day 110 - working from home

With my job I am sometimes able to work from home. I actually don't like to do it that often as I don't really have the proper set-up and usually end up sitting at my kitchen table, which in turn makes for a very sore back and shoulders!! But today was a day that I had to work from home because I had audio to record for a course I am building. It has been at least a year since I last recorded audio so I was a bit rusty at first, but after a few takes I was okay.

Today was a school day for Alyssa. As part of their learning this week, they have also been learning about nature, etc. And with Earth Day coming up, the kindergarten classes decided to do a nature walk. And since Jason is at home right now, I thought it would be good if he went along as a parent volunteer. He has never had the chance to volunteer in her class, until now! Alyssa was super excited to have her Daddy with her! He didn't want to take along my big camera, but he did take some pictures with his cell phone. I love this one of Alyssa giving him a flower. They had a nice afternoon together.

day 72 - here we go again

Some days are worth forgetting. Today was one of those days that we could've done without!

Jason was let go from his job today. As they said, his services were no longer needed. The company didn't do well last year and with that comes changes. There had been talk the last few months that they might let go someone from his team. Jason wasn't completely surprised by this news. For one, they haven't been very nice to him these last few months. He had already started looking for another job, but was hoping to be the one to say he is leaving.

It was a very stressful job and it was starting to take a toll on him. So in a lot of ways it's a good thing. He will receive severance and when the time comes (if he needs to) he'll be able to collect EI. We're hoping it doesn't come to that, but since we've been through this before, we know it's not always as easy as it looks to find another job!

The one thing we learned the last time this happened is that life is too short and to enjoy what time we have. So if it means he can take the time in the morning to get the girls ready without the stress of having to be somewhere, then he'll do it. And if he is able to pick the girls up from the babysitter earlier than normal than why not! 

And so the job search continues.

He went to pick the girls up from the sitters and as he was walking home with them I was upstairs cleaning up the girls room. I saw the three of them and knew it had to be my picture for the day. Because no matter what he does in life, he'll always have the job of being a Dad.

day 4 - trading in the slippers

It was back to work for me today! I was off for a total of 12 days, including weekends! I truly enjoyed being able to throw on a pair of jogging pants and slip on my slippers and just hang out with the girls. I didn't enjoy being sick though! I am just starting to get over my cough, finally!! 

So today I traded in my slippers and comfy clothes for my work clothes!! 

 

day 356 - 3 more sleeps

Timmy left us a note this morning, letting us know there are just 3 more sleeps till Christmas!!
It's just too bad that one by one we're all getting sick!! Up until now it seemed like all us girls were getting colds, but today Alyssa was the first to get sick to her stomach!! The worst part, she was at school when it happened!!

The even worst part was that I had to stay at work until I could get a print back to approve it, so that meant I couldn't leave right away to get her! The problem was Jason's work wouldn't let him leave!! He had to beg to leave and told them that as soon as I got home, he would come back to work. They weren't going to let him leave and were being very unsympathetic!!!I was furious!!! I always leave to get the girls whenever something happens and this one time I couldn't!! I am very lucky to work on a team that allows me flexibility and is very understanding when it comes to stuff like this. I am also able to work from home if needed, like at times like this. But there are some things I can't do from home and this was one of those times. They ended up letting him leave to get her, but he had to get back to work by 12:30. I ran into an issue with the document I was working on, so I had to leave others on my team to handle it. Again, very thankful for such an amazing team, who jumped right in and did what they needed to do to help a team member out! I would've left it for the next day, but this was my last day in the office, as I was on holidays until the new year!

In the end, we saw how uncaring some people are and how others rise to the occasion and will do anything to help a person in need....I am just thankful I work with the latter :)

Alyssa was doing okay, or at least I thought! She had a nap on the couch, with her little bucket close by. It's a good thing it was, because when she woke up she got sick!! I wasn't fast enough to get it, so quite a bit got all over the couch! Yuck!!! I don't do well with barf, never have! It's usually Jason who does the clean-up. I can hold their hair if they're getting sick in the toilet, but cleaning it up is not for me!

By the next day she was doing much better. It was me who was not feeling good. Not an upset stomach, but a nasty cold was coming on!!

day 273 - last day at daycare

Today was a day that Alyssa has been looking forward to for a month! Last day of daycare!

Why so happy? Alyssa has had a hard time adjusting to daycare. She was doing good for awhile, but after her friend left and her favourite teacher left, she never seemed to enjoy daycare days. Daycare was only supposed to be a tempoary solution until we found someone in town again. But at the same time, we knew how much Cayla enjoyed it. We were hoping things would change for Alyssa, but if anything morning drop-offs only got worse for her! She cried every day. Despite being in a good mood when we picked her up and talking about what she did, she just never really seemed to settle in. So we were glad when we found a sitter in town.

Like on their first day, I snapped a picture of the two of them. Typically, Alyssa is never smiling at morning drop-off. After I snapped this picture, the sad face returned.

Cayla on the other hand was excited to go inside. She liked scanning the key fob to get in the building. Cayla hasn't always loved daycare, she's had her own ups and downs, but unlike Alyssa she has adjusted to each new situation a lot quicker. For instance at the beginning of September, Cayla started in a new room with new teachers. There was lots of tears for a week, but after that she was fine.

Instead of seeing a crying girl at the window, I now see a smiling one who is waving and blowing kisses at me! I much prefer this!!

Alyssa on the other hand would sit in the window to her class with the biggest sad face. I would get to the car and wave and blow her a kiss and she would do the same, but not with the same gusto that I would. I was going to take a picture of her in the window, but thought against it. This hasn't been a happy place for her, despite everything her teachers and we've tried to do. I can't say she hated it, because she really did enjoy her days. At the same time, I think she much prefered being in a home setting, where there wasn't a schedule rest time, etc. Mind you, she would nap on occasion. We always knew when she had as her mood would change dramatically, for the better of course!

Only time will tell how they adjust to the new sitter. We're expecting an adjustment period. We're just hoping it doesn't last so long for Alyssa.

We're happy that we get our morning and after work commutes back to ourselves again!! I always enjoyed that time, as it gave me time to think about my day and then unwind at the end of the day. I will miss having Cayla singing on the way to work. It drove Alyssa crazy, but I quite enjoyed it. That's how I learned the words to "Baby bubblebee". Granted I had to hear it a lot before I knew all the words :) I won't miss them fighting on the way home though! Many times I found myself saying, "If you don't stop now, I am going to pull over on the side of the road." It didn't make a good start to the evening!!

Since I had my camera with me at work, I snapped a picture of my desk. I am very lucky to have such a large workspace, as most in the company aren't this big. I love being surrounded by photos, which I am always changing! I also have to say how much I am loving having two monitors! Now if I could only have this set-up at home! Just think how much scrapbooking I would get done!!

day 187 - let out early

I work for a large insurance company designing training material for our sales force, or as we call them, advisors. Some advisors work out of their home, while others prefer to work at a financial centre.

Today I got to visit a local financial centre to see what it's like and to get feedback on our training material. It was very informative. Although, my manager wasn't too pleased to hear that the advisors turn the audio to the online courses off!!!

I joked with the group I was meeting with and told them they were missing out on hearing my voice! LOL  Not sure they're going to tune in going forward, but they got a good laugh.

I understand where they are coming from though. Even for me, it's hard to sit and go through some of the online course we're made to take as employees where the audio is more distracting than helpful. They did however get an eye opener when I told them that for our simulation courses, where we are showing how to use an application, that the main learning comes from the audio! It gives us something to think about when designing our courses going forward. We know we can't please everyone and with our audience being thousands of advisors across Canada, it's even harder!

The visit was nice, but what was even nicer is we were done early, which meant I got to go home. Not to have a free afternoon though!! I still had lots of work to do, but it helped that I could change in to shorts and a t-shirt and sit out on my deck and work!

I didn't stay out there too long though...it was a bit too humid for me! I am use to working in air conditioning all day :)

day 34 - then & now

I am following along with a monthly photo inspiration project called the joy of LOVE. If you sign up, you'll be emailed daily photo prompts for the entire month of February! Just what I need...some inspiration :)

Today's prompt was "then & now". So this morning, while rushing to get the girls out the door on time, I quickly grabbed the only older picture I could find of them together! I take lots of pictures, but I really don't keep older ones up, I am always replacing with new updated ones :) But this photo, is not something that is framed, it graces the cover of my photo-a-day book from 2009! This book sits on a shelf in our living room and we, mostly me and girls look at it often! It's funny, because after snapping this picture, they wanted to sit and look at it! LOL No time for that girls, maybe another time :)

How quickly they have grown...especially Cayla! She's almost the size of Alyssa! The shirt she's wearing today is actually size 4T, which Alyssa only just wore last winter!! Yikes!!

Maybe this photo will grace the cover of m 2011 photo-a-day book. Although, I don't plan on doing weekly scrapbook layouts like I did that year. Love the idea and if I had time I would totally do it, but it's very time consuming :) Instead, I'll just be printing my blog as a book.

Today I actually took my camera with me! I never take it to work, but I think I might more often. This morning, before leaving town, I stopped at one of the local parks to snap a few pictures of the pretty snow. The day after a big snowfall is always so pretty!

But it sure was cold! My car had an outside temp reading of -18.

I didn't plan on snapping a picture of my desk, but I thought, why not! I do plan to bring my camera to work again. I want to take pictures of the office, as the building is very old and has some amazing architecture. The original building was built in the early 1900's and then there is a tower with 19 floors! The tallest building in the city! Only a year ago, I use to work on the 19th floor. Now I work on the third floor.

Today was also a very special day...it was my Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you! xo

pajama day

Today was pajama day for Alyssa! She was so excited about wearing her pajamas all day! Although, she was a bit concerned that she would get them dirty at lunch! LOL What was even more exciting is that she was able to bring her stuffed bear, Pinwheel. She got him in her stocking on her first Christmas! He is a fav stuffy for sure!

When I told her I would put pigtails in her hair, she said, "But I don't sleep with pigtails in my hair". That's true, but there is just something about wearing your pajamas out in public that requires pigtails! LOL

Oh, and how could I forget that she could also take her slippers to school! She would need them, as it was a bitterly cold day!

Today could've been a pajama day for me too, since I had the luxury of working from home. But I had to go out in public to take the girls to the sitters, so I made sure I was dressed! I don't work from home that often, but it's nice that I am able to do it when needed. Today's reason had nothing to do with the weather, even though it was blowing snow for a bit, but no, it was so I could record my voice!!

I work as an Instructional Designer at a local insurance company. The title means different things in different companies. For me, it means I create online learning for our sales force, or as we call them, Advisors. This is not a small audience by any means! I am not sure of the exact number, but it's in the thousands!! I am not responsible for all phases of the project, but what I am responsible for is by far the largest piece. It involves writing the script (what is going to be said and shown), capturing what is going to be shown (we use Adobe Captivate), and finally recording the audio for what is going to be heard. The last piece, recording the audio, is new for me. In the past, I have written the script and created the course, but I didn't record the audio. That was handed over to a co-worker to do. Once she was done, than I finished by editing the timing, etc. Because of the project I am working on, another person was needed for voice recording. I did a voice test and had my co-workers rate me. Based on their feedback, it was determined that my voice was worthy of recording!! REALLY?!?! I was shocked when they all came back to tell me this!!! I am sure I am like most people, I hate the sound of my voice recorded!!!

So today was the big day! I was very reluctant, but knew it had to be done, so I forged ahead! And  you know what? I actually didn't mind it! I surprised myself. I was able to do some captures in one take, others took me a few takes. Overall, I felt pretty good. I am thankful I did it at home though! Typically, we would book a room at work and do it, but because I needed a room for an entire day, I couldn't find one! I am thankful for this! Because doing it from home made me more relaxed. Especially since I knew that no one could hear me! It was great! I did get a headache from wearing the stupid headset though!!  

I got done my recording early, so I was able to pick Alyssa up from school. She didn't know I would be picking her up, so of course she was over the moon happy! Cayla was very excited to see me too! But holy cow was it cold!! I had to take my mittens off to bucket Cayla in her car seat and when I was done I thought my hands were going to fall off! I didn't warm up until I got home and had a hot chocolate. Alyssa had one too...no surprise there! It just has to be a little cold and she is begging for a hot chocolate to warm her up.

Once the girls were warmed up, they had a little dance party with the Imagination Movers. They love this show! The girls dance moves make me laugh...oh to be a kid again!