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Jun 5, 2012

Did I Mention How Much I Dislike Uncertainty?

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So remember how I said Aaron was being laid off at the end of May? Yeah, that. Well, he’s not quite laid off yet. He didn’t work on Friday, but yesterday was back in the office. Confused? Me too.

Seems that one of the vice presidents of the company reaching his boiling point at having his ideas ignored while the owner continued to mismanage everything, so he quit. With his leaving, the owner decided he wouldn’t re-hire for that position, leaving more money in the budget from the lack of one salary. Another VP then saw an opening and begged to have his team back together in some way. So their only human relations employee – also the receptionist – was brought back from part-time to full-time again, and Aaron found himself putting his unemployment application on hold.

He’ll only be working 25 hours a week at the moment, hourly now instead of salaried. But the bonus is they are allowing us to keep our health insurance. The premiums will eat up a large chunk of his part-time pay, but we’re not looking at this stay-of-execution as a long-term plan, so we’ll keep cutting back and make due with what we have. There’s a chance they’ll bring him back to full-time if they are awarded a new contract for a job, but either way Aaron has lost any trust in the company owner and plans to continue job hunting as if he was unemployed.

There was one snag, however. Aaron was supposed to be paid on the last day of May, like everyone else in the company. An email sent out late the night before informed everyone that a few payments from vendors were late, and as a result they had to make the choice to delay the pay for a few people. Aaron was one of them, of course. Never mind that we had bills to pay, or that at the time we were expecting this to be his last paycheck and needed that money. As of today, he still hasn’t be paid for the last half of May. Good thing I didn’t schedule any bills to be paid yet. Grrr.

Thankfully I still have my job, and we’re busier than ever. Last week truly was a blur to me. I was going full-steam for so long that by Saturday night I felt lost without something to do. This week is the same, and I’m working on perfecting my ability to keep as many balls in the air as possible. I’m still dropping a few, but I’m doing my best to pick them right back up and keep going. It’s fun and works well with my ADD nature – I never have to stay focused on one thing for long.

I’ve also had some great local opportunities in the past week. On Wednesday I shared a delicious lunch and even better conversation with Chef Dan, the head chef for McDonald’s, and on Saturday I had the opportunity to be one of the first of the public to tour our new Nationwide Children’s Hospital. More on those soon.

My goal for this week is just to get through it. Summer camp doesn’t begin until next week, so Cordy is home with me each day. Yesterday she gave me a math quiz on fractions using Draw with Stars on the iPad while I worked. Today she says she has a spelling test planned for me. I hope I pass.

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, money, the J-O-B ·


Jun 4, 2012

Review: My "Grown Up" Apple Juice

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I have a little secret that many don’t know about me: I don’t like beer. I know, I know, beer is the standard drink for many, the gateway drink when you’re in college (ahem…you were over 21, right?), and so on. But even in college I’d take a glass of wine over a beer any day, leading to my reputation as an alcohol snob.

Please. I’m far from a snob. It doesn’t even have to be expensive wine. I’d take a good cheap wine over the most prized micro-brew anytime.

It wasn’t until I spent a summer in Britain in 1996 that I was introduced to cider. Our local pub guy offered it to me one day when I confessed I didn’t like beer, and at first I thought he was making fun of me by offering me apple juice. Once I realized it was hard cider – as in, alcoholic apple juice (well, sorta) – I agreed to give it a try. At that point, I was hooked – it was sweeter than beer and didn’t have the hops taste that I didn’t like.

So what is hard cider, you ask? It’s brewed just like beer and goes through much of the same process, but uses apples instead of barley and hops and is naturally gluten-free. It’s been around nearly as long as beer, and has been popular in other parts of the world for quite some time. It’s carbonated like beer, and has roughly the same alcohol content as beer.

Hard cider has remained in my stable of go-to drinks over the years, especially in the summer when I want a crisp, cold drink. It was harder to find 10 years ago, but thankfully cider is growing in popularity and can be found in nearly any grocery store now. I must admit, holding a bottle of cider is much easier at a cookout than trying to hold a glass of wine, and no one will call you a pretentious snob as they all drink their beer. (But I still love me some wine, too…just not at cookouts or outdoor events.)

I recently was offered the chance to try the new Michelob ULTRA Light Cider, and wondered if they had been reading my mind. This cider is naturally sweetened and 1/3 less calories than the average cider. A lower calorie cider? I’m the center of the bulls-eye for that target audience.

I bought my six pack of 12-ounce bottles before Memorial Day weekend and, ummm, they’re already gone. Whoops. Guess that means I like them, eh? To be fair, Aaron had one. But that’s all I let him have.

We refer to this as Broken.

The Michelob ULTRA Light Cider performs well up against the other ciders I’ve tasted. The flavor is light and crisp – not as sweet as some other hard ciders and not as full-bodied and heavy as the winter ciders I’ve tasted. It’s more of a granny smith apple flavor: a bit of a tart bite at first with a lightly sweet aftertaste, with no hint of bitterness. Like many alcoholic drinks, it tastes best when very cold, but the flavor still holds even as it warms up.

What I like most is that each 12-ounce bottle is only 120 calories, as compared to the 180 calories (on average) of a standard hard cider. You may not think much of 60 calories, but to me that 60 calories means a small dessert in addition to my drink – I don’t have to choose one or the other. This doesn’t taste like a low-cal alcohol, either. The flavor is light, but still comparable to other hard ciders I’ve tried.

Overall? I’m a big fan. I like having a lower calorie hard cider for summer parties and I’m thrilled that a low-cal hard cider can taste just as good as my old favorites.

For more information on Michelob ULTRA Light Cider, you can visit the Sponsor’s site to see which stores are selling it in your area. It was just released in early May, so it’s slowly getting out to stores in most parts of the US. Also, don’t just take my word for it – check out the Michelob ULTRA Light Cider page on BlogHer.com for more reviews.

Now tell me: Which favorite summer meal or activity do you think would go best with Michelob ULTRA Light Cider?

Filed Under: me me me, reviews ·


Jun 1, 2012

End of School Emotional Boogaloo

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Yesterday was the last day of school for our district, and OH what a day it was. I was a flood of mixed emotions: happy that my kids were moving up in grades, distressed at what to do with them until summer camp begins, sad that we’d be leaving behind some fantastic teachers, proud of how well both girls have done this year, and seriously wishing for it all to be over because the last week of school awards and assemblies and lunches and teacher gifts to buy has me giving up a lot of sleep to fit everything in.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Cordy tried out for the talent show. I received an email from her teacher last week asking if it was OK for Cordy to participate in the talent show by reciting a poem, and I immediately responded to ask her if she maybe had the wrong child? My daughter? Up in front of people to perform, knowing there was applause at the end? No way she’d go for a sensory experience like that. But she reassured me that it was Cordy’s idea and that they’d send her up with a group so that if she backed out it wouldn’t be embarrassing for her.

So yesterday I spent two hours in a hot gym, watching all of the talents of her elementary school. Let’s just say Adele was a very popular choice for singing this year. Finally, Cordy stepped up to the microphone. I held my breath, worried she wouldn’t go through with it. But she did. And she took a bow at the end and didn’t freak out when people clapped.

(Sorry for the tiny video. Figures I’d pick the wrong side to stand on.)

I was so proud of her. Cordy has come a long way from the preschooler who wasn’t allowed in school assemblies because she would have violent meltdowns from the noise. She now sits through them with her class, claps (and covers her ears when it’s too loud), and marches up to the stage to recite poems. I have no words except…wow.

To further cap off the year, we received her first grade standardized test scores, and the results were outstanding. They fully expect her to be a part of the gifted & talented program in fourth and fifth grades.

Smarty pants

And I also couldn’t walk through her school’s hallway without staff members stopping me to tell me some funny encounter they’ve had with Cordy. A teacher saw her in the hallway one day and told her, “You’re very Cordylicious today!” to which Cordy quickly grinned and responded, “And you look fashiontastic!”

After a lunch on the lawn, we then had to leave Cordy’s school to pick up Mira from preschool. Mira has attended a special-needs preschool for the past two years to get speech therapy for her speech apraxia. (Mira really has no issues other than her speech and some clumsiness.)

Her teacher and aide are the same ones that were with Cordy for her two years of preschool – we made sure to request them when Mira qualified for services. They’ve known Mira since she was four months old, when I started bringing Cordy to preschool each day and would occasionally volunteer with Mira in tow.

Picking up Mira was terribly bittersweet. Her teacher and aide have been a part of our lives for nearly five years, and were absolutely a large part of helping both of our daughters become the girls they are now. When Cordy first came to them, we were uncertain about her future, but after two years she was a different child who demonstrated a fantastic ability to learn and a lot more patience and tolerance of things around her. They were so awesome with her, and in teaching us how to better help her.

Mira didn’t need as much support, obviously. Her teacher considers Mira to be a “typical peer” since other than speech her development has been fairly standard. Still, Mira’s speech now compared to at the beginning is, well, intelligible. She’s understood most of the time now. The greatest hurdle was getting Mira to participate in practicing words, something her teacher figured out how to do. She saw through the crocodile tears and forced Mira to put in effort to improve.

Knowing we weren’t going to see them after yesterday was sad. Mira will likely be attending Cordy’s school next year so yesterday was it. (Oh, did I forget to mention the principal was helping us with Mira getting placed at Cordy’s school and it looks likely now? Also? YAY!) We gave the teacher and aide cards and some photos of the girls to remember them. They asked if we had plans to have any more kids soon, haha. I said we had no plans at the moment, but if we did we’ll be sure to send them to her, even if just as typical peer students.

I then had to get out of there before I broke down in tears. So we took one last photo of Cordy, Mira, and the two women who had such an influence on both of them.

Mira, aide Ms. S, Cordy, and teacher Ms. W.

It’s all over now. Cordy will be going to second grade, and Mira will be entering kindergarten in the fall.

Sigh…it’s all too fast for me.

Filed Under: Cordy, growing up, memories, Mira, school ·


May 29, 2012

I Need A Vacation From My Weekend

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So, how was your weekend?

Mine was…busy. You’re supposed to rest and relax on weekends, right? Especially three-day holiday weekends? Ha. Not for me.

Saturday we took Cosmo to his first public outing as a non-vicious dog. (For those who are confused: a new Ohio law recently took effect stripping the vicious dog laws of any breed specific language. Now a dog is considered dangerous based on the individual dog’s behavior and not just because he was born a pit bull. It also means dogs like Cosmo can be adopted at local shelters instead of held and then euthanized.)

Clearly a threat to all. (Photo by Condo Blues.)

We were downtown for the PetPromise Rescue Run – a 5K fundraiser for the rescue group that gave us Cosmo. So many of the volunteers recognized him, all commenting on how BIG he’s grown.

The event was very dog-friendly and dogs were encouraged to be a part of the 5K. There were baby pools full of water for dogs to splash in and plenty of open grass for play.

Cosmo made a friend.

It was also crazy hot, so we walked two miles of the 5K before calling it quits. Cosmo was not used to the long walk, and to further complicate things, he refused to drink from any of the water buckets set out for the dogs. Somehow I find myself surprised that the dog who eats weeds, cardboard, and bugs had issues with germs from other dogs.

We’re walking…we’re walking…

Sunday was Mira’s birthday. She spent the entire day reminding us she was now five years old, and we responded by reminding her that she now has more expected of her. She didn’t like that part of turning five. We were visiting my mom for our annual Memorial Day weekend cookout, and for dessert we pulled out cupcakes and a candle.

I still can’t believe my little Miranda is five now. She’ll be going to kindergarten in the fall. She’s full of attitude and energy and more attitude and goofiness and yet more attitude and OMG if it’s this bad now what will she be like at sixteen?

Despite her desire to be a comedian, I continue to think of Mira as my sweet, serious baby…who still acted like a teen.

What are you lookin’ at, goat?
Monday was – wait for it – hot again, so we spent most of inside, with one short trip to a cookout. 
This is the last week of school for Cordy, meaning it will be the busiest week imaginable, with awards ceremonies, field day, and the school talent show.
Oh, did I mention Cordy auditioned for the TALENT SHOW? My child, who can’t stand crowds and really hates having attention on her and applause and would usually prefer to hide in the corner with a book, decided she wanted to be in the talent show. And she’s in. More to come on this later in the week – assuming she goes through with it.
Filed Under: Cordy, Cosmo, family time, growing up, holidays, Mira ·


May 23, 2012

Brought To You By The Letter D (for Depressing)

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No one likes to read bad news, and I don’t really like writing about depressing things. But my little family has had our fair share of setbacks over the past few years, and sadly another one popped up recently. I considered not writing about it, although of course it then wouldn’t leave my brain to let me write about anything else. So here it is, and I’m only letting myself feel down about it in this one post and nothing more. If I get mopey in a future post, feel free to tell me to snap out of it.

Aaron got the bad news last week that his company is cutting him loose at the end of this month. He was told that it has nothing to do with his work, and everything to do with the president of the company choosing to run on a cash system – so if there’s a lull in contracts, like at the moment, he lets people go so he doesn’t run a debt. It’s a small company that depends on government contracts, and even though they recently won several contracts that should be coming soon, the money hasn’t arrived for them yet.

Aside from the head of the company, the VP’s and the project managers and everyone else he works with would rather he not leave. He’s the only writer they have, and his leaving means that the documentation for their projects – including an enormous user guide needed for a government agency software project due soon – will fall to, uh, someone else. Probably a project manager who isn’t exactly the best fit for something like that and would rather not do it and won’t do as well at it.

But despite objections from everyone else, the company president is focused on cutting expenses, even if it means cutting out staff who are vital to the development of the project. Not the wisest move in my eyes, but what do I know about business?

There is still talk of having Aaron stay as a contractor, with varying hours available to him, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. Either way, we know that his steady income and all of our health benefits are out the door on May 31. He’s already updated his resume and has started networking. We know from experience that job hunting is rarely a short endeavor.

He’s angry, of course. Angry that he’s done everything right, has gone above-and-beyond for the company and has been praised over and over for his efforts, and gets rewarded by being laid off. It’s no wonder that loyalty towards a company by employees has been steadily declining – when treated like that, how can you do anything but constantly wonder when your employer will decide you’re not worth it? Too often now, an employee is just a set of skills to be used and discarded, and not a real person with a life and family and a relationship with the company. Mutual respect is gone.

I’m upset that we’re losing our health insurance again and hoping it will only be a short lapse. Why this country should continue to tie a family’s health insurance to their employment is beyond me. When people worked at the same company for 30 years, it made some sense for health insurance to be something shared between employer and employee as a benefit.

Now it’s just a cruel joke – if you work for the right company, you can get great insurance. Switch employers and it’s a gamble if your insurance could be worse in coverage and/or cost more. Your health didn’t change, and your need for certain coverage didn’t change, but because your job changed, your benefits and the amount you pay can drastically change. Lose your job with no ability to pay COBRA, and you have no coverage at all. What kind of a screwed up system is this? Why should a person’s job with a specific company dictate what kind of health care they can receive?

Not to get too political with this, but how is this a stable system for supporting the health of the country? A single payer system would be far more stable. Even if you don’t agree with a single-payer system, then it’s time to stop including health insurance as part of employment compensation plans entirely, raise the take-home pay for everyone and cap premiums from the profit-heavy insurance companies.

Stepping down from my soapbox now and returning to us: it’s obvious we’re scared and angry and frustrated, but we’ll be OK. I have a job at the moment that I love, so we do have some income. Aaron will qualify for unemployment if needed and has a lot of people trying to help him find another position.

It sucks to take a big step back financially (again), but money is just money. We may not be able to do or buy as much, but it can’t take away our family, our friends, or our determination to succeed.

And moments like this piss me off enough to push us to succeed, just to spite those who set us back. The best revenge is success.

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Filed Under: Aaron, daily life, fate laughing at me, money, politics, rant, the J-O-B ·