Something New, Coming Soon

If you have been following my Twitter stream lately, you may have seen this tweet.
http://twitter.com/sunshinejess22/status/28461328203
So, in relation to that, I've been thinking about how Twitter and my blog, among other things, keep me honest and true to myself.  I've also been thinking about my brand.  Who am I?  Where do I want to go, personally and professionally?  I've gotten involved in some things that are a little out of my confort zone, which is leading to a learning experience.  In the process, I'm meeting some amazing people who make me want to better at all that I do. 
I've also purchased my very own domain.  It's going to be cool.  Working on a website is a first for me and since it's self-hosted, I'm spending lots of time learning in order to get it up and running.  Once the new site is up and running, I'll be sure to let you all know, but until then, be sure to find me here, on Twitter, Facebook, via text message or email.
I can't wait. This will be epic.
And yes, I am going to change the world.... Stay tuned!

In the Drive Thru and Five Years

I don't normally go to the bank, and if I do, I ususally make arrangements to go while I'm already walking around downtown.  Today, I decided to go through the drive thru at the downtown US Bank branch.  You know the one, at the tower.  While I don't go here often, it was on my way to the store.  Since we are leaving for vacation tomorrow, I needed to do a few quick errands including the bank, grocery store, gas station, and grabbing lunch.  When I pulled underneath the tower, there were 2 cars ahead of me in each line and no one in the business line.  It was about 12:15.  While I know that 2 cars in each line may take a while, I figured it would go quick.  I mean it IS Friday and there is going to be more than just one teller working, right?  There was only one teller working.  Those 4 cars turned into 5 because one showed up in the business line.  And as you know, the business line trumps everyone else.  Normally I'm a pretty patient person and waiting like this doesn't bother me.  Today, however, was a different story.  Not only were there now 5 cars ahead of me, each one of them had major banking business to handle.  Not just the normal deposit or withdrawal.  As I waited, I was checking in to see what my Twitter friends were up to.  Not a big deal until I noticed I had been sitting there for about 10 minutes and hadn't moved forward even an inch.  How could it possibly take so long?  I realized then, that there was only one teller.  She finished up the first car in each line and moved on to the business customer, which by that time I was watching the clock closely.  The business customer took 10 minutes.  Then, the rocket scientist in front of me was not prepared and took over 5 minutes to just get her information together.  When she was finally finished with her transaction and ready to drive away, she sent the carrier back.  It was EMPTY!  And she sent it back.  While I waited for the teller to send it back, she did appologize.  She was very fast with my transaction and I was on my way.  One half hour later, I was finished at the bank.  Now to move on to my other errands - oh wait there is no time for the other errands....  I was able to fill up the gas tank and get back to work in time to warm up some frozen crap I had there.  I heated my lunch and calmed down a bit, then placed a call to the branch manager.  That's right folks, I called the bank to complain about the snail like service and the manager appologized and thanked me for my patience.  Not like I had a choice, if you've even been in that drive through line, once you're in, you're in.  There's no getting out.  I let her know that I thought that only one teller responsible for three drive through lines was completely unacceptable. 

In other better news, Today is the day we celebrate being hitched for 5 years!

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Today she was the one being naughty

So, last April, I wrote about Sydney getting bit by a kid at daycare. Well, today, she was the one doing the biting... When I picked her up, one of the evening teachers let me know there had been an incident.  Sydney went for one of the kids and tried to bite him/her and the teacher caught her and separated the kids.  As soon as the teachers turned their back, they heard another kid screaming.  Yes, my sweet little Sydney chomped another kid.  I don't know the extent of the damage and they won't tell me which kid it was (Daycare policy), but said I'd be able to tell tomorrow.  I hate that she was the one doing the damage this time.  I'll find out more details tomorrow to see what the circumstances were.  And I sure hope this is a one time thing. 

Where would you go?

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I’ve been thinking long and hard about where I would go on the Ultimate Family Vacation. I’ve thought about local places because there are some great places here in the great state of Wisconsin. I’ve thought about the east, west, north and south and finally settled on southwest, Hawaii. If money were no object we would pack up tomorrow, take two weeks off and get the hell out of here. This may not be the type of vacation you would think of being a family vacation, but I think it would be great. We would be able to enjoy the sand, the sun, the surf. Eat amazing food, stay in a beautiful resort. We would find an aquarium and touch the animals. We would take the whole family, both sets of parents, all the siblings and kids. Also, if money were no object, we’d all have awesome health and I’d bring along all three of our Grandma’s. Now, they are all in their eighties and probably unable to fly, so it would never happen, but hey, this is my dream. I can see us now, watching the kids in the sand, sitting in lounge chairs on the beach, drinking pink umbrella drinks. I can picture Sydney in a cute pink swim suit and floppy sun hat playing in the sand.  The men would be sitting around a tiki bar doing whatever it is that men do when the ladies are sitting on the beach. The sun setting in the distance, purple sky, warm breeze and the beginning of a fire on the beach.

Doesn’t that sound awesome? It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

Don't forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Thirteen Months

Disclaimer: This post is about breastfeeding. Don't read it if you can't handle it.  You have been warned.

Birth Day

My girl and I made it two days shy of thirteen months.  I officially began breastfeeding August 14, 2009.  I offically quit breastfeeding on September 12, 2010.  That Sunday night was the last night.  Those thirteen months were a pretty smooth ride.  There were some bumps, but for us it was mostly easy. 
Sydney latched on with no issue.  She was great and knew just what to do.  Until her second day of life, when she just wanted to sleep (she is SOOO like her parents).  Finally after not eating for many more hours than a newborn should go, we got her out of the warm blankets and clothes and let the cool air hit her.  She was pissed.  But also awake.  I will never forget her screaming in the hospital basinet and Frank and I looking at each other wondering how long we should let her go.  It seemed like an eternity but it was probably only two or three minutes.  She latched again and went to town.  The first few weeks of night feedings, leaking like crazy boobs, soaking wet shirts and sheets and towels were a haze that I don't really remember.  After a month or so, I decided that I should start pumping because it was clear I had enough supply.  I pumped and Sydney took her first bottle from Daddy.  She did great - as usual. 
I was lucky to have wireless on my cell phone so for the many hours of nursing and pumping and rocking and holding that sleeping baby, I followed twitter, my favorite bloggers and researched anything and everything regarding breastfeeding, solid feeding, baby poop, and ear infections.  It was a little lifeline into the real world even if I was only reading about babies.
I went back to work at eight weeks.  I remember week 7 clearly.  I couldn't wait to go back to work and get out of this house.  If only I had charished that last week a little more...
When I went back to work, I pumped three times a day and remember thinking "If I can make it four months I'll be happy."  At four months, I decided to go six.  After we made it six months, the time just flew by and I don't remember couting the months anymore.  We got into a routine, and sometimes routine is good.  I know that breastfeeding isn't for everyone and had you asked me five years ago if I would do it, I'm not sure my answer would have been yes.  I'm lucky because I had good supply, and easy baby, a workplace that supported me and an office where I could shut and lock the door.  In the nine or so months I pumped, only one person disobeyed the 'Do Not Disturb' sign.  Not bad.  Because I had such good supply, I think at one point, we had more milk in the freezer than anything else.  It was awesome.  I also knew that if I missed a pumping session it would be no big deal because of my freezer stock and excess supply. 
I had my moments.  There were times when I was frustrated and wanted to quit, just so I could go out and have a few beers or just because finding time to pump in the day was hard or for any other bunch of reasons.  But I didn't quit.  And I'm proud I stayed with it.  My strong will to successfully exclusively breastfeed got the best of me and never allowed me to quit.

Mashed Potato

I'm not going to lie.  I sort of liked having a rack.  When I had it, I couldn't wait for it to go away, but now that it's gone, I already miss it.  Thank God for Victoria Secret!
My daugher has never had formula.  I'm lucky that I was able to exclusively breastfeed.  I'm lucky that I had the supply, support, good health and patience it takes.  I also know other Mom's who aren't as lucky or choose not to.  Sometimes I think I gave up some freedoms by exclusively breastfeeding, but other times I remembered that I was exactly where I needed to be.  I also think that no matter how you feed your kid, the love you have for them is what matters and now how they are fed. 

I Raced for the Cure

I raced.  Well, not really raced, but ran.  Mostly ran.  For the cure. 

The Susan G Komen Race for the Cure was last Sunday.  My friend's Mom lost her battle to the aweful disease that is Breast Cancer four years ago.  Then, late last year, she found out she is a carrier of the breast cancer gene.  This year, she had a double mastectemy and reconstruction.  That's right, she chopped off her boobs to save her life.  That's courage.

I raced with her and for her and her mom.  And it was awesome.

Beginning of the race

I was proud to be there. Proud to be a part of something huge. Proud to be part of this team.

And mostly proud to help. 

I was also proud because I ran about 2/3 of the race.  Maybe even more and I finished in about 39 minutes.