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I hate answering the phone.

I hate answering the phone so much that very often I let it go to voice mail and call the person back.  My stomach drops when the phone rings and I'm not sure who it is.  Mostly this happens at work.  On my cell phone, if I don't recognize the number then it's usually someone I don't need to talk to, so that doesn't bother me.

But at work, I'm supposed to answer the phone and speak to people.  I mean, that's not my main job, but I am the client in my industry and people who are calling me have questions that need answered and comments that need heard and issues that need resolved.  That is why I hate answering the phone.  I don't like being put on the spot.

I am an email kind of gal.  Send me an email and I can think about it, research it, compose my answer, read it 19 times and then give you what you need.  I can't do that on the phone.  On the phone I'm supposed to think on my feet, speak intelligently, banter back and forth.  I am not the bantering type.  I often feel like an idiot in spontaneous conversation.  I'm so worried about what I'm going to say that I can't always focus on what's being said.

I rehearse conversations in my head hours before they happen.  When I know I have to call someone or meet with someone, I play it all out in my head over and over again until I know exactly what I'll say.  But inevitably, a question or comment arises that I was not prepared for...and then that incompetent feeling seeps into my gut.

If I had my way, I'd do everything in writing, but that's not the way of the world.  So today I told myself that I would answer every single time my phone rang and just deal with it.

I made it half the day.

I'll try again tomorrow.

Ainsley Loves the Phone and other Randomeness

So this video is pretty long, but it has some fun things in it if you're interested. Ainsley's walking is progressing rapidly. It's so amazing how quickly she picks things up. She's actually starting to use it as a mode of transportation now not just when we prompt her to do it. Then of course there are the stairs...she loves the stairs, I can't keep her away from them.

However, my favorite part of the video is the phone!! How funny that she knows what to do with a phone? She has always been fascinated with our cell phones and remote controls. She'd rather play with those than any of her toys, so I'll play telephone with her on her play phones, but she's never really interested in that. She always wants the real thing. We ended up giving her one of Clif's old cell phones (We are on no short supply of old cell phones...for those of you that know my husband, you are not surprised that he must keep every gadget he has ever owned no matter of it's size, usefulness, or working ability. Love you Clif :). However, she seems to still really like our cell phones. So she found both of them sitting on the end table last night and she decided to "talk" into them. Very cute, cracked me up! We tried to call Aunt DeeDee (wasn't sure who else would be up, it was about 10 pm), but she didn't answer, but Ainsley was very mesmerized by the voice mail message coming out of the phone.

My favorite thing about this phone obsession is that apparently I had the same obsession as a baby. So my daughter who shows zero resemblance to me, actually does have a little piece of me in her. That does worry me a little that she will end up with more of my personality, I'd much rather she be like Clif. I am way more high strung then he is. He's so happy go lucky. I'd like her to live her life that way, more carefree, not always worrying and stressing like I do.

Well, enjoy the video. I'm typing this at work and probably shouldn't be :)