Saturday, August 30, 2008

Long Weekend

The week is over, it's on to the weekend. A long weekend at that.
We do have a new manager at work. I'm reserving judgement for a bit. He's a project engineer that's been with the company only a little shorter than I have. He knows the products and is familiar with some of the customers. I'm just not sure he's got the customer service part that we need. Not just the working with customers, but being able to stand up to them as well. We shall see.
I'm really glad this is a three day weekend. It's great to get to spend so much time with Boo. I miss it, I really do.
The only problem is I'm fighting off the first cold of the season. Thanks Chelsea. I think I got your cold all the way over here. So far Boo is healthy, and hopefully he'll stay that way. If not, we'll battle the snot monsters.
We are going on an adventure this weekend though. Yes, I know, we should just hang at home and let me rest. But, if we don't go now, I'm not sure when we'll next get to see Michelle.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but she's got a job with the State Department. Which is really cool. But it involves a lot of travel outside the country. September she's home, but we're pretty booked. October she's going to be in Africa. That'll be soooo cool, and I'm almost jealous. So, if we don't get together this weekend, we won't be able to until November some time and that's always tough to try and do.
This will be Boo's longest car ride and his first stay over night anywhere since we came home from the hospital. I'm looking forward to it. I have no idea what we'll be doing, but we'll probably end up in DC or something for a bit. I'll let you know.
I can't believe Boo will be 3 months old on Monday. It seems like just yesterday we were going to the hospital. It seems like the day before that we found out I was pregnant. But, at the same time, I can't really remember what it was like before he came into our lives. I'm so in love with my son and so proud of the Daddy that Gak is. This really has made life even more wonderful than it was.

Well, if I want to have fun tomorrow, I'd best sign off, put some of the laundry away, read a few pages and crash.
Peace to all and may you have good weekends and great milestones!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Then and Now

What was I doing 3 years ago today? I was running around doing last minute things for the wedding. Today is the day three years ago that I pledged my heart to my wonderful husband for the rest of our lives.

I don't regret it a bit.


Things have changed so much since then.

This is what the day looked like three years ago. (You can really tell who belongs to which half of the family can't you?)

We were living in Springtown, back of beyond. Gak was working for the UPS store and I was working where I am today. I was about halfway through my first year as Training Manager.


This is what we look like today. As you can well see and know, the family is a bit different. (This picture is from the party in July.)

We've moved into town. I'm not traveling any more. Gak left the UPS store for about 6 months, but is back now. We've gained a wonderful son, but we've suffered losses as well. We've lost Gak's uncle and father, my Gram and a couple of family friends along the way. They are all missed.

The necklace Gak gave me for our anniversary (see Saturday's post...) is perfect. It really does symbolize where we've been, what we have and where we're going. Here's to many, many, many more years and wonderful adventures.

Peace to all and may you find your heart's mate and enjoy the love.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tuesday.... Tuesday.....

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. Boo did sleep all night Saturday, much to my relief.
Sunday was an "eat and sleep" day for the boy. Like the rest of us, he just needed a "down" day after such a busy one. I didn't really complain much... except that he was always hungry. But he did sleep and did sleep through the night as well.
Gramma Sue came up Sunday evening because both Gak and I had to be at work by 8am yesterday. Yes, Gak's boss is on yet another vacation. (This one is the annual family gathering... so we knew about it for quite a while...)
This means Boo spent all day yesterday with Gramma Sue. I'm pretty sure Gramma Sue enjoyed it and Boo didn't have any complaints either. They had quite an enjoyable time, including a nice long walk. I'm glad they're enjoying their time together. I just wish I was there more. (Yes, I will be waging that war until Boo graduates from college.... or longer....)
Today and tomorrow he'll be spending all day at the day care. He seemed a little confused this morning when we dropped him off, but not upset. Joey, on the other hand, wasn't having a good morning. He'll be just fine. It's Gak and I that are having the hard time with it. Oh well. We'll adapt. Luckily Gak gets to spend Thursday and Friday morning with Boo, so I'm sure that'll make both of them happy.
Can you believe that tomorrow is Gak's and my 3-year anniversary?? Neither can I. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but some days I just can't remember back before we were together.
Yes, I did get something for Gak.
No, I won't tell you what it is.
No... get your mind out of the gutter... or the bedroom.... we're an old married couple with a kid remember...
Anyhow, just felt like writing a little bit before I finished up my lunch. Off to try and save the world. Or at least figure out what the heck is up with training. Everything is soooo disorganized now, it's not even funny. No one knows who was quoted for what or what they were promised or wanted. I have no idea who even wants what and let me tell you, it's a very, very good thing that one of my sales guys does not live anywhere near here. Or else you just might read about someone being strangled by their own necktie...
Anyhow, back to work for me.
Peace to all and may your weekends be good and your heart not sore.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Long But Good Day

Today was a long day, but it was a good one.

Well, other than the fact that it started with a funeral. I didn't mention this earlier in the week, because I was going to post about it today. My ex-boyfriend John's dad passed away Tuesday night. He had collapsed on his way out the door a week and a half before. He never really came to after it and at best he would have been all but a vegetable if he'd left the hospital. This really was sudden and came as quite a shock.
It was a good funeral, as far as funerals go. It was great to see everyone, but I wish it had been under so much better circumstances. At least he was around long enough to see John and Jen get married last month. (I am still very, very happy for them. Jen is so much better for John than I was. They mesh well in more ways then he and I ever did. They truly are happy together, as well they should be.) Boo behaved himself quite well through the whole thing, with only a few fussy moments until he could be distracted by either my pinkie or a bottle.
In some ways this brings my relationship with John full circle. We first met at Kat's dad's funeral back in 1999. He had gone to that funeral because Kat had gone to the house to visit when John's dad was recovering from his heart attack the fall before. (Andy, Zoe's daddy, knew John since high school....) So, in a weird way it's kind of appropriate that one of the first times in the 4.5 years since we split that I see him is at his father's funeral. What' really, really weird though, is that his father and Gak's father had the exact same name... James Richard. (I'd forgotten that until today...)

Anyhow, after the funeral we went back to Kat's because she had given me and Boo a ride. Zoe had done fairly well the entire morning and into the afternoon. Boo hadn't really slept much and I was hoping he'd take a nap. I didn't get that wish.


Shortly after we got there Scott came by and we went and launched Zoe's rocket in the field out back. We launched it a couple of times until the last time the wind shifted just a little bit and it landed in a tree, instead of the field. Oh well. Maybe it'll blow down. Like I told Zoe, this is the perfect excuse for her and Scott to build another one. They had a lot of fun with this one. I remember that my brother and I had a lot of fun with rockets for a bit when we were younger.

It was a very hot and sunny day. Boo was a little cranky from that. (He did snooze for about 10 minutes during the rocket launching...) After he cooled down a bit, we decided to go on an adventure.


We went to Uncle Frank's pool across the street. I had picked up a 12-month sized swim suit from Target the other week and Kat still had some leftover swim diapers from when Zoe was little. both were very big on him, but between the two, it fit. (Although, he had a major case of balloon pants in the water.) Boo and I didn't make it off the step, but we had a good time overall. He didn't giggle and splash around, but he didn't scream when I put him in the water and floated him on his back a bit. I take this as a win. We would have gone in but the pool was a little cold, so we just stayed on the steps. So, for a first experience, it was a good one. I may see about joining the Y over the winter so we can go swimming in their pool. It'll be a great experience for him and good exercise for me. (Not to mention much needed Momma and Boo time!)

We were going to stay over at Kat's for a while longer this evening, but by about 6:30 Boo had hit the wall. We left there shortly before 7 and after a quick stop at the drive through, were home by about 7:20. Boo was sound asleep in his car seat so I just picked him up and wrapped him up in his bed. Even though he went to bed early, I get the feeling he's going to sleep well and long tonight. (At least I hope so.... I've got laundry to do in the morning...)

Well, I'm going to wrap this up here.

Oh, but before I go, here's a picture of the wonderful necklace that Gak got me for our third anniversary. I still have no idea what I'm getting him... and I have until Wednesday to figure it out. I'm doomed!
And as always, more pictures over on Flickr!

Peace to all and may your days be good.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Getting Better

Well, this is how I've seen my son the most this week. Maybe not with the dino resting his chest on Boo, but still, this is the view I get the most. Yep, I get to watch my son sleep.
I will freely admit that this has been very hard on me. I love my son. I really love spending lots of awake time with Boo. I mean, sure, I like having the adult interactions of work and a little bit of time away isn't a bad thing. But I miss the smiles, the giggles and babbling coos. I miss the closeness of nursing, even if I don't always enjoy it. (It's still a ton better than pumping... I'll get to that later...)





This, of course, is how I'd rather see my boy. Playing and interacting with the world. (This picture is actualy from about two weeks ago, shortly after we got the Bumbo...)

I'm getting used to this. My head accepts the fact that I need to go to work to help keep this family afloat financially. My heart still hates the idea, but keeps it's grumblings to a minimum. Usually only around bed time and first thing in the morning.

I'm very happy with his day care situation. Or at least about as happy as I can be without it being me in the mornings, Gak or Gramma Sue in the afternoons. Or the reverse of that, I really don't care. But that's an almost ideal world. (In an ideal world I could stay home with Boo full time, except maybe an afternoon a week to go do something with other adult type people and no little ones... or with enough little ones that they could play and the adults could hang out.) I keep feeling better and better about my day care. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I figured out where I "knew" Loretta from. I'd probably run into her a handful of times at various scout things. Also, two of the 3-and-unders are her grandsons. The younger of the two is only about 2 months older than Boo. I'm sure they'll become friends and get into all kinds of trouble together. At least I hope they become friends. Like I've said before, friends are important.

Other than Tuesday, I've actually had some good awake time with Boo. I've gotten a few giggles and a coo or two. No where near what I was getting before, but I'll treasure what I can get.

So, I'm not feeling as bad as I was the other night. I was going to post last night, but my computer was being slow and cranky and I just wanted to go to bed so just shut everything down.

Note to self: remember to reset the flash setting on the camera before leaving it with Gak. If not, these are the kinds of pictures we end up with. Very cool in an artsy way, but not really good for showing off that beautiful face of his.
Work has been going fairly well this week. I'm almost getting things done. I was fairly productive today. I could have actually closed a ticket, except for the fact the person I needed to confirm everything with had left for the day already. I spent a couple of hours chasing my tail on another issue as well. Oh, and did I mention I've got to get a training seminar written by the end of next week?
That and I've had "adventures" with pumping at work. I'm currently using my former boss's office. There's no one in there, there's a fairly comfortable chair and a desk. (Not to mention a million things just lying around that he left behind...) I'm hoping no one gets put into that office any time soon. I can't really use the bathroom because there's no chair other than the toilet and there's no lid on that... and there really isn't a place to set anything either. I also haven't been able to get as much each time as I had before going back to work. I don't know if it's the stress of being back to work, being away from Boo so much or just that the pump isn't that effective. I'm doubting it is the third, because I used to be able to get 6 or so oz each side session, but now I can barely get 12 ounces total for both sides and two sessions. I've been able to keep up because I've cut his bottles back to 3.5 oz. (He seems satisfied with 4 of those instead of 4 4 oz bottles throughout the day...) I also have been pumping an hour or two after Boo goes to bed and since he's only been feeding off one side in the morning, I pump the other side. I'm hoping things will get better in a week or two once this really becomes routine. That or I have to figure out some way to keep my production up during the week. He gets plenty all weekend and is happy. (And I can even manage to get a bottle or two ahead...)
Anyhow, I'm sure that was way more information than some people wanted or needed to know. Oh well. You know me, I tell it like I see it.
I'm going to get off of here now. I'd like to get a chance to talk with Michelle (who Gak's on the phone with) before I go to bed and a few other things too.
Peace to all and may you find a comfortable routine.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

No Play Time for Momma

This evening was a very sad evening for me. I picked up Boo from the day care at just about 5:30. He had just started a bottle when I got there, so Loretta handed him and his bottle over to me. I snuggled my boy as he finished an early supper and I got to talk with some of the people there.
We then went to go pick up Gak. I got a little bit of snuggle time, but it's hard to get play time while we're there. That and Boo was a little fussy because he was tired. (That and he probably ate a little too much of that last bottle and gave it back to me on my shirt...) By the time we got home Boo was asleep in his car seat. We left him in the carrier while we had pizza. He woke up screaming at about 7:45 and wanted a little bit of a snuggle, a little bit of a snack and to go to bed.
I was going to read to him a bit this evening, but he wanted absolutely nothing to do with that. He just wanted to be wrapped up in his blanket and to go to sleep. (Well, wrapped up at any rate with the lights out... he had a major scream shortly after being put down, but calmed immediately with a snuggle and was back to sleep in his bed within 10 minutes...)
This means I got absolutely no play time with my boy today. I only got about an hour of awake time. He was awake enough this morning to nurse with his eyes closed, but that's it.
I just can't deal with that. I need awake play time with him. It's not that I don't think Gak, or Gramma Sue or the Day Care take good care of him. I know they do. Even the day care people love him almost as much as we do. I didn't get to see his smile today. I didn't get to hear him laugh or babble at me. I did get a bit of snuggle in, but that doesn't help a whole lot.
I don't know which hurts more. The fact that I didn't get any play time today or the fact that I can't see a way to fix this. Not without cutting our salary in half or more and loosing any and all benefits. There's no way we could afford that without Boo, let alone provide everything he needs to have a great start in the world. (By this I mean clothes and diapers, a place to sleep, food for me... a few fun toys.... no where near the over the top lists of some parents....)
Anyhow, I'm going to go watch my boy sleep for a bit and then curl up with my book. I'm not in the mood for anything more...
Peace to all and may you get to play with your loved ones and see them smile.

Week Two

I've started week two of returning to work. Or maybe it's week 1.5, I'm not sure. Last week was a short week and short days. This week is full days and a full week. I'm surviving though. Yesterday was a long day. I was almost productive. I got about half of what I set out to do done, but don't get too excited, I didn't plan very much.
Gak had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon and my mom took him there and everyone at the office couldn't get over how cute Boo is. After Gak's appointment he went to work and GrammaSue had lots of boy time.
Boo did very well. I woke him up around 6:30 for "breakfast" and he went back to sleep afterwords. He didn't wake up again until about 9:30. He ate very well for Daddy and for Gramma Sue. I think he went through 4 bottles and had just started on his 5th when I walked in the door. Since he's been sleeping through the night, or at least not waking up hungry and fussy, for the last few weeks, he's been eating every 2 hours or so during the day. Yesterday was an exceptionally hungry day. (I was able to pump just enough to keep up yesterday, here's hoping I can continue this....)
I had an enjoyable evening with Gramma Sue. At about 6:30 we dropped off the truck for Gak so he could go to Warhammer. Ed is on vacation this week, so Gak didn't have a ride. We then went out to dinner at Applebee's. Boo was happy and mellow through most of the dinner, only getting fussy right near the end. Although, I think he really wanted to try Mom's desert. It looked really yummy. (I'll stick with my little bit of strawberry cheesecake though... it had fresh berries!)
Boo was good all morning for Gak as well. Boo loves his Bumbo. He's very happy to just sit up and watch the world. He'll keep himself happily amused just staring at things. I think this weekend we'll get the tray for the chair so we can put toys within reach for him. I'm not sure how interested he really is in grabbing and playing with his toys, but he'll bat at the ones hanging over him on his bouncy chair. I'm sure before I turn around three times he'll have his toys strewn all over the house and will complain quite loudly if we go anywhere without his current favorite.
Gak just had the "joy" of dropping off Boo at daycare for the first time. Boo cried the whole walk there. (Although, Gak thinks this may be partially due to the fact that he might not have had the straps on the carry pouch right....) I was amazed by this, because Boo didn't fuss a bit when I took him, he just accepted that we were going for a drive. Who knows. Gak did say it was very hard to leave the boy at the center. It sucks, but in the long run it'll be better for both him and us.
No, I don't have any new pictures. Well, I lie, I have one or two from last night, but they're still on my camera and that's at home. It's been a week since I've really taken any pictures of my boy! I'm a very bad Momma for that one. He changes so much if you just blink, let alone let a whole week go by! Maybe I'll be able to convince Gak to use the camera a bit more, since I'm not home in the mornings any more. (That really sucked to type....)
Anyhow, I'd better get going. I took an early lunch and need to get a few more things done before I have to get back to work.
Peace to all and may you have many hugs in your life.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Bad Momma Blogger

Well, I haven't been a very good Momma Blogger this week. Part of it is I just keep running out of time. Part of it is, I just don't feel like writing anything and part of it is that I either have time or ideas, but not both.
Friday was Boo's 2-month checkup. (Yes, we're about a half-month off, but hey whatever...) It was at his doctors' new offices. They're really great. Much more room than the old place and everything is so shiny and new. Boo is doing great. He put on exactly two pounds and is up to 13 lb. 4 oz.. He's also up to 24 inches. This puts him right about the 75th percentile. I've got a big boy. I thought he'd put on a little more weight, but nope. That's OK. He's gaining weight at just the right rate, so nothing to worry about. As usual, he impressed the socks off of everyone with how cute he is and how string he is. The boy is pure muscle. Yes, there are a few baby rolls on his legs, but there's no excess baby fat on his belly or anywhere else. The trick is to keep him active enough so that it stays that way. (Looks in the mirror and shudders....)
The down side is he got four immunizations: three shots and one orally. I agree with their need, but man has it thrown him for a loop. He was really out of it for half of Friday and slept a lot. He ate as much as usual though, so that's a good thing. Yesterday was a bit of a cranky day, but I blame that mostly on not taking more than a 20 minute nap at any point in time. Today he was sporadically cranky as well. Actualy, when he was upset, it was almost a totally random, out of nowhere, scream. I have no idea.
Today we did get a chance to go down to BabiesRUs and some other shopping. We've started picking up a few pieces now and again of warmer clothes, as the seasons are beginning to think about turning. (We've had some amazingly nice weather for August the last week or two...) (And if you're wondering, he's still wearing 3-6 month shirts for now and should be for a few more months... and finally 3-6 month pants don't look ridiculous...) Boo behaved wonderfully through it all. He was a little fussy at one point, but that's because he was hungry. Smart Momma actually remembered to snag a bottle out of the fridge before we left so it was at "room" temperature by the time he wanted it.
Gak was a bit evil today though. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and he ducked into Game Stop next door. He picked up a demo for a new game that's coming out.... Spore. If you haven't heard of it, go look it up. If you have and have fallen into the addiction that it is, I'm stuck there too. I can't wait for the full game to come out. It'll be quite interesting. I mean, it's being done by Maxis and EA. EA has the power and Maxis is the creator of all the Sim games. (I still enjoy Sim City, but don't have a version loaded onto this machine.... talk about a time sink....)
Gak also got me an early anniversary present. (Have I mentioned I'm horrible about this gift buying thing? And that I'm beginning to panic because our anniversary is on the 27th and Gak's birthday is less than a month after that and I have no ideas??) He went out to go pick up some soda and catch up with a few people. He also went and got me a new necklace to replace the one I'd been wearing. The one I'd been wearing broke again a week or two after Boo was born, and I'd lost enough of the beads that I really couldn't restring it. I was feeling pretty naked without it. I mean, I'd been wearing a necklace of some description almost non-stop since sometime in high school.... I was quite floored by the one he got me. It's one of those 3 diamond ones. No, they're not very big, but they're real. (Heck, I would have been happy if they were just plain old quartz....) It's a really nice one, it almost looks like a section of our wedding bands. Three twists of white gold surrounding the stones. I love it. It really is special, almost as special as Gak is. I truly couldn't imagine my life without him and can barely remember our life without Boo. All is good in the world.
We'll see how good I feel about the world tomorrow though. Tomorrow is my first full day back at work. This is going to be a very long week I fear. At least tomorrow Boo will be with Gak in the morning and Gramma Sue in the afternoon. I hope Boo has a good day and takes it easy on his daddy and his gramma. Tuesday will be the first day Gak has to walk Boo to daycare in the afternoon. We'll see how that goes as well. I've got my fingers crossed. I'll try not to panic or worry too much, but no promises.
Well, I'd best get going I think. I'd like to read a few pages before I go to bed. I've got to set the alarm for 6 so I can make it out of the house on time. (I'm hoping that I'll be able to wake Boo long enough for breakfast in the morning.)
Peace to all and may your weekends have been good and you have love in your life.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Moving Forward

This week continues to go. Forward mostly. I haven't really gotten a whole lot done at work. Yesterday I sat in on an info session on something that I'm supposed to create a one day seminar on by September. (haha... this will be fun.... NOT) Today I spent the afternoon giving two new support people an overview of our software. It was a whirlwind tour. I haven't been paying a lot of attention to these two, I'm waiting to figure out if I like them or not until I've been back for a while. Tomorrow I get to spend time teaching Arlene how to quote training. Yes, this should have been done before I left on leave, but my two former bosses were just oh so interested in it. One didn't have a clue and the other thought training was nothing more than an annoyance and a hassle so decided to ignore it. Fun. They're both gone now, and our temporary manager does have a clue and realizes the potential training has for bringing in money. That and the warm fuzzy feelings that it can give customers.
It's nice to be back in some ways. I keep seeing people I haven't talked to in ages and they're all very glad to see me. I didn't really realize how many people there actually liked me and I am friends with. I have missed some of the interactions. But I do miss being with Boo all day.
Boo is doing well at day care. He's napping well and eating well and being changed often. He doesn't fuss much if at all when I drop him off and he smiles with his whole body when I come to pick him up. The real test for him will be next week when Gak starts dropping him off and I don't have mornings with him any more. I'm sure it'll be harder on me than on him.
I have no idea what's we're doing over the weekend. I'm not sure I really care. I'm just tired.
Oh, in other news... we finally have a dishwasher! Gak's mom gave us the money for a new one back when she was here, but I was holding on to it as a safety net until I started getting regular checks instead of medical leave checks. It does take up a good bit of the counter space and is a little on the noisy side, but it washes dishes well and we don't have to. I need to pick up a basket thing for bottle parts, but other than that, life is good. We still have to do pots and pans and the like by hand, but that's only a small portion of the dishes. I'll get a picture of it tomorrow and show you exactly how much space it takes up. I'm willing to loose the space though for this convenience.
I'm having problems keeping my train of thought, so I think I'll end the post here.
Peace to all and may things work in your favor.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

New Adventures

Well, yesterday went well. Actually, it went a good bit better than I thought. I wasn't anywhere near the wreck I thought I would be. This picture is from when we first got to the day care center and I put him in his crib there.
The morning went well. We had plenty of snuggle time and just hanging out. He played a bit on his Boppy mat with his new toy and I just enjoyed being here with him.

I made sure we had everything we needed and left here with a heavy heart just before noon. I had a little bit of paperwork at the center to finish filling out, and I didn't want to just drop him off and run out right away on his first day. I'm still really happy with the place. It's friendly and small. There's one other little boy in the infants, and 3 or 4 girls I think. Joey, the other little boy, is 1 month older than Boo and the younger brother of another boy at the center. I'm sure these two will get along just fine. It'll be good for Boo to make friends.

I did cry, at least a little. But not much and not until I got back into the car. I was pretty much fine with everything by the time I got to work. I had to put myself into work mode because I knew there would be quite a bit I'd need to be filled in on and catch up with, even though I'd been checking my mail frequently while on leave.

It wasn't an overly productive day for me, but it was a good day overall. I got a lot of the emails I'd looked at while on leave filed and taken care of. I got my bin of work orders sorted out. (They were using it as a temporary holding area for things that need quotes...) I also talked a bit with the temporary manager (who I've always liked... he's an original, not a corporate guy...) about some of the things coming up and how we could possibly combine trips and who would be best for what and the like. I really do like this guy. I wish we could have him full time and permanently. He'd do wonders for the department. The old manager was a good boss, but a lousy manager. His way of getting things done was to pound his chest and complain loudly, but not very effectively. This guy puts his actions where his words are and isn't afraid to tell people to go to and pound sand. That and he's willing to teach you how to do things.

I think this will work out well. It'll take a bit to get everything in order and set up, but for the first time in ages, I have hope that this will work out.

In other kiddo news, we got him a baby chair called a Bumbo. I've heard good things about this seat and I really like it. Since Boo has such good head control already and loves sitting up in our laps, we went ahead and bought one, even though they suggest for 3 months and up.

As you can see, he likes it. Well, maybe you can see that from this picture. I like it because he can sit up and "join in the conversation" while we're at the table and I can still have my hands free. He likes it because he gets to sit up and "join the conversation" and see what's going on. It is nice and lightweight and very portable. I think this is what will eventually replace his bouncy seat once he's too big for it.

His next doctor's appointment is Friday morning. I'm sure he's pretty close to 14 pounds now. He's HUGE. For grins and giggles on Monday, I pulled out his hospital anklet, and it won't go all the way around any more, it's about an inch too short. He's really beginning to fill out his 3-6 month outfits, although the pants still don't fit well. He's long enough, but the boy has no butt. He's all muscle. My boy is strong.

Well, I'm going to wrap this up and go see if he's about to wake up. (He's in his swing at the moment and I took the opportunity to shower, upload pictures and post this....)


Peace to all and may your adventures be good.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Soon.....

I guess I didn't get around to posting any more. Oops.
It was a good weekend overall. We didn't do a whole lot. We had some people over Sunday. We ran a few errands Saturday. Pretty low key and uneventful. I like weekends like that.
I admit, I did hope that time would just slow down for a while. I spent a good bit of time just hugging my boy close. I think I'm ready to face tomorrow, but I won't really know until I get there.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at work. I'm not looking forward to the chaos and all those unanswered questions I've got with what exactly my job is and with all the people who left. I've got a very short time to get a brand new program together on something I've only seen a few times and never really touched. I hope that goes well. I'm sure I'll be blogging about that as the time gets closer.
I'm not looking forward to leaving Boo for 4 or 5 hours. I know, he'll be fine. I really do like the place we're taking him. The ladys running the place are very nice and truly do care about their charges.
In a way, he needs this too. It'll get him out and meeting other kids. I mean, if I was able to be a stay-at-home mom, I'd have joined the Y or something by now and joined some play groups or the like or some "mommy and me" classes and it would do us both a world of good. People are social animals, we're not supposed to just lock ourselves up at home and not see anyone.
Anyhow, Boo gets to meet new people and have new adventures. He's really only there long enough to take a nap or two and have a bottle or two. Hopefully long enough to get used to not being with me all the time, but not long enough to make him panic. (Of course, I'll be the one panicing....)

Speaking of beginnings, my good friend Abi started her new job in AZ today. I talked to her last night. She seems to be settling in well in Phoenix. She's exicted about everything that there is to do and all the new people to meet, even if in some ways it still terrifies her. (Like me, she doesn't always do well on the whole meeting new people thing... but we try...) Abi really is in a very positive place in her head and really excited, in a terrified way, about everything. I continue to wish her the best. I know she'll be just fine. But I miss her... Oh well. There's always the holidays.....

Yes, I've taken more pictures since Thursday.
No, I havent' downloaded them from the camera.
Yes, I will get them downloaded soon, I hope.

Anyhow, it's almost 9:45 now and I'd like to get to bed soon and there are a few things yet to do. (I think I'll go ahead and shower tonight... no telling if I'd be able to get one in the morning...)

Peace to all and may you have things to look forward to.

p.s. Spell check isn't working again... so I appologize for my horrible sense of right and wrong when it comes to how words should be spelled.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Good Visit


Ok. I'll hopefully write more. I have to apologize for not posting earlier. It's been a busy few days and I'm trying like crazy to make time slow down. I start back to work on Tuesday and I'm trying to ignore that fact.

Anyhow, Gak's brother Raeferd came out to the east coast with his girlfriend Tania. Tania's parents live in VA, somewhat outside of DC. They came up here for a couple of days. They got up here Wednesday afternoon. We had a good evening and just hung out.

Yesterday we went into Philly. Mind you, I hate driving in Philly and am very good at getting lost. Yes, I even got turned around with Raeferd's GPS trying to give me directions. (I do so much better with a map in the woods... I miss orienteering... next season....)

Anyhow, we spent most of our time down at Independence Hall. It was a good day. We all had fun. Boo slept a lot, but was very, very good while awake. We also swung by the Art Museum so Raeferd could see the Rocky statue.

Last night we had Kat, Scott, Chris and Diane over. It was a very good evening. I kept thinking about Gram a lot. We were having good food and good conversation sitting around her dinning room table. I kept thinking about the times we had on the porch at the house in Delaware.

Anyhow, I'm a bit tired. I had a bad sleep night. (Boo slept like a rock...) I may try and elaborate tomorrow, or I may not.

Peace to all and may time behave like you want it to.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Uneventful Weekend

Sorry I haven't posted in the last several days. I'd love to say it's because we've been busy with all kinds of fun things. The reality is, I just didn't feel like it. I didn't really have anything to say or anything interesting I was thinking about.
I have, however, finally downloaded about 3 days worth of photos and put them up on Flickr. Boo is getting bigger and stronger by the day. The picture at the top is Boo laying on his dragon at 2 months old.


Overall it was mostly an uneventful weekend. We played some Magic with friends on both Saturday and Sunday evenings. We went over to the park a bit on Sunday afternoon and Gak went to a comic/gaming store Sunday with a couple of the guys. Pretty low key over all.

Yesterday Boo and I went down to GrammaSue's. Andy came over to remove my old water bed and Mom wanted me there to make sure that I didn't have anything in the drawers or anything. Boo was good all day.


I'm pretty much just taking this week as slowly as possible. I start back to work half days a week from today. I'm not really looking forward to it, but it could be worse. I'm sure it'll take at least a week or so to figure out exactly what's going on and what my job really is. That and I've got a project to get done as soon as possible because people are coming for training September 9th. I hope it won't be as much of a train wreck as I think it might be. Oh well. We'll see.


Well, I'd better go check on Boo. He's been asleep in the swing for a while.

I hope all your weeks are going well.

Peace to all and may you have uninteresting weeks.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Two Months!

Wow! Another month has passed and my little boy is now 2 whole months old! I can't believe how fast the time is going. Of course, this means I have only one more week of leave... actually, vacation at this point, before I head back to work. That will really shake up Boo's world for a little bit until we all get used to the new routine. I think he'll adapt faster than the rest of us.


Anyhow, yesterday was a very good day. This picture was taken at Green Lane Park, not too far from home. (There are more pictures on Flickr.) Yesterday morning Boo was a little fussy and grutzy and was just having an off time. When we dropped Gak off at work, he was snoozing slightly in his seat. Therefore, I decided to drive down the road a bit and go to Green Lane. It's a HUGE park, I've only visited parts of it, and not too far away. We stopped near the Deep Creek Lake portion and just hung out under the trees for a while. It was nice and shady and there was a wonderful breeze blowing. It was quite comfortable.
Boo even suffered me posing him on his blankie on the rocks for a few minutes. Unfortunately, most of them didn't turn out anywhere near as nice as I'd hoped. That is except for the cranky face ones...
We stayed at the park for about an hour or so. Then Boo got a little fussy and decided he didn't really want a picnic lunch. Oh well. It would have been nice to stay there a bit longer. But that little bit of time we had was exactly what I was needing. (I really do need a place with a back yard and at least one big tree... the other day all I could think about was spending a bit of time splashing around in a baby pool with my son...)
On the way home, we all but had to pass the Duck's place. So, of course I decide to swing by and see if anyone was home. Sure enough, both Bob and Linda were home. They were just stopping for lunch after playing around in the yard a bit working on it. We spent a good couple of hours just sitting around visiting. We spent some time talking about Gram and Mum Mum and other family. (Gram was Linda's Godmother... and the families are pretty close to begin with...) It was quite an enjoyable visit. Boo snoozed through a lot of it.
He was eventually getting fussy though, so we headed home for a little bit before picking up Gak from work. We did go on a short walk with Chris and Diane last night, but Diane wasn't feeling so great. Boo did go to bed quite early (by 8:00 while we were on the walk) and slept a good long time. This is despite all the naps he took yesterday. And of course, he did the wake at 3, fall back asleep by 4 and up again at 5. Actually, he was barely up. He didn't really want anything to eat, just a snuggle. I can handle that. He didn't wake up again until just after 8. (Of course, this was about 10 minutes after Gak left this morning...)
Gak took the Durango over to get the tires rotated and aligned and an oil change. I hate to admit how bad we've been about not getting the oil changed. That and we've got a check-engine light on. I'm scared to know what that means. We will see. Hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg.

In other news, today is Abi's last day in Rhode Island. She's leaving today at 4 and heading to her sister Jessi's place in NYC. Then tomorrow morning they start the drive out to Phoenix. I'm so excited for her, but I'm going to miss her so much. Yes, I know, we went too many years without seeing each other. But now that we're back in touch, it was nice to have her only a drive away. (A long drive, but a drive none the less...) Now she'll be all the way out in AZ. We will live. This is the best thing for her. It's such a positive change it's almost scary. She will be just fine and I'll have someone to visit when we head out there. (Maybe not right away, but hopefully sooner rather than later...) And despite it all, Abi still has family back here so I'm sure she'll be back, even if only to visit her sister in NYC. We'll just have to get together than. And besides, there is this wonderful thing called the Internet, email and cell phones with free long distance. We'll be fine. I have no intentions of letting her slip away again.

I really don't know what's on tap for the weekend. Mom will be up Monday afternoon. Gak is working Saturday as always. Who knows. We may find something interesting to do. I guess it all depends on the weather and gas....

Peace to all and may you enjoy your days.