just need them to get home today before I leave for my day, cross your fingers. Since I am ready so early I am going to watch Tiger and see if he can pull out a win. Korea like Japan is GOLF OBSESSED (and US football too) so you get a lot of sports on TV...just in Korea, mute button here I come.

Tips on Allowances for your Kids

2011-10-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

I am on Fox this week and decided to talk about allowances for kids. We have been giving our kids allowances for about a year. Recently we have established a "matching" program with them. We thought that IPads for each of them would be great, so we told them that if they saved half the amount we would match it. This way they started to save their money which is a great lesson, and got a great item in the end, and we save a ton of money....true win-win.

Here are the tips I found from my online research. Enjoy.

Allowances for Children

Financial experts say the money troubles that plague many of us as adults often stem from the way our parents raised us to view and handle money. No matter what financial demons might be haunting you, money professionals say you absolutely can break the cycle for yourself and for your own children. One way to do this is to make wise use of a simple, time-honored tool: Allowances.

Just like we teach our children good hygiene, good manners — anything that’s a critical life skill — that’s what we have to do with allowance. When you introduce allowance you have the opportunity to teach your child how to control impulses and delay gratification.

Key Tips when you think about Allowances

1) Start young. As soon as your child understands money and the value of items, start an allowance. If they are asking for toys every trip to Target, it is time to educate them about money.

2) The allowance amount should be age appropriate. The amount should be based on what you expect them to pay for and set accordingly. For younger children less than $5 a week is fine. As children get older and you expect them to pay for more items, the allowance should be increased accordingly.

3) Pay kids in cold, hard cash so they understand its value (vs. a debit card)

4) Pay them the same day each week or month, so they understand it is based on the work they have done, just like a real job

5) Assign financial responsibility when your children get older. If they want a certain brand of clothing or toiletries, assign them this responsibility. If they earn money they also have to pay for some items. You can increase their allowance accordingly when you do this.

6) Set an amount your children have to save, invest or donate each month. This will get them into good habits that will last a lifetime, be sure they are not allowed to spend it as soon as they earn it.

7) Do not give an allowance “per chore” but instead agree to a list of things your child will do each week to earn the money. So if you keep your room neat, clear the table after dinner, put out garbage and put away your clothes you get x amount.

8) Pay children extra money for extra jobs such as mowing the lawn, washing windows, washing the car or helping to clean the garage. These are great things to offer if the child is saving for something big.

9) Establish a “matching” program for big ticket items if they child keeps up good grades and good behavior, This teaches the child how to save for long-term and that if they are willing to work hard you will chip in to help versus just handing them a big item.

Handling transitions as a family

2011-09-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

As many of you know we have been dealing with some major transitions in the Zucker household. Our family has been touched by the passing of loved ones over the past few months. On top of this we have changed caregivers in our house, which has been a very big change for the children after having Amber for over two and a half years.

We have all been struggling through these so I decided to do my montly Fox 19 segment on handling transitions. I researched on the internet and found some helpful tips. Here are my talking points for my segment on Wednesday, I hope you find them helpful, I know I did.

CHANGING COURSE: MANAGING LIFE'S TRANSITIONS

Whether it's having toast and coffee every morning, soccer games on Saturdays or putting in ten-hour workdays, everyone gets used to routines and personal rituals. But when change -good or bad -occurs, the stable situation you relied on becomes new and unknown. This uncertainty can leave you stressed and uneasy.

When you're in the middle of a large transition -such as a move, new caregiver, a death, divorce, or a new baby -it's easy to forget that the winds of change may also affect those around you. Children, partners and even your extended family can have trouble adjusting to the new situation. Though these changes can be challenging, they can also strengthen family ties if they're handled well. Below are some suggestions to help your family settle in when times are changing.

· Keep the lines of communication open. Tell your kids that they can talk to you about anything, anytime. Listen and empathize with their concerns. Explain changes in detail and assure your children that not everything will change (e.g. different school but same friends). By knowing what lies ahead, your kids will be better able to cope with the transition.

· Give yourself time to grieve. It takes time to adjust to a change and you may mourn the loss of someone or something familiar in your life. Grieving is a natural way of coping when a big change occurs. Importantly let your children know it is okay to be sad and grieve as well. Explain that they may feel sad more than usual and that is okay.

· Stay flexible. Be prepared to ride the wave, or at least test the waters of change. Try to look at change in a positive light and avoid the "my way or the highway" mentality. Change brings stress and the best way to deal with stress is to be as flexible as possible and just go with it

· Build or maintain a healthy lifestyle. When change is causing you stress, you may try to comfort yourself with fatty foods, alcohol or tobacco. While these may seem to relieve stress, over time they’ll make things worse. Eat well and get active: regular exercise helps release tension and gives you more energy. Kids may not feel like eating when they are going through change so it is important to keep family meals together, this is also a great time to talk to them about how they are feeling.

· Allow children time and space to be unhappy. Children can have trouble adapting to change so allow them to grieve for a while -it's a natural way of coping. Just be sure to keep talking to them through this period.

· Remind children of similar challenges they faced and handled successfully in past. Explain that, over time, every new experience will be easier to cope with.

· Maintain routines. Routines help kids feel in control of their environment because they know what to expect. When things change drastically, daily habits or rituals are comforting.

TWO MAJOR FAMILY TRANSITIONS that occur very often to think about:

BIRTH OF A CHILD OR BLENDING OF FAMILIES -Reassure each child they have an important place within the family, both before and after the new sibling or stepparent arrive on the scene. Keep your kids involved. Let them help with the new baby or, when step-siblings and parents move in, plan fun activities that the whole new family can participate in.

SEPARATION AND DIVORCE - Reassure children that they are not to blame. Many kids feel that they somehow caused the break-up so it's important to emphasize that this is not the case. Make sure that each parent has one-on-one time with each child. It tells children that they are still loved and gives them the chance to share feelings, thoughts and ideas. Both parents need to communicate regularly with their children and support them through the transition.

Stressed out in Cincinnati

2011-09-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

UGHHHH - that is all I have to say about today. From beginning to end I have been a stress case, not sure why, but it has not been pretty. I guess it started when my 9 old old bust through our bedroom door a bit before 8am with his sheets in hand. He had an accident and was on his way to the laundry room (which you cut through our bedroom and closet to get to to. Part of me was happy he was doing his own laundry, then the rationale part of me took over when I heard the washer going...asking my husband to check to see if he put detergent in...he hadn't.

At that point I am up and about. We had a friend of our daugther's over and I promised her mom I would have her showered an ready by 9:15, in the case they were going to church. So I announced showers would take place between 8:30-9 and asked my husband to have breakfast ready at nine. I thought that was a good plan, but Arnie told me I was nuts. I guess that was the start of my stressful day.

It ended up I had two loads of laundry folded and put away, the bed made and 4 children showered and dressed by 8:45. I could have stuck with my plan but instead my husband made me feel like it was the wrong plan and I started earlier. The stress came when I arrived downstairs at 9, after starting some more laundry and getting myself dressed and breakfast was not where to be found. We had cereal and oatmeal as a result and I got to read the paper, some stress released.

We headed to church at 9:40 and dropped Kennedy off at home on the way. Church was somewhat peaceful, the kids actually behaved. I needed prayer, I have never prayed so much in my life over the past 3 months. It seems like we have had a black cloud following us since the end of June. It continued this week with our neighbors only child, who had a terrible accident in Denver where he lives and passed away after a week long battle. We held prayer vigils and I prayed as much as I could, to and from work in the car, each night, had the kids pray with me, but he lost his batle. 24 very young years old and gone, such a loss. So church helped a bit. We went to the hospitality day after it to get a donut.

I guess that is where stress #2 came in. Because I thought it would be nice to go to the hospitality after church, we didn't get home until 11:25 which is later than normal. And Claire had a noon soccer game at the farthest field from us in Anderson. Sarah also had a game at 2 so we needed to get them both ready. I am running around like crazy and it seemed with no one listening to me. We arrived 5 minutes before the game and I am not happy, as I hate to be late and it feels like we are late all the time these days. Thankfully there was a water bottle in the van becuase we forgot ours yet again.

Claire's team got creamed...shouldn't stress me out but it does. Then we ran to get lunch, ate faster than we should and made it to Sarah's on time. They got crushed too. So we are home around 3:30 and I have to do my normal Sunday routine in half the time. On top of this the kids want to go ask for donations for their walk-a-thon. So i am trying to explain to them what they need to do, and put calls into all our family to see if they will help. When I called my grandmother, she was all upset about things happening at home so that turned into a very stressful 30 minutes, worrying about her and her safety.

Then everything went downhill. Arnie broke the lawnmower and came in to tell me. I didn't think it was a big deal and didn't think I over-reacted. But our next conversation was not good. He was asking me about medical bills from Claire's broken arm, I thought he was taking care of them and said that and he lost it. Becuase i was stressed all day and likely being snippy with him, this was the last straw. So he left on a bike ride and I continued my frenzy to put clothes away, lay clothes out, pack for my business trip (as I am out of town for 3 days, I guess stress point #3), make dinner menu for Arnie and Pat while I am gone, get that food together, make the shopping list for grocery store, clean the guinea pigs cage, organize the donations the kids got (becuase they didn't follow instructions and write down who gave them what).

So that is the cause of my UGGHHHH day.
Importantly when my husband returns from what I hope is his de-stressing bike ride we will chat and get on the same page again and go to bed happy with one another. And did I say I am SO HAPPY this is the last weekend of double-header soccer games, far too much for me to handle.

14 years and finally starstruck...Oprah is coming

2011-09-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe, but this month marked my 14th anniversary at P&G. Wow what a ride it has been. Many people ask me all the time, why have you stayed. In today's day and age it is so uncommon to stay with one company for that long, forget about a career. We all know this is not our parents, or grandparents world any more.

Truth be told, I could probably be making more money if I had hopped around. I while P&G is great, there are certainly some "hotter" companies out there - Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook to name a few. But I stay, each year...so why?

First let me give you a little background on me and P&G. On me, I grew up in a family business, one that took care of family and friends. Best friends of uncles, cousins and so forth were often brought in to try to make their life a bit easier. It was about taking care of others more than anything. I also grew up very middle class. Our business paid cash for years and my parents didn't have a credit card by choice. So when the money ran out, it ran out...until next Thursday when we paid again. This taught me to be very disciplined with my money and to not take for granted what you have.

The principle to take from this is money does not mean a lot to me. I had the most wonderful childhood and upbringing that anyone could have asked for. My family was very close knit and we spent every birthday, holiday, Sunday, Anniversary and so forth with family, playing any sport a ball could make....and we loved it. So my life is not about making money, it is about making memories for my children.

The second thing you need to know about me is I'm a learner. Whether you take the strengths finder test (and it tells me this) or simply the fact that I loved school, I just love to learn. I cried when I graduated from business school, because I knew after 19 years of formal education I was done...the end to my formal learning. Hopefully some of you who are around me often are giggling, knowing one of my favorite statements is "you learn a new thing everyday" and I truly believe this...at least one.

Now about P&G. P&G is not your average company. There are a few things that make it very unique. First, it is promote from within. This means my boss will NEVER come from the outside. You rise through the ranks and the next CEO is sitting amongst you. This means they train and develop their people, because they have to. If we don't grow our people, we don't' develop the leadership traits we need from our future leaders.

This suits me perfectly, because I love to learn as I said. So everyday when i sit down as an employee with P&G I learn something. Truly every day. From a colleague, boss, supplier, agency or an article I am reading. So that is why I stay. I love what I do and it brings me fulfillment. It also feeds my craving to learn.

The "day of learning" each year in my job is our annual North American Marketers training. We have about 1,000 marketers in N. America including our Administrators, Marketing specialists and then all management (Assistant Brand Managers, Brand Managers, Associate marketing Directors and Marketing Directors). Each year we have a wonderful day of amazing speakers - in the past I have heard Lou Holtz on leadership, the general manager of Barbie, Chief Marketing officers of General Mills, WalMart, McDonald's and others. Truly amazing day. But this year they have outdone themselves and after 14 years I think i will be starstruck for the first time (at work at least)....Oprah is speaking.

Yes, in the flesh Ms. Winfrey. I am a fan, not a tape it everyday fan, but I do enjoy her and have such respect for her and the empire she has built. As a brand person she has built one of the strongest brands in the world, herself, and that says a lot. So on Wednesday I will sit back and soak it all in, and try to learn from Oprah herself. I can't wait.

Transition time again

2011-08-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

It has been quite some time since I last blogged. Far too long. The last month has been a very busy one for us, not all in a good way. We went on our summer vacation with my family in July, a Disney cruise to Alaska. It was a wonderful trip with the Prokosch side of our family, thirteen of us in total. We could not have asked for a better time, we all enjoyed Vancouver for a couple of days before departing.

The trip entailed a day in Tracey's arm fjord, and then stops in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. The weather was just great, above 68 degrees each day and blue skies. The captain and crew kept saying how lucky we were with the weather and boy was it true. We went dog sledding, whale watching, saw glaciers, bears and so much more. All of our dreams came true and we got to see everything we had hoped for.

Then July 25th happened. It was our day at sea before we returned to Vancouver. Because it was a day at sea we were lounging in the room before going to breakfast and the phone rang. It was around 9:40 I think, and Ben answered the phone. I knew immediately it wasn't someone from my family with how Ben looked and reacted. So I then thought it must be the staff calling about the odor in our room. They had called quite a few times to check on it so I assumed it was them again. Ben told Arnie it was for him.

Not even 15 seconds into the conversation Arnie said "it's Disney there is some sort of family emergency." Apparently it was Disney cruise staff. They then connected him to Disney stateside and they said his father would be on the line. I misunderstood at first and thought he meant somethin was wrong with his dad, but he realized this and said his father would be on the phone. He finally got connected to his dad and was quiet for what seemed like an eternity, so I was asking him constantly what is wrong and heard words you hope you never here "my mother died."

This was like being hit by a freight train. We had spoken to his mom and dad the night before (THANK YOU GOD) and she was perfectly fine. My mind is now racing thinking how...was there an accident of some sort. Arnie is listening intently and at the end had to ask his dad to explain it again. That is how confused we are, truly dazed and in shock. It ended up my mother-in-law went in for a minor biospy procedure and had a heart attack at the end of it and they were not able to save her.

This is the second "sudden" death I have experienced in my life. The first was my best friends dad, the summer before Freshman year of college. It was devastating, I can still hear Joanie's voice on the phone. I can only imagine Arnie will feel haunted by that phone call for years to come. We of course wanted to immediately be with Arnie's dad in Detroit and now felt trapped on this ship. What a devastating day.

I was so thankful that I was surrounded by my family who could help us sort through our feelings, help the kids and just lend their support. My type A personality took over re-packing bags to plan for Arnie being diverted to Detroit, how to get laundry done quickly when I got home and so forth.

The most frustrating part of the entire experience was with the airline. I truly wanted to write a letter to the editor in the end. My parents of course wanted to be in Detroit with us. There itinerary had them staying in Vancouver through Thursday, so we wanted to change their tickets. We tried twice once from the boat (Disney gave us the telephone line) and once at the airport. Same answer both times, $1,800 to change the flight. Yes, $1,800. They had tickets for the same flight (yes direct flight) on Thursday, simply wanted to go two days earlier and there were open seats, but $1,800...$300 in change fees and the rest because "difference in airfare" because they are quoting same day fare. I wanted tos scream.

For Arnie, to divert in Chicago and go to Detroit vs. Cincinnati, $700. Truly unreal. For Arnie we booked a one-way trip from Chicago to Detroit for $170 online ,we never go my parents there on time. This was so sad, as I would have loved to have them in Detroit, but they just can't afford that much money. I guess the lesson learned is live close to your loved ones.

So Arnie got to Detroit just before midnight Tuesday 26th, the kids and I got there 6pm on Wed, all in time for the funeral on Thursday. It was a beautful ceremony, standing room only as my mother-in-law touched many lives. Seeing the friendships that had endured 60+ years was truly touching, our lives are just so different today. It was wonderful to be surrounding by her closest friends who just wanted to take care of us all, very moving.

Each day is getting better now and my father-in-law truly seems to be handling it as best as we could have hoped for. If all goes well we will head to Detroit next week to spend some time with him, and then he will come down in September. We are all transitioning to our new reality, one step, minute, hour and day at a time.

Oh what a month

2011-07-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Normally I can say it is because I have been busier than normal, but boy...it has been nuts. I guess I can sum it up in the fact that I had packed four suitcases last week and only one is with me in Geneva now.

Let's start with the past. Our family was very excited to be heading to Chicago for the 4th of July weekend. It had been 6 years since our last trip for my friend Becky's wedding. But to get to the weekend I had to get through a crazy week that has me out of the office/away from my desk for 3.5 of the days. I had packed for Chicago the weekend before knowing I had a busy week. All was going well through Tuesday and I was enjoying "The Little Couple" on DVR when my son came running upstairs very upset that "Claire dislocated her elbow." It ends up she had broken her elbow. I knew it was bad the minute I looked at her arm, there was a bone in place it should't be, about an inch above her elbow sticking out toward the skin. I almost lost my tummy. We quickly got ice in it, her wrapped in a blanket (because she seemed a bit in shock) and loaded in the car. Arnie went to Children's hospital with Claire and I stayed home with Ben and Sarah (it was 8:45 pm so not good timing). Thankfully we have an amazing hospital who took great care of Claire, the "set" the bones back in place that night and did surgery on Wed to pin back in place the bone that was in the wrong place.

Of course the surgery was literally at the worst time ever, after a couple of delays it was now exactly the time I was due to present to my new Vice Chairman of Beauty & Grooming for his onboarding. My wonderful husband convinced me he had it covered and I kissed my baby goodbye. The presentation went great, and I was back at her bedside by the time she woke up, with her beautiful Red and Purple stripled caste.

We headed to Chicago on Friday as planned. In reality Claire was back to 95% herself on Friday, almost as if nothing had happened. She hadn't needed any meds all day and was excited to go with her sling and all. We had a great time in the Windy city...Cubs game, Millenium Park, Sears (willis) tower, river cruise, navy pier and Shedd acquarium. It was all made better by the fact we go to stay at our friends place right in Old Towne, urban living at its finest. On top of all we caught up with our friends the Munds (friends of Arnie's from Denison) and the Lyne's (my friend Becky from Michigan). Good times.

After the short week at work, which was nuts with my boss out, I flew to Geneva on Sunday in time to walk straight into a 2 day strategy session. I am now on day three and beat...I should be in bed now. So that was suitcase#1.

Suitcase#2 got dropped off at Miami University with Ben on Sunday before I went to the airport. He is at his first sleep-away camp this week, Miami's ice hockey camp. He seemed excited to go and this despite the fact that his roommate hadn't even arrived when we left. I won't get to speak to him at all, given they only can call on Wed night and it will be 1am here. So sad, but they wouldn't budge on policy...bummer forme.

The third suitcase was for vacation, that is were we head on Saturday (after I fly home Friday) to Alaska. So looking forward to it, need it and excited for what it will bring. I LOVE mountains, pine trees, nature, animals and all that we will get to see. On top of it all my parents, and sister Gina and her family will be with us, so many memories will be formed. Thankfully I have the kids packed and "piles" of clothes made for Arnie and I. I know my wonderful husband is working the little details of chargers and so forth so we will be fine. We have to be as we have out-of-town friends over for dinner Friday when I land :)

The 4th suitcase will be for India where I head 4 days after returning (after going to NYC for the day 2 days after landing).

Thank god I am my normal planner self who somehow loves to think ahead and follows a lot of my own tips, so in all the madness the kids are happy and content, Arnie is taken care of (and knows what to make for dinner because I left him a list) and I get to do what I love, and go to fantastic places. So it has been a month to remember, and hopefully one I won't have to repeat too too soon.

Fox Segment June 22

2011-06-22T04:03:00.001-07:00

Best Apps for Young Children

A couple of months ago we did the best apps for moms, so we decided to flip things a bit and find the best apps for kids. Whether we like it or not, our smart phones not only serve as a phone and internet connection for us, but also for entertaining, education and endless fun for our children. I researched Parenting magazine, NY Times and other blogs to get their recommendations for the best apps for kids.

1. Educational – essentially any games or educational tool you buy for your children is now available in an app version. Your kids can now learn the alphabet, shapes and words on your phone. They can also begin to learn how to read using phonics and other tools.

Alphabet Animals -Perfect for your talented toddler, this game is packed with colorful animations, animal sounds, and tons of tips for learning their letters. The digital flash cards are interactive, with animals that talk them through every letter of the alphabet. $.99, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 4 & up

Super Why: Already a super-fabulous PBS show for the preschool set, Super Why! takes your child's fave characters and delivers a bunch of games where the alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing and reading are all rolled out in fun ways. The catchy theme song will surely be playing in your head at 2am. $2.99, iPad, iPhone, Ages 3-6

iTot Toddler Flashcards - Just like traditional flashcards, iTot Toddler Flashcards teach the names of animals, foods, and other objects, as well as the alphabet and numbers. You'll get hundreds of beautiful cards in this simple application. And with language support, iTot Cards can teach these words in French and Spanish, too! $.99, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 1-4

Toddler Teasers: Shapes - Created by a real mom and dad searching for ways to occupy their own 2 year old, Toddler Teasers Shapes quizzes tots on the basics. Kids are told which shape to touch, and after four correct answers, they're rewarded with a virtual sticker. And if they push the square instead of the circle? They'll still learn as they go by hearing the name of the wrong shape and guessing again. Free, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 2-4

ABC Phonics Animals Free Lite- Parents are always right and ABC Phonics Animals Lite is another piece of evidence of this claim. This application was developed by parents who focused on ABC phonetics, spelling, reading and sounds with their own children. ABC Phonics Animals enables parents to interact with their children through flash cards to enhance quick learning

2. Musical and Artistic – If your child is more right brained and has the creative juices flowing, try these great apps that teach beginner piano and let’s your kids record their own pieces. Or scribble light which is the modern etch-a-sketch and finally Kid Song Machine Lite which teaches them songs to sing a long too.

The Pianist -Transform your iPhone into an 88-key piano for your little Mozart. Realistic graphics feature 3D keys that depress as you touch them. And when the magnum opus is ready, your kids can record it, overdub it as many times as they want, and play it back for adoring fans. $3.99, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 4 & up

Scribble Lite -Turn your iPhone into a miniature sketch pad. Draw your masterpiece, then shake to erase. With tons of colors, pen sizes, and draw-on photo options, the possibilities are endless. Equally appealing: the excuse to shake an iPhone violently. Free, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 4 & up

Kids Song Machine Lite - Kids Song Machine Lite can keep your children entertained for the duration of a long road trip. This is a fun musical educational application for your children that allows them to learn and sing songs that will create memories for many years to come. The full version of Kids Song Machine has an additional 10 songs. Kids Song Machine has been voted in the top ranks in more than 65 countries to include the United States, England, and Spain
.

3. For the Writers – If your child loves to read and write these are the apps for you. MadLibs let’s them pull together stories of their own, while Playtime Theatre goes one step further an allows them to bring storytelling to life via a play of their own.

Mad Libs : Just as goofy and fun as your remember. Create silly stories by filling in the blanks with this addictive story creator. Great for your budding grammar-whiz, there are tons of stories to choose from, and there will be tons of giggling after. Free, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 6 & up

PLAYTIME THEATER -PlayTime Theater is a customizable, interactive castle play set that gives kids characters, props, and sound effects and invites them to create and record short shows. This truly innovative app delivers what so many others promise (but don’t quite deliver): free play. In a crowded field, this app stands out as the single best use of touch-screen technology that we’ve ever seen for kids.

4. Games that teach something – there are so many gaming apps online that can occupy children for hours…or adults, can you say Angry Birds. I wanted to find games that also help with your child’s development. These simple games are fun, yet still help to teach your children invaluable tools.

Memory Match: Child Development Edition - In this flash memory game there is no luck, just pure memorization. Kids get points for remembering where they last saw matching pictures or numbers, and can spend days practicing. $2.99, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Ages 4 & up

Spot the Dot is a perfectly executed and very visually appealing app that teaches toddlers colors and fine motor skills. It was designed by children’s author David A. Carter (who wrote the best-selling pop-up book How Many Bugs in a Box) and it shows. One by one, kids will have to find a colored dot that is hiding in plain sight, in the dark, among other shapes, or behind tiles that must be flipped. And so on. Each activity is different, but clearly explained which means kids won’t need to be able to read to play. They may need an adult helping however, because there are no prompts if they forget what they’re looking for or don’t quite understand the challenge.

CUT THE ROPE Oh, what a cute story this game presents! An adorable green monster arrives by mail and it’s up to your kids to cut a series of ropes (negotiating the laws of physics and gravity) to feed it candy. The graphics are perfect, the music and sound effects are appealing, and the game play is very challenging. .

It's transition time again

2011-06-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Life if full of transitions. Some of them are minor, like the change of seasons, back to school and so forth. Others are on a grander scale, a move to a new city, a new job or company or a new marriage. Some people thrive in transition and others do not. I have always been of the mindset that if you have to deal with change you might as well change everything at once.

In 2000 I decided to move to a new country, take a new job and get married all together. With nothing settled we embraced all the change and formed a lot of memories in the process. When we moved back to the US in 2003 we came back with a baby, moved to the suburbs of Cincy, and took a new job. And with most of my pregnancies when a baby arrived that typically met a new job at the end of mat leave, so I used to dealing with constant change.

We are now getting ready for another transition that we are taking very seriously, and that is childcare for our kids. Thus far in their precious lives we have had two caregiver situations for our kids. The first was at P&G Children for Children daycare for five years. Despite loving every minute of it, when Ben was heading off to half-day Kindergarten we need to transition to a new care provider. At that point we went to a nanny who came to our home each day. For the past two and a half years we have had Amber watching our children which is wonderful and met our needs perfectly. But now we transition again.

As much as we love Amber and how much she helps our family each day, with Sarah going to 1st grade in the Fall we don't need someone all day long, but rather just after school, so we are transitioning again. Given how important this decision is we have begun our search already. Like our nanny search the last time we have found two candidates we are talking to this week...one via word of mouth, a women who works at Fox 19 here in Cincy that I met via my segment while talking about what I needed in the studio. The other, just like last time, is coming from an agency Arnie has worked with in town for childcare service.

Hopefully by this weekend we will be able to make a decision, you all know me...I like to plan ahead and make sure we are on top of it. As I say in my book, Childcare is one of the most important decisions you will make in life, so whether they are a newborn baby in his or her first year of life, or 5, 7 and 8 like mine are, it will always be an incredibly hard and important decision so treat it that way. Wish us luck.

Oh what a night...thank you Cover Girl

2011-06-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

I am blessed to work for truly one of the most unbelievable companies in the world, actually double blessed as my husband works there too. P&G is not only a stable, profitable company, it is a company based on values that supports it's employees better than most. Our benefits, salaries and so forth are truly top notch. But one area that P&G is not normal is "perks" per se. Most large companies like ours who deal with customers, agencies and suppliers get lots of perks for giving those people business and vice versa. You may get tickets to a sports game, the theatre, a great party or a nice gift. At P&G we are not allowed to take anything that is worth more than $25. We believe this can get you "in a predicament" if the other party thinks they will get business in return and so forth. So despite being the largest advertiser in the world (spending billions of dollars a year) we don't get perks. Given that I have never known any different, this really isn't a big deal.

Then came the email from Bruce. Bruce is a peer of mine ,the Marketing Director of Cover Girl North America. This was not a typical email. It was sent to all Marketing Directors, General Managers, Functional leaders and our President of Female Beauty at P&G. The email invited us to attend the Taylor Swift concert in Columbus, OH because Cover Girl is the tour sponsor. In this case the perk was from P&G to P&G...so it was fine. Taylor became a CG last year and helped launch NatureLux. As part of the marketing of the product we are sponsoring the tour, and they did a great job. You could get make-overs with NatureLux cosmetics, pictures on the red carpet and more. I was thrilled to get this email, because all three of my kids love Taylor.

Thankfully Bruce was able to secure me four tickets so I didn't have to disappoint anyone. We arranged to carpool with my old boss and her two girls and were excited for the night. Then the 2nd email came on Monday night, this one had even more good news. On top of going to the concert we would get VIP treatment; a suite with food and drinks that we could go to throughout the evening, a behind the scenes tour (which ended up being given by Taylor's mom) and a meet and greet with Taylor herself. Even my 8 year old boy was having a moment with that one.

Taylor was a sweetheart, as nice as you would imagine. Very beautiful, and VERY TALL (at least 5'11" and skinny. She was over the moon with my beautiful children, I think they god "what a handsome guy", "you are so adorable" and "what a beauty" respectfully (and they will quote it to you. We had the time of our life with a great show that is like a concert meets Cirque Du soleil. The only downside was rolling into our garage at 1am, at least for mom who had to go to work the next day. I am still not completely recovered and am very much looking forward to tomorrow night.

So thanks to P&G, not only for the past 14 years but for giving my children and me a memory that will last a lifetime. Once again I know that I work for the best company in the world. As our corporate mission says "touching lives, improving lives"

How I will miss DWTS and Idol

2011-05-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

I remember when American Idol was born back in 2001. We were living in Brussels and it was such the rage, everyone was talking about it online, news sites and so forth. I don't recall if it was available on the Armed Forces network which was the English speaking TV we had. One station that I think I had the programming schedule memorized by the time my maternity leave with Ben was over :) But I don't think they had American Idol, as it was new and they really had all the top rated shows (which that year of course they didn't know would be the hit it was).

I remember people back in Cincinnati had pools on who would win and it was definitely the talk of the water cooler. But I never saw the appeal. I love Survivor, so it wasn't as if I just rejected reality TV in general, but I didn't have a desire to watch it. We moved back in 2003 and the folks who worked for me were really into it, work betting pool and all, so I watched every now and again so at least I could participate in the discussion (and sometimes debate :).

But then that all changed about four years ago, the David Cook year. The thing that changed it all was my kids. They LOVED it and it was a "safe" show for our family to watch. I am not an ultra conservative parent by any means, but there are plenty of shows on at 8pm that should not be, Glee is at the top of my list. It is completely inappropriate for anyone below the age of 12, particularly how they characterize teachers. But that aside, Idol was just a great family show (except Lady Gaga's foreplay last night). So it became "our show" along with Survivor. For the past two years Dancing with the Stars has been added. My girls got older and still love to dance so that too has become a favorite (and Survivor has been dropped with conflict with idol, we DVR but is is just too much TV).

I love our family TV nights all hanging out together and watching the performances. We take "fake" bets on who will be voted off and celebrate who got it right. It is fun family TV and I will miss them. The men got it right on Scotty, all us ladies that Lauren would win for sure (and I guess my 100+ votes didn't help). But with our shows now over it is a true sign that summer is here. Our last day of school is next Thursday so perfect timing to transition to nice weather (though it is STILL RAINING HERE, and TORNADO warnings non-stop) and stay outside longer and longer each night. It is a good thing the temptation of Idol or DWTS is gone, but I will miss them...or maybe just Ben, Claire and Sarah snuggling with mom while watching them.

When is efficiency a bad thing?

2011-05-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I pride myself in being very efficient. My entire book is based on tips and shortcuts to save time, effort or money. This holds true at work too. I try to take advantage of every minute I have at work, always on my blackberry clearing out email while waiting for a meeting to begin. This was how I managed to get through my days and not have to work at home (for the most part). I always thought this was a good thing.

But this week I learned maybe it isn't. I am working with an executive coach, trying to become and even stronger leader and manager. In her interviews with people who work for or with me, they all noted this behavior...and not necessarily in a good way. While it showed I got things done, etc it also made me seem "cold" in some ways, because I am always working and not just chatting or catching up with folks, etc.

In reality I am listening to everything going on in the room, because I just do that. But not showing or demonstrating that I am listening and care. So what I thought was one of my best assets and strategies isn't...

This was very hard for me to hear, but it just reinforced the constant need to just breath and take a moment every now and then. Those of you who know me know this is hard, I like to be doing something and to get things done...it gives me energy. Besides watching sports on the couch, I don't really just "sit around." But I need to. So I will work on it, and maybe even try meditation..another tip of hers. I am sure many of you are laughing, as you all know while I love the stretching of Yoga, the spiritual/chanting side of it and me don't mesh real well. So I will figure out how to take these moments and just de-compress, hopefully it will make me an even better manager, coach, mother and wife.

Best apps for busy moms

2011-04-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have my monthly segment on Fox here in Cincy, this months topic is the best apps for busy moms. Below are my "cheat sheet" notes that I prepped for the segment, I hope this helps all my facebook mom friends out there. Enjoy

Smart Phones can truly help a busy mom be more efficient and productive. We are now blessed to have access to the internet in our pocket or purse, so no longer are you tied to your home or the local free WiFi coffee house to get some tasks completed online. Given there are thousands of apps out there to choose from, to make the task easier on our viewers I did some internet research to find the most helpful apps for busy moms. There are lists by bloggers, Parents magazine, Time magazine and others. Below is a compilation of their recommendations.

Organization Apps

AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner
Price: Free
Let’s face it: being the one who figures out what’s for dinner every night can get a little challenging. AllRecipes.com, one of the best user-generated recipe sites on the web, offers quick and creative answers to the age old question, “What’s for dinner?!” To begin, users simply select the type of meal they’re looking for, a main ingredient and time frame for completion. The app then quickly pulls up a listing of Allrecipes.com recipe suggestions that fit the criteria. Each recipe is complete with reviews, tips and tricks to help get you out of that Hamburger Helper supper rut.

Put Things Off
Price: $2.99
Note-taking apps help keep moms organized by offering a one-stop shop to enter and organize notes. Banish all those post-it notes and take your reminders to the iPhone. After creating a new note, users are prompted to assign a “due date,” which the app will file the note under. When users choose to view today’s notes they will be able to see all of the reminders that have been entered for a particular day. Keep track of soccer practice, dry cleaning and PTA meetings without toting around a calendar!

Grocery IQ
Price: Free
Cut time and money out of your weekly shopping trips by going to the grocery store armed for battle! Grocery IQ allows users to create lists, sorted by category, and check off items as they move through each section of the store. Nifty features include the ability to scan the barcode of an item in your cupboard and have it automatically added to the list. Is the cracker box empty? Scan it in. Found a new favorite juice? Scan! Recent updates to the app also allow users to search for coupons related to their list and print them before leaving the house. Cha-ching!

The Weather Channel
Price: Free
When the evening news doesn’t quite make it into your schedule, this handy app from the Weather Channel will help you keep your finger on the weather forecast. By simply entering your location, the app will generate a current weather report, as well as options to view hour-by-hour, or extended forecasts. The few seconds it takes to check the weather with this app will be sure to help you and your little ones pick out the right fashion for the climate. It even has a radar map, so when you are trying to figure out if the kids will have soccer or baseball that night, you can see what weather his heading your way.

Shopping Apps

Red Laser

This app lets you either scan a product UPC code and it will list the price of the item at various stores, both traditional retail locations and online. It will also list out where the product is available and give you the closest locations to your present location using GPS technology. This ensures you get the best price for that item on your shopping list. It can also check for ingredients and allergies from the label information if you scan the UPC.

Amazon and EBay – if you are a big online shopper, these apps allow you to track your bids and do all of your searching on your phone, versus having to sit at your computer. Your phone is also more discrete then your computer, so when you need a gift for your spouse or children, these apps really save the day.

Parenting Apps

BabyTracker
Price: $1.99
When a newborn comes into your life, there’s sure to be plenty of details that seem just too much to keep track of. BabyTracker makes keeping notes of your baby’s potty, sleep and eating habits a breeze. When it’s time for feeding or diaper changes, simply select that option from the home screen of the app and record the event. This is a great tool for sleepy new moms who want to make sure their baby is getting enough to eat and track sleeping patterns!

WebMD App

Web MD Mobile is a medical app for any mother who’s ever worried about her child’s mysterious symptoms. When I’m trying to decide if I need to call up the pediatrician, I consult the Web MD app “Symptom Checker.” It walks you through a series of questions about symptoms to determine if everything is going to be fine or if you need to get help. Besides the symptom checker, you can use the app to perform a search of Web MD website’s content, including a section on Drugs and Treatment, which gives you information on different drugs and vitamins such as usage, warnings and side effects as well as a pill identifier. Finally the app contains a First Aid section with information and visual guides for emergency procedures like CPR. Web MD Mobile is a great free medical resource.

I Reward Chart

We are a family that uses charts; we have charts to track chores, charts to track laundry day, charts to track whatever behaviors we are currently working on. The iReward Chart app is one that can help me move away from using these sticker charts as my home decor. This app lets you set up accounts for your children and assign them different tasks. Tasks are grouped into the categories of behavior, chores, responsibility and other. You can choose from a variety of tasks that the developers have included in the app, or you can add in your own. Selected tasks show up next to empty stars, one for each day of the week. As your child finishes tasks, they can tap the stars and watch them add up. iRewardChart also contains a list of rewards that your child can earn with their stars. You can assign a star amount to the different rewards so your child will know how many they have to earn for each. iReward is a terrific app for motivating children and helping them keep track of their progress.

Sit Or Squat:

When a parent hears “I really gotta go!” finding the nearest bathroom has to happen fast. Using your current location it gives you the nearest options, stats on cleanliness, changing tables and handicap-accessible facilities—mark your favorite toilets for quick returns.

If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, Parents magazine has a great top list that includes

- Ovulation calendar app

- Baby calendar app

- Contraction apps

- Prenatal smart which tells you which foods are safe and not safe while you are pregnant

Dieting Apps

Lose It!

If you are trying to lose a few pounds this is the App for you. It keeps track of your daily calorie intake and records how much you burn through exercise. It has an extensive database of foods, including some popular restaurant dishes. Just be sure to record what you eat and what exercise you do. It keeps a record of your progress via calorie and goal (weight) charts.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

I hope each and every one of you who celebrates Easter had a wonderful one. Easter has always been a bit of an odd holiday for me throughout life. From the age of 9 we were always in Florida for Easter. So while we went to mass, as we would wherever we were, we never really had traditions associated with Easter. We didn't get baskets, or color eggs or anything like that. It was really about the religious aspect. As a young adult during business school and then single in Cincinnati, because my parents would be in Florida, I would not travel to see family for Easter, as I would on Christmas. And then I married a Jewish man, so of course it is not a big holiday for him.

What this means is the "tradition" part does not come easy to me. You all know I am a planner, but this is one holiday where I always go...I should get the kids something. I always do an egg hunt, usually inside (have I told it April set a record for rain in Cincy, and we are do to get five more days straight...everything is flooded and we have had 5 baseball and 2 soccer games cancelled and none played so far). So today they ran around two floors searching for about 50 eggs filled with candy or money. Sarah is definitely my good hunter, Ben my speedster, and Claire the master negotiator (well you found two so why don't you give me one...and it worked). With some smooth and fast hand work while going through their findings, everyone ended up with at least one egg that had a dollar in it.

I did put together little baskets (and I mean little) with a chocolate bunny, chocolate peep, Pez dispenser and a Video. As Sarah said "wow how did the Easter Bunny know we wanted these videos that we saw at Target." Gotta love it. So we slept in, had a fun hunt and went to the Noon mass vs. our normal 10AM. Everyone got dressed up and off we went (not dad of course). The best part was they were all angels, we are finally at the age that they all really behave and often don't need entertaining...all those years of pulling my hair out may be gone.

Dinner was easy to prepare as we had a dinner party last night and I had extra potatoes (baked and sweat), asparagus and egg noodles, so I only had to cook the ham. We had way too much food, which I guess made it a holiday, lots of leftovers. So a Happy Easter was had and again the religious component was front and center as it should be, and my kids did not go without a basket...phew on that one.

Next Sunday Ben makes his first Communion, so the grandparents (both sets) are coming in. I am really hoping and praying the rain goes away. First because I am sick of it. Second because I think my vegetable garden may be getting flooded. And Finally because my dad will be here to help me mulch :)

All the best and Happy Easter (and Passover).

Spring is here

2011-03-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

As I sit up late watching our Blue Devils get spanked, I thought I would get on my blog as it has been a while. No real excuse really, just busy as usual. I had my Fox appearance this week. Someday we will figure out how to get the videos off of the DVR and get them on YouTube again for you all to see. My topic was tips for Spring Cleaning. I do find something about the air that makes me feel the need to clean, just like hormones did it to me while pregnant.

I have been trying to rotate the kids clothes, clean out the fridge and freezer and do other not so often done tasks lately, so I gave my tips online. The big one is divide the tasks up. Last night Arnie and I did about 80%o of the yard in less than an hour, just put our minds to it and got it done. Last weekend Arnie cleaned out the van. Just find an hour and pick a tough chore and conquer it. I find something fulfilling about it for the most part, and at least it isn't the toilet.

In between all my spring cleaning we are heading to Whistler for Spring Break next week. This will be our third time, which for those of you who know us well know is very unusual. We like to try new places all the time. But we have been so happy with the ski school there and the people that we just go back rather than risk it. The snow is always good, usually not too cold and great accommodations. I wish it was a little easier to get to, a direct flight would be nice, but other than that it is great. Now if I can only get all my packing done.

Perhaps my other excuse is Idol. The Zucker family is into it more than ever and love the group. We were all shocked tonight, I though it would be Theah (sp?) for sure. Wasn't sure if Casey was going to be back in the hospital or not with how he reacted, was quite over the top.

Next month I am doing my segment on "the most helpful apps for busy moms"...if you have any favorites please send them to me so I can check them out, and tell me why you love them.

THANKS!!!

Hockey, Arizona, a cold and Duetschland

2011-01-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone...wow it has been busy lately. Our family has been full of hockey lately, not that we aren't always, but we spent the last two weekends traveling with Ben. It is actually quite fund traveling with a bunch of 9 year old boys (most are 9, even though Ben is 8), even to the thriving metropolis of Owensboro, Kentucky. OK, I know many of you are thinking "where the heck is that" and you should be. It is almost 4 hours from Cincinnati, essentially West down the Ohio River. You first drive to Louisville, KY. Then cross into Indiana and drive along the river until crossing back to KY and finally Owensboro.

It is what you would expect, a small city with not a lot going on. The rink they have is BEAUTIFUL, brand new and by far the nicest I have ever seen. The only issue I have wtih it is it is 4 hours away. I feel so bad for their team because we aren't even the farthest team in our league for them. They must love hockey. The kids didn't mind getting killed both games because the Ramada had a pool and we essentially took it over.

One our drive down the Arizona tragedy happened. It was odd to follow it via my I-phone to be told Rep Giffords was dead, then wasn't and just trying to get the real word of what happened. I was very shaken by it, as I am by many ghastly things that happen in this country. CNN headlines just get me, big time. All weekend I tried to stay on top of it, and even more just hugged my kids and was so thankful. The loss of that beautiful little girl was just too much for me. Taught me to again not take anything for granted and to enjoy those hockey weekends in Owensboro, at least I had my entire family with me.

This past weekend we all headed to Detroit for the Motown Cup. We had a great time. Ben's team is not very good, while we are a travel team, we have more the talent of a select team. We are young and it shows. That is meant to say we get our butts kicked a lot. But this weekend we were in a bracket with 'like-talent' teams. Before we knew it we were 3-0 and the only undefeated team in our 6 team bracket. We ended up losing in the final to a team we had beat earlier that same day...but it turned a new leaf for our boys. Even at the age of 8/9 self-confidence means everything.

You have heard me say before how much of a pessimist Ben is...truly not sure where he got it from. And for as bright and gifted he is at many things, he does not have a lot of confidence or ego. I wish he had more. This can be said of a lot of our kids, their heads have been hanging low for most of the season, but the 3-0 performance got them excited and playing like another team. It was so exciting to see and be a part of.

Lucky for me the tournament was in Detroit as I flew direct from there to Frankfurt for work. There is no longer a direct flight from Cincy so it made my life easier. My week in Deutschland was great, very successful meetings (even with a ton of work coming out of it...email is next on the to do list :0). I managed one German meal in a great Brauhaus, but on the downside had a horrific cold. I mean bad.

I guess it could have been cold hockey rinks. Or the fact it was less than 10 degrees in Detroit. Or plane germs? or just being run down. Who knows. Either way it was BAD. Many would have flew home early. I went through the hotel box of tissue each day. The bad news is they weren't Puffs, so my nose (and lips) felt it. Finally yesterday I started to come out of it (maybe it was the 12 hours sleep the night before) and today I am 80% back to normal. The good news it was away from home, so no sniffles with the kiddies. Thank goodness as nothing is worse then a family just passing colds for the entire winter. Been there, done that and don't really want it again.

Happy Monday and Go Jets (though they are down 10-0 now)....not because I really like them (as a Giants fan) but only because I hate the Steelers more.

Time to register, Soccer, Cheerleading, Football you name it

2011-01-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

What an odd day it's been. Yesterday I traveled to Manhattan for an agency trip. After being delayed at LaGuardia for about an hour we finally took off and arrived home in Cincy around 8:15. Because we had been away all weekend, Arnie dropped me directly at the airport after we returned from Ben's hockey games in Owensboro, Kentucky. This meant I had to get a cab. It was kind of nice to take a cab home, I could just relax and sit back. Not that driving is too stressful, but I actually go to de-compress a bit and was excited to get home to my three big hugs.

The girls were watching TV waiting for me to get in and Ben flew down the stairs as soon as he heard me. I immediately started thinking about today because there was a severe weather forecast for Cincinnati that started at 1am. Before I left NY I sent emails out letting folks know I would likely work from home. It was forecast to snow for the entire day, but not alot, so truly up in the air. Amber, our sitter doesn't really like to drive in the snow, so I try to be prepared in case it is bad and she can't get here. So I went to bed knowing I would at least take my 7am from home, and then figure it out.

How shocked I was to wake up at 6:15 and the phone hadn't rung at all (the district calls 3 of our phones, so we know when there is a delay or closing). I looked outside and there was barely a dusting, so this made sense. Then I turned on Fox19 to see the forecast...it was coming...we just hadn't gotten yet on the East side of town (all of our storms come from the West, like most of you). Next time to check email, my breakfast ceremony for a training I had sponsored three P&G women to attend was cancelled. This was good, as it would require even more driving.

I still was convinced the kids would get sent home during the day. Most school districts cut down the number of snow days from 5 to 3 this year to save money. We already have used 2 of ours, so I sensed the district would be conservative, but thought for sure once they took attendance they would send them home. What a shock when they didn't. It did snow all day long, but was melting pretty good, so the roads weren't that bad. Arnie went in no problem this morning, but he said a lot of people stayed home. It was so hard to predict what it would be like, and I am just so nervous to not be here for the kids or to allow Amber to get home.

So I got to be in my PJ's all day, finally changed into sweats at 5:30 to go pick the girls up from Acrocheer. That is when registration Tuesday started. First we stopped to register the girls for Cheerleading and Ben for Football. It is all run by the same organization which makes for one stop shopping which was nice. We saw a few friends there and the girls were excited to see lots of familiar faces who will cheer with them. Thankfully the program lets girls cheer up one year, so Claire and Sarah can be on the same team.

After cooking dinner when we got back and waiting for Ben and Arnie to get home from Hockey, we all got to eat together. As the kids ate their dessert (everyone qualified tonight) i got online to register the girls for Soccer this spring. We have never played Soccer but they both expressed an interest so we will see how it goes. Baseball should be next week, Arnie is lining up his assistant coaches now so hopefully we will be all set.

It always seems so early for me that we have to register for Fall sports in January, but for me it was so much easier this week to do all of our Spring activities with Fall at the same time. My brain was in that zone and now I feel we are done. I also picked up new "outfits" for Acrocheer today (3 of them used...yeah, cheaper) so an odd day that was very productive.

The snow has finally stopped so looks like tomorrow should be back to normal, for whatever that means in the Zucker household :)

Home Alone

2011-01-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

I know it is hard to believe, given I am the one who always travels, but Arnie had a business trip this week. He has started taking on some additional work for Corporate Marketing in our Branded Entertainment area. Many people don't know that P&G owns a production company. We actually started "soap operas" - that is why they are called that, because we made Ivory Soap. We did this to create a venue to advertise our products. So if you ever watched Another World, As the World Turns or the Young and the Restless and ever wondered "wow there are a lot of P&G ads" now you know why.

We have since stopped the soap operas but still produce other shows like the Peoples Choice awards and WalMarts family movie night. Arnie is out in Hollywood meeting some producers to try to work out deals to create new shows. He gets to meet Mark Burnett (Survivor, etc), Ryan Seacrest (yes he produces) and others. And yes he gets to go the PCA's. Everyone keeps asking "shouldn't that be you", I think for two reasons; 1) I am a pop culture junky, and 2) I am the one in marketing. And those are both good reasons, but given we are going on big Anniversary trip at the end of the month, where we will be away from the kids, and the fact that I am going to Germany in 12 days, it didn't make sense.

So the tables are turned and I am home alone. I think I have the schedule figured out and car pools arranged for conflict nights. It does take some planning on these weeks. Ben should be walking in soon from Hockey practice, thanks to the Seenberg's for taking him tonight. Be sure to watch for Arnie on Wed night, they are on live from LA. We will definitely be viewing him.

The kids are excited to sleep with mom. We normally have that treat when Arnie goes skiing in December. That trip didn't happen this year so now they get to have the treat. They have been counting down.

Well off to play Jenga with the girls, we are having game night tonight. Enjoy your evening.

Back from a NY state of mind

2010-12-31T09:17:00.001-08:00

Season's greetings to you all - I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to 2011 like I am. We just arrived back in Ohio after a week in NY with my family. Outside of the long drive, which I don't think we will ever get used to, the trip was great.

We arrived last Thursday and went straight to pick up my nephew Jacob. When we are in NY he and Ben are inseparable so we needed to get him. From there we went to "the shop's" (that is what we call our family business) holiday party at my brothers bar. That meant immediately I saw all of my uncles - Steve, Al, Walt, Jimmy who work at the shop. I also got to see lots of cousins, my neighbor I grew up with and others who have worked with my parents for years. The kids loved the pool table best and just being in NY.

For dinner we did our NY tradition of J&F Pizzeria. This is a pizzeria around the corner from my parents. They of course have pizza but also Hot and Cold Italian subs (on good bread which is really hard to get in Cincy). I have been going there my entire life, I actually went to school with the sons of the owners who still own it (the Bruschetti family). My dad and I split Eggplant parm and Hot Italian combo (meatball and sausage & pepper parm) subs. Just delightful.

Then the "holiday" weekend began. My mom went overboard and had three gatherings planned for the house. Christmas eve was her family- my Uncle Tom, Uncle Jimmy and grandmother. After going to mass at 4pm which was GREAT timing, they came over for a Pasta dinner. We used to do the traditional Italian meal of 7 fishes, but with a much smaller crowd and Arnie's food allergies my mom doesn't do it anymore (though they still do one pasta with anchovy sauce...yuck).

Saturday brought Santa and the kids loved it. Ben got tons of sports clothes and a guitar, so he was happy. Claire finally got her American girl doll and a Cheetah pet. Sarah loved her gumball machine and Fur Real pet. We had the place almost cleaned up when my brother, his girlfriend and my sister's family came over. We had a nice dinner and more fun playing.

On Sunday, I was brave and took all 7 kids to church. My sister was having company so it gave her a break. They were all really behaved, I think I need more kids to make mine behave in church. I even go to see some childhood friends. After church not only did the blizzard come but my Dad's family came over. Not everyone made it due to illness and weather, but we got to see Uncle Steve and Aunt Gail, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Walt and lots of cousins. The blizzard was the big news. In less than 12 hours we got about 16 inches of snow, it was nutty. In NY that doesn't really "stop" things like a couple of inches in Cincy. At 7pm everyone just headed home and dealt with it. My brother-in-law came and picked up the kids for a sleep over, thinking nothing of driving it in (mind you they are less than a mile away).

Monday was our teeth day...we still use my sister as our dentist. Most years the kids and I can get two cleanings in if we head to NY in the summer, worst case it is once a year. Not ideal, but definitely made life easier getting the kids used to a dentist visit. So we all went to get our teeth done. Arnie was chauffeur and took Mimi (my grandmother) to her doctor visit. She has never driver so we try to help out when we are home. I managed to slip in a mani/pedi that afternoon with my mom and the girls before going out to dinner. My brother always gives us a gift certificate for dinner with my sister, parents and grandmother. He and Steph babysit so they get to spend more time with the kids. So we get to eat out...and no babysitter, can't get much better.

Tuesday we ventured down to Hoboken. Our goal was to see Buddy the Cake Boss at Carlo's bakery. Unfortunately we got there and it was a 2+ hour wait, which was hard to justify in 20 degree weather with the kids. So we took some pictures and went to Dunkin Donuts :). The irony was when I used to sleep at my friend Lisa's place in Hoboken all the time, back in 04/05, it was RIGHT across the street and I don't even recall it. I have since learned my friend Tara used to go there every day before getting on the PATH train into the city, she knew it was a good find way before TLC did. From Hoboken we drove back north to my niece Emily's basketball game. Good for us that she had a holiday tournament so we got to see her play, they won 60-30. We then headed to dinner in Ft Montgomery before going to the Army (West Point) hockey game - another Christmas gift from Uncle Matt. My entire family was there, 15 of us so we had a good time. They lost to the Russian Jr. National team 11-4.

Wed was NYC day. We always head down to try to get tickets to a show at the TKTS booth. This year we had another big job to do, which was go to the American Girl store. Unfortunately Grandma got really sick the night before so she didn't come, and it was her gift to the girls. So I got to go instead and took Claire, Sarah, Emily and Katie with me. The girls had a blast and spent their money very quickly of course. We all went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular before meeting Sharon and old friend for dinner.

So an action packed week which was great. The kids had an amazing time hanging out with family and making more great memories. The blizzard made the city a bit messy and re-confirmed how much we are NOT city people. It took FOREVER to hail a cab and get out of the city. We have life so easy in Cincinnati and we will never forget it.

Of to make lunch and finalize plans for tonight. I wish you all a safe and fun New Years.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2010-12-16T12:08:00.001-08:00

Cincinnati got it's 2nd snow storm in the last week today. Another 4-5 inches on top of the 4 we got on Sunday/Monday. For all those reading this back East you can laugh it off, as you all know maybe this would have gotten an hour delay, but today in Cincy schools are closed, after having a 2 hour delay on Monday.

In defense of Cincy, the snow started at midnight and continued through noon, so the worst possible time for a storm to hit. Just no time to clean it off. It is also REALLY cold so it is sticking around and going no where. It was also spot on the weather man's prediction...they nailed it...so much that I had back-up plans in place for my meetings today. Before we left the office yesterday we were prepared to hold our 7am meeting via phone, for a crazy volunteer to meet the agency who had flown in for the meeting, etc.

It ends up I am still in my PJ's sitting on my couch, now in my 8th straight hour of phone calls. Yes...I said 8 hours on the phone. At this point I am just trying to figure out how I can get a shower in before my boss's holiday party tonight (let's hope the roads are clear by 6).

But with all that said, I still say "let is snow"...I love it. I used to love it more when I lived in the Northeast where people in general are more comfortable driving in the snow. Here in Cincy people are not, but they still drive, which makes it tough. Of note, they also don't like driving in the rain. I dread rain and having to drive here, with snow I just stay home. My default position is I am not going in, because I can't take the risk of being on the roads here.

In many ways I can then appreciate the snow even more, because I am comfortable at home and can just watch it come down and blanket my surroundings. Surprisingly the kids have not head outside yet. First because mom and dad were on calls and couldn't get them dressed, and now because Amber has arrived and they are happy playing with her.

I had better get back on my call, break is over. Pray for no snow next Wed/Thursday so our drive east is a peaceful one.

joanna

It has been a while, I'm back

2010-11-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

Wow it has been a really long time since I got on my blog. No excuse except I have been up to my ears. Work has been a bit hectic to say the least. Starting a new organization while having 2 of 4 brand managers out is a bit tough (like having 50% of your workforce). I am trying to pitch in and play point which means I am nutty. You probably also know I don't hide my stress well so it has been a rough couple of months.

On top of it all I have been traveling once a week for the past month. Boy is Sarah not happy about it. For the first couple of trips her reply to me was "mom, why can't daddy take this trip." She knows that Arnie and I work for the same company so I think she thinks we do the same thing and can just pinch hit for one another. I had to explain to her that this was not the case. Once she understood that her response for the next couple of trips was "I am coming with you" when I told her I was leaving. I then had to explain that I can't wait for the day when she is old enough to travel with me on some of my trips. But for now that wasn't possible (you know with school and all - not that she wouldn't mind skipping it).

I think my last trip for the year will be to India the week after Thanksgiving. I haven't mentally started to prepare for that one yet. I am still trying to get through this week, the holiday, finishing holiday decorations (given I am gone for a week which cuts my time down), making sure I know our holiday schedules and how I am going to shop for our Salvation Army family and gift giving tree items before they are due on the 8th!!!!

I am sure it will all get done, it always does, sometimes I forget how because it is just auto-pilot that takes over. I know it won't be on Black Friday, that just isn't in my blood. For those of you whose it is in, enjoy and I wish you terrific bargains and short lines.

The "pre-vacation" planning - a flashback to my mom

2010-10-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

While growing up, from the age of 9 my families annual vacation was to Florida each April around Easter. This was our one vacation for the year and we very much looked forward to it. We would go for three weeks, including the drive down and back (and yes we did it while the speed limit was 55 and there were no videos in the car and no mini-vans yet, so three kids in the back of a sedan).

I loved this vacation, from going to the beach and Disney, to getting a tan (which in High School was a big deal), to practicing softball on the beach with my dad and even driving back into Newburgh to see the spring buds on the trees, it was as if it had transformed while we were gone. The one exception to things I love was the stress my mom would be under before we left. Back then, and frankly up to today, my mom is not a very good planner. I think I am totally Type A and plan well in advance because I saw the stress my mom would be under the night before we left. In many cases she would pull an all-nighter getting ready.

It wasn't just packing that caused it, because to be honest we packed for ourselves. It was ensuring the bills were paid (before auto-pay), the animals taken care of, the payroll at work was done for the weeks we would be done and so forth. I think she needed the two days of driving down to unwind.

Because of this I have swung the pendulum far to the other side. I start thinking about our trips days or weeks ahead. Today is one of those times. Next Saturday we will leave for vacation. So I have six days to prepare, which is no big deal right? But then I started thinking today and realized "oh shoot" I had better get started now. Why you may ask. First there is a large chance I may need to fly up to Boston on Wed night or Thursday morning and not come back until Friday pm. That may erase 2-3 nights right there. Second, Tuesday night the kids have Cheerleading and Hockey practice, so Arnie and I can't divide and conquer, so another night out of the house. Saturday I have some time before we leave that night, but Ben may have a Football game, and we already have two hockey games that afternoon/early evening.

So, the stress began to set in. We are renting a condo so today I started packing some food to take. We like to eat breakfast and some dinners in the condo to make life a bit simpler. It can be stressful to eat every meal out with three young children, this way we can enjoy our vacation :)

When the kids go to bed tonight I will begin packing for Arnie and I. We don't use our "casual" clothes daily like the kids so I know I can pack because they are all clean. With the weather turning I need to think a bit more about what I want to bring for the kids. So my "pre-vacation" planning has started. I already got the neighbor to take care of the cats and guinea pig (yes a new addition to our family). My next email is to all the teachers to ask for homework.

The good news is they are so worth it in the end, if only we could just "pick up and go" without the stress.

A new job and behind already

2010-10-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

I officially started my new role on 10/1, after doing it alongside my old one for over 9 months, oh...that's right, I still have my old one now. I guess I "officially" moved into my new job by packing my desk and moving it. One can say that is progress. I continue to be excited about it, New Business Creation for P&G's Beauty & Grooming business unit - think about new sources of revenue, what can we do differently from how we sell Pantene, Olay, Gillette, Old Spice, Nice N Easy, Secret, Cover Girl, H&S and other brands today.

It will be a ton of fun I am sure, I get to try to reinvent a $30B business unit, very challenging but wide open at the same time. But somehow I feel behind already. I have two direct reports who started already, of my four total (two are on maternity leave). The only issue is neither has ever worked in Beauty, so there is a lot of onboarding...and one has never worked in the US before, transferring from Western Europe. So being the coach I am I want to spend time with them and get them up to speed, but my days are just back to back to back...likely because I am down two Brand Managers and have to keep their projects moving forward.

So I am stressed. I keep bringing stuff home to do, but the kids are the priority for sure. Today Arn had to work late which meant a crazy evening. Pick kids up at Acrocheer at 5:45, off to cheerleading at 6 (and pick up carpool on the way), dash home because Claire forgot the Spirit Cone she got last week, back to cheerleading, get out at 7:10, rush home, Uncle Matt called so talk to him while trying to get dinner done, Arn gets home at 7:40, sit down to eat, talk about Ben's "longterm" project and how we will do it, research it on the web for a bit, kids head up to take Showers at 8:20 and I get online to blog while Arnie cleans the table. Now 8:40 and I need to get upstairs to help get them settled.

I will try to do an hour or so of work, as my calendar tomorrow begins at 8am and has only 1 hour without meetings, which means again no actual "work" will get done. I actually blocked 6 hours of my time on Friday to just get things accomplished, let's see if that holds or I get invites anyway...it will get better I know, I just hope my two new BM's don't hate me by then.

Home Alone

2010-09-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

In about a half-an-hour my two days of "home alone" will come to an end. This summer, for the 2nd in a row, Arnie trained for a half-ironman. For you normal, non-exercise fanatics like me, a half-ironman is where you swim 1.2 miles, bike 61 and run 13.1...for Arnie that takes about 5 hours. Last year we all traveled down to August, GA in late September for his race. We made a weekend of it and got to see a new place. This year unfortunately that didn't work out. With Ben's football/Claire's cheerleading schedule it was going to make for a lot of traveling and perhaps taking two cars.

We just didn't think it was worth it, as we really only get to see him jump in the water and then for the run at the end. So Arnie headed up yesterday after Ben's hockey game in the morning and I handled the weekend.

The first thing on my to do list was to finish Ben's room. My parents were here for the past week. They flew in on Sunday the 5th to spend 5 days and celebrate Ben and Sarah's birthdays (we turned 8 and 5 this week). Of course in good Zucker fashion we had a to do list for them while they were here. As you all know, we are not very handy around the house, and for those who are fortunate enough to know my parents, you know they are. So this trip was around Ben's room.

Ben's room was actually the only bedroom that I have not painted since we moved in 7 years ago. It had an 8 year old in it before and was painted off-white and navy blue with a baseball border, so it worked. But, over time the border was peeling and it needed some attention. Ben also asked me to take his bunk beds apart. So we had a task to do. My parents started the painting during the week. My dad filled all the nail holes and so forth, sanded them and had it all ready to go. My first mistake was not buying primer, or paint and primer together. Three coats later that would have saved time and money. Never again.

My second mistake was not being really clear with my mom and paint colors for the walls. I wanted one focus wall that was orange (yes orange, but believe it or not it looks great) and the rest white. I came home on Tuesday night to two orange walls. I felt so bad, and really didn't like it so I spent until 11:30 pm painting white over the orange. By the time my parents left the room was looking good, but really needed a 3rd coat on the bottom of the walls where the navy was. So Friday night and Saturday morning I painted over the blue again to ensure it looked great. By eleven AM Saturday the painting was finally done.

We left for Ben/Claire's game around noon so I needed to take a break, I really just wanted to be done but couldn't pull it off, so off we went. When we got home around 4pm we headed right back in to begin to move furniture. You are all probably thinking how was I going to move furniture with three kids under 8 as helpers. If you have not discovered those "disc" things that help you move furniture on carpets...go buy some, they are GOD SEND. You barely have to push the furniture and it glides across the floor. We were able to move the book shelf and dresser with those.

That brought us to the bunk beds. I don't know what I was thinking but I wanted it done. So we all pushed to just get them apart...somehow we did and when they "fell" a bit down onto the other, we all escaped. OK, so not the smartest mom move ever, but we got them down. The kids helped me move them around, put the mattresses on and get all settled. So last night he slept in his room again and loves it. By today I had some stuff on the wall, curtains back up and so forth. I am waiting for Arnie to drill any holes in our new walls.

As I typed that last sentence Claire screamed "daddy is home" so my weekend home alone truly has come to an end. Let's go welcome him home.

keeping up with the photos

2010-09-01T18:44:00.001-07:00

You have all been there, trying to keep your photos organized. It starts with the baby book and trying to capture the key moments...first smile, first steps, first tooth and then just gets worse. Today many people don't print photos at all. The create a file system online and then "storybooks" that can be played, like the kind you see at weddings. On the other side of the photo universe is scrapbooking. Not only do these moms or dads print photos, they creat theme pages around them to document in style.

I guess I am in the middle. I have used Snapfish.com since Ben was born. For me it is the "do all" photo system. First it is an extra "storage" of all my photos, should my computer hard drive crash and burn one day. Second, it is a way to easily share my photos. Yes there is facebook now, but not all "generations" and people are on Facebook. I like being able to send my photos to those that I know care. A select group of people on my address book that want to see my family grow. Third you can easily make gifts. Snapfish has saved me on Father's day and other holidays, a nice golf towel with the grandkids go a long way.

For the past few days I have uploaded all of our photos since last October, so yes almost an entire year. Arnie was great about uploading the pics to the PC, but he doesn't go the next step to snapfish. So that was my to do list. This past weekend I did a bunch and ordered them, they were delivered today (I do it in bulk thinking it is cheaper on shipping , but not sure that is the case). I sorted them by child (I order three of a pic if all three are in it, if you have a better system let me know), got their albums out and then realized "I am missing Christmas from last year."

I just didn't think I was that far behind, my mistake. I totally should have looked at the last photos in each album. So tonight I uploaded the photos I was missing. It was actually nice to look back again at Arnie and my trip to Argentina in January. We really have to do that more often. I had to go for work and we decided to go down 5 days early to see the country. With my business travel I really don't see the country. I try to limit my time away knowing Arnie is home with the kids alone. So a week in India is all work and no Taj Mahal. When Arnie was with me and I knew my kids were loving being with Grandma and Grandpa it felt okay to take a mini-vacation. Maybe next trip...

So, I am now almost caught up. The shipment should arrive in a few days and I will sort the next 280 photos (on top of the 450 I just got). We will again have fun looking through them (the kids love it) and I will finally put them away. Then in six months I will start all over again.

Again, if there is a better way please let me know.

The nightmare of managing the after school activities begins

2010-08-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

I have my Fox 19 segment this week, and given that I have been pulling my hair out trying to manage our "new" schedule of football and cheerleading, I thought I would talk about how to manage after school schedules. Here are my talking points...enjoy

The kids are back to school now which brings many changes to the household, from earlier wake-ups times, to homework and many after school activities. I find as a busy mom the most difficult to manage are the after school activities. Perhaps it is because there is a different schedule each evening, or maybe it’s just because I miss seeing my kids and having dinner together as a family. Here are some tips I use to try to manage the “after school schedule.”

1) Each Sunday take a look at the week ahead. Right down the activity for each evening, including who, what, where and when. Importantly include what your plan for transportation is. This will help you identify the pinch points so you can plan ahead.
2) Try to carpool – it really is true that it is impossible to be in two places at one time. Yet as the super moms and dads we are, we seem to think we can change this. If you are dealing with multiple children’s schedules, the best and easiest thing you can do to help yourself, and other moms, is to organize car pools. We got in our first this year for football and cheerleading and it is nirvana. We did it to help out another family, but in hindsight I can’t believe it took me so long. Reach out to the other moms and figure out a carpool routine for the entire season.
3) Cook ahead of time. I find it hardest to manage our dinner schedule with the kids activities. First, figure out if you should feed them ahead of time or wait for them to get home. Be sure to have some healthy items to give them before they go, and then heat up dinner when they return. I like to give yogurt, a piece of fruit, some cheese or a small sandwich beforehand. Each Sunday I make extra food that I can re-heat easily for a later dinner for my husband and son eat when they return home from football practice. My favorites are grilled chicken, baked potatoes and pasta, all are easy to re-heat in the microwave.
4) Try to multi-task. Some parents like to stay at their children’s activities or practices, particularly if they are younger. If this is the case try to get something else done when you are waiting
a. Arrange next week’s calendar
b. Sort through your mail, pay bills
c. Take homework of another child and go over it
d. Make out your shopping list
e. Make some phone calls to catch up with family and friends

So much for a half-day vacation

2010-07-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Children and chores

2010-06-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

We have started to introduce chores to our kids. We started very "formal" with a chore list that they could check off what they did each day. If they did their chores they got paid. It lasted about a month. Some things they loved doing and we didn't even have to ask (like feeding the cats) and other things never really took off (like making their beds).

They stopped almost all chores and missed the money after about 3-4 months. They started asking when they would get paid again, and I said when they do their chores. Lately they have taken a much greater interest again. The girls actually love to clean - Swiffer in particular. Ben still likes to feed the cats and help with the garbage.

Tonight the girls decided to clean their playhouse and playset. The asked for a bucket of water and cleaned for over an hour. They actually did a really nice job overall. I haven't been giving them money each week because it still isn't consistent, but instead give some money when I feel they earned it. The problem with this is sometimes I forget. Ben said to me this morning "when will I get paid again?" It was kind of cute. For that he got his $3.

I guess the lesson I learned is to just "ease" them into it and let them do things they like that help you out. Don't "assign" things but talk about it with them. Any little help I get from them makes my life a little easier and I will take that.

For those in Cincy watch Fox 19 tomorrow at 8:25...I will be on talking about helpful web sites for family vacation.

Back in O-H-I-O

2010-06-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Wow does it feel good to be home. Even though I am EXHAUSTED and bobbing my head trying to stay awake in this conference call. I have been up since 3:30 am Denver time...ughhh, no wonder I feel like my day is over. I have been debating back and forth if I should just hang up and go take a nap. Ben has a baseball game tonight and I am not sure I am going to make it without a nap.

My trip to Denver was great. If you have not been, GO. It is such a great city. Arnie and I have Colorado on our list of potential retirement spots and now I remember why. The city of Denver is so unique in that you have a pretty large downtown that immediately runs into neighborhoods....no highways to cross, bad areas before nice areas, etc. It is just so cool and hip. I ate at two great restaurants (Zengo and Cuba Cuba in case you head out there), could have walked everywhere if needed and the weather was 80 degrees, no humidity and blue skies. What is not to love.

The only down side was once again being away from Arnie and the kids. I knew June was going to be a brutal month for travel, but when you are in the midst of it it always seems worse. As I was driving home I remembered Ben was at his academic camp this week at NKU (Northern Kentucky Univ). I had to drive right past the exit so I decided to pick him up (even though I had an hour to kill). I called Amber and gave her a heads up, took a call from the parking lot, cleared email and got to see the pure joy and excitement on his face that I surprised him and picked him up (made better by the fact that he hadn't seen me in 3 days). It was delightful.

So now I am back home, finishing some calls before heading to the Dermatologist. My primary caregiver wants them to look at all the moles I am blessed with from my Italian heritage. I guess as you get old (yes, cross 40) these things needs to be checked every now and then. Maybe I will get a nap before or after it, I hope so.

For the soccer fans out there, great comeback today, too bad the ref killed us, I guess like they sort of did with the Celtics last night. I really didn't care who won, but boy did I think it was an ugly game not helped by the refs.

Oh the joys of traveling

2010-06-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

Hello from India everyone. This week I traveled to Indore, India. For those not familiar with the country, it is pretty central, East/NE of Mumbai, South of Delhi. We have some research going on for a new product I am developing, so doing in-home visits. Traveling is always an eye-opening experience and India is definitely one of them. The country is one of polarities - very educated people, and very poor people. Beautiful new corporate parks on roads that you can't go more than 15 MPH on. Gorgeous hotels, with slums next to them. Even in the SEC A ++ (which in non-marketing research term means the wealthy) the beds are plywood with thin blankets on them. Boy do we have it good. I have taken some videos with my flip cam so hope to figure out how to upload those to share.

My trip over wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. First, I had to fly Atlanta, to Amsterdam to Mumbai. Anytime you break up a long trip it makes it tough. I didn't realize this until at the airport. So all of my mental planning went by the wayside. With the direct flight you can sleep a good 9 hours and arrive in the morning/afternoon. Going through Europe you only get to sleep a few hours on each flight and you arrive at 11pm. Well that is without monsoon season in Mumbai, which had us circling for almost an hour.

I ended up checking into my hotel at 12:30 am only to be woken up at 4:15am for a 6am flight (but of course I was nervous the alarm or wake-up call wouldn't come so I got up at 3:30 and showered). Needless to say I had a rough day, trying to stay awake. I think I made it until 8pm and then went to bed, thankfully I slept until 5am. This is not like me, I don't really get jet-lagged, but the strange flight pattern killed me. I am fine now, only took my getting sleep that night. I have two more days here. Tomorrow I fly to Mumbai at 8:45 pm, then to Paris at 2:25 am (yes all flight West out of India leave between midnight and 3am, crazy how busy the airport is at that hour, we are 9.5 hours ahead here). I arrive at Paris in the morning and then Cincy Saturday afternoon, one less flight on the way home...yippie.

I think I have my plan worked out where I shouldn't be too jet-lagged, wish my luck with that and getting these videos uploaded.

6/2 Blog: In a bad mood

2010-06-02T18:39:00.001-07:00

I have been in a bad mood all day, I guess you can say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Actually it was the "right" side, literally (yes, I lost my favorite side in marriage) and figuratively. So I guess that isn't my excuse. I did wake up tired, so maybe that is it...I blame it on the Cake Boss, I had to stay up and watch him last night.

Or maybe it is stress. I feel like I have been running for two straight days. After a wonderful long weekend, I started my week with a full-day offsite. That made for the fifth work day in a row that I wasn't at my desk. Let's see...full day training last Tuesday, team building offsite Wed, Innovation Review downtown Thurs and Friday, project offsite yesterday. That means I am stressed because; 1) I can't print documents easily. I very much prefer to print and read things so I can digest them, file if needed, mark them up and return to person and so forth, when I am out I have to "flag" them to print and it causes me stress; 2) I feel like a bag lady. I have to take key docs with me in case I need them and planning for a week out means a lot in the briefcase (did I say my bad hurts too); 3) out of office means out of sync, email piling up, to do list not getting checked off, those both cause me stress.

That likely means I can blame my bad mood on stress. After my team offsite yesterday we had a nice picnic planned at a local park with families too. I was looking forward to it. I had Amber bringing the kids to me. Then I got a call from Arnie at 9am reminding me Sarah had her dress rehearsal for her recital at 7pm. The whole start the work week on a Tuesday got me, I was thinking it was Monday. So we ran to the picnic at 5:30 hoping to meet other people's families, eat, play a little and leave by 6:15. Of course the caterer went to the wrong area in the park, so instead we started to get food at 6:15 and were in the car at 6:30.

I literally drove way fast and had Ben help Sarah get dressed in the car. Total bad mother moment. We arrived on time, and I totally could have dressed her there (but they have to go straight into auditorium and she would have been embarrassed so it all worked out). We got home at 9pm and I was spent, but somehow stayed up late watching Cake Boss.

Today was much of the same. I had to rush home, grab the kids (and try to grab Arnie some dinner), pick up the Bonne boys and get to the baseball field. We were there by 6:15 a bit late but before the start time at 6:30. The game got called early due to lightning which was a blessing. That gave me 45 minutes back to be able to blog and clear some emails.

So now I am trying to kick my bad mood laying in bed. Maybe some Suduko will clear my head. I don't like being in a bad mood, I am mean to people for no reason. Today I was not myself in meetings, probably was short with people and certainly bit my kids heads off a few times tonight. It just isn't me. So I am being quiet while I do this and going to go to bed to hope it all goes away tomorrow.

I love long weekends

2010-05-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than a three day weekend, particularly when you have Monday off...because you go back to a short work week. I love them...I used to love them because it meant you went away. Hopped on a plane or in a car and got away. In my post college days it was to our beach house at the NJ shore with all my Scranton buddies...the season officially started on Memorial day and off we went. Sitting in traffic for hours to get to the beach, every weekend until Labor day. Post grad-school it was to go see a friend somewhere, either back home to the east coast or up to Chicago. There are always fantastic festivals that go on for Memorial day up in Chicago.

While we were in Europe it was an excuse to go visit a new place. All of our European friends used to think we were crazy that we could only spend 3 days in a city and feel like we "got to know it"...as in Europe they don't go anywhere for less than a week.

Now that we are back in Cincy and with kids, our long weekends tend to be in Cincy. Usually catching up on yard work, bar-bqs with neighbors and maybe checking out the highlights in the city for the weekend.

We had fantastic weather so we spent a ton of time outside. Ben's baseball game, graduation parties (yes in Cincy high school graduations were this weekend, so much earlier than in NY), pool parties, and more. We did go inside to see a not so good rendition of "Ain't Misbehaving"...we left at intermission...not good.

Our big "tasks" (because you all know me, I had to get something off of the to do list) was to re-stain our kids playset. Arnie powerwashed it last weekend so this weekend was about re-staining it. We spread it out over the three days and got it all done. It looks brand new. That was the best investment ever, bought it used from a neighbor for $750 (vs. over $5K new) and two coats of stain later it is still working just great.

So the summer season is here, though now officially summer for a few weeks. The Reds are tied for first, Cincy is loving it, it is already hot and humid so feels like summer, and our yard is ready for some parties.

Happy Memorial Day to all of you who lost a loved one in war.

Green Thumb? Round two

2010-05-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Many of you know last year I attempted my first vegetable garden, despite not enough sun. But I tried. It did pretty well until record setting rain wiped out all my vines, and my inexperience didn't help. Let's just say my green beans were doing well until I touched them.

For Christmas my husband got me a book called "square foot gardening" and it is about above the ground gardening. We are giving this a try this year. I also cut back a lot to try to get more sun. Tomorrow we are having another 6 trees removed which may help to.

So this weekend I finally planted the garden. I got all the supplies over a month ago, but between mulching, rain, baseball and other priorities we didn't get to it until yesterday. I am so excited and hope we get some great veggies this summer. Between helping with "sustainability" and teaching my kids how to grow your own food I just love the idea of it...I wish I had more of a green thumb.

Before planting our garden we did the Forest Hills 5K run yesterday. Arnie ran with Ben and his friend Andrew, they ran the entire thing and finished in 31 minutes, not bad for a 7 year old. I walked with Sarah and Claire. They ran part of it but I managed to catch up at water stops, we clocked in at 42 minutes. We were so hot and sweaty, so getting dirty with the garden didn't seem so bad given our starting place.

So another Saturday filled with lots of hard work, the theme of weekends in Springtime. We work hard all day and then finish our evening with Ben's baseball game. Last night we had fantastic weather, nice and sunny and the boys played fantastic. Between the great game, 5K run and garden we thought we deserved DQ. What a treat.

Now time to get to the other week, the work week. This one is a crazy one for me. Once a year each category reviews their innovation pipeline with the CEO. Beauty & Grooming is doing it this week, so tons of prep for three days before we share out stuff on Thursday...wish me luck.

40 and healthy

2010-05-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

So I had my physical today. I hadn't been to the Dr. in over five years and thought now that I am 40 a physical may be a good idea. The funny thing is they told me "I was no longer a patient" because I hadn't seen her in five years. So if you are healthy, you lose...go figure. Anyway I finally got an appt and went. All is well, bloodwork is good and yes metabolism has slowed down, can NOT lose the 7 pounds I have gained. She said it is very normal, I say it stinks big time.

She spent almost 40 minutes with me which was fantastic, so nice. We compared how we get to India (her name is Dr V, short for Vrishabehendra) when we fly (and yes there is no easy way) and other topics. My tailbone is still in much pain, and she didn't make me feel better when she said it could be months...ugghhhh.

I do have to say I think very differently about my health now, and I don't know why. Suddenly I force myself to take a vitamin. I try to eat better. And even try to exercise (but definitely not doing so good). Maybe it's good marketing, maybe a bit of paranoia but my habits have changed simply by turning 40. The good thing is I was comparing pictures the other day. We got professional photos taken on the beach in Florida and my project was to get them all printed and framed.

They turned out fantastic, from huge posters to smaller ones. Anyway, I was replacing photos on my desk and put a new one of Arnie and I in. It happens to sit next to our wedding photo. I an honestly say I don't think either one of us looks 10 years older. In fact I think we look pretty darn good for 40 and 44...let's hope the next 10 years go so well :)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

To all the moms out there reading this Happy Mother's Day.
I LOVE Mother's Day, always have. My dad would always bring my mom a dozen roses and then one for me and one for my sister. It was so special. Then we would spend the day with both of my grandmas, in hindsight simply priceless.

I spoke to my Grandmother tonight. She will be 88 next month. She is a strong women. Widowed at the age of 43, with an 18, 13 and 3 year old. Up until that point she had never worked, she was a housewife raising a family. But she went to work as a matron at the High School. She never made a ton of money but she was smart. She moved in with her parents who helped her raise her sons. She was frugal and choiceful. Her house was meticulous and she was always smartly dressed. She could find a bargain anywhere.

Today she still lives on her own in her house. She has never had a driver's license, but she isn't afraid to take the bus anywhere.

She was so excited about the tulips I sent her and just wanted to thank me. I could never thank her enough for the inspiration and role model she has been for me. I try to give her more but she won't take it. Today she stressed over my uncle and some bad choices he has made. From a distance I get very angry as the last thing an 88 year old women needs is stress. But I can't do much, so I just listen. I call often so she knows she can have a shoulder to cry on or an ear to complain too.

I have become her sounding board and I love it. When it is really bad our call is followed by a call to my mom to say "go see grandma." Funny that you have to be 1,000 miles away to get that out of her.

So in honor of my Grandma, my mother, my sister and all my friends that are terrific moms, enjoy your day tomorrow. I hope your dreams come true and when you are 88 years old have a granddaughter you can talk to, as that is truly priceless.

5/2 Blog: rain rain go away

2010-05-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

UGHHHHH is all I have to say after another washed out weekend in Cincinnati. So far our late Spring has been the reverse of early spring . In March we got tons of rain, but always mid-week. For the last two weeks we have had gorgeous weekdays only to be rained in the entire weekend.

After two in a row I am about to lose it. Between PMS and the rain I am lucky I didn't kill my husband this weekend. I have so many outdoor things that need to be done that it is starting to cause some stress. I just want it finished. But he had no desire to work outside, even when it wasn't raining because the ground was so wet.

You all know me, I was out there anyway, getting whatever I could done. This only made me angry as I struggled on my own at times.

Then I decided I would tackle another project that didn't require going outside, that was to order the prints from the professional photos we had taken in Florida. My mom mailed me the disc from the photographer and off to Sam's I went with the girls. The kiosk was relatively straight forward, I only had to ask for help a few times (and for me the tech clueless person that isn't bad). All went well until the guy asked me "who took the photos."

Of course I told the truth and said a photographer in Florida. He asked me if I had the copyright approval to print them? My blank face told the story of "what the heck does that mean". I guess photographers are getting pissed that people are copying their photos at places like Walmart so they require a release of some kind. Of course I didn't have this . We paid her a sitting fee and for the discs.

The one time I forget both phones!!! I called my parents when I got home and asked them to get a hold of her. She was out of town and supposedly going to send something today. This meant I couldn't' finish it this weekend. Again you know me...when I start something I want to get it done quickly. Not stretch it out. So strike number 2. This made me even angrier.

Then we had to cancel Ben's game. Which should not have been a big deal but I think I just needed to get outside. It hadn't rained in 8+ hours, but the field was a mess apparently. So no game. Instead I made some chili and settled in to watch some shows I had DVR'd. I did get a walk in with Claire which was great.

Today we volunteered at the Cincy Flying Pig marathon. We were all supposed to go in the AM (be there by 8) at mile mark 20.5 It was thundering and lightning at 7am so I didn't want to take the kids out in that. We agreed Arnie would go and I would play it by ear. This let me sleep in. Around 8:30 we started to watch the Princess and the Frog and it cleared up a bit. I got the kids ready and off we went at 9:30 to join daddy. I brought the video so they could watch it in the van if it started to rain again (which it did).

It was great being out there. I can't even run a mile so seeing those people were great. I felt so bad for those coming through around noon, that was already 5.5 hours and they still had 5 miles to go, that is over 7 hours likely...WOW. What an accomplishment. Good for them, but so sure that will never be me.

I guess the only upside of another rainy day was there was no guilt in doing some work today. Arnie had a hockey game at 4pm and I had 4 girls over playing with my 2, yes...6 girls between the ages of 4 and 7....and they were actually quiet for the most part. Enough so that I got some work done before making dinner (of course soup and grilled cheese, my rainy day staple).

I even went for a walk in the rain after dinner with Ben. I am having lots of problems with my tailbone and the specialist said "non compact cardio exercise 4-7 times per week, so I have to get out there. It is nice taking one of the kids with me, between skipping and running they keep up with "mom's fast walk" as they like to call it. And I get some 1:1 time, I am going to have to keep this up.

4/28 Blog: Windows, weeds and more

2010-04-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day in Cincinnati today. For those in NY you are in for a gem tomorrow, just a perfect day. Of course it calls for two more beautiful days and then rain on the weekend again. We had rain last weekend, just in time to rain out Ben's baseball game and it continued through Monday night, which meant no practice either. The boys are going to be rusty.

But rain on the weekend would mean no mulch again...so the weeds keep coming. I hate weeds, a lot. I can't take them, notice them in my beds (and other peoples) and just can't put up with seeing them. So each night I got to a part of the house and start picking away. Tonight Claire decided she liked to pull weeds, which really helped a ton, four hands are better than two.

We got two big areas done in the back. We also cleaned up our "rock" area where the water drains. We had bought some bags of rocks to fill in that space but I wanted to get some of the weeds out first, so we finally got to that.

My night started with quick leftovers for the kids. They were all happy getting to choose what they wanted. Arnie had a hockey game so I was on my own, a perfect night to clean out the fridge. While sitting eating dinner as the sun came in the window I realized that I really needed to clean them, so I got my bucket, ladder and off I went. I got half-way done when my neighbor Tracey came over looking for her cat. We chatted for a while and then I finished them.

I probably should have exercised but decided to get the weeds done instead. I finally saw a specialist yesterday about my tail bone. I did something to it after xmas and it has been really painful since. He diagnosed it and told me I need to do non-impact exercise 4 times a weeks to get it to heal, plus medication and other stuff. You all know me and my dislike of exercise...but let me tell you, the pain is enough that this will make me do it. I got a long walk in last night, but not yet tonight. I may put the exercise on demand channel on and do some Yoga.

For now I am off to put the kids to bed.

4/26 Blog: the love of photos

2010-04-26T16:45:00.001-07:00

I love photos, taking them, looking at old ones and yes even putting them away. Digital photos have really changed the way many people think about photos. Today they are easily posted to facebook or others sites and shared with friends and family. But there are thousands of people who never print them, instead storing them on discs and computer hard drives.

For me the love of photos comes in looking through photo albums and remembering the good times that were had when the photo was taken. I still print my photos. I know that sounds bizarre to a lot of people but I do.

It is not easy. In fact photos is now a multi-multi-step process. First you take them, which is very much improved from the old days. Remember the excitement of picking up your photos only to be disappointed that they didn't turn out right...glad those days are gone. Now you can pick and choose and instantly re-create the moment if you have to (just like "reality" TV).

Then you upload them to a computer somewhere. For us that is a two step process, first to our hard drive and then to snapfish.com. From snapfish we share them with our distribution list. I tool the time to set this up while in Europe, and haven't really touched it much. This means there are people who really wish they no longer get the link and others who should get it and don't. But that's how my family sees our photos, as I am not a big fan of posting them on facebook (too much time to only choose a few).

Then a few times a year I purchase the picks. Usually about 400 at a time. When the kids were young I did it more often. Now I plan for a weekend day to do my photo albums. If all kids are in the pic I buy 3 of them, as I want all their photo albums to be complete. I don't scrapbook, never found the time. But I do have books from the day they were born til now. Less and less I find I have "family books"...never any pics of just Arnie and I. So we really do "live" through our kids and their albums. One day I will give them all to them, something I never got from my mom (though it isn't too late I guess).

Sarah already must be like mom, she takes out her album from her shelf almost every day at quiet time and looks through them, she loves it. Me too. I love pics and having them to look at time and time again. Just like my wedding video (yes I still watch it).

4/21 Blog: Just finding the time

2010-04-21T16:09:00.001-07:00

You know when you have those things that you really should or want to get done, but just can't find the time. And then they pile up on top of one another, adding stress to your already busy day. That certainly is what the past couple of weeks have been for me.

I guess it started with me backing into our garage door. That morning, like any other morning, I hit the button for the garage to go up and it did. At least I thought it did. Unfortunately the bottom panel stopped near the top, I backed-up and BANG. Arnie immediately came out and was amazingly pretty calm. Needless to say I didn't immediately stop so I really "pushed" the door out of the rails. It took us about 10 minutes to figure out a way to get it back on the tracks so I could at least go to work. Amazingly it did very little damage to my car, just broke the 3rd brake light cover at the top of my hatch.

So, now we needed to get the door fixed or replaced. This is on top of trying to get the yard in order, which also included leveling a portion of our yard for the new trampoline we bought. That took every night last week and all day Saturday.

I also needed to go to the Dr. I have been having a problem with my tail bone since the first of the year and have put off seeing a Dr. hoping it would go away. But is hasn't. So I also needed to find time to get to the Dr.

With all this piling up I decided to work from home yesterday to get it all done. In one day I met two garage door companies, went to the Dr, got a pedicure and was amazingly productive. Not being the office means focus and I could crank through some projects and make a dent on my work to do list, while crossing off those hard to get to items. Saving the hour of drive-time plus walk into the office also makes me more productive.

I was so HAPPY at the end of the day, knowing I took time for my personal needs (like the Dr.) and to fix the problem I created with our door. If you have the flexibility to work from home every now and then, or even on a regular basis I recommend it. You'll find the shorter walk to the kitchen for lunch, bathroom for potty breaks and no one to talk to actually increase your productivity a ton.

4/19 Blog: Exercise and the busy mom...possible?

2010-04-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

The busy mom fitting in time for exercising…is it really possible?

I have been thinking about this a LOT lately and decided to do my monthly FOX segment on it this week...so here it is for you all to read...enjoy.

Moms play many roles in life; mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher/nurse/manager. Many of us at one point also played the role of athlete or gym rat. I personally found that the first role that fell from my list when I had children was athlete/exercise enthusiast. I used to play in many sports leagues throughout the year after work but when I started my family it was too difficult to commit to playing.
I was able to lose my baby weight after each of my kids likely because I breast fed so the weight easily came off. I also walked a ton with the kids in the stroller and was constantly chasing after someone. But as the kids and me got older, instead of running after them I was sitting at their events watching them. My physical activity was drastically reduced, and the weight came. Now I really need to exercise more, but struggle to find the time without the guilt of leaving them for hours at a time (which for me is important).
As I looked at what friends are doing and what works for me, I pulled together some tips to think about:
· Make fitness a fun family outing or activity. Head to the nearest walking or bike trail and go for a ride together. Check out a city or county park and go for a hike. The kids will love being in nature, you spend time together and you are actually getting a workout in.
· Exercise while they practice. We spend a lot of time shuttling kids to various events or practices. Take the time while they are at the practice to exercise. Now in the spring during baseball, soccer or lacrosse practice go for a walk around the fields. I rollerblade on the walk around Short Park in Newtown while my son practices baseball. If your fitness center is close enough you can even drive to that for a 30 minute routine and get back in time.
· Exercise on Demand at your leisure. Time Warner cable has an Exercise On Demand , Channel 426 in Cincinnati. It has everything from Yoga, Aerobics, 10/20 minute work-outs, dancing, 30 day work-outs, Biggest Loser workouts and more. Because it is on Demand you simply begin the program of choice when you want in the comfort of your own home and you save the drive time.
· Exercise before the children get up. Most fitness centers are open very early, so you can get a work-out in before the kids are up. My husband swims a few times a week while me and the kids sleep. Not ideal for the evening person, but another option that doesn’t take away from family time.
· Alternate nights with your husband. This tip isn’t my favorite because it takes time away from your family and spouse, but it does work for many. Simply alternate nights with your spouse for workouts so someone is always home with the kids.
· Take advantage of daycare at your fitness center. Many fitness centers have daycare provided for young children. You can drop your kids off and get a quick work-out in.

3/17 Blog Happy St Patty's Day

2010-03-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

So did you all wear your green today...I did. Having gone to the Univ of Scranton, what I would describe as an Irish Catholic school, I have grown to love this day. All day today I thought about my old roomies, Colleen, Kris, Kate and Jeannine and how they all used to take this day off from work to go to the NYC or another parade. I wondered if they still did this tradition.

While I didn't take off, the day still brought back many fond memories of past St. Patty's day. Running to meet friends at a local Irish establishment and one year in Hoboken that I still have a great photo of in my house...with Shamrock stickers on all of our faces...so much fun. I think Margaret, Tara, Nora and Carol were in that pick with me.

Arnie is out celebrating tonight...there is an "men's only" black tie event at the Museum Center tonight. Let's just say there is a cab booked to bring them all home. I can't wait for the stories. We even found a great green vest and tie for his tux.

On the downside of today...I am battling a spring cold. Came on Monday and still hanging around. I literally feel like me head is in a cloud. My nose is raw and tissues are my savior. I really hope it gets better before this weekend. We are heading to Cleveland for a hockey tournament for Ben and I really hope I am more like myself. It's hard enough to sleep in a hotel, even harder if you don't feel well.

I tried to pack tonight to prepare, got everyone done but Arnie. We have practice tomorrow night at 7 which means eating out beforehand and not home until a bit before nine...so it had to get done tonight. I also started packing for spring break in Florida...as we are leaving next Friday which really doesn't give me a ton of time...figuring the kids aren't wearing shorts yet I took advantage of the weekend to get a head start.

Bed time has arrived, I hope you are all well, and that Spring is arriving where ever you are...it has come to Cincy and it is great.

3/8 Blog: A very longggggg Sunday

2010-03-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

This past weekend has been marvelous in that we had ZERO plans, literally zero. It was fantastic. No hockey games or practice. No parties or plays to go to. Just family time.

We were so empty that we decided to volunteer on Saturday morning. I'm sure most of you know by now that Disney is running a promotion called "Give a Day, Get a Day at Disney."
We are planning to go to Disney over our spring break at the end of this month. When we heard about the promotion it seemed too good to be true - expose our kids to volunteering and get a free ticket to Disney. So this past weekend we volunteered with the Cincinnati Parks District.

Unfortunately Claire and Sarah were too young. We were going to take them with us anyway, but the project was on a hillside along a roadway so it didn't seem safe enough. Thankfully our kind neighbors watched them for the three hours we were there. Ben and I were on little patrol - they put all the young kids on that with their moms. Arnie on the other hand had the hard job...cutting down honeysuckle. For those not from Cincy, honeysuckle was brought from Asia about 130 years ago to Cincy to help prevent erosion. Well, one hundred years later it has overtaken many acres in Cincy. So we were there to rip some out in from of Walnut Hills high school.

It was a great morning. Ben worked hard and we made a difference. A great way to start a Saturday. Not much else happened yesterday besides a couple of car washes, my haircut and bringing Ben's to a friends to sleep over. The girls and us had a very mellow evening and I was in bed by 9:30.

Today however was a long one. I really love Sunday mornings. Sleep late. Play with the kids on our bed (this has become a family ritual), then head downstairs for breakfast. We were going to noon mass today so we had a couple of hours to kill. I started dinner (stew in crock pot) and baked some Corn muffins with my time while the girls did some puzzles. Arnie headed out for a bike ride. Ben got home at 11:30 and off to mass. The kids didn't behave so well in church so it was pretty stressful....we are so hit and miss it drives me nuts. We had arranged to go bowling with our neighbors after lunch, so their time outs had to wait until we got home.

Bowling was fun. The adults got two games in the time it took the kids to do one. I love to bowl, and even asked for a ball for my birthday...my big thumb has a really hard time in most balls :).
Ben and Sarah went in for their time-outs when they got home, while Claire rode her bike with friends. Arnie took advantage and did some yard work while I got to work.

6 hours later I am still doing work (waiting for a file to upload while typing this). I have been so nuts the past few weeks that I had to take a day to catch up. I HATE IT, I try so hard not to work on weekends, but I just couldn't keep up. I am out three days this week so there would be no time to catch up. I feel a bit better going to bed tonight knowing the in-box and to-do list are clear. And in the background are the Academy Awards so it hasn't been too bad. Arnie is playing hockey (yes, his 2nd exercise in the day while I sit on my butt) tonight so I had the kids. Thankfully they were much better going to bed then in church.

So my long day is coming to an end. Not a normal Sunday but we got in family time, a home-cooked meal, church and some work...not so bad...and I even made Ben's lunch for tomorrow already. I guess it really is time for bed.

2/27 Blog: We actually went to the mall!

2010-02-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

Here in Cincinnati we have a very nice mall called Kenwood Towne Center. It is the upscale mall...Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, William Sonoma Home, JCrew, Banana and the other usual stuff. Prior to moving to Europe 10 years ago it was my hang-out, I did most of my shopping there. Since returning from Europe almost 7 years ago I don't frequent it very much.

There is something about young kids and malls that don't go together. Sure, when I was on maternity leave I would go with the baby. That was easy enough to navigate, and it was often during a weekday afternoon, so no crowds. But a Saturday, with three kids in tow...no way.

Well today we did it. We left our house at 10 this morning for Ben's hockey game. When we left we thought the other semi-final game was after ours. With this in mind (and knowing Ben would want to watch it), and the fact that we had to be downtown for the Children's Theatre at 5, we planned on being out all day.

Then we got to the arena and realized the game was before ours. So we played our game at 10:40 (we lost, bummer, end of the Ice Dragons season, 1-0) and were leaving the arena at noon. I guess we could have gone home then, but we needed to eat anyway and decided to stick with our plan. We headed up north a bit to go to Barnes and Noble. The kids had Christmas gift certificates to spend so that would kill some time. After the book store we headed to Johnny Rockets for lunch...but we were done at 2pm...now what.

Arnie wanted to go home. I knew if we took the kids home they would never want to leave, they would start playing with friends and throw a fit. So I pushed to go to the mall. I myself couldn't believe this, but I too had some old gift certificates that we could use because we never get up there. So off we went. First Williams Sonoma (thanks Aunt Sue...xmas 2 years ago gift), and the kids behaved. Next was Sephora...the girls LOVED it...and even got some nail polish out of it (Purple and bright Blue...what a sight). Then we headed to get a treat for everyone because they were so good.

While eating our ice cream Ben asked if he could look in Gap kids. Next thing I know he is coming out and asking me to go in, he found something he liked. For me who shops at Target it was total sticker shock...I just don't spend that much on clothes. I ended up letting each one of hem pick something from the sale rack. Little did I know I had a Gap gift certificate too so that was free as well.

I don't know when we will head there again, as each of the kids (in particular Claire, my girly girl) had a lot of the "I wants" going on...but it was a nice afternoon. Our long, but great day ended with "Jack and the Beanstalk" at the Children's Theatre which was "awesome" according to the kids. Now we are home relaxing...watching Curling on TV. Crazy as it sounds we have actually played curling before in Montreal and loved it...there is a ton of strategy and it is not easy. Back to it we go.

2/24 Blog: Temptations of a Busy mom

2010-02-24T15:32:00.001-08:00

For those not in Cincy, today’s blog is the segment I gave on this mornings Fox 19 segment, enjoy.

This week we have all heard a ton about temptations. For most of us it was in Tiger Wood’s speech on Friday, and how he gave in to his cravings. For many Catholics we heard it in Sunday’s gospel about how the Devil tempted Jesus in the dessert. All of this caused me to reflect on what might be the temptations that working or busy moms might be experiencing and what advice could I give to help them not give into the temptations.

Temptation 1: Always putting the kids before yourself and your husband. This one comes with being a “mom” for most of us, just something that happens when we see his or her eyes for the first time. We melt, they own our heart and this often causes us to put them first. What we all need to remember is we can not properly care for children if we don’t care for ourselves. Your personal health and well-being is important if you want to be able to care for your children. We have all been sick and no how miserable life becomes, try to avoid that. Additionally, the best thing you can do for your children is to give them a healthy home filled with love. To do this you need a healthy relationship with your spouse or partner.

Temptation 2: Feeling the need to give your kids everything. Blame it on marketers like me, toy companies or Disney, but kids today have more than ever before. I am as guilty of this as anyone. Often we feel kids need more because they say “I’m bored” so we rush to get the latest and greatest toy or video game. A friend once told me that she rotates the toys so they never get bored. She simply would take a big box and take some toys away and put them in a closet. Then a few months later they would come out. It was like Christmas morning. Try this, or simply play the games with your kids so they enjoy them even more. Instead of setting up a play day with another child, make a family play date instead.

Temptation 3: To enroll your child in every activity Perhaps it is keeping up with the Jones’s syndrome or just society today, but most moms feel the need to put them child in every sport, art or lesson possible. Before you know it kids are booked every day of the week at least, sometimes with more than one activity on a day. This can lead to a lot of stress on the family. You’ll find yourself not only spending a lot of money on the activities themselves, which can cause stress, but also in eating out, the equipment, and more gas for all the pick-ups and drop offs. It can also lead you less family or personal time for you.

Temptation 4: To work a little harder or longer to get ahead. For many working moms we think, “If I just work a little harder, maybe that will get me the raise or promotion.” It is very easy to fall into this trap, heck we see our male counterparts doing it all the time. This is when it is important to think of your career as a long marathon versus a sprint. Try not to think about your career in terms of salary or title, but in terms of personal satisfaction and for what it provides you and your family. Set personal goals for each year, ones that lead you to feel fulfilled at work without putting too much stress on yourself. There will be a time when you can make your job a higher priority, but it is not when you have young children that are dependent on you.

2/23 Blog: Hockey is taking over

2010-02-23T16:51:00.001-08:00

This has been our first year of being an official hockey family. When we asked Ben on his 5th birthday what sport he wanted to play when he turned six he said ice hockey. Maybe it was because his dad is a Red Wings fan, maybe he heard another kid talking about it, but he chose hockey. With that response we signed him up for ice skating lessons for his birthday. He had a class once a week for about 6 months.

The next Fall when he turned six we put him in the Cincinnati Area Hockey Associations (CAHA) "learn to play"program. This was a clinic type program where the kids learned how to play, from stick handling, how to skate, stop (that one is important) and the rules of the game. Ben did this for the entire Winter season. When it ended, he still liked it.

So this Fall when he turned seven we signed him up for the Mite league. This is they youngest level in Hockey, 5-8 year olds by birth year, so I guess 20002, 2002 ad 2003 kids where in this level. He has loved it, playing official games, learning different positions and of course winning some games here and there. A few months into the season we got a call about a "select" team. Arnie and my first reaction was "no way" at this age, because we assumed it would be a traveling team and we aren't ready to give up every weekend. The coach promised it was all teams within 2 hours who we would play, so we let him try out and he made it.

Throughout the season it has been a game here or there for select, with the exception of two Sunday were the poor thing had 3 games. With select because teams are traveling into town they often do double headers, that along with a normal CAHA game means a long day. But again, he loves it....I am tired watching him and he wants to skate more. So for most of the season our life has been a Mite clinic Monday night, CAHA practice Thursday night and one or two games per weekend, not too bad.

And then this week hit. It is the CAHA tournament this weekend, the last games of the season. So this week he had his normal CAHA game Sunday, select game last night, practice Thursday, game Friday, games on Saturday and then will have a select game on Sunday. Then we go to Tuesday and Thursday practices running up to our one "away from home" tournament in Cleveland in three weeks.

Ben can't wait to go away, for a 7 year old that is just beyond cool. My kids LOVE hotels as it is, always an adventure and the thought of him being with 12 of his buddies in the same hotel is just over the top for him. Even the girls are excited because "all the sisters will be there to." So our life is a bit hockey heavy for the next few weeks. We try to make the most of it, going to games and practices as a family so we can all still eat together, etc. If it is a really early game (like the 7:20 kind) me and the girls will skip it, I just can't bear to wake them up. But for the most part we are his biggest fan and cheer along as much as we can (or as loud as we can).

2/20 Blog: Girls night out

2010-02-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

Last night I did something I rarely ever do - had a girls night out. This weekend my in-laws came to town. They visit us about every six weeks. Normally Arnie and I go out on Saturday night, given we have free babysitting. But this weekend is different. One of the main reasons they came down is because Ben's hockey team is skating at the intermission of our local minor league hockey game tonight. During the Cincinnati Cyclones 2nd intermission the Ice Dragons will take the ice, so we are all heading to the game. It should be a blast, I will let you know tomorrow.

Given we wouldn't be going out on Saturday, then the normal thing would be to go our Friday. This wasn't possible for Arnie because he had the Father-Daugther dance at the elementary school. He and Claire would be going to that. I could have just come home and had dinner with Ben, Sarah and my in-laws, but instead I decided to see if two girlfriends wanted to go out for dinner. Thank goodness they did. Laurie and Andrea, both colleagues from work, and I headed to Newport on the Levee. Newport has tons of restaurants and movies so one stop shopping.

We decided to have Seafood, very selfishly for me because it was a Friday in Lent and I could not have meat. Plus I never get to go to seafood with Arnie given his allergies, so it was perfect. We had a very leisurely dinner and good fun, chatting about everything from work to old boyfriends finding us on Facebook. After dinner we went to see Valentine's Day. I went in with no expectations as the reviews I read were horrible, but if I am being honest I liked it. What's not to like about lots of eye candy, and stories of life...it meant my criteria in a movie, I felt good when I left, got a little tight in the chest at times and shed a tear. The end to a perfect evening.

As I thanked my friends and said goodbye, I did have some guilt, as I hadn't seen Sarah at all that day. She is our late sleeper so I left before she was awake, and of course she would be asleep. When I got home I crawled into bed with her and gave her lots of hugs and kisses, now that was truly the end to the perfect night, or maybe then laying next to Arnie.

2/16 Blog: How was your Valentine's day?

2010-02-16T17:50:00.001-08:00

Happy belated Valentine's to each of you. I hope you had wonderful V-Day. I wish I could say we make a big deal out of V-Day or even our Anniversary, but it really depends on what day of the week it falls on and what else the calendar has in store for us. This year it ended up that our Theatre date night at Playhouse in the Park was on the 13th, so we booked a dinner beforehand. One of the restaurants we like was having a pre-fixed menu that was a pretty good deal.

So, we got one of our favorite sitters and off we went. Arnie was pretty clear when we sat down at 6pm that we had an 8pm show to make. With it being pre-fixed menu we didn't think this would be hard to do. In actuality, given it was 6:20 before they even took our order (I forgot we had been sitting for almost 20 minutes) I should have known we were in trouble. We enjoyed each of the three first courses they brought us, the problem was we only got through three of the five.

We had to ask for a check and cancel the rest to make our show...total bummer. Really bad service, of really good food. So bad not sure we will go back. Bummer. The good news is the show we saw "Fall from Heaven" (or something close to that) was FANTASTIC, truly superb. It made up for our short, really small (but good for the diet) dinner.

So we had a special night out, just the two of us. On Sunday, the actual v-day, we were lazy ALL day long. We watched tons of Olympics and hung out with the kids. I think we were counting on Monday to maybe be more active. Unfortunately we didn't check the weather...as we got about 8-10 inches of snow, so no one was going anywhere. You all know what that means...yes another snow day today in Cincy, our 4th of the year. Even my 7 year old has now figured out in his words "we don't want any more because they start shortening our summer vacation" (can you tell he doesn't "love" school).

So back to V-day. I think the reason why we don't go "overboard" is because you shouldn't have to rely on a holiday (or made up holiday) to be extra sweet to your special person. Try to be sweet everyday, always tell them you love them. Never leave or let them leave without a kiss goodbye. Be appreciative when they help you out and remind them you couldn't do it all without them. I too have days when I don't do all of these which is bad, but I sure try to do at least a couple of them as I do know my life would really stink without my husband, he is my best friend and he makes each day so much better. Enjoy yours...

2/14 Blog: How many roles do you have?

2010-02-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

At P&G we are very fortunate to have some truly amazing leaders to learn from. Because we are a promote from within company, we highly value people's ability to develop others and the broader organization. We had one General Manager in particular who was a truly aspirational leader - Jim Lafferty. Jim just retired this past year, but thankfully in true fashion he did a long road show before leaving to share some of his wisdom before his retirement from P&G.

Jim had a couple of core principles that he shared that I truly believe in and try to practice each year. The first is one that many people have which is a list of what you want to do before you die. Jim would say to have 100 things you want to do and to try to cross 2-3 off each year. Of course it depends on how you define your list with how hard this is to do. For instance one person may list a few states or countries he or she wants to visit before they die. Another person my list "visit all 50 states" or "visit all the countries in Europe" as one item. No matter how you compose your "bucket" list be sure that you can achieve the items so you feel fulfilled when you do, don't make it too hard.

The second big principle Jim proposes is to define your roles in life. He believes each person can only have five roles and do them well. I personally believe some women can actually pull off six, but let's stick with five for this blog. Importantly you have to get really clear on your roles. Let's give some examples. If you are married then you are a husband or wife. If you have children then you are a mom or dad. If you are employed you are a nurse, teacher, manager, etc. That is three roles right there. The last two get a bit trickier for those working parents. Most people would have son or daughter listed. It takes an effort to be a son or daughter in staying in touch with your parents, caring for them in some cases and managing the normal family affairs of holidays and so forth. You are also likely a brother or sister. I actually combine sister and daughter into one role. All of my family are in NY, and at this point my parents are still independent and don't require an care. So my relationship is via phone calls, email and trips home.

That leaves some of us one or two roles. Hopefully most of us are a friend. To be honest for me this is a tough one. My dearest friends are miles away, so it has become about email at best...even facebook entries. I try to keep in touch, but not having an on-going relationship doesn't make you the #2 priority when you happen to be in the NY area over Christmas. Net, it is tough. In Cincinnati, we are very good about seeing our neighbors regularly. But even our work friends take effort. Any time a babysitter is involved, and remember we don't have family we can call, we have to plan it, this means no spontaneity. So we try to plan a social calendar to see people but it is tough.

Other people have "athlete" or "fitness" as another role. A priority is to work out and stay in shape. This is certainly one of my husbands. He makes time each day or week to fit in all of his training so it is a key role for him. I on the other hand gave this up when I had my kids. I was able to keep playing basketball until I was pregnant with my third, but just don't have time or don't make it a priority (likely a little of both) these days.

Another group of people have the role of "volunteer". I had this role when I was single and even married without kids. But that was another role I had to temporarily give up when the kids arrived. I hope I will pick it up again when I am able to drop another role.

I encourage you to think about your roles and try to get it down to five. It helps prioritize what is important in life and how to spend your precious time.

2/11 Blog: Predicting the future

2010-02-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

Don't we all wish we could predict the future.

As a teenager you are trying to figure out and know "what am I going to be when I grow up".

As a twenty-something you want to know "will I get married and to whom"...just tell me it will happen...some people even go to fortune tellers to ease their anxiety in this area.

Then you find your soul mate and wonder what your family will be...how many kids? what genders? will they be healthy.

Then perhaps you try to figure out your financial situation, where will my kids go to college? Heck, will they even go to college? When will I die? We all wish at some point in our life that we had a crystal ball that tells us the future.

In my current job I try to predict the future on a regular basis. My job is to create the future innovation for hair care, as many as 10 years from now. In order to do this we need to have some prediction of what the future will be like. Some things we know for sure, the world's population will be older, it will shift to the east, more people will be "poor" by today's standards and so forth.

But other things we don't know, like will water be in shortage? Will all products be delivered to your door. I have the pleasure of "hypothesizing" all of this. Today 30 of us are locked in a room (yes, with no windows) laying out our strategy through 2020. Needless to say I am brain dead, but boy it is exciting...I get to try to predict the future...without tarot cards

2/9 Blog: Snowy in Cincinnati

2010-02-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Almost the end of a work day from home today. We got more snow overnight...nothing compared to DC and Philly, but for Cincy...too much. It was that dry snow that is hard to drive in, which made it easy for me to say "I'm working from home." People here are not very comfortable driving in the snow, which makes it very unsafe on the roads. Heck, even rain makes it a huge delay to get to work. So again Arnie and I stayed home (and yes schools were closed). We have a break now but it is supposed to snow again overnight, we will see what tomorrow brings.

Needless to say we may it home safe and sound from Buenos Aires, we had a great time. Truly a beautiful country. Iguaza Falls was definitely the highlight. You can actually check it out online, lots of pics, and right now it it a finalist for "the natural seven wonders of the world." I recommend a visit to the site, I now have at least three new places I want to go visit after viewing it.

The kids survived just fine with my parents, as would be expected. And being the great parents they are my parents managed to paint my basement and install two new kitchen faucets while they were here...man I love them. The other upside is my kids now love my cooking as all of my moms meals didn't go over so well in the Zucker household....I think a bit too much for the kids (to quote claire "her chili had too much sauce").

Being the crazy women I am after a day of unpacking, laundry and getting things settled, I decided to have all the neighbors over for dinner Saturday. It had snowed all night and just felt like a great time to have people over. We ran to Sam's to pick up some flank steak and salad stuff. Before you knew it 22 people were in the house having a great meal and lots of great conversation. The steak was simple, I paired it with Betty Crocker au gratin potatoes, a spinach salad, my neighbor brought green beans, another brought an appetizer, another pasta for kids to go with the hot dogs I made and another wine. Not too much effort and everyone had a blast. The evening followed a lot of my tips:

- entertain at home
- don't be afraid to use "packaged" meals (i.e. Betty Crocker)
- ask for help...all the neighbors brought something
- shop at warehouse clubs for good deals

We'll see what the weather brings tomorrow and if we can make it to work or not...fine by me either way and boy is it just beautiful outside.

1/26 Blog: Let the fun (and chaos) begin

2010-01-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

In about 5 minutes I will begin a whole lot of chaos to allow for some fun in the future.
Arnie and I decided on a whim to take advantage of an international trip I have. Despite all of my travel, we never really consider him going with me...I am in all day meetings, we would both have to leave the kids, get sitters, etc. It just never seemed to make sense.

But this time it seemed different. I was going to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Neither of us had been there. In fact we have never been to S. America at all. We heard FANTASTIC stuff about Argentina and had always wanted to go there. It is also the year we mark our 10th anniversary. Something about it seems extra special and we should try to have more of our own time. Perhaps it is a good excuse, but it seemed like the right thing to do. So three weeks ago (not even) we bit the bullet and bought him a ticket.

We arranged to fly my parents in (they land in 50 minutes so I need to type quick) to watch the kids. The come today, we fly out tomorrow night. Arnie comes back Tuesday and I fly back next Friday. The kids are extremely excited, and we get to see a new place.

So I am crazed trying to get work done, pack, ensure we have boarding passes, that I have laid the kids clothes out for the week, that Amber has everything she needs before we go (i.e. her cash drawer is full, shopping list made out), that addresses are printed out for GPS to get to hockey practice, ballet, swim lessons and so forth.

Yes, chaotic, but so worth it, I can't wait to experience a new land, culture and spirit that Argentina will bring.

1/23 Blog: When we do the sillyest things

2010-01-23T12:47:00.001-08:00

This week I had to do a quick trip up to Michigan to do some interviewing. I lead the Univ Of Michigan recruiting team for P&G. At the Ross School of Business we recruit for three of our functions: Marketing, Marketing research and Finance. This week we were interviewing for Summer Internships this summer. I interned at P&G in 1996 and went back full-time in 1997. I know how important my relationship with the recruiting team was then and have always played a part of the team since I joined the company.

So, on Tuesday afternoon I left an all day meeting around 1pm to head to the airport. I should I have known my brain was a bit foggy when I took 75 North instead of South at one point and had to turn around. I had too many things on my mind (and was taking a call which didn't help). I still arrived on time and realized I needed to condense my purse and my suitcase, as I could only take 2 carry-ons. Off I went, only to head to what is now the "wrong location' for security. They moved the security area since I flew last and me on autopilot just headed to the old place. So, I turned around again and headed two flights up. I still don't know why Delta or the airport spent the millions to change it, given they are cutting flights left and right...it was DEAD in the airport.

I ran into a friend at the security check which was nice so we walked to the gate together. Pete Blackshaw is an old P&G colleague who now is an expert in social media and digital marketing. His wife still works at P&G with me and was in one of my baby groups, their twins are Sarah's age (and they since have had a 3rd). When we landed in Detroit he was giving me some tips on what I should do for my book...tweet, tweet, tweet was a big one.

So, off I went to get my rental car. I got to campus a bit after 5pm and met my colleagues Kevin and Tim who had done the first round of interviews. We needed to decide who they would ask back for 2nd rounds...they interviewed 14 and 6 would be asked back the next day to interview with me. After making all the calls we headed to a casual dinner. I think we got to the hotel around 9pm, I spoke to the kids and Arnie for a while and then made the mistake of turning on the TV. I was hooked on CNN between the MASS. election results and Haiti with Anderson Cooper. I finally got in the shower around 10:30 and off to bed. Our first interview as at 7:30.

We interviewed the candidates and had about 15 minutes to make our decision. We were allowed to make one offer that day and then bring 3 additional names back to Cincinnati for consideration. We made our decision and I quickly headed to the business school for a meeting, while Tim and Kevin ran to catch flights. Somehow I managed to bump into the student who we wanted to make an offer to, so I got to give her the offer in person...it was great. I then made calls to the other five candidates to provide an update on their status. It is never fun telling someone they didn't get an offer. No matter how many times you do it, it doesn't get easier. I remember the stress of trying to land a good internship as if it was yesterday.

I headed to the airport around 2:30 for a 5:50 flight. I actually got stopped by a cop in Ann Arbor, going 45 in a 35, which I had no idea. He was one of the nicest cops I ever met, and as soon as he saw my Ohio license and rental car knew I didn't know the speed limit. He let me go and congratulated me on my success that day interviewing (he asked me why I was there)...go figure. I had a 3 and 4 conference call so I wanted to get to the airport to at least take the 4 there. Even when I travel, my calendar gets booked for drive times, airport time, etc...there is never enough time. While gassing up my Prius (BTW I had never drove a Hybrid before and really loved it...I had to get instructions on how to start it...very funny), which only took a half a gallon (for about 50 miles) I covered one call. My battery was dying on my BB so I had to plug in. I found an outlet, plugged my computer in, then charged my BB from my computer...I am sure there is an easier way, but those were the cords I had :)

I made it back with no glitches and walked out with my marketing research colleagues who were interviewing. As soon as I left the terminal I had a bad feeling in my stomach...I hadn't seen my car keys during my trip. I left my purse in the car and only took my briefcase. As I dug into my bags trying to find them, I also realized I couldn't find my car. I immediately called Arnie and told him I thought I locked my keys in the car, but because I couldn't find the car, I wasn't sure. I needed him to bring me a key. He was panicked maybe someone stole the car. I did quickly find my car, and it was locked. I called him to tell him that, which was good as he was looking for insurance info and VIN number.

They arrived about 35 minutes later and sure enough I had put my keys in my purse, grabbed my wallet out of it and locked the car. So no matter how organized you try to be, and how much multi-tasking you can pull off, there are always those times when you do the silly-est things that cause you to loose all the time you saved while multi-tasking in the first place.

Enjoy your saturday night!

1/14 Blog: Buy some books :)

2010-01-14T11:45:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone. Have a break at work before a meeting so thought I would blog quick. We finally met with my publisher before the holiday to get an update. Before than everyone would always ask...how many have you sold, and I really had NO idea. Well now I know, but am not happy. Through stores I sold 550 books, and about another 550 on my own. So over a thousand. Should I be happy or sad? I am not sure

I really wanted to sell more, and still hope I can, but I realized in all of this a few important things:
1) I am really spoiled at P&G and the millions of dollars I have to market the brands I work on. When it is your own money it is so tough. To keep myself "clean" at P&G I hired a marketing firm to deal with the publisher, handle press releases, do events and so forth. They are local in Cincy, so couldn't get strong national reach, but at least we would try. It was $4K per month for this, so no small change. I only did it for 9 months because I just couldn't afford it. This got me some awareness locally which led to sales, and my deal with Fox 19 but certainly didn't drive broad awareness of the book...without this I rely on word of mouth from friends and family and my ability to sell, which leads me to #2
2) I am NOT a salesperson. I hate selling myself, and now I know why I really don't like true salesmen...I find them pushy and fake, but it is because they are good at their jobs and will sell whatever they are trying to sell in their sleep if they had to. I just can't do this, I feel like I am taking people's precious time. I would sit at book signings and daydream. Finally I started taking the kids so I had someone to talk to. I just can't throw out a comment to try to stop someone...but you need to to sell books, I just found that I am a marketer, not a salesman and that didn't help;
3) I need to ask more of friends and so forth. I NEVER talk about my book. I sent t-shirts to friends asking them to where it, but when someone is expecting I never say "hey you should buy my book" or when someones daughter is pregnant "hey my book would make a great gift." My new admin didn't even know I wrote a book...because I don't talk about it. That is a problem to. I need to be more proud of it as I do think it helps women like me as they try to manage it all.

So, looking back on the past year I have learned a lot. I am not sure if I can change really as it is who I am, but given that I have almost 4,000 of these in my house I will leave you all with "buy a book"...it makes a really good baby shower gift :)

1/10 Blog: Happy New Year (okay, so a bit late)

2010-01-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it only took me 10 days to finally get back online and write my blog. I truly have NO EXCUSE except for total vegetation and relaxation over the holidays. I actually took two full weeks off. With the way the holidays fell this year, P&G gave us both Thursdays and Fridays off, so it only took 6 days to get the full two weeks. A lot of people chose to do this, so it truly was a "break".

Last year ('08) was the first year that I can remember where email traffic truly shut down over the holidays. We all figured (because we were all talking about it because no one could believe how everyone "logged off" for the holidays) that it was the tough year and bad economy and the pressures it has brought that made everyone need to get away. It was a surprise last year, but truly a delightful one. This year I think everyone was hoping and praying the same thing would happen. As many of you know the economy still has not truly turned around, so it has been another tough year of too much work and not all the glory.

At P&G we are very fortunate in many ways, because we sell "staple" goods per se...even in bad times you still have to wash your clothes, hair, teeth, floors and so forth. Our challenge is to make sure the price premium our brands demand is still worth it in tough times. So our sales may slow down a bit, but we don't tend to have the huge swings like many other industries or companies (like travel and leisure industry for example). So we have not had the huge lay-offs, salary cuts and other measures that have been taken in the tough times. That's not to say they couldn't happen in the future, but for the most part the bad economy has just meant work even harder...hence why everyone is so happy to truly get a week or two away from it all, including email.

The first week Arnie actually worked that Monday and Tuesday, so I had the days to myself. On Monday I finished our Christmas shopping. I had done all of my family, but still needed some stuff for the kids, so I blocked this day early on, knowing the kids would be in school, which meant I could buy the gifts and get them wrapped without fear of them walking in (or me having to stay up late in the evening which is tough for this morning person).

On Tuesday I volunteered in the kids classrooms. It was both of their holiday parties so I could spend the morning with Claire and afternoon with Ben in their classes. This was a treat because I never really get to go into their classrooms while the kids are there. Of course we go for open houses, book fair night, conferences and so forth, but those are always in the evening. Ben never really asked me to come in, so I would volunteer at evening activities but never in his class. I think this year Claire was in school about 3 weeks and she already started asking "why everyone's moms are in the class and not hers." I am not sure if it is the difference between boys and girls or what, but she really never stopped asking.

So it was great to be able to drive her to school (her request, rather than take the bus as usual, Ben of course still wanted to go on the bus with his buddies...and home with his buddies, even though I was at school) and spend the whole morning with her. It was actually holiday assembly day so I got to see the kids sing and perform which was great...still not sure why they don't invite parents to this, I guess maybe they don't have room, but it was great. I have made the mental note to volunteer that day every year so I can enjoy it.

Volunteering involved "making" some math activities for Mrs. Geiger in Kindergarten...think papers that have one circle all the way up to 10 circles, I guess for counting game...two versions of each number, including coloring the circles. There was another mom there so we were able to get it done before the party started. Then I just helped out at the party. For Ben's class I had lots of copying to do, cleaning up in the class and then "extra" Math and Reading help for a few of the students in the classroom. I realized how fortunate we are with Ben, who has taken to Reading and Math quite well. Already we see that Claire if very different, and requires different teaching...I can't imagine how teachers do it when magnified by 20.

I log on later to talk about our 8 days in NY...so much fun...tons of family...

11/27 Blog: Black Friday

2009-11-27T13:06:00.000-08:00

Happy (and hopefully a safe and productive) Black Friday to all of you.
I have never done the Black Friday thing. Perhaps because we have always traveled on Thanksgiving, so not being in my back yard, with stores I know, and the ability to quickly hide presents did not exist. I think it would be pretty hard to hide the presents in a van.

It also doesn't excite me to think about getting up at 4am. You all know me, I love my sleep. I would have to go to bed at 8pm to get the beauty sleep I need. But...this year I was actually going to do it. Each year our family adopts a family through the local Salvation Army. I believe this is our 5th year. I started doing it when I realized that Christmas was no longer fun for me. Our kids have more than what they need, as do Arnie and I. And it wasn't fun anymore. We are also so fortunate to be able to give to others, so this was another way we could do that.

When you adopt a family, the gifts have to be delivered early in December, usually around the 8-10th. This year it is the 8/9th. I realized that I only have this weekend and next to do my shopping for the family. On top of that Arnie has his annual ski weekend with his father next weekend in Vail, so the thought of shopping with all three kids in toe didn't seem like a good idea. This meant I had to do it this weekend.

I am sure you are thinking...what about during the week? I thought of that to. But we have Hockey game Monday night for Ben, a work event at our home on Wed, a work event to go to on Thursday and then Arnie leaves. So unless it was Tuesday it wouldn't happen, and frankly I didn't want to do it then because it would mean we would be out of the house the entire week which I don't like to do.

So I hit the flyers. I knew I couldn't do it all, but I wanted to get most of the family's needs done. I realized I could do a lot in two stores: Kohl's and Toys R Us. I made my list, circled away and was prepared. Then my sister in law told us that most stores were giving Black Friday deals online beginning at Midnight. Kohl's was even giving an additional 15% off. This was far too appealing for my husband, as I told him he had to go to be my bodyguard (did I tell you I was really a bit terrified doing this).

So, he woke me up at 12:30 am and we got online. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. Let's just say that the servers were not ready for Black Friday. First Comcast (we are in Detroit) went down as we were two items away from being done on Toys R Us. We switched computers (for some reason we thought this may help, and this way I could be in bed) and tried again. Success, one hour later we had Toys R Us placed (thought, the site was horrible, it would change prices constantly, at times things were on sale and other times not, others it gave one price and then when you went to checkout it would change...a bit frustrating). Then we headed to Kohl's. Same problems there, but this time with their site. Kohl's was SO SLOW, truly painful. It took us 1:45 and we were again two items from finishing. And their site locked up. We got a nice picture of little elves saying "we are sorry but we are trying to keep up." I stayed up for another 30 minutes and we were able to at least "see" the items we needed. But we could never add them to the cart. After an hour we got a message saying "due to inactivity you order has been deleted."

I thought my husband was going to throw the computer through the window. Instead he emptied his mother's dish washer (very loudly and kept me up). So now it is 3:30 am (when we would have gotten up) and we had nothing ordered at Kohl's. This morning we got back online and it was much faster (much later, after 9am) but the pots n pans we needed were no longer available. Everything else was so the order was placed and we still were "happy" with escaping another year without hitting the stores.

I will need to go out on Sunday (likely to Kohl's with my $30 in Kohl's bucks that I earned) to get some items that weren't on deal today. I would love to know how many people were shopping last night and how many had success vs. face defeat like we did. I hope you were all on the successful side.

11/22 Blog: Traveling with Kids

2009-11-22T11:07:00.000-08:00

This week I will do my monthly segment for Fox, the topic is traveling tips for moms with kids. I thought I would post it for you all to read in case you are not in Cincinnati or Facebook.

Tips for Traveling with Children over Holiday Season

Air Travel
The airport

Print boarding passes ahead of time, to cut out the time it takes to check-in. Simply walk up to counter with bags to check.
Arrive early. It takes a while to get through security, even longer with a family. Be sure to give yourselves time.

Security

Wear shoes that are easy to get off and on the kids
Take jackets, sweatshirts off early to place in a bin
Put all electronics in one bag to make it easier; gameboys, DVD players, computers, cameras and cell phones.
Bring food to take on the plane
Either pack food from home (this will save money) or purchase at the airport. Airlines DO NOT have good food offerings for kids, so it needs to come onto the plane

The plane ride

Put all key items under the seat versus in overhead; it gives you flexibility and access at any time
Air Pressure at take-off and landing
Infants – be prepared to feed them at take-off and landing. The air pressure will cause strong pain on their ears, the easiest way to get rid of it is to have them swallowing.
Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers– have a sippy cup handy
School age children – have gum handy.
Entertainment
Bring the portable DVD, coloring, work books or any activity they can do on their own. ust remind them the trays can’t come down until you say so.
Bring carseats with you. For reference, they DO NOT allow the upper portion of booster seat, the seat must be one solid piece. Only bring the bottom portion.

Car Rides
Prepare ahead

If possible coordinate time of travel; it is best if you can limit the awake time in the car. Try to travel during nap times so they can sleep, or late at night after they fall asleep.
Strategize on seating and who will sit where. Depending on the age of your child you may wnt to sit closer to the children.
Have plastic bags on hand; to serve as garbage bag or if someone gets car sick

Eating

Pack a variety of food; from snacks, to sandwiches and drinks. Try to limit the amount of stops you have to make.
Plan out where you want to stop for dinner and time. On routes you have taken before go to familiar areas. For new routes let mapquest.com and others help you find the right eating place for you.
Make sure to have paper towels, napkins, wipes or a rag to wipe up spills

Entertainment

Similar to above, be sure to have a range of activities to make the time pass.
Car bingo is our latest favorite. Make out BINGO sheets for things you would see on a highway (e.g. a bus, motorcycle, tractor trailer, speed limit sign, farm, McDonalds, construction zone and so forth)
Have the kids pick out the video they want to watch ahead of time to limit debate.

11/18 Blog: Grandparents Night

2009-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Grandparents Night at Summit Elementary. The night coincides with "book fair" week each year. Why they do it the week before Thanksgiving is beyond me. All I can think is that they believe everyone's parents live in Cincinnati. Last year I didn't even tell Ben. He was in Kindergarten and I hoped and prayed that they just didn't talk about it. I volunteered at the Book Fair that night (one of the only things I can do as it is at night) and saw all the Grandparents coming in with their grandchildren. It made my heart sink.

So when the email came home this year I decided I would tell Arnie's parents about it. They always want to know about "big things" so they can at least make a call on if they can come. They came down for the girls first recital for example. So I sent an email letting them know. As soon as they understood that the kids would go with them to school they were sold and it was on the calendar. I guess I sort of knew they would say yes, but wasn't sure. Heck, its a five hour drive from Detroit for them, and they have to be back for a commitment on Friday. And we are heading there next Wednesday.

But like most Grandparents, its all for the kids and no sacrifice is too large. They will drive down, bring dinner with them (yippie) and spend the evening with Ben and Claire at school. Just after breakfast they will head back home. That is pure dedication. It also melts my heart as my kids get to have a normal school event and forget for some time that they don't live by their grandparents each and every day.

11/13 Blog: Happy Anniversary

2009-11-13T08:29:00.001-08:00

This week Arnie and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. I just chuckled as I typed "celebrated" as this day often goes by in the same way as a typical day. We get up, we get the kids ready, we go to work, come home and have dinner and on we go. This year we actually went next door to have cake and coffee for our neighbor Tod's 40th birthday. I must say it was really weird to be celebrating and having cake, with no one knowing it was our special day. We knew we wouldn't go out to dinner given it was a Wednesday, we had swim lessons and I already had two work dinners this week. But going to another celebration really made me feel down. I felt like we couldn't as a family celebrate this special day.

So why did this bother me? I have asked myself this same question. I view my wedding as the best and most significant day in my life (except I guess when I was born which started life). Marrying my husband was not only the most significant thing I have done in my life, it "born" a new life. It allowed me to have new experiences, to birth three children and create a new family that is the center of our universe. So celebrating and recognizing that day is important to me. It shows our kids the importance of it and reminds them the importance of marriage and love in our lives. Not "acknowledging" it made it seem like any other day.

In the grand scheme of things it isn't a big deal. We are still happy and healthy. We had fun with our neighbors and the kids got ice cream. I told Arnie I love him and he is the best husband on earth, likewise for him. So I guess we did celebrate in our own way, and on to ten we go.

11-2 Blog...Know your body

2009-11-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

This is a very tough time of year for me. It's the World Series. For those of you who know me well, it should come as no surprise to you that I have had many late nights over the past few weeks. I am a DIE HARD Yankees fan. Always have been. The first season I can remember was 1977...Bucky Dent, Greg Nettles, Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph, Thurman Munson (God rest his soul) and so on. Back then it was the one sport on New York that a family could afford and get a ticket too. And it was on TV, what seemed to be every night on WPIX network (I guess today it would be the CW).

32 years later I am still a big fan. Obviously living in Cincy I can't watch them all the time, unless they make the playoffs. This year was great being in Utah on vacation for one week of the playoffs. The two hour time zone difference meant games starting around 6 vs. 8, and ending by 9:30. It was fantastic. But now back on East Coast time means games ending at 11:30 if you are lucky. This means I am either really tired, or missed the last few innings. I must admit I have done a little bit of both this year. I just couldn't make it last night I went to bed in the middle of the 7th, work was longing the next day. Of course all of the excitement happened in the 9th.

Thank goodness for the Internet and being able to watch highlights, and DVR to play it back (yes, I record them). But it's fun and worth it in the end. Ben loves to watch it with me and as a fan I am privileged to have them playing and the opportunity to watch. Importantly I know my body inside and out and know when I am pushing it too hard. Last week after staying up late two nights, I knew I would need to make up the sleep and planned to be in bed by 9:30 for a couple of nights.

As I tell all the women's groups I talk to, know what amount of sleep you need and respect it. For me it is 8 hours, and I can only not get it for one or two nights before I hit a wall. If I get less than 6 I am pretty much a zombie. With the kids older now I can sleep in on weekends which helps a lot. Even the kids talk about how "mom sleeps late on Saturdays." I honestly don't know how I survived not being able to sleep in for five years. Between Ben being born and Sarah turning 2 (maybe even later) I was up when a child was up. It was tough, but I got by. Now I long for weekends and just sleeping in. I may wake up at 6:45 when Claire or Ben get up, but I can easily fall back asleep...often until 8:30-9.

So my advice is know your limits on sleep and rest and be sure to get it. Your mind and body need the rest and you will be more productive overall if you give it what it needs.

10/11 Blog: Back in the USA

2009-10-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm back...and not jet lagged thank goodness. For those of you who know me well, you will laugh and nod when I say the hardest thing about being away in India this past week was not being able to watch the Yankee's playoff games. Believe it or not the sports station on the cable in the hotel did get ESPN, so I actually watched some of the Dodgers - Cardinals game one night (or maybe it was the morning) but never got to catch any of the Yankee games. Lots of cricket though...which I love. We tried to get tickets to a match while we were there, it was a huge tournament that India was hosting and would have been a fantastic cultural experience, but it was sold out...a couple of days too late.

So now as I write this I am watching the Yankees live, in the bottom of the 9th inning trying to sweep the Twins. I should be in bed, preparing for the work week, but I just can't go to bed until I know it is over. An ironic story related to the Yankees to share. We flew back in JFK from Delhi. We left just after midnight Delhi time on Friday evening/Sat morning and arrived at JFK 6:30 in the morning. Rather than have a long lay-over we took a cab to LaGuardia to fly back to Cincy. We get in a cab and all I want to know is if the Yankees won the night before, so I ask the cabbie. He had no idea. I actually found a cabbie in NY who didn't know if the Yankees won. But, on the bright side, he was from India and we got to chat all about our trip :)

Because we flew through the evening and we were tired when we got on the plane, it really isn't too bad of a trip when it comes to jet lag. Though I should be up front and say I don't really get jet lagged. I have a system that seems to work, immediately trying to get on the "time zone" that I am going to. So that means if I am flying overnight to Europe, even though the flight leaves at 7pm, I immediately go to sleep, as it would be 1am there and they would be sleeping. In the case where it is a huge time zone difference, I try to think about what time it will be when I get there an prepare for that. So I knew it would be early AM in USA when we arrived which meant we needed to be well rested. So you sleep. We had a 15 hour flight, so if I could get 9 hours I knew I would be fine.

So far I am. My stomach is getting "adjusted" back to US food. I was the only person on our trip who did not get ill while we were there. I am blessed with a pretty strong stomach, but I tried to be smart with what I ate and it worked. The trip was fantastic. I am always bummed that we really don't get to sight see at all, because it truly is a business trip. Because it was so far for us we really packed every minute into the trip trying to talk to as many consumers as possible. Unfortunately the roads aren't the greatest so it takes a really (REALLY) long time to get anywhere, so we had to factor that in too. So no Taj Mahal, no Tigers in the wild, or white sandy beaches...all of which India has to offer. But amazing learning that will help our project move forward.

It's good to be back, hitting a fall festival with the family today, thanking God for every blessing I have as I experienced a different, less fortunate country this week.

10/6 Blog: Hello From India

2009-10-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Hello from Delhi everyone. I am in my second full day here, trying to stay awake and soaking it all in. This is my first trip to India, so I can't say I had any real benchmarks on what it would be like. I expected it to be crowded, have more poverty than I was used too, lots of construction (based on my visits to China, another growing economy), and nice people. So far most of what I expected has been true. It is amazing how many new "cyberparks" there are, on pot-hole filled roads, where donkeys walk alongside open air taxis with 10+ people piled on, next to school buses and automobiles. All three cars wide, with no stop lights, stop signs or lanes drawn on the road.

In fact it makes NYC seem quiet, even when you used to be able to honk your horn there. They are building a new metro rail system, hoping to have it open by next summer for the Commonwealth games, but for now it is just a monorail system under construction. My hotel is on "mall road" in a suburb called Gurgoan. This area was developed 10 years ago when GE came to start a tech center. Now it is filled with tech companies in complexes 6-10 stories high. This brought many educated people with money, so there are literally 13 malls on the road (maybe four miles long). One of them is the "longest" in the world at 1.5KM from end to end.

It is far less crowded than what I expected. Nothing like China or Japan. Perhaps it is because we are not in Delhi proper. We head down to Bangalore next which is larger so I think that will be more crowded. The hotel was very Western and quite nice. Just a bit eary as there were not a lot of guests, so the group of four American women got quite a bit of attention...at times too much.

I have been able to get adjusted to the time change ok. We left JFK 3 hours late, so around 8pm Saturday night for a 13 hour flight. It was the perfect flight, as you have enough time to eat and sleep before arriving. We landed around 6pm so key was to stay up a bit later and then go to sleep. I got a full nights rest Sunday night no problem. Yesterday afternoon was a bit tough but we rallied, had a nice dinner out and then hit the sack again. I woke up around 5am, but that was okay as I got to talk to Arnie and the kids before they went to bed.

Getting around is fairly easy. We have a driver to take us everywhere. In fact they sit outside and wait for the entire day. It is important to have people who speak English, so they always get arranged ahead of time. This afternoon we are "going to check out markets and more" so I can get a sense of the retail trade here, and how people buy shampoo, from whom and so forth. This will be a true adventure, but our agency will take us around in a van, so not too risk on our part. We will have men and women with us. I may have to barter if I find something, I am not good at doing this, but supposedly it is a must here.

For the next few days I will be in research with consumers and retailers. I can't wait to see the dyanamics and how they are different or similar from consumers in other parts of the world. The adventure continues...more later.

10/3 Blog: "Mommy going on vacaton again"

2009-10-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Kids are so wonderful, and truly able to grasp much more than their age would often let on. My four year old last night said the following to me while I was tucking her in "mommy why do you get to go on vacations all the time and we don't?" To give background, I am sitting in JFK airport right now about to board a flight to Delhi, India for work. I will be gone one week, returning next Saturday. I was sitting on her bed telling her that I would be gone, to be good for daddy and so on. That is when I got her remark.

I guess in their eyes anytime you get on a plane we go to vacation, so it must mean that mommy is taking a lot of vacations. It is just so ironic because nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only don't I get to do any sightseeing on any of my trips, they are physically exhausting because on top of the long days, hours of traveling and jet lag, I often lose precious weekend days and run around like crazy making sure everything is done. Let's just run down the last 24 hours.

Because I would be gone for an entire week I made sure the laundry was done, sheets washed, kids clothes laid out for the next 7 days, they knew to pick an outfit each day, grocery list made for Amber, Sam's club list made for Arnie, mail sorted and bills paid, Amber's discretionary money draw was filled and on and on. So I leave thinking the family will be okay and survive I hope.

Even with all this it will be tough on Arnie. It takes a lot to prepare every meal, bathe the kids, clean up, make lunches and all the other stuff as a single parent. I really don't know how single parents do it every day in and day out. This is actually my first global trip that we haven't called in help. My parents were almost upset with me that I didn't tell them about it so they could have come. Arnie's parents are coming for the weekend next Friday, so officially he has help the last 20 hours before I arrive, but really he is on his own.

So, I tried to explain to Sarah that I don't ever take vacations without her, but mommy has to go to work. I think she got it...but likely not. I just hope what is means to her is to be on extra good behavior and a helper to daddy.

9/23 Blog: Tired, oh so tired

2009-09-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

It's 10:35 and I should be in bed, but I keep thinking "I need to blog" and do some things for my book...but I am SOOO tired. I feel like 2009 has been non-stop, truly from New Years Day on. I keep thinking it will slow down, but it hasn't. Maybe it's because work is crazy, with lots of organizational shifts, a tough economy and me always taking on too much. Or perhaps it is that the kids are getting older, so more activities, homework, schedules to manage, lunches to make and so forth. Or perhaps its because I am constantly traveling or in off-sites for an entire day, so 9pm at night is when I can actually get some work done.

Likely a combination of all of the above of course. This past week seems to have been even worse. I had to travel for work last Friday to Sunday (yes, working all weekend), which of course met a nutty week preparing to be gone, both at work but more so at home. Trying to make sure the weekend was planned out, Arnie had what he needed, I was packed and the kids understood the plan. On top of preparing to leave town, unfortunately my co-workers father passed away, so I suddenly needed to attend a 2-day off site yesterday and today. This would normally not be that big of a deal, shift some meetings, have blackberry with me so can manage emails and on we go.

BUT...I am also off site Wed at our annual North American Marketers off site, and Thursday at an ideation session all day. Oh, and Friday is a half-day as we leave to go to Georgia for Arnie's half-ironman that he has been training for all summer...yeah Daddy. So it is Tuesday night and I haven't packed for the weekend, which is not normal for me, because I really have not had a spare moment. After getting the kids to bed each night since I returned, I had to get online to get some stuff done, just to keep my head above water. As you all know if you read my blog, I am not a night person, so staying up to "work" really exhausts me - because it cuts into my sleeping time, and because mentally I find it draining.

So I am beat, dead tired. I actually slept until 9:30am on Sunday while in Charlotte. We had a team meeting at the hotel at 9:30 and I woke up at 9:30. Of course I didn't set an alarm. I had gone to bed around 11 pm the night before and thought for sure I would wake up...and I did, at 9:30am. One would think that would have done it for me, given me the extra boost I needed, but only 3 days later and I am beat again.

I almost look forward to the drive to Georgia. While the kids watch their videos, I may crawl into the back seat of the van with Ben, and snuggle with my feather pillow to catch some Z's. I will need them as Monday we arrive back at 11am only for me to "continue" to drive up 75 North to Ann Arbor for our corporate presentation on campus. I come back Tuesday and have 3 days before going to India for a week...oh, the fun continues :)

8/26 Blog: A family camping trip

2009-08-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went on our 2nd family camping weekend. Last year we decided to start camping as a family. I grew up camping (my little brother won a 21 foot trailer in a raffle when he was 2!) and Arnie just loves the outdoors and began to camp as an adult. We always knew when Sarah was old enough we would start camping. Last summer she was about to turn three so we decided to bite the bullet and try it. We invited our neighbors the Taylor's to join us. We bought a tent at Sam's Club (great deals) and borrowed a ton of stuff from a women I work with, just in case it didn't go well, this way we wouldn't have wasted a lot of money. We went labor day weekend to Indiana near French Lick (famous springs) and had a blast...we were hooked.

This year we had hoped to go more often, but with our vacation schedule, travel schedule and just "life" (little league through June on weekends) it made it hard to find a date. We finally locked on this past weekend. This year we decided to go closer to home, given we didn't have the extra day off. The Taylor's found a place less than 90 minutes east of us, and it was very "family friendly." It had a lake with diving boards, water slides, water park, go carts, carousel, and put-put to name a few. Once we got there we realized about 2/3 of the place were people who permanently kept a trailer there and make it their weekend home. That brought a very family feel to the place.

We got there Friday around 6pm. This was a good thing as it was light out, last year we had to put the tent up in the dark ;). We were set up before we knew it and ready to cook dinner. Going with friends is a great thing, you split the meals ahead of time which takes a lot of stress away as you only have to prep for half the meals. It also means the kids have their playmates which makes the weekend so much more fun. We were lucky to get spots not too far from the restroom and right next to a playground, so the kids had "many" friends within an hour. I think we adopted Gabi for the weekend.

All in all camping is a fantastic way to bond as a family and teach the kids about nature. Sleeping under the sun, all in one tent is a real treat. The fresh air is so good for the kids and it keeps our children grounded given the fortunate life we lead. I highly recommend hitting a campground near you, many have "cabins" (and this one did too....Long's family retreat is the name for those of you in Ohio) if you want to ease into the roughing it part. Finally, I am always looking for tips for camping, so if you have any (good meals, fun games to play, packing tips) please send them my way.

8/25 Blog: First day of school

2009-08-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

We had a big day in the Zucker household today...the first day of school. For two of our kids it was a first. Claire's first day of Kindergarten and Ben's first full day in 1st grade (as our K is 1/2 day only) - which meant he got to eat in the cafeteria. Arnie and I both blocked our calendars this morning to be able to be here with them. Arnie made a special "weekday" breakfast of pancakes for the big day. Sarah didn't even wake up and because we were home, Amber could stay home instead of going to the bus stop, this meant Sarah got to sleep in past 9 for the 2nd day (we were camping this past weekend and went t.o see the Jonas Brothers Sunday night, so she needed the sleep...more on that tomorrow).

After breakfast I got the cameras out and began to snap away to mark the occasion. The bus stop was so cute, three new additions this year (and we lost 2 to middle school)...Claire and the Taylor twins who went to a full-day K at a different school last year. The pile of bookbags was really cute. Ben chose Bakugan which is a big part of his life these days. Claire just went for a cute one from Children's Place (well mom did because I got it cheap, but I knew she would like it because it was "girly").

I called home after Claire got home and all had gone well. They phase in K so only half the kids were there. She loved every minute. Ben yelled "I love school" when he got off the bus this afternoon, so I guess his day went well too. Of course the homework has not started, so we will see how long that last. The great news is that is three best buddies are all in his class (and there are four first grades), not sure how we got that lucky, but we did. Let's hope they are still best buddies in June :)

Tomorrow I am on Fox talking about tips for back to school. For all of you reading they are simple: lay the clothes out for the week, stock up on healthy food for lunch, pack lunch the night before, set a homework time, and be sure to dial back bedtime a couple of weeks before school starts or even after it starts as they will really tired after the first few days. I hope your first day goes as smooth as ours was.

8/12 Blog - A proud mother

2009-08-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

My kids delight me each day, with their kind words, polite manners and bright smiles. But as they get older and either begin competing or truly work hard at something that they truly love and have chosen themselves, it brings a whole other level to it. I got it when my daughter's had their first dance recital. Seeing them remember every step and take great pride in it, not having to look at their teacher at all made me so proud. I think I was beaming. I could see they loved it and wanted to do a great job. I felt so proud and wanted to tell them.

This week the same thing happened with my son. The first time he had "hockey try-outs" for lack of a better description on Monday night. He will be playing this year on a team, so they have the kids come and "show off their skills" per se. An older boy goes through them (and very fast, it was quite intimidating, I was nervous for him). But of course he did great, despite me being nervous. He had gone to open skate on Sunday, given he hadn't been on ice since May. He woke up on Monday and could barely move complaining of a groin injury. At 6:30 AM I am trying to figure out how I can help him, trying to get him to stretch, etc. I put a Ben-Gay like cream on it and gave him some children's aspirin. He even debated not going to his birthday part at a water park because it hurt so much. Instead he decided to go...I encouraged him to go in the hot tub for a bit to help it.

Before the try out he felt better and ok to skate, so off he went. He did fine in the skating part. He isn't the strongest skater on earth, particularly backwards. But then the stick handling came, then a scrimmage and then he showed off, even a break-away goal. I was so happy for him. In his words he said "I think I passed hockey mom." We will go back next week, and it is all done to balance the teams, which is how it should be at 6-8 years old, but knowing he worked hard and felt he did well made me so proud.

I was even prouder yesterday after his reading test. Our school has the entering first graders come in for a reading test before school. From what I understand it is just to know what types of books to give him. Still not sure why the Kindergarten teacher could not have told them that at the end of the year, but anyway, off he went. The teacher didn't tell Amber anything so of course I asked Ben at dinner last night. Apparently the teacher told him "you are an awesome reader"...I could see how proud he was in his eyes. He isn't that fond of reading, and we have worked hard to get him to do it regularly, so I know how this positive reinforcement will go a long way. On our end we toasted him at dinner and his great week and hope this will encourage him to read even more.

So I am an even more proud mother and so blessed by my children.

7/31 Blog: Where did July go?

2009-07-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh...tomorrow is August. I can't believe it. I know people say it all the time, but my time flies. For me, it has been on warp speed since having kids, really since out of baby stage. At least when I had a baby around, the day had such a routine and details to it that it didn't seem to fly. Many diaper changes, feedings, spits ups, change of clothes and so on. But it also had twist and turns pending their mood, nap schedule and so forth. For whatever reason this made it seem like time didn't fly.

Since my kids have been out of diapers it is a whole nother story. The days just fly. It seems like yesterday, literally that I was driving with the kids to NY, and it was four weeks ago. For years people told me when they would see me with my babies...oh gosh, it seems like I was just in your shoes...and now the kids are (you fill it in...out of the house...off to college....teenagers and not speaking to me...and so forth).

I would always smile, as it's the polite thing to do, but not really knowing how to imagine it. Now Ben is only 7 (in five weeks) and I already feel it. The hours turn to days, turn to weeks, turn to months and years before you can blink and catch a glimpse of it. I was looking at the dresses I had bought at Sam's for the girls the other day. Every year when they put cute Easter dresses out I buy two of them and that is what we take our family picture in. I thought at the time, we have time, as it seemed like we just took them. Last night I looked at the photo and it was last June, so now I am late...I guess we will head to Penney's tomorrow to get them done.

By the way, I love pics at Penney's. Have nothing to compare it to other than people coming to our house, and Olan Mills which my mom did when I was a kid. The house thing was totally convenient when you had infants as you didn't have to take them out of the house, could schedule around naps, etc. But it was very expensive. I tried Penney's and we love it. Very nice, quick and you look at your pics about 15-30 minutes later, order them and out you go. They show up in the mail in a couple of weeks. They can do color, B&W, fancy layouts, any size. I think this will be our fourth time and so far three-for-three and you can't beat the price. Perhaps Sears is the same, but we are so happy we stick with them.

Work was good this week. An odd week as it was our "summer camp" which is a camp for future marketers before they enter business school for MBA. We invite people to participate for the week to get to know P&G and marketing. I spoke on a panel Monday and conducted interviews today. I love participating and with each passing year I am figuring out Gen Y's more and more. Not sure the talent pool was as strong this year, we will see how offers go. My hypothesis is people aren't giving up their jobs to sink 100K into B-school given lots of people are graduating with out jobs, even from top five schools. Not sure if I would make the same choice I did in today's environment either, as it is much riskier then when I did it back in '95.

Still working lots of organizational projects in the re-org of Beauty and Grooming and our Innovation groups. Love the work, but it has been a lot. Monday and Tuesday I will be helping out our Baby Care category in their innovation work, looking forward to it as I can speak from a marketers and moms perspective, what can be better.

In between a beautiful weekend in Cincinnati. Going to spend the day with friends tomorrow and to cheer Arnie on in his tri-athlon on Sunday...go daddy go.

7/28 Blog: UGHHHH technical problems

2009-07-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Gosh I wish I was more technically advanced. Nothing is more frustrating then having computer problems and not being able to fix them (and neither can my husband). I have a Fox segment tomorrow so I wanted to type up a packing cheat sheet to put online as part of the segment. I quickly typed it up while Arnie was clearing the tables and loading the dishwasher. Great, not even 7:30 and all I needed to do was email it to Sheila at the station. Well, one hour later it was done. For some reason my work computer would not pick up our wireless network. It happens more than it should, and for the life of me I don't know why, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

So, I saved the file to a flash drive and would email it from our home computer. Only one of our home computers has my book email account saved as a favorite so I wanted to use that one. The other computers were online as the kids were on them, so I knew wireless was working. But not on that computer...why, oh why...after unplugging every cord possible it finally worked. Essentially that computer has a hard wire to the wireless given the router sits next to it, but the cord had loosened. Finally the email was off, after a very frustrating hour.

I am amazed with how unproductive technology can make it. Of course its productivity gain probably offsets it, but it is unreal. I have a printer at work that every time we loose power has to re-set the IP address. But not an easy thing, I have to call tech support each time. I try not to complain as 99% of people share a printer, but gosh is it frustrating to come in one day and have a printer and not the next day...and believe me, at an innovation center where their are labs, pilot plants and more we loose power a LOT!

So now I am going to try to log onto my work email remotely on the web on my home computer. I really need to get an email out to my team regarding a meeting in the morning...please cross your fingers for me, as I am sure you can all relate to what I am feeling right now and how frustrating it is to spend an hour on something you thought would be five minutes, particularly given how busy we all our.

7/24 Blog: TGIF

2009-07-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

You know how the saying goes...thank god its Friday. I am actually still in the office at 6:10...no, not a work-a-holic. Long story short, my husband's best friend from childhood is passing through town. So Arnie took the day off and heading to Kings Island, the big amusement park in Cincy with the kids to meet Pat and his family, as well as another family. They want to go to dinner afterwards, but not until 7-7:30...as they are having too much fun.

I am too cheap to go buy a ticket for an hour or two, so I am sitting here. I was working on my annual review, always a good thing to do when you have nothing better to do, but I need a break. It is eerie (sp?) being in a large office space with no one else around, but here I am. I am sure the cleaning person will arrive shortly.

The good news is IT IS BEAUTIFUL out here in Cincy, so we should have a fun weekend. I already got all my back-to school shopping done - hit the outlets while on vacation for clothes, and hit Toys R Us (buy 1 crayola item get 2 free) and Target this week for the back to school supplies and shoes, so we are all set. That means we will get to play a little. I'm voting for the zoo on Sunday, nothing better than that on a nice day.

It is also that time of year that I have to get the kids registered in their normal activities. The summer is downtime and then things start up again, Ballet, Hockey and Swim lessons are on my list. So weird that Claire is going to Kindergarten too...so we will have one full day, one half-day and one at home, talk about transition year.

7/21 Blog: Back in the "swing" of things

2009-07-21T04:37:00.000-07:00

So, it is my second day back in the office after being out two weeks. While I worked the first week, it is very different when you are remote versus physically present, people just don't "bug" you with every little thing as much. I actually like being "bugged" and asked questions, I think it gets decisions made faster and keeps things moving, but every now and then it is good to just be away and get some work done.

For those who go away on a vacation vs. a "stay-cation" I think when you on on vacation there are two schools of thought - leave the computer and blackberry at home (and sometimes you are forced to depending on connectivity at your location) or take it. It is quite a debate among people and what is best. I think it is a personal choice on how you like to be productive and get things done at work. For me, I take them. The computer to get online and stay in touch, as often we are not getting a daily paper where we are. The blackberry to "clear it out" every now and then. To me this is not "working". Sometimes I reply, if I think it will keep things moving. 80% of the time I just delete the emails, as I know it will change or get sorted out by the time I am back.

I get many responses of "aren't you on vacation" and the answer is yes! But I would rather get on every evening or 48 hours and delete then come back to 500 plus emails on Monday morning. Maybe I will try that once, just block the first 3 hours of my Monday back and go through email. Perhaps it is better. For now I like my system...and even with that system I came in at 6:15 AM yesterday to get through things before my first meeting at 7am. Because of course your calendar is jam packed given people just lost a week with you. I needed to print off some things, get through the weekends email and so on.

Yes, I could have gotten online and done email on Sunday night, but to me I was still on vacation. Instead I hung out with my kids and had fun, went to bed at 9pm when they did and got up at the crack of dawn to get back into the "swing" of things?

What do you all do when you go on vacation? I would love some advice.

7/10 Blog: On the road again

2009-07-10T05:06:00.000-07:00

Well, after a great week (well 6.5 days officially) we are getting ready to hit the road again.
For those of you who don't live in your hometown or around family I am sure you can identify what those weeks are like when you go home. Non-stop going from house to house to see people. There are some trips here were we try not to do that and relax, but without Arnie here (who is the relax half of our relationship :)), I was on the go.

The great part was this time I actually got to see a couple of old high school friends in addition to family. My friend Deanna moved back up here from NC two years ago so I finally made it over to her place for swimming and dinner. Last night I saw my friend Erika who I have not seen in at least 15 years. It was great meeting her three kids and hanging out over a beer. I didn't get to meet her husband (or vice versa) as he was traveling, so definitely next time we are in town.

The kids have had a BLAST as they always do. Claire loves the Miller and Santaniello kids (I grew up next door to their parents) and just soaks them up while she is here. Sarah does as well, but also hangs with her cousin "baby John" (who is now 2!) a ton. Ben is all about being Jake's shadow. He was so excited he could stay for full-day camp and got a few sleep overs in (including last night, so I won't see him until he arrives in PA tonight with my sister).

I had one last work call this AM...just got done...so my vaca has officially begun. I am heading upstairs to finish packing and start packing the car. Ironically that is the topic of my next Fox 19 segment on the 29th of this month. We decided to film me packing for this trip, so I should have it down pat by now.

I am looking forward to PA. The area looks beautiful and it is within 20 minutes of my college town so I can bring the kids to campus and the basketball camp that Gina and I went to when we were kids, I can't wait to see if the cabins and courts are still there. More from PA later.

7/8 Blog: Hello from NY

2009-07-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Well, we made it safe and sound to NY. Last Friday (the 3rd), the three kids and I hit the road to come to NY. We pulled out of the driveway at 8am and pulled into NY at 6:45 pm, which was actually really good time. The kids were wonderful. I am amazed how good they do if we give them enough "coaching" and talk about the event in advance. All week Arnie was telling them how important it was for them to behave and help me in the car, etc. The entire time I could not have asked for better behavior. When we stopped they held hands, stayed together, Ben held the doors for us and more. It was almost easier with one parent then with two. Why I don't "coach" before every big event is beyond me, because it works like a charm.

Their cousins were here to greet them when we arrived. I think Ben jumped into Jacob's arms. By the time I got out of the car he was wrapped around him (while Jake is only 2 years older, he is MUCH bigger then Ben so can lift him pretty easily). My parents had ordered my favorite pizza and subs from J&F our local place which made my trip within the first hour. By the time we ate my entire family was here which was great (just not Arn).

We have been going non-stop since. Ben is in basketball camp all week. The girls have played with neighbors, cousins and more. We have gone swimming at two different pools and will hit two more today (why does it seem like there are so many more pools in NY than Ohio?). We also had my cousin Tyler's high school graduation party, so I saw all of my aunts, uncles and cousins at that. Was a bit weird as it was a large party without my grandmas who passed away last year, but still great to see everyone.

The only downer is my van was acting up on the ride out here. I took it into the local Chrysler dealer in town and it has two things wrong. One of which they didn't have a part. The latest is they found it in Mass. and it should arrive today so they can fix it before we leave for PA on Friday. Cross your fingers as it would make life a bit complicated to try to figure out how to get back for the van from PA.

6/22 Blog: A busy weekend

2009-06-22T16:42:00.001-07:00

Happy belated Father's day to any of you out there reading this. We had a great Father's day. Arnie started it just as he would dream, with a 3 hour bike ride. He is training for a half iron-man race in September, so tries to go out each Sunday morning. It works out great for everyone, we get to sleep in, eat and go to mass, and by the time we get home he is usually arriving back. The kids could not wait to give him their card. We went to Target one evening during the week to get a desk for our computer, and they got to pick out a card. The LOVE the music cards, what a great invention. They must have listened to 6 of them before the settled on one.

By the time Sunday came around they had memorized the song (at least Claire did), it goes something like this:

Dad, you are super dad
Dad, you give me everything
Dad, I know you can fix my car
A brand new beemer would take me far
I'm so glad you my dad
Your my handsome dad, my super dad, my hero dad

The best part was Claire singing along (and Sarah trying).
The rest of the weekend was "party" time at the Zucker's.
On Saturday we hosted Ben's baseball team for an end of summer party.
Arnie is the coach and wanted to do something for the kids.
We had a great time and managed to fit it in between Claire' t-ball game and Ben's game that night.

Sunday we had our annual "anniversary" bar-bq. We have it each year on the weekend we moved in, this year it was our 6th. Just a way to see our neighbors and reflect on how grateful we are for the friendships we have formed.

To make having the parties easy we asked people to bring an appetizer, side or dessert. We supply beverages and meats. The tables could be set up all weekend. I made chicken, burgers and hot dogs on Saturday. Sunday I added sausage and peppers. It is relatively easy. We always have paper products in bulk from our warehouse club ready to go. We got to be surrounded by friends all weekend with very little work on our part...just the way we like it, low stress, lots of fun.

MM Blog 6/15: Stop the madness

2009-06-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

I know you may find this hard to believe - but I do like to separate work and pleasure. While I am married to another Proctoid, have lots of great friends who are Proctoids and love every minute of what I do...I don't like socializing with people I work closely with. I just feel I need to draw the line somewhere.

This was really important to us when we were looking for places to live when we returned from Brussels six years ago. We stayed clear of the Procter dominate neighborhoods, as we knew we would need some space. Others love it, and I can totally understand why, but given we both work there we just felt we needed to find "new people" to live near. As it ends up, two of our neighbors are P&G, but we don't work with them, did not know them before moving in, and love them to death (like most P&G people), but the key is we don't talk shop.

So, with all that as background you can probably understand why the title of this blog is "stop the madness" as I have had almost a week straight of work events at night. Some by "choice" others just because, but regardless I am spent. It all started last Wed night when my new boss was in town and the leadership team went to dinner. It was actually quite fun, we played some "get to know you games" like find a coin, look at the year and tell us the best thing that happened to you that year. We learned a lot, laughed enough and had a fantastic meal (at Eddie Merlot's new restaurant on Montgomery Rd in Cincy).

Then on Thursday I had our Univ of Michigan Ross school happy hour for our summer interns. Given I lead that team, I needed to show up. Again, I had a good time welcoming everyone, catching up with them on their summer so far, etc. Friday night was the Univ of Cincinnati School of Design, Architecture, Art and Product development annual Fashion Show. It is an annual event for Beauty marketing to go, so I headed there with my great friend Andrea. It was fantastic, except for getting home at 11. Saturday we had a wedding (yes a P&G person) and Sunday night I hosted a baby shower for a women I work with.

Tonight wasn't officially a "work" event, but it was our ladies golf night (with yes P&G people). So I am exhausted. Of course I had to watch Jon & Kate and Cake Boss. And now online. Did I also mention I squeezed in a call with Singapore at 9 :)

I swear, tomorrow I am in bed by 9...I have to, I start at 7am tomorrow so something has to give. The hard part is schools out, so suddenly the kids bedtime went back to 9:30-10...how will I keep my eyes open? Easy I guess, just looking at them, knowing the madness had ended for now and cherishing every minute with them.

MM Blog 6/8: A new boss

2009-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it is officially still four weeks away, but I now have a new boss. I think I have shared with you all of the transitions going on at P&G, in particular our Beauty & Grooming business. It is all good, and makes all the sense in the world long-term. In the short-term what it means for me is a new boss. My old boss, who had worked on Pantene for over a decade is moving to another role and we are getting a new boss. I have heard nothing but great things about her (yes, another female!) and we have lots in common (she too is a mother of three).

Like any new working relationship it will take time. She is Dutch by ethnic background, and is married to a Greek, so very diverse. She spent her whole career in Beauty which will be great. The hard part for me is I don't really "report" to her but on paper. My role is pretty autonomous in nature and works as closely with R&D. My old boss was totally fine with this and it worked, I just need to ensure the new one is as well.

I will meet her for the first time tomorrow, as she is hear onboarding this week. Unfortunately even though she officially starts July 1, she won't move to Cincinnati until mid-August, so it will be a long transition. And word on the street is my role may be changing and I move to a new general manager by the end of the calendar year...so as I say to my husband "I am just holding on for the ride, hoping it goes smoothly."

I think moms and even more so working moms are wired to handle change. It just comes with our hormones I guess. I often like to lump all change together. For example, I moved to another country, started a new role and got married all at the same time. The same on our return from Europe, started new role, moved into new house in new neighborhood in Cincy and got pregnant all at the same time. So, based on this I thought I was used to it. But to be honest, all of the change going on at work has been a bit much to handle. While I am doing just fine, still have a great job and love coming to work. Not being fully informed, and not being able to steer the organization as much as they need to be has been tough. I like to keep my people fully informed but there is just so much day-to-day change it is hard.

On the other hand, I think trying to steer the change vs sitting back is always the right thing to do, even with your children. As a mom or manager we owe it to those who look up to us to do right by them and to try to make their world a little better, easier, more comforting. So no matter how uncomfortable I feel, I need to step up and not let that come across to do right by my people...and at home, by my kids should that much change ever be needed at home.

6/1 Blog: Happy June

2009-06-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's June. I can't believe it. Even more unbelievable is my little boy will finish Kindergarten on Friday, and my sweet Claire will begin in less than three months. My how time truly does fly. This spring has been a whirlwind. It feels like yesterday we were heading to Canada for Spring break and now we are saying goodbye to the school year.

They say being in a state of change can slow things down or speed them up, for me it has been like warp speed ahead. Just trying to keep up with the change at work has made the home life seem to fly. I know longer feel like "getting online" at home, as the precious downtime we have is just so...precious! I truly don't want to disturb it. It is nice to just sit down and do a Sudoku game, mindless in some ways, brain exercise in others, but quiet and peaceful each time.

Tonight we had a make-up game for Ben. Not too much of a disturbance to us or any of the other 12 families as we were able to use our practice time and field. But instead of a practice which starts at 6:30, we had a game, which meant at the field at 6pm. This all meant mom went in her work clothes and heals. I guess you can say I was a 'stylish" bench coach. The boys played well and had a great time, as usual...it really is fun being there with them, cheering them on, trying to keep them from keeping score in their minds (we don't keep score) and who's on deck, in the hole, which position they will go to and so on...fun, fun, fun.

On the home front we had a great weekend. My parents came in Thursday night for the girls concert. God bless them they drove 11 hours, with my soon to be 87 year old grandma to see the girls. In their words "it was well worth it" and trumped any NY recital they have seen. They were truly impressed with how "intricate" the young girls routines were. I really had nothing to compare it to so I will trust them. They also got to see Claire and Ben play ball, and have dinner with Andrea (one of my bridesmaids who works at P&G) and her husband Bob who came over for dinner. They headed out this morning, so short but sweet.

Even shorter, my in-laws drove down Friday from Detroit, arrived at 4:30 for a 7:30 recital, then immediately go on the road after to head to Iowa (they would stop on the way) for my nieces recital on Saturday. Now that is dedication and devotion to the grandkids. So the girls had all their grandma's, papa's and mimi here, it could not have been more special for them. All of this was with me as a single parent. Arnie had his 20 year reunion at Denison, so he left Thursday after work and came home Sunday afternoon. He had a great time catching up with friends and we missed him a ton.

Well, the girls just came in and said time for bed. They want me to put them to bed so I will say goodbye.

5/26 Blog: Our first dance recital

2009-05-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

My little girls have their first dance recital this weekend and last night was the "dress rehearsal."
I took it seriously and did the whole routine, fixing their hair as instructed (curly in the back), make-up as instructed (blush and lip stick) and so on. The school even asked that you do video and pictures at rehearsal vs. real performance to make things easier, so we did. We even gave our girls their "flower bouquets" last night to make it special.

It was a terrific night. I was so pleased with the girls. Yes because they new their routine which showed me they listened and learned from their teachers. But more so because they smiled from ear to ear, sat still in their seats for the entire 90 minutes and had a great time. Of course all of the kids fell asleep on the way home, which made getting out of the car very busy. So busy that I totally forgot I had a call with Asia, in fact I didn't even think of it until I was getting into my car this morning. I felt really bad, as I hate people waiting on me. Thankfully it was during their work day and I didn't make them stay up.

Once I got the kids back to sleep (which is always hard when they wake up and say " but I'm not tired") I took a quick shower. I was totally stressed as I had a Fox 19 appearance this morning and had to prepare all of my props to share (I was talking on easy picnics and meals to take with you on outings). I knew a shower would relax me.

I headed downstairs, at this point after 10pm to prepare. Of course I made a list. I always like to have a list to work from, but under stress even more so. I listed everything I needed, then packed what wasn't in need of refrigeration into a large bag. I put the list of additional items on the counter near the fridge so my morning could be as easy as possible.

At this point I was sort of wired so I did some other items. Made my grocery list out for Amber. Replaced her money draw to make sure she had enough for the week. Filled out paperwork that had come home with Ben and so on.

Finally at 10:45 I realized, I need to go to bed. I actually slept like a baby...which is saying a lot as this has been a humid week in Cincinnati and Arnie and I have been trying to not turn the air conditioning on. So instead of my normal tossing and turning, I actually slept. I guess I needed some stress and lots of activity to really tire me out.

Blog 5/19: Dusting off hte cobwebs

2009-05-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, the one night I decide to get back on the horse, I get 90% done with my entry and hit the wrong button...so we start again. I guess that is the story behind this blog. I am not sure what happened but I definitely got in a rut with things concerning the book. Maybe I just needed a break, or maybe it was the start of baseball season...either way, it has been a long time.

Life is still moving forward. I will say it has been CRAZY since we got back from vacation. As I already said Baseball started. This would be enough with Ben playing double A and Claire T-ball, but on top of that Arnie is managing the Pirates (Ben's team) and I am assistant coach of Claire's. We of course had to make things more busy ;)

We are still managing to keep our family in tack. Hockey finally ended but for all of April we spent Wed nights at the rink and then had our "family eat out night" afterwards. Mondays are now baseball practice, so Amber feeds the kids at 5, I pick them up and we head to the field where Arnie meets us. We don't get to eat together but we spend the night together at the park...which had a great playground for the girls thank goodness. All in all we are still doing amazingly well and eating together as a family 6 nights a week, so I know we shouldn't complain...it is just often earlier or later than usual do to other commitments, which I am sure will be normal life from here on out.

Work has been even more nuts than home. I am dealing with two major organizational shifts at once...the "reinvention" of the Marketing function which I am in which includes new measurement tools, scorecards, career paths, talent management and more. And the reorganization of Global Beauty and Grooming which is the business unit I am in. Honestly if I could just wake up in three months I would sign up for that option. I don't mind change, but the combination, on top of normal family and work things is making life a bit too much. I honestly can't wait for it all to be deployed and over with.

On a good note I took a half-day and chaperoned Ben's field trip today. I know he was SO HAPPY to have me there and it felt great to be with him. He knows there are only 13 days left and is counting down, so it was extra nice to have one more Kindergarten memory to share. Well I need to get to bed, I am extra tired as Arnie went for a bike ride tonight, got a bit lost and didn't get home until 9:35pm, so I had the kids to myself. That wouldn't have been bad, but I decided to go for a walk with them for exercise, stop by the barbers to get Ben's hair cut, take them for UDF ice cream thinking he would be home at 8:30 to relieve me...but he wasn't, so bed, etc also fell on me...totally fine, just a little extra tired.

Happy hump day tomorrow.

4/23 Blog: Lending a helping hand

2009-04-23T17:53:00.001-07:00

In our everyday lives of multi-tasking and juggling multiple balls at once, it is easy to believe that we are invincible. Let's face it, there are days you think you can do just about anything. What we forget sometimes is we are human. We get sick, or our spouse does. Our schedules don't always line up perfectly. Or a well organized plan can sometimes be ruined be mother nature, a flat tire or any other unplanned event.

The morale I am trying to get across is don't be a hero, instead don't be afraid to ask for some help. Even better if you see a friend in a situation like this, lend the helping hand. We have had two recent instances where we were blessed to be able to lend a hand to a friend in need. Last night, we had to care for and take a good friends son home after hockey. Unfortunately his dad was ill and had to have heart surgery, and is still recovering. Their family was able to come to town and help for a while, but the dad still can not drive. After offering help on many occasions, we were thrilled when the finally took us up on it and we could take the boy to dinner with us after and drive him home.

Tonight it was at baseball practice. A boy on our teams mom is ill and also unable to drive. They have to juggle multiple children's activities with one driver and tonight was a conflict. They asked if we could drop him off after practice and of course we said yes. This is no effort at all on our part (in the grand scheme of things), allows both boys to practice and play in their normal routine and shows our kids what a helping hand is.

I remember as a child growing up my parents being the "shuttle" for many of our friends after practices, games, and so on. They would never let a child walk home at night or too far. We had a 15 person van for years, despite only having five members in our family, and it was often full. So being able to help out and drive a child homes brings back very fond memories for me, when parents trusted you with their kids, and deep friendships were formed on those rides home. We of course hope each of our friends has a speedy recovery, but in the meantime we hope they have peace of mind knowing their kids can maintain their schedules and sense of routine.

4/19 Blog: The post-vacation un-digging

2009-04-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since I have written - a long while. I have no excuse, but a simple explanation...a nice vacation away with my family where I stepped away from "all work" both my professional career, and all other activities that take time away from family...like blogging and other book related activities. Upon returning from our vacation, then it was simply the post-vacation un-digging. Catching up on what happened while I was gone, clearing emails and getting the brain going again.

Needless to say it was an exhausting week. On top of just craziness at work, we had a very strange week...bad weather on Monday so last minute cancelling of baseball practice that evening, our normal hockey night out on Wed, a work event for me on Thursday (and poor Arnie had to run his baseball practice and watch the girls, all on a very muddy field). Friday was a beautiful 70 degree day in Cincy and nothing could have been a better ending to a tough week.

This weekend we were blessed with one nice day and one not so nice. Thank goodness the nice day came on Saturday - which was opening day for Anderson Township Little League. The day began with a parade at 9am. I headed out with Claire and Sarah at 8:30. Unfortunately, April is an overlap month between Hockey and Baseball for Ben, so he had hockey at 8:30 and had to miss the parade. We marched until 9am and then headed to Target to pick up smaller baseball pants for Claire. We had some hand-me-downs from her cousin Jake, but they were a bit big. We took advantage of being at the store to buy some gallons of water and Gatorade powder to have for the games, in case anyone forgot a drink.

We headed to the field at 10:30. Claire's schedule is practice for an hour, followed by a game of t-ball. Normally this is 10 and 11, but due to the parade this week it was 11 and 12. This meant we would be out of the house from 8:30 to 1:30. With this in mind I packed food for the kids, some lunch meet, cheeses, yogurt, cheese sticks, juice boxes and other snacks. This should be enough to keep them happy. T-ball went great, Claire did just wonderful and seemed to enjoy it...except for "my hands are hot and sweaty in this glove" moments. But overall, for being the only girl (our neighbors has spring break this week and they are the other girls on the team) she held her own and loved it.

So...home at 1:30, quick lunch for mom and dad, can't even remember what...but long enough to get in major disagreement. I wanted to run to Home Depot to rent a tiller to work on my garden...Arnie wanted to go on his bike ride. I asked him to wait until I got back, he didn't want to...needless to say we were not on the same page...and I was mad. So off he went and then the kids and I headed out. By the time I got there there were no tillers left. This just added to my anger. Instead of tilling we started to put the fence up. The kids and our neighbors all got involved and it was great, we got half of it up by the time dad got home.

Arnie made some pasta and we all had dinner at 5 before heading out to Ben's game. The Pirates (coach pitch) did truly awesome. For their first game they really exceeded all expectations. I think the other team only did the 9 batter rule once of the six innings, meaning they go three outs before 9 players bat. More importantly, they had a great time, cheering each other on and enjoying the great weather and game. Our tired bunch got home at 8 in time to take showers and play a bit before heading to bed.

Sunday brought showers (which was why I was so intent in getting the tiller on Saturday). We (the kids and I) headed back out to the garden after breakfast to work on the fence again. It was drizzling a bit. I had checked weather.com and they showed rain on and off the entire day. I opted not to do the 4 hour rental at 8am given we had church at noon and with rain I just wasn't sure. In hindsight, should have done it, as it rained less in the morning than afternoon...oh well. After church and lunch Arnie told me to go get a tiller and he would do it. I guess 24 hours of sneering at him sunk in. So, in the drizzling rain this afternoon, Arnie and I finished the fence and tilled our garden.

All in all, these (assuming we are successful) will be the most expensive vegetables on earth. But I have enjoyed every minute of it. Part of me is going back to my childhood and my grandparents garden...I have vivid memories of heading up the hill to pick the vegetables. Another part of me wants to form memories like those with my kids. And then another wants to do good for the environment if I can (I also bought a barrel at Home Depot to collect rain water).

So, I have blisters, my husband is exhausted and we played in mud all day...but it feels great and I can't wait to sew my seeds this week, keep your fingers crossed.

MM Blog 4/6: Hello from Whistler, Canada

2009-04-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Greetings from (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful places in the world, British Columbia, Canada. We are on our spring break vacation with the kids in Whistler, Canada. We first visited Whistler 2 years ago and decided to come back again this year (and if you know me, that means I really like it, as I don't like going back to the same place over and over again...with so many other things to see in the world).

Getting here had the normal craziness before a vacation. Where should I start??? Let's start at work. I could not have had a more nuts 24 hours before I left. One of my key projects has a big update at the end of the month with our Group President. Let's just say it is crunch time, move forward and take some big risks, or just shut it down. On Friday I was preparing a presentation to do the latter all day long. I felt bad, even my team didn't know the final decision, but I had to get it out before I left. Unfortunately I have a pre-call tomorrow with some key business leaders to get them aligned before the 21st. Even when I left I was waiting for one last slide. That last slide made my morning this morning crazy, as dealing with wireless in a hotel, not being able to get on my work server and so on led to me sending the presentation to my finance counterpart via my yahoo email account and him sending the email out....all before 7am Whistler time.

The other "work" related nightmare was my passport. Saturday afternoon Arnie asked me where my passport was, I very casually said in my briefcase, where it always is (dughh). Then at 10 pm when I went to get it, it wasn't there. Panic set in. We were flying into Seattle but would need it to cross the border. I tried so hard to remember when I last had it. Did I bring it to NY with me last month? No, didn't think so. Where could it be. Finally it dawned on my that my admin had taken it to get a Visa to go to China in February. Then we cancelled our trip, but I wasn't sure I had gotten it back. Thank god I had her cell phone. She was 99% sure she had never given it back to me and it was in her files at work. She also hides a key so I could get into her desk. So at 10:45 pm I set out to drive the 25 minutes to the office, entered and got my passport. That meant I went to bed at midnight and had to get up at 6:15...ughhh, the day of lots of travel.

Arnie and I were pretty on top of the packing. No real nightmares on that front. We didn't bring car seat, which was a miss. We should have just brought them onto the plane, but we forgot and had thought they would charge us the extra luggage huge fee. In hindsight we could have had them sit in them on the plane. Extra money out the door with the rental car company, but no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

The other big news is my son lost his first teeth. He had a couple of loose ones in the front bottom. But then he got hit pretty hard at hockey on Saturday and that really made them loose. He ended up losing them both on the plane ride out. The flight attendants couldn't believe it, nor could he. He was smart enough to ask me to bring a sandwich bag in case he did lose them on vacation, so they were in a safe place...always thinking that kid.

Yesterday was a long day, up at 6:15, leave for airport at 7am, get to Seattle at 10:30 am their time, get rental car then drive 6 hours north to Whistler. Hit traffic in Seattle, at the border and in Vancouver, on a Sunday! Needless to say it took longer than we expected but the kids were troopers. We had them in bed by 8pm, and Ben was up at 3:30 am (of course his normal time up at home...6:30) and tonight they all fell asleep before 7pm with a long day of skiing in them. I guess it is the normal debate do you keep them on 'their" time or make them adjust to the time difference. So far they are sticking to Cincinnati time and we will make due I guess. Tomorrow we will try to have them nap when we get home at 4pm from the mountain, and before going swimming...that make help us get a little more in sync with local time.

Well, I am tired (yes it is 8:15pm out here) and need to shower. Think about Whistler for a future vacation, you will get a first hand look when the Olympics are here next February.

MM Blog 3/30 A Birthday in a Fog

2009-03-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Finally, five days later and the fog has lifted :)
As you know I was feeling under the weather last week. In fact, I don't think I have felt that bad since I had a breast infection with Sarah. I stayed on Thursday but should have stayed home Friday as well. My day didn't start off that bad, but by noon I was attached to a tissue box, with a Rudolph nose and a daze around my mind. Of course all I wanted to do was go home, but that was impossible. Arnie and I commuted together that day, in Amber's car as she was bringing the kids to us that night. We had tickets to the Children's Theatre that night. I had won a couple of tickets as part of our Fine Arts Fund drive, so we decided to make it a family event and bought three more to Charlotte's Web.

So instead of going home early, the kids arrived at 5:30 and we walked in very chilly, drizzling rain to dinner. We went for the food court at the mall downtown, just to give the kids variety and try to waste more time in the mall as we had two hours to give. Of course the kids chose pasta (what else is new) and I was lucky to find tuna at Subway given it is Lent. We headed to TJ Maxx after we were done and I got a couple of really cheap pair of sunglasses to get me through the summer (not even $20 for 2, love that place).

The play was quite cute, but I was in total pain at that point. I had grabbed a roll of Charmin from one of the bathrooms at work and it was gone by the end of the play. I fell asleep in the car on the way home and just wanted to sleep forever. But Saturday was Claire's special day, her fifth birthday. I promised her I would take her to get her nails done in the morning before her t-ball practice at noon. I woke up feeling so ill I decided we had to find a "minute clinic" like place at one of the drug stores. After a few calls I found one not too far and we headed there at 9:30 when they opened. We were the first ones there which was great. The good news is I didn't have strep or anything bad, just a really bad cold. The nurse recommended the right combo of OTC medicine and off we went to the nail salon.

Both girls got their nails done before going to the grocery store to buy some ice cream, strawberries and other items for the party. We were home to unpack the groceries eat a quick lunch and made it to the field by noon. I volunteered to be assistant coach for Claire. I was hoping it would make her feel comfortable on the team. It is 9 boys and 3 girls, Claire and our neighbors Anne and Linda. The coach and boys are all great so it should be a terrific summer for her. We got home about 2pm, and I quickly changed Claire for her big surprise. I had a haircut and I had arranged for them to do her hair "fancy." She has poker straight hair so I thought it would be cute to have it curled or something. She got her pretty party dress on and off we went. She was a total darling sitting and talking to the stylist the entire time and looked beautiful.

When we returned home I just needed a nap so I hit the couch. Arnie was a trooper and asked me what had to be done for the party. He put the pad on the table, did some laundry and made a list of what to get at Sam's where the cake had to be picked up along with pizza. I took a nap while Arnie headed to Sam's. At 6:00 Arnie arrived home and we did all the last minute preparations for people to arrive at 6:30. The party went off just fine. Lots of basketball watching for the dads, chat for the moms and playing for the kids (it is neighbor party). It didn't last too long so I was in bed by 10:30 and could sleep in.

Finally on Sunday I began to feel a little better but was glad that I could sleep in and know that noon mass was my first major task for the day. Because it was so cold Arnie cancelled Ben's baseball practice so we could be really lazy, which we all needed. I went back to work today with still a bit of a cough, but with an almost whole mind behind me, it felt good. I am hoping we are all through it, but many people in the office are still sick, so I have my fingers crossed, as only 5 days until vacation and it will be so much more fun if we are all healthy.

3/26 MM Blog: Feeling under the weather

2009-03-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Arnie and I stayed up late (for me) last night, watching Idol. We had Ben's hockey game, then headed to dinner at Panera, followed by the Ski shop. We got home at 9:15, put the kids in bed and settled in to watch Idol. When I laid down in bed my throat was really killing me. Arnie got me two Tylenol PM and I settled in. The alarm went off this morning and I don't even remember shutting it off. I woke up at 7:30 and decided immediately I would work from home in the morning, then head downtown for an afternoon meeting.

I stayed in bed while taking all my calls. My throat was still throbbing and a cough was settling in. I picked Ben up at the bus stop after noon, ate lunch and then decided there was no way I could go into work. I still felt horrible. I notified my team and laid down, two hours later I woke up just in time for my 3pm call.

I am still feeling awful tonight. I just took Tylenol PM again and put some Vicks vapor rub on my chest. There have been two illnesses working themselves through Cincinnati over the past month...one is digestive (that is what Arnie had last week) and one is Respiratory. I am praying I just have a cold like Ben and Claire, and not an infection. As Arnie said tonight, the good news is hopefully we are all getting it out of our systems before we go on vacation in 9 days. And Claire is feeling better in time for her birthday on Saturday.

So I am sitting in bed now ready to go to sleep, hoping I will wake up feeling renewed tomorrow. We have tickets to see the Children's Theatre production of Charlotte's Web tomorrow night, then a fun filled Saturday for Claire's birthday. We don't do big kids parties, just pizza and cake with our neighbors. To make the day special for her we are going to get her nails done, and then the big surprise is when I go to get my haircut, Claire is going to have her hair done. She has poker straight hair so they are going to curl it, she will just die of happiness.

She also has her first t-ball practice in the middle of all that. Too bad it is before her party as my family got her "pink" equipment for it...a pink bat, pink gloves, pink helmet, pink bag and pink balls...who would have thought they even made pink sporting equipment. I can't wait to see the look on her face...just precious. Ok, off to bed...stay healthy if you are in Cincy or anywhere else where bugs are flying around.

MM Blog 3/24: Prepping for vacation

2009-03-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday. It was a gorgeous day in Cincinnati, mid-70s and sunny, and I actually got to go outside during it which was wonderful. I was at P&G's in-house "ideation" facility north of Cincinnati called "The Gym." Can't really say what I was ideating about, but the good part about the Gym is they want you to be creative and to be creative you have to have some fun along the way. So we all got to go outside into the parking lot and do a team building exercise (and better yet enjoy the weather).

Tonight was all about getting ready for our vacation. We leave in 11 days to go skiing in Whistler, Canada. We have gotten into a rhythm of going skiing one year, then to Florida with my parents the next, this is our skiing year. The last time we went only Ben and Claire were in ski school as Sarah was not yet three, this year she will join her older brother and sister. I am not a huge skier, and must say am even less excited this year after the Natasha Richardson accident. But I love the mountains and the scenery. I also think it is really important to expose my children early, as most of my fear comes from the fact that I did not ski until I was in college and not very often since.

At dinner we realized we really needed to inventory our equipment before we left. Then we also realized we had zero free time this weekend to go shopping for what we need (it's Claire's birthday and the start of little league practice so a big more hectic than usual), and we leave the next weekend. So we decided it would be best to go to the store after Ben's hockey game tomorrow night. We would be out anyway and not too far from the store, which meant we had to inventory tonight. In the spirit of giving kudos to my book and my tips, it really wasn't that hard to do, because I know where everything is.

First I hit the locker room to grab winter coats, hats and gloves and brought them upstairs. Then I went to our skiing trunk, where we keep all the equipment. Arnie had a pad and we wrote down what we needed...like a pair of goggles for Sarah, long underwear for Ben as he outgrew his last pair (or should I say each pair was handed down), so warm socks and that was about it. I guess we could have gone as far as packing, but we wanted to call our niece and wish her a happy birthday as we would not be home tomorrow on her actual birthday. For now it is in a pile in our office and I will find a large duffel to pack it in tomorrow.

I am hoping to be completely packed by the end of the weekend. The good news about skiing for spring break is you don't use the same clothes that we are using now in Cincinnati, so no excuse to not pack early. I truly believe the best way to start your vacation off on the right foot, is to pack in advance so you don't have a lot of stress the day of your departure. Ciao.

MM Blog 3/19: March Madness

2009-03-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

A fitting title for today's blog. We are just over half-way through the month and it has been mad. The weather here in Cincinnati has fluctuated back and forth from 70 degrees back down to winter weather in the 30's. It seems to be happening on a weekly basis. I am not complaining, because 70 degrees in March is a blessing, but boy has it been hard to lay out the kids clothes in advance. Every time I want to put away my knee high boots, and take out the peep toe heels, the weather seems to turn the other way.

It is all March Madness because the NCAA tournament started...yippie. Back when I was in shape I played a lot of basketball. I somehow managed to keep up playing in leagues until I had my third. We had moved back from Europe and I quickly got back onto a team I missed it so much. I was so horrible. Everything was off, my speed, my shot, my ball handling, you name it. It was quite frustrating. I figured it was just the few years layoff from playing. About half-way through the league I found out I was pregnant. That explained why I was so tired and a bit off. Then the morning sickness kicked in, which was just lovely...or should I say maddening. Now my love of basketball takes place in my driveway and on my couch, like right now when I am sitting watching the tournament. I love that my kids watch it with Arnie and I, and we can share our love and passion with them.

March has also brought madness at work. I have been dealing with an "issue" over the last two weeks. One of those 'I thought we had a decision up through the President, but someone else doesn't think so, so lots of swirl'...I even got a note from another senior leader that "they have failed me as leaders"...well said I guess. It will hopefully finally be solved in a meeting scheduled for Monday, until then I will continue to feel like a volcano about to erupt...not fun.

And then there are those other things in life than can just drive you mad...like Alexis Grace getting voting off of Idol last night...CRAZY, could not believe it. Or the AIG madness that is going on...or Natasha Richardson's death, finally a Hollywood couple that is normal and that happens. Maybe because I am a pop culture fanatic, and "maven" when it comes to being in the know, but things like that affect me...they just do, so the past week has been bad.

On top of all of this, my husband was sick this week. He is never sick, and woke up Tuesday morning at 5pm to violently throw up and it continues for 12 hours, he lost 5 pounds in a day, it was ugly. Thankfully it was only 24 hour thing, that fit well into our March Madness theme.

Stay healthy, enjoy the blooming trees (yeah, it has begun in Cincy) and your spring break if you school district has one.

MM Blog 3/16: A weekend away

2009-03-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry all - it has been a while.
This time I have no excuse other than I was thinking of you all and wanted to blog this weekend, but my mom doesn't know the key code/password to her wireless network, and I was visiting home (without a cable with me).

So this was my weekend in NY/NJ. I had to go to Jersey for a book commitment. The winner of the Home Made Simple sweepstakes lives in NJ so I was going to do a live consult with her. I flew out Friday afternoon, checked into my hotel and then headed to the city to see my college roommate Kate and bridesmaid Margaret. It was so awesome to sit and have dinner and chat with them. It is so hard to keep up with friends other than chit-chat on facebook, which is just not the same. A three hour meal was fantastic and great.

Saturday I drove down to meet the HMS winner at her home. It was great to try to help someone with my tips and put them to work. After going through her home we went to Target to get some organizational items to help her get even more organized than she is. I am hoping they find the tips helpful and as they expand their family they come even more handy.

After finishing up I drove the 90 minutes north to my parents. The kids were so upset with me that I got to see their grandparents and cousins and they didn't. I tried to explain that I would only see them for eight hours but that didn't help. Thankfully my in-laws were coming down so that would at least be a distraction from me being away. I arrived at my parents around 1pm. My dad just had knee replacement surgery so it was great to see him and help out a bit.

I am so lucky when I go home in that my entire family is in my hometown. My brother and his girlfriend came over to chat for a bit (they live across the street from my parents). I was able to walk the 1.5 blocks to see my grandmother and spend an hour with her. That night I went to my nieces cheerleading competition for their parochial school lead. The both came in first place and did fantastic. While there I saw three of my dad's four siblings, my sister's entire family, my neighbor I grew up with and more. All in eight hours. I love it, because it makes life easy for the few times a year I am there. I know it overwhelms my family at times, having everyone so close has a lot of obligations, etc but for me who is not there, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Sunday morning I left at 8:30 to drive back to the airport. It was a really quick trip but a fun-packed one and so worth it. I was back in Cincinnati at home by 2pm to relieve my in-laws (Arnie was at a coach's clinic for baseball) and get the house in order. We even made it to the Y to register for swimming again and to Target to get summer sneakers which were on sale.

Now back to reality and checking in, hopefully this week will be easier than last.

MM Blog 3/10 Workbook and American Idol

2009-03-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

One of the most common "debates" among parenting experts is whether or not you should let your children watch TV, and if you allow it 'which shows on TV'. I guess now it has evolved to using the computer as well. We have never been in the camp of no TV. Barney, Elmo, Dora and now Hannah, Word Girl and others have been our friend. The kids are entertained and often learning great life lessons or knowledge.

Having said that we limit the amount of TV. Now that they are getting older we have a few "adult" shows that we watch as a family - namely American Idol and Survivor. The kids really look forward to the nights that these shows are on and talking about the contestants. We also watch a lot of sports together, routing for our favorite teams. Find the shows that you love and that are child appropriate and enjoy them as a family. Seeing the kids get up and dance to American Idol is so precious.

Importantly also have family nights were there is no TV. Be it game night, or for us "workbook" night, take the time to invest in family bonding. Last night we all sat at the kitchen table for an hour and a half and did workbooks, learning math, how to write letters, work through mazes, recognize sounds and more. It was great to see their minds act like sponges and how proud they were. I find the girls have such an advantage in being 2nd and 3rd in birth order because they are exposed to learning that we would never have thought of doing with Ben.

Utilize the great tools that exist for non-elementary ed parents...we love workbooks (get them at Sam's club), games online at nickjr or pbskids.org, and great lessons from Ben's kindergarten around sorting, patterning and math. Whether you are walking up the stairs and counting, having the kids measure ingredients and so on, find the teaching moments and have fun with it.

MM Blog 3/8 - Extroverted or Intraverted?

2009-03-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

I have always been fascinated by many of the trainings we have at P&G. In the twelve years I have been there I have done Myers-Briggs, Birkman, Herman-Meier and Strengths Finder a couple of times each (though I likely spelled them wrong). They essentially all tell you different things about your personality, mind or style and how it is similar or different to others.

Given my husband works for the same company, he has been through them all well, so it is even more fun to understand how we are similar or different. I know we have both done Herman-Meier and Myers-Briggs. On Herman Meier which essentially tells you if you are left brained or right brained, we are very similar...very left brain dominant (green-blue on their scale) which means we are linear or sequential thinkers, rely on data for decisions vs. judgement, etc. Essentially we are not "fuzzy" but a bit more black-and-white in how we think.

On Myers-Briggs we are identical on three of the four attributes, but differ on one important one. I am an extrovert and he is an introvert. I wish I was more of an expert on the study and what it means, as at times I am totally confused. But what is true about the model and certainly shows it for us is "where do you get energy from?" I am an extrovert because I love to be around people. I was be miserable working in a lab setting by myself and love to host parties to be around people. Arnie would rather be on his bike riding for hours on end, or relaxing on the couch on a Friday night.

Then it gets funny for me and where I start to misunderstand. The odd thing is once we get to the party (which I wanted to go to as an extrovert and Arnie didn't), I am totally happy talking to one person the entire time, and someone I know. On the other hand, my introvert husband turns into the mayor and strikes a conversation with the majority of people there. I often leave first as well.

Thankfully we compliment each other well. This weekend we hosted two events at our house. On Friday night we had a baby shower for two women I work with, about 50-60 people. Arnie was his normal self talking to everyone, this allows me to be a good host making sure the food is out, people have drinks, etc. Tonight we through an impromptu dinner. We have lots of beer left over and the Duke (my husbands alma mater) - NC game was on at 4pm. So we called our neighbor friends and invited them over for dinner. Everyone brought a side dish for dessert and we grilled flank steak and chicken. Both events went wonderful, I think even the introvert enjoyed himself (even with a tornado warning during our entire dinner tonight).

I recommend some of these tools as they tell you a lot about yourself and help explain some of your pet-peeves, hot buttons, odd behaviors and and so on. Always take them with a grain of salt and don't over-analyze, as that too can drive you a bit crazy.

MM Blog 3/5: Friction at work and a parent teacher conference

2009-03-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

Did you ever have one of those days where you felt like you were on a roller coaster. Some parts of it were great and fun, and others were terrifying and you couldn't' wait for them to be over...that sums up my Thursday.

Today was a really, really long day at work. One of the core team I work with is in our busy season, which means lots of stressful meetings. For a while now we have have not been as cohesive as we once were. The issues is magnified, with the fact that the two strongest personalities on the team (me and another person) used to get a long better than we are. So while other stuff went on and we managed through it, I am no longer always aligned and sharing the same POV as this person, so the team is divided.

After a rough email chain this morning I decided to meet with a couple of the team members, just to hear their perspective. I didn't think I was out of line in the last meeting, but your own perspective is not always correct, so I always like to check with others. It was great to get their perspective and talk as one voice in how we can try to improve things. At P&G we highly value giving feedback, so we brainstormed about the best way to do that. I felt a bit better when I left.

The rest of my day continued the roller coaster ride, a few great meetings and a tough core team meeting, with another team member battling out with the person I am struggling with. I am hoping our feedback session next week will go well, as I am not sure I can handle much more.

On the uber positive side we had our 2nd parent teacher conference with Ben's K teacher tonight. We got his report card last night, and reviewed it so we knew he was doing really well, but is it always nice to hear the experts perspective. It was a great 20 minute session and we could not have been prouder of Ben. We bought him three of his wish list books from the book fair as a "job well done" gift.

American Idol was on tonight, so we did our normal routine of watching it with the girls. Ben is really into sports right now, so he normally goes upstairs to watch basketball on ESPN, its kind of cute. Of course they wimped out and made it 13, I just knew they would keep Anoop. I was just so happy Megan and Matt made it as I think they deserved it.

Tomorrow night we are hosting a big work baby shower here so we set up tonight. I just love my husband, as he was is more worried" then I am. We got all the tables set up, pulled the catering/entertaining equipment out and are all set. I am going to come home at 4pm to start cooking and it should be a great night of fun and good cheer.

happy friday to you all...off to watch Grey's Anatomy

MM Blog 3/1: Sharing and Hand me Downs

2009-03-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

Children teach you many things each day, more than you will ever imagine. Their unconditional love, raw emotions, and pace of development are awe inspiring and you have to catch your breath every now and then to soak it all in.

Having children also makes you aware of all the things you need when you have children. From maternity clothes when you are pregnant and expecting the baby, to the "tools" and "gadgets" for the baby, books and toys, certain furniture and more. It is truly amazing the amount of money you spend in those 3-5 years.

As most of you know, I was in Europe when we had Ben, and the cultural "necessities" for babies were significantly less than in the US. There were not bottle sanitizers, wipe warmers, video cameras (though maybe that was just a sign of the times) and so on. There also wasn't any friends to get hand me downs from. Shipping maternity clothes to Belgium didn't make a whole lot of sense.

So when I returned from Europe, and had my next two kids in quick succession to Ben, I knew I wanted to share what we had. It seemed so wasteful that my maternity clothes were packed away somewhere. They had been put to good use, but in the grand scheme of things had been worn less than 2 years. Heck, I have sweaters from high school still and that is 20 years ago. I knew these clothes had more life to them, particularly the nicer ones that only got worn a handful of times. Any good friend that was pregnant I would immediately ask if they needed clothes. I didn't really care if I got them back, I just wanted them to be put to good use. From Suzanne, to my sister, my cousins wife, Elika and Kristin. Each time they got lent out, it was a heartfelt moment knowing the joy they were going through.

The same is true for the baby "gear"...you all know it...the bouncy seat, swing, Bjorn, pumpkin seat, stroller, boppy pillow, baby tub, changing table, cradle, high chair, monitors and so on. You use it for about a year and then it goes in the basement. Thankfully for us by the time one child was done with it, it was only about 6 months until the next one was in it, but then what? It was such a waste just sitting in our basement. So we did the same thing again. First, the gentleman who worked from Arnie's wife was pregnant. They had just moved form Eastern Europe, knew no one and could use some help. We brought everything up and they took what they needed. With no family and hence no shower, it was a little bit like a shower for her. They were so thankful, it brought tears to my eyes. Next was Elika who worked for me and now Kristin who I work with.

At this point we really don't want it back. We tell people to donate it when they are done. We know we are not having any more children (I couldn't have said that even a year ago) so it makes sense that they pass it along to someone they know who could use it.

Now I am doing the same with the clothes from the kids. I held on to them for a while, not knowing what the genders of our children were. Would I need boy or girl clothes. Once I knew we were done, it was perfect timing as my sister had just had a boy. I began to send bags of clothes to NY with my parents when they came. Anything she didn't want would go to my cousins wife who had a boy 9 months after my sister. Again, the message was "please don't send it back."

My girl clothes are a bit more worn, as I have two girls, but I am now giving them to people at work if they want them. Anything not taken goes to women's shelters. The same with our toys. We donate them all to crisis centers and places that have children. I try to clean them as good as I can and share them with others in need. This makes my husband very happy whenever I have a box ready to go.

I encourage you all to pass along our stuff to others. Yes, you could sell it on EBay, but I would much rather give it to others. The money is not worth all the thanks and gratitude you get and knowing you helped someone else.

MM Blog 2/26: The calendar

2009-02-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Your calendar, you either love it or hate it. It can be your best friend, marking important days, vacation of a lifetime, or your salon appointment. Or it can be your worst enemy, when you stare at it and find back-to-back-to-back meetings the entire day or week.

This week I have been on both sides of the equation. For the first three days of this week it was my worst enemy. On Sunday evening, when I did my normal "reality check" at about 9pm to see what the next day entailed, I realized it was a 7 to 7 day. This did not make Arnie happy, as although I wrote "Jo work PM" on our family calendar, I didn't tell him and put it on his calendar. This was a miss on my part...I broke one of my own tips. Thankfully he could be home by 6pm to relieve Amber. So off I went at 6:35 am to start my day. A 7-9 am call with the Head & Shoulders team, a 9-11 am Video link with the Professional team, only to leave at 10:30 am to drive to another location where my next video link was from 11-12:30 with the Hair Leadership Council. I slipped out at 12:35 to be back downtown by 1pm to begin judging a case competition where we had six of the top business schools come to present a recommendation for a problem we gave them. That would last until 7pm with cocktails and dinner.

Tuesday and Wednesday thankfully were not 12 hour days, just my normal 10 from 7 to 5. But booked solid, I had two 30 minute breaks on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. It was painful. I was so looking forward to getting to my desk this morning and having time to get through my emails and think. It is the latter that I miss most often. I have to keep sticky notes in my car as I find the commute allows me to think more than anything else these days, so I jot down notes to myself while driving. It isn't because there is something magic about my car or the route I take, it is simply time to think without interruption.

If I know I need to get something I will block the time on my calendar and put in "write 60 memo" or "analyze xyz report" but as you rise in management, you find your work is done by others, which means you need to meet with them for updates, etc. But it doesn't mean you can stop thinking and coming up with great ideas, so figure out how to carve out time for that, regardless of your level.

Thankfully, today was back to my love my calendar day. I had a few openings in the day and I found myself walking to the peoples desk to talk vs. emailing them. Perhaps it was because I could, that I wasn't so frantic rushing to another meeting and I could actually have the conversation vs. a quick email. It felt refreshing to connect with people. Then tonight I did our family calendar for the month of March. I realized Oriana our Spanish teacher will be back from her six week trip to Columbia. That made me smile as I know the kids will be glad to see her. March also marks Claire's birthday, she will be five and I can't believe it, time really does fly. I remember the day she was born and the doctor saying "it's a girl" to my disbelief. I will also get to go home to New York this month and see my family, which of course made me really happy.

So it was an up and down week with respect to my feelings about my calendar, like most I am afraid. In the end they are a wonderful tool that helps to keep my organized. I just wish they weren't so full every now and then.