:) :) :) :) :) :)

You have no idea how much I want to be a fly on the wall at 2407 Washington Rd. right now :)

I went out with Rick and John last night for dinner/drinks and it went great! They are glad that I am back on board and excited to move forward PMS (past Mark syndrome)! Rick emailed Mark and I and said he wanted to meet with us at 9am...I would love to see the look on Mark's face when I don't show up and in walks Rick AND John! The plan was for the meeting to be in the conference room, when he is at the table, John is going into his office and logging off his computer and taking it. They think he will go peacefully and professionally - I hope they are right, but I don't see that happening. I have the locksmith coming at 11am and then out to lunch with Rick and John to get the scoop! I told them if the police were called that they better call me so I can park across the street and watch :)

This is such a happy day for me! He has made my life hell for way too long. On one hand, I feel bad that a guy is losing his job, but he lives in a 4000 ft2 house, bragged that he paid cash for his brand new bmw and he does not have any kids at home so I don't feel too bad. If he had 3 little kids to feed and clothe I would feel worse.

Update to follow this evening!

Help please!

Hi everyone! I need a favor - I need you to go online and vote :)

A friend of ours from when we lived in Chicago is in the running for a football player of the week. Voting ends tonight and he's behind right now, but hopefully he can catch up! His name is Anthony Gentile; he is the 3rd one down. You don't have to enter your name, email, or anything like that. Just click on his bubble and hit vote!

http://yourseason.suntimes.com/schools/barrington/1256864,110208-football-vote-stars.article

Thanks so much!

The Hills 11/4/08

Hello! No new pictures right now....sorry! I was in Chicago for a sales meeting yesterday and then we just hung out last night playing hockey and watching the Presidential Bash :)

Thursday is the big day! I am so excited.....no more Mark!!!!!

I voted today and there was not one other person in line - in and out in 4 minutes! Yeah!

More later......

The backyard -- 11/1/08

Since the weather has been low 70s and sunny, we (Justin) have spent a good bit of time outside playing baseball. Great chance for Daddy to practice with the new camera!

Justin pitching to himself!

Being a monkey...

...falling like a stone!

Happy Halloween!!!!

It was sunny and 74* today. Kinda wierd for the end of October! Justin was so excited to be able to go back outside and play baseball! After playing for a while we just stopped by a few neighbors' houses, and Katie and Josh's house. Then we went to the Rivermen game. There were a few arena staff members handing out candy, so Justin wasn't completely deprived of trick-or-treating! He had already gone trick-or-treating in the morning with his daycare to OSF (the hospital across the street). The doctors and nurses there gave the kids SO much candy, Justin actually had to turn candy away towards the end because his bucket was too full!!!

Hey batter batter batter....

...SWING!

Racing Quincy to the yellow ball. Four legs are faster then two....

Scoping out the goods from trick-or-treating at OSF!

Hockey monkey with Katie and Josh

Hockey monkey sure loves his little pumpkin!

Following my heart.....

.....okay - so a lot has changed in the last 36 hours or so. I went up to Chicago to tell my bosses that I was leaving yesterday. We were supposed to meet at 10am, but the normal sales meeting ran long so it was 11:30am by the time we actually got to meet. We ended up going to lunch for our meeting. It was me, Rick and John. They are both owners - Rick is "in charge" of our office down here, but John is the President and I worked inside sales for him for almost 3 years and we get along great.

When I told them that I was quitting, John dropped his fork. I wish I would have had a picture of the look on both of their faces. They were truly shocked. John's first words were - "what if Mark were not in the picture"? Hmm... good question. I love my job, I love my customers, I love the flexibility I have with my position, I love the factory people that I get to talk to all of the time, etc. I guess I was not prepared for that question. I told him that based on the history and the fact that the accounts list was split up like it was a few weeks ago that Mark would be sticking around for the forseeable future. They told me that they don't want to lose me, I am a valuable employee, customers like me, etc... John asked me if it was a done deal and I told him that I already told CAT yes. He then told me point blank that if I would change my mind, Mark would be fired next week and I can have the whole territory. If I get too busy and need help I can have inside sales support from Lombard (our main office) or if it gets really busy he said we can hire me an assistant down here. I told him that I could not give him an answer on the spot like that. He told me to go home, talk to Rob, take as much time as I need and get back to him. He would not accept my resignation letter - he said if that is what I decide he would respect my decision and wish me well, but he obviously does not want to see that happen. We continued to talk and I told him I was worried about the backlash of Mark. He said that when he's let go, there will be no 2 week notice, no transition period....they are coming down and telling him, giving his box for personal belongings, taking his computer, changing voicemail/email passwords, and changing the locks before they leave. He said that I don't have to have any more contact with Mark and he understands that he has put me through hell. Mark has a big commission backlog that can be held over his head if he tries anything. As far as him going on a slander campaign with customers, John made a good point when he said "who's going to listen to him"? Most customers don't like him anyways - which is when I said for the 10th time...."then why did it take me finding a new job for you to realize it's time for Mark to go??????"

So - after a lot of talking with Rob, my parents, Katie and even a customer who I consider to be more of a friend now I have decided to stay at Thermosystems. I wish I had a crystal ball to show me one year in the future at Thermo and one year in the future at CAT. I don't, so I have to base my decision on what I know and I KNOW that I love what I do - just not doing it with Mark. I don't know if I would love my job at CAT....I might, but no guarantees. I do know that CAT is a 50 hour/week job - in the office 5o hours which gives me very limited flexibilty. I do know that with Thermo as long as I am getting the job done I could be typing this from my bed in sweatpants and a ponytail (okay, so maybe I am!). I do know that Thermo gives me the flexibility to be a working mom and not feel horribly guilty about it because I can still go work the daycare halloween party or play hookey after one of Justin's doctors appointments.

In the end, I had to follow my heart and my heart tells me that I have a job I have enjoyed since I was 19 and did my first internship in this business. I am good at it and I enjoy it - with Mark out of the picture. I know that I work with people I enjoy talking to - again; minus Mark and I really have a lot of respect for my bosses. They have helped me and Rob out in tough times and that is something else that does not happen in a big corporation.

I hope I am making the right decision....only time will tell.

Wedding Weekend in Michigan!!!!

We had the most FABULOUS weekend we have had in a long time. We were fortunate enough to have almost all of our family in one place at one time - which does not happen very often anymore. I have picked some of my favorite pictures below, but you can click on the picassa link if you are bored and there are over 350 more....and these are just our camera and my mom's! We might be a little camera happy :)

Ryan and Amanda's wedding weekend

Thursday we went to Mt. Pleasant to the casino for lunch...it was so nice to ride out there all crammed in the Yukon and spend the afternoon together. Seriously. It was a great family afternoon before the craziness of the weekend set in!!!









Friday after decorating the hall we met the Fossitts for lunch. Justin was not in the mood to sit and eat. We had been to breakfast a few hours before and he had WAY too much energy. He was so horribly behaved....it was embarrassing. At least we were with toddler parents who understand :) It was still great to see you guys!!!!!




Ignore my squished nose here; I was playing with mine and Rob's birthday present to eachother.....we LOVE it (Nikon D80)!!! Some pics from the wedding are with it and some are just our old camera; too much beer and new cameras should not be in the same evening we decided!











Justin and Mackensie....I was so happy that he actually walked down the aisle - even if it was behind her and he had his hands in his mouth :)











Think she's excited????









Justin with Gramma Airplane and Papa!












Family picture!!!!
















The Brooks Family - we should have taken one with Kurt and Ashley in it...I wasn't thinking :(











Me and my little brothers....I am so proud of both of them :) This was at a bar on our bus stop. The bus had a DJ and bartender - very fun!!!!!















Dad with his mom and dad aka Gramma and Grampa Metzler! It was so nice to get to visit with them :)












My favorite boys......
















Me and my angel - at 12am....he was still going strong!!!!











I love you guys so much! You are truly an inspiration for what a happy marriage is like!!!















Me, Rob, Mikey, Ryan, Amanda and Great Gramma Bowen. She would have left LONG before this (~11:30pm), but Uncle Paul didn't want to leave!!!








Me and my daddy..... at the end of the night - ignore my drunk eyes :)













I LOVE this picture - a little cropping and it will be perfect. Five generations.... we took one when Justin was 2 months old and now we have an up to date one. Maybe we can take another one in another two years....

Advice needed.....

I had to email my bosses and ask them to meet with me on Monday morning. I can't just drive the 3 hours up there and have them not there. So now, if one of them calls me (which I think Rick will), and asks what I want to meet about - what do I say? Just tell him that I'd rather discuss it in person? If he asks me outright if I'm quitting, do I tell him? Also, do I need to submit a formal letter of resignation? I have not done this before, so I need any advice you have!!!!

My little angel....

:(

It's 12:43am and I can't sleep. I keep tossing and turning going over how I am going to tell my bosses and trying to anticipate how they will take the news. I even took 2 Tylenol PM's an hour ago and no luck :(