Lucky Bum

This morning I went to get my new favorite breakfast – a Cuban toast w/ Café Con Leche at this great place around the block from my office. It’s a delicious coffee and it doesn’t make me jittery like normal coffee does.  A bum stops me on the way back and asks if I could spare some money for food.  So here I am, holding a bag that’s obviously filled with food, and a cup with my delicious coffee and I’m put to the test.  I always tell myself that if I’m stopped, I’d gladly give a bum any food I had, but I wouldn’t give them any money “to waste away on booze”. (Working downtown, you have to think about these things) 

So I give the bum my coffee. My delicious café con leche that actually tastes like coffee, unlike the brown water that they pour here at the office.  He surprisingly asks, “You don’t want it?”  I hesitate… smile, then say “Well, you can have it.”  So as I walk away, thinking I should feel happy and proud for being selfless, all I can think about is how pissed I am now that I don’t have my dang coffee. 

Not 30 seconds later a second bum asks the same exact question, like they taught at Bum School: “Could you spare some money for food?”.  I just frown and point to the guy behind us… “sorry, just gave him my coffee.” And keep walking.  Shoulda been quicker, dude, or you’d be drinking my café con leche…

Life Beyond Babies?

I realized I've been slacking on posting things that are non-baby picture related... So here's an update on my life outside of Alexsa.

Work has been interesting.  Back in May, it was announced that our institution would be purchasing another, effectively growing the Bank by 40%.  Our 'Legal Day one' is in October, then the merger will be complete in December.  Luckily I still have my job, doing the same thing I'm doing now.  My virtual branch has been very slow since we lowered rates, so I've been helping in other parts of the operations department, primarily handling wires. Nothing too exciting, except for when I mess up!

Barry is starting his next semester in school on Monday.  He's about 1/2 way to his degree in education.  We both are looking forward to that!  He goes full force and has only gotten one B since starting, making A's in all other classes.  I'm so proud of him for working so hard to realize his dream.  He's had his share of jobs, so its nice for him to be working towards a his dream of teaching.  It really is what he's meant to do.

My family is doing well.  My dad is currently in Bolivia participating in a language immersion program to learn Spanish.  He is a Maryknoll Deacon who's job it is to ask for money to support Maryknoll's Missions. His district includes Puerto Rico and S Florida so its very important for him to learn Spanish!  He is having an amazing experience outside of the classroom as well, visiting Toro Toro and other unique places.  He's there for three months and will be back in October. We miss him but we're able to keep in touch on Skype. I love skype.  Mom is loving retirement and keeping very busy helping with the grand kids and volunteering anywhere she can.  Right now she's up in Chicago helping my Grandpa (more on that below).

The cats are doing great adjusting to Alexsa.  Most of the time they stay away, but Hiro is especially good about letting her pull out his hair pet him.  They aren't fans of the gates, but they are dealing with them.

Lastly, the sad news.  My grandpa went to the doctor a few months ago to check out a pain in his leg.  They found cancer that had eaten his femur so bad he had to get a metal rod put in for support.  Unfortunately we learned the cancer was a secondary cancer, and it had come from his lungs. When they ran tests on his lungs, they found the cancer had travelled to his lymph nodes as well.  They classified it as Stage 4 and, because of the lymph nodes, its inoperable.  So he went through radiation, but it only kept the cancer from growing further.  His next step is chemo, which he may or may not do.  His 81st birthday is on the 31st.  He's had a full life and watched his wife of 60 years go through the crapiness of cancer 2 years ago.  I won't blame him for not doing the chemo.  I will be heartbroken when he leaves us though.  He's the last of my grandparents.   I have so many great memories with him.  Also, I am nervous to learn of the fate of their house.  It is a magical little house on the lake that is, after all my travels, hands down the best place on earth. I know 7 other grandchildren and 9 great-grandchilren that feel the same way.  Its been nice that my mom is there; We've been able to talk on skype and he's been able to see Alexsa laugh and crawl around.

So, even though my life (and heart) revolve around Alexsa, other things do go on. :) 

Back to Work

I had my first day back to work today.  Alexsa and I got to bed by 11:00 last night.  She woke up for her night feeding at 5:30 (6 1/2 hrs!!) She only ate for about 15 minutes then went right back down, so i was able to sleep for another 40 minutes or so before getting up at 6:45 for work.  I got ready for work then pumped right before I left (3 oz!).  I only shed a few tears when saying goodbye and then a little on the way to work, and once I got there I was pretty good.

I 'traded' with Barry at his school and it was only then that I really missed her.  She was so close to me (in the car seat), yet I couldn't pick her up to hold her! 

I think she missed me too, because my independent baby has been very content cuddly with me all night :)

So, 1 day down, 4,679 to go...

I'm Not Dead, I Swear

Hey all!  We're doing well, Alexa is still incubating nicely. 

On Nov 6th, work decided to go into hyper drive and has JUST started to slow. Therefore my usual blogging time (when I'm bored at work) became nonexistent.  Today I'm making a special stop here just to let you know I'm still alive and doing well, just rediculously busy at work.  I'm hoping this short post will encourage me to post a longer update soon.  Thanks!!

Bored.

It's 9:07am. I'm at work and I've finished my work for the day. I've got a few more things that I have to wait on others before I can do, which will be done by about 11:00. Other than that I have NOTHING to do.

What a huge switch from a few weeks ago, eh?

At least I get to leave early today to see my bestie, Angelle and her beautiful family and baby boy bump! Can't wait!

Friday Night

After Thursday and Friday's roller coaster, I decided on Friday night that I needed beer. What I really wanted to do was go smoke hookah, but i couldn't find anyone to go with me, so i came home without plans. Barry was hanging out with the guys, and my roommate came home with nothing to do as well, so I pulled out Tyler's Ultimate Book and went straight to the dessert section. Nothing like baking desserts to unwind after a stressful week. I settled on Chocolate Cracked Earth, so we trekked to Winn Dixie for some ingredients (and beer!). Well, lo and behold! Edy's ice cream was on sale. We get to the check out counter, each with a 6 pack of beer and a 1/2 pint of ice cream in our hands. I know the sweet cashier must have seen the desperation of a woman on a mission to de-stress on my face, because she carded me! WOOT! I thanked her and proudly showed her my ID.

After we got home, we made the cake together while drinking and enjoying conversation and listening to music. (It reminded me of my college days with Angelle and Laurie -awww). It was the perfect solution to a stressful week: beer, baking, conversation, beer, music, then delicious chocolate cake, beer, and ice cream.

The End.

Day from Hell

Thursday afternoon was probably one of the worst. days. EVER.

After boasting about how ready I was for my project to go live, we invited our president and CEO to attend Thursday's weekly meeting for a demo of the wonderment that was created under my supervision. I was a little nervous, but I had gone through my checklist and confident that I have done all I could.

Things were a little shaky from the start. My nerves were showing. Then the first person on the agenda to present was late. No biggie, we'll go on to the demo, then catch up when he gets here. That just started a snowball effect of all the items on the agenda getting all over the place. Without my knowledge, another committee member invited members of the operations department to the meeting as well, from which brought on a bazillion questions. The questions were all very healthy, but, as to not bore you with banky details, spawned MORE questions to implications that I thought I had reconciled, but apparently did not. It became, for lack of a better term, a complete cluster fuck. It felt like my whole project unraveled before me, all the while my boss, the CEO, and CFO watching. The meeting finally ended (an hour later than normal), I got back to my desk, and sort of just sat there in shock. I was certain that I was ready. I didn't know what happened. I felt like I got punched in the stomach. I knew I wasn't an idiot, but I didn't know if they (Exec Management) knew that. The issue was one that I, coming from a retail banking background with no back-office experience, could not have known about unless someone had informed me. It was like, "how am I supposed to know to carry an umbrella when I've never even seen a rain cloud before?"

I came home and could barely speak. I laid on the couch and kept mumbling in a whisper. I got a few tears out, and finally got an appetite enough to cook something for dinner, which got my mind away from work, which allowed me to enjoy the rest of the evening.

I woke up Friday morning with a knot in my stomach. If you read my previous post, you understand how important the success of this project is to me and my career. When I got in the office and opened my email, there was a message waiting for me from my boss. "Let's meet at 9:00." It was about 8:43. I took a deep breath, went over my notes from yesterday's meeting, and met with him. I kept telling myself to keep it together, which probably just made it worse. I sat there while he spoke and just let the tears roll. I was frustrated, embarrassed, and without the right words to express how I felt. The tears and my inability to stop them just got me more frustrated, which caused more tears and embarrassment.
What he had to say was much better than I was expecting to hear. Luckily, it was realized that if I had pulled off this project by myself, that it would've been nothing short of a miracle. SO they decided it be best to move my department (all one of us) to operations, gaining access to the rest of the back-office team for support. It will now be a group effort. This was great news for me. They realized I wasn't an idiot (thank God).

I am sad that I won't be under my current boss anymore. He is a great tell-it-like-it-is kinda guy and I really appreciated him and his guidance. But, I am comfortable with my new boss, however, and look foward to working with him. This new road I'm on feels a lot less bumpy. It may be a bit winding, but at least now i have GPS.

Question to my Non-Bankers

Hey all! I have a question for all of my non branch-bankers:

If you were to shop for a bank online, what words would you “google”? What if you were looking for a specific banking product or type of bank? Your input is very important to me.

I look forward to reading your comments! Thank you!

Jesus, Hair Loss, and a Hot Box

Work, lately, has been quite stressful. It all came to a head last Wednesday when my boss called me into his office for what I am dubbing a "Come To Jesus" Meeting. He explained that if my project succeeds, that I'll be rewarded, but if it doesn't, I'm pretty much gone. He basically said "shit or get off the pot". I didn't really realize I was on the pot in the first place... I left his office confused and frustrated. I didn't know whether to cry or scream. The rest of the day I was pretty quiet. I came home, ranted to my hubby and roommate and went running. (Literally RUNNING to get rid of some steam.) After a few days to cool off, I came to a few conclusions:
1 - I was PMSing last week and got emotional - which i am usually very good about not doing at work.
2 - The shit seems to be running downhill and maybe I'm getting the brunt of it.
3 - it's getting close to go time and everyone's probably getting a little nervous.
From my Jesus Meeting, a fire was lit under my ass. The "go-live" date is meant to be June 1st. After creating a list of things that "need" to be completed before we go-live, my boss asked on the 30th if i could get it all done by Fri, the 8th. I gulped and said "yes". *YIKES!*
Of course, as I was working the items on my list, it ended up growing instead of shrinking. Once one thing started to get done, 2 more things took its place.
Finally yesterday, I sucked it up and sent my boss another email with the updated list and explained that I will be more realistic with a due date of the 15th. (remember, Go-Live was SUPPOSED to be June 1). As you can imagine, my hair was falling out.
Today, however, was like a new day. The sun was shining, and even though my A/C is out in my car, the drive to work wasn't that bad. The first task of the day was to tell our processor (the people who host all of our 'stuff') that we are not paying for something that should cost the bank $$. Well, not only did I get them to give it to us for free, but I also go them to agree to refund over 3X that amount in fees that I thought were unjust.
GO ME! You have not idea how much I was dreading that phone call and it went so well! I emailed my boss and he was very happy. That little boost must have really got me going because by 4:00, I had completed everything that I could on that list. Every item was either completed or pending approval. Oh...what did you say? "What day is today?" Why, today is the 5th! Hells yeah.

I walked out of the building shortly after 4, a bird gave me a beautiful whistle, and my hot box of a car didn't even bother me for the first 1/2 of my drive home.

Today was a good day.

I've Got Balls.

I'm rising to the challenge that was set forth by Alix at Casa Hice, who rose to the challenge from Liz at Eternal Lizdom, who rose to the challenge from Lisa @ Adventures in Motherhood, who I'm sure got it from someone else.. This is what they say:


A fun little challenge... that may be hard for some, easy for others: Post a picture of yourself right now. As you are right now. As you read this. No running to get dressed or put on make up or fix your hair or whatever. Just YOU!Anyone brave enough to play along? Ready... Set... CLICK


So, here it is. Me, slacking off, blogging and taking pictures of myself instead of doing the bazillion other things I should be doing at work:

Anyone else out there got some big ones?

An Update on Me - Work

A quick blip before I update the world on what's going on with me at work:
We went to the gym again today and did a spin class. It was surprisingly easier than i expected - i didn't feel winded afterwards! And then we did our weight training quickly before having dinner at Bono's with friends Mike and Ben. It was a good night!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog:

Work. Way back when, I created a list of things I wanted to blog about to update everyone. That was March 3rd. Oops. I now realize that I haven't told ya'll that I no longer work as an Office Manager at my Bank. Around the end of January, I was called downtown and offered a position as sort of a "go-to girl" for my boss as well as to spearhead a new project that has been in the works for about a year now. Other than the project spearheading, it was kind of a vague meeting when I asked what my position would be. I was told to come up with my own title! It's a rare moment where you get to make up your own title. So naturally I came up with one:

Queen of the Universe and All Things Banking

They didn't think that would fit on my business card, so I just went with my officer status for now (Community Bank Officer).
I moved to the "10th Floor" downtown, which is where all of our back end processes as well as our executive offices are held. It's an exciting place to be. I'm settling in quite nicely and really am enjoying not having to answer to customers or deal with employee drama.
My position is ever-evolving and I'm learning where I'm useful. The project they've given me includes 4 separate implementations that I am simultaneously managing. They are things that, if successful, are going to bring our company to the next level. I am now coordinating meetings and reporting to not only my boss, but to numerous members of executive management, including our CFO. Needless to say, it's been a challenge and there are days that are more than stressful.
I've been given the opportunity to shine through this new challenge and if my projects thrive, I feel I will be putting myself on the map as a successful business woman and banker. It's kind of exciting and I'm enjoying almost every minute of it. :)

"Case of the Mondays"

Barry is always complaining that he is the only one that takes the trash out. "It only takes 30 extra seconds" he says. I succumbed to his logic this morning and decided to take the trash out.

Thirty seconds, my ass.

I walked down the stairs with my usual morning items in tow: My purse, makeup bag, lunch bag, carnation instant breakfast glass, and my keys. When I get to the bottom of the stairs, I notice the trash and think to myself "Fine, I'll do it." As I'm reaching down to pick up the trash, my keys slip out of my hand. All thoughts of a full glass of liquid escapes me as I grab for the keys (as if they were about to fall in to hot liquid magma and never see them again.) Carnation Instant Breakfast goes everywhere: into my lunch bag, all over my hand/wrist/watch, and of course on to the tile. Here's where you think "Tile? What's the big deal?" Well... the bottom of the stairs is where our litter box is and if you know Barry and I at all, it's not a place we tend to sweep out that often. So now i have chocolate milk flavored litter splayed all over the tile, my new Tissot drenched in chocolate milk, and chocolate milk flavored pot roast for lunch. I "gingerly" removed all of previously said items from my hands and run upstairs. I try to get my watch off, but because it's a great watch it doesn't come off easily and the task of removing it is just exacerbated by the chocolate milk. So i wash it off the best i can whilst still attached to me, grab the paper towel, run down stairs, clean up my lunch, wipe up the chocolate litter, stuff the dirty paper towels into the trash bag, and take a breath.

I decide to take 2 trips. I grab my purse, makeup, and lunch bag and put it in the car. I go back and grab the trash and throw that in the trunk and make my way to the compactor. Of course when I get there there is 3 or 4 bags of trash sitting right in FRONT of the door to the trash compactor. I mean, how lazy can you be that you can't open the effin' door and throw your shit in. Literally, someone bagged their SHIT and had it just sitting there. Shit. I'm not kidding. Poop. (Gross.) Anyway, sorry. So i throw my trash in, throw the shit it, get back in the car and to the gate before i realize that I forgot my effing carnation instant breakfast sitting on the shelf where i left it. I yell "Fuck it." and head off to work. Thirteen minutes after my initial trip down the stairs.

When I arrived at the parking garage, for some reason I decided to use the "monthly use only" entrance, which i very rarely do. I reach out my stubby arms to scan my card, glance for the green light, and start to go. The gate doesn't move. WTF? I back up, scan it again and notice the light goes red-green-red. Hm. Ok. I try again. RedGreenRed. Damnit. Now the line is backing up and I have to reverse my car to go into the other lane with large truck grills glaring at me in my small sedan. I manage to get into the other lane and retrieve a ticket, but not without hearing an unimaginable pffping sound from my tire as I kissed the curb. Shite. I'll be damned if i popped my tire. I drive forward and don't notice anything strange (thank goodness), park and head to the stairs without looking back.

By the time i get upstairs I'm just watching the minutes until I can call Barry. I tell him my whole story and explain that this is why I never take the trash out and why I'll never do it again before work.

He say to me, "Sounds like you got a bad case of the Mondays." It's a good thing he wasn't within reach...

Fat Day

Yesterday I was having a fat day. Most days I don't look in the mirror before going out because i know my clothes and know what i look like in them. Yesterday I should've taken that extra 30 seconds, just to be sure.

I arrived at work and went through my normal morning routine: Turn on the computer and log in, then get my station situated and go get my water and go to the bathroom. Our bathroom at work has a full wall mirror right before you get to the actual area w/ the toilets. I stop in my tracks and realize that i look like a burnt sausage link - wearing grey slacks and an "almost" black top that is a few years old. Many rolls abound. My shirt shrunk a little and i've expanded a little... not a good combination. I stop myself in my tracks for a second and get that nasty knot in my stomach. UGH. 'It's gonna be one of those days', i think.
Back to my desk I go, with the idea in my head that i'm about to get put in a skillet and eaten for breakfast so I try to make myself look as small as possible, which of course, as you know when you're having a fat day, has the opposite effect. I decide then that i really need to eat healthy and drink alot of water that day.
Drinking alot of water on a fat day is a bad idea when you work at a place with a full length mirror to look at as you walk in and out of the bathroom. It became a vicious cycle of drinking water, having to pee, seeing myself in the mirror, looking fat and feeling like i should drink more water, then having to pee... well, you see the pattern.
So today I went back to Kung Fu for a good ass-kicking workout. It felt great to be back at the school and to see some old friends. But the best part was that i felt like I really hadn't left. I remembered all the terminology and even felt good sparring. A few more months of this and alot of potty breaks, and hopfully my Fat Days will be few and far between.

WORK. A Four Letter Word

From now until 2009, please be kind to me if I'm not blogging regularly. My best time to blog is at work during my down time, but I don't forsee any of that for the rest of the year.
You see, from now until then, I'm pretty much the only Office Manager. Of the 5 branches, one OM recently left the company. One has pneumonia and the other 2 are on vacation. That's me. On top of that, my personal banker (my counterpart at the branch) is working at our Downtown location due to short staff there. Then, starting friday until the 5th, I'll also be helping out with operations because the person that does the bank's branch balancing, transaction reporting, hold maintenence, and GL Suspense balancing (among other things) is also on vacay. So from now until 2009 my duties include (but are not limited to):
>Checking and collecting overdrafts for 3-4 branches (all after 8:30am but before 10am)
>Collecting past due loans
>Pulling Daily Branch Reports
>Scanning and savings daily branch reports
>balancing the Bank's branches
>Overlooking and correcting any holds placed
>Checking and sending CTRs (govt regulation)
>Finding any GL suspense discrepencies
>Opening accounts
>Completing any customer maintenence
>Being the help desk for all the branches
>Performing any task that only OMs can do (there are a few)
>Address and send out 48 christmas cards
>Answer the phones with a smile
>NOT pulling my hair out