Thursday, January 22, 2009

He held up his end of the deal... poop = puppy

So the "deal" was, with no other expressed stipulation(s), that once Kylee was potty-trained, we were allowed to have an inside small dog. Well... I don't have to use any diapers until she takes a nap or it is bedtime. In fact, she is so opposed to diapers now, that she throws a fit when I try to put them on for any reason. She potties in her little potty EVERY time, and she is so proud of herself that she looks about to burst.


Kayden, on the other hand, has been feeling ignored. I figured giving her a puppy would most probably fix that. We have tried to talk to her about it, and she really just wants something to be proud of that is "hers", I think.

So, on Monday, I got up and started searching ads online. I really wanted to adopt from a no-kill, but I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money. The shelters were wanting more than I wanted to spend, so I tried to find a small dog somewhere that wouldn't break the bank and would be fun for the girls to have. I found an ad for rat terriers, and I called the lady, met her, and ended up bringing Daisy home. John came up with her name. Now, I have had a rat terrier. I had a rat named Miller in college, and she was tiny. Daisy has the markings, but she's already about 7 or 8 pounds. I really think that she is mixed with either a large dog or a heeler or something. Her face is broad and her paws make me think she will be somewhere in the 20 pound range. That's fine, though, as long as she's not as big as Hardy and the girls can't hurt her. She's been adjusting well the past couple of days. She's going potty outside, and she's been fun. Here are a few pictures of the girls torturing her... and, Kayden had to get her a pink collar, leash and shirt...





Sunday, January 11, 2009

Recession proof.

Well.... things have been turned on their ear in the Harms' household. While we are dealing with the millionth stomach virus and runny noses, those seem like routine happenings at this time of the season.

Friday was a normal day. I was worn out from being sick the previous two weeks. I still don't feel quite "right", but every day my stamina improves. It really isn't bad enough to worry about anymore, it's just become somewhat of a small nuisance.

I got to work later than I wanted to, which was pretty typical. If I didn't get there by 7, I was telling myself I was late, so no big surprise there. I made an extra strong batch of coffee, and settled-in reading email. My boss was technically actually late, which wasn't a big deal. I had been working harder than normal lately (which normal was working harder than most people really have to), and I was finally getting used to dealing with the enormous workload without stressing too much. There was nothing really different about him, except that he wouldn't look me in the eye. I knew this, because I asked about shifting my hours to accomodate Kayden being in private kindergarten starting next August... I was somewhat used to the eye thing. While I think that he has redeeming qualities, I think he was in way over his head, when our V.P. was let go and he had to take her reins. He started in the company as a programmer, and now he was in charge of the entire IT department. In my opinion there are people well-suited for that kind of job, and honestly without any acid in my voice, he was not one of those individuals. Maybe he would have been fantastic in a situation that was structured, but ours was a controlled chaos. Excuse the cliche'.

I get a call at about 9:45 from the HR V.P. asking if I would meet her in the Auditor's conference room. My heart skipped, but the fear that I was avoiding was still safely tucked away in the corner of my mind reserved for survival mode. I walked into the boss' office, and asked what was going on. He made the mistake of looking at me for a half a second, and his face looked as if I had just caught him with his pants down. Might sound silly, but my feeling was that I had caught him in "something"...

Fast forward..... She pushed papers across the table at me for me to look over and sign, and she assured me that the only reason this was happening was strictly for "budgetary reasons". You know, that to me is about as lame as filing for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences". I know that I took a good portion of their skimpy budget, but I was good at what I did. There will be claims paid incorrectly, and there will be software programs that will not work and there will be some very unhappy policy holders. There were many things that I did in the company that only I knew how to do. Apparently, the "budget" was more important. The sour tone is because my boss knew that John had just gotten laid-off in the week before Christmas. He had to think about that. HR said that he struggled really hard with having to make this decision. You know... I ALWAYS take both perspectives in situations, and I like that part of me. But, at some point I have to digress and be human. This stinks. I can't say that I don't understand the decision. Get rid of me and free up a certain portion of the budget, or get rid of two people and free up that same portion. In black and white, it seems like that is the easy choice. If you forget the babies that I have. If you forget the despair that I have been struggling with, because I need to make sure that we are all o.k., after John losing his job. All that aside, it seems ok on paper.

Maybe that's how they had to think of it.

I emailed and asked for a letter of recommendation, and he said "Of course!". Nice consolation prize. I also emailed another coworker that could see how the company put quality second (my expertise). My job was to make sure that the software and data was flawless. To save money, they are going to skip that part now... good luck with that, guys. Anyway, this is what my coworker sent to me:

"Yea, See I hate to say it, but, "I told you so!" It's not worth it. All those nights you worked didn't help your job in the long run. You missed time with your family that you'll never get back. You did that and you're gone. (Name omitted) on the other hand probably doesn't even work 40 hours a week, yet he's still here.
So now what's going to happen is QA will all go back under the BA's and (Name omitted) will be some kind of helper. I'm sure there will be an ego battle going on for a while there. (Name omitted) will continue to be an untouchable island, as he's always been. And it's all because the company thinks QA is optional. The mindset all the way up the management ladder is to just do it "quick and dirty."
I'm really happy you have a sense of peace about all this. The feeling of peace has to be a "God thing". Any other reaction wouldn't come from God. I believe it to my core that sometimes bad stuff happens because God is getting you ready for something better. We can't see into the future, but He can. We just have to trust (which is very hard.)"


I was really blessed to be surrounded by at least one person that I know for sure was bothered by how things were "run" in our department.

I really do have a very strange peace about all of it. I am certain that my health will improve. I'm not sure that I have every experienced the kind of stress that I experienced in that environment. It really was a place that could suck the light out of you. I would always feel like the happy light would always be dimmed when I drove home. I don't think people that work for a live should HAVE to endure that everywhere they work. That is precisely why I steered my career path towards management. I really think that I can at least make an environment that I am in better, at least in the way that I think people should be treated. The people that worked for me were treated like human beings, that's for sure. Do I need to figure out the balance between being fair and a push-over? Yep.

Since Friday, I have applied to about 30 jobs. Something will come along. My experience is pretty diverse. At any rate, I think I will most probably have a longer commute, which is going to be awful. But I will have a job if I have a commute, so I won't allow myself to complain.

The Harms are not recession-proof, but our determination is. If nothing else, we are fighters. We used to fight eachother, then we fought to make it together in the "real" world, and now the fight has turned towards the recession.

Look out. Everything we have ever had to endure together has made us that much stronger. This is just a little gravel in our road.

My mantra: The Lord WILL provide!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

This was forwarded by an old co-worker:

To my sisters in the Lord... There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to take a close look at herself. Not at her circumstance, not at what she did, not how unfair life is, or at who made you do it. She has to just look at herself in all her glory and imperfection. Have you ever admired a woman who has been through changes in her life? Or have you made up in your mind that she is just messed up. Before you make this mistake, take a closer look.

A woman who has endured the most unusual life is someone of wi sdom, someone who has been chosen by God to go through things that have made her stronger. Think of all the great women in the Bible: Mary Magdalene, Ruth and Naomi, the woman with an issue of blood, and Esther, to name a few. Mary was a prostitute, a very uneasy woman. But by the time Jesus was done with her, she was His closest follower. Esther was unfortunate in marrying an abusive man, but by the time God was done with her, she had married one of the wealthiest men in the land.

Women are so quick to beat the next one down instead of trying to hold her up. Before you wonder, '? What's up with her?' ask yourself, 'What's up with me?' That woman could be my mother, sister, aunt, in-law, stepmother, niece, grandmother, great-grandmother, neighbor, friend, or co-worker, etc. That woman could be ME. Women are the carriers of life, not the channels of death. Let's build and encourage each other, as did Ruth and Naomi. Pass this to all the women in your life. Encourage and love, forgive and forget, and trust that the woman that receives this will be touched in some way. May the peace and love of Christ be upon you!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Oh, I love poop

... when it is in the perfectly pink little potty that Kylee got for Christmas. She logged her THIRD morning to poop and pee pee in it. YAAAY! I see little puppy paws soon! (This should have been posted yesterday, but I didn't quite make it back to the laptop.)