Prayers go up and blessings come down.

So…Derrick saw, “Doggy’s Nose to Baby’s Toes” saved under my favorites and asked what it was. I told him that it was my blog. He wondered where I got the name, “Doggy’s Nose to Baby’s Toes” and I told him I used my unique, slightly, creative side and came up with the catchy title and picture, and it talks about our day to day life. He said, “I’m going to read it!” And I said, “Go right ahead!” He began to read the blog and chuckled about my perception of what happened the other morning and couldn’t believe that I actually put that in a blog. That’s what blogs are for….everyday things: the good, the bad, and the ugly. When he finished reading, I asked what he thought and he said that I only put the bad stuff that has happened. He told me that good things have happened within the last month and I should add those too.

All of this got me thinking. I have been a little down lately due to certain events that have happened in my life, some of which are not mentioned. And they aren’t mentioned for private reasons. My husband and I are very blessed. We are blessed financially; we both have full-time, good paying, secure jobs. We have a big house with lots of room, full of furniture and appliances, and gym equipment (that never gets used). We have two new vehicles that are in working order and lots of room to transport lots of people and stuff. And we are blessed with having a wonderful family with lots and lots of love (even though I think they love our child a little more than us). We have an AWESOME God that is willing to forgive our mistakes in our day to day challenges and who also listens, no matter what time it is! We have two dogs who come back to love us even after they have been punished for being naughty. And last but certainly not least I have my husband and son, both of which I love beyond words. They both bring happiness, joy, compassion, and amazement into my life everyday!

So, from now on, I am going to try to include more of the positive, upbeat happenings in our life.

We went and saw my friend, Heather and her new baby, Kendall Marie tonight. Kendall Marie is so precious and beautiful. But Seth wasn’t real sure what to think of the baby. He was more interested in crawling around getting into their non-baby proofed house. I told Heather and Chris that their day was going to come when they would have to baby proof their home.

We don’t have much planned this weekend. Derrick is planning on burning the rest of the brush in the backyard while I go to a jewelry party. And then we’re planning to maybe have a little fire tomorrow night. I just want to be able to relax and de-stress from the disappointments I’ve gotten this week and enjoy the sunshine. I’m sure Derrick would agree on the relaxing part.

Only 28 more days until life is a beach for a week!!!


We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet on the way. Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don’t overlook it.

Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than on a tack.

Today, I received more disappointing news. I read my e-mail before I left for work today and this is what I read:

Dear Rebecca:

Thank you for submitting your resume and expressing your interest in the current WorkPlace FSC opening 57571BR at ***. At this time, we have decided to move forward with other candidates.

Your professional growth is important. That’s why we hope you will continue to look for other opportunities that fit you life at www.***.com.

Again, Rebecca, we thank you very much for your interest in joining *** and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Human Resources
***

My heart sank once again. Two disappointments back to back. If I would have checked my e-mail last night maybe I could have had one day of pitty. But hey, why not draw out the disappointment another day.

I helped out another branch today and found out that the Office Manager of this branch got the WorkPlace FSC position. I couldn’t be upset with her. Afterall, it wasn’t her fault that they had picked her and she’s super nice, so how could anyone ever be upset with her?!?! We took some time to vent to each other about the flaws of the financial system and that made things a little better.

I came home tonight and Derrick and I discussed our troubles, difficulties, and stresses at work. I made a new recipe, pizza pancakes. They tasted okay, but not something I am going to make a habit of cooking all the time. They weren’t Derrick’s favorite. Seth had some Broccoli and Carrots. He’s cutting more teeth and has been such a cranky butt. But at least he’s got teeth! But pretty soon he’ll have enough to chew his food instead of dissolving it and then swallowing, like he does with Cheerios.

We took a drive to try to melt our cares about work away. The first five minutes of the drive I cried, and I explained to Derrick that I felt like such a failure. I’ve been trying to work my way into a management position for almost a year. I think I set too high of expectations for myself and then when I don’t make it, I let myself down and feel like a failure. Anyway, I did end up forgetting about my problems and enjoyed the ride, although the country was entirely flat and kind of monotonous.

When I got home, I gave Seth a bath and put him to bed. It’s been nice, all I have to do is set him in his crib and he goes to bed on his own! I don’t care if he plays a little before he goes to bed, but at least he’s in bed and it can give mommy and daddy a little alone time, before we both hit the sack. Speaking of which, I need to get to bed. Here’s to hoping tomorrow is a MUCH better day.


What’s right is what’s left after you do everything wrong.-Robin Williams

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.

I was rudely re-awakened this morning, when my husband mumbled at me that he needed to turn the bedroom light on. He mumbled because he had mouthwash in his mouth. So, I covered my head with the blankets and tried to go back to sleep. After he spit the mouthwash in the sink, he asked where all his black socks were. I knew exactly where they were, they were in my underwear drawer, because I’ve been wearing them. And I told him just that. He starts getting all huffy-puffy and I can’t remember what all he said because I was still asleep, but all I can remember is, “We’ve talked about THIS before, if you need new socks buy THEM!” At this point it upset me and I was thinking, “If you want your black socks in your dresser drawer, then YOU can do YOUR laundry, and but THEM away YOURSELF!” To spare a real big blow-up this morning I got up and went downstairs, folded some laundry, put more laundry in the dryer, fed the dogs, and let them outside. I totally avoided him, as I’m sure he did the same with me. He left for work and then I finished getting ready for work. He tends to avoid me in the morning anyway, because I’m the World’s Worst Morning Person!

My morning started to get a little better. My little man woke up talking up a storm and playing with a car he found in his crib. He was such a happy guy this morning. He was just the ray of sunshine I needed to turn my frown upside down! I just wanted to stay home with him all day instead of going to work. But I went to work anyway, because I need to be an equal contributor to my family’s income. Or at least that’s what I had to tell myself…if we want to have nice things we need to be able to work hard and pay for them.

After I got to work, I received a heart-breaking call that I was not selected for the ABM position. I was devastated. I thought I had made a good enough impression that I had definitely gotten the position. I was told that I did impress not only her, the Regional, but also the managers that I interviewed with. They were so impressed that they said they would take me as a CSL, but I just didn’t have the coaching skills/experience they were looking for. The other candidates had previous experience that I didn’t have. She said that she talked to my manager and we are going to set up a plan to get me to where I want to be management wise. She didn’t let me do a lot of talking. But the part that sticks out is she said that I’m a diamond in the rough, which she didn’t know existed until the interview. So, I guess I have potential, but now isn’t the right time.


Life’s disappointments are harder to take when you don’t know any swear words.-Calvin & Hobbes

All human wisdom is summed up in two words – wait and hope.

First off, I wanted to state that we are leaving for this beautiful, sunny location of Destin, Florida a month from today! This will not only be Seth’s first time to the ocean, but mine also! Yes, that’s right I said that I have never been, seen, smelled or touched the ocean in my whole 28 years of life! I’m an ocean virgin!


By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

All I’ve ever wanted was an honest week’s pay for an honest day’s work.

Tuesday, I have a panel interview for a Work Place FSC position. I doubted even getting an in person interview, all because I thought the phone interview went terrible. The recruiter would ask me a question and then three other questions related to the question, so by the time I responded I forgot what the main question was. I received an e-mail today that read:

Good Morning
I just wanted to let you know I will be sending out an email to
all the candidates that the regional manager would like to interview. The
interviews will be held at our *** Branch location. We have based our
decision on interviews that you have conducted for the ABM, Work Place FSC, and
your overall performance on your job. We have had several internal candidates
that have applied for this position which has made these decisions very
hard. I will let you know this is a very exciting time for us at
***.
*** is a place where great people thrive, live our values, and
deliver excellent results.
I then received an appointment request that
read:
You will be meeting with Mark ***, Penny ***, Terry ***, Jeremy ***. I
would suggest bringing a resume and look sharp.

I’m still questioning why the recruiter put “look sharp” in there. Duh! Isn’t it common knowledge that you should dress up for an interview?!?!? Weird…Anyway, I should be a pro at the whole interview process when it’s all said and done.

Derrick has to work this weekend. We’ve been invited to a cook-out on Saturday, but the rest of the weekend looks pretty open. I need to get the never ending chore of laundry completed this weekend, as well as, cleaning the rest of the house.


I’m a people person, very personable. I absolutely insist on enjoying life. Not so task-oriented. Not a work horse. If you’re looking for a Clydesdale I’m probably not your man. Like I don’t live to work, it’s more the other way around. I work to live. Incidentally, what’s your policy on Columbus Day?– Randy Dupree (Owen Wilson from You Me and Dupree)

Oh, great. This is going to be like shooting baskets with Magic Johnson watching.

I had my interview for the ABM position. I was completely nervous on my way to the interview. My chest was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to pop out of my chest. My hands were so sweaty that they left sweat marks on the steering wheel of my vehicle. I arrived early so I could give myself a pep talk. I said things like, “You’ve got this!” and “If I’m not ready to take on this position, at least it’s good interview experience” and “I’ve been in banking for 8 years why wouldn’t I be ready for this position?!?!” and then “Everything happens for a reason”. I definitely had a battle going on in my mind for 10 minutes before I made my way into the branch. Before I went in, I stuffed some paper towel in the toes of my shoes to make sure I didn’t make a grand entrance by falling out of my shoes. (My shoes were fitting extra loose because I was actually wearing nylons instead of socks.)

I made my way out of my vehicle and up to the branch. I was greeted by the Branch Manager and then escorted through the branch to the basement. When we arrived at the top of the basement stairs she told me to go down the stairs, take the first left, go through the door that is straight ahead, and the interviews were being held in the room to the right. So I did just that. I didn’t bother to knock on the closed door, because the Branch Manager didn’t say that there was an interview in process or that I should knock. So, I opened the door and low and behold there was someone being interviewed! I said sorry and closed the door faster my heart was beating. I started to walk back toward the stairs, when the Regional Manager came out to greet me. She introduced herself and I introduced myself. And she says, “Oh, Becca, I’ve heard so many good things about you! I didn’t recognize you at first because when I first meet you, you had your hair pulled back. You look nice today!”

I look nice today?!?! Am I not supposed to look nice for an interview? Or did I not look nice when you met me two weeks ago? I’m confused.

Anyway, she had me wait in the lunch room, while they finished up with the interview that I interrupted. When it was my turn she came in to get me and introduced me to the whole panel. I was allowed enough time to give a brief banking history of myself and then it straight to the interview questions. I was asked 2 questions by each of the four panel members and then the Regional Manager added in questions here and there. After the interview questions were finished, they asked if I had any questions. And I did. It always looks good to have a question ready for them to answer. I asked for more clarity in the role I would possibly be pursuing. There has been a lot of hear say regarding the position and I wanted to know if it was similar or if there were more differences than discussed. They answered the question and then again, the Regional said that she’s heard nothing but good things about me.

That was it. The interview was over in 25 minutes! Was it too fast? Did I answer the questions correctly? What if that’s not the answer they were looking for? Did I give enough eye contact? I over-analyzed the whole interview! I felt like I was going to pass out! Now I just have to play the waiting game once again. I should know by early next week whether or not I got the job.


Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating.-Joel Barrish (Jim Carrey from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

There is no snooze button on a kid who wants breakfast.

The dogs have officially ruined Seth’s kiddy pool. They must have gotten bored with it just sitting there. Or they got pissed because there wasn’t any water in it to quench their thirst. Anyway, the kiddy pool is completely shredded, but the tail is still inflated. It will go out to the garbage tonight.

Last night was a LOT easier to get Seth to go to sleep! I gave Seth a bath at 7:00pm, let him splash and play in the tub for a while. Then I dressed him in his pajamas, which consisted of just a pair of pajama pants and no shirt. He thinks he is hot stuff when he doesn’t have a shirt on. I brought him down stairs and made him a bottle. I held him while he drank his bottle and tried to watch Wheel of Fortune. However, the dogs thought it would be a good idea to play, so Seth was more amused with that than drinking his bottle. I had to practically fight with him to get him to drink it. So, I decided to lay down on the couch with him, hold him close and let him finish the bottle. Because Seth had been playing with the bottle more than drinking it, he had milk dripped all over his freshly bathed body. Never fear….Dixie was there, cleaning up the mess and trying to drink out of the bottle as Seth was drinking it. They are going to be best buddies, because as Dixie was licking his face, he was reaching his hand out grabbing her ear and patting her head.
Derrick got home about 7:45pm. He walked through the door and the first thing he says is, “Why are there 2 huge piles of dog puke?” Oh, great! In the last 20 minutes one of them managed to regurgitate whatever one of them managed to get into. Normally, after just mentioning the incident that just happened our dogs know that they are in trouble. It was Belle who regurgitated, because she immediately ran to her cage. I got lucky because Derrick was such a sympathetic husband and cleaned up the two piles. He knows that if I had tried to clean up the mess there would have 2 more piles to clean up. I have a sensitive stomach. *wink, wink*
While Derrick cleaned up the mess, I took Seth upstairs and lay down in our bed with him. I pulled our comforter close to his face and started to sing to him until I couldn’t remember any more of the words, and then it turned to a hum. Next thing I know, Seth is humming very loudly, with his pacifier in his mouth and eyes closed. It would have been so neat if he had a kazoo instead of the pacifier! And I wish I would have had a video camera to save the memory. Anyway, he hummed himself to sleep and then I carried him to his crib where he slept until morning.

He only slept until 5:30 in the morning!!! Why was he up so early?!?! I mean, come on, Mommy needs her beauty sleep. I put him in bed with me to try to get him to fall back to sleep. He did finally fall back to sleep, but only for maybe 20 minutes. I was rudely awakened before Seth woke up, because Belle, the dog that had decided that she needs to sleep in our room, decided to jump up on my side of the bed trying to wake me up. I quietly, yelled at her to go lay down until I was good and ready to get out of bed!

I have applied for an Assistant Branch Manager position in the Columbus West Region. They are going to choose the top 11 candidates to fill the positions of the Assistant Branch Manager positions available at select offices. They are conducting phone interviews from Monday, July 13 thru Friday, July 17. My phone interview is scheduled for Thursday, July 16. Once the phone interviews are complete, recommended candidates will be forwarded to the Branch Managers and Regional Manager for consideration. Face to face interviews will take place beginning the week of July 20th, in the hopes that all offers will go out by the end of the month. So, I’m in the works of trying to prepare myself to ace the phone interview, in the hopes of being able to get a face to face interview. Wish me luck!

Derrick is in charge of showing a future employee of Merrill around Columbus, in hopes of getting the employee to transfer. So, he won’t be home until late again tonight. He has softball on Wednesday nights. Hopefully, it won’t rain tomorrow so Seth and I can go watch him play.


If people were meant to pop out of bed, we’d all sleep in toasters.–Author unknown, attributed to Jim Davis

Welcome!

Hello, Family and Friends!

I have decided to start a blog to keep everyone, near and far, updated on the celebrations and struggles in the Decker Household, and everything else in between that life has to offer. I used to spend lots of time sending e-mails with pictures and details of the events in our lives, but I’ve been pretty lacking in that department lately. Let’s just face it, children, spouses, animals, careers, and everyday life are the consumers of the extra free time that I used to have to send e-mails and just surf the internet for nothing in particular at all.

I am going to strive to keep everyone updated as much as possible on the life in the Decker Household. It is my goal to post pictures, as well, as sharing stories of our day to day events.

Thanks and Happy Reading!

Life...What's next?

Last night was an eventful night. At about 7:15pm after Seth did laps around the house in his walker for about an hour, he came into the living room. Derrick and I were both sprawled out on the couch, as were the dogs, on the floor next to us, and Seth just looked at us and started to whine. It was the, I’m done and need to rest kind of whine. I lifted him from the walker, grabbed his pacifier and slid it into his sobbing mouth and laid him on the couch next to me. It didn’t even take 5 minutes for him to fall asleep! So I continued to let him sleep next to me while tried to finish watching the movie. And then…Derrick decided to call his cousin, Dan, who lives in Michigan to let him know that we would be making out way up to that neck of the woods, while we visit family and friends in the North Country next weekend. Well, Derrick didn’t get a hold of his cousin, but rather his aunt. She starts asking twenty questions, like most aunts do, and he started to talk loud and then a little bit louder as if there was something going on in the background on the other end of the phone. Needless, to say our little sleeping prince woke up. His bedtime is usually about 8pm so he did fall asleep a little bit early the first time. However, before he went to bed the second time, the non-routine went something like this:

Rock Seth in the rocking chair and he starts to dose off. Gently try to carry him to his crib upstairs. He wakes up as soon as his head hits the pillow. He starts to cry as soon as I try to walk out of his room. I decide to try to put him in my bed and hold him until he falls asleep. He starts to dose off and then his daddy decides to come to bed. Seth then thinks it’s time to play. He wants to crawl all over the bed. I try to fight with him to get him to lay still. I get frustrated with trying to hold him still and decided to try putting him in his crib. I turn on his Rainforest Waterfall Peek-a-Boo Soother, cover him with his blanket, put his bear security blanket next to his face, and slowly try to tip-toe out of his room. As soon as I get back in bed he begins crying, but I decide I’m going to let him cry it out. His crying soon turns to screaming-sobs. I can only handle so much and find my way back into his room after only 5 minutes of listening to the screaming-sobs. I walk into his room and he is standing up, hanging on to the side of the crib with tears and snot streaming down his face, his eyes and cheeks are red and throbbing. I decided to change him into a clean diaper, gave him some children’s Tylenol, and got him a bottle. I put him in his crib with the bottle and made my way back to bed. I knew his bottle was gone, because I heard a cry. So once again, I made my way back into his room and gave him his pacifier. As soon as the pacifier reached his mouth, he was out.

Ahhh, relief, now I can finally go to sleep. However….there’s always a however, at about 10:45pm Seth is awake again. This time it’s daddy to the rescue. Derrick goes into Seth’s room and tries to soothe him. Seth isn’t taking the bait. So, once again I get out of bed, cradle him in my arms and reassure him that everything is okay. I bring him in bed with me, where he immediately falls asleep. I can tell he’s completely asleep because his pacifier has fallen out of his mouth and he isn’t fighting to find it. I slide out of bed with him in my arms and made my way to his room. I softly dropped him in his bed, covered him with his blanket and put his bear security blanket next to his face. And finally, after a rat race of trying to get Seth to fall asleep, we were all out for the night.

When I woke up this morning it was the same usual weekly routine. We get up, get our showers, get dressed and head downstairs. Derrick leaves about an hour before I do, so I finish getting ready while he is packing his lunch and eating breakfast. I can hear him let the dogs out of their cages and it sounds like a herd of elephants as the dogs dance around in the room below. He feeds Dixie first and then lets her outside while he feeds Belle. After Belle finishes eating he lets her out, but adheres to hooking her to her chain, so she won’t go under the fence. He rode his motorcycle this morning as I could hear him start it up in the garage below the bathroom. The garage door shuts and then I hear him speed off in a racy, roar on his motorcycle. As I am rushing to finish getting ready, I can hear that Seth is awake in his room. I finish getting ready, go into Seth’s room with a huge smile on my face, I get him changed and in his outfit for the day. I go downstairs and place Seth in his highchair for his morning cereal and bottle. My mother in-law is already at the house and I’m sure, noticing that I’m running late goes to the cupboard to prepare breakfast for Seth. (By the way, I’m running late because I have a bad habit of going back to sleep/resting after I get out of the shower. And then it doesn’t allow me enough time to do everything I should do in the morning, such as eating breakfast at home instead of at work.) She begins feeding him and mentions to Seth that the blinds aren’t open yet, so he can’t see the sun shining. I interrupt packing my lunch, which consists of throwing anything I can find or might want to eat for lunch into my lunch pal, to open the window blinds so my cheerful son can see outside while he is eating. Much to my surprise I see Seth’s kiddy pool pulled across the patio and deflated. DAMN DOGS!!!

We have been having some issues with the dogs lately. Dixie has a bad habit of getting a hold of all of Seth’s toys or pacifiers and chewing on them. Not sure if its jealousy, being attention deprived, or just the fact that she’s a Lab and that’s what Labs do, they get into trouble. And then there’s Belle, she has been acting as if she’s a new puppy. She doesn’t like to sleep in her cage at night. She whines and paws at her cage until we bring her upstairs. She has also been chewing on everything! We just got a brand new wooden picnic table for our patio and she has already managed to chew on the seats. She can turn on the water spicket outside, so from month to month you never know what the water bill is going to be like. You can’t leave her off her chain, because she is an escape artist and quicker than you know what, she’ll find or dig another hole to get under fence. She can’t use the other holes she’s dug to get under the fence because we’ve plugged them when rocks, brush, tree branches, and anything else we can find to cram in the holes. Anyway, I’m not sure what else to do with these dogs. I can’t get rid of them, because well, they are part of the family and I love them!