Hooping, Swimming, Scooting

I always hate it when I see a large gap in days between my blog posts. Probably best I didn't get the interview at Rob's company for the Online Editor position...

The last week-and-a-half has been all kinds of hectic and nutty. I did not believe that my workplace could get anymore tense and lunacy-filled, but I was wrong. The company I work for has 9 full-time and 1 part-time office staff. To say that ownership/employee relations where I work are strained would be putting it most mildly. An example - after a disagreement on Thursday between my boss and the Sales Mgr. (a friend) - the Owner came in on Friday afternoon and abruptly sent the entire office staff home without explanation. Some of us assumed we were about to be fired. Others that perhaps the company had been sold. The truth - the owner caleld in a locksmith to change the office door locks of the Sales Mgr. - in case he was planning to leave over the weekend. I just "celebrated" my 1-year employment anniversary in my current job. Out of 10 total office positions - 4 have been turned over in the past year (5, if you count my position). 3 more are actively looking for other opportunities (including the Owners' cousin). The Owner, while a savvy businessman, needs a lot of work when it comes to employee relations - again, this is putting things most mildly). All of this serves to make me wonder how much different my life would be if I wasn't so proud a few years back when Mrs. Walsh offered to help get me in the door at Aetna. Add this to the list of idiotic decisions in the life and times of Vinnie B.

The madness has not been ending upon my departure from the office. As many of you know, I do paperwork at night for a Landscaping contractor. With the onset of the busy season, I have been putting in another 3 hours per night (at least) from the home office. I have been pretty zapped. I usually handle the rush pretty well, but there have been a few nights where I just didn't have any juice.

Speaking of a lack of juice, my hoops team begins the playoffs tonight at 9pm. I haven't picked up a ball (or done anything else even remotely athletic) since our last game three weeks ago when we lost to a team of 4 guys. I believe I am over that loss - but it is yet another example of how truly far I have fallen as a player of late. Not sure what to expect out of myself tonight, or my team. All I know is that we are playing a beatable team - and I would very much like to play (and beat) our ex-teammates some time in this season's playoffs.

I have to say that The Man Zachary has been amazing me so much of late. First off, he has finally figured out crawling - and how to grab things and pull himself to a standing position. He has gotten to be a very fast crawler in a very short amount of time. Over the weekend, he figured out what he is supposed to do with his little baby basketball and hoop. We were sitting there playing (which usually has him biting the little orange spheres that are supposed to eb basketballs) and he suddenly took the ball, pressed it against the backboard and dropped it through the hoop. 10 out of 11 times! I startled him with how excited I was. The Man's stat line for first hoops game: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 fouls for drooling, and a couple of dives onto the floor for loose balls. He is awesome already! Lastly, we took Zachary to his first swim "lesson" at the Y last night. I wasn't scheduled to attend but was very happy that things worked out so I could go. He LOVED the water. He began splashing immediately - and even made paddling motions with his hands when we were pulling him through the water. Very, VERY cool.

[Currently Listening: Third World - "Reggae Ambassador"]