And I've been tagged!

ARE YOU:
1. A Cuddler? Yes
2. A morning person? Ha. That's funny. How about....NO!
3. Are you a perfectionist? To my detriment, yes
4. An only child? Nope...I have a younger sister
5. Catholic: Yes
6. In your pajamas? No.
7. Currently suffering from a broken heart? No.
8. Okay styling other people’s hair? I can't even style my own.
9. Left handed? No
10. Addicted to MySpace? I haven't logged into my account in about three weeks.
11. Shy around the opposite gender? Again, to my detriment, no.
12. Loud? Yes.

DO YOU:
12. Bite your nails? Biting my nails is a VERY controlled bad habit of mine. I have bit them since I was a kid. I can control it when I really focus on it and put my mind to it, but you can usually tell if I am going through a period of stress, anxiety and pressure if my nails are chewed down to the quick.
13. Get paranoid at times? Sometimes.
14. Currently regret something that you have said/done? Not yet. I hope I don't regret my decision to become a supe at work.
15. Curse frequently when you get mad? Unfortunately, yes.
16. Enjoy country music? Some of it.
17. Enjoy jazz music? No.
18. Enjoy smoothies? Yes
19. Enjoy talking on the phone? I loathe talking on the phone
20. Have a lot to learn? Yes
21. Have a pet? two Labs, Simon and Katie, and three cats, Gabby, Moira, and Taylor
22. Have a tendency to fall for the “wrong” person? No
23. Have all your grandparents died? My paternal grandmother is still with us
24. Have at least one sibling? Yes.
25. Have been told that you are smart? Yes
26. Have had a broken bone? I'm pretty sure I broke my toe a few years ago in my closet but I never had it x-rayed so I don't know for sure.
27. Have Caller I.D. on your phone? Yes.

HAVE YOU:
28. Changed a diaper? Yes. Three nasty ass ones today, in fact.
29. Changed a lot over the past year? Yes.
30. Had friends who have never seen your natural hair color? No.
31. Had surgery? Yes.
32. Killed anyone? If I had, would I admit to it in a blog? I killed my hermit crab when I was ten by not feeding it...does that count?
33. Had your haircut within the last week? No.

LAST PERSON WHO:
1. Slept in the bed beside you? P.
2. Saw you cry? P.
3. Went to the movies with you? P.
4. You went to the mall with? J
5. You went to dinner with? P
6. You talked to on the phone? P
7. Said ‘I love you’ to you and meant it? P
8. Broke your heart? My mother
9. Made you laugh? McKenna

WOULD YOU RATHER?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? My nose
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny.
3. Drink whole or skim milk? Skim.
4. Die in a fire or drown? I'd rather die in a fire. Much less painful that way.
5. Spend time with your parents or enemies? Parents.

ABOUT YOU!
1. What time is it? 10:48 PM
2 Name? Erica
3. Nickname(s)? Turtle
4. Where were you born? See below
5. What is your birthdate? May 7
6 What do you want? To have another baby
7. Where do you want to live? Portland, Oregon
8. How many kids do you want? two

Tags: My usual, Dana and Shannon.

I am shameless too....

I stole it from Sharon. And just who, I wonder, will steal it from me???

1. FIRST NAME? Erica
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mom told me that she named me after Erica on All My Children. Or, at least, that's where she got the idea from. Apparently at the time I was born, Erica's last name was the same as my maiden name and Mom just thought it sounded good.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I teared up Friday night when talking to my husband about my mother-in-law who died last fall.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Roast beef
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, I think so.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Duh, where am I posting this?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? You know, I drove by a place today on I-35 and thought about that very question and my answer is no. I'd be too afraid I'd pull a muscle in my back or neck. I know that's silly, but that's the reason why I wouldn't do it.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Coffee Heath Bar Crunch by Ben and Jerry
14. SHOE SIZE? 10 1/2 or 11 depending on the shoe
15. RED OR PINK? Pink.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My temper
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My mother-in-law
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Again, I'd like to see Dana and Shannon do it in their blogs.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans, teal t-shirt and no shoes
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Lays Dill potato chips
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? McKenna sleeping
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Cornflower
23. FAVORITE SMELL? leaves burning
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? P to find out what he wanted me to bring him home to eat yesterday
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Yes
27. FAVORITE DRINK? iced tea
28. FAVORITE SPORT? basketball
29. EYE COLOR? green
30. HAT SIZE? pumpkin-sized...that's an easy way of saying that my head is too big for hats
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes...I've worn them since I was twelve
32. FAVORITE FOOD? steak
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? winter definitely...summers here in Dallas SUCK
35. HUGS OR KISSES? kisses
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? creme brulee
37. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? probably Dana
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Shannon
39. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? I'm not reading jack. I have a tons of books under my nightstand that aren't even started and a book on leadership on my desk that I need to read soon
40. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? It's a generic Dell one
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I watched about twenty minutes of The Notebook
42. FAVORITE SOUNDS? the ocean and wind chimes
43. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? the Stones, definitely
44. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Freeport, Maine
45. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? extremely detail-oriented
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Ithaca, New York
47. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Stole it from Sharon

My first meme in a LONG time

I didn't really know what to title this post for today. I didn't really even know what to write. Quite honestly, my brain is MUSH right now. I have so much going on and so much rolling around inside my head. It's very hard right now to string together any coherent thoughts.

So I decided to do a meme for the first time in a LONG time. I had to click through six blinkies before I found a current one, so I guess I probably need to update my template sometime soon. And what a surprise...it has to do with WORK. My oh-so-favoritest subject at the moment.

Here's the Friday Five:

1. What job do you have, and why do you like/hate it? I am a property insurance adjuster. I like it because it is something that really interests me, I enjoy it, and I like working with people. I hate it because it is very hard work and it involves working with people.
2. As a kid, what did you want to be when you "grew up?" I had a lot of dreams...I think I wanted to be a doctor until I got to high school and realized that I loathed science, and then thought about being a lawyer until I took a journalism class my junior year in high school. When I was selected as editor-in-chief for our school newspaper, my dream evolved to being editor-in-chief of a major magazine like People.
3. Is the job you have now anything like what you imagined as a kid? One thing's for sure...my dream never involved picking through people's personal belongings after a fire! And I never ever ever envisioned being someone's boss.
4. Do you have a five-year career plan? As coincidence would have it, that's EXACTLY the question that inspired me to make the move into upper management. My managers had invited me to a seminar on becoming a leader in our organization last summer, which I went to just to be taken off new fire assignments for a few days. My boss' boss' boss' boss posed that exact question to our class, and when I thought about whether or not I still wanted to be climbing around attics and on roofs and picking through people's personal stuff, getting filthy, in five years, the answer was NO. However, my current five-year plan is kind of undetermined. Quite honestly, I think I'll still be a claims supervisor in five years. So ask me in 2011 what my current plan is, and I'll give you an update.
5. In order to get the job of your dreams, is there anything you wouldn't do? Why? Well, there's a lot of things that I won't do, but in order to keep this clean, let's just say that I refuse to work the graveyard shift. That's basically what convinced me to give up on my dreams of being a magazine editor.

This past week has been one of the toughest I've had in a long time. Remember that employee I talked about that I think is scared of me? Now I have no idea. He called in last weekend sick for a week, and I spent all week long basically putting out his fires in addition to finishing up my training and going to Oklahoma City for a two-day tour of our call center. We'll see if he comes back to work tomorrow.

Our bathroom is now done. Our contractor finished up on Saturday. Since it turned into two weeks from the original four days we were quoted, he threw in some free texture and cheap crown molding. We selected our paint color this weekend (a brownish-gray called Eiffel Tower) and bought a pedestal sink, toilet topper cabinet, a mirror and a new light fixture. When we'll finish this project is a good guess. We'll see. My weekend plans were thrown a wrench when I came down with an evil stomach virus yesterday afternoon that had me up at 1 am puking my guts out. Nice.

Anywho, that's about all from here. Busy, busy, busy.

Oh, one last thing. I have some shouts out to two girls that I know read my blog. Shannon? Sharon? I left you messages Thursday night!

The book of love has music in it!

Okay, I guess I've watched Shall We Dance one too many times this weekend.

Here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.

Thanks for tagging me, Sharon! Here goes:

-"Lady" by Styx (thanks, Hal Sparks and Dennis DeYoung)
-"Dance with Me" by the Pussycats (again, thanks, Shall We Dance)
-"Just Like Heaven" by the Cure
-all the music from Baby Bach (from Baby Einstein)
-"Since You've Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
-"Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira
-"Butterfly Kisses" (the country one)

So for MY tags, I tag...Dana and Shannon! Muhahahahahaha!!!

Congratulations to me...tomorrow is my LAST day of my field training to become a supervisor and all I have left is two days in Oklahoma City and two weeks in Los Angeles!! Woo hoo!

McKenna's going to be a mermaid!

Here's the costume I bought for McKenna today at Old Navy, but I just have to tell you that it looks not only way better on McKenna than on that kid, but it just looks better PERIOD in person. I went to the secondhand store today with my friend J in search of a great costume for McKenna since I found a witch one there a year ago for $6.50...and there were plenty of great costumes for $6.50 this year, but none that would fit McKenna. Maybe next year.

So off we went to the mall and Old Navy, and I narrowed it down to Ariel or Pocahontas. Ariel won. And I can't WAIT to see her in it for real. The dressing room attendants were getting such a kick out of me trying the costumes on her, but I'm glad that I did because this one fits! I'm so excited about this, I even think I'm going to have professional pictures made of her wearing it.

So that debacle is solved. I even have mermaid glitter in my makeup stash that I'm going to put on her face and some sparkly hair stuff to dress up her hair. This is going to be FUN!

However, I was shocked to realize how much baby sneakers are today. When we were at the secondhand store, I picked up two pairs of sneakers for her to wear, but decided at the mall that I probably needed to get her foot measured for sneakers anyway. Turns out I was right...she wears a size 5. (I bought a 5 and a 6.) And the guy was quick to inform me that McKenna will need an extra-wide sole. But of course she does...I have wide feet and she's my daughter. But that's not what I was shocked about.

I picked up a pair of the brand-new kids' sneakers thinking that maybe we'd celebrate today by buying a brand-new pair for her since it's her first pair of sneakers. I turned over the shoe to see the price. Can you believe that those shoes were $44????? That's insane. The guy told me it's because "baby shoes are harder to make". How in the world is that possible? They are small and it's not like the babies are going to be slam dunking basketballs anytime soon. I gave him back the shoe, thanked him for measuring her feet, and politely informed him that if I won't pay $44 for MY sneakers, McKenna certainly will not be getting $44 sneakers that she will be outgrowing in two months.

Nope. No way!

$44 for baby sneakers. Talk about highway robbery!!! That's almost as bad as the $100 that American Express Travel Services charged me to change my airline ticket three days after I bought it for a flight that is a month away. Unbelievable.

Happy October

Sheesh. It feels like it was July like five minutes ago and now here it is, October, and I'm already stressing about finding a babysitter for our anniversary dinner, what costume to get McKenna for Halloween since SuperBaby is too big for the adorable witch costume I bought her before she was born, and what theme to pick for her birthday party.

Ay carumba, time is going by TOO FAST!!!! I can't believe it! And it's been over two weeks since my last blog entry....that just ain't right!

I hate to resort to the bullet updates, but I gotta do it. So here goes:

• We are having our master bathroom remodeled this week. For those long-timers who have been reading my blog for a long time, you may recall the ugly-as-sin yellow and white striped tile shower stall we had in our master bathroom...and you may also remember my comment about how that was on our top five list of things to do quickly? Earlier this summer we realized that it just couldn't wait anymore. We started looking for a contractor in early July with the hopes that we'd have it done by McKenna's party, but sadly, that didn't happen. And why? For the most unbelievable reason ever...we couldn't find a contractor to do it. We must have asked about four or five. We got one person to come by and look at it, but he never got back to us with a bid. Finally, it just so happened that the rental house behind us was having some work done on the kitchen, and I went in there and asked the guy to give us an estimate. First of all, he came. Second, he actually gave us a bid. And THIRD, it was actually affordable. So Monday, he came over and demoed our shower stall. Originally it was 3' deep by 4' wide by 7' tall with a fiberglass base, an arched opening, and 4" ceramic tiles and no light. Our new and improved shower will be 3' deep by 5' wide by 8' tall with a recessed can light, 12" MARBLE tiles, a tiled bottom and top, a squared off opening, and a new valve/shower head apparatus. I'm totally excited. Today he came and finished up the plumbing and did the framing. Tomorrow, the tile guys are coming. We're even having marble tile put in on the floor. We were just going to leave our vinyl tile, but the guy said that he'd do the floor for an extra $100, so why not? Hopefully he'll be finished by the end of the week, so I'll get some pictures up this weekend. We are also going to repaint the room, so it's going to get a whole makeover.
• McKenna's a mess. She's been fighting this cold thing for a few weeks and was just miserable this past weekend. We thought it was teething, but then when she spiked a fever Sunday night, I decided it was time for a trip to the doctor and a day home from school. Her doctor (not really hers since her regular ped is off on Mondays) said that she has an eye infection (pink eye that she picked up from school, I'm sure), ear infection (even though the tubes are working), and asthma. Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? I just looked at her like she was NUTS when she said asthma...I still don't believe it. I think McKenna has an upper respiratory infection...and the reason why I think that is because now P and I are sick with the same thing...coughing, whining and blowing green snot. But whatever. She got an antibiotic for the infections, so if she does have some sort of respiratory infection, it'll kick it at the same time. However, her lovely diagnosis earned her a nebulizer, which as best as I can tell is like an inhaler for babies. And she loves it EVER so much. Could you sense the sarcasm in that sentence? I kept her home today too and I know our contractor just thought I was torturing her when I was trying to get her to breathe in the medicine. So think good thoughts for my baby that she recovers quick. Today she was in a totally foul mood and screamed for about an hour and a half...STRAIGHT. If she did that on a regular basis, I'd probably be more used to it, but considering that she is the most easy-going flexible content baby, it really caught me off guard!
• We're not the only ones sick. My oldest cat, Gabrielle, is also sick. She has had this eye ulcer in her right eye for about six weeks that just hasn't gone away. I took her back to the vet this past Friday and the vet said that we were going to have to get really aggressive with her meds if we were going to save her eye. Apparently if her cornea gets really weak from this ulcer, she could rip her eye open. Yucko. So starting Friday night, she had to wear one of those collars to keep her from scratching it, and every four hours I had to apply this ointment to her eyeball and give her drops made from her own blood...some serum that would encourage her cornea to heal. She was really pissed at first about the collar, but the last two days she has been more affectionate with all of us and her eye looks so much better, so I guess she is healing! I was really worried on Friday though. She's thirteen and I don't want to put her through any kind of weird eye surgery. We'll see what they say tomorrow...I'm taking her in to be boarded for the day so they can watch her.
• I have now been supervising my team at work for a solid month. In that month, one employee has quit, another employee told me (just today) that she wants to go back to her old department at our company, and the third is just plain scared of me, I think. However, I'm trying VERY hard not to take it personally. The employee that quit has been on performance management for years, the employee that wants to transfer has been talking about it for six months, and the employee that is scared of me apparently has a confidence problem. The two that left/are leaving have both told me seperately that their decisions have had NOTHING to do with me (so that's a relief) and that had I been their supervisor earlier, they probably would not have left, but they still left/are leaving, so it's kind of sad for me. Oh, well. The good thing is that my managers think I'm doing a kick ass job so far and our office manager has pretty much told me I'm a sure thing as soon as I attend my last bit of training which is two weeks in Los Angeles in December. So that's good. My training is just about done. I have one week left to complete two computer courses and write my final report, I'm going to Oklahoma City for two days, so it's just about coming to a close, and then after that, I have a feeling my office is going to give me a bunch of adjusters to supervise while I'm waiting to go to LA.
• Scrapbooking? Nonexistent.
• Stitching? Nonexistent.
• I have four weeks to find a cute Halloween costume for McKenna.
• I went to McKenna's school yesterday to drop off her tuition check and was informed that they would like to move her to the toddler's room at the end of the month. This freaks me out on several levels because of the following: a) they sleep on pallets instead of cribs, b) they sit in very low chairs at very low tables instead of high chairs, and c) they eat the school food. I'll give you three guesses which one of those freaks me out the most. And apparently it's a dealbreaker...they have a VERY strict policy about outside food in after the kids leave the infant rooms. I can't believe that I just can't bring a brown bag lunch in for her, but apparently them's the rules and I either have to abide by them or pull her out of the school. Neither of those options appeal to me, quite frankly, but I'd rather her eat one marginally nutritious meal a day and two excellent ones than pull her out of this school. We discussed hiring a nanny, but I just don't know that I feel comfortable enough leaving a complete stranger with my child in my home. There's a lot to be said for a company...lots of rules and regulations and security in place to protect kids. So I guess we're just going to suck it up and let her eat a chicken nugget or canned peaches every once in a while.

In a nutshell, that's it.