When your kid coughs all night

You. Don't. Sleep.

Period.

Pink

I have a love-hate relationship with the color pink. On the one hand, it's ubiquitous. Before G was even born, I was already seeking other colors when I shopped for her. On the other hand, she's just so darn cute in it - especially that oh-so-light petal pink. You should have seen her the other day. She looked like a little pink puffball in the velour hoodie and matching pants that she was wearing. It's already hard enough to put her down, but that day it was next to impossible, she was that cuddly.

Will's Big Day

It is Will's first official day in the three year-old room at day care and the focal point of all his excitement is that he now brings his own lunch. By 8 a.m., he had already opened his lunchbox to inspect the contents two times. He insisted on putting the lunchbox in the car by himself and proudly carried it into the room.

Let’s just hope that he eats everything once lunchtime comes around.

Just for posterity, his first "big kid" lunch contained:

• peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• broccoli
• yogurt
• animal crackers
• freeze-dried apple pieces

Love her or hate her, Palin did the right thing.

Palin's gotten flack for going against advice to avoid mention of the wardrobe issue, however, from a best practices communications perspective she absolutely did the right thing. The idea is that you'll recover from a PR mistake far more quickly if you acknowledge the issue and state how you fixed it, rather than ignore what people are saying. So when Palin recently announced that she was wearing clothes from her own closet and an inexpensive wedding band, she hit the nail on the head! Good for her. I wish more of this happened in business and politics.

I'll add that I am a Democrat and couldn't ever imagine voting for her on any ticket. Nevertheless, she illustrates a key communications principle that many people have a hard time accepting.

Why I like my job

1. I am a marketing director, and at the Elgin Community College Arts Center, I get to market really cool stuff. Not Precious Moments figurines. Not junk food. Not toilet paper. I get to introduce people to incredibly talented artists.
2. At said Arts Center, I also get to *see* incredibly talented artists. Goes with the territory.
3. I get to work with creative people who love the arts center and see all the rich potential it has.
4. I still get to interact with other communications professionals, learn from them and participate in a wider universe.

I am sure there are more, but that's what rises to the surface at 4:50 p.m.!

To bid or not to bid...

I'm currently in the vortex of an eBay addiction.

Good bargain. Must. Place. Bid.

Maiden Voyage into Blogland

I have absolutely nothing interesting to write about tonight, but here goes...

I've been back to work for a few weeks now, and I have yet to hit a groove. I am not very interested in work, and I miss my children terribly. Missing their entire day and trying to pack a heart full of love into two hours at the end of the day really stinks. I've been consoling myself by doing plenty of shopping (buying girl clothes is waaaay too much fun for my own good), but that will have to stop soon.

I finished knitting a sweater for Gwendolyn, and it's really cute. I love the color! I'll post a picture when I figure out how to do that. Now I need to decide what to knit next. I need to finish a baby gift for a friend, but I have some time to accomplish that. I also want to get some practice with cable stitches, so I thought I would make a scarf or two with yarn from my stash. (It's fun having a stash!) I also plan to make a sweater for Marc, but I think I need to get a couple of smaller projects out of the way before I dig in for another big project.

Cute Will thing of the day: We had fun doing those little capsules that turn into sponge animals after being dropped into hot water. He wanted to watch "Angelina Ballerina" after that. I think it's great that he still doesn't care if something is girly. I know that will come to an end all too soon, but at least he's still his own little guy for now.

Cute Gwendolyn thing of the day: She farts when she coughs or sneezes. It's cute and funny - but seeing as how she only poops once a week, it sure does stink! She has the most adorable smile, and I think she is learning how to laugh.

That's all for today. This may be the most boring blog ever, but hey, at least it's a way to keep up with my thoughts.

Over and out.