I'm Baaaack!

Man, look at how long it has been! A lot has changed since my last posting in March 2011. Let me catch you up.

Austin is now 8 and will be going into 3rd grade in August.

Nick and I have been married for almost 11 years.

Oh yeah, Sophie is now here! Sophie Elizabeth was born in May 2012 and is a sassy, hilarious, sweet 3 year old addition to our family. Things wouldn't be the same without her!

I'll add some pictures to a future posting, just so you can see how awesome and adorable the Millers have gotten!

I'm still working at Heartland Community College as an Academic Advisor. I've been here almost nine years, which kind of blows my mind! I do love my job, my supervisor, and my coworkers and am very happy with the job.

Nick has switched careers and is now the Branch Manager at Airgas in Bloomington. Airgas is a company that provides gasses, welding supplies, etc. for its customers. He started there a few years ago working in their fill plant and was basically asked to move up to sales and then up to be the branch manager! I'm so proud of my kick ass hubby!

(Side note: it is really overwhelming to try to sum up the last 4 years in a blog post! Man!)

I got my gall bladder taken out back in June 2011, is that interesting? Maybe not!

Also an addition to the family -- my nephew Max. My sister Erin and her husband Danny already had Eleanor, as you may recall, and she is now a gorgeous and fun 5 year old who will be starting kindergarten this fall. They added Max Evans Moyer to the family in May 2013. He completes the Evans' girls' kid bunch and really rounds out the whole two girls, two boys grandkid group nicely for my mom!

We have had a lot of ups and downs in the past four years. I'm happy and proud to say we're all still here, making it through, sometimes day by day! But the fact is that we're here, we have more people on our team since 2011, and I think we're a great group! Welcome back, blog readers!

Bevande BAM!

Today Austin and I went to my weekly chiropractor appointment where he got some much-needed attention from "Dr. Sam" (the awesome office manager who totally loves him!). Good thing, too, because if there's one kid in this world who never gets any attention, it's so my child!

After the chiro, we headed to Bevande because I had a coupon for a free "gourmet" coffee drink and I never get out that way. I selected the Bevande Bam, and let me tell you...it's quite the choice! It's advertised as "4 shots of espresso in a mocha". I thought, "No problem! I can handle it!" It was very tasty, and I wasn't feeling any sort of caffeine buzz...until the last half hour! Now I'm a little out of it and pumped full of energy simlutaneously. This should make for a great new student orientation in an hour!

Ha!

I'm just going to say it. I'm freaking hilarious!!

I just reread my entire blog. Yes, we've been busy today at work, but I am a VERY FAST reader, and I've been reading snippets all day, and it really isn't that long of a blog, so don't think I wasn't pulling my weight today at work!

Anyway, I loved rereading this blog! I have made some pretty hilarious statements which seem much funnier now than when I wrote them! I'd like to give props to the "It Takes a Gallon" story and the memories of the Cecilia's 30th birthday celebration. These were especially funny!

Maybe I will blog more...

Cookies for...the elderly?

Today is my late night at work, which means I don't have to go in to work until 10 a.m. This is also Cecilia's late night, so lately, we've been doing some errands together in the morning. It's AWESOME to be able to do some shopping without our children with us! Don't get me wrong...we love our kids to death! However, shopping with kids is very, VERY different from shopping without kids! An example:

Without kids:
You can spend 20 minutes agonizing over which ones are the PERFECT Christmas ornaments for your tree, and how many should you get, and what about this color, and do I like the sparkles or the plain, and why don't these reds match, and let's just get the ones we first picked up anyway! Sometimes you need the time to process and weigh the pros and cons of each type of ornament!

With kids:
OHMYGOSH if this child doesn't SIT IN THE CART I'm going to LOSE my mind! Austin, sit down! No, sit! Please sit...here's a cookie! Did you drop your cup? Where's your cup? Do you want to sit with Grayson? Okay, hold on! No, don't LAY on Grayson! Don't pull his hair! Please don't scream in Target! Okay, how about another cookie? Do you want to sit with Cece? Can you sit back in our cart? ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT! I'm belting you in the seat and we're leaving! Oh...what? Ornaments? Whatever, I'm just grabbing these...

So we were at Target. Right when we got in there, we immediately felt out of place because we were there with all the stay at home moms and their kids! It was like we had a bright neon sign flashing above our heads screaming out, "WORKING MOMS!!! Our kids are in daycare right now...and we don't even work until 10!!" I have to add in here that I totally respect and completely admire stay at home moms. I couldn't do what they do...it's harder in its own way than being a working mom! This is just a joke that we have at work about how we're working moms who are bad mommies because we don't have the time to bake cookies, do craft projects, and prepare a homemade fresh fruit tray for our child's parent-teacher conference day!

Back to Target. We walk in and, once we make our jokes about being working moms, notice that there is a table set up with a sign that says, "Free Refreshments" with coffee and cookies being handed out. Okay, I know it was like 8:45 a.m., but I didn't have any breakfast and was starving. I thought, "I'll get one cookie and that will be my 'breakfast'." (Please hold all comments about poor choices -- we've ALL had a cookie for breakfast now and again!). I stood in the little line behind several older ladies and another lady in a wheelchair. Finally, it was my turn. A man started to come up and try to get his refreshment, but the lady behind the table said, "Hold on," to him and turned to me. I said I just would like one of the cookies please. She handed it to me and said something like, "This is Holiday Helpers, serving our elderly and disabled guests..."

What?

Was I not supposed to be partaking of the refreshments?

I kind of said, "Okay..." and turned to go back to Cecilia. We both tried to figure out her comment (which was said in a tone...not mean...but there was a definite tone). I started kind of getting irritated because if the cookies and coffee were ONLY for the elderly and disable Target patrons, can we get a more clear sign or something? Or could she have just said, "I'm sorry, these are just for the old/rollin' peeps in Target today." I mean, would that have been so hard?

As we continued through the store, I kept feeling embarrassed/irritated. Then, as we walked on, we both started to notice that there were an awful lot of elderly and disabled people in the store. We began to wonder if this was a special "Elderly/Disabled Day Out" kind of day at Target.

That would be just my luck. To be the one non-elderly, non-disable ass standing in line for a cookie when they're supposed to be for people NOT like me!! I can hear the crowd murmuring, "Who's that ass in line taking the elderly/disable people's cookie? That's really nice!"

But, Holiday Helpers, can we put up a more explanatory sign???

The latest

Well, it's Monday again. I really don't mind Mondays, because I love my job! I also love coming back to a place where my friends work and where I can get some good adult conversations! Not that Austin isn't stimulating (or Nick, for that matter, but he's usually asleep!), but sometimes, I need to not be looking after anyone for a while.

It's quiet around here today. Many people are either out or coming in late. Luckily, we're in the slow time of the semester, so we haven't been inundated with students in the last couple of weeks, which is nice!

Currently, there is a lot of weather-related talk going on outside my office. There is a lady who works in our suite who seems to be OBSESSED with all things weather! Don't even get her started during the wintertime, either, because when snow is on the horizon, EACH PERSON who comes through the doors gets asked something like, "How's it looking out there? Is it coming down yet?" It's like being in the audience of some sort of weather game show or infomercial or something! Anyway, with all the rain from Ike this weekend, you KNOW there was lots of discussion!

I'm still sick! Blech! I'm going to guess sinus infection, maybe, because I do have more sinus pressure and snottiness (sorry, I know). I'm starting to develop more of a cough, although it's not completely all the time still. Last night was rough. I didn't fall asleep until 2 a.m. and then was up almost every half hour on the hour coughing and blowing my nose! I may resort to either stronger OTC meds or a trip to the doc-in-the-box to try to weasel and antibiotic out of them. We'll see how today goes.

That's it for now. I might post more later, but maybe not. Not a ton of new info from this weekend...just hanging out! Oh, we did buy a new living room set for our new house, which was exciting, so yay for that!

The sickness has set in...

Ugh.

My boy and I are sick. He's had a runny nose for a couple of weeks that has "gone green", and not in a good way! He's also had this gross cough for a week or so that has motivated us to call the doctor and take him in this afternoon. It probably will be something that just has to run its course (and, really, I hope that's what it is because we don't want it to be something more severe), but sometimes you just need the doc to check out your kid, you know? Kind of like an official, "You're Doing It Right!" stamp of approval!

In the last 2 days, I have developed the stuffy head/runny nose/sneeze kind of thing that I always enjoy. So far, I'm managing to avoid the coughs, which I hate THE MOST!! I'm going to try to head this one off because I'm too busy to be sick, people! Sick + moving + work + toddler = BAD COMBINATION!

Stay healthy!

It Takes a Gallon

So here's the story from last week. This was my Thursday morning! And, let me add up front. These types of things seem to always be stories about me! It's just par for the course in my life! I gladly share, however, so that I might be able to bring entertainment to others!

This was last Thursday morning. Nick was working at the fire department. Austin and I always seem to run late when Nick has to work in the morning because he's not around to help us get ready to go. You'd think I would just get up earlier, but I just keep hitting that damned snooze!

Okay, so Thursday. I was rushing to get ready. I don't have a ton of work pants (or any kind of pants) that fit me all that well these days because I haven't purchased pants in a LONG time. I had already worn all my black pants that week and my other pants were dirty. I pulled out these pink capri pants that I used to wear. Now, they're about 1 size too small for my current bulk, but I thought maybe I could make them work. Also, Heartland was having a "Wear your Alumni Clothes Day," so I decided I could get away with the pink tight pants because I'd pair them with a black ISU t-shirt, which would disguise the belly overhang. Okay, so I'm wearing pink pants that are SO TIGHT, a black t-shirt, pink flip flops, and a ponytail. I got to Sherry's to drop Austin off for the day and saw Cecilia. She gave me this look that was part concern and part confusion. Later, she confessed that she was thinking, "Is Emily going to work today?" I said something to her about that being "Alumni Shirt Day" and she said she had forgotten. Off we went to work.

I had to stop and pick up a gallon of milk for our Slim Fast breakfasts, as it was my turn to get the milk. I ended up getting stuck behind a SLOW driver, so I was feeling even more late and flustered. Please keep in mind that during this whole time, my ever loving pink pants are DIGGING INTO MY STOMACH like no one's business, making me feel oh so pretty! I'm sure I was probably starting to sweat at this point, and you know my feelings about that.

Okay, so I get to work. I carry in my purse, lunch, and the gallon of milk. As I walk in, still mentally questioning my outfit choice, I pass by a coworker sitting at a desk who says, "It takes a whole gallon, huh?" or "Does it take a whole gallon?" or something just as witty. You know she was just trying to make conversation, but really? Really, Faye? Can we just not have a funny conversation about my gallon of milk? This comment was not required. I did not stop and look at her, thus making her feel like she had to come up with some sort of dairy-related joke! Anyway, it did NOT add anything to my morning!! I said something like, "Yeah...can't buy milk much smaller..." even though you TOTALLY CAN!! She said, "I know it!", apparently feeling my milk pain!

Milk incident behind me, I went about opening up my office and getting ready for the day. I noticed, however, that NO ONE ELSE was wearing any college-related garb! I felt totally out of place. I mean, The Big MC might be able to pull off wearing sweatpants, slouch socks, and t-shirts every day while the rest of us wear business casual clothes, but I just felt uncomfortable! I went to Cecilia's office and said, "No one else is wearing the alumni clothes! I might have to go change!" Being the awesome soulmate that she is, she said, "I might be able to go change..." I went back to my office.

At this point, I literally had tears coming out of my eyes because I'm a big emotional weenie. I started logging in on my computer when who should come in to comment on my outfit but Kath herself! She stuck her head in my office and said, "Well, that shirt is really appropriate for today...ha ha ha!" My shirt had the words "Kick me!" on the back of it, and we tend to feel pretty stressed out/yelled at during these last couple of weeks of enrollment! Ha ha. Good observation, Kath. I responded with some sort of nod or "mmmm" in her direction, but her comment did it. The second she left my office, I grabbed my keys and went home to change!!

Oh yeah. When I got back to work, I noticed an email from our HR lady saying, "Don't forget! Tomorrow is Alumni Shirt Day! Wear your Alumni apparel!"

I did not wear my alumni apparel on Friday. No thanks. We did get a great new motto out of this ordeal, though...

IT TAKES A GALLON!