Maybe Next Year...

I decided to pick James up from school a little early today, knowing that he usually is tired and wants some down time before dinner.  I figured he could have some extra time relaxing, and that I would have extra time to get him psyched up to wear his werewolf costume.  I wasn't intending on going trick-or-treating, but I thought he would find it fun to wear his outfit and pass out the candy.  I was right about one part of that equation, he LOVED passing out the candy (he did not inherit his Mother's sweet tooth).  When I went to put on his costume, it was MELTDOWN time.  I have experienced these types of tantrums before.....flinging of the body across the floor, hitting, screaming, and the occasional whacking of the head on the wall.  Usually my lack of a reaction results in the taming of the beast that is James.  This was one of those rare occasions, where my lack of acknowledgement only pushed him further to the edge.  I chalked the costume up to a loss.  No big deal, he didn't even know what he was supposed to be.  He thought it was a Bear, so I played along and had him working on his "ferocious roar" the past few days.  I figured there is always next year.

So since I have no pictures of James the Werewolf.....here is a snapshot of James the Mighty Lion alongside his first friends.....Evan the Monkey and Caroline the Lamb.....Halloween 2011.  We miss you friends!  Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

Hunter's Widow

Since Jake will be hunting for the weekend, we celebrated Halloween last night in the Siegert Household.  A great time was had by all.  Jake put his master pumpkin carving skills to work, and created a 3-sided masterpiece.  James decorated his own pumpkin with stickers (Mom just had to help arrange the body parts in the appropriate places on his pumpkin).  We then went over to the neighbors house to see their 300 pound pumpkin, James had fun using it as a slide!  They said last year they grew one that was about 700 lbs.!  It took 4 grown men and a giant wheelbarrow to haul this beast from the backyard to the front porch.  All I kept thinking about was Linus from Charlie Brown, and the Great Pumpkin!  James had a great time playing with Ava in her new Barbie Power Wheels. They did a pretty good job of sharing, one of them pushed the gas while the other would handle the steering wheel; it was quite comical!

Here are a few pictures of our night of fun!

Jake will not be home until Tuesday, so that leaves plenty of one-on-one time to soak up with my other man!  Tomorrow we have swimming lessons, which are intended to be our winter sanity saver (even though the weather is still lovely....I know the white stuff will likely be flying soon).  We will bake a batch of Halloween cookies, and some Pumpkin Bread, and probably make a trip to Target to get some goodies for the Trick or Treater's!  I really doubt that James will understand the concept of Trick or Treating, so we will go to a few of the neighbor's houses but I think he will get a kick out of handing out candy (until someone comes dressed as a monster).  I forgot to have the hubbs clear up space on the DVD recorder before he left, so I will be left to my own devices on Sunday (I am sure it will take a majority of my free-time to figure out how to use our DVD burner).  Yes, I am afraid of technology.  I don't get much more advanced then the Ipod shuffle, and I JUST started to get used to the idea of ebooks since Jake gave me a NOOK for my birthday.  I must admit, as much as I love books...... don't love filling my house with the cheap bookshelves from Target that continue to break ( on the back- where the cheap cardboard is).....every time we move.

Wishing everyone a fun Halloween weekend......I have fond memories of dressing up and partying the night away.  I will now be spending the weekend baking cookies, and putting the final touches on my little man's costume.  May sound boring to some, but there is not much else I would rather be doing!  I still may indulge in some Pumpkin Beer......but what is better then drinking in sweats on your own couch after an exhausting day of chasing a Toddler?!  Just to leave you all with a taste of my days B.J. (before James).  Here is a picture of the Hubbs and I whooping it up (with arguably one of our best couple's costumes)!

The Hamster Wheel

I feel this is the most accurate description of my life, as of late.  I have not really had the time to sit down and blog for awhile, and the few nights that I have had the time......it was the last thing I wanted to do.  I really have felt like a hamster spinning endlessly on a wheel......getting nowhere fast.  Now while this is not entirely the case, it is how I felt.  September and October have been VERY busy months for work; as a majority of my customers are starting to put in their closing orders for the year and there are many commercial projects out to bid (so the phone rings off the hook for price quotes).  With year-end just around the corner, we have the lovely task of working out a sales forecast.  For those of you who have to complete this dreadful task, I know you are groaning out loud as you read this.  My evenings were spent fiddling on the calculator and looking into a crystal ball to predict what next year will bring in terms of $$ to the Midwest Territory.  My evenings (which are normally reserved for watching mindless T.V.....hello Real Housewives......or diving into a good book) were now consumed with price analysis' and forecasts.  In between my forecasting, I had plenty of laundry and miscellaneous household chores to keep on top of.  I felt as though the dreaded "LIST" was always getting longer and never shorter.

Tonight, I have the whole evening ahead of myself.  I am caught-up on work e-mails, the laundry is folded, the kitchen is clean.......BLISS.  I am now heading into the "slow season" for work.  I still have weekly conference calls, meetings, etc.  It is just that the day-to-day demands of customers slows WAY down.  I love that I am able to embrace the little joys of the holiday season, beginning this weekend!  Jake will be hunting, so James and I have a whole weekend to fill with fun activities.  I am thinking some Halloween cookie baking/decorating will take place, we have our first session of swimming lessons on Saturday, and we will likely make a trip to Barnes & Noble so Mom can sip on a Pumpkin Spice Latte and James can play with the trains!

 I know in my last post I talked about the pleasure of being able to be a Mom and have a career.  Well I just returned from my company's annual sales meeting, where I was one of the recipients' of a sales achievement award.  I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment, all of my feelings of inadequacy slowly dissipated.  On the flip side, James is turning into this amazing little man.  I cannot believe how easily he is able to communicate with me, and tell me how he is feeling. He LOVES attending school and playing with his friends, lately it has become hard to tear him away from the sensory table at the end of the day.  He comes home and proudly displays his art work on the fridge.  So in the words of Charlie Sheen.....it appears as though I am "WINNING!" both on the parent front and on the career front.  At this point....I will take what I can get. 

Choices

Life is full of choices, and I am constantly re-evaluating mine.  Namely the choice to continue life as a working mom.  I have a pretty even split among girlfriends that are SAHMs and working Moms.  I had always imagined myself staying home, but that was prior to beginning my sales career.  I think there are no easy choices when you are a mother, sometimes you feel as though you have to sacrifice some of yourself for the sake of others.  My first job out of college would have made it IMPOSSIBLE to have children and actually enjoy the experience.  My days (AND NIGHTS) were filled with endless call reports, paperwork, and tons of other busy work.

I was fortunate enough to have made a career change prior to starting a family, and I am now a manufacturer's rep for a very family-friendly company.  The beauty of my job now is that I work out of my home office, set up my meetings and conference calls to work with my families' schedule, and I HAVE absolutely NO busy work to complete in the evenings or on weekends.  I can honestly say that I have found balance in our day-to-day lives.  I also think that it has made me a much better mother, wife, and sales rep.  I have learned how to effectively allocate my time.  I have felt guilty about my decision for far too long.  I am not entirely sure why?  I am always there to drop/off and pick/up my little guy, and he enjoys going to "school" 3 days/week.  I always manage to assemble some form of a meal for dinner, some nights it may be more elaborate then others.  I also manage to keep the house in a fairly tidy state (my definition of "tidy" has changed post-toddler).

Luckily I have just the right amount of TYPE A blood running through my veins, I am obsessive with my "To Do" lists (but no longer loose sleep if I am unable to check everything off).  I have also learned that sometimes our weekly planners are thrown a curve-ball or two.  If James is sick, I of course re-arrange the entire week so I am able to work from home and take care of him.  Perhaps I have to do some overnight travel (which happens VERY rarely), but we are always able to tag-team and luckily James has wonderful Grandparents that love to help out!

I want to solemnly vow to no longer feel guilty about my decision to work, I am sure I will have guilty pangs here and there.  As I always say, "I am a Mom and Wife first, Sales Rep second."  The moment that equation were to change, I would have no problem walking away from my position.  Until then, I will continue to enjoy my family AND my career.