MLK Community Service

Just getting around to posting this... Carter and Thomas participated in a service project with Thomas' work on MLK day. Check out this short video where they appear several times!

Bring Your Kids to Work

Last week, we had Bring Your Kids to Work day at my office. This was the first year that Carter was old enough to attend. There were lots of games and activities for the kids, and Carter had a good time. His favorite part was "all of it."

Sight word relay for the 6-7yr olds

Tricycle racing
(Have you seen the Razor tricycles? They are super cool!)

I managed to get a whole hour of work done. And this is how...

Home!

Rachel recently did a nice post detailing her work travels, along with what her family was up to. I left town last Monday with aspirations to do a similar post about my 6 day, 5 night trip this week (my longest since John was born). Alas, much to Carter's chagrin, I neglected to take any photos, so I'll just say this:

I was in San Diego all week for the annual Boys & Girls Clubs of America national conference. I presented, networked, had a lot of meetings, went to a Padres game and saw several famous alums accept hall of fame awards (a few from this year: CC Sabathia, Ne-Yo and Cuba Gooding Jr). At one point, I snuck out to get a much needed massage. I returned home with the most milk I've hauled to date, and the San Diego airport didn't even screen it! I'm very happy to be home, and I'm also happy that John didn't start crawling while I was away. He did, however, start pulling up!

Homes Sweet Former Homes

Last week, my work took me to NYC and Chicago. It was so nice to visit my former home cities. There are things that I just love so much about both places, and at the top of the list is the people I know that still live there! In NYC, I got to have dinner with my friend Paul (Joo was out of town - boo!), and in Chicago, I got to have dinner with the Stubblefields and breakfast with the Martens. It was such a treat!

The bottom view is from the window of my hotel room at the Four Seasons in Chicago. Now that I work for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, I don't usually stay at places like the Four Seasons, so it was a real treat (due to the meeting I was there for taking place at the hotel). Now, I learned something very interesting on this trip. This go around with breastfeeding, I have found it much more difficult to travel and pump milk than it was five years ago. This is largely due to the fact that hotels used to be very accommodating with refrigerating things for me and freezing my ice packs, but I have had the hardest time getting hotels to do that now. Several hotels have cited something about health department restrictions on refrigerating things for guests, so I thought perhaps that there may be some new policies at play. But that theory was disproved when I asked at the Four Seasons and they were only too happy to take care of my milk and ice packs. This lead to the realization that the difference is most likely due to the very different quality of hotel that I was staying in five years ago when I worked in the corporate world versus now...

My Week (so far) In Numbers

5
talks and workshops presented

4
pounds of milk pumped, chilled and schlepped

3
nights in myrtle beach (and four very full days)

2
times I stepped foot outside of the hotel (and the second time was to go to the airport)

1
tired me


The upside of traveling: My boys were all happy to see me when I got home. John was the most expressive, but Carter warmed up when he realized that I was home in time to take him to the family reading night at his school (pajamas required). Thomas seems quite relieved to have me home. I'm trying to avoid mention of next week's trip for as long as possible.

Yep, that's 4lbs of milk

Back to Work

I started back to work last week -- just two days my first week back. The first day, John gave Thomas a pretty hard time, but the second day went much better. That may have had something to do with Rachel arriving halfway through the day, but I'm going to give the credit to Thomas' parenting skills. This week I worked two days in the office and two from home. The office days seemed to go well for Thomas and John. I'm trying to ramp up slowly and work from home when possible, so that I can feed John myself.

I'm not sure how the upcoming week factors into my ramp-up-slowly plan... I'll be in Las Vegas for a conference from Tuesday-Friday. But John will be with me, so I suppose it is just a step towards full-fledged business travel! Granny B is coming to meet us to enjoy some more John time while I'm in meetings.

We've had John's spot in daycare reserved since August. They take babies as early as six weeks, so he can start any day now. He won't go full time, especially now that Thomas is home, but it will be nice to have when he needs a break, and we'll need it when we're both back to work full time. We're actually anxious to get him started soon because he's in a class where several of the babies haven't been born yet (people are just paying to hold their coveted spot). We stopped by his classroom last week to drop off supplies and found that there are currently only two babies attending -- and there are three teachers in the classroom! So it seems like an ideal time to get him acclimated. 

On a break from work earlier this week

Ships Passing in the Night...

I had 3 business trips over the past 7 days (yes, over most of the weekend, too). When I arrived home well after midnight last night, Thomas was waiting up to say hello. Which was especially nice given that he left for Florida first thing this morning to enjoy spring training with the rest of the Fowlkes clan. He'll be gone until Sunday. We should get one week together, before he goes into tech for a week, followed by my travel picking back up in April.

If you're reading this... hi, honey! Carter and I ate nothing but doughnuts for dinner tonight. (Happy Fat Tuesday!).

Déjà vu

Seems like I've already done this... oh, right. That's because I have, a mere 6 months ago.

What am I doing? I'm packing up my office and winding down my job. At the end of next month, I'll be starting a new job with Boys & Girls Clubs of America in their national office which is located in... wait for it... Atlanta! I'll be getting dressed and going into an office every day. It's kind of blowing my mind. I will still be traveling some, but being based in a local office should be (fingers-crossed) a very nice development.

What will I be doing at BGCA? I'll be developing and implementing their outcome measurement strategy. And going into an office, and drinking coffee, and interacting with live human beings. Weird.

What am I doing in the meantime? I'll be taking some MUCH needed time off. Organizing, cooking, re-familarizing myself with my husband and son and our day-to-day household operations. I'll be doing yoga, replenishing my everyday office wardrobe, reading books, and generally lazing about (she says, knowing full well that she's really bad at that).

If you have any suggestions for TV/movies I should watch during the next few weeks as I attempt to "laze about" please let me know!

Long time no blog

Wondering why you haven't seen me in the blog-o-sphere lately? That's because, in the last 7 weeks I've been here:

Tampa
Memphis
Pittsburgh
Los Angeles
NYC
Fayetteville
Oakland

With visits to Atlanta in between each city.

And this week, I'm headed to Seattle.

I hope to be back to normal - and back to blogging - soon.

My Next Adventure

I took last week off (between jobs), and while it was nice, the experience definitely reminded me that I'm best when I'm busy. I'd finished my to do list (which included, among other more useful things, "sleep in" and "be lazy") by noon on Wednesday, and I had a hard time figuring out what to so with myself the rest of the week. Maybe I just need at least a full month to ease myself into relaxing. I'd like to give that a shot next time.

I start a new job tomorrow morning. I'll be working in the consulting group at Wireless Generation (click the link for more info on the company) on a variety of education/education technology related projects. The company is based in Brooklyn, so I'll continue telecommuting, as I have been for the last two and a half years. Long term, I should be traveling about a quarter of the time, but as I'm getting up to speed, the travel will be a lot more intense. I'll be in NYC by 9am tomorrow morning, and will be there during the week for the next three weeks. After that, I'll be traveling to NYC about every other week through the spring (and that doesn't factor in any client trips...).

So, if you're in Atlanta, give Thomas a call--he may need some parenting relief over the next few months!

News

We have all kinds of news!

On the work front, tomorrow is my last day with S&P. The company decided to shut my business unit down last year, so I've been winding things down for the last several months. After five and a half years, I'll be on to a new adventure! More on that soon, but let's get on to the more exciting stuff...

Patrick & Kirstin produced a new family member earlier this week! She's the second new addition to our family in the last 3 months (with nephew, Sammy's arrival in October). She's the first Stegall in the next generation. I couldn't help stealing some pics of her to post here. Isn't she a beauty?!

Eavan Marie

Apologies

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I am busy with a project that has me working morning, noon, night and late night. We have lots of good stuff waiting to be blogged, but my main focus at the moment is getting work wrapped up so that I can enjoy the holidays. Hope to be back in touch soon.

Here are a few posts you'll have to look forward to:

• Carter's Santa Meltdown
• Terrible Twos (seriously, terrible)
• Carter's Fashion Choices
• Fancy New DVR

Now THAT'S Service

I love good customer service. I really think it matters. I'll be loyal for it; I'll pay more for it.

I've written before about how much I love the hotel where I'm staying in Seattle. I love the robes, the bathtub, the desk chair, the countertops, the tv, the beds, the turndown chocolates, and -- most of all -- I love the alarm clocks. Seriously, they have the most pleasant alarm clock I've ever used.

Tonight, the hotel is running a big fashion show with a project runway alum, so the lobby was slammed with beautiful people when I arrived. Unfortunately, they all needed same elevator that I did (the only one that is currently in service). They also kept bumping the wrong buttons, so the elevator kept going up and down, skipping my floor a couple of times. Finally, they all got out, a hotel employee got in and the elevator headed to my floor. I made small talk with the employee during which I casually, offhandedly, with no ulterior motive, mentioned that I'd been taken for a few rides on the elevator. Now, I'm guessing that my travel-weary face (especially as seen in contrast to aforementioned beautiful people) made her think I was more than slightly annoyed by this. I hadn't told her my name or my room number. But, lo and behold, a bottle of wine and a written apology just turned up at my door.

I love this hotel.

An Observation

When I return after being away on a business trip, Carter punishes me by being extra clingy with Thomas.

When Thomas returns after being away on a business trip, Carter punishes Thomas by being extra clingy with -- Thomas.

You've got to give it to the kid. He knows how to push our buttons...

Home!

Carter and I arrived home on Friday afternoon. We were originally scheduled to fly back Thursday evening, but I realized that trying to get a 2-year-old, our luggage and a car seat all downtown on Thursday morning was overly ambitious. Changing our flight to Friday allowed us to pack more leisurely and to depart directly from Patrick & Kirstin's place. It also allowed us to have dinner with Cecily, Mark, Allie and Amy.

We managed the commute just fine (thanks, in large part to Kirstin's help and my colleague lending us a stroller), but I would not want to have that long of a commute (1+ hrs each way) on a daily basis.

Carter had a rough time with the daycare the last two days. He was fine the first two days, but I think by the third day he was starting to think this trip to NYC might be permanent, and he communicated his displeasure by being heart-wrenchingly upset at daycare drop off. Therefore, I did what any reasonable mother would do and bought him a delicious cupcake at the end of the last day.

We had a good time, and we are both happy to be home.

First Day in NYC

Carter and I made it safely to NYC last night. It was pretty bumpy on the way in, due to the weather, and we had to take several detours on the way to Patrick & Kirstin's due to flooded streets, but we made it.

Here's Carter on his pint-sized pallet.

Carter (unfortunately) woke up at 6am and wandered around the apartment calling for me. I was sleeping on the bed right next to him; apparently, he didn't look that direction. Even more unfortunately, he didn't go back to sleep afterwards.

This morning, we went to a farm and farmer's market. I didn't get any pictures, but Patrick did, so I'll try to get some from him and post them later.

This afternoon, we played ladder ball in the yard and had dinner with Joo!

Tomorrow is the first of four days that we will brave Manhattan rush hour to get to work and daycare (my company's back up daycare center - near my office). I hope that Carter will be entertained by the train rides (one commuter train and one subway train) and not overwhelmed! It's only been a year since we lived here, but he's a lot more sensitive to his surroundings than he was a year ago!

Oops.

I spoke too soon. I'm headed back to NYC well before the crack of dawn tomorrow. I'll be there for most of this week. Thomas should have some good blogging fodder, so look for posts from him.

Almost Home - for 6 Weeks!

I've been in NYC for work all week, and now I'm sitting at the airport, anxiously awaiting my flight home. I'm particularly excited because this is my 23rd and final flight of the spring. I don't have a trip scheduled again until JULY! (Sure, something will more than likely come up at work, but I choose to ignore that possibility for the time being.) I haven't had 6 weeks off of traveling since... since... Wow. I don't think I've had 6 weeks without travel since last spring. I can't wait to soak up some Atlanta time!

The Last Hotel

This is my last night away, and its the first day I haven't flown or moved into a new hotel. We definitely picked the right hotel for a two-night stay. This is such a nice hotel! It's a bit sad to be enjoying it alone.

The view from my bed into the bathroom. Yes, that's the water pouring from the ceiling (on purpose).

And from the tub, you can watch tv. Heaven!

My meetings wrapped up this afternoon, so now I'm just waiting for an early morning flight. I decided to do something nice for myself, and I got a massage this evening (aren't you proud, mom?!). I'm very much looking forward to being home tomorrow afternoon!

2 of 4

This is my marathon work week. I'll be hitting 4 different cities this week, and right now I'm in my second. Last night, I flew to NYC, where I had a meeting today. This evening I'm in Chicago for a meeting tomorrow and then it's off to Houston and then Seattle before heading home Friday afternoon. Needless to say, you won't be seeing much blogging from me. So, bug Thomas to post something for you. Sure, he's busy holding down the fort while I'm away, but he definitely owes you a post about his spring training trip...

Update: I got up early this morning and took a run through millennium park, which I'd never seen before (my last trip to Chicago was November 2004). It was really nice, and I'm feeling so nostalgic for Chicago! This is such a great town. I'm very much looking forward to getting to actually spend more time here in May when I come back for a girls weekend.