Burn out?

Sometimes I wonder if I should quit work for good.  I am in that state right now.  I usually think that way when I don't have much going on at work and I am just sitting at my desk, making up stuff to do to make the day go by (and remember that I only work 20 hours a week so it is not like I am here all the time).  But that is not the case right now.  I actually have a bunch of work.  Two summary judgments under submission and one coming under submission later next month.  So, in short, I have plenty to do. 

The problems is that I don't want to do it.  Take, for instance, the case I am working on now.  It is a business deal gone wrong and pretty complicated.  There are four claims and I really don't know much about the law in this area.  Normally that would be a good thing - a challenge.  I would have fun researching and trying to figure out the right result.  But I am not feeling that way.  I am bored.  I don't want to do it.  I don't really care.  I am apathetic to the whole thing.  Instead, I want to go home and play with my kids.  I want to go to the gym.  I want to have lunch with friends.  I want to do anything besides being here.

So what am I gonna do about it?  Well, nothing right now.  I am taking the week off next week and it couldn't come at a better time.  I am going to see if leaving htis place for a week and coming back after a good vacation changes my attitude.  Plus the kids will be starting school soon and we will all get back in the routine.  Hopefully things will go back to normal.  If not, Ted and I will have to have a sit down and reevaluate things.  

4 Years Old (well, almost)!

Ann Park had her 4th birthday party yesterday afternoon and is COMPLETELY convinced that she is already 4.  She doesn't quite understand that her real birthday is tomorrow and that she is not yet 4.  She told everyone all day yesterday that it was her birthday and she was 4.  She told people at church, at the grocery store, and especially at Walmart where she rode her big-gril bike that she picked out through the store to the check out line (sorry, Angela, no fancy bikes at the Holt household).

The parry was a bit of a fiasco, but she didn't seem to mind which is all that really matters.  It was supposed to be a swimming party from 4:00-5:30. Well the pool called at 3:30 and said they had just heard thunder, were making all the kids sit out for 20 minutes and that the golf shop had called saying there were bad storms in the area.  So I made the call to cancel the pool and had the kids over here.  Thank goodness 4 families had cancelled because it made it much more manageable.  Of course, it turned out to be the wrong call and there was not a bit of thunder, rain or even really clouds.  Just lots of humidity.  Oh well.  Here are some party shots:

practicing her hula before the party

Ward's bow and arrow that he got at the deer and turkey expo (notice Sam in the baby pool in all his clothes . . . nice, I know)

swinging

Sam playing in the ice

Nemo cake!

birthday princess!

"Happy birthday to you!"

blowing out the candles!

licking the icing off Nemo

kids eating cake!

yum!

Sam gets cake and ice cream!

climbing trees

a wet but happy Sam!

Swamped

So I haven't posted in a while because I really haven't had anything to say or comment on.  Instead, I am swamped up to my neck in work and Ballet Guild stuff.  For those of you who don't know, I am President of the Ballet Guild for 2010-11 - a job that I am excited about and know that I can do a great job.  (The Ballet Guild raises about $60,000 a year for the Alabama Ballet through an annual gigantic Ball.)  The problem is that getting everything organized and out to my people (i.e. other officers and chairmen of all the different committees) has proven to be more work than I signed up for.  First of all, and no offense to the President before me, the files and binders are A MESS.  I don't understand how some of the people even worked with them, much less figured out what they were supposed to do and not do.  Some of this is because people just don't care, and some of it is because people ran out of time, had babies and lost their minds, etc.  But now my OCD self is spending hours each afternoon and night organizing, purging, writing lists, etc.  It is very overwhelming.  Second, the girl who is in charge of getting the directory updated and printed (we have about 200 members, by the way) just had a baby last week - her first, so you know that she is a basketcase. The directory needs to be done by the middle of next month . . . in like 4 weeks.  So guess who gets to do it?  Me.  But, no worries, the excellent delegator that I am (one of the things I did learn through high school and college sorority - yes, I was in a high school sorority and President,  I might add), I have already recruited a girl to check the addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of half the girls.  That leaves me with the other half.  And finally, I have to write a newsletter, get it printed and mailed to the membership before Labor Day.  Fun stuff.

And then, not to moan, our social calendar has gotten a little packed.  It is mostly Ted's work stuff, which is fun, but I don't want to do it every night!  Take the next week for example, we have something for his work Thursday night, Friday night, Sunday afternoon (we are not going to this, however, because we have Ann Park's birthday party) and then next Tuesday night.  I mean give a girl a break!  And the poor kids have babysitters all of those nights.  At least we are heading to the lake for an entire week soon.  (We should be Rosemary Beach but we cancelled since they can't get in the ocean - I know, bad us, we should be helping the economy, etc., but you tell 7 kids that they can't get into the ocean for a whole week.)  Oh yeah, and we have 4 birthday parties in the next 6 days - some both kids are invited to, others just AP or Ward - one of those being Ann Park's birthday.  I hope I show up with the right kids.

Ummmm. . . what else?  I am tired just writing this.  And I wonder why I am not getting any sleep.

4th of July weekend

We had an amazing long 4th of July at the lake.  It was our third weekend in a row to go to the lake and the kids are really becoming "lakies."  They run to get into their bathing suits as soon as we get there and Ward is asking for hotdogs for fishing before we can even get out of the car.  Even Sam seems to be taking to it - especially the dark room with the amazing black-out shades.

Sam dumped all the toys out of this basket and crawled in!

strolling . . . always a favorite!

This weekend we went down on Thursday and came home on Monday so we really got to settle in.  The weekend was essentially one party after the next.  Almost all of Ted's family was down there which was great and Ward had the best time playing with John Benton, who is only 3 weeks older than he is.  They were two peas in a pod to say the least.  I only got one picture of the cousins which disapointed me. I am usually pretty good about remembering my camera, but not this year!  Here is one of Alex, Ward and John Benton fishing:

We also had Perry Still's 30th birthday party which was really fun over at the Still's lake house.  Ward commandeered (sp?) the camera and took some pretty good pictures.  He isn't giving Ryan a run for his money or anything, but he really likes it!

Co Co and Cher Cher

Papa and Mary Chollet

Ann Park was not so happy to be there at first!  She cheered up, but then had her first bee sting - on her face!  She was such a trooper and ended up having a great time.  Plus she loved all the attention she got after the bee sting.

Ward's self portrait

The kids also had fun with our lake neighbors, who are from Birmingham as well.  The husband works at Maynard with Ted and the family goes to our church.  Their youngest son, Sam, who is going int 8th grade I think was especially great with the kids.  I just hope that Ward will be that well-behaved at his age.  They also had kayaks and I think that it has convinced Ted that we need one as well!

Ann Park and daddy in the single

Ward and Sam in the double - a purchase in our future!

Dad Life

Ted's first cousin, Marty, sent this to him.  It is pretty funny.  Turn it up and enjoy . . . especially all you dads out there (or moms, forward the link to your husbands cause I don't think any men read this!)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOKuSQIJlog&feature=youtube_gdata

I don't understand "football"

So this morning I was checking my e-mail and I saw a blurb about Nigeria's President banning the team from national play for two years as a punishment for poor performance in the World Cup:

Nigeria suspends national team for poor World Cup

By Brooks Peck

Nigeria lost its first two World Cup group stage matches but still came just one goal short of advancing with their draw against South Korea. As one of the more heavily favored African nations, the early elimination was certainly a disappointment. So how is Nigeria handling that disappointment?

From the BBC:

Nigeria's president has suspended his nation's football team from international competition for two years after a poor showing at the World Cup.

Special presidential adviser Ima Niboro told reporters the decision by Goodluck Jonathan will "enable Nigeria to reorganize its football."

He said: "This directive became necessary following Nigeria's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup."

Of course. How do you improve an underachieving team? Ban it from competing for two whole years. Spur them on to playing better by not allowing them to play at all. Maybe England should try that.

Now, FIFA probably won't like this given its distaste for government meddling in the national team, so maybe Nigeria should try suspending FIFA, too. It might work. I mean, how do you say no to a guy named Goodluck Jonathan? 

____________________

All I can say is, my thoughts exactly.

One fish Two fish Small Fish Smaller Fish

I know it doesn't rhyme, but that title about sums up our weekend at the lake last weekend.  Ted bought some brim fishing hooks, including bobbers and the kids had a great time fishing off the boat.  They caught tiny little brim fish with hotdogs as bait and had the time of their lives.  The best part was how proud they were of their catches.  Ward was just as proud as his 4 pound bass he caught at Grey Rocks!

Although blurry (you can thank the humidity for that), here is the scene

This was the first fish Ward has ever caught at the lake . . . he is so proud!

And here is Ann Park's fish - she was too scared to get close to it (like mother like daughter!)

And here is a shot of daddy and Sam when we got home.  Sam has been realy sick for the past week - just a virus, but he has had high fever and has not been himself.  He would NEVER sit in our laps before this illness, but now he is content to sit.  Tonight, for instance, he watched Baby Einstein in my lap for 30 straight minutes - clearly a record as he has never had the patience for anything on TV, despite my trying!

Michael Jackson Tribute

Think what you like about Chris Brown (woman beater) and Michael Jackson (child molestor), but Michael may be the most talented person to live in our time.  And Chris Brown did an amazing job in his tribute last night at the BET Awards.  I am and always wil be a huge Michael Jackson fan.

Summer mission

My mission for the summer has been to get Sam's baby book in order.  I made great books (yes, I will admit they are pretty fab) for Ward and Ann Park and so far Sam has totally gotten the shaft.  I think that I am up to month 4.  I know that I am at his baptism and that is not very far.  I do the first year of life - think scrapbook fullof comments, cards, craft, etc.  It is cheesey, I know, but I used to LOVE looking back through my baby book as a kid (and still do really) and I want those memories to be there forever.  Yes, the pictures are saved on the computer and cds, but there is nothing better than the tangible picture and book.  And one day their kids can look at it too.
But I digress.  I have gotten as far as getting the book out of hiding and pulling out all the pictures, cards, etc.  So I am making progress.  But the thing I got caught up in was looking at old pictures of Ward and Ann Park.  I can't believe how much they have grown.  Ward is truly a boy and sometimes I can even look at him and see the teenager/man he will some day be.  Ann Park is no longer my fat-cheeked roly-poly.  She has thinned out and is a diva in the making.  I don't even want to know what she is going to look like and how she is going to use it to her advantage. 

Here are a couple of the old pics I ran across on my computer.  How fast time flies!

Ann Park at 18 months

with her purple cast, age 2

At Grey Rocks, circa New Years 2009

Ward in Mustique . . . age 3

still 3 . . . love the hair in this shot!

Ward (3) and Ann Park (2) on a hot summer day

Another Child-Product Recall

I turned on the news this morning as I was getting ready for work and what did I see? Another child-product recall. And this time it is more than 2 million cribs.  I am really getting sick of all these recalls.  What has happened to the products we buy?  Are companies so focused on the bottom line that they have forgotten about safety?  Is it relly more important to save some money and use plastic parts instead of good-ole metal parts (like in the cribs) but put our children's lives at risk?  Yes, I am on my soapbox.  And thank God none of the cribs I have are in the recall.  But that was pure luck.  

Here is a portion from the article on FoxNews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,595226,00.html?test=latestnews):

More than 2 million cribs from seven companies were recalled Thursday amid concerns that babies can suffocate, become trapped or fall from the cribs.

Most of the cribs were drop-sides, which have a side rail that moves up and down so parents can lift children from them more easily. That movable side, however, can malfunction or detach from the crib, creating a dangerous gap where babies' heads can become trapped, leading to suffocation or strangulation.

The companies involved in the recall were Evenflo, Delta Enterprises Corp., Child Craft, Jardine Enterprises, LaJobi, Million Dollar Baby and Simmons Juvenile Products Inc.

No deaths were associated with the cribs, but there were reports of at least 16 entrapments of infants. In one case, a child was found unconscious and later hospitalized.

In the announcement from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, all seven companies recalled drop-side cribs. Delta and Child Craft also acknowledged problems with fixed-side cribs.

Drop-sides have increasingly come under scrutiny, with several warnings from the CPSC in the last year that the cribs can be deadly. CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum has pledged to ban their manufacture and sale by year's end.

"This new recall announcement is part of a larger effort by CPSC to clean up the marketplace from many of these unsafe cribs," said Tenenbaum. "Most of these recalled cribs have dangerous drop-sides, while the Delta crib can pose a danger to babies if the mattress support is installed incorrectly."

CPSC urged parents to stop using the cribs and contact the manufacturers for repair kits to immobilize the drop-side or information to make the cribs more secure.

The recalls involved about:

— 750,000 Jenny Lind drop-side cribs distributed by Evenflo Inc.

— 747,000 Delta drop-side cribs. Delta is also urging parents to check all fixed and drop-side cribs that use wooden stabilizer bars to support the mattress. The company says the bars can be installed upside down, causing the mattress platform to collapse. CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said Delta "was not cooperative with providing the full number of units involved in the mattress support assembly problem."

— 306,000 Bonavita, Babi Italia and ISSI drop-side cribs manufactured by LaJobi Inc.

— 130,000 Jardine drop-side cribs imported by Toys R Us.

— 156,000 Million Dollar Baby drop-side cribs.

— 50,000 Simmons drop-side cribs.

— 40,000 to 50,000 Child Craft brand stationary-side cribs and an unknown number of Child Craft brand drop-sides. Child Craft ceased operations last summer and sold its name to Foundations Worldwide Inc., which did not manufacture or sell any of the recalled cribs but will offer rebates for some of them.

With Thursday's recall, 9 million drop-side cribs have been recalled in the past five years. Drop-sides have been blamed in the deaths of at least 32 infants and toddlers since 2000. The cribs are suspected in another 14 infant fatalities during that time.

Congress is also concerned about the cribs. Legislation has been introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to outlaw the sale and manufacture of drop-sides. A similar bill has been introduced in the House by Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley, also of New York.

Drop-side cribs have been around for decades, but consumer advocates say they are not as sturdy as those of the past. Older cribs had metal rods that guided the drop-side up and down. Many newer cribs have plastic tracking guides for the drop-side that critics say are more prone to breaking.