There are a plethora of other things I should be doing right now. Laundry tops the list (doesn't it always?), taking a shower, cleaning the kitchen, blah blah blah. I've decided to take the night off, though. I'm just feeling really blah today.
So, I ordered my computer from Dell last night. If money were no object and I wouldn't be using it, at least in part, for work purposes, I would have bought a Mac. Sadly, though, I would need to use this for work (at least some of the time), so a PC it was. And, well, Dell let me customize it and stuff.
It's a pink XPS 1530 with the fastest available processor. Why pink? If I had my way, I would have bought a red one (to match my red phone and red Nintendo DS - plus Dell would have made a donation to help AIDS patients in Africa), but there was good pricing on the pink (or blue) one with most of the features I wanted (including that processor, but I did upgrade a few other things). My husband really advised against getting a pink laptop ("It screams 'She's got a laptop'," he said) until I told him that the special pricing was only available on the pink or blue and the same configuration for a black one would have been an additional $700 (which I knew because that's what it would have been for a red one, too). He said he wouldn't have wanted the blue, either; black would have been his pick. But as it's my laptop... The pink is also a guarantee he won't touch it. I'll get it in a couple of weeks, but I'm still very excited about it.
The Boy is teething like crazy right now. It's the lower lateral incisors (finally!) that are giving him grief. I checked his gums after brushing his teeth this evening, and I think he'll have the right one come in first. Then he'll have 11 teeth. But the teething is terrible. I think the other kids help keep him distracted at school, so he doesn't fuss so much about his teeth there. Here, though, it's just Chris and me (or, as was the case this morning after Chris left to get his hair cut, just me), and we're only so exciting. Anyway, he drooled all over the romper he was wearing this morning, then drooled through a bib I put on him this afternoon. Poor little guy.
Lunch today was an adventure. He decided that he didn't want to eat anything but watermelon. Seriously. I really don't know how much he ate; I just know he was very angry that it wasn't hitting his tray fast enough. The teachers at school all marvel at how much this kid eats, but they laugh at how seriously he takes his food. Apparently, you don't want to interrupt this kid at meal time. But anyway, watermelon was the only acceptable thing on the menu. Towards the end, though (when he was starting to fall asleep in his high chair), he'd put the watermelon in his mouth, chew it a little, then spit it right out. It's not like he was sucking out the juice and just leaving the pulp, either. I can't explain it.
You know, now that I've unloaded a little, I'm suddenly motivated to do something again. Not laundry, though (I'm currently out of bleach and I need to bleach his diapers), but I think I'll put away his toys.
And maybe take a shower.
Who helped make you the cool person you are today?
Submitted by Amy - Sister Brown Hair Surprise.
Well, this is truly a toss up. I think the most credit has to go to my sister (she was, after all, a great influencer and still is in many ways), but a lot of credit has to go to the coolest person on the planet, my good friend Cherry.
There's a chance I may be able to telecommute one or two days a week. This would be fantastic, as I'm shelling out upwards of $55 in gas each week to commute in from the outburbs. I would still need to bring The Boy to school on those days (if I telecommute, I really would have to do uninterrupted work), but the plus side is that I'd be able to stay home with him on those days he's sick without needing to take a day off from work.
There's no guarantee I'd be able to start working from home immediately. Right now, it's being tested in other departments, but given my limited physical contact with the outside world, there's really no reason I shouldn't be able to telecommute.
The caveat? I would need a new laptop.
The laptop I have is new to me (a hand me down from my sister), but it's several years old and not compatible with the company's system. [sigh] Also, the hard drive clicks and it makes my husband very nervous. But for my current purposes, it's just great. I can surf the 'net, work on spreadsheets and Word documents, and play Webkinz games from the comfort of our family room couch while The Boy is asleep and my husband is racing the world via Mario Kart.
Alas, for work purposes, I would need a laptop with a faster processor and much more memory. And, being my father's daughter, if I'm going to get a new computer, I know it would be best to get a near-top of line processor and the most memory available.
Let the quest begin - and wish me luck!
Clearly, it's not just me.
Lately, the temps have been in the upper 80s and low 90s. The lows in the evening are around 78. I kid you not.
Anyway, apparently it's not just human folk needing to cool off in this weather. I just learned that a black bear was spotted taking a swim at the Hard Rock Hotel pool yesterday morning!
Somehow, I don't think he was drawn to the underwater speakers, the cool guitar shape, or the faux beach. He probably just needed to cool off a bit.
Well, if you're going to invade someone's pool, I think the Hard Rock pool is as good as any...
I always thought that line always sounded a little harsh, but I've realized over the last few weeks how very thankful I am to not be suffering like so many others in the world. (The line still sounds harsh, though.)
Almost every time I walk into the break room at work, CNN is running a story about parents in China who have lost their only children in this month's earthquake. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. They've called it "China's Lost Generation", and it truly is. Here, the government limited the number of offspring per couple to just one, and now, in one fell swoop, that generation has practically been decimated.
Yesterday, I watched a mother, almost carried by her husband, walk the streets near the wreckage of a school, clinging to a photograph of her daughter and weeping uncontrollably. It's been more than two weeks, and she wants so desperately to believe that her child is alive and just waiting to be rescued. It's almost akin to those families waiting by the phone after the World Trade Center fell, only worse because there isn't an enemy to blame for the loss of your loved one.
Every time I think of these people, these families, these mothers, I choke back tears and resist the urge to rush to my son's school, drink in that smile he smiles just for me, and hug him and smother him with more kisses than I could possibly count, and then kiss him some more. But I wait until I get home to cuddle him and listen to him babble about his day, and I thank God every night when I check on my slumbering boy that we had a day together, and I thank Him again in the morning that we have the promise of another one.
I wouldn't wish this agony on anyone, but I do thank God it's not me suffering. And my heart breaks for all of those who are.
That's all I've got right now as I'm struggling with a program to properly run my report. Argh! I've delineated everything in the simplest of terms, and yet it either times out or gets bumped by another project. It's infuriating.
It would be even worse if I actually needed it today. Sadly, though, I will need it on Monday, and if it's not working, I'm screwed.
So, I've been totally lax in posting. Totally lax. As my good friend Meredith said via e-mail, I haven't been this quiet since I ran off to the Philippines. For that, dear friends, I heartily apologize.
(Quick interruption: The report I want still isn't working, but I now have access to a folder from which I've been needing to pull data! So, today isn't a total loss. Now, back to our program, already in progress.)
The Boy is in a state of flux right now - each day is a new adventure. When we begin our day together, I have no idea if I'll be dodging pieces of bananas or struggling to keep up as he shoves everything into his mouth. Last Sunday (the week after Mother's Day), as our custom, I buckled him into his high chair and sprinkled some cereal on his tray so that he could eat while I peeled a banana. He clearly didn't want the cereal (evidenced by screams as he hurled Rice Chex to the floor), so I broke off a piece of banana and offered it to him. Instead of opening his mouth like a little bird (as he has been known to do), he forcefully shoved my hand away from him and sent the banana piece flying. Unfazed, I began dropping banana pieces on his tray. The screaming continued until he seemed to realize that he liked the food he was ready to chuck at my head. Afterwards, I wasn't able to put enough bananas on his tray.
This past Sunday, we experienced what I will call The Scrambled Egg Incident. Let's just say The Boy is very likely allergic to egg whites. Oh, he's had eggs as ingredients in lots of things without any reactions (his birthday cake and myriad muffins, for example), but apparently eggs alone are a big no-no right now. Not only did he vomit eggs all over himself (and me) several times, he also broke out into a terrible rash (complete with hives, but no wheezing or fever, thank God) that didn't go away until Monday evening. It's a shame, too, because he really liked them.
Anyway, we saw my friend Jen and her Baby E on Sunday. They came over for an impromptu play date as Jen washed a comforter in my supersized washer (which promptly ate part of her comforter, but that's a different story). I realized how spoiled I've been because The Boy has always been so easy to feed. Jen let me try feeding Baby E, and he would kind of stare at the spoon for a while before partially opening his mouth enough for me to squeeze in a little food. It was very cute, but as I said, it made me realize exactly how easy I've had it feeding The Boy.
Monday, I took The Boy to school at his regular time, then rushed back home to properly vacuum the house and straighten his room. The family room got a good suctioning, too, as did the master bedroom (sorely need, I have to say), and the hallway. Then Chris and I met up with our friends to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I don't really care what the critics have said - I really liked it. I thought it was great and in line with the rest of the franchise. That's all I will say about it.
After the movie, we picked The Boy up from school and took him to Fort Wilderness to visit the "petting zoo" (no petting of the ponies or miniature horses allowed, though), where he thoroughly enjoyed staring at the animals, then to the playground, where he eagerly pointed at the swings until we got him into a bucket seat. Oddly, though, he didn't have the same expression of glee that I've seen from other kids. Oh, he was happy, all right (he gets to go on the swings at school), but very cool about it, as evidenced from his photos.
Crazy kid.
We're back to a normal-ish sleep schedule. Oh, yes - we've had a time of the whole sleeping thing. Remember when he got sick with a stomach bug (that he later passed to me) at the beginning of the month? Yeah... that's when it all started. He woke up every three to four hours, screaming and in near-hysterics. So, it was the stomach bug first. Then it was a cold that progressed into an infection of some sort (I think it was a sinus infection, but my husband didn't remember exactly what Dr. W said) that required antibiotics. Of course, throughout all this he was transitioning from his infant class to the toddler classroom, too. Nothing like throwing everything at the poor kid at once, right? Well, how about throwing some teething in on top of that? We had no idea because of all the other things, but a good portion of his crying probably came from teething pain, too. At less than 14 months of age, all four first-year molars are in. Mind you, they've only broken through the surface and still have a lot more growing to do, but yeah, his molars are in now - before his lateral lower incisors, I might add.
This kid clearly follows his own schedule.
Once I realized that teething pain had something to do with it (and I had finished my work conference), I had the courage (and fortitude) to give him a little bit of Tylenol just before brushing his teeth and let him cry it out. That meant listening to him wake every four hours and watching the clock to see just how long each crying spell lasted. Each night got a little better, and now we're (mostly) back to normal. He'll still cry out a little (and he woke up today at 5:30, but I left him alone because I decided he really wasn't ready to wake - sure enough, he fell back asleep within five minutes), but unless I hear a shriek of pain or an otherwise unusual scream, I'm training myself to leave him alone.
This also means we're done with our multiple breakfasts (clearly, he wasn't eating well when he was sick), but it also means he's back to eating sizeable dinners and equitable breakfasts. Last night, he had six ounces of macaroni and cheese, about five ounces of watermelon, bread off my husband's plate, two ounces of corn, and a whole lot of milk. Today, we had a large banana, four ounces of yogurt, some cereal from my bowl, and a whole lot of milk. I can't say he eats as much as I do (after all, I've been known to put away enough food to make grown men stare in awe), but he really does like to eat. And really, pound for pound, I know he eats much more of his body weight each day than I do. (Yes, I did the math. I'm sick like that.)
So, that's the latest update on me. Lots of work, lots of toddler time, lots of work, and a little bit of play thrown in for fun. Speaking of "play", I got a Wii at the end of April and just invested in the new Wii Fit last week. I really like them both. (If you happen to have a Wii and want to be Wii friends, send me a message or e-mail with your Wii ID, and I'll send you mine, too!) Wii Fit is strangely addictive in ways a visit to the gym (sans my old trainer, Kennedy) never was...
I've been finding my mother in the oddest places.
Let's rephrase that. I find myself reminded of my mother while listening to what I once thought was "safe" music. And it's a little unnerving.
Last night, I broke into tears while driving home when "Gone Away" by the Offspring played on the radio. Then this morning, "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day made me tear. Just now, My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" caused me to reach for my box of Kleenex.
Typically, those three bands wouldn't reduce me to tears. I think I would be more apt to sob while listening to Morrissey, Joy Division or Natalie Merchant.
I guess it goes to show you that Punk has heart, after all.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2008 – Peace Corps Volunteers serving in China are accounted for and safe.
Earlier today, an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale occurred 55 miles northwest of the Peace Corps/China office in Chengdu, Sichuan province. There are currently 111 Peace Corps Volunteers serving in China. Individual Volunteers and local counterpart schools have collectively reported that all Volunteers are safe.
Peace Corps/Washington is in constant communication with the staff in China and the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The Peace Corps will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation and take any additional action, if necessary.
I'm late in the game on this, but I truly only recently had the time to look up this information. You see, one of my bestest friends from high school is a Peace Corps volunteer in the Sichuan province, and, well, with all the seismic activity there of late, I've been worried about his safety. While we haven't heard from him directly (you can only imagine the problems with communication lines over there), I'm sure he's been in touch with his parents (at least).
But seeing this press release certainly eased my concerns considerably.
(Yes, I did just throw out Hall & Oates there.)
Can't write much right now. I just got an e-mail from one of my devoted readers (okay, probably my only devoted reader!) who was wondering where I've been as my blog has been silent all week. If you must know (and why else would you be reading my blog if you didn't care?), I was at a conference for work all week. It was awesome, it totally rocked, I'm so hyper-energized now to start work again on Monday, and, yes, I'm totally zonked. Add to this the fact that The Boy has decided 3AM is the appropriate time to have his first (yes, first) breakfast, and you have an idea of what my body's been up against.
So, I'm about to jump in the shower and hit the sack, but I'm hoping to get some online time this weekend and catch up on my neighborhood (major priority) and gush a little about some of the amazing people I met at my conference this week.
The Boy got sent home from school yesterday. Well, he would have been sent home, except that I accidentally left my phone off, and, for some odd reason, they didn't call my husband at work.
Anyway, he's at home today with his daddy, and he has a doctor's appointment at 2:45. After all, Dr W told me to call and/or bring him in if he still had a fever on Thursday, and, well, it's Thursday and he still has a fever. And a bad cough. And if he has the same cold I have, a sore throat, too. But I think my sore throat partially came from the constant vomiting, so there's really no telling. His appetite has also decreased considerably (he didn't even finish his banana this morning for breakfast, and he only had a little more than half a cup of his favorite macaroni and cheese for dinner last night), he has a bad cough, and he's not sleeping well. Oh, but his breathing isn't labored and he's still in (mostly) good spirits, so that's the bright side of things.
My poor little baby.
He woke up around 3AM and didn't want to go back to bed right away. I nursed him, let him drink some milk from his sippy cup (because, sadly, I'm only making so much milk now - but with both of us fighting the same cold, a little bit is better than nothing), gave him some Tylenol, nursed him some more, changed his diaper, and held him as I tried to coax him back to sleep. I thought I had him, but as soon as I crawled back into my own bed, he announced he wasn't ready for bed. So I brought him into the family room, reclined onto the couch, and tried to get him to sleep again. He was restless, so I let him walk around a bit before bringing him back into his room to go to sleep. It's impossible to be upset with a little boy who is just so excited to be alive, even at 4 in the morning. Finally, around 4:30, he fell asleep and (mostly) stayed asleep. He was still out when I left just after 7 this morning.
Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit tired.
I've taken myself off of Weight Watchers this week. After all, how do you count points when you aren't keeping most of what you've eaten in your stomach? When I'm better, I'll go back on it. It's not terrible, after all; it just requires keeping a list. And I love to keep lists.
There's a brushfire somewhere near my house (though not close enough for any danger), and probably a few more on the way to work. The air quality outside is terrible. As soon as I reached the Disney area on the freeway, the smoke was unbearable. And now all I can smell is smoke. It's awful. For this reason, I'm so thankful The Boy is staying home today. I really don't want him outside exposed to this if it can be helped at all.
The Boy enjoys watching Chris play Mario Kart on the Wii. I think he likes the pretty colors and the graphics. It works well, I think; Chris can play and The Boy will (mostly) watch. Last night they were watching something on G4 together, which was pretty cute. Chris was sitting on the floor, and The Boy was in front of him, drinking from his sippy cup, both of them engrossed in whatever was on the screen. If I thought I had time to take a picture of them together, I would have. It was completely priceless.
I'm a little annoyed today at work. See, a big part of what I do is provide reporting on a weekly basis on product performance. Twice a year, there's a group in my department that asks for information on specific items, which normally isn't a big deal - except that (1) they wait until the very last moment to ask for the information with every expectation of having it immediately, (2) they're asking for a lot of information that's already in the reports (with commentary) that I send out each week, and (3) 30% of the items on which they want information either don't exist, have not been delivered, or have less than a month's sales data. And, sadly, my crystal ball isn't working right now, so I can't tell you how these items will perform this year. If I could do that, I'd let my friends know the winning lottery numbers, too, and, well, as none of my friends have won the lottery, clearly I can't do it.
[sigh]
