I Love You, You Love Me...

Today, before I left for work, Emily and Katie were fighting over a Barney Laptop Computer. They started off playing nicely together with Emily showing Katie how it worked. It was actually a very sweet scene...until I decided it was time to leave for work. Emily likes to watch me leave from her bedroom window so, she proceeded upstairs with the computer still in her hands. To put it mildly, Katie was not happy with this. She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Emeeeee, NOOOOOOO!" Emily yelled, also on the top of her lungs,"Yes Katie, I am going to watch Mama and you are too little to play with this"(The toy was actually a gift to Katie from Santa). Ryun was busy washing dishes and after I tried on my own to peacefully resolve the situation, I realized that if I did not leave for work, I would be late. So, I told Ryun to take over so I could get my coat on and go. He did and, as I was leaving I could tell that things were finally under control. Needless to say it was hectic and loud before leaving. Two kids screaming, the stereo on, the water running etc. This was one of the few days I was 

I Love You, You're Perfect , Now Change

Last night, I went out to dinner with my sisters, Heather and Suzanne, and our friends, Leah and Moe. We had originally planned on going to see the new Jim Carrey movie, "The Majestic" but the line at the theater was similar in length to one you would find at Disney during the busiest time of the year. The is really not an exaggeration. Anyway, we opted to go to Joe's American Bar and Grill instead.

Before our dinner arrived, we got into a somewhat philosophical discussion about personality traits, sun signs and various things of the sort. The conversation finally came down to this question; "What is the one thing you would like to change about yourself?" My answer? I would like to be more organized.

I am the most laid back, easy going person...so spur of the moment, so forgiving, so trusting. These qualities are all good...in moderation. I need to have a little more order, a little more structure.

Ryun and I are basically at opposite ends of the pole. He is overly organized, has a plan for everything, and finishes whatever he starts. He is so organized it sometimes borders on being obsessive/compulsive disorder. These traits, like mine are all good in moderation.

Isn't there a way that we could meld together and meet somewhere in the middle, where we could get the best of both worlds?

Some people would say, "Why don't you just change?" As if it was that easy! This is how I have been my entire life! It would be a lot easier to change if the problem itself wasn't lack of discipline!

"When you can no longer change a situation, you are challenged to change yourself."

Christmas

Christmas at the Ellis house was a great time this year. Santa was really good to everyone. Emily was at a great age and was really excited about everything. Every present she opened was, "just what she always wanted." Katie opened her presents very slowly, taking time to enjoy each one. "Santa Ryun" got me a new camera, a cd player for my car, and more stationary and pens than Office Max keeps in stock! I am a pen and stationary fanatic so this was a great gift. My old camera was a piece of junk so it will be nice to take quality pictures again. The cd player I had had a break in the wire somewhere and skipped all of the time so I never bothered with it. Now, I will once again be able to listen to CD's in my car. I got Ryun a "Gerber" which is a multi-tool that he can use for work, The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, and an Angel book he wanted.

We had dinner at Pete and Marie's(aka Dad and Mom). Emily said grace and we all had a lovely dinner. There were sixteen of us all together.

After dinner, we went over to Adam and Jean's house (Ryun's Uncle and Aunt). Emily and Katie had a great time playing with Megan and Joshua. Adam and Jean bought us a Sony DVD player. We were happy because we had been wanting one for quite some time.

My favorite part of the holiday season is spending time with family and friends. It is the part I look forward to most each year.

Christmas Pageant

Emily had her preschool Christmas Pageant today. She was an angel(appropriate if you ask me given that she is an angel!). She looked absolutely adorable and did a great job. Her class looked so cute dressed up in their various costumes. After the pageant, the class sang Christmas carols and had a visit from Santa. Emily told him that she wanted a new dolly and a "pink scooter with green wheels." Mimi came with the video camera so we can show Daddy, Papa and the rest of the family her "official" acing debut (Those of you who know Emily know that she has been acting "unofficially" since birth!). Katie had fun watching her big sister and even sang a little bit of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

ALL ALONE AND SCARED!

Last night, from 8:30-9:30PM I was the only one answering the phones and the only person in the entire Adelphia office building. Since only a few of my readers have actually seen the building let me explain it to you. In a nutshell, it is very big, very loud, and out in the "back woods" of the Plymouth Industrial Park.

Now, for those if you who are not obsessed with television, the seriousness of what I am about to say may elude you. My job description entails many things however, the main responsibility I have is answering customer phone calls. Some of the calls may involve a billing issue,some may require me to add or remove a service, and some may include questions regarding a specific program or channel. These calls are what I refer to as the "easy" ones...not much to them...generally simple and handled with ease. Then, there are the "trouble calls". These are calls from customers that have some type of problem, whether it be a channel missing from their lineup, poor reception, or virtually no picture on their set at all. There are customers who are understanding, who are willing to trouble shoot with you, and are willing to wait for a technician to come out, whenever the next available appointment is. Then, there are the customers who want their television now. They do not care what the reason may be behind the problem they are experiencing, they do not even attempt to try to work it out over the phone and they are not willing to wait more than 30 seconds for a solution, whether it be sending a technician or resolving the issue while on the call. They want it fixed and they want it NOW! Obviously, this is not always possible. These are the obsessed customers, the ones who swear, yell and threaten to come down and "throw the @#$%^&* box through the window" (Just a little side note...it is still beyond me how people can be that angry...over a television). Now 99% of the time these people mean nothing by this. They are screaming out of sheer madness and a sickening obsession. However, there are those that will literally carry their threats out. I know this because I have experienced this first hand. On one occasion, during a Pay Per View event a customer came to the office as we were leaving and threw his cable box at the locked door. Another time, one customer kept calling, threatening to come down to the office and "!@#$%^& kill us all"(please keep in mind that this is all over a TELEVISION...HELLLLLLOOOO!). We called the police who came and monitored the parking lot until we were leaving for the night. My point in telling you all of this is that I was ALONE in the building last night. Not another soul around, no one there with me should something happen. Aside from having to answer the phones alone for an hour, I was apparently expected to handle anything that may have come my way...an angry customer approaching the building, a power outage in the building(we have an emergency generator for the phone lines but not the lights...go figure) or even the possibility of something happening to me...what if I slipped and fell in the bathroom and smashed my head on the ceramic tile? While the chances of any of the above situations actually occurring are between slim and none, the fact is any one of them could. The part of this whole situation that really got to me is that my supervisor knew that I would be alone on the phones, as well as alone in the building and did nothing about it. I know that she new this because we had talked about it on Friday, during a conversation in which she said she was going to have someone there with me. Whether or not she asked anyone to come in or stay late, I do not know. What I do know is that if she did in fact ask a few people if they could cover the hours and they could not, she should have come in. I left her a voice mail a little while ago saying that I was not comfortable being alone and that I wanted her to arrange for someone to be there next Sunday, and any Sunday thereafter which for whatever reason may have a staffing shortage. I have also resolved in my own mind that if no one is there next Sunday, I will be leaving the building and not returning until I know that someone will be there with me. This may seem to be a drastic step, however, based on past experience of trying to handle this professionally through conversations and letter writing, I know that in order for anyone to care or do anything, drastic measures must be taken.

Bored At Work

It is one o'clock in the morning and I am at work completely, totally, and utterly BORED! I brought a few books with me to read...two tour guides for Disney and The Christmas Box Trilogy but I just can't seem to focus on them right now. It could be the late hour (or early hour depending upon how you look at it I guess) or it could be that my mind keeps wandering elsewhere. I am having a hard time focusing on any one thing for some reason or another. I am thinking about how fast this year went by...and how much more quickly time seems to fly when you have kids. I can not believe it almost Christmas time...again. I am wondering what the new year will bring...to my family personally and to the world general. I am remembering how Emily called her father her "big sweetie pie" today. I am smiling as I think about Katie saying for the first time today "love you Mom". She just made my whole day!

Edaville

Last night Ryun and I (along with Mimi and Papa), took the girls to Edaville. I have been a couple of times since it reopened and each year it seems to get better and better. Last night was an excellent night to go...it was so warm. Usually, as my father (AKA Papa) pointed out, we pick one of the coldest days of the year to go. It was even warm enough to sit outside on the train. Emily was especially thrilled with that. Edaville is a great place to go if you have small children, even when the Christmas Festival is not going on. They have many "kiddie" rides and a very pretty carousel. While my father waited in line for the train, Ryun took Emily on the carousel and the flying elephants while Mimi and I took Katie on a kid size caterpillar ride. Want to hear something sad? I actually had a weak stomach after getting off the ride. I am not one for those amusement park rides that constantly go up and down or swing swiftly side to side (not because of fear but because of nausea) but I thought on this little, tiny kids ride I would be ok. Well, I was wrong and needless to say, I won't "brave" that ride again! Anyway, it was a great night. The girls were excited and it was nice to spend some time together with my parents. The lights were beautiful...much better than in previous years. Santa was there and we actually got a great shot of Ryun, the girls and I sitting with him. Emily told him that she had been a good girl so she wanted a new dolly for Christmas. Katie kept saying "hi" and "ho ho ho" to him. It was so cute. Despite being up well past their bed times, the girls were in great moods and it was a good night all around.