Drained

I am just drained right now...on so many levels. I work nonstop during the day, but can't seem to stop the never-ending supply of to-do's and deadlines (and yes, I do prioritize, practice the 80/20 rule, work the HECK out of my student worker, etc.). My boss even told me that I was going to have to start saying, "NO!" - and not just to Kellen and Matt - but to requests University-wide, and start being more selective about my outside projects and committees...I guess you know it's pretty bad when your boss is telling you that you're going to have to start saying no to things, huh? He's given the administrative staff the charge of coming up with staffing solutions, but with virtually no extra budget, it's fairly difficult to find a way to hire additional help...I told him that I would just continue to stretch myself and get it all done...His reply, an emphatic, "No way."

We're trying out a new church right now, I wonder how many times in a row you should try a church before you try the next one? What's the rule of thumb on that? Hmmm? I think that Kellen enjoyed it yesterday...as he was getting ready this morning I think he thought he was going back to church because he was talking about it again.

Today...I guess Kellen had a bad day today at school, because he bit one of his friends. Yikes! I think that's only the second time he's ever done that. Arg! He and I had a talk about biting after I read the incident report, then I saw a note in his cubby that said he had bitten himself on the wrist. What was with him today? I know that he and his Daddy wrestled a lot this weekend, so maybe they need to wrestle with boundaries...I think that Kellen is still too young to understand the difference between wrestling with Daddy and what is acceptable play with Daddy and what he's able to do with other people. He just can't make that separation yet. But what do I know? I'm just the Mommy and that's just my speculation...

I'm looking forward to this weekend...I have a goal...Matt and I are thinking about and planning to go out of town to a friends for the weekend for the Super Bowl and make a weekend of it...and I'm clearing my Monday as well in an attempt to make it a relaxing weekend. We had originally scheduled to go out of town this past weekend, but work swamped me and we had to cancel on my account...maybe I'll be able to make up for it this weekend. Something to shoot for!

UPDATED POST at 10:35 PM

Letters of nomination - I've written a few of them tonight for some awards that are due early next week, so I can scratch part of one thing off of my to-do list...at least I've gotten them started. Now I'm only waiting on two more students to send me their packets and I can work up their letters...maybe I'll even get these packets submitted early! (Did I just WRITE that???) I don't believe in jinx's, but did I just do that to myself?

I'm tired, my brain is throbbing...and I'm wondering if my letters even made any sense...I guess I'll tell that one tomorrow when I read over them again at the office where they are now waiting for me on the printer. Gotta' love that proxy!

Raindrops

The day started very early for Matt, as he came to the rescue of one screaming toddler at 4 AM. Kellen was apparently standing at his door, light on, waiting in desperation for one of his parents to rescue him. From what we're still unsure of, but rescue him nonetheless. Matt decided to let me attempt to have one night of uninterrupted and sound sleep - would have been my first in a week - so he and Kellen laid down again in the living room. It is my understanding that they did actually go back to sleep (it must be something about Daddy that can make that happen, because it sure doesn't when Mommy tries it!). Around 6 or so, the two men come crawling into the big bed, wanting to snuggle...well, one wanted to snuggle and play, and the other just wanted to get some more sleep. Since this is a G-rated blog *grin* you can guess which one was which. Mommy still wanted to sleep, so poor Kellen was told to just lay down - no playing - it wasn't time to get up yet. At one point in time he was starting to say something to me and when Matt got onto him, he turned and said,

"Daddy, I just wanted to talk to Mommy."

Then he turned to me and said, "I love you Mommy."

Oh my goodness. What a sweet way to wake up on a Sunday morning. A little later, Kellen turned to me and whispered,

"Mommy, raindrops are falling from the sky."

Yes, it's raining here, so today will most definitely be an inside day. But it was just so sweet how he said it...like it was some big secret that he was sharing with me.

Truck

Well, in this last week I feel like I've been hit by a truck...a mac truck, but I was somewhat expecting this (see one of my previous posts when I discussed my expectations for the first week of classes). There hasn't been a day this week that I've taken a lunch or left the office before 6 PM...daycare closes at 6:15 PM, so I'm cutting it really close to be able to get Kellen before they close and I get charged extra $$ for being late...and was actually late on Wednesday by ~ 5-7 minutes, so they have a right to charge me but I don't know if they will. I've brought work home with me (but was just too exhausted to do it), so I guess that negates the effort, huh?

There is a lot going on, so my brain really isn't able to focus and direct for this post...more regular posts will begin again once the first week of school craziness has come to an end.

Friday the 13th

Was such the stereotype yesterday for my poor student worker...she had a wreck on the way to work on University Drive (8:00 AM) with an international student (not to stereotype - please don't take it that way - who exclaimed, "This happens to me a lot!", then after that was settled, got lost in Research Park (had never been there before), and while trying to get out of Research Park, got pulled over by a cop. Luckily (or unluckly, however you might want to look at it), at that point in time she burst into uncontrollable tears and the cop had mercy on her, just giving her a warning rather than an actual ticket. Poor thing! I was somewhat hesitant about giving her much to work on considering the day she had already had, but couldn't help it...The main lobby area of my office had been repainted this past week and was still very much is disarray...we had to get this whipped into shape before the students rolled back in (or more students, anyway, as my calendar can contest they've been pouring in since January 2nd). We recovered some of the sound boards in maroon fabric, but the fabric store was out of maroon (what fabric store in College Station doesn't stock enough maroon fabric...I ask you that question?), so we had to strategically place the recovered and original ones back on the walls and go from there. We've also gotten new office chairs for the conference room, etc., so all of those items have had to be moved around, etc., etc., etc. And this doesn't begin to cover all of the other things the I needed her to do, so she was really hopping yesterday. I do think that it helped to take her mind off of things, even for a little while, and she's really creative, so she had fun redecorating...

As I had feared, I'm starting the semester off with too many things on my project to-do list at work...some of the things that would have lessened my stress load for next week weren't able to get done this past week...so next week will be even more of a doozey than this week was. At least that's what I'm preparing myself for, anyway. That way if it turns out to be that way, ok - I've prepared myself. If not, great!

Many things at the university level are segmented undergraduate/graduate, because I think the powers-that-be assume that there are separate people in each department that do both of these segments...so having graduate fellowship/scholarship deadlines for major $$$ during the first week of school isn't a major thing if someone only deals with graduate students...but it's a MAJOR issue when that individual also deals with undergraduate students...my week is not my own during the first week of classes. My time will consist of putting out student fires. Period. But, it's a big deal to me (and the department, of course, as it increases the matriculation rate) to try and give our graduate applicants the most opportunities for "free money" that they can get...so in comes the stress. Which perhaps is why my boss approached me on Thursday and asked me to be thinking about how I would want to structure some additional, professional help for the academic area to take some of the load off of me...But the kicker is this...I can't figure out what I would want to give up. Working graduate applications helps me to know and develop relationships with the incoming graduate students, which in turn helps with the recruiting and outreach component of my job, as I can call on them and recruit them to help with the departmental recruiting...kind of a big cycle. If I wasn't involved in their graduate application packages and working with them through that process, I wouldn't develop such strong relationships with them and don't feel like I would have the rapport with them like I do with the newer students that have come in since I've been there...Undergraduate - no way am I getting rid of that. I've made too many strides in that area in the past two years...Outreach and recruiting, well - it ties in with both of those aspects as well...but perhaps a graduate assistant or someone working part-time to coordinate the actual recruiting activities with me as their supervisor would actual work. This takes quite a bit of my time. But...this was one of the aspects of my job that I was going to work into an academic course and try to teach as a 485...planning and logistics class...since I'm meeting with the students that do outreach at least once a month anyway, Dr. Heinz and I had already talked about this since I miss teaching. Arg! Pros and cons with each and every aspect of my job. Well, I'm glad he doesn't want a quick response from me!! But, I will say this...It is VERY nice to have a boss that understands - without me even saying it - that there are limits to what a person is physically, mentally, and emotionally able to do and is willing to do whatever they can to keep their employees happy and productive. After his initial comment, I agreed I was going to have some help pretty soon, especially if we were going to keep growing, and I laughed and joked that I couldn't do many more 3:30 AM - 11 PM days...he just shook his head at me and agreed...then commented that I had other people that counted on me..like Kellen and Matt and that I couldn't continue to work those kinds of hours. I am so blessed to be in this position! Thank you God for opening the right doors at the right times and putting me exactly where I needed to be.

Sorry for the work ramble...

Now...the fun stuff. I have a long weekend! Monday is a holiday for TAMU, so I have a 3 day weekend! Whoo Hoo!!! Jeff is coming into town this morning, and we're going to the Aggie Basketball game this afternoon. What fun!

Whooped...

This week has just taken it out of me...Monday was crazy...broken shower that began at 6:00 AM that resulted in an unplanned day off for me and an entire day of plumbing pain for Matt and I. Luckily, Matt was off on Monday and was able to fix the problem, but his extensive to-do list originally scheduled for Monday was shelved, much to his dismay. Tuesday I brought quite a bit of work home with me in an attempt to get caught up, told myself I was going to take a power nap after I put Kellen to bed, and knocked out in the recliner at 8:00...for the night...woke up at 3:30 and was just up - for good. Wednesday the candle burned from both ends, running from 3:30 AM until 11 PM. I worked from when I woke up on the things that I had brought home to do the night before, then had a normal morning, worked through lunch and then until 6, got Kellen & picked up dinner, met Matt at my office, had dinner with them there at the office, then Matt took Kellen back to the house and I stayed at the office...until later than I have ever done before (at least that I can remember). I was part of a panel presentation today and with Monday mayhem, just hadn't had a chance to catch up and prepare for it - at all, and winging it for a presentation, even a panel, just adds stress to my stress meter. Whew!

I'm trying desperately to get to some semblance of "caught-up" status before the semester starts next Tuesday...will I make it? Who knows! I estimate the answer to be an emphatic NO!

My day

Well, today is my day...Matt had written me a "My-day" note that was supposed to be for Janaury 1st, but he had gotten off shift on New Year's Eve and they had run quite a bit, so he asked if I would want a rain check so that I could get a full day's worth of the my-day coupon. You betcha! We'll hopefully get quite a bit done today and then get the added bonus of just getting to spend some time together...both quantity and quality time. Yeah! If the day is nice, I would love to take Kellen to the park to have a picnic and fly his kite, too...he just loves doing that - especially since it's a Shrek kite with a huge Donkey picture on it.

Now if I can just get over this head cold I could really fully enjoy the benefits of "My-day." The last two days at work have just been miserable with this thing! But it's going around, so I guess I'll take my small part of the misery along with everyone else. I just wish that I could take some medicine to make me feel better, but no such luck. I think I'm on the downward side of it now...at least it feels like it this morning, except that now I feel like it's settling in my chest and throat more and I'm getting a slight touch of a cough, which I hadn't had much of before. Oh I've just got to get over this before schools starts back up! Way too much to do at work to afford getting sick! These two weeks were supposed to be for me to get caught up...I can't handle getting back into the grind if I'm heading into another semester already behind. Arg and Yikes!! I remember now why I was working from home every night in an attempt to stay in some semblence of "caught-up" status. I haven't been doing that...I actually haven't done much of that in a while...but I'm feeling the pinch to perhaps start back up to avoid what I imagine to be the landslide...

OK...enough yipping about me...What happened to Alias this week? I went to watch it back on Thursday night...and there was a new season of Dancing with the Stars on instead. What gives? Where did my show go? It wasn't on after Lost...because Lost wasn't on this week - it was the Rose Bowl. Where all of the shows just messed up this week because of Bowl Games? Hmmm. So instead of watching my show, Kellen insisted that we watch the dancing...he enjoyed it immensely, actually. He loves watching dancing, including the dancers at the Aggie basketball games, of course. But, much to my surprise, he really enjoyed this show! I had gotten him all ready for bed and was just going to check that Alias was coming on, then put him to bed, but when I noticed that there was no Alias and dancers in its place, I decided to let him watch some of the dancers and continue to play with his toys. He was so cute...dancing to the music along with the TV. What a hoot!

Hooray for the weekend!

Basketball fun

Kellen and I went to the women's basketball Big VII conference opener tonight against Oklahoma State...it was a good game and we won 74-52 and one of the best part's was that the tickets were half-price...he and I both got in for $4.00 - Whoo Hoo! Kellen did really well..he only got restless during the last 5-6 minutes of the 2nd part of the game, which I thought was pretty good! It started earlier than previous games we had attended, which is one of the reasons that I think he did so well...a 5:30 start time is a really good thing for him! He loved to watch the Aggie Dance Team, of course, and swayed and clapped while they were on, then asked for more when they were finished. He sure is all boy, isn't he? I asked him if he wanted to go to the basketball game when I picked him up at daycare, and that's all he talked about until we actually got to the game. He really enjoyed himself and we had a great time.

We had originally planned to go and see Daddy tonight since he's on a 48, but there were too many issues with the trucks at both stations, so we decided against it...I would have hated to drive Kellen and I down there for them to get a call and us not get a chance to spend any time with Daddy - that would have really stunk. I guess it worked out all right anyway. Since we switched gears and went to the game, I had planned to come home and watch Lost, but didn't think about the fact that tonight is the Rose Bowl...Hello, Rebecca!

Kellen's wish

Today Kellen really got his Daddy, shocked him right to the core, I believe...by telling him that he wanted a baby brother. Yup. I'm really not sure where he's getting this, except perhaps at daycare...one of the moms of a kid in his class is expecting their second child - perhaps their discussing this in his class?, and the director of the daycare is now back from maternity leave, but still! He can't seem to make up his mind about whether he wants a baby sister or brother. He told me the other day he wanted a baby sister, then changed his mind and ordered an older sister....today it was a baby brother. As I was putting him to bed tonight he decided to ask for an older brother & older sister, plus a baby sister and baby brother. Hold on a minute there bucko! It doesn't quite work like that! He's cracking me up with this, but it's so sweet!

Back to it

So it was back to work today for me. Matt stayed home with Kellen, as daycare was closed, and I got the report that Kellen was a bit of a handful...fussy and just cranky. Daddy's thinking that the munchkin isn't feeling well. Uh oh. Not what we need...he's had the runny nose, sneezing, coughing thing, but hasn't been running a fever, I just hope it isn't getting any worse. I haven't felt the need to give him a breathing treatment for a while - in a very long time, actually - so I hope we don't have to go back to those again. The last time I actually remember having to give him a breathing treatment was when he and I were in Ohio, I think...or did I even have to give him one when we were there? No, that was a high fever, but I don't remember breathing trouble in addition to that...I just took the breathing treatment maching and medicine just in case...did I give him a treatment there? Hmmm...when was the last time he had to have a breathing treatment? Well, my memory obviously isn't registering, so it's clearly been quite some time...

Poor guy...even as I'm typing this I can hear him coughing in his sleep. I hope that he's able to get a good night's sleep tonight and try and get over this thing.

Blessings

As I was putting Kellen to bed, he started to say his "Bless," which is what he calls his prayers. I don't know if it was just him being cute, just himself, or not wanting me to leave the room, because he got me after he went through his normal, "Bless Daddy, bless book," etc., He added a new one tonight with asking for a sister, he actually asked for a little sister, then changed his mind and asked for a big sister. That's going to be fun to try and explain...hmmm. (Just to clarify and for those of you who might be wondering based on Kellen's prayer, no, we aren't expecting a new addition to the Hapes family). After his prayer, he thought for a while and then said, "Ok, that's all. Love Jesus. Amen." However, as I was walking out of the room, he stopped me, "Wait Mommy! I forgot bless."

"Who did you forget to bless sweetie?"

He looked me square in the eye and replied, "Bless Mommy. Happy New Year. I love you. Night-night Mommy."

Man oh man...This kiddo can just make me fall to pieces! How did I get so lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful little guy?

I'm about to start a project that will require me to remember details - facts and events in great detail actually - about the period of time when he was first born. I remember being out of my mind in love with him, but I honestly don't know what has been my "favorite" time period since he's been born. Each time period has had their own special points, wonderful and some not-so-wonderful, I'll admit, moments that I cherish. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by...and now we're embarking on yet another year.

Let the fun continue!