The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.

It's official, Mr. Seth Ryan is walking. He started walking on January 21st, the day he turned 16 months old. I thought for sure he was never going to walk and I would have to carry him through High School! It just seemed like he was never going to walk. He would crawl, do a bear crawl (hands and feet on the floor), and he would even stand up in the middle of the room, but he wouldn't take any steps. Our little dare devil even had the nerve to stand up in his rocking chair....

He obviously thinks it's hilarious that he's standing in the rocking chair, however, his mommy thinks this is not a smart move at all and he better put his butt in the chair before he gets hurt. Seconds, after the picture was taken he fell. I still don't think he learned his lesson.

Anyway, I think we are in trouble because I know shortly his walk will turn into a run. And mom and dad are going to have a hard time catching up!

The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult.

It comes in threes.

So, this is a secret post that I'll share with everyone as soon as the time is "right".


Derrick and I have finally come to an agreement to try to get pregnant. However, this time around, we wanted our "trying" to be a surprise. I want you all to know that this has been very difficult for me to keep a secret.


In mid October 2009 I came off birth control. But we weren't really planning or tracking, let's just call it "practicing". I was hoping that we would get pregnant right around Christmas time and we could break the news to everyone as sort of a unique Christmas Gift! However, things didn't pan out like that for us. On Christmas Eve, I got my monthly visit from Aunt Flow.


On December 27, 2009 we got the news that Derrick's sister, Jenny and her husband, Tim were pregnant and are expecting in August of 2010. We didn't even know they were trying! But congrats were definitely in order.


Maybe Jenny had the same mindset that I did, when contemplating having another child. I don't want to be over the age of thirty and trying to have another child. Not only do your chances of multiples increase the older you are, not to mention, the fact that our bodies lose elasticity the older we get, making it less easy to bounce back to our pregnancy body over the age of thirty. I think my reasoning is pretty justifiable!


On January 14, 2009 we found out that Derrick's brother, Chad and his wife, Rebecca are also expecting their third child due September of 2010. Yet, another surprise pregnancy in the Decker family! And another congrats was in order.


It always comes in threes, so I thought for sure that this was the month I was going to be pregnant. My monthly cycle was set to start on January 21st and I was all set to take a test. I wanted to take the test on Saturday, January 16th, but Derrick insisted that I wait. "Pregnancy tests are expensive, there's no sense in taking it before you actually miss your period." I hesitated, but decided not take the test and at least wait until it got closer to the date my cycle was supposed to start. We enjoyed our extended weekend together and when I woke up Monday morning, my period had started. I'll be completely honest; I was upset, heart-broke, and disappointed. I just wanted to be sharing our joy of pregnancy news with everyone else also. But it just didn't happen this month.


In the mean time I'm sharing in the joys and blessings of all those who have recently become pregnant and those who have recently had babies! Congrats!

Things that come in threes:
• The floating cords used to play EVERY AC/DC song
• Three Blind Mice
• Captain Kirks ears: a left ear, right ear and a final front ear
• Monkeys: Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil
• The Chipmunks
• Number of wheels on a tricycle
• Sides to a triangle
• Three Musketeers
• Power Puff Girls
• The Wonder Pets
• Guitar chords in punk music
• Reduce, reuse and recycle!
• The Dixie Chicks
• Celebrity deaths
• Three Little Pigs
• The Three Wise Men
• The Three Stooges
• Three Men and a Baby
• Rub-a-dub-dub THREE men in a tub
• Hockey forwards
• Crappy Hollywood sequels
• Tennis Balls Trilogies
• 3 Dog Night
• Three Days Grace
• Rings in a binder
• Faith, Hope and Love
• The Holy Trinity: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit
• Neptune's Rings
• Amigos
• Donald Duck's nephews - Huey, Louie and Dewey
• Primary colors

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)