Knit-along Little Doggie!!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Today is my honey's 33rd birthday!  We got up and got the place cleaned up, and then had a few friends over for hot dogs and cake.  I put Alex down for a nap and after he got up, he had a huge lunch of fruit salad, hot dog, and some cake.  I've never seen him pack it away like that before!  He's eating really good.
Today was the first really hot day in the last 3 weeks, and we had to close the house up and put the air conditioner on.  I'm worried about the bill, but we've only had to use it a hand full of days this summer, so it'll probably be fine.
In prep for todays get-together, I cut both my big boy's hair and then combed the baby's into a pony tail on the top of his head.  We all pulled out the flip-flops and shorts and have been hanging out.  I slept in (as much as any mom with a toddler can) today and went to bed early yesterday and I'm still tired.  Yesterday I had 91 customers to handle out of my 140, and I managed to get it all done, but I had to work 2 hours over my shift to do it.
The shawl is still coming along.  I don't really have any real progress to report on other than more of the same.  Another row down.  Many more rows to go.  Getting down to the wire.  Same old stuff, but just be content to know that I am still working on it and that I believe it will be done in time for Sam's wedding.  And on that note, I better go and knit.

more rough landing

I went in to work today.  It's my day off but I wanted to help a coworker to catch up on his work and go over ways that he can work more efficiently. It was a really nice day, coming in to work at 10am, and just hanging out with no particular agenda. 
Well, at around 2:30pm I sent an email out to the whole team, as my coworker no longer needed me, to see if anyone else needed any help before I went home.  I copied my supervisor to it, and went with it.  In the middle of making some calls for my cube mate, I got an email from the other team leader whom we shall from here forth refer to as DC.  So, DC sends me an email chewing me out for sending a mass email to the team and not copying her to it.  It said something to the extent of "we've talked about this in person as well as in email and I'm concerned that I wasn't on the distribution list for this, I should be copied to ALL team wide communications, and I'm confident that it won't happen in the future."
Okay!  First of all, DC is NOT my team leader and I talked to him, and he said to continue to do what I do and just let him know.  He doesn't want me to run every little thing past them and said that my ability to take the lead without having to run to them every minute is EXACTLY why I was given the first bump to grade 7, and if I wasn't already doing what I was expected to be doing, I wouldn't have been promoted.  So according to him, I don't have to copy her to every thing that I do, or ask her permission first.  Secondly, it's not as if I sent out something telling the team to change their habits or anything like that.  All I said was if anyone needed any help to let me know before I went home for the day.  Why did she need to be copied to that?  Does this mean that if I send my team an email telling them that I have Swedish Fish at my desk, that I have to copy her to that too?  How dumb is this?!!
I ended up forwarding the email directly to my boss and asking him what he wants me to do as this was exactly what I was talking about.  And since I didn't copy her to the email, how did she get a copy of it in the first place?  Did she read the screen of the agent in the cube in front of her and demand that she forward it to her?  All I have to say about this is that I'm gonna pray for some guidance and charity on the subject, and then speak to my boss before I speak to her... and there WILL be a conversation with her about it.
Now!  On to knitting.  I'm at row 135!  It's really flying now.  It's just a big mess on a giant needle so there aren't any photo updates, but I promise that I won't follow my past motive and forget to take a photo before I send it to it's intended.  And after this shawl?, you ask...  Well, my boss and a coworker, and a friend from church are all expecting so I have babies to knit for!  I love knitting for babies, but it's way more fun when I know what the gender of the baby-to-be is.  I only know one and the rest are up in the air right now.  I hope to get to knit for at least one baby girl this time! 

It was a much better day today.  My class went really well yesterday and it was pretty full.  Of course, half of the people there are really just there for support, but that's okay too.  Anyway, class was good and the "good" just carried right over into today. 
I only had 25 contacts to make today, and was assigned only 1 new customer.  I basically had all my work for the day completed by 1:30.  So after lunch, I helped my buddy who sits across the cube from me to get a few calls made, and that felt pretty good.  I also had a chance to talk to my boss, who i plied with Swedish Fish first, about what was going on with the other team leader trying to make me reel myself in when it came to making decisions and taking the lead on matters pertaining to the team.  He told me that I'm to continue to do what I've been doing, as that is the reason i was chosen for this bump to supervisor level and that if i wanted to cover myself, just tell him what I'm doing so that i can say I've already ran the stuff past him and he'll deal with her.  that made me feel much better about my role.  it's sort of up in the air and totally undefined right now and i told him that i feel like a Guinea pig and he said that i should, cause i am (haha).  He's a funny guy.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow beings!
As far as FHE today, we watched some Veggie Tales today with the baby upstairs and hung out having a snack.  It was really nice to unwind like that with my boys.  And for dinner, I'm trying out a recipe that i got from my Bzzagent page for the new Grey Poupon (honey dijon) on haddock.  It's cooling right now and I'm really looking forward to tasting it.  I liked it as a dip on pretzels and I'm looking forward to trying it on a sandwich. 
I'm still trudging along on Sam's shawl and I'm down to 20 rows, and then the crocheted border.  This larger version is taking alot of yarn.  I'm on my 3rd skein of yarn at 462 yards a piece!  I have a feeling that after I block it, it'll be large enough to cover my dining room table. So we'll keep knitting, and we'll just have to see.

yeah, so..

So I took Dante to his scouting meeting today, and then went to put gas and transmission fluid in the car for my temple trip.  That didn't go as smoothly as planned.  I don't know what it is with my and Boston, but we just don't click.  My friend gave me directions on how to get up there and I didn't understand what she told me like I first thought I did, and I took the 93 split instead of staying on 95N.  I drove for 25 minutes in the wrong direction when I finally called home and asked my husband to log onto LDS.org for me and find the directions for the Boston temple.  He suggested that I call the temple (which I did) to find out how to get there based on where I was (which I wasn't really sure about). 
See, the plan originally was for us to meet in the chapel for the 4pm session, and then I found out today that a group of folks were meeting at the ward at 2pm to head up, but after getting out late from scouting and doing the basics on the car, I couldn't get there for 2pm so I just went up on my own.  Well, when I finally got there, not only did I miss the 4 o'clock session, but the 5 o'clock session too.  I decided to hop into the 6pm, and had to pass on having dinner with my ward (most of whom were still there) in the cafeteria.  I figured that after I went through all that work to get there, I was seriously gonna go through at least one session.  It was actually cool going alone, and I made friends with a few sisters from other wards.  It gave me time to hand out and read in the Celestial room.  I left at 8pm and didn't get home till 9:30pm, driving straight home without getting lost.  I didn't realize it was so far away.
I went with my better judgment, and left the knitting home.  I also left the Harry Potter book in the car.  I decided that it was an unnecessary distraction from the purpose of my driving all that way.  But I did bring the shawl to the ward for Dante's scouting meeting and knit for several minutes in the car while I waited for him to finish up. 
Oh, and Rain... you are not the person I've been trying to reach who isn't answering back.  I love ya!!

rough landing

Lets just say that the last few days at work were tough.  After having to deal with the Mr. "X" incident I messed up pretty big with an email that was forwarded to me.  I thought I'd forwarded it to a friend but I actually sent it to one of my team leaders and she went up the chain with it, so not only did I get the official "you know better and you're setting a bad example" letter but she also got all the managers involved of everyone who's name was on the email as well.  So not only did I manage to get myself a talking-to, but a few of my friends got dragged into as well.  Chalk it up to a lesson learned.
I'm hopefully going to the Temple tomorrow.  I'm off at work, and scheduled to go but I don't know how to get there and the plan is for the ward to meet up in the chapel for the 4pm session.  I wanted to go early so that I could spend more time up there, but I guess if I take my own car I can leave when ever I feel like it.  I always feel rushed when I go because there's so much to see and do, and it feels like Disneyland.
On the knitting front, I'm on row 127 so I'm making really good progress on the shawl.  I wonder if I should bring something to knit with me to the temple?  Bad idea?

There is news

So I went into work and spoke to my manager and let her know the deal.  She was less than pleased and decided that a meeting was in order to set the record straight.  She also took a meeting with my 3 friends who I had to speak to just to clear the air with them, as well as speaking with "X"s boss.  I don't know how it will be handled by his boss, or what will be done about it but it's off my hands now and I'm at peace about the whole thing.
On more exciting news, I can now let the cat out of the bag.  My friend Samantha is getting married!!  In about 3 weeks.  She is the one that I've been making the shawl for and I'm actually going to be able to go to the wedding!  It's in New Mexico, to which I've never been, and I have all these arrangements to make.  She's helping me with the cost of a flight and I'll be able to stay with her family so I don't have to pay for a hotel.  I'll be going on Friday night and coming home on Monday morning if I can get all my ducks in a row.  I'll need to make arrangements for help with the kids for my husband, and to take some time off of work.  I've never been away from my baby more than a few hours before so this will be tough.  Of course, Sam said that I could bring Alex with me, but I'm not sure if I wanna do that.
Now I just have to figure out how to tell my husband.

and the shine is already worn off

So I went to lunch with Jes today and she congratulated me on my promotion.  I was a little bit confused as I hadn't announced it to anyone yet other than Carmen, and then Brad and Donna on a need to know basis.  I know those 3 didn't say anything about it.  But what I hadn't counted on was when I asked one of my co-workers who I'll call "X" to help me set my email up so that it would send me a notice when my friend read it.   I have tried to reach her several times and haven't been able to do so, and wanted to know if she actually received and read my email.  In the email I told her that I got the promotion, and when "X" came over to help me find the tool, he read my email over my shoulder.
Now, this in itself is in some people's eyes a no-no.  He said "you got promoted? congrats" and I of course thanked him, and told him that I was keeping it quiet as I wasn't ready to deal with all the nay-sayers just yet.  He said that he understood, which he should have as he went through the exact same thing when he got his job, and I stood by him and supported him and helped to put some of the flames out, so I never thought it would be him that would have started the drama. 
But it was in fact, him.  When Jes congratulated me, she said that the whole department knew, and that she heard him complaining to another girl we shall call "Y" about how he should be making more money that I do (we are now at the same pay grade and equals) and that his hours are terrible and that he does so much more work that I have to do.  Well, I feel no real need to justify my promotion except to say this... I have a stronger and wider knowledge of the bank and it's policies than he does, and I have not only done my work in a 36 hour that takes most of the other agents 40 hours to do, but I also had a lot to do with the early success of this department as well as his early success in his current job.  I will also say that if he is unhappy with either his hours or his pay, then he shouldn't have accepted the terms of his position when he got it almost 6 months ago and he also needs to be talking to someone who can actually do something about it and not complain to the agents on the team.  It just undermines me and doesn't start my new position off the way that I wanted to.  So now I have to talk to my boss about it and take it from there.

more harry potter

I guess it was bound to happen, but today I had to go to Target to get a Binky clip as the last on just finally gave out and snapped today.  Between the Binky and the blankie, we have to keep back ups in the house or it's mutiny.  So while I was there, and the husband was looking at video games, I sneaked off to the book section and picked up paper backed copies of Harry Potter 3,4, and 5.  They didn't have book 2 in paperback and I didn't want to get the hard covers yet as I didn't have as much expendable cash as I would have needed.  The hard covers are twice as much as the paperback, and I just really wanted to have the complete story in my house so that I can read them any time I want, and read them to my boys.  This makes me happy!  Almost as happy as a finished object, of where there are few to be had around here.
I've been working steadily on the Rona lace shawl and I'm still loving it, although it's much harder to show progress now that I'm 117+ rows into a 159 row shawl.  It's slow going, and I'm under the gun right now cause I have to get it done before Sep 3rd, as the Bride will be using it in her wedding.  No. Pressure.
Oh, and I want you guys to check this link out!  It's one of the most popular "frogs" in the "frogpond" and it's hosted by i-village.  If you sign up for i-village, you can upload your photo to the make over site and play!  I had a  blast with it and I thought it was one of the best make over sites as it has you trace out your features and you can enlarge or shrink the sizes of the hairstyles until they actually fit onto your head.  My only complaint is that they were very limited as far as hairstyles went, especially styles that looked good on ethnic faces.  But still fun!

Promotion

Today I had a talk with my department head, and she gave me a promotion!  I'm moving up from a grade 6 to a grade 7 agent, and getting a raise.  I don't have an exact title yet but I'm the first in my department to be moved up and the description of my duties is more like a manager on duty.  I'll be dealing with the questions from the team, and handling all the decisions that don't require a manager.  It's good and I'm really excited! 
I decided not to have them announce it to the team as there are a few people who I work next to who would be less than thrilled that I got promoted before them, and I just don't want my experience tainted just yet.  I told Melissa that I'd like to keep it quite for now.  I'll let some people know as I feel it's necessary to do so.
I've been reading and knitting, and knitting and reading.  And fighting off the urge to watch zombie movies on t.v. since I'm afraid of zombies.  I love horror movies and I'm never scared but zombies just creep me out!  Why would I purposely do this to myself?  I don't know, but I think there's a little Dawn of the Dead in my near future (the remake).  I watched the original one last week and I wouldn't say it was scary, but it was pretty disturbing when you get used to a character and then all the sudden he dies and the next time you see him about 10 minutes later he's a zombie stumbling out of an elevator and leading the zombie pack back to your secret hide out and you have to cap him in front of his baby's momma.  But maybe not as disturbing as the remake when the pregnant woman dies and gives birth to a zombie baby and the father ends up dieing in a shoot out with one of the other "survivors" over not wanting them to destroy the baby.  I don't know why I watch this stuff!

there are more of us!

So, I've found, or should say have BEEN found by some really cool LDS knitters out there.  There's Tola, and Lynn and Chloe.  I knew that I wasn't the only Mormon knitter on the planet but it really made me feel better to have them find my page and reach out to me like that!  And Tola, if you're reading this... I don't know what the malfunction is with me and Blogger, but I'm locked out again and haven't been able to read your page in a while.  Just wanted you to know that I didn't forget about you.  Blogger hates me. 
Anyway, I'm working on the Wedding Shawl for my friend who gets married in a few weeks, and I've made a decent error, that probably would go unnoticed by anyone else, but it's driving me nuts and I don't have the time to fix it as it took me most of my spare knitting time today just to complete the 3 rows that I managed to do today.
My knitting time was split with reading the 1st Harry Potter to Alex today.  Grammie said that I need to read to him, so most of the day while he played with The Boy, I read out loud.  I love reading these books, he seemed to like the reading as he played quieter that usual as if he wanted to hear the story, and Big Brother liked the story too.  He loves Harry Potter, but I think that he's too impatient to read the books that have already been made into movies.  So, I guess I could have knit more, but it was "mommy day" and I've spent the better part of the last 2 days reading to my boys with no t.v. or computer, or other distraction to get in the way.  It's been really nice and we've gotten up to chapter 5!  Can't wait for tomorrow.