The Magic of the First Snow Day

Most of us came out of quarantine (*cough Declan cough*) in time for me to head back in to the office ... to resign. After 15 and a half years at Emerson, I was leaving. That sentence makes it sound so.much.easier than it actually was. In truth, it was the hardest easiest decision I've had to make professionally. Emerson has been my family for a long time - and I loved my current job, team, and awesome network of friends.

But the new opportunity was just too great to pass up. Even good friends at Emerson who wanted to give me a hard time for leaving couldn't when they heard about the new role. It's absolutely something I needed to take a chance on! While there were many sleepless nights leading up to the resignation, everyone was so incredibly supportive and I proud of how I transitioned out. 

I'm on Week 3 (but with the holidays, Day 4) at C.H. Robinson and I'll tell you more about that in a different post.

All that to say, my final day at Emerson was ... weird. A huge winter storm was predicted to blow in that Friday afternoon so my happy hour was postponed to the following week. My boss told everyone to work from home ... except for the two of us. We headed in, finished up a few transition plans, packed my cube, and were on the road by 1pm. Only a few flakes were falling at that point, so the drive home wasn't too back. I ate a quick lunch and by 2pm (when the kids were due home - school was releasing 2 hours early to beat the weather), I was out shoveling about 2 inches off the driveway. 

The kids immediately put their gear on and gathered their neighborhood friends. Our backyard has a great sledding hill and promises to be a popular winter gathering spot! The kids sledded, played in the snow, helped me shovel the rink, and enjoyed the storm for over 3 hours. There is nothing more magical than a snow day. And since I was temporarily unemployed, I was able to simply enjoy the magic with them. Around 5, we invited the gang in for hot chocolate and then tucked in for the night. 

The roads were getting pretty questionable by the time Mike headed home from work. I had just finished shoveling another 3 inches off the driveway when he pulled in. Quinn had hockey practice, but Mike and I decided that a snow day and a family night were more needed than practice. We ordered pizza, ate Christmas cookies, turned on the fire, and watched a movie! All with the snow continuing to fall rapidly outside. It was the perfect winter day!

After we put the kids to bed, the day became slightly less perfect (adulting is hard). Mike's rink hadn't frozen through yet, so the weight of all the snow on the ice had pushed it down and pushed water up. Mike and I spent over an hour shoveling the heaviest slush I've ever tried to move. Especially when one has to throw it over the boards. Mike was convinced that the rink was ruined for the year, but I know he would save it. [Spoiler alert: he did!] We wanted to give up when we trudged back to the front of the house and saw about 7 inches on the driveway. Thankfully, our neighbor and his snowblower took care of it for us. We were tapped (and we learned our lungs were not fully recovered from our covit bout). 

It snowed all night and there was probably another 7-8 inches on the driveway in the morning. Mike figures we got around 20 inches total. We did not make it to Q's 7:45am scrimmage (through very little effort on our part), but Mike and I did work hard to clear the driveway so she could make her 10:45 game. We got a path cleared for them - just in time for the plow to come through and deliver the plow pack death blow to the end of the driveway. I shoveled it as fast as my covid lungs would allow while Mike and Q got ready for the game. I cleared a path just wide enough for them to get out - and then our neighbor snowblowed the rest for me later. 

We spent the rest of Saturday playing in the snow and shoveling all.the.things. Including our shed. Mike got it framed up during quarantine - but he hasn't got the roof on it yet. So yes, we shoveled the driveway, rink, deck, patio, stairs, and inside of the shed. No wonder our arms were sore for the next few days!

When Work Life is a Lot of Fun

I've worked for Emerson for 13 years. While I enjoy working there, the overall company culture is maybe not known as the most fun or laidback. I've always been lucky to have really great co-workers - but we've been spread out across the country. So the "home office" life has been less exciting. Yet there I was in the last two weeks of June with four fun work events lined up! That almost never happens - and it was great because the whole family got to be involved.

When I changed positions in January, I also moved offices from our Eden Prairie building to the Bloomington building. My commute involves the "big road" (freeway) now, which I don't love. But I work right across the street from a lake with a running/walking trail around it. So I am able to get out and run a couple miles several times a week. 

When the group that owns our building sent out an email about a 5k run around the lake, my whole work group decided to do it together. We have several non-runners who elected to do the 3k walk, while a few of us did the run. I was really proud that I was the first finisher of the running contingent. I missed my goal time by just a few seconds. I'll get it next race! We had a box lunch together, enjoyed outside, and then went back to work. At least we were all sweaty together!

Then the day after the 5k, I got to take Quinn with me to the Shakopee office for STEM Day. She was in the 6-year-old group and I was a volunteer in the Demo Room. So for four hours, I explained how a level switch worked to kids ages 6-15. Fun fact: I didn't know how one worked until approximately 90 seconds before my first demo. By demo 24, I pretty much had it. I was rock solid at explaining it at a 6yo level and really prayed that no teenagers asked me any questions! Q had a blast and enjoyed that a few of my co-workers recognized her. We ate lunch at the Emerson cafeteria and she thought she was big stuff!

Then the next week, my work group went to a Twins game together. We had the suite at Target Field for the Thursday day game. The weather forecast was not awesome, but the game was only delayed about an hour. It ended up being an 18 inning game - but since we had carpooled, we only stayed through 10. Everyone had evening commitments and we wanted to get out of downtown before the traffic got too terrible. At one point, a couple of my friends decided to run out to get a pretzel and asked me if I wanted to come with. I declined in order to watch the game. When they came back, they waved their phones in front of my nose. They had run into Tony Oliva and took pictures with him. Dang it!!! 

In case the baseball game wasn't enough, we took the kids to Emerson Night at the local water ski show that night. My co-worker Brian is one of the skiers and we have all been hoping to go anyway. Dec had t-ball, so he and Mike met us at the show once he was done. It was longer than we expected, but the kids had a blast. They especially loved the jumps and the pyramids - and the water skiing dog. The girls even made Brian a sign that I dropped off in his office on Friday. I wouldn't be surprised if we made it back to catch the show one more time this summer. 

Eventful Birthday

Sigh ... that thing we learned when I had to do thirteen blog posts in September to catch up ... it didn't stick. Or - this is a strategic move to keep my memory sharp. Maybe it's that ...

If we rewind waaaaaaaaayyyy back to Mike's birthday (five days before Christmas for those of you who are already fully locked in 2019), a few notable events occurred - perhaps even more notable than it being Mike's last birthday in his thirties!

On my drive to work, my radio station reminded me that tickets for the second Garth Brooks concert went on sale that morning. Garth is basically bucket list for me - to the point where Mike and I even considered flying out to Vegas when he was doing a residency there. My bucket list suffers from the fact that I am also pretty cheap - which meant I was never ready to pay all the money for a trip to Vegas. But the tickets for the concert here were reasonably priced, as long as you could buy them through Ticketmaster and not be subjected to the markups of people reselling them.

Promptly at 10am, I logged into Ticketmaster - to find myself in a queue behind 2000+ people (which was WAY more than that ... it was just as high as it would count). I waited in queue for almost two hours (which sounds more impressive than it was. It was online so I just had the Ticketmaster window open on one of my monitors while I went about my day on the other one. And stressed, of course) and against ALL ODDS, I got tickets!!! They aren't great seats, but they aren't horrible either. After my adrenaline rush wore off, I sent Mike a text to tell him I had bought him the birthday present of being able to take me to the concert. All people should be so lucky to have wives as generous as I am.

Then at the very end of the afternoon, I got a call with an offer for a new job. It's a different role within the same company. I applied for it in early October and have been through four rounds of interviews. I was not expecting to hear anything before the holidays, so was caught a bit by surprise. When I told Mike, he reminded me that he accepted the job for the theater last year on his birthday. I told him maybe next year, we celebrate his day without major life changes.

That was a lot of emotion packed into a work day and I was exhausted. But we still managed to celebrate our favorite family leader with Swedish meatballs and ice cream in a cup (with a candle because we're classy). It may have been a subdued end of Mike's thirties, but if the kids and I have anything to do with it, the forties will not come quietly.

Mike Does Good Things

Mike’s job at the theatre is still going well. He’s been there about six months and is both enjoying it and feeling like he is making an impact. About a month ago, he sent me a text to tell me that he was awarded Employee of the Month for June. Apparently he set a new record [correction from my editor: “knocked the old record out of the park”] for achieving that in five months of employment. I asked him what took so long …

In addition to having his photo up for the month in the lobby (you guys, SO GREAT), he got four tickets for the VIP table to see Newsies. So we cornered Brad and Cheryl, found a date that we didn’t have plans and Brad wasn’t on call, lined up sitters for SIX children, managed to have ten people be healthy, and had what we think is our first adult date night together since the children were born. It’s embarrassing to say … but you can also see how many stars have to align to get the four of us out together. Luckily, our kids like each other so we have had lots of time together with children.

We had a minor hiccup when our original babysitter (Auntie) got herself a case of the plague and was quarantined to her house. We love her … but we told her we didn’t want her germs. However, it provided the perfect reason for Gma and Gpa N to make the trek down for the weekend. We haven’t seen them forever and everyone was pumped that they were coming! Let me tell you … those small Vs didn’t notice we were gone!

We met B&C at the theatre bar a little before the doors opened for a couple beverages, then headed in for a lovely, leisurely dinner where we got to eat our own food and not cut up anyone else’s … We splurged with an app, desserts, and more beverages. I think I’m just getting over being full from it. A week and a half later.

The show was awesome and the whole time, I was thinking 1) I’m so glad I get to go again with the girls and 2) it’s criminal that Dec is “too young” to go because he will love it the most. Mike is working on #2 and may see if he can sneak him into a matinee someday. We visited a little more after the show and finished off the last of our beverages before deciding it was probably best to let the grandparents off the hook.

Brad told Mike to “do more good things” so we can get another date night soon. I wonder what the record is for time to second award …

Oh – and big news from the homefront while we were out, Fiona pulled out tooth number 8. Thank goodness the tooth fairy was still able to get us in to her nightly rounds. She was so excited to show us her quarters and her (fourth) hole in her smile in the morning.

Casting Call

I've mentioned it in passing a few times here, but Mike's work life has been pretty stressful since mid-August. And by default, our home life too. Anchor Bank was acquired by Old National Bank (ONB) in August. Since Mike works in a functional area (IT), we assumed that his position would be eliminated. ONB already has an IT staff, and they don't need two. The alternative was that they would have a spot for him, but it would be a step backwards for him. It was all guesswork, and we held on to a glimmer of hope that there would be a good career opportunity there. But we just didn't know.

The not knowing went on until late November. That's a long time to not know. So Mike started selectively applying for jobs. It wasn't a hardcore job search - but if there was a change to be made, he wanted to be driving it. During that search, he found a really interesting posting for a Network Administrator at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. We typically go to their shows and really love the place. He threw his hat in the ring and heard back almost immediately from them. It was a really good match, but (even though they came up from what they were originally hoping to pay), their offer was just too low and Mike turned down the job. He had a really good conversation with the hiring manager and told them how interested he was in the job - and if they could meet his minimum, to call him back.

The next week, we finally found out that his position would be eliminated in May. So at least we knew and he decided to increase the intensity of his search. There were a couple new IT positions at ONB that he could apply for, but didn't find either of them particularly interesting. Within about 24 hours, ONB started recruiting him big time for one of the positions because they didn't want to lose him. If you are wondering why on earth they laid him off then, so were we.

The CIO of ONB basically told Mike that he was the guy for that position and a few days later, he got the formal offer. About that same time, Chanhassen called back with a offer that matched the bank. And he had a third potentially interesting job in the mix. The third job didn't pan out (who knows if they'll come back to him in a few months), and he ended up taking the job at Chanhassen. The job at ONB was just not one that excited him. It's not that he didn't want to work for them, but he didn't want that job.

He started at the theatre on Wednesday. And three days in, he's very happy with his choice. I'm very happy about free play tickets. If only he would have negotiated for a mini Newsies costume for Dec. That was on my list of demands. :) ... (the next play there is Newsies and the girls and I can.not.wait!)

You are probably exhausted by this story, and I can tell you that it was 50x more exhausting and dramatic than I presented it. It was changing daily. Drastically. But we are grateful that it was exhausting and dramatic because he had a lot of different options and avenues to explore.We are also grateful for an end to the madness! And for gainful employment. And for free play tickets.

Company Picnic at the Apple Orchard

Three weeks ago, we went to the Emerson company picnic at a local apple orchard. I was on the planning committee, which meant the night before the picnic, Mike and I spent our kids-in-bed hangout time cutting tablecloths and burlap table runners for the party decorations. Quinn and I made a couple runs to JoAnn Fabric for red gingham ribbon and made some sweet mason jar vases. And we had 30 hydrangeas in our storage room for the weekend. All in all, it was a good thing he recently bought a larger vehicle!

The forecast leading up to the weekend was showing rain, so I spent a ridiculous amount of time worrying that the picnic would be rained out. Instead, it was a very sunny day. And 90-odd degrees. Or what feels like a million degrees to Minnesotans at the end of September!

There was seriously a clothing crisis that morning.  I don't know how to dress for a "mid-summer" visit to the orchard. It was questionable whether I had work-event-appropriate shorts or not. We were on the edge, but I went for it. I spent so much time worrying that rain would ruin the day that I never thought to worry about heat!

We were hot, sweaty Vs - and hot, sweaty Vs are not the most pleasant version of the V family. But we still had a fun time. We ran into our favorite Rahns in the hay bale barn and had a great time with them. Mike and Fiona took part in the apple bobbing contest (it was so hot that sticking your head in a bucket of hose water sounded amazing), and we picked four bags of apples out in the orchard.

It was fun to introduce my gang to several of my co-workers and to meet their families. I love family events for work. And thanks to one of my colleagues, we got some really awesome photos of the day.

**Dec did tell me that he was going to stick out his tongue**

Work Life Unbalanced

No, the blog is not broken. And no, there is not lack of news around here (at my best count, I'm about eight posts behind ... sigh). We have been living ridiculously unbalanced here for the last three weeks and the blog has borne a brunt of "what has to give." Other things that gave ... judging by the piles in the laundry room and the bare shelves in the pantry - clean clothes and healthy food. What did not give? Celebrating our new five-year-old in style and throwing a super killer sales meeting for work. These two items (mostly the latter) have been all-consuming.

I was in Austin all last week to support the sales meeting (read: work my butt off) and was down for two days the week before to check out the hotel and take part in a department meeting. Besides the fact that the meeting went beautifully and informal feedback was that it was one of the best meetings on record (yay!), I also got to spend a ton of time with one of my favorite people, my co-worker Kim. And Kim and I got to sneak away last Wednesday night and have dinner with Jocelyn and Katie, two more favorites! Thursday night, after it was all said and done, the whole sales meeting crew went out dancing! Emerson rented out a bar in downtown Austin and got a cover band, The Spazmatics, who were well worth a trip to Austin on their own! SO amazing!

Super fun co-worker dinner

During all this sales meeting prep, we threw in the most random illness to go through the Vanneste household. It started with Mike. For several days in a row, he was getting a lot of bloody noses. We didn't think too much of it as he tends to get them, but we noticed they were worse than usual. Then one day, I picked Quinn up from Ms. A's and she was in a new outfit. Ms. A told me it was because she had a bloody nose. Same story the next day. A couple days later, Dec woke up crying in the middle of the night. After determining that he had not puked (as he told me he did), we headed into the bathroom where the light showed him completely covered in blood from a bloody nose. Maybe three days later, Fiona got a bloody nose during our bedtime book. And with that, the bloody cold was done. 

We also mixed in Mike's company being acquired and all the uncertainty that goes along with that. We are almost two weeks past the initial announcement (a complete surprise), so while we are no more certain of what the future holds for him, we are at least more in a state of calm around it. It was a bit stressful to find out and, of course, I was out of town the day it was announced. He'll be fine - whether he stays at Anchor or finds something new. It was just such a shock because he has been loving his job, his path, his co-workers. Sometimes even Mike will admit that change is hard.

The sales meeting is done, the birthday has been celebrated, the washer is currently in overdrive, and rumor has it that if I ever make a grocery list, we might fill up the pantry. We'll use the next couple weeks to move toward balance and an updated blog - just in time for school to start and send us all spinning again. Speaking of spinning ...

Work Perks

My foot on the Ryman stage circle

I headed to Tennessee this week for work. We had a sales meeting with some big deal stuff that I've been working on since early January. It was really fun to see it all come together. An exhausting trip, but one I was glad to take. It was like watching my work baby being born!

The evening event on Wednesday was a trip to the Grand Ole Opry! I'm a huge country music fan, so this was super exciting for me. We had dinner there. On the stage. Like on the stage where the stars sing. So cool. And they brought two songwriters in to talk and perform. They were great and I knew several of the songs they had written. We also got to tour backstage and see the dressing rooms. It was a cool experience.

My cowgirl!

On a whim, I swung through the cowboy shop in our hotel (the Gaylord Opryland - like 10 acres of hotel. No lie). They had the tiniest cowboy boots I've ever seen. Small enough for Fiona's microscopic feet. So I splurged (too much) and bought itty bitty boots. She and I love them!

And now I'm home. And very happy to be back where I belong.

Off Road

I'm home! Hooray! It sounds easier than it was. Here's a pop quiz to set up my story:

1. True or False. The hardest part of my trip will be getting frozen breastmilk through security at the airport.
2. True or False. It never snows in Knoxville in January.
3. True or False. Assuming #2 is False, the Knoxville airport is totally prepared to deal with snow.
4. True or False. A 2+ hour flight delay would enable two traveling companions to deal with any pumping issues and/or lack of dinner.

For the answers, read on.

Susan and I worked a full day (or close to it) and headed to the airport. The rain was quickly becoming a wintry mix - but we are from Minnesota. So we got to the airport without any problem. Getting my THIRTEEN bags (65 oz, thank you very much!) through security was no problem. Before I got to the x-ray machine, I pulled out my cooler and warned them. The very nice security person I got had also been a nursing mom who traveled - so she was so supportive. She just had to swab my cooler and we were good. I had to repack my cooler because they couldn't get it all back in. They asked how I fit that much in my small cooler. Sheer will!

We got to our gate and hung out for a while. Then I decided to go pump in the airport bathroom one last time because of our quick connection in Detroit. I also bought us each a bag of trail mix because dinner was not looking likely. Our plane wasn't there yet when I got back to the gate. But it was coming soon. It was only 10 minutes late - but unfortunately had a maintenance issue. They couldn't get ahold of maintenance forever and when they finally did, they got a very helpful "if it comes back with one code, you can go. if it has the other, plane is grounded." So the poor gate agents were trying to create contingency plans for 100+ people. We got booked on the late flight out of DTW to MSP - because at this point, we would never make our early connection.

After about an hour of this (and huge fear that we'd be in Knoxville for another night), they announced that we could board the plane. By this time, the wintry mix had turned to all out snow. So the plane needed to be de-iced. Sounds easy enough. And yet ... we were on the plane on the runway for over an hour as 1) they couldn't get the de-icing liquid heated up enough, 2) the de-icers boom was frozen in place, and 3) by this time, an inch (half inch ... i don't remember) of slush had built up on the runway and was right on the edge of what federal regulations would allow. So they had to verify we could leave. When that plane took off, we were all SO happy. Until we got in there air. We bounced. all. the. way. Like green people on this plane. Was wishing I hadn't eaten my trail mix on the runway.

We landed safely in DTW and took off at a quick clip - all the way across the airport. We went by tunnel and tram to our new gate. Where we immediately got on the plane and they shut the boarding door behind us. Whew! My chest was feeling a bit tender at this point. So I pumped in the plane's bathroom. Crazy! I didn't save it, but my chest sure felt better. The trip from DTW to MPS had a few bumps, but was mostly uneventful. We grabbed our bags and headed for the cab. It dropped me just after 11pm. 

But the trip is now behind us. I proved to myself and my doubters that I can bring milk home. And best of all, Fiona greeted me Friday morning with a huge hug and a shriek of "You're back."

From the Road

I'm sitting in Knoxville - on my first business trip since Quinn was born. Being a nursing mom on the road is not for the faint of heart. Not only is my pump my faithful companion on this trip, but trip timing (with connections) can get a little tricky.

The morning started with a message from my colleague/travel companion that our connecting flight was cancelled so our flight was rebooked. Through Atlanta. I hate traveling through Atlanta. I'd rather poke out an eye than go through Atlanta. Yet, through Atlanta I went. The bonus of whining to the universe about Atlanta for years is that I got upgraded to first class on the way to ATL. And I've had worse ATL experiences. I was a bit worried when we landed in Concourse A and our connection was in Concourse T! Gah! But it wasn't as long a walk as expected - and we didn't even have to take the tram.

I spent the little bit of time we had before our connection pumping. in the bathroom. in ATL. Yuck! But the girls were happy that we did that!

The trip to Knoxville was bumpy, but short. So now I'm here, missing Yogi (whose birthday is today), Quinn (who turns 5 months today ... and daddy better remember to take that 5 month picture!), Fiona, and Mike. Think good thoughts on Thursday night for our trip home. We have the tightest connection ever in Detroit and we are expecting an all out sprint.

Update to come on my adventure of trying to bring milk back.