Labor Day in Maine

Once we found out that we were moving East it didn't take me long to announce to Dan that we would be doing a roadtrip to visit Pam's family in Maine.  We hadn't been to Maine since their wedding and had yet to see their house... Maine is a long ways from Chicago but not as long from NYC.  So Labor Day weekend we headed north.

As with every holiday weekend roadtrip we had a plan on how to get out of the area with the lowest pain level.  I hate sitting in traffic.  But I underestimated the amount of time it would take to get ready so after a little spazzy last minute packing we headed out.  A missed turn landed us an extra hour to get back on course.  And then there was a horrific accident on the George Washington Bridge that gave us another delay.  But eventually we were moving in the right direction at a good pace. One of the fun things about relocating is not having any frame of reference for where you are... at one point that night one of us said "are we in Conneticut or New York or some other state altogether?" 

(don't worry, no vehicles were moving when these pics of Jaime were taken, it was during a potty break and he was snuggled into his seat when we drove)

It was a very much needed trip to see family.  I have always been kind of an independent spirit and okay with seeing family when we can see each other but having a baby did change that a bit.  It was awesome to get to spend some one on one time with my sister (well, not technically one one one time since our kids and husbands were there but you know what I mean).  I am pretty sure that we have only seen each other at the holidays for quite a few years now. 

Jaime loved visiting with his cousins.  He was studying Bennett and chit chatting with Lainey.

(sorry for the hiked up pants, Jaime)

We visited the beach, hung out, and chatted about babies.  And feasted on lobster.

It was a fun visit.  I hope that we will see each other more often now that we live closer.  It is nice to have family (relatively) close by.

And my sweet little munchkin turned 2 months on labor day.  We just recently packed those blue pants for being too short.

An Afternoon Hike

I wrote this back in September and am just now publishing...

The poor dogs are hating on this move and temporary nest.  The neighborhood walks are pretty limited and boring and they miss the stimulation of the city.  But our city dogs also love to hike.  So for the big weekend activity we found a pretty cool hiking spot relatively nearby.

We drove about 30 minutes west and up to the Watchung Reservation and Scotch Plains Mountainside.  It was a really beautiful area with gorgeous homes and great hiking trails. 

The fresh air and vibrant scenery was good for us... we all were in better spirits after our time hiking through the trees.  And it was not at all like our previous forest preserve hikes... I definitely had the wrong footwear. 

Jaime's First Flight & A Short Trip to Chicago

Jaime went on his very first flight on August 17th, the 6am flight.  We were up way to early.  I think my alarm was set for 2:30am... it takes a while to get a slow moving mama and 6 week old out the door and then there is the security lines to think about. 

Jaime was as calm and peaceful as a church mouse on his first flight.  I have read a million times to feed him during takeoff so that his ears don't hurt from the pressure change.  Well, I started too soon and he was done by the time we took off but he went to sleep and started rustling again once we were about to land. 

The people that day just loved Jaime.  Every time we were in the airport there was a chorus of "did you see that adorable baby" from all sides of me.  Some people would actually talk to me but other would just comment and do the "awww" as they walked by.  Leaving Newark some older guy said I was the "picture of motherhood" and told me about his grandkid.  Lots of older women had to stop and see Jaime.  Leaving Chicago I placed a passed out Jaime on a bench just after security so I could put the wrap back on and some dude said how cute he was and how he was travelling back home from a work trip and had a baby just a few months older... it is funny how much people talk to you when you have a baby strapped to you.

Anyways, so in Chicago our first agenda item was my doctor appointment.  So after the flight we took then orange line into the city then transfered to the red line and then walked the last blocks to get there.  I got the stamp of good health and then headed to the small park across the street to nurse Jaime and change his diaper... he had his first blow out so good thing I brought extra clothes. 

We walked down Michigan Avenue to City Hall.  The little bug was wide awake for about half of the walk, taking in the sites from the city where he was born.  We took a few photos at the City Hall exhibit and then headed to my office. 

I am not going to lie... it was really fun to show off Jaime with people that I know.  It was also really weird to be showing off the baby with the CEO and my boss and direct reports when I wasn't sure if I would be coming back due to our move.  But I am glad that I got to see them. 

Then we walked back to Michigan Ave to meet up with small d for lunch... and talk babies, working motherhood, and all of that good stuff. We snuck in a quick photo at the Bean on the way over to her office.  Jaime was starting to get fussy as he was getting hungry so I was a little nervous the whole time hoping that I wouldn't have a baby melting down with all of the business people lunching around us.  After lunch we headed to Millenium Park so Jaime could have his lunch and get a fresh diaper. 

On the Orange line back to Midway the little bug was wide eyed staring at all of the buildings out of the el.  

As we waited to board our flight Jaime started to get really fussy... as in waaaaah!  So I got to experience being the mom boarding a flight with a crying baby and feeling everyone's thoughts of "please don't sit near me" and"great, this flight will now suck."  He was just hungry and tired... After I could finally get in a seat and situated I fed him and he calmed right down not making another peep until we were home.  The older guy in the row behind was very nice and offered to help adjust the fan for me and when we left wanted to help get my bag on my shoulder (my bag was super freaking heavy- good thing I didn't take the big camera). 

Dan was there waiting for us when we landed and we zipped home.  It was so weird to fly into Chicago for the day.  I used to do trips like that for client meetings years ago but it has been along time.  It was also a big day for such a young baby but Jaime was a trooper.  I look forward to taking Jaime to Chicago when he will old enough to remember the trip and showing him all of our favorite spots.

Moving to NYC

We had a nice plan for our move to New York City, then Hurricane Sandy decided to mess it all up, very inconsiderate.  On October 29th, I (Dan) was sent home early as the Hurricane was right off the coast.  Later that night our Jersey apartment lost power.  We already had supplies so we weren't too concerned.  After two days of no power we decided to move a day early on the 31st, and took a few boxes of stuff and drove into the city.  I made another trip but I couldn't take anything heavy as I had to go down 5 flights of stairs.  We spent the weekend exploring the neighborhood and interviewing nannys as Tara headed back to work on the 7th. 

The Upper West Side wasn't really touched by the hurricane as everyone had power but the subways were still slowly being reinstated.  Sleeping on the air mattress we discovered it had a slight hole and woke up one night to it mostly deflated and us in pain from sleeping on the floor.  A bicycle patch kit fixed it right up and we got one reasonable nights sleep.  Sunday the 4th we were told that the Jersey apartment had power so we rescheduled the U-Haul truck and the movers.  I drove out there, finished the packing and prep and spent the night with the dogs.  Monday morning, I got the truck, waited in a gas line as gas is in short supply in Jersey and started to pack the truck.  The movers didn't show up as planned so I had to pack the truck myself.  I was able to get some help moving the large furniture pieces at 1pm.  The drive into the city was a piece of cake with Eddie and Shelby as my copilots. 

Once in the city, we double parked (that's how it's done in NYC) and we started unloading the truck.  Our street is pretty busy so unloading the truck with cars headed straight at you is an interesting experience, but it's two lanes so they can go around. 

Returning the truck usually is a simple task of driving over and dropping it off.  Not this time.  I  had two choices of places to return the truck, both in the Bronx.  I went to the closer one on West 126th St, only to be turned away by the guy and told if I park there he will tow me.  Deciding that an arguement wasn't going to change his mind I jumped back in the truck and discovered that my phone was about to die.  I quickly checked where the second location was at before it shut off.  With my razor sharp memory (not) I started to head to East 138th Street in the Bronx.  After 20 min I was completely out of my league and once I saw the Empire State building I headed in that direction.  As I headed south towards home to get Tara's phone with her GPS, I was soon on the east side of central park and none of the roads that cut through the park have the height requirement the truck needs of 11 feet.   So I had to head all the way south and cut over at 56th Stree then head back north to 86th Street.   I grabbed Tara's phone and headed out to the other location.  Passing through a toll booth I was told I couldn't pay with a credit card and I didn't have enough cash so after the attendant decided it was more paperwork than he wanted to do he let me through.  Needless to say this U-Haul place was far out there, not where I really wanted to be.  But I was able to drop it off, pay my 3 bucks for the extra mileage and walk two blocks to the 6 train and head back to Manhattan.  I was extremely drained and sore that night and luckily Tara had some of her 1000mg ibuprofin from child birth to help me live.

Power!!!

Nothing like being thrown right in when you start a new job.  I was given a $35mil project in addition to numerous single digit million dollar projects.  Currently I have the largest portfolio of anyone.  I must be doing something right.  Though I'm looking forward to 2013 where my work load will go down by a quarter or a third.  Before the hurricane I went out to the big project to get a feel for how much work is left as getting an estimate of labor from the construction managers is virtually impossible.  So I took some pictures of the equipment and thought I would share.  This project is a two parter, with one part being an expansion of the station to incorporate the new 230kv lines and the other to remove the 128kv lines and replace them with 230kv.  We are replacing 6 old single phase transformers with 2 multi-phase ones.  In order to do that we have to use a 'mobile' (the last picture), it's a mobile transformer that can be used temporarily to put into place of the transformers you are replacing.  Can you guess what the upside down spider equipment is?  Enjoy.