March 🍀

[CoachTsWife]

March is nearly half-way over.  How are you all doing?

[CoachTsWife]

Do you remember how my grandma turned 100 last March during covid and we were able to halfway celebrate her with scheduled visits at the nursing home, 1 person at a time? Well, she turned 101 on Sunday and we had a legit party for her. It felt so good to be together. Her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and a great-nephew all traveled for the opportunity to celebrate with her. It was a lovely gathering.

[Taitai]

CoachTsWife Happy 101st birthday to your grandma!! It is so wonderful that everyone was able to be there with her this year to celebrate! I bet you are all so happy to be out from the other side of the pandemic and actually be able to see her under more normal circumstances now. Congrats! Sounds like a wonderful time.

Oh - also - I was on a business trip earlier this month, and they had season 1 of Friday Night Lights on the in flight entertainment system, so I got hooked on that. It made me think of you!!

[Taitai]

I’ve been MIA this month! I had my first solo international business trip since late 2019, which meant that I was away from my family for about 2 weeks, catching up on visits that I couldn’t make during the pandemic. It’s so nice to see things getting back to normal and travel restrictions easing up. Fingers crossed that trend continues!

It was also my eldest’s birthday this month, and we had a semi-large party for him, about 38 people (16 kids, 22 adults). We had stopped doing big parties due to COVID, but now that vaccines are readily available here and everyone has them, we figured it’s time to start getting back to our normal way of doing things. He had a blast at his party, and it made him feel so special to celebrate with his closest friends.

Now that the party is done and my business trip is completed, I am looking forward to some down time next week!

Hope you are all having a good March!

[CoachTsWife]

Taitai sounds like a fun time for your son's party! Is everyone there back to doing the big, big birthday parties? Hope you're getting the rest you need after the trip and party.

I've thought about watching FNL again, I think I binged it in 2015 right after DS1 was born. Maybe I will this Fall. I don't think I talked about it here because things in my work life were hitting the fan, but last football season DH's team made it to the state quarterfinals! It was a very exciting season.

Can you all believe we have (almost) 4.5 year olds!?! DS2 turns 4.5 on Sunday.

[curmudgeon]

Hello everyone! Last week was Spring Break so we took the kids to a family member’s lake house. It was such a nice time. It’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere and there is no Wi-Fi since it’s not their full-time residence. The kids loved every minute of it. Deer in the front yard, hiking trails, caves to explore, s’mores every night, and a blue water lake. I think we will go back in the summer when the water is warmer.

[duskymonkey]

CoachTsWife OMG! Happy 4.5 to DS2 and no I can't believe it! lo! danvers DD2 and lil fella will follow suit next weekend. Eeeekk!!
Also I've been MIA. Just so much going on with the boys and just life in general like everyone else. Happy to hear your work is sorted out though. Do you think you'll continue with contract work or looking or a permanent position? It's also so nice to hear that your grandma got to celebrate with family this year and Wow! 101 is incredible and what a gift. I've also been thinking of you and how your DS2 is doing in PS. I do have some good news, DS hasn't puked in almost 6 weeks and I am able to "drop" him off now but he refuses to stay for a whole day although we might give it a run for a couple of days starting next month which we've talked about and prepared him for it. Anyways it needs to happen because DS is enrolled in an ASD research study which happens once a week for 2.5 months.
Taitai how wonderful that you are all experiencing some normalization. However my parents are saying things are still not great even though like over 80% of the population is vaccinated. I had wanted to bring the boys back this summer which could still happen if and when lil fella gets vaxed. Gah! also the war in Europe is just making everything already complicated more so!!
curmudgeon so nice to hear you and your family enjoyed some time off. Did you ever have any luck finding a replacement vehicle? Car prices are just insane now and of course, we are also looking to replace our 20 year old X5. Hubs was hoping it can go on for a bunch of more years until more reliable EV vehicles comes to market but it's having some major issues and he thinks the cost of repairs isn't worth it but he's rethinking about it with the current madnesss that is the world now. Oy!
August Blooms how are you all doing?

[duskymonkey]

One of the things keeping us really busy the past couple of months was DS' pinewood derby race which concluded today! We were utterly surprised that DS took home the pack champion! He had never won anything and was pleased as punch and so so proud. He read about how to built aerodynamic cars and all the physics aspects and insisted on a wedge shape car with a rounded back and TBH it was the easiest shape anyways. I was so impressed with some of the other kid's cars, so creative. Meanwhile his and lil fella was just a simple shape. I also admit as we got into it, hubs got a little carried away and engineered it to race. Now the pressure's on to defend his title lol! I felt bad that his car practically smoked everyone else's in every singe heat though. So these were the boys winning cars, DS was the flying falcon and lil fella's speeding cheetah which he won 2nd place in the open class category.

[curmudgeon]

Omg duskymonkey those cars look so good!! Way to go to both of your DSs! That sounds like such a fun event and activity.

No car yet. It’s been 2 months now as a one car family and it hasn’t been bad at all. I’m starting to miss having an SUV though, and am looking at Acadias and doing a factory order since we aren’t in a rush and the few on the lot are not exactly what I want. I’m dragging my feet though.

[Taitai]

CoachTsWife How cool that your H’s football team made quarterfinals at state last year! I hope this next year will be more of the same. It’s great to see things getting more back to normal when it comes to school sports. Hope all is okay with your work. I feel like I’ve been really busy in the work/career department too - maybe it’s all the post-pandemic catch up 🤷‍♀️

duskymonkey Omg - those cars are amazing! Wohoo to your DS for trouncing the competition, and for lil fella taking 2nd place! What a great showing, and the cars are like works of art. I’m not one bit surprised - they look really good. Fantastic news about your little guy doing better at school, and I’ll be hoping for a smooth transition to an all day schedule these next few weeks! As far as the COVID situation here in SEA, I think some countries are more willing than others to move into the endemic phase. While there are all-time high case numbers here, the death/hospitalization rate is still quite low - just goes to show how important vaccines are. I hope that travel normalizes for Malaysia soon! They are talking about dropping all travel restrictions here in June, and I am soooooo ready for that to happen. Filling out teams of paperwork and taking a million tests to depart and re-enter the country is just not feasible long-term.

curmudgeon Your time at the lake house sounds awesome! Our kids love wildlife too - glad to hear you were able to have a nice relaxing spring break. Really good to hear that you’re managing with the one car situation too. I hope your factory order works out!

August Blooms Miss you! Hope all is going okay!

[Taitai]

Another week, and it’s almost April - which is the hottest time of the year over here. It honestly feels like someone turned on the oven these past few weeks - so friggin hot! Everyone still has to wear masks everywhere - even outside ….even if absolutely nobody is around you. Ugh, I am just boiling….but I also don’t want to get fined $600 for not wearing a mask in public, so…..hot face it is. I was in the USA for work earlier this month, and it was totally crazy at first to see nobody wearing masks and everything pretty much back to normal. But by like 3 days in, I was like - this is nice! I forgot how much I missed seeing other people’s faces in public and work settings. Helps with communication for sure.

At least we have the pool during these hot times, and it’s kind of become the place for all of the neighbor kids to hang and keep cool. We’re going through so much sunscreen though, lol.

Next month we are going to Scandinavia for our spring break holiday to do some skiing. Haven’t skied since before the pandemic. So excited!!

[CoachTsWife]

duskymonkey, those cars look awesome! Congrats on the big WIN!
I really like the company I'm working for and am hoping for an opportunity to convert to FT employee with them. For now, I'm fairly content and aside from no PTO, I really don't mind the contract gig. It's my first time doing this and I had no idea what to expect.
DS2 is doing fine at daycare these days. He is still a big-time home body and complains about having to go, but does not cry at drop off hardly at all. Once in a while after a long week he still gets upset, but other than that, it's fine. He is enrolled to start preschool in the Fall and he's on the waitlist to start earlier if they have an opening. We aren't too thrilled with our current DCP, so we're trying to get him out of there as soon as we can. Nothing terrible/harmful/unsafe, just things that will resolve when we aren't using a private home DCP.

Taitai, yes, things with sports seem mostly back to normal here! It is wild. He has a lot of starters back next year so they should be pretty good again, so we're hoping for another good season but you just never know.
I was really unhappy at my last job and my boss was doing everything she could do drive me out. It was a really bad time. Things are much better now, I'm super happy to have left the company I was at - it is now being acquired by another company and I hear the morale is super low and things are bad all the way around. I still have some struggles mentally, based on everything that went down at my old job, but overall I'm in a much better place. New job is busy and hectic, but the people are AMAZING and that makes all the difference.
I can't imagine wearing a mask even outside when no one is around - wow. Your trip to Scandinavia sounds awesome!!

[Taitai]

CoachTsWife I’m so sorry that you went through such a terrible experience at your old job. Some people are so petty and focused on the small things - they want to make everyone miserable, because they are miserable themselves. When that happens at work (where we spend so much of our time each week), it really sucks. I’ve gone through something similar.

I am so glad that you got yourself out of that toxic work environment, and that you’re happy in your new gig! Fingers crossed that you can convert to FT soon, and yay for moving on to something better!

[curmudgeon]

👀 CoachTsWife my company is also currently being acquired by another company and it feels like morale overall is low.
I hope your current position turns into FT for you. Do they hire contract a lot and convert to FT? Either way I hope they see how awesome you are and do everything they can to keep you.

[curmudgeon]

Wednesdays are my favorite. My mom picks DS2 up from daycare and H takes DS1 to coding class for 2 hours. I’m alone for like 3 hours in the evening and I make everyone eat leftovers or H can pick something up. I sit around and do nothing and it’s great.
I think I’ll get out my Easter decorations that I keep forgetting about bc I’m always distracted by someone needing me.

Also, does anyone here know how to crochet? My mom gave me a book and some yarn because I want to try to make some ornaments but I haven’t had the motivation to learn.

[Taitai]

curmudgeon Your Weds sound amazing! Keep that schedule going as long as you can.

I know how to crochet and knit - I really used to enjoy it, but now I feel like I never have the time. That said, I’ve been getting more into audio books and podcasts, and I think knitting/crocheting is like the perfect complement to it. I can’t just sit and listen to something without doing something mindless to feel productive….like shower or put on my makeup or something.

There are so many crochet patterns, and depending on which one you use, it can go pretty quickly to make a scarf or blanket. Post pics if you start something 😊😁

[CoachTsWife]

curmudgeon, my new company has a lot of contractors, actually. The person who manages the contractors in the role that I have (there are 3 of us) does want to get us hired on, but it isn't really her call. She is trying to make it happen, though. Nearly everyone on the team that I support are contractors and then their managers are permanent employees.

Do you feel like your job is safe with the acquisition? I know that can be a scary time, but sometimes turns out for the better! Hoping that is the case for you.

[curmudgeon]

Apr 6, 2022 7:57:36 GMT -6 CoachTsWife said:

curmudgeon, my new company has a lot of contractors, actually. The person who manages the contractors in the role that I have (there are 3 of us) does want to get us hired on, but it isn't really her call. She is trying to make it happen, though. Nearly everyone on the team that I support are contractors and then their managers are permanent employees.

Do you feel like your job is safe with the acquisition? I know that can be a scary time, but sometimes turns out for the better! Hoping that is the case for you.

my job is safe. I think the new company brought something like 98% of the employees over. Now they are figuring out where to put us. I think the worst part is having to get a new boss, and our team being split up. I really loved everyone I worked with and wish we could stay together as is.