Budget Season

One of the reasons my writing has been so sporadic over the past month is that it is budget season at work. AND to complicate matters we've been working with 4 financial systems.The General Ledger system (PeopleSoft) and three management reporting systems: Hyperion Essbase which we went live on in August and have been Parallelling since then; Khalix - which my group has been using for several years and are looking forward to moving off of; and Hyperion Enterprise which the folks in the Corporate Reporting department have been using for MANY years and are looking forward to moving off of.

Managing the data flowing between the systems, the what/where/when, has depended on me for 3 years now. One of my reasons for looking forward to the new system is that ALL of the reporting would come from it and my job of manipulating the data from system to system would become less involved.

Unfortunately complete adoption of the new system did not happen in time for the beginning of the budget season. This meant frantic creation of processes to move data from the new system ( which we were using for budget) to the old systems ( which corporate was still using).

It also meant that many nights I had to come home, feed the family, get the kids to bed and then log back on and do work until 10 or 11. AND it also meant that my Holiday (Halloween) and VACATION days were interrupted by work calls several times and that I had to work from 8pm to 2AM on the last vacation day - HALLOWEEN - due to a last-minute budget call due Nov 1.

Thankfully over the past week - things HAVE calmed down a bit...Corporate is now using the new system...and I'll be trying to play catch-up with blogging.....except that, well, I go on my first REAL vacation in 5 years in 4 days!

DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME!

What A Weekend!

Wow! Way to pack a weekend! Our niece got married by the bay close to Atlantic City this weekend. So we made a family trip of the event.

Saturday morning we packed the van with instruments, suitcases, toys, kids and grandparents.
We made our way to PointPleasant to visit the aquarium at Jenkinson's boardwalk.
This was our second time visting the aquarium - it's a great place for kids...small enough to take in without tiring...big enough to have some diversity of species and to make an impression on the kids.
We spent a few minutes with our toes in the ocean and the sand....then we were off again to Galloway Twp - for the wedding rehearsal...Clark and I were scheduled to play some classical tunes for the ceremony.
It was the kids' first time staying in a hotel room - away from their home or G&G's for the night. They did pretty well...

Sunday morning we got up and went to the Cape May Zoo - Our first Zoo outing...that was also really nice! Again not too big, not too small. The big excitement was the Giraffes - the boy giraffe was getting pretty frisky! Then the boys spent some time burning off energy in a park. After Lunch we went back to the hotel so Clark and I could get ready for the wedding....

The Wedding was BEAUTIFUL! The ceremony was on the 2nd green of the golf course among the marsh grasses and overlooking the bay...they had to bus out the bridal party and guests...
The cocktail hour was under an outdoor pavillion and was scrumptious!
For the reception the food was also good - but many of us were pretty full on the appitizers - which were actually better than the main entree...
Over the years as Clark and I have attended the weddings of friends we've come up with the "Perfect" wedding....Yummy appitizers...followed by or interspersed with some dancing...followed by vienese dessert hour.... No sit-down meal...just yummy stuff you don't get very often....
Anyway - it was a very nice wedding and we enjoyed it a lot!

On Monday we packed our bags back into the van and made our way home...to all the tasks that went undone...and to my own wonderful bed...

We learned a lot of lessons to hold onto for the Disney trip coming up in November...
The kids can't go much beyond noon (attention wise or energy wise) unless you want to start seeing some unhappy behavior...
The pause in activity must be accompanied by a nap.
Strollers are GOOD!
When away from home - let the kids eat what they will eat - don't force the issue with "healthier options" - this is especially true if they are TIRED....so Lunch and beyond....Push the healthier options at BREAKFAST or you WILL be sorry.

LOMB - Year 4

The Land of Make Believe 2007!

Ever since Ronnie was just over a year old we've been doing a day-trip per summer to the Land of Make Believe.
And this year is no exception.
http://www.lomb.com/

It is always a wonderful experience - and Ronnie - at least is starting to remember it from one year to the next. He's been asking about when we'd go this summer for weeks now.

This year's trip featured both boys being able to ride the rides - we spent the first hour going from one to the next to the next...
The FAVORITE was the bi-plane ride.

After lunch we headed for PIRATES COVE - and we were better prepared this year with "training suits" for both boys - full-body flotation bathing suits.
Even though the water in the wading pool doesn't even get to knee high on an adult, it's a lot easier watching active boys when they have floaties on.
Ronnie LOVED the pirate ship - with it's water cannons and slides best, and it was difficult to get him to come away from it at all.
Evan just wanted to keep jumping in the water - as if it was a big puddle - preferably while holding on to an adult hand or two. Of course, that was not too comfortable for said adult who felt like their arm(s) were being yanked out.
After spending a couple of hours there - we made our way over to the lazy river and went three times around.
After all of the water time it was time to pack-up and go home. Another great trip to LOMB.
And I think Evan is going to start remembering it now too....he's already asking when we're going to go back!

Our First Visit to the Beach!

On Sept 17 we finally made it to the Jersey Shore with the boys!
Along with Auntie Jill, Auntie Julie and cousins Caity, Nona, and Shay-shay, we visited Jenkinson's Aquarium in the morning and had a great time there!
http://www.jenkinsons.com/aquarium/index.cfm
Then on to lunch and some time for the kids playing in the worlds BIGGEST SANDBOX!!!that was soooo much fun that the boys almost didn't want to go to the water....but once they did, the waves and "bubbles" were such a hit that even the promise of ice cream couldn't tear them away!
Ronnie keeps asking mommy to tell the story about his day at the beach!