Who do I look like?

Fun at the Zoo

We went to the zoo one day, Ares, myself, my mom and Aunt Cindy. We invited Marie and Jase along and all had a good time. Ares liked the animals, but LOVED looking at the other kids. He liked that seals the most. Most pictures are of him either at, or after the seal place. I had to put his monkey outfit on, although, it got warm for the jacket.

Whew!

So I have started my new job here at National Interstate (NI). It has been pretty good thus far. I met with my consultant today and we've started putting together the filing for Hawaii Homeowners. Fun stuff.
Other fun stuff
-for $50/month, we get lunch every day. Juice, salad, soup, sandwich, main dish and side dish. There are always potato chips (baked), granola bars and sometimes cookies to eat as well. I take a bag of chips each day, and usually they make it home so I could give it to someone.
-free coffee (I don't drink)
-Today our board of directors are in for the yearly meeting, so everyone had to dress up, and REALLY dress up, as in suits and ties. I'm in a skirt suit. It's highly uncomfortable.
-Yesterday we had an all company meeting (in the cafeteria). We learned that NI purchased another insurance company, and even though the other company is keeping their name and location, the number of employees here has increased by almost 50%.
- Friday I get to wear jeans and stuff because the Cav's start another round of the playoffs. As long as there is another round of playoffs, I get to wear jeans for the first game, wahoo!

To prepare for this job, I went shopping - REAL shopping. The receipt said that I saved $596. I didn't spend quite that much, thanks to Grandma's 25% off Penny's discount, but MAN, I spent a lot. Probably the amount my signing bonus was after taxes, lol.

Stay at Home Mom!

Well, as I suspected, the day I told my manager about the new job was my last day at work. Unfortunately, while I thought it was going to be Tuesday, it turned out to be Monday. (Tim was scheduled to be OOO on Tuesday in Harrisburg.) So Monday afternoon, I was packed up saying my goodbyes and outta there.

These past two days have been pretty crazy. I never realized how tough it is to be a stay at home mom! Constant attention giver for non stop. It's exhausting! This week has pretty much blurred together. We went to lunch with grandma and auntie cindy yesterday, and then chilled at Grandma's until around 8:30 or 9. He was a good kid, that's for sure. As long as there are some trucks and/or balls around, he's content.

For dinner, this kid ate about 1/3 cup of peas, some broccoli/cheese mixture, a container of applesauce and about 6 oz of chicken. He would spit out the chicken and eat the veggies, and I couldn't figure out what to do to get him to eat the chicken. In comes Damon's BBQ sauce. The kid ate the entire piece of chicken I had for him, and then I had to get more! It was so crazy! Then daddy gave him some ice cream and grandma gave him some of those Gerber wheels to snack on. He slept pretty well last night!

Next week... the zoo! (If the weather cooperates)

Professional Pics

Oh, I meant to add this to the post down below. Ares' proofs are up. My cousin did a great job, considering he wouldn't smile unless he had a toy in his hand.
http://www.theescapesalon.com/Main/Ares_Photo_Proofs_-_The_Escape_Salon_and_Studio.html#63

Wow! Lots of changes to speak of!

We've signed with a real estate agent. We decided to go with Kellar-Williams. I am excited to sell our house. Hopefully we can get a decent down payment to our next place and move into something bigger soon!

Adam got his Nikon D-90 camera finally. I don't think he needs something so nice (so expensive!) but he seems to think he needs it. He is very happy with it. On the plus side, I never have to carry a camera with me again, he's obsessed with pictures.

I accepted a job offer for a new company. It will be tough leaving Progressive after nearly 7 years, but I think it's time to grow up and go to a company that will (hopefully) appreciate me more. The company is much smaller than Progressive but has a lot more potential for my career. I will be an APM or Assistant Product Manager. My job would be to research the Homeowners product and introduce it to the company. Our first state will be Hawaii (neat, although, the thought of traveling to Hawaii without my husband doesn't really sound like fun). Along with introducing Homeowners (pricing, claims, appointing agents and forecasting) I would also be in charge of half the premium (of 48 states) for RV insurance. (Also, pricing, forecasting, claims etc.) This is a HUGE promotion for me, and fortunately, the salary increase was decent, (the fact that they will guarantee end of year goalsharing and gave me a signing bonus helps too). I do know, that as soon as I tell my manager or HR, they will walk me out that day. Kind of sad, because there are so many great people here that I work with that I probably wouldn't get to say "bye" to. Fortunately for me, I have 4 weeks of vacation saved up, so I'll be getting paid the 2 weeks I'm not working, and then the first two weeks at this new company I'll be getting paid for both jobs. YAY! Exciting. If you work for Progressive right now and are reading this, please don't say anything, I think I will pick my last day to be Tuesday.

Ares has still been a pain in the butt, although, a lot less yesterday than prior days. The other day he gave me a great big HUGE hug, and it was so tight that I didn't even need to hold on to him, he was holding himself up. I LOVED it! Since he refuses to EVER put his head on my shoulder, I'll take hugs whenever I can get them.

Happy Easter

We've had a fussy past few days. In fact, it has been so bad that we've left him with grandma/grandpa for a few hours to just get away and move some things out of our house and into theirs.


On the home front, we have another real estate agent coming to look at our house. I'm a bit upset as to how much they want us to put the house up for, and I'm not looking forward to paying commissions, but, if it means I don't have to do it myself, I'm up for it. Adam's too busy to do that.


I got a job offer, I've countered it though, because I don't like the salary they offered me. I met with them again today, it's like, the third or fourth time now. They took me to BW3's. There's not a whole lot out there for choice, and there aren't many people at a bar for lunch, so we had ample privacy to talk $$. I feel like I'm in a really good spot now though.

I've found my dream home. They just lowered the price $30,000. Unfortunately, it's too soon for us to find a place. We first need to get rid of ours. (At least our house is mostly cleaned, including the garage).

Now for Easter pictures! YAY!

Ares at my parents' house. He liked plastic eggs or "balls" as he says,

he liked the card that sang, and a new stuffed bunny. He hates to eat eggs

all types, and wouldn't take a nap. At least his hair stayed nice most of the night.

Ares loved the books that made noise and especially the card that sang.

Mommy and daddy love the sandals and the windsuit. SO CUTE!

He also enjoyed the fish tank. A LOT. It kept him quiet, so we enjoyed it too. A LOT.
Peep sushi, or PEEPSHI.

Made with rice krispies, peeps, and green strawberry flavored fruit rollups. YUMMY!