Tag Archives: working mom

Keeper of the Passwords

Posted on June 3, 2011 | 10 comments

Hi Everyone!

When I became a mom, I knew that the role would call for many things.  However, this morning my daughter attempted to assign a role to me that I simply cannot and will not do:  Keeper of the Computer Passwords.  I can’t keep up with my own; let alone anybody else’s!

Those of us who have seen the computer revolution blossom in front of our eyes (you know who you are –  you took classes on Basic in college; you remember when the Internet did not exist, or at least was not as ubiquitous in the American household as, say, the refrigerator is; you can remember playing games on a Commodore 64 computer that plugged into your TV to use as a monitor; and you remember when 1/2 megabyte of RAM was a lot of memory for a PC and we stored extra files on 5 1/4″ floppy discs), can remember a time when – hang on for this younger generation – you could get through life without any passwords at all!  Yes, you heard me correctly – you could go from the cradle to the grave without having to enter a password into anything more complicated than the combination lock to your bike – and you wrote that combination on your book bag so you wouldn’t forget it.  Those from a slightly later generation can remember when you could use things that were easy to remember, like your children’s name or your birthdate, for passwords or PIN numbers.  Heck, only about four or five years ago, most of us did not need to know what the words “case-sensitive” meant.

 However, somewhere as the years went on, the simplicity of the password has completely faded into oblivion.  Each organization  has its own requirements in terms of the amount of letters and/or numbers to be used in a password.  Some sites are even getting hyper-technical on me and requiring not only letters and numbers, but characters too!  People, if I can’t remember whether my original password was adam12 (or maybe that was Adam12 or ADAM12) I don’t have a hope of remembering whether I used a !, a%,  a # or (for when I lose my temper) &^%$##$%&&%%##**$ to go with it.  

I have had web sites grade me on the strength of the password I am selecting; that gives me an inferiority complex.  I never felt happy with a grade unless it was an A, and I have yet to get an A grade on any password I selected.  (If I did get an A grade, I probably wouldn’t be able to remember the password.)

I have other sites that require me to change my password periodically whether I want to or not; that’s really disturbing, because how do I know I can come up with a password that is as good as the one they are making me get rid of?  I also have to perform a series of mental gymnastics to keep track of which password to use this week. 

The logical thing to do, of course, is to find a place to store all the passwords for all of the sites in one place so you can look one up when you need it, but apparently we are not allowed to keep such a list any place where it can be easily found, which means that the odds are good that I won’t be able to remember where I put the list by the time I need it! 

So, to my daughter who won’t read this anyhow because she doesn’t have the password to our home computer (how else could I get away with writing the stories I write about us?), I must regretfully decline your offer to become Keeper of the Passwords, at least until I am able to successfully keep my own!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Nancy

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Peanut Butter in the Refrigerator and other matters

Posted on June 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Good morning everyone!  I hope you had a good day yesterday!

  • Peanut Butter in the Refrigerator

    From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Mark and I were getting dressed today in our bedroom, when our daughter came pounding on the door to demand, “Who put the peanut butter in the refrigerator?”  (We don’t normally do that; the only peanut butter I have ever refrigerated is the natural kind that separates, but this was plain old Jif.)  There was, of course, only one answer.  I told her through the door that I must have done it when I was having a senior moment yesterday after making her PB&J sandwich as part of lunch for day camp.  There was a second of silence, a flat “oh,” and then the subject was dropped.

  • Mandy and the Treadmill

Mandy’s fascination with the Treadmill continues.  As soon as she heard the “beep” that means it is being turned on, she sailed across the room to sit down and stare at it with her head hanging so low it almost touched the belt.  We are very curious as to why this one object fascinates her so much.

Mandy and Darwin Mesmerized by the Treadmill

Mandy’s reactions to things take an extra effort for us to figure out, because she is a very unusual dog.  Not only are her looks extraordinary, but we adopted her from the shelter when she was two, and the shelter’s information on her stated that she was found digging in the dumpster in McDonald’s, so unlike the other two dogs, we have absolutely no information on where Mandy was and what conditions she was living in until she was sent to the shelter. 

We could tell the first Christmas we had her that she had never really seen a Christmas in a house before, so we tend to think that maybe she spent all of her life as a stray, but at the same time things come up, like the treadmill, that make us wonder.  I can tell you at least that the dumpster diving instinct survived to morph into an instinct to root around on cabinets, in trash cans, and anywhere else food might possible be obtained!

  • Turtles in the Bed (Not!)

    Turtle, 2008

 Driving to work/day camp today, Kayla told me that she wished she had a turtle.  I said, “Kayla, you have three dogs!!!!”  She told me she knew that, but she still wished she had a turtle.  I told her, “No,” and she asked why, so first I repeated the obvious, “Kayla, you have three dogs!!!!!” and then listed other reasons:  1) Dad has said that nothing else living, even a goldfish, is coming in the house as a pet, 2) I would be the one who ended up taking care of the turtle, and I only like turtles that were outside my house, and 3) she only wanted a turtle because she had a friend who had one.  We digressed into a discussion of whether said friend had a turtle or not, but then she brought us back to the subject, saying, “I’ve tried asking for even a goldfish and everything, but the answer’s always no.”  I told her I was sorry she didn’t like the dogs, but Dad and I did, and three dogs was enough.  She told me she did like our dogs but that “a turtle is the only pet I could have that could stay in bed with me.”  (9-year-old logic – go figure!!!!!)  I still haven’t figured out that comment yet, but it was the wrong thing to say – the idea of a turtle was firmly and permanently nixed after that point.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Rash Promises and Blaky Wakey!

Posted on June 1, 2011 | 2 comments

Hi Everyone!

I’m a little bit late today, I know, but my bronchitis is trying to decide whether to come back or not, so it took  me a little longer than usual to get ready for work, which means my morning blogging time was interrupted.  I am now using my (late) lunch hour to accomplish the same thing.  For those of you who are worried about how Mandy did without someone sitting by her, at least she ate!  She had the chance to get entertained by the treadmill first, so that relaxed her a little bit first.

Mandy, Fascinated by the Treadmill

  • Rash Promises

Have you ever made a rash promise to your child?  One that just popped out before you really thought about it?  Well I have, and it is one that I’m going to get to have almost a whole year to think about! 

Grace and Poise I Shan't Have Come Next May!

Up until the day of her recital, Kayla was uncertain about whether she wanted to continue dance next year, and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to stop because she didn’t like dancing, or what was going on.  On recital day, I could tell that she did like to dance, so I asked her about continuing.  At first she wasn’t sure, but then the fatal words slipped out of my mouth – every recital, those parents who want to participate in a parents’ number at the recital get to do so  – “if you will sign back up for dance, I will do the parents’ number next year.”  She told me she wanted to think about it, but as we were walking out of the house for the second recital, she turned around to me and said, “Deal!”  I’m not sure what I was thinking, since I have two left feet, unless I am being led by my husband, and my sense of rhythm is only suitable for choral singing (not to mention that I am extremely out of shape, not helped by the bronchitis)  but I said the words, “I promise,” so I will live by them.  Mark finds it all highly amusing, and even my mother who was up for the recital thought it was a little funny too.

Please note that I will not be informing anyone in advance of the recital date, besides grandparents, next year;  however, I will tell you if I turn out to be the first parent in her dance studio’s history to be fired from the parent dance team!   

  • Blaky Wakey

As I mentioned yesterday, Kayla and I are now driving to work together, and while I did not have to resign control of the radio to the Disney Channel yesterday, this morning it was on before we left the driveway.  As we were driving, the DJ for the hour came on and announced something to the effect that we were listening to the “Blaky Wakey” show.  Kayla looked at me and said, “You’ve got to be kidding!  I’m just not in a Blaky Wakey mood this morning!”  I had to agree with her, but I also notice that the channel did not get changed, either. 

Have a great rest of the day everyone!

Nancy

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The First Day of Summer Vacation and Other Matters

Posted on May 31, 2011 | 6 comments

Hi Everyone!

I hope each of you had a great Memorial Day weekend!  We did; we didn’t do anything special, but we got to go bowling, nap, shopping, nap, attend church, nap, eat out, nap – you get the idea! 

Today marks a change in the rhythm of our lives for the next two and a half months – Kayla’s summer vacation starts today.  Until I taught, many moons ago, I didn’t realize how much teachers look forward to summer vacation.  Until Kayla started Kindergarten, I also didn’t realize how much parents enjoy summer vacation, too.  I don’t have to fuss about homework; bed time, while still important, is not essential; and getting Kayla ready in the morning amounts to being sure she is dressed properly instead of the list of things we have to have ready for school. 

Specifically for us, too, summer vacation is different because I take Kayla to a day camp near to where I work, which means that she and I ride to and from work together.  I am looking forward to the extra time with her, although I have to resign myself to the fact that I will be listening to the Disney Channel radio for the next two and a half months, also. 

  •      Rememborizing

On the way to the bowling alley this weekend, Kayla was trying to tell us that she either remembered something or had memorized it, I am not sure which, but the word that came out was “rememborized.”  She tried again with another variation, and finally got frustrated and said “Whatever,” which in 9-year-old parlance translates to “you know what I mean so let’s get past the pronunciation and on to the discussion.”

  • Santa Claus

When we went shopping this weekend, one of the things we needed were new white church shoes for Kayla.  We noticed Sunday that her feet were hanging off both the front and the back of her old church sandals.  (She is in the middle of a growth spurt.)  As we were walking into the store, out of the blue, Kayla started talking about maybe buying some underwear also, then, remembering that she had gotten some from Santa for Christmas (yes, folks, she got a lot of other things too, and they were all toys), stopped in the middle of the road  and asked Mark and I, “How did Santa Claus know my underwear size?”  I asked her if Santa knew whether she had been good or bad, why couldn’t he know her underwear size?  She answered, “That’s just embarrassing!  

  • The Treadmill 

For Father’s Day, I got Mark a treadmill.  It came last week, a little early, so he took some time yesterday to put it together, with Kayla’s help.  She did a very good job helping him, both in reading the directions, handing him the necessary parts and sometimes getting to handle some of the tools, like the wrench and screwdriver, and even the drill (used as a screwdriver) once or twice. 

Once Mark and she got it put together, it was time to try it out, briefly.  Each of us spent about two minutes on it, just to see if it worked.  What we didn’t expect was the dogs’ reaction to it.  Tyra ignored it, but Mandy was mesmerized, and Darwin, unwilling to let his twin enjoy something without him, decided he would be mesmerized, too.  I thought maybe it was just a one day thing, but this morning, when Mark got up early to use the treadmill, the two dogs camped out by the treadmill yet again.

Mandy, Fascinated by the Treadmill

Mandy and Darwin Mesmerized by the Treadmill

You never know exactly what is going through the minds of your dogs at any particular time, except maybe feeding time, but I sure would like to know what they are thinking while they watch the treadmill! 

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Please stop improving my life! (Part II)

Posted on May 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Hi Everyone!

Happy Memorial Day!  Please take a minute sometime today to remember the reason for this holiday.  On the left of the blog page is a link to a poem I wrote about Memorial Day. 

Now, on a lighter note….

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Imagine, if you will, a regular working day Monday.  I come be-bopping up the stairs to my office  (all right, I don’t be-bop up the stairs – I usually walk up sedately wishing I could have somehow stuffed just a little more caffeine into my system, but that is beside the point), log on to my work computer ready and eager to work, and am presented with a message that brings everything to a screeching halt. 

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Now, I cannot tell you precisely who the message will be from – the three main culprits are Windows, Apple and Adobe – but it always presents me with a choice that I am just not ready to face that early in the morning – whether to install updates to software on my computer.

From Print Shop 2.0 Professional

Why is this a problem?  First, I know my computer well enough now that I like it just the way it is, faults and all, and while most new components tend to run in the background on stuff I probably wouldn’t understand anyhow, every so often one of them completely changes the way something works, and I have to get used to my computer all over again.  Second, I don’t care if the message says I can continue to work while the updates are loading, my computer does as well at “mushy-tasking” as I do – which is to say, not very well.  I can notice a difference!  Third, at least 67% of the time, once the updates are finished loading, they want to restart my computer.  By the time that happens, I am right smack dab in the middle of something and really don’t want to restart my computer, nor do I want to have to keep telling my computer that every five minutes thereafter. 

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

I will give the software updates on my work computer credit for at least one thing though – they are up front with me.  They arrive first thing in the morning, tell me what they want, and then present me with choices.  My netbook is much sneakier.  It waits until I am trying to turn it off and then just announces to me that it is installing updates, and I will permanently destroy it and the entire Eastern Seaboard if I dare to turn it off without letting those updates get installed.  The problem with this method is that the netbook is my traveling computer, and when I am getting ready to unplug it, I usually am ready to head off somewhere else where there is not a WiFi connection.  I have so far acceded to its mandate to wait but someday I may not be able to do so, and then what will my netbook and the people on Eastern Seaboard do?

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Then there is the default method for forcing you to update –  “the other programs you like to use won’t work anymore if you don’t change your _____.”  This statement is usually followed by reassurances that I will be much happier with the new version of X than I was with the old version.  I have recently encountered something similar to that with IE 9.  I don’t know what version of Internet Explorer I was using before, but I kept having problems viewing certain web sites and finally gave up, bit the bullet and upgraded.   Unfortunately, after the upgrade, which took quite a bit of time on my work computer, the same problems remained.  Sigh.  I have my computer/software guru looking at it over the weekend.  The upgrade has, so far, gone fairly well on the netbook. 

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

I understand, in a way, why software manufacturers have had to ramp up their methods of getting us to upgrade, because, without some kind of coercion, I would still be running Windows 98 and saving data on floppy discs, but isn’t there a way we can all just get along?

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

So, please, software manufacturers, while I admire your zest for self-improvement, and the technological miracles you have wrought since my first experiences with Basic and Cobol back in the dark ages, can you find softer, gentler methods to coerce me into updating my computer and can you make things work the way they worked before you improved my life?  I would really appreciate it!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Please stop improving my life! (Part I)

Posted on May 26, 2011 | 9 comments

Hi Everyone!

How many of you are, well let us say, youthfully challenged enough to remember the VCR?  I could handle the VCR – I couldn’t program it, but at least I could use it.  You pushed the cartridge into the machine and hit play. 

Then came the DVD player – I still couldn’t program it, but as long as it was just the TV and the DVD player, I still could use it.  You put the disc in the machine and hit play.

DVD Player Photograph from http://www.wikipedia.org

Then came surround sound – and everything came to a screeching halt! 

I admit that I am technologically challenged, but once the time arrived where it took more than one remote to accomplish an entertainment task, I was in trouble.  After years of struggle, my husband finally took pity on me last year and bought a universal remote that is supposed to work by simply pressing a button on the remote that says what you want to do (for example, “watch tv” or “play a movie”), pointing the remote in the general area of the AV equipment, and everything that needs to turn off or on does so.  It works great for my husband, but I really don’t think it likes me, because I have a 50/50 shot of being successful with it.  Still, 50/50 is much better than a 100% chance of not being able to do it.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Now the DVD player companies are beginning to introduce DVD’s and televisions that can show movies and programs in 3-D.  Enough!  I have yet to see a 3-D movie that would be incomplete if I saw it in 2-D.  Let’s think for a minute people – isn’t being able to watch 100+ channels, download the movie of your choice from the internet or place your disc in the DVD player and watch it on your TV in super-duper high-clarity High-definition with surround sound comparable to that in a theater sufficient?  Do we really need something else to keep us glued to the TV and away from more profitable activities such as reading, writing or playing games?   I say no, and that it is high time for the technologically challenged people of the world to stand up and unite!

From Print Shop Professional 2.0 with edits by me

Please, please write your local DVD manufacturer now and plead with it to stop the march of entertainment technology immediately!  Let’s draw a line in the sand and stop with Blu-Ray.  Period.  Then the innovators and inventors of this world can turn their attention to more important topics, such as energy, medical research and the riding vacuum cleaner.   

Tomorrow’s topic:  Software manufacturers that improve my life, and why they shouldn’t.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Dance Recital

Posted on May 23, 2011 | 8 comments

First Pre-Recital Picture

 Good morning Everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend!  I will give you fair warning about today’s post:  this is a Proud Parent Post, heavily laden with pictures of Kayla, because Saturday was the day of Kayla’s dance recitals.  The recitals are an EVENT!  Her dance studio has two recitals, one at 2 and one at 6:30 that last about two hours each.  There are classes in baton, jazz, tap dancing, ballet, and gymnastics for girls from age 4 to age 18 or 19 (seniors in high school.)  The teacher does an amazing job of scheduling things so that each class has a chance to perform their routines. 

There are at least three dance studios in our small town, and I think that each one picks a Saturday in May to rent the high school’s auditorium, but our recital is usually the last one.  It is an annual rite of passage from spring into summer.  (Yes, I know the calendar says it is still spring, but down here, we consider Memorial Day the unofficial start of summer, and as of this week have already had temperatures soaring into the low to mid-90’s.  Most of the schools in this area finish for the year in the next week.) 

Darwin Barges In

 My Mom came to visit for the recital, and took a picture of the three of us, with Kayla in her baton costume.  She took the first picture, then was lucky enough to get this one of Darwin barging in to the photo also.  Every once in a while something happens to remind me how very tall he really is, and this was one of those times.  I would guess from this picture that he is at least 5 feet tall when he stands on his hind legs! 

Anyway, with Darwin’s help we were able to get out the door and to the auditorium by 1:00 p.m., when the doors opened for audience seating.  Past experience has taught us that if you don’t show up an hour early, then you will not be able to get very good seats, and we needed end seats so that I could scoot in and out to help Kayla with her costume changes.  Since I chose to sit on the first floor of the auditorium, so I could sit with Mark and Mom, each time Kayla’s costume needed changing, I rushed up a flight of stairs to the second floor of the high school to reach the changing room, then rushed back down to get back to my seat in time to see her routine.  The multiple trips reminded me why I really hate elliptical training machines, Stairmasters and all other exercise equipment of similar ilk. 

I put Mark in charge of the camera because getting pictures during the recital is tricky between the lighting (dark in the audience, light on stage) and the movement.  He got this photo of Kayla during her baton routine.  If you look on your left, you can see the baton twirling around in a blur. 

Baton Routine

 The next routine was her tap dance routine.  She was concentrating!  (The tap dance and the closing routines were the only repeats between both recitals.)

Concentrating on her tap dance routine

 The first recital ended at 4, so the four of us (me, Mark, Kayla and Mom) hopped over to the local Pizza Hut for a very early dinner, had time to run back to the house for about 20 minutes to change costumes and freshen up her hair and make-up, and then get back to the auditorium at 5:30 for the 6:30 show.  By 5:30, a good part of the auditorium was already full, but we still managed to find end seats.  I estimate that there were between 150 to 200 people present at each of the two recitals.  For this second recital, her first routine was the jazz routine. 

Jazz

 

Jazz 2

It wasn’t until the very end of the routine that she saw Mark, who had slipped up the aisle, taking pictures, but after that suddenly she relaxed and starting smiling.  You can see this in the picture Mark took at the end of her gymnastics class’s  routine…..

Final Gymnastics Pose

And in her ballet routine…..

Ballet Dance

And in the closing!

Closing Routine!

 

So kudos to Mark for the pictures he took and kudos to Kayla for her time and effort in dancing!

Have a great day everyone!
 Nancy

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Blast from the Past: 2008: Stories, Spell Check and Scorpions!

Posted on May 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

Good morning everyone!

This morning I thought I would share some stories I wrote down in some letters back in 2008, when Kayla was 6 and in kindergarten.

From April 2008:

One morning, Kayla burst out into tears in the bathroom. Mark caught that call. When he went in to check, she told him that she was crying because she had brushed her hair but it didn’t look like she had brushed it at all! (Item: the hair looked fine.)

Two Sundays ago, she and I were awake and watching TV in my bedroom because Mark was asleep on the couch and I was trying hard to keep everyone (child and dogs) quiet in my room so that he could get a full nap in. I had to go into the other room to get something, and when I came back, Kayla was just walking away from my bathroom sink. I asked her what she was doing, and she said brightly, “I was going to get into your makeup, but then I decided that I didn’t want to get into trouble!”

From April 2008:

I did the funniest thing on spell check on one of my briefs the other week. I had to use the name “Schnitzler” a lot in the brief.  Schnitzler was one of those words that, to save my soul, I could not type correctly the first time, so rather than re-type it over and over, I used “SS” as an abbreviation, with the thought that when it was finished, I would use “find and replace” to replace the “SS” with Schnitzler.  FN.  It worked like a charm, except that I got slap-happy pushing buttons and ended up telling the computer to change every “ss” to Schnitzler, which left me with lots of words like “Congreschnitzler” (Congress), “ischnitzlerue” (issue) and “paschnitzler” (pass.) Spell check almost had a nervous breakdown before it was over with!

From June 2008:

The past week has been a week of weird wildlife encounters. Last Thursday, I looked out of the window after Mark and Kayla left, and saw a huge turtle on the side of the road – its shell had a diameter of at least 16 inches. I couldn’t help it; I took a picture of it.

Turtle, 2008

Yesterday, which was Wednesday, I started my day being stung by, of all things, a scorpion! Mandy, who has decided that one of her missions in life is to be my little alarm clock, waking me up by 5:20 whether I need it or not, harassed and harangued me until I got up, fed her and the other two dogs then went out into the garage like I normally do to get my Diet Coke. When I walked back in, something bit/stung my toe, and it really hurt! I couldn’t see what it was but jumped around and started screaming , which woke Mark up in a flash (Kayla slept through it) and brought him into the den to check on me. We sat down and looked at my foot, but unlike a bee sting, we couldn’t see anything. Mark announced that it must have been an ant that bit me, and went back to bed. I walked back over to the area where I had been stung, turned on the light and saw a brown form on the brown wooden floor that looked like a scorpion. I looked again, because I thought maybe it was just a leaf that the dogs had drug in from outside, and realized that it really was a scorpion.

 So next I did what any reasonable woman with a husband at home would do – I went back into the bedroom and got Mark! He looked at it, and not only agreed that it was a scorpion but also realized that it wasn’t dead yet, so he killed it for me. Never having been stung by a scorpion before, I was not at all certain what I should do, so I went and looked it up on the Internet. The information I found said that most species of scorpions in the United States are not poisonous, except for one species in Arizona. However, even so, you can have a reaction to the bite of one if you are allergic, and some of the symptoms of that type of reaction are an elevated heart rate and anxiety.

That symptom list was not helpful;  I already had an elevated heartbeat and anxiety because I had just been stung by a scorpion! It all turned out okay, although it will be a very long time before I walk anywhere in the house without my slippers on.

And on that unusual note, I will bid everyone good day!  Have a great weekend!

Nancy

FN.  To prevent any unpleasantness, the name “Schnitzler” is  changed from the actual name, but you get the idea.

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A Tribute to the Women at Main Street

Posted on May 19, 2011 | 6 comments

Hi Everyone!

I haven’t talked a lot about my work, so today I thought I would show you the building I work in, and the stellar ladies from our Alex City office who help to keep me straight. 

This is the front of our building:

Building Front

Our building, the white triangular-shaped one, began life as the First Presbyterian Church around the turn of the century.  Since then, it has been many things, including a doctor’s office and a bank.  (One of the relics from the bank era is a room-size fireproof vault on the bottom floor.)  We first moved into the basement floor in 1991, while the upper two floors were occupied by another firm.  We merged with them in 1992, and then about 10 years later began an extensive renovation that resulted in the exterior you see in the picture above.  The renovation also included make-overs for the side and back of the building.

Building side

 

Back of Building

 

Like many small Southern towns, our downtown has lost some businesses, although Alex City has done better than most in trying to get, and keep, other businesses to replace those that have gone away.  Our choice to renovate the building and stay in downtown rather than moving out to the four-lane highway was in part a statement of belief in Alex City and its downtown area. 

Every working woman, whether you work solely inside, or also outside, the home, needs a support structure, and the women in my Alex City office are part of mine.  (To the guys in the Alex City office, the investigators and all of the people in Birmingham, you are part of my support structure too, but none of you were present on the same day that I had my camera at the office!)

All of them are mothers, two of them are grandmothers, two have children younger than Kayla and two have children older than Kayla.  I learn an awful lot from them, and when I need them, these ladies will circle the wagons around me. 

My office is on the top floor, the floor behind the fake window on the top of the front of the building.  Next door to me is Lauren, who has known me through work since our firm opened in 1991.

Lauren

Lauren is our bookkeeper, and has the distinction of being the grandmother of twin boys in Michigan.  (She has other wonderful grandchildren in Alex City, but I find the idea of twin boys fascinating!)  She is level-tempered, exceptionally organized – you can ask her for a receipt from four years ago and she can produce it in less than a minute – and diligent to the highest degree. 

Kim

Kim is one of the other attorney’s right hand man, and we have worked with each other at least 10 years, if not more.  (I think it’s more.)  She is down the hall on the left from both my office and Lauren’s office.  No matter how bad she feels, Kim usually has a smile ready to greet anyone, and is willing to laugh at bad stories told by co-workers who write blogs! 

Hanlon and Kathy In Our Reception Area

 Kathy, the lady to the left in the picture, and Hanlon, the lady on the right, work for one of our other attorneys.  Both of them have organizational skills which leave me awe-struck.  It is a level of organization I can’t even imagine!(Since I lack organization, I very much admire those who have it.)  Both of them help keep the second floor a pleasant place. 

Hanlon at her desk

Moving on down the hall, Amanda is our newest attorney and someone who has made my life a lot easier.  She is working on some of her own cases, and on some cases with other attorneys, but she also gives me a lot of help with the research and writing end of things, which is an immense relief.  I have known Amanda for years – she worked for us as a runner during high school summers and as a law clerk a summer or two during law school – so it was a natural fit to bring her in as our ninth attorney – and I am very glad we did!

Amanda at work

 Our receptionist, Angela, was unfortunately away from the office the day that I was taking pictures and is our newest employee in the Alex City, having only been there a couple of months.  However, she has to me the other name of She-Who-Makes-Sure-I-Have-A-Diet-Coke-Before-I-Go-Upstairs-In-The-Morning, which makes her very special!

Carla

Carla’s office is on the bottom floor, far from the madding crowd.  To make up for that fact, it is extra big, although I don’t know if she thinks the extra size is a blessing, or a curse.  Carla used to be my assistant, until she was moved over to another attorney, and I miss her.  She can properly attest to my lack of organizational skills!  Her daughter was our baby sitter for a while, and while we were happy for her when she got a full-time job at the hospital, there also was a great deal of sadness in our house because we miss having her as a baby sitter. 

So, anyway, these are the ladies I work with in the Alex City office almost every day.  There’s not one of them who wouldn’t come to my rescue at the drop of a hat, not one of them who is not extraordinarily gifted in her own way.  Thank you ladies very much for making my workplace a pleasant place to work!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Lambert’s Cafe, Foley, Alabama

Posted on May 18, 2011 | 3 comments

Hi Everyone!

I had a strange malady hit me yesterday – I lost my sense of humor!  After searching for it diligently for the last 24 hours, I have finally recovered it so I am cleared to write. 

Front of Lambert's Cafe in Foley, Alabama; courtesy of infrogmation of New Orleans

 

When we were at Perdido the other weekend, we made time to take Kayla to eat at Lambert’s Cafe in Foley, Alabama.  Lambert’s was first established in 1942 in Missouri, and eventually expanded to include another Missouri location and the Foley location.  The same family still owns and operates all three Lambert’s.  Eating at Lambert’s in Foley is unlike eating anywhere else (except, I suppose, the two Lambert’s in Missouri.)

 (All the pictures from here below are copied from the Lambert’s Cafe web site and reposted here with permission; my camera picked this optimum camera opportunity to run out of battery.) 

The Inside of Lambert's

Lambert’s signature food/event is the throwed rolls.  In fact, their website even reflects it at www.throwedrolls.com.  Whenever you eat there, they bring out pans and pans of yeast rolls that are over 5 inches in diameter, and if you want one, they throw it to you. 

Getting ready to throw

 Kayla did not believe us when we told her that the wait staff  throws rolls to the customers, and once she caught the first one thrown at her, her face had a bemused “I’m not in Kansas anymore” look.   
 
Our seating was ideal for Kayla to truly experience Lambert’s for the first time.  (Many Alabamians and people from other states that come to Alabama’s Gulf Coast will tell you that a trip to Lambert’s is obligatory once you are in the area.)  We sat along a hallway that connects two bigger main rooms with her facing the entrance to the restaurant, so that all of the Lambert’s staffers bringing pass-arounds could see her first. 
 

We were in a booth on the right down towards the end of the hall

 
One of the many things that Lambert’s does differently is that, in addition to the meal that you order, “pass-arounds” are brought by your table.  That is, the waiters will carry around pots of various items, like cabbage, black-eyed peas, apple butter and fried potatoes and onions, and offer you portions of them in addition to your main meal.  Kayla didn’t know quite what to think the first time someone came around and offered her some of whatever was in it.  She was both a little startled, and a little impressed, as she started to realize the sheer amount of food that was available to her.
 

A waiter offering a pass-around

Our waiter, a friendly young man, came to take our order, and then came back with a pot, offering Kayla a pass-around of something like fried apples, I think.  She opened the pot to look at it, and a toy stuffed ferret jumped out of it, kind of like a jack-in-the-box.  She gave a startled little scream, Mark and I couldn’t help laughing, and from that moment she never lost track of where our waiter was when he was in eyesight.  She was going to be sure she didn’t get fooled again! 

The menu allows you to choose a meat and two or three vegetables from the side menu, or a salad or sandwich with one vegetable from the side menu.  The quantity of food that you get is really remarkable. 

A sample plate

 

 It is even more remarkable that Lambert’s can give you this quantity of food while keeping up the quality of food as well. 

Our waiter tried a couple of other tricks on us while we ate – he brought by a pitcher that he said was for a refill, then dropped it sideways like he spilled it, but it turned out it was a fake pitcher.  Kayla thought long and hard about that one, but was reconciled enough with it to enjoy it when he tried to play the same trick on another table. 

In spite of our most valiant efforts, we could not eat everything in front of us, so finally we gave up and asked for the check.  Even Kayla, who is about to experience a growth spurt and therefore is eating everything in sight finally had to cry uncle.  The waiter brought the check by with a closed box labeled “Fresh Mints” and tried to get Kayla to open it.  She absolutely refused, since her trust in the waiter as far as closed boxes goes had been entirely shattered, so he left the box on the table.  Mark and I couldn’t stand it, so we opened the box gingerly to see what would come out of it – it was a toy mouse on a spring.  Kayla edged away from the box slowly, like she thought the mouse would come to life but Mark and I just kept laughing. 

By the time we left, Kayla had judged Lambert’s and not found it lacking, so she desired a souvenir from the gift shop.  My idea of a souvenir was a T-shirt;  her idea of a souvenir was stick candy.  I won, since I held the checkbook, and she yielded, since she was quite full already. Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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