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One More Try

22 Dec

After another aggravating issue with our DSL phone internet service, we are now surfing hi-speed with the cable company.  This just better work!  I can’t even begin to describe how incredibly frustrating it’s been not having a reliable internet service – especially since I was counting on the internet to do most of my Christmas shopping!  Really, the only problems we’ve had since we’ve moved have involved two of the pastimes we love the most – this and TV watching.

It’s funny because before the move we were talking up DIRECTV – saying it’s so awesome and we always get great service.  Since the move, we’ve been through 3 different High Def DVR receivers (something that made us miss the last episode of Heroes before the new year!) and now the access card on another new one could be going bad!  And every time Andrew would call to try and get help they would put him on hold where he would eventually be disconnected!  Hopefully, we’re through with our TV/Internet issues.  The phone company problems made us so angry that we’re completely canceling service (even though we had a great phone number!).  All of you friends and family reading this – please bear with us – I’ll let you know the new house phone number as soon as we know it.  🙂

One other ridiculous thing that’s happened to us since the move – I tried to order pizza from Pizza Hut (which is like less than a mile away from us) the first week we were here.  We didn’t have a house phone number yet and when they asked for a number I told them I had to use my cell.  The girl then tells me my cell is not registering in their system and because it’s not registering I can’t order pizza from them!  WHAT?!?!  What about the days before everything was computerized and they had to take down my order on a notepad and drivers had to have maps in their cars?  I mean, all I wanted was two medium original pan crust pizzas with Italian sausage!  Of course, Andrew’s response to all this didn’t really help my disbelief – he simply said “Well, we won’t be ordering from Pizza Hut anymore.”  NO!  I LOVE FREAKING PIZZA HUT!  Although I’m annoyed they wouldn’t deliver me pizza I don’t want to write them off altogether.  Every once in awhile I need that grease fix that only Pizza Hut can give me!  I just thought it was a riot.  NO NUMBER?!?! NO PIZZA!

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C-Minus One Week

18 Dec

At this time next week, Santa will be busy putting Nia and Nate’s presents under the tree, filling their stockings with all sorts of goodies and snacking on cookies that the sweeties left for him and the reindeer.

Right now though, Santa is stressing – worried about what to cook for dinner that day, what kinds of cookies to attempt to bake and whether to pay the extra ten bucks to send presents in the mail express or priority. I mean, the pressure of deciding how to ship something really torments me – I pick out what I think are pretty cool gifts, go through the checkout process and then have to pick which shipping method will get it to the special someone on time.  It’s something that forces me to use my fingers to count the business days it says it will take to get there and then I round up a day just in case.

Now I’ve cooked Christmas dinner before but for some reason I’m really thinking hard about this year’s.  I think it’s because that’s all a part of my new job now – before with work, I hardly had anytime to shop and or I was working on the day so we just kept it simple.  Last year we were spoiled because my mom was with us and she took care of EVERYTHING.  It was AWESOME.  Now though, it’s all on me to make sure our meal is yummy and special enough to be enjoyed every Christmas. I know I’m making the Rafiani recipe homemade spaghetti (what I’ve always had on Christmas) and I’m going to try and bake a ham (I’m nervous about this because I never have by myself) and I also must have Wedding Soup (another Rafiani family tradition).

As far as the cookies go – I’m scared to death.  Last year was the first year I even made homemade cookies for the Holidays and my mom really did all the work.  My sister is a baking queen – she’s the reason I’m even attempting this. I plan to start baking Tuesday.  We’ll see how they end up then…

What’s funny about all of this is how Nia doesn’t care a thing about any of it.  All she’s worried about is that Santa’s not going to bring her a Little Mermaid castle – you better believe Santa got that stress over with and is now just waiting on shipping!

So I Never Forget…

15 Dec

So far, mommyhood has already given me many sweet memories – moments I don’t want to forget. Since some of them have faded from my memory, I want to share some of the ones that have happened since we’ve lived in the “new” house (as Nia keeps calling it).

– After about an hour of bouncing back and forth across the room and tearing into the boxes I was trying to sort through, Nate makes a turn my way to crawl under my arm and wiggle into my lap so he could cuddle up next to me letting me know – hey mom – I’m worn out – can you put me in my crib now?  The warmth I felt from his affection was so amazing – he never acts that cuddly – he’s usually such a fighter and tough guy – I guess he has a soft spot after all!

– Nia telling me “I love you a lot Momma.”  Or the day she told me I had a big heart. I’m not sure if she meant because I’m bigger than her or not – it really doesn’t matter – it was so precious and innocent.

– The first time Nia did something cute/funny with her brother or the dog and told me “Take a picture Momma.”

– The giggles I heard when Nia put on Nate’s Flounder Halloween costume and used the nose to bump Nate’s head.  Why this was so funny I don’t really understand but she did it to him like 20 times and he kept laughing out loud every time.

– Right now, as I’m trying to type this Nia is sitting on my lap and moving the mouse around and trying to push buttons (I mean she .is pushing buttons) ..this means it’s time to make more memories away from the computer!

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Online Again!

15 Dec

You know you’ve moved to a small town when it takes a freakin’ week to get the internet!  What the heck?!?!  We just got it up and running and this was the first website on my long list of sites I need to visit in order to feel a sense of balance again!

Now for the difficult decision of deciding what to write about – I mean so much has happened to the Valles Fam in the last few weeks but I couldn’t possibly write about them all – like you really want to read about them and frankly I don’t want to re-live some of them.  What I will share is a general idea of our lives so far –

We love our house – it’s twice the size of our old one and offers the kids tons of play space – although we still haven’t fully baby-proofed it yet (Andrew just put a gate at the top of the stairs but I know the crazy little man will try to rip it out of the wall).  Our priorities are pretty odd when it comes to getting the abode together – we still have boxes to unpack and rooms to situate but we made darn sure to paint Nia’s room like a princess.  Pink – Purple and Blue – When we get the camera stuff hooked up I’ll share some pics-  it’s really pink but Nia LOVES it.

Andrew has to drive anywhere from 2 and a half to 3 hours a day to get to and from work right now until his company finishes the new plant that’s closer to our house.  They say it will take about 6 months for that to happen.  We just hope it will really only be 6 months. He seems to like working out here – I think he really likes the challenge of trying to fix something and make it better. I just have to give him the time to do that and not call him 10 times a day about the silliest things.

As for me, I’m still trying to figure out how I’m doing.  Everyone keeps asking me how it’s going as a stay-at-home mom and if I’m getting the hang of it.  I really don’t know how to answer that. (DISCLAIMER – please don’t take offense if you’ve asked me these questions – it’s frustrating hearing them so many times.) I mean, it’s not like the job I was used to – where I would see results at the end of the day.  Right now, I just consider it a good day if zero or very few tears are shed (both from me and the kids) – I really don’t know how to gauge if I’m “getting the hang of it.”  The question actually kind of angers me a little bit too – I mean what do people really think I’m going to say – “NO! I HATE IT AND I WANT TO QUIT! I WANT TO RUN SCREAMING FROM THE HOUSE SOMETIMES”  Or, “Why yes, I’m an excellent mother with perfect children and I never have any issues with them.  All I do is watch soap operas, Dr. Phil and Oprah and eat chocolates.” Really, all I can say is – I’m doing the best I can.  Anyone that tells you it’s easy either doesn’t care that much about teaching and disciplining their children or has a housekeeper and cook.  Just like any job – there are ups and downs – in this case the downs are Nia crying “I want to be nice to brother!” over and over after just pushing him down and then sitting on him – sometimes the ups come out of the downs though – for example when Nate looks at me and his sister with a smile as she continues to scream she wants to be nice to him –

I’m hoping that once we are really moved in and finished with the big house projects I will be able to have more of a routine with the kids.  I’m sure that will really help us all.  I’m also looking into getting Nia involved in a part-time preschool just so she can interact with others who want to color all of the time and play tea party.  (As much as I love to do these things with her it’s kind of hard when there’s a 1-year-old boy standing up on a little rocking chair like he’s surfing.)

I guess I’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings and thanks to our working internet connection – I’ll get to share some of the humor (and grief) with you!

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Signing Off from Savannah

29 Nov

Tonight is the last night I will have this computer to type on in Savannah.  It all seems so unreal.  Right now, I should be packing up our “get us through the days until we’re in our new house” stuff but instead I’m racing to get this blog up before Andrew comes in and wants to pack up the ‘puter.  I just have to take in what I’m feeling and hold on to it in some way…

I love this city.  It is such a beautiful and captivating place – there is none other like it. I hope with all of my heart that we will be able to come back here someday…soon.  I know I’m not even gone yet – I’m sure our new city will offer me a bunch of unique qualities that I will come to love – but I’m pretty sure it will never make me feel the way Savannah does.

After all, look at all Savannah has given us.  Amazing friends, the birthplace of Nia and Nate, our first mortgage, my first real car accident (and second!), incredibly fun nights out on the town, a real sense of history just by walking on River Street (with a Wet Willy of course). I was always so excited to live in a “tourist town” because I grew up in a place that no one would ever want to pay money to visit.  Now we are moving to another “non-tourist town” and I know I will have to search through it to find the special place it will hold in my heart.

A few weeks ago I started writing a “What I Will Miss About Savannah” list.  I never really finished it – but I still want to share what I did write-
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What I’ll Miss about Savannah: (in no particular order)

-Savannah – there is no other place like it – so beautiful, mysterious, historic, entertaining, inviting – I feel like it pulled me in and now won’t let me go – I only hope it wins the tug of war and pulls me back in a few years

-Family – Andrew’s sister, her husband and our beautiful niece Baby Ella – I don’t want to miss her grow up – her, Nia and Nate LOVE playing together and I want them be close – I also love hanging out with Anna Marie and Marcus and it’s so comforting to live so close to them now

-Ginger, Lee and Cami – I so wanted to be able to Cami-sit for them like they did for us so many times – I wanted to have our families go on play dates and beach dates and then (much later) have a Cami-Nate date! – I know we still can get together – it just won’t be as easy –

-Ginger – when I needed someone she was there – even though we didn’t know each other very well at the time – I knew she genuinely cared about me and Bean when I was pregnant and Andrew was deployed – with my family being so far away, she didn’t hesitate when I asked her to be my birthing coach – what she did for us was so wonderful – she’s such an incredible person and I feel lucky to have her as a friend – I will miss being able to go to lunch with her every other week and just having her a 20 minute car ride away from a laugh/cry/chat/dinner together-

-Work people – Ike, Paul Rea, Karen – you have all meant so very much to me and it will be hard not to want to call and talk to you everyday

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It’s hard for me not to think about everything and get tears (but those of you who know me know if I DIDN’T cry something would be wrong) but I know this is not really goodbye.  It’s just see you later, talk to you soon or signing off from Savannah until the next time…

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My Last Thursday

17 Nov

So today Kevin offered to take me out to lunch.  “Pick somewhere nice – you know where it’s 8 bucks a meal,” he said jokingly.

My options were endless – I could pick something that’s uniquely Savannah – I could pick something fancy and make him really pay – or I could complete my 6 years at WSAV and finish it where it all began.

I chose Applebee’s.  And it wasn’t just any old Applebee’s – it had to be the one where my first Executive Producer took me (the one who got fired like just weeks after my first day).  It was funny when I told him – he was like “really?”

We had a nice lunch – my current Executive Producer came with us and we gossiped and talked about my evolution at WSAV.  How I went from a cry-baby basically to a cry-woman with some balls.  Kevin reminded me of our two “grow some balls” conversations – it took me a few tries but I think I eventually got them.

Really though, I think more of what it was is I grew a baby.  It’s funny how much something like that can change you.  I think it’s because I had something more important to worry about and the last thing I wanted to deal with was stupid stuff at work. Little Bean (as we called her) made me put everything in perspective.  I mean I produced the newscast that won a national Murrow award while I was 6 months preggers with Nia and while Andrew was in Kuwait waiting for word of war.  I guess my job helped me get my mind off the hard parts and all of the work crap that people would complain about just seemed so trivial to me.

It even continues today – I don’t want to know what so and so said about another person or that it stinks you didn’t find out about an assignment 2 hours ahead of time – just do your job!   I’d rather be with my kids but I can’t be so I try not to waste my time away from them bitching and moaning.  Make the most of it – if something gets in your way or upsets you – put more into your performance – don’t waste energy agonizing over issues that won’t get you anywhere – instead put that energy into your work where people will notice – I know when I did that I felt my time away from Nia and Nate was well spent.

Looking back on this it seems – with the births of Nia and Nate – I essentially did grow a pair!  Thanks for making mommy tougher kids!

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My Last Wednesday

16 Nov

What a great day!  I was only there for part of it! I had to leave early so moving company people could come and look over all our stuff to give us an estimate.  Despite my half day though – I still have something to say about my time there.

Today I was stumped with how to put together the newscast.  Usually, when I know what my lead story is everything else just falls into place but today I felt like I didn’t have much to work with (that is until that one AWOL soldier barricaded himself in a house for 3 hours). What it really boils down to is that I just didn’t want to be there but I still did my best to make the cast as good as it could be and I still added breaking news to the website and sent out emails about crazy viewer story ideas.

I find it so frustrating that I care so much about not caring!  Part of me wishes I could just walk in there and not answer the phones – tell annoying reporters to grow up and do their jobs and to get a brain so I don’t have to do their work for them – rebel against updating the web just because I’m tired of being told how freaking important it is to do it – and probably the thing I wish I could let go of the most – the need to have every script the way I want it.

My half day is writing out like a whole day but I won’t have to worry about it next week!  Next week I’ll be working to keep two busy kids (and myself) alive while trying to move – finish preparing for Nate’s baptism and finding a sweater to wear over this cute dress I bought for my 10 year reunion (Ginger, remind me to ask you if you have one!)

It’s funny because today I got a small dose of what My First Wednesday as a full time mommy will be like – Nia was coloring in her room in the middle of 15 or 20 coloring books and I was standing right next to her sorting through her dresser drawers when a funny sound coming from Nia’s crayon.  It was then that I realized she had been coloring on the carpet!  Like really coloring – like putting her whole arm into it –

When I saw her I said with a gasp “NIA!”  She immediately started crying, you guessed it, “I wanna listen.”  When I asked her why she colored on the carpet she said, “Cuz I don’t want to.”

What?!?!

Let the adventure begin!

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My Last Tuesday

15 Nov

(You guessed it – I plan to do one for each day this week until my very last day at WSAV!)

Today was an extremely typical day at the station.  I put together what I thought was a pretty decent newscast and then it became a race to get it all finished and a task to turn certain scripts into halfway ok stories for air.

BLAH.  I just cannot understand why reporters tell me their scripts are finished and I’m supposed to check them when they are a bunch of CRAP.  They don’t have any of their graphics in – they don’t have their commands correct and more importantly they don’t even attempt to make the story interesting or write it in a way to let certain viewers know why the heck they should even care!

I’m just so tired of it all and can’t wait to be finished.  I just need a break from the tv news biz – I need some time to remember why I even wanted to do what I do and I want to work with a GROUP of people that inspire and impress me again.  People who worked with you when you wanted to try something creative.

Don’t get me wrong – there are a few reporters there who I really enjoy working with and watching their stories – but the others – they just make me exhausted.  Sometimes my brain actually hurts.  In fact – you know how I was worried about being a full time mom – working at WSAV I feel like I already am – and not in the loving, let me kiss your boo-boo when you get hurt sense – but in the sense that “I’m going to put you in time out if you don’t stop complaining about which photographer you’re with or wah-wahing about who’s in what edit bay or rolling your eyes because you really don’t want to do that story.”

This last Tuesday really made me count the days I have left there – so imagine my disappointment when I remembered it wasn’t Wednesday like I thought it had been.

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My (Old) Job as Posted

14 Nov

The following was pulled from Media General’s website –

WSAV NEWS 3, an NBC affiliate, is looking for an aggressive and creative 6p.m. producer who is interested in creating a newscast that is built on, and truly reflects, viewer needs and delivers true viewer benefit every single night.
Newscast stackers need not apply. We’re an On Your Side station where producers have the chance to actually craft a program that really reflects our community with stories that matter, anchor presentations that add context and perspective and reporters who will ask the tough questions.
Join a true team that loves ideas and live in one of the south’s most beautiful and historic cities. Drug Screen and Background checks required. EOE M/F/D/V Please send tapes and resumes to WSAV P.O. Box 2429 Savannah, GA 31402 OR hr@wsav.com. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE!!!!

Tech Skills:
(no details)
Job Skills:
We’re an On Your Side station where producers have the chance to actually craft a program that really reflects our community with stories that matter, anchor presentations that add context and perspective and reporters who will ask the tough questions.
Minimum Education:
Bachelor’s Level Degree
Journalism or Communications
Minimum Experience:
1 – 2 yrs. of experience.WSAV NEWS 3, an NBC affiliate, is looking for an aggressive and creative 6p.m. producer who is interested in creating a newscast that is built on, and truly reflects, viewer needs and delivers true viewer benefit every single night.
This Position Supervises:
(no details)
Schedule (Days & Times):
40 5


My Last Monday

14 Nov

Today was my last Monday at WSAV.

It is so hard to believe I have been there for as long as I have.  I started 10 days after I graduated from West Virginia University and now, almost 6 and a half years – a husband – 2 kids – a dog and oh about 20 pounds later, I’m saying see ya.

I couldn’t be leaving at a better time really – our general manager has announced he’s leaving – our executive producer is moving on to much bigger and better things – and while there are a few people I will miss bunches, Ginger, Tim, Paul and Jordan don’t work there anymore.  I’m also just tired of tv news.

Despite all of that though – I’m scared about what’s next.  This is really the only job I’ve ever known and I’m worried I’m not going to be able to handle my new full time job as mommy.  I know it sounds silly – I mean people do it all the time – I just hope I’m built for it.  (And I hope they don’t devour me alive.)

I guess with a last Monday comes a first.  Next week will be my first Monday in my new position – I really hope I make it through the day without getting fired.

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