We're in the club now, it's official. Well, a club, I suppose. My husband has been a family member of a country club or golf club since he was a child. I've never been a member until today.
We have multiple neighbors who are members and they seem to like the club a lot. It gives my husband a location to play golf, and me a great place for delicious brunch food (or so I've heard).
It's not a fancy or highly exclusive club and the people I know that are members are great folks. Hopefully we'll make some good friends there. Oh, and I hear they have a great pool for kids.
The Big Boy Update: Spanking. I got mad at him today. He had cornered his sister and was trying to tear the bow out of her hair. She was cowering on the sofa and crying. I snatched him up and, well, yelled at him. I shouldn't have, but I did. He ran under the dining room table and I followed him and spanked him. He cried. I asked him if he was crying because he wanted me to stop and he said, "yes". So I spanked him twice more and told him his sister had just been crying and wanted him to stop but he hadn't. Not my finest parenting moment, but apparently he was very well-behaved later that afternoon.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She made a mess of some cards today and then she wanted snack. When she was told she could have snack after she cleaned up the cards she said, "I can't do it. I want you to do it." She put up quite a fuss, including crying. Then, she calmly put all the cards away and I served her snack.
Fitness Update: It's been a while since I've been running. We ran eight miles today going, "the hateful route" which is more hilly and steep than the regular route we take.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Friday, June 6, 2014
Brain Dead
I want to be brain dead right now. I don't mean in the traditional sense, I mean in a, "I don't want to have to think or work or do anything for anyone else. I just want to relax and do something mindless." "Veg out" works too and has the same underlying meaning as brain dead.
I got up at 5:15am and I'm still going at almost nine o'clock. I still have things on my list to get done before I can go to sleep and then get up early to go running. I'm almost done though, so it's going to be silly iPad games while lying in bed in only a short while. It's truly one of the best times of the day I think.
The Big Boy Update: Snaps. Remember those little snaps you got in a cardboard box in wood shavings that you threw on the ground and they made a little combustion-based snap sound with sparks? We got some tonight and my son loved them. They were gone far too quickly.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She loves to have a towel at the pool. She likes to lie on the pool lounger on her back or in a folded over pile and have the towel cover her. I'm not sure if she likes the pool or spending time with the towel more.
Fitness Update: I returned to the gym. It was a nice break, going on vacation and then having to let my crazy shoulder get better, but I was glad to be back.
I got up at 5:15am and I'm still going at almost nine o'clock. I still have things on my list to get done before I can go to sleep and then get up early to go running. I'm almost done though, so it's going to be silly iPad games while lying in bed in only a short while. It's truly one of the best times of the day I think.
The Big Boy Update: Snaps. Remember those little snaps you got in a cardboard box in wood shavings that you threw on the ground and they made a little combustion-based snap sound with sparks? We got some tonight and my son loved them. They were gone far too quickly.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She loves to have a towel at the pool. She likes to lie on the pool lounger on her back or in a folded over pile and have the towel cover her. I'm not sure if she likes the pool or spending time with the towel more.
Fitness Update: I returned to the gym. It was a nice break, going on vacation and then having to let my crazy shoulder get better, but I was glad to be back.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
The New Resume Landscape
I went to dinner with some girlfriends tonight. Job searching and resumes came up and I was surprised to hear what they were telling me. It appears the entire landscape of resumes has changed quite dramatically since I last spent actively looking for a job.
In part, that's because it's been a long, long time since I've looked for a job. One job was followed by another job that I got from a casual inquiry. My resume at that point was more of a formality as they were already familiar with my experience through other work. The job after that was another easy step via connections and people in the same product area that knew exactly what I could do and how well I could do it.
Come to think of it, I'm not sure when I've really had to rely on a resume in my life to get a job, other than when I looked for a co-op position while in college. That co-op with IBM turned into employment with IBM and then the other jobs followed as a result. All that is rather moot right now as I'm not employed, busily being a mother of two toddlers and volunteering much of my time with endeavors related to the school.
I do have my resume on LinkedIn though. I was told years ago that I'd better get my resume out there because that was, "the new thing and you simply have to be on LinkedIn". Now, it appears that LinkedIn, while a nice place to network from a business standpoint, isn't the reference point for submitting a resume for a position.
Here are things I heard in conversations at our dinner table tonight:
- "You have to tailor your resume to each position you're applying for."
- "People put too much in their resume."
- "They don't trim out historical work or work that's not applicable to the position they're applying for."
- "Some people leave in unrelated things, making their resume longer than necessary. It seems like they do this because they're mostly proud of what they've done, not that it's relevant."
I stopped them and asked them, "so what do you put in a resume these days?" I was told that the best resume was one that only addressed experience and qualifications for that particular position. They talked about how you want to look qualified but not over-qualified." One of my friends is a project manager. She explained, "if I was looking for a job at a drug store, my resume would list the grocery clerk work I did in my teens and the Hallmark job I had in college, and that's all."
The job search landscape has changed a lot since I last looked for employment.
The Big Boy Update: We were going to a Mexican restaurant for lunch that happened to be in the same shopping strip as a pizza restaurant we had gone to the day before. When we drove in, my son said something that made me laugh because it's phraseology he's never used before that made him sound much older: "pizza place, here we come!"
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter doesn't really like things in her hair, but she needs them to keep her hair out of her eyes. She's getting better at not pulling them out. What she does feel strongly about is what goes in her hair each day. Some days bows are in, other days she wants the rubber bandy things. And most of all, she wants to pick the color and hold the item (bow, clip, etc.) and play with it in her hands while you brush her hair, until you tell her you're ready for it.
In part, that's because it's been a long, long time since I've looked for a job. One job was followed by another job that I got from a casual inquiry. My resume at that point was more of a formality as they were already familiar with my experience through other work. The job after that was another easy step via connections and people in the same product area that knew exactly what I could do and how well I could do it.
Come to think of it, I'm not sure when I've really had to rely on a resume in my life to get a job, other than when I looked for a co-op position while in college. That co-op with IBM turned into employment with IBM and then the other jobs followed as a result. All that is rather moot right now as I'm not employed, busily being a mother of two toddlers and volunteering much of my time with endeavors related to the school.
I do have my resume on LinkedIn though. I was told years ago that I'd better get my resume out there because that was, "the new thing and you simply have to be on LinkedIn". Now, it appears that LinkedIn, while a nice place to network from a business standpoint, isn't the reference point for submitting a resume for a position.
Here are things I heard in conversations at our dinner table tonight:
- "You have to tailor your resume to each position you're applying for."
- "People put too much in their resume."
- "They don't trim out historical work or work that's not applicable to the position they're applying for."
- "Some people leave in unrelated things, making their resume longer than necessary. It seems like they do this because they're mostly proud of what they've done, not that it's relevant."
I stopped them and asked them, "so what do you put in a resume these days?" I was told that the best resume was one that only addressed experience and qualifications for that particular position. They talked about how you want to look qualified but not over-qualified." One of my friends is a project manager. She explained, "if I was looking for a job at a drug store, my resume would list the grocery clerk work I did in my teens and the Hallmark job I had in college, and that's all."
The job search landscape has changed a lot since I last looked for employment.
The Big Boy Update: We were going to a Mexican restaurant for lunch that happened to be in the same shopping strip as a pizza restaurant we had gone to the day before. When we drove in, my son said something that made me laugh because it's phraseology he's never used before that made him sound much older: "pizza place, here we come!"
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter doesn't really like things in her hair, but she needs them to keep her hair out of her eyes. She's getting better at not pulling them out. What she does feel strongly about is what goes in her hair each day. Some days bows are in, other days she wants the rubber bandy things. And most of all, she wants to pick the color and hold the item (bow, clip, etc.) and play with it in her hands while you brush her hair, until you tell her you're ready for it.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Condensate Pump Pains
We have an HVAC system that has a small problem--the Condensate Pump. The unit is in the basement and all water it produces in both the winter and summer drain to a little pump on the floor. Any condensation or the runoff from the humidifier component in the winter drops into this little red box. When the box gets full, the pump kicks on and pumps the water ten feet upwards and out the side of the house to drain. That is, it does when it's working properly.
Last year we discovered water in the mechanical room. The condensate pump wasn't pumping and it overflowed. A water shutoff sensor was relocated, a pool noodle was mutilated to create a new bobber and we hoped the problem was solved. We "hoped" because the machine itself wasn't acting consistently. It wasn't electrical inconsistency, it was mechanical, and it was a gravity-based issue that worked 100% of the time unless we weren't watching it. It made no sense.
At any rate, we got it working again. Some time later it stopped working for no apparent reason. I futzed with it and it resumed normal function for a second time. This Saturday it stopped for a third time. We discover it wasn't working because the air conditioning had stopped working and the house was getting hot. Swearing ensued. We didn't know what was wrong and it was going to be a hot day. We go check the circuit breaker, look to see if a large limb is blocking the fan outdoors and then remember the condensate pump. Then more swearing ensued.
That's when I got fed up with the condensate pump. Luckily, our builder was coming over to do something dangerous on our roof and I got to talking with him about the pump (which he didn't install personally but has been ever so kind to help us with multiple times). I was telling him I didn't understand why the one in the crawl space worked flawlessly, but the one in the mechanical room was so irritable. And then I thought, "how much can these little red plastic boxes be?"
So off to Amazon we go and for the low low price of $45, I could have a new pump that won't leave us with a basement full of water or a house that creeps up to "near 'bout sweltering" before we figure out the problem.
Tonight the new pump came in. It was a fifteen minute job to change the new pump out. I was so happy I nearly hugged the new pump when it did it's first successful pump.
The Big Boy Update: My son didn't go to school today. He told me his stomach hurt when we were on the drive there. Two blocks before we arrived, he threw up all over himself. I dropped his sister off at school and brought him home. He had a bath and the car seat got pulled out of the car and into to the driveway to be hosed down. After the bath my son was hungry. He ate and ate and ate and then had a completely normal day. This morning he ate the same cereal, milk and juice as his sister did for breakfast. We have no idea what bothered his stomach so.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: We had pizza for lunch today. My daughter was busy playing super hero with her brother. She stood up on her chair, held her hands up high and said, "I got my pizza powers!"
Last year we discovered water in the mechanical room. The condensate pump wasn't pumping and it overflowed. A water shutoff sensor was relocated, a pool noodle was mutilated to create a new bobber and we hoped the problem was solved. We "hoped" because the machine itself wasn't acting consistently. It wasn't electrical inconsistency, it was mechanical, and it was a gravity-based issue that worked 100% of the time unless we weren't watching it. It made no sense.
At any rate, we got it working again. Some time later it stopped working for no apparent reason. I futzed with it and it resumed normal function for a second time. This Saturday it stopped for a third time. We discover it wasn't working because the air conditioning had stopped working and the house was getting hot. Swearing ensued. We didn't know what was wrong and it was going to be a hot day. We go check the circuit breaker, look to see if a large limb is blocking the fan outdoors and then remember the condensate pump. Then more swearing ensued.
That's when I got fed up with the condensate pump. Luckily, our builder was coming over to do something dangerous on our roof and I got to talking with him about the pump (which he didn't install personally but has been ever so kind to help us with multiple times). I was telling him I didn't understand why the one in the crawl space worked flawlessly, but the one in the mechanical room was so irritable. And then I thought, "how much can these little red plastic boxes be?"
So off to Amazon we go and for the low low price of $45, I could have a new pump that won't leave us with a basement full of water or a house that creeps up to "near 'bout sweltering" before we figure out the problem.
Tonight the new pump came in. It was a fifteen minute job to change the new pump out. I was so happy I nearly hugged the new pump when it did it's first successful pump.
The Big Boy Update: My son didn't go to school today. He told me his stomach hurt when we were on the drive there. Two blocks before we arrived, he threw up all over himself. I dropped his sister off at school and brought him home. He had a bath and the car seat got pulled out of the car and into to the driveway to be hosed down. After the bath my son was hungry. He ate and ate and ate and then had a completely normal day. This morning he ate the same cereal, milk and juice as his sister did for breakfast. We have no idea what bothered his stomach so.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: We had pizza for lunch today. My daughter was busy playing super hero with her brother. She stood up on her chair, held her hands up high and said, "I got my pizza powers!"
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Must...Clean...Up...
I got in tonight and I needed to get to the basement to get some work done at the computer (including this blog post). I needed to get downstairs fairly quickly because I had some phone calls to make that should ideally happen before it gets too late. But I ran into a snag...
There was messy. Well, maybe messy isn't the right word; you could say, "things weren't in their proper places." I like things in their proper places. That's not always true. For example, things have to be out of their place in order to use them. It's hard to cook dinner if you can't get a pot out and put it on the stove. Eating salad is far more challenging without a plate, fork and even salad that must respectively stay in the cabinet, drawer and refrigerator.
But when something is done being used, it should go back to it's spot so the next time you need to use it, you know just where to go to get it. Also, this plan to put stuff where it's suppose to go makes things much more visually tidy--and I like tidy.
So tonight when I got in, almost everything was put up, but there were little things--little things that called to me in an obsessive compulsive-type of way. So I put everything back just so, in all the spots those things were suppose to be in. Do I sound crazy to you, or is it just me?
The Big Boy Update: I asked my son and daughter what that noise was. His teacher said, "I think it's a helicopter." My son said, "It's a choo choo train, you whore", which caused Kick and me to snap our heads up and look at each other because we both thought he'd said the same thing. Then we realized he was saying, "and horn". We laughed at our mis-hearing adult minds.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: When our sitter, Ezra, came over tonight, my daughter showed her her gymnastics moves. She did jumping jacks and forward rolls. Today was the last day of gymnastics in the main school season. We're debating signing them up over the summer. She does love gymnastics.
There was messy. Well, maybe messy isn't the right word; you could say, "things weren't in their proper places." I like things in their proper places. That's not always true. For example, things have to be out of their place in order to use them. It's hard to cook dinner if you can't get a pot out and put it on the stove. Eating salad is far more challenging without a plate, fork and even salad that must respectively stay in the cabinet, drawer and refrigerator.
But when something is done being used, it should go back to it's spot so the next time you need to use it, you know just where to go to get it. Also, this plan to put stuff where it's suppose to go makes things much more visually tidy--and I like tidy.
So tonight when I got in, almost everything was put up, but there were little things--little things that called to me in an obsessive compulsive-type of way. So I put everything back just so, in all the spots those things were suppose to be in. Do I sound crazy to you, or is it just me?
The Big Boy Update: I asked my son and daughter what that noise was. His teacher said, "I think it's a helicopter." My son said, "It's a choo choo train, you whore", which caused Kick and me to snap our heads up and look at each other because we both thought he'd said the same thing. Then we realized he was saying, "and horn". We laughed at our mis-hearing adult minds.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: When our sitter, Ezra, came over tonight, my daughter showed her her gymnastics moves. She did jumping jacks and forward rolls. Today was the last day of gymnastics in the main school season. We're debating signing them up over the summer. She does love gymnastics.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Medical Expense Tracking
My sister-in-law posted yesterday on her blog about all the paperwork associated with medical insurance claims. There are statements, bills, receipts, informational pamphlets, and other papery things that come with medical care.
Those things need to be filed somewhere so in the case they're needed in the future, you can go back in medical time and find the date on which you had the appendectomy or cesarean section or flu. Then you can do whatever it is you need to do with that information, like confirm that you were prescribed antibiotic X and that you remember it helped your situation.
I don't generally have to go back through my medical paperwork, but once a year I go through the papers and get all the bills I've paid so that I know my total un-reimbursed medical expenses for the year for tax purposes.
It was this year when I was piling through everything, making a spreadsheet and hoping to remember everything (when I knew darn well I wouldn't) that I had an idea. Why not track all costs as I incur them throughout the year. When I get a bill, pay it and enter the amount in my medical costs 2014 spreadsheet. When I come home with a prescription, enter the date, amount and prescription name in the spreadsheet.
Also, to make it easier, create a new folder that is only bills or costs paid. Prior to now I've only had one medical folder. I don't have that much medical paperwork in a year so one folder usually does it for me. Even so, piling through it at the end of the year is still a pain.
So far, it's been working well. I have everything documented up to now and I'm not forgetting any costs that I might not remember come March of next year.
The Big Boy Update: Poke-a-pots. He said there were some of those on his cinnamon toast this morning. Ah, polka dots? Well, I didn't see them, but apparently they were delicious polka dots because he ate both his and his sister's breakfast.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: During breakfast this morning my daughter was drinking her milk and a few droplets dropped onto the table. She looked down and exclaimed, "It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!" I looked over at the overlapping droplets and I had to agree with her, that's what it looked like.
Those things need to be filed somewhere so in the case they're needed in the future, you can go back in medical time and find the date on which you had the appendectomy or cesarean section or flu. Then you can do whatever it is you need to do with that information, like confirm that you were prescribed antibiotic X and that you remember it helped your situation.
I don't generally have to go back through my medical paperwork, but once a year I go through the papers and get all the bills I've paid so that I know my total un-reimbursed medical expenses for the year for tax purposes.
It was this year when I was piling through everything, making a spreadsheet and hoping to remember everything (when I knew darn well I wouldn't) that I had an idea. Why not track all costs as I incur them throughout the year. When I get a bill, pay it and enter the amount in my medical costs 2014 spreadsheet. When I come home with a prescription, enter the date, amount and prescription name in the spreadsheet.
Also, to make it easier, create a new folder that is only bills or costs paid. Prior to now I've only had one medical folder. I don't have that much medical paperwork in a year so one folder usually does it for me. Even so, piling through it at the end of the year is still a pain.
So far, it's been working well. I have everything documented up to now and I'm not forgetting any costs that I might not remember come March of next year.
The Big Boy Update: Poke-a-pots. He said there were some of those on his cinnamon toast this morning. Ah, polka dots? Well, I didn't see them, but apparently they were delicious polka dots because he ate both his and his sister's breakfast.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: During breakfast this morning my daughter was drinking her milk and a few droplets dropped onto the table. She looked down and exclaimed, "It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!" I looked over at the overlapping droplets and I had to agree with her, that's what it looked like.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Weekend Wrapup
Too many blog topics, too few days...
The Normal Guy's Perspective and the beach-less bikini: This is from when we were in Las Vegas. We started seeing people in bikinis or bikini-like clothing at all hours of the day. There were far more people in very skimpy pool clothing with little or no cover-ups on even during evening hours. Was it a new fad? The guy at the hotel shop told me when I asked on the first day, "you have no idea". He was right, I stopped counting after awhile the number of outrageous outfits.
The Christopher Walken Wall: Walking through Aria in Las Vegas we happened upon a wall in a walkway that was covered with large pictures of Christopher Walken. They were distressed and looked like badly worn old photos, blown up on a grand scale. I have no idea what the message is, but I liked walking by that crazy set of pictures every day.
The Sock Sensation: There is a new style, mis-matched socks. Very colorful, crazy, mis-matched socks. At the Bat Mitzva last night the young girls were all wearing beautiful dresses. They had on nice dress shoes too, but shortly after arriving, they all kicked off their shoes and got socks out of a supplied basket. It was strange watching them dance around all night in cocktail dresses and neon non-matching socks.
No longer a slave to the alarm: I used to dread the alarm. I'm still not a huge fan of the early morning beep beeping, but I don't hate it like I used to. If I'm not getting up early to work out, I don't even set an alarm; usually I wake up before it would go off anyway. I used to hate the alarm, now it just seems like a helpful tool to me.
The Light Bulb Calculation: We have a total light bulb count in the house. It's over three-hundred. That includes all the little lights in the under-cabinet area, all occasional lamps we don't really turn on, the chandeliers with their many-bulbed limbs and all the outdoor lights. We've already gotten some of the bulbs switched to LEDs and we're working on a few more each week. With over three-hundred bulbs though, it's going to take a while.
Car Nails: I like selecting a dark blue for my fingernails and/or toenails. I've liked dark blue for a long time and it seems I'm more likely to pick that color over any other. Just last week I realized the color I had was very like the color of my current as well as prior car. Have I been matching my nails to my car all this time without knowing it or did I pick a car color to match my nails?
The Cleaning Lady Cost Comparison: Whenever I hear how much something costs, I do a mental cost comparison on value. We love the person who cleans our home. She's been with me since 1997 and she is very much like family. I could get someone for less money to clean our home, but she is excellent at what she does and she is flexible with anything we need. In short, I believe what we pay her is a good value for our family. Whenever I'm comparing any other hourly cost for a service, I always mentally weigh the value for that price in comparison to how much we pay our cleaning lady and determine if I think it's, "too much" or "a good value".
The Big Boy Update: The ketchup block construction. My son "needed" the unopened ketchup bottle from the pantry today for some work he was doing in the basement. I came down later to find this:
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: So sleepy. My daughter partied hard at the Bat Mitzvah last night. She danced with the big kids and ran around until she tried to sleep on the floor of the airport terminal. This morning my son slept until 8:30AM, an unheard of late hour for either of them. She finally got up at 9:45AM when I work her up.
The Normal Guy's Perspective and the beach-less bikini: This is from when we were in Las Vegas. We started seeing people in bikinis or bikini-like clothing at all hours of the day. There were far more people in very skimpy pool clothing with little or no cover-ups on even during evening hours. Was it a new fad? The guy at the hotel shop told me when I asked on the first day, "you have no idea". He was right, I stopped counting after awhile the number of outrageous outfits.
The Christopher Walken Wall: Walking through Aria in Las Vegas we happened upon a wall in a walkway that was covered with large pictures of Christopher Walken. They were distressed and looked like badly worn old photos, blown up on a grand scale. I have no idea what the message is, but I liked walking by that crazy set of pictures every day.
The Sock Sensation: There is a new style, mis-matched socks. Very colorful, crazy, mis-matched socks. At the Bat Mitzva last night the young girls were all wearing beautiful dresses. They had on nice dress shoes too, but shortly after arriving, they all kicked off their shoes and got socks out of a supplied basket. It was strange watching them dance around all night in cocktail dresses and neon non-matching socks.
No longer a slave to the alarm: I used to dread the alarm. I'm still not a huge fan of the early morning beep beeping, but I don't hate it like I used to. If I'm not getting up early to work out, I don't even set an alarm; usually I wake up before it would go off anyway. I used to hate the alarm, now it just seems like a helpful tool to me.
The Light Bulb Calculation: We have a total light bulb count in the house. It's over three-hundred. That includes all the little lights in the under-cabinet area, all occasional lamps we don't really turn on, the chandeliers with their many-bulbed limbs and all the outdoor lights. We've already gotten some of the bulbs switched to LEDs and we're working on a few more each week. With over three-hundred bulbs though, it's going to take a while.
Car Nails: I like selecting a dark blue for my fingernails and/or toenails. I've liked dark blue for a long time and it seems I'm more likely to pick that color over any other. Just last week I realized the color I had was very like the color of my current as well as prior car. Have I been matching my nails to my car all this time without knowing it or did I pick a car color to match my nails?
The Cleaning Lady Cost Comparison: Whenever I hear how much something costs, I do a mental cost comparison on value. We love the person who cleans our home. She's been with me since 1997 and she is very much like family. I could get someone for less money to clean our home, but she is excellent at what she does and she is flexible with anything we need. In short, I believe what we pay her is a good value for our family. Whenever I'm comparing any other hourly cost for a service, I always mentally weigh the value for that price in comparison to how much we pay our cleaning lady and determine if I think it's, "too much" or "a good value".
The Big Boy Update: The ketchup block construction. My son "needed" the unopened ketchup bottle from the pantry today for some work he was doing in the basement. I came down later to find this:
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: So sleepy. My daughter partied hard at the Bat Mitzvah last night. She danced with the big kids and ran around until she tried to sleep on the floor of the airport terminal. This morning my son slept until 8:30AM, an unheard of late hour for either of them. She finally got up at 9:45AM when I work her up.
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