I'm very excited to say that the long awaited arrival of Jameson Newman is here! He was born on 10/23 and I'm very happy to be the "filler" Auntie.
So as a good Auntie would, I wanted to see Jameson as soon as possible. After texting with Tim, we decided I would drive out to Plainfield on the 27th and hope that everyone would be home. I got the word Wednesday morning that they were headed home - yay!
4pm rolls around and I decide to leave work then so that I didn't have to fight traffic. I reserved a ZipCar by my office, which is not my normal spot. But it made more sense to reserve the car by work because it was closer to Plainfield than from my home. But as I'm shutting down my computer, I realize that I don't have my ZipCar card. (This is what I need to unlock the car so that I can use it). I call ZipCar to see if they could help me out and unlock the car remotely. They weren't buying it. Which was disappointing. But the customer service representative tried to be helpful and direct me to a ZipCar office in Chicago. Coincidentally, this office was only 6 blocks from where I was.
I took off walking as quickly as my high heels could take me. I call Tim to explain the situation and that I was going to be getting out to Plainfield a little bit later than planned. In dodging people getting of work, slowly walking while talking on their phones, I finally arrive at where the ZipCar office should be. Yes, should be. Because it's not there. I walk up and down the 2 blocks of where she said it would be...nothing.
I get on the phone again to call ZipCar, but somehow my number was flagged, because I no longer got their main menu and I could not get a live person to answer my call. It's about 4:25 now...gotta make a decision. I decide to haul myself home to pick up my damn ZipCar card. So I hop the train and anxiously wait during the 40 minute commute home.
When I get to my train stop, I call ZipCar one more time. This time I get through and the customer service rep was the best!! I asked to transfer my reservation to a vehicle near my home so that I could just leave from there instead of taking the train trip all the way back downtown. Finally, success! They were able to transfer the reservation at no charge.
So I ran home to my apt and grabbed my ZipCar card, ran to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of water. I ran out the door to the ZipCar lot and then drive myself out to Plainfield...a now 2 hour commute because it's now 5pm. As I'm pulling into Tim & Evie's driveway, I look in the passenger seat and realize that I don't have the present for Jameson. What!?! I looked all over that car and then the light bulb came on. In my 2 minute stop at my apartment, I had dropped the present at the door and forgot to pick it up in my rush out the door. Doh.
So as a good Auntie would, I wanted to see Jameson as soon as possible. After texting with Tim, we decided I would drive out to Plainfield on the 27th and hope that everyone would be home. I got the word Wednesday morning that they were headed home - yay!
4pm rolls around and I decide to leave work then so that I didn't have to fight traffic. I reserved a ZipCar by my office, which is not my normal spot. But it made more sense to reserve the car by work because it was closer to Plainfield than from my home. But as I'm shutting down my computer, I realize that I don't have my ZipCar card. (This is what I need to unlock the car so that I can use it). I call ZipCar to see if they could help me out and unlock the car remotely. They weren't buying it. Which was disappointing. But the customer service representative tried to be helpful and direct me to a ZipCar office in Chicago. Coincidentally, this office was only 6 blocks from where I was.
I took off walking as quickly as my high heels could take me. I call Tim to explain the situation and that I was going to be getting out to Plainfield a little bit later than planned. In dodging people getting of work, slowly walking while talking on their phones, I finally arrive at where the ZipCar office should be. Yes, should be. Because it's not there. I walk up and down the 2 blocks of where she said it would be...nothing.
I get on the phone again to call ZipCar, but somehow my number was flagged, because I no longer got their main menu and I could not get a live person to answer my call. It's about 4:25 now...gotta make a decision. I decide to haul myself home to pick up my damn ZipCar card. So I hop the train and anxiously wait during the 40 minute commute home.
When I get to my train stop, I call ZipCar one more time. This time I get through and the customer service rep was the best!! I asked to transfer my reservation to a vehicle near my home so that I could just leave from there instead of taking the train trip all the way back downtown. Finally, success! They were able to transfer the reservation at no charge.
So I ran home to my apt and grabbed my ZipCar card, ran to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of water. I ran out the door to the ZipCar lot and then drive myself out to Plainfield...a now 2 hour commute because it's now 5pm. As I'm pulling into Tim & Evie's driveway, I look in the passenger seat and realize that I don't have the present for Jameson. What!?! I looked all over that car and then the light bulb came on. In my 2 minute stop at my apartment, I had dropped the present at the door and forgot to pick it up in my rush out the door. Doh.
So here are a couple of pics from Jameson's first night home...sans present from his "filler" Auntie.
And here's a pic from Christmas, with Santa (Kaleb, 4 months) and his little Elf (Jameson, 2 months). Another Congratulations shout out to Tim and Evie for the long awaited arrival of this blessed boy!
Because then I was on the road at 5am on New Year's Day to see my sweetie in Indianapolis. While AJ had to work during that weekend, we did have some quality time together. He also surprised me by coming back to Chicago with me and staying for a couple of days. So while my NYE did not go exactly as planned, it was a wonderful way to bring in the new year! I'm very excited for what this year holds for me - both personally and professionally - and what this year has in store for my family and friends.
But speaking of the holidays, I was able to spend 8 days in MN with my family this year. It was a little bittersweet, as it was most likely our last Christmas in the house in Long Prairie. Kinda sad. But the happy part is that I was able to see so many family members while I was home.
On Christmas Day and the day after Christmas, the Zenner's and Zumwalde's descended on our home in Long Prairie. I felt very blessed to have been able to spend Christmas with my family. And for the members that were not there, especially Christopher, Dustin and AJ, they were there in spirit. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
