Work, Work, Work...

I've neglected my writings about my daughter and our lives. I've been a little busy...

A full-time job, a full-time mommy and what's becoming a part-time job on the side keeps me moving and shaking (and tired), but I like busy. And while I struggle daily to find that balance to keep everything flowing as it should and have none neglected - first and foremost my family - the one thing that has been knocked to the bottom of that priority list is this blog. I would like to write more, but oh, I have work to do...

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A Happy 4th and First Fireworks

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

We started our celebration of America's birthday with a parade in the small community we live in right now.

Americana at its best!

Then why not a few hot dogs and a picnic by the lake? We're going for the full gut-busting, Norman Rockwellesque American day here.



Of course, these days that American day would include work, and that's exactly where I got to go in the afternoon. Yeah me! That means I missed out on a first in Georgia's life - a thought which still has me pretty pissed off and hating my job right now. I missed her first fireworks show. Her daddy tells me she had a great time, although she did need her headphones on to accomplish that, and that she kept saying, "that's neat," when the fireworks exploded above the river. I wish I had seen it.

But I did get the next best thing, I guess. Before the hubby and daughter left for the show, I got to come home on my dinner break and set off a few little sparks of our own.



I'll take it, but I hope next year I get a bigger bang out of the 4th. I hope you all enjoyed your Independence Day.

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I Failed My 365 Project...

... but I succeeded in building a new website!

If you read this blog with any kind of frequency, you might be wondering where the heck I've been. I haven't posted since the end of April, even though I was attempting another 365 project - a photo a day for the year. OK, so I've definitely missed quite a few days... but this is what I accomplished in the last couple of weeks:

Jaime Otero Photography

I finally decided to see what I could do with my camera at the next level. I'm curious to see where it will take me - after all - I currently work in a VERY family-unfriendly career field, and I'm not sure when (or if) I will feel I need a change. Right now spending the mornings with my daughter and working afternoons and nights is great - she only goes to daycare three hours a day. But what happens when she starts kindergarten?

So I'm doing a little pre-planning if you will. I just did my first-ever newborn shoot. Here's a little taste:

It's the top post on the website above. I loved it, and if I have a remote chance of making a career of that, well, then I believe I have found a passion.

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April 21, 2012 - Judging the Festival of Fish

Thanks to my job, I am required to make public appearances from time to time - today, it was at a festival for fish. Shad, in particular. I got the great honor to help judge the entries in the Shad Festival Parade. But lucky for me, I got to have two beautiful people accompany me.

I've never tried Shad before, but it wasn't too bad... or maybe it was all the fried coating on it that tasted so yummy. And there was a fair there with rides, so we couldn't pass up the merry-go-round! All in all, not a bad day of free work. :)

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March 16, 2012 - Momma's Slight Panic Attack

I've been thinking about this day all week. It hasn't been an "in my face" kind of thinking, more just lurking there in the back of my head. It's not a bad thing really, actually it's about time we took this step. It has been 2 1/2 years, after all.

Tonight, Georgia stayed with a babysitter. Oh yeah... first time ever.

Now to stay she had a babysitter conveys images of hours spent with a young woman while my husband and I enjoy an evening on the town, returning home late and long after Georgia had peacefully drifted off to sleep after hours of fun, right? At least, that's what a night with the babysitter projects in my head. But, um, this first babysitter encounter was much, much different.

First, our "babysitter" is actually one of my husband's co-workers who has a wonderful 18-year-old son of her own. Second, I didn't leave the house until Georgia was already soundly asleep for the night. And third, there (sadly) was no night on the town for my husband and I. He was out of town for work and I work nights... so, hence the need for a little help.

So, I know, once you know the whole picture, the thought of me having a slight panic attack of this is pretty funny - Georgia was fast asleep and left in the care of dependable and knowledgeable hands. But... OK, I really have no defense. And everything went wonderfully. I returned home around 11:30 p.m. to discover that my lovely never made a "peep" and was still sound asleep in her bed.

OK, I think it's time we try this again - but this time with that night on the town for the hubs and I. We are WAY overdue.

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February 9, 2012 - A Peek into My Day

When you're getting dressed for work, do you just walk into your closet and grab the first things that jump out at you? Or maybe you go with how you're feeling that day - a baggy sweater if you're feeling fat, pants if you haven't shaved your legs lately or a cute dress if you're feeling fun.

Me? I consult "the book."

It's actually a calendar, and it's my dressing bible. I keep track of what I wear each and every work day.

Think I'm insane yet? I might be - perhaps - after all, I do work in TV news. But actually, there's nothing that will make you crazier quicker than a constant bombardment of emails from viewers who think you really do want to hear what they think about what you're wearing (or your hair or your make-up or your weight). It's not a business for people with thin skin or moderately thin skin or semi-thick skin. Bring on the elephant layered on hippo layered on alligator skin!

But "the book" does help me remember what I wore three weeks ago, so (Lord forbid) I don't wear any of this again too soon.


It also helps me remember what I looked fat in, what my news director didn't like and what combos did/did not look good on camera. You'd be amazed how different clothes can look on camera and under studio lighting.

Next time you head to your closet - love your freedom!

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January 9, 2012 - Jobs With Benefits

I started a new job six months ago and my husband started a new job a little more than a week ago. Starting a new job is never easy. You have to figure out where everyone stands and where you will fall into the mix. You have to develop a new routine. You have to figure out where the break room and bathrooms are. You have to feel out your new managers and how they will be to work for. You basically have to start from scratch and figure everything out all over again. It sucks, actually, it really does, especially when we had both been with our previous employers for a decent amount of time and had become very settled.

So while we are both, no doubt, still adjusting to it all and most certainly comparing the pros and cons versus our last jobs, both our new jobs certainly offer one big benefit that was not possible for us in Omaha - we get to come home for our lunch/dinner breaks!

That means more family time which, as we all know, is an absolutely priceless benefit. In Omaha, our commute was just too far but here - 10 minutes for the hubby and 15 minutes for me, and I get the added benefit of an hour and a half dinner break.




There's just nothing like a home-cooked meal with family. Mark down a "pro" for the new jobs.

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January 7, 2012 - Freezing For a Reason

They call it "freezing for a reason" and that's exactly what I did today. I jumped into the water... in January... to raise money for Special Olympics.

Originally I jumped at the chance to do this event because I'd always wanted to do a Polar Plunge, I just never got up the nerve to do one in Omaha where they had to chip the ice away to make room for the swimmers.

But I also knew I was doing it for another reason - those Special Olympic athletes. I have done numerous news stories on the Special Olympics during my 10+ years as a journalist, and those amazing athletes have touched my heart every, single time. Talk about a never say die attitude - and always, always with a smile on their face.

So today, I got to judge a sandcastle contest, draw some door prize winners and hang out with 400+ others like me who raised money (thank you very much dad!) and then jumped into some pretty cold water.

We had a blast!

I was blessed to have a child born without disabilities... the least I can do is help raise money for those who might need a little more help to get through life. If you ever have a chance to volunteer at a Special Olympics event - DO IT - you will wonder why you didn't sooner.

Here's the link to a quick piece my station did on the event: Polar Plunge 2012
You'll see me run in and out around 1:03 and 1:12 into the video. I'm wearing the red shirt and dark shorts.

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I Am Torn

OK, when am I not torn these days? So much change, so much upheavel in our lives, so many adjustments that we're making - confusion just seems to follow. But now comes one more conundrum.

My husband had a job interview this week. Yeah! Of course, we don't know yet if he got the job, but the interview alone has led to so many feelings for me to contemplate. I know my hubby is feeling pulled in different directions as well.

Before I was laid off, we'd always been a two-job family, and Lord knows with what we're about to lose when we sell our house (literally more than I made at my first three TV jobs), we can use the second income again. But for six months now, Georgia has not been in daycare because there has been a parent out of work and at home. And now there's a chance that could change. It's hard. We know the reality - we both need to work - but the last six months have spoiled us and given us a peek into life without daycare. Honestly, I think it's a peek we didn't need. We were never thrilled about putting Georgia into daycare at three months old, when my maternity leave ran out, but we never knew it any other way so we did it. It was hard, but it was easy. Yeah, I know that doesn't make sense. But the easiness came from ignorance - the ignorance of not having lived the stay-at-home parent life.

But here it is. It could possibly be the last time Georgia has a parent with her all day. Could. Who knows whether my husband will land the job? Who knows if it will even pay enough for him to accept it? Who knows how we'll handle Georgia going back to daycare? Questions, quesions, questions - life is pouring questions these days. I stop to wonder if we could make the single income-family thing work, that is until reality comes and wallops me upside the head.

I know what the future holds, but for now I'll just keep questioning it. I'll hide from reality, for now, behind my questions and contemplations.

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No Card... No Cake... No Goodbye Hugs...

... just a meeting in the boss's office, an empty box and an escorted walk to the door. This week, I lost my job. What the F??? Although this topic doesn't quite fit with the theme of this blog, everything Georgia, this event will change the course of her life. Mommy has to find a new job and that means a move to a new city.

It is no fun to be at the losing end of a lay off, and I probably don't have to tell many of you that corporate America quickly forgets all you've done for it when it determines you are no longer needed. All those overtime hours never clocked, all those missed dinner breaks, all those hours missed with your family, all those nine hour shifts of not sitting down for more than 10 minutes to makes sure you got the interviews or the court documents or the research or the facts or the balance or all of the above, all of the crap, all of it - when it's your time, none of it means a thing. If I've learned one thing this week, it's that to be safe in corporate America, you must be a lemming. Keep your head down, your feet shuffling forward and the silent nod of agreement at the ready. However, that will never be me. So it is that I am now job hunting.

Where it will take me and my family is yet to be seen, but I know it will be somewhere fabulous. It's a new adventure, and honestly it's one we've been ready for for quite a while. I guess this is our much-needed push. What awaits us in the future is so unknown it's pretty exciting, a new adventure somewhere (hopefully somewhere with an ocean and a beach!).

In the meantime, I will be spending A LOT of time with my little lovely:

... who not long ago decided she just HAD to wear a sock (just one) over her pj's.

For the record, I will not be letting her choose my attire for any job interviews I might have in the near future.

But when the most critical thing of the moment is getting one striped, colorful sock onto or off of your foot, then that's a pretty good day. No worries. Just days ahead full of innocence, wonder, smiles and fun - I can do that for a while. She makes me smile, and that's just what I need right now.

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December 20, 2010 - A Day Without My Little Lovely :(

Today’s post has nothing to do with Georgia really, at least not my daughter Georgia. Today I was far away from her in Maine, my first full day without seeing and holding and loving on my baby. As I write this though, I am on the plane heading back to Omaha and back to my baby and husband. How I’ve missed them so.

Anyone who lives in Omaha and flies a least a few times a year will tell you there are no easy routes to get to and from Omaha. I rarely find non-stop flights to the east coast, and even my one-stop flights are not always very logical. Many times it seems I must go out of my way to get back home, never a straight line. Such was my route today. I left Maine and drove to Boston where I boarded a Delta plane. Instead of cutting west toward the Midwest to change planes in some snow-covered, cold city, we headed the direction I love best – south. Delta to me always means Atlanta, and that’s exactly where I was headed for a layover and plane switch.

Oh, my beloved Georgia. It’s one of only two places in this country I feel at home, and Omaha is not the other. It was dark by the time my plane crossed the state line, and even though I couldn’t see it in the light-speckled darkness below, I knew we were flying over that red dirt ground, and it was comforting. It was like a mother’s hug to me. And all I could do was look northeast, to what I imagined must be the upper right-hand corner of the state, and I knew I was looking in the direction of where my mother will always lie. I missed her so at that moment. For a fleeting second, I had the wild thought of walking out of the airport the moment we landed, renting a car and driving there, driving to my mom and the place where she raised me, the place where I have almost no memories without her. It was a tempting thought, but responsibility and reality were not far behind it.

As my plane came within sight of Atlanta, as it always does when I first catch sight of the skyline, my heart danced and warmed. Home. I’ve lived far from here on several occasions, and the sight of Atlanta from the sky has always been my first indication that I’m home. Only this time it was not a true trip home but just a tease of my emotions. Still, I did smile when I walked off that plane and into Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and knew I was walking on sweet Georgia clay. For a while I saw familiar sights within this airport I’ve visited so many times through the year. The stores, the AJC in the newspaper stands, the southern accents generously sprinkled among other voices from all over. But I knew my time was short, and before long I heard a woman’s voice announcing the boarding for my flight to Omaha. It was time.

My eyes never left the ground as we climbed higher in the sky and I said goodbye to my land of peaches, peanuts and pecans – I’ve always loved that they’re all “p’s” and I don’t know why. Even though the plane continued to put distance between me and that red dirt, I still felt it under my feet and squishing between my toes as I always felt it as a younger barefoot girl. And I looked into that far right-hand corner and said a goodbye to my mom and an I’m sorry I couldn’t visit and sit by your headstone for a while. I do miss you so.

When I knew we must no longer be over my home, I turned from the window and opened the only thing fitting at this point, a copy of “Southern Living” I had brought along with me. I turned it page by page, remembering the copies always scattered around my mother’s house. She always seemed to be cooking and testing another recipe from its bounty. In fact, one of the last times she had the strength left to travel to Omaha to visit me, she gathered up the energy from somewhere within her cancer-ridden body and cooked a salmon cake recipe, a page torn from “Southern Living” as her guide. As I closed that December 2010 edition, I noticed something I had not before. Right above where my name and address were marked on the cover was my mother’s name, and it read “Gift from.”

My mother had always given me a subscription to “Southern Living” for Christmas, but it has been 15 months since she was buried in that red dirt. I had wondered a few months back why I still received copies in the mail. I just figured I had paid for a subscription and forgotten that I had. But no, my mother is still gifting me with southern memories.

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