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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This is my family updates blog. I'm sorry to say that it's moved to Facebook. If you would like to continue to read about my life, you need to be my Facebook friend.  |
| Ok, so I don't know where my brain has been lately, but I've been totally distracted. What doesn't help: (1) One of my offices moved and my computer hasn't been set up yet after a week! (2) I lost my jump drive with all my writing files. It has since been recovered but I was very vexed for a while. (3) For some reason I have been very emotional the last week. Is it hormonal? Probably. I even spent all of Friday night in bed because I thought I was coming down with something. Perhaps I was. The last time I felt this out-of-sorts I was pregnant with Lincoln. Chris asks if there's any way I could get pregnant with an IUD. I suppose there's a small chance of that, but seriously how crazy would that be. But lately, he's been talking about the "next one" as if it was an inevitability, so I don't think he would be too broken up about having another baby. He still doesn't think it's possible to have a girl. I went from an addiction to the Olympics to completed spurning them after watching the first scene of the gymnastics gala where that Chinese guy was talking to his pommel horse.  Couldn't very well take it seriously after that.I think living with toddlers is rubbing off on me. They want what they want now or else... And I've been feeling kinda similar. The boys are doing well though. Link is a regular walkaholic now. He's pretty happy with himself. Jack could be considered a walkaholic too since he loves to take walks so much. He always wants to be outside. The boys both managed to escape out the back door when I was cooking dinner and Chris went to the bathroom. We both look around and that bewildered "where did our children go" look came over us. Yeah, they were on the porch trying to turn the faucet on so they could "play water." This is the sort of thing that happens to busy parents. I came home this week to ambulances because the neighbors son fell out of a second story window. How could that happen? you may ask. Well, dammit, you can't be everywhere. The kid's banged up but survived thankfully. |
| Went to lunch with my friend Olivia and we poured over our ancient history of dramastics AKA early 20s. There are many ways in which we are alike so some of our dramastics sound suprisingly similar. It was cool airing all that stuff out. It had been a while since I had talked to someone about those things, and I felt very good afterward. I was telling Chris that it's not that I can't talk to him about those sort of things, but it's different with a girl friend who "totally knows where you're coming from." |
| Holy crap! I used to work with this guy: http://www.forrestgriffin.net/ Hehe...he used to teach me boxing moves. That was back when he was a cop and I was a dispatcher in Athens, GA. The police department didn't want him to fight professionally while being an officer. Anyway, always thought he was a smart guy. Crazy to see stuff like that! Haven't posted in a while. Last week I was determined to raise my rogue level. It's now 69. One more level and I'll be officially pwner of all noobs.  A couple weeks ago I went with Jack berry-picking. It was fun explaining to him about the farm and how it's where food grows and farmers pick the food. I think some of it was clicking, especially once we got to the blueberry fields where he gorged himself on fresh blueberries. At one point he was hiding between two bushes. I thought he was just digging in the dirt, but it turns out he was having himself a nice poop. Changing a poopy diaper in a blueberry field.,.that's pretty old school. We went with my friend Adlin and her daughter Isabel. Isa was very happy to lead Jack around to the different bushes showing him where to pick berries, and then she was upset she didn't get to take him home to play.  Little girls are so cute! Jack of course could care less.Lincoln has gotten better and better at walking. He can cross a whole room now, but is still pretty tipsy. He likes to drag his blankie around behind him, and he usually trips on it. We have gotten to where we don't even let him have it for fear he'll hurt himself. One of the teams I work for has moved offices, so work has been kind of hectic trying to get set up in our new spaces. All new furniture though; that's pretty good. The Olympic games continue to be good. I thought it was funny about the gymnastics how someone the computer recalculated the olympic gold for bars. Hmm...the Chinese girl won...what do you know? And then on the vault the one Chinese girl landed on her knees and still won a medal while the American girl didn't and got 4th. Go figure! Hehe... |
| I must say the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Olympics was awesome! I was so impressed! I hope they release on DVD or something where you can watch it without the stupid broadcasters cutting in. Tonight is very auspicious! Not just because it's 080808 and the beginning of the Olympics, but because Lincoln (perhaps a future Olympian – we don't know) took his first real steps today. They were four solid steps, and he repeated the feat right afterwards. Yea! Very excite! So the Summer Olympics make me think of 1996 when they were in Atlanta, and I actually got to see a couple of the events. The most memorable moment of those Olympics was Kerri Strug's famous vault in the gymnastics meet. That was some good TV there. On NPR today Science Friday was interviewing some guy who know a whole bunch about traffic. And I thought some of the stuff they were talking about was kind of suspect. Like the whole rubbernecking thing – we should all of us stop rubbernecking. So I don't know about you, but I slow down when I see an accident because I don't think it's very safe for the people at the side of the road to go flying by them at a billion miles an hour. The other point of contention I had was a caller who said he pulls up to two inches behind the car in front of him at a stop light. And he was all upset other people don't do that as it's a waste of space. I think that's kind of dumb though. I keep a distance because if so one rear ends me I don't go crashing into the car in front of me. So there, caller from McLean, VA. The very fact that they live around the Beltway yet further evidence people drive awful here! |
| Aug 7 I can count on my one hand how many times Jack has seen Dora, but a couple nights ago he very plainly said “I want Dora!” And as Tivo did not have any Dora the Explorer recorded, he had to settle for Backyardigans, which was fine by him. He told me, “I like moose.” Meaning Tyrone the moose on that show. I can't say that I'm all that happy about Jack being fascinated by television now, but sometimes it can be funny. For instance, that show Wipeout is the lowest form of humor – people falling in mud and water. Jack finds this so funny he bounces up and down, laughing and clapping. I think it will be super fun if we can get him excited about football. Of course, a football game is pretty long. I don't even think I could sit through a whole game until high school...but then I'm a girl.Tonight instead of watching Moose or Dora we went for a walk after dinner down to the lake and back. He brought his little wagon full of blocks and stopped every now and then to take them out and put them back. It was nice out as a storm just passed through and the air was fresh. I think the rain brought out the turtles at the lake. We saw one super big snapping turtle chasing the little ones around. |
| I haven't written in my blog since coming back from our great Northwestern vacation, which was super great! And since I wrote a travelogue of the experience, I don't feel obliged to elaborate more on that. We took tons of pictures, which we have already posted on our Flickr site. Yes, we were that motivated! Hehe... Believe it or not, my little baby will be a big bad one year old next month!  And he's so close to walking! I feel like I've been saying that for months now because he's been cruising so well for that long. Today he was pushing Jack in one of the riding toys. We got a video of that one! What else can Link do? Wave, giggle, eat some table foods, pester his brother, hug and kiss, say dada and mama and something that sounds like cat. So what can Jack do? Go a whole day and night without a binky, take turns with his brother and/or friends, buckle his seatbelt, talk on the phone, say please, smile at the camera, "read" to himself. This weekend both times we went for a walk, it was really more of a run. Jack was running the whole time. Running or jumping. I wonder if he's going to be one of those 4-year-olds who beats people at 5k marathons. Hehe... I discovered that if we filled the kiddie pool on Friday and covered it with a table cloth, the water didn't get leaves and crap in it and generally stayed good the whole weekend. I'll have to remember that one for next summer. Since we were outside so much this weekend, we also discovered the source of our ridiculous ant problem - a pile of cardboard boxes we have been neglecting since...oh, 6 months ago. So Chris cleared that out. Not me, no, I hate ants!! I saw the Batman movie with my friend on Olivia on Friday, which was awesome awesome awesome! Loved the Joker! So creepy good! Olivia sits next to me at one of the office's I work at, and I drew a Joker for her on our white board saying "Why so serious?" She said it was a little too realistic though, so I drew a sombrero on his head. Now he says "Hola, porque asi serioso?" But the big news is...*drumroll* My brother-in-law TJ might be coming to Maryland to pursue a career in law enforcement. I like this idea. More family in the area means, of course, free babysitting. And TJ is a lot of fun, so there's that too. He was really good with the boys when we visited in Seattle. It will be cool to have one of their uncles around. |
| Work has been crazy busy the last two days. I have been coming home so tired. We had such a lovely 4th of July weekend, that maybe it was just a bit of a shock to be working so hard. I work for a man who has a high regard for my skills, and so he's always handing me stuff to do. I guess it's gotten to be a bit too much now. I'm write collection strategies, develop his ppt briefs, and update all of the statistical spreadsheets we keep. And today he tells me I'm in charge of writing a training guide. I'm really ecstatic actually since training guides are like the bread and butter for tech writers, but it would be even nicer if I could drop all the other stuff. We're supposed to be getting a new person in, so hopefully he can take on some of the other things. Like I said, the weekend was SO nice! Friday we went to my friend Adlin's house. Her daughter turned 3 and so it was a BBQ/bday party. Lots of fun with a few kids Jack's age. The party favors she got were big hits - mini-slinky, a vibrating light saber thing, and little Hot Wheels cars. Oh my goodness, Jack was super busy the rest of the night!! We have since gotten more Hot Wheels cars to help supplement his collection. And it was kind of funny at Target I had Chris pick them out because I don't know one set of cars from another. (I'm a girl! ) And Chris was even getting excited! Hehe... So big fun for everyone...except me since I don't really get the car thing...and I keep stepping on them when they get left on the floor.So...before cars what did little boys play with?? I guess toy soldiers. Their will probably be some of those in my future as well. My friend Tasha was over at Adlin's too. I hadn't seen her since she moved down to Virginia and started working in a different place. I miss Tasha! We had such fun getting coffee all the time! Saturday was pretty low-key except Jack and I went to say HI to the new neighbors. The old neighbors had to move because the husband lost his job or something. The new folks are nice. They also have two boys - 4 and 6. And Zach the dad works at the Agency like just about everyone it seems. Sunday we went to the Maryland Science Museum in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. It's the first time we had been to the city since my grandparents came when Jack was like 5 mos or something. Now Jack was walking around checking out all the boats. The museum was pretty cool too - plenty of hands-on stuff which is great for toddlers. They may not know what it all means, but at least there's levers to pull and buttons to push. LOL Link is getting both better and worse at the whole walking thing. He is getting better - stronger, faster - but it's like he forgets he's still not as good as Jack and will take some pretty crazy spills. He took a real bad one tonight and had a good size bruise right beside his eye. I just hope he doesn't get a black eye or something. I'm so excited that Jack is talking to me now! I love being able to have a conversation with him. Not deep-thinking conversations for sure, but he can tell me what he wants and what he sees. It's great! Meanwhile, my tomatoes are getting bigger. I'm planning to hire the kids next door to stop by and water them for me and check on the kitties every day we're gone. Saw a huge owl in our backyard tonight! Was so beautiful and big! We have spotted a big family of deer hanging out at our pond with at least three fawns. One fox remains active in our neighborhood, and on Saturday Jack spotted the bunny whose hole is in our backyard. I'm surprised the fox hasn't gotten the bunny yet, but we'll see. |
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| We're SO close with getting Jack to use the potty. Last night he told us "poop potty" so we got him up there, but he must have gone on the stairs. Then in the middle of night he woke everyone up because he was mad he had wet the bed (through the diaper onto the bed). It is my theory that he actually had been woken up by the need to go to the bathroom, but didn't know what to do other than go in his diaper. Slowly but surely...I think we're definitely getting there. I'm kind of obsessed with comparing his experience to other kids his same age. I think all my friends are tired of me asking about their potty training experiences. Hehe... Lincoln has been kind of moody since we got back from St. Louis. He had a bit of a summer cold that kept him home all day Monday. Plus his top two teeth are coming in. And then there's the whole learning to walk business which he is VERY serious about. He has one walking toy that he just goes all over the house with. He gets very upset when it's not working right. I remember Jack going through this stage, except with him he got mad at even more things. Jack has gotten over the verbal word hump. He knows so many words now, it's crazy. He's using sentences. He has this new weird laugh that he breaks out when he wants to be goofy. Life goes on... Chris had a tooth filled today. I have been feuding with one of the team lead's at work - Bill - my nemesis. He is my Lex Luther. Man, he had me all spun up yesterday. It was like Looney Tunes - my eyes turned red and steam started to come out of my ears. But I talked to my boss, and he was like, "oh yeah, no one seems to get along with Bill." Thank god I'm not the only one! Definitely looking forward to the long weekend just to get away from the office again! We're not really doing anything. My friend Adlin is having a bday party for her 3-year-old that we're going to, but other than that...just chillaxing! |
| Remember that Stephen King book Langoliers about the little creatures that eat the past? Well, it takes place in a deserted air terminal or something. I think we may have found it at Lambert St. Louis airport, which was where we spent a good five hours yesterday since our flight back home to MD was delayed. It was like a whole section of the airport completely deserted and unused. Really creepy. But great at the same time because the boys could pretty much run all over the place. They worked up an appetite and slept the whole flight home, so booyah!! The delay yesterday wasn't as annoying as the airline losing our luggage for a day and a half on Friday. To be honest it may have been partly our fault. We were late for the plane and had to rush to catch it. The ticket agent was sympathetic and in her hurry to get us moving, forgot to put the label on our bag. So they had to courier it out to us at the hotel. At least I didn't have to attend my cousin's wedding in jeans. The bag arrived at the hotel just in time. The whole rush on Friday made it a bit stressful of a day. And to top it off we had to get Jack fitted for his tux. But that didn't happen. We never had enough time for that, so I just bought a premade suit for him on Saturday and he looked fine. Jack was a good ring bearer for a 2-year-old. At rehearsal on the first run through I lined him up at the door and told him to go to the stairs, and he ran to the stairs, past them to the altar, and spiked the ring pillow like a football. So we practiced again and had him stop at the stairs and set the pillow down. And for the actual wedding he even did a nice slow (awestruck) walk. Unfortunately, he didn't know what to do then and started to walk back down the aisle as the flower girls were coming up. Luckily, I caught him before the bride made her entrance. Jack also loved the reception...at least the dancing part...and the cake part.  So we got Charlie and Jenn married. It was cool to see everyone. I felt bad complaining about my luggage when my cousin Megan's neighborhood in Kansas got hit by a tornado, and then her father-in-law died. That's a rough two weeks! Their baby Isaac was putting a good face on it though. He's a cutie! I took some good pictures which I will be putting up on Flickr and perhaps Facebook too. |
| Mastitis...well, it's not fun. It's a breast infection. If you recall from my last entry about weaning, my nipples were all cracked. Yeah, that's not good because apparently bacteria can give you a breast infection...aka mastitis. And guess what, that problem is compounded when your baby's feeding habits are changing...like when you're trying to wean them to formula. So I was pretty much sick this whole last week with a crazy high temp (103) and super sore boobs. I had to get some serious antibiotics to clear it up. All better now though. Bummer we had to miss the REM concert.  I gave the tickets to my friend Olivia from work, so at least she was able to put them to good use. Our babysitter came tonight, so we got to go see a movie. The Happening. It was a little creepy, some startling moments. Was a good time. |
| A week or so ago we started trying to wean Link from breastfeeding. I'm not sure what happened, but I suddenly stopped producing as much milk. And then I think Link got thrush, which he gave to me, which made my nipples start cracking. They were bleeding every time he would try to feed. So we started giving him formula, which he likes just fine so it's all good. And I still breastfeed him once or twice a day when I feel like it. Today was very hot, so we hauled out the kiddie pool and filled it up this morning. Jack spent a good hour splashing in it before lunch and then another hour or two after his nap. He was a little water baby all day. And fortunately, I was there ready to hit him up with the sunscreen all day, so his beautiful white skin is still unburnt. Lincoln was napping both times Jack was in the pool and when he was awake I took him to Target to pick up some items. It was the first time he got to ride in the cart. Usually, Jack is sitting in the cart and Link is in the stroller being pushed by Dad. I think he enjoyed the mom-son trip. He was in a good mood the whole time and talking to me quite a bit. Chris and I watched Invasion tonight - a alien-zombie-body snatchers sort of movie with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. It was nice to just sit back and relax. The movie wasn't too bad. Just a fun triller sort of movie. This coming week we have a babysitter for the REM concert on Wednesday!! YAY!! The last time I saw REM was in Atlanta back in 2003...and not with Chris. That was an awesome concert, so I'm hoping this time around it's just as good or better. |
| Jack likes to come up and tickle my feet now. He thinks it's hilarious. Who gave him this idea, I wonder? I think this is mighty cheeky. When I was growing up, I didn't think adults were ticklish. The truth is that they are but they guard this secret closely since it's annoying to have your kids run up and try to make you laugh when you're concentrating on something. Hehe Link has gotten a lot more sure of himself on his feet. He's walking pretty good with walking toys, which is amazing to me, seeing that he's not 9-mos yet. I love it when he's well-rested and just fed. You usually have a good hour where he's fine amusing himself. If you can time that with the similar mood with Jack, you can actually read a chapter in a book. (It doesn't happen often though.)Jack is getting so much better with words now. It's much easier to tell what he wants, and he's even starting to form short sentences. So cool! He's got a few stock phrases like "here you go" and "get down kitty" and "my turn." "My turn" and "no Lincoln" are pretty much older brother essentials! "Here you go" is reserved for moments when he wants the toy Link is playing with so he find something to replace it with. He's figured out that Lincoln will pretty much take any toy that's given him, leaving the one he was playing with free for the snatching. I am writing in the middle of another storm, but it doesn't seem as bad as the other ones. Or maybe I'm just getting used to them. Chris and our neighbor Tony braved the ridiculous heat earlier today to cut down the huge tree limb that was hanging in our back yard. They didn't chop it into pieces because the chain saw was dull by the time they were done...that and the heat was getting mighty oppressive. You would think chopping a tree down would be enough for one day, but Chris is no ordinary suburbanite. He then proceeds to prep and prime the upstairs bathroom for painting. YAY!! No god-awful baby green in our bathroom! Blech! With just the primer it already looks better! I think he was anxious to get it done because I was talking about calling up my friend Jenn's painter and just getting them to come do it. He said he would rather do it himself than pay someone else. *shrug* so be it. I don't mind, either way I get a better bathroom.  |
| Yesterday huge storms came through our town while I was at work. When I was driving home, seeing all these downed limbs, I kept thinking “please let my house have power, please let there be no damage.” Fortunately, the tree in our backyard feel away from our house. And really it wasn't the whole tree, just half of it. The problem is it's not technically on our property, but behind us and we're not sure if it's city property or church property. Either way, we'll still probably end up paying it to get it fixed because I want it taken care of soon before Jack goes running back there and gets caught under the rest of it. These storms are getting ridiculous! Tasha (my new girlfriend) and I tried to go to the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival. We drove one hour, paid $30, and were there for 30 mins before they kicked everyone out because the sky was turning green. And we didn't even get to the car before the sky opened up. So...after waiting for a while, we ended up going to Sex and the City. Which was fun too! But still...it would have been nice to taste some of the wine. Today there was the office picnic which was super fun. I played volleyball, which brought back memories of high school gym class. But it was cool and I actually learned how to serve the ball with a certain amount of accuracy. And then I played softball where I got four runs and two scores. Zuma! Fortunately, no storms!! Yay! Some people were complaining of the heat, but I'm a summer girl so it was all good. |
| Jack's favorite phrase is "What's That" now. Point - What's That? Point - What's That? Point - What's That? And sometimes I don't know what he's pointing at. Hehehe... This is all pretty cute unless you're in a hurry trying to get out the door. What really gets me now is the mama mama mama mama. My favorite is when he gets up in the morning, he runs to give me a big old hug. Aw! This morning on the way to daycare I put on a Matchbox 20 cd and he was just rocking out. It was great! Link is getting really good at climbing up stairs now. It's a little scary because he doesn't know how to get back down. He's slowly weaning himself off breastmilk. He just gets so distracted that he doesn't drink as much as he used to. Plus he's eating a lot of solids. It all adds up to less breastfeeding. I'm really excited to get my body back actually! I have been pregnant or breastfeeding straight since September of '05, I NEED A BREAK!! I was actually a little paranoid that I would get pregnant again, but I just found out a friend of mine is. So I think that's why. I was picking up the baby vibe from her I think. |
| I must say Maryland has outdone itself on the weather lately. I felt bad for people who went out of town over Memorial Day weekend because it was so pretty here. We had a bbq on Saturday with two other families and my mom who came up for the weekend. There were two other kids Jack's age, which was nice. One of the other Moms was saying how nice it was to go to someone's house who has kids since all the plugs are covered and there's plenty of toys. I think people with kids tend to avoid entertaining because it can be such a hassle, but I enjoy introducing my kids to others. Sunday night Mom babysat while Chris and I did a double-feature - IRONMAN and Indiana Jones. It was awesome!! I thoroughly enjoyed both movies. Technically, Ironman may be a better movie, but I  Indiana. And then Monday was Jack's brithday. We went to the playground and played with water outdoors. Jack got a doctor's kit, a lego set, a Thomas the Train set, and a Magnidoodle. The Thomas the Train set was from my grandparents. It actually came on Friday and it was a huge deal because we were all outside when the mailman stopped by the house. He handed it right to Jack, said Happy Birthday, and everything. Jack was blown away! It was such a great weekend, I didn't mind going back to work too much. |
| Yay! Jack went in the potty yesterday! I'm so excited! He turns two on Monday, and I was thinking I had a whole year ahead of me to really worry about the whole potty training thing. But he's getting it already. He definitely knows when he has to go because lately he'll say "potty potty" but nothing will happen. But then, five minutes later he'll go in his diaper. He just needs to work on the timing some more. So that's big news!! Lincoln has finally gotten out of the funk he was in last weekend. The last two days he has been all smiles. He's getting to be a super fast crawler. At home and at daycare we have noticed that once he's done playing, he'll just find a Boppy pillow and lay his head down. (At home sometimes he subsitutes my lap for a Boppy.) It's so cute! That's his cue - that's when we know he's done and ready for a nap. What a funny little guy! He's starting to look more like a toddler and less like a baby. His features are really starting to come out. I still he looks a lot like Chris. They both do to me. Maybe it's because they're all guys. |
| We finally got the Beetle fixed. Apparently, there was a short in the fuel injector, but we got it back on Saturday and there hasn't been any other incidents. In fact, I drove it last night, and it drove better than it had in a long time. The weekend was a bit hectic, mostly because Link was in a mood. He was feverish and teething. He seems to have some blisters on the inside of his lips. I thought it might be because he sucks his lips a lot, but I'm not sure. It could be thrush, not sure. He screams bloody murder if I try to look in his mouth, so I can't get a good look. We did get the guest room painted. I'm excited because the color looks great! Lately I have been reading a lot of romance novels, but for Mother's Day the boys got me In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Pollan also wrote an Omnivore's Dilemma, which I read last Fall. It is much the same argument. In fact, I have been reading Full Moon Feast also, and the same research turns up there about how bad the "Western diet" is. So I'm trying to avoid the most obvious problem foods, but I can only do so much. I can only take so much of these sort of books because of how helpless they make me feel. I may be ready to get back to romance. LOL |
| For the last month I have been telling Chris that I really need to take a day off and get some stuff done. Yesterday was that day. Of course, I didn't intend to really take the day off, but after Chris and the boys left, I went to start the Beetle and it made a really weird noise. Turns out there is some sort of plug/coil misfiring something going on. I dropped the car off at the shop around the corner and walked back home for a nice relaxing day. I got a lot of laundry done...and I pulled out those dying azaleas. In their place I planted a climbing rose. It fought back, prompting my friend Tim to ask, "Did you get attacked by a cat?!?" Chris got the day off today since the car still wasn't fixed. And tomorrow we have to carpool or something. Plus the daycare said Link can't go back until he gets seen by a doctor for a rash he has developed around his mouth. I swear it's just irritation from teething drool, but they want to make sure it's not contagious. So tomorrow morning will be interesting with one car and four different people needing to go different places. They called me Tuesday afternoon to come and pull a tick from off Jack's ear. That was harder than I expected. I remember having a tick in my hair once, which was an ordeal since my folks tried every thing to get it to release its jaws. I didn't do that. I just got tweezers thinking I could pluck it off no worries. Turns out, that's not so easy, and there was a tiny scratch where the tick was after I was done. Thankfully, no part of the tick was left behind. Jack was not too happy about it. This incident was easily blamed on the cats who come and go at will. They do have tick and flea collars, but I'm not convinced of their effectiveness. And then today another neighbor complained about them sitting on his deck. That makes two neighbors who have had issues with our cats coming to visit. I mean, it could be our cats. There are definitely other cats about. This is all to say that the cats are indoors cats again...for now at least. They'll just have to deal with it. |
| Every day this last week I came home, put the babies to bed, and worked on my novel. That's why I haven't been here in a week. It's been a hardcore writing fest. It feels good to allow myself to become immersed in my hobby like that, but it was also akin to a second job. I was pretty mentally exhausted by this weekend. Not surprisingly, I haven't done much writing since Friday. Last night we started painting the guest room, just the primer so far. I haven't decided if I'm going to hang that picture in the room after all. I may go a different route. I have been buying a lot of art lately. Other than art.com purchases, I went to a friend's apartment to look at his photography. I totally missed his show, so I wanted to see what was left. I ended up buying two pieces already framed. They were nature pictures and I have already put them up in the family room. I love them so much!! Here's one: http://fragilesanctuary.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?gallery=2&image=14 The other one I can't find on his website, but it was a close-up of a stream. Buying art gives me such a thrill - you have no idea! They put Photoshop on my computer at work because I have been doing a lot of graphics for people. People seem to think I have some artistic talent. I wonder if it's an innate ability or just something I picked up from being around my dad growing up. Jack has been impressing me so much with all sorts of new skills. I have to remind myself that he's only going to be two years old this month. He is very polite now and says, sorry, bless you (when you sneeze), thank you, and please (on some occassions). Today we planted some seeds in the yard, which he enjoyed. Yesterday morning, we were watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies on AMC, and he was imitating Fred's moves. I mean, it wasn't perfect, but it was definitely a step above the dancing I had seen from him before. He's gotten better with following a rhythm on the piano. If I tap out "Chopsticks" he will repeat the rhythm, although not on the right keys. Still I thought that an improvement.He has started pointing at letters, but he doesn't know what they are so he just says vowels. He likes to point at our piano which says "YAMAHA" and say a-o-a-i-a-a. Hehehe...he knows that some of the letters are a's, and he guesses at the rest. He has similar issues with colors. He'll call a blue thing blue and a red thing red, but he may look at a green thing and forget the word for it so he'll say blue again. Some things I'm not sure he should be learning. Today he picked up a stick shaped like a gun and said "Boom Boom." When I asked him who he was shooting at, he said "Huh?" I couldn't believe it...but a part of me did. Chris thought it was kind of funny, "I guess he's ready to play Halo with me now." I tried to explain about guns - they're for killing bad guys, zombies, and aliens, but he didn't get it. He was to much into saying "Boom Boom." Link has been getting better at pulling up and cruising. He's definitely going to be walking before Jack was at this rate. I can tell he really wants to be following his brother around. He crawls after him everywhere. To Jack's credit he tolerates this most of the time. Mother's Day was nice. The boys gave me a book and chocolates - they know me so well. I had a three-way call with my Mom and my brother this morning, which was awesome. I hadn't talked to my brother since before he went to India, and since then he has joined a band (drums). Lucky duck!After lunch I went shopping with my friend Jaime. I hadn't talked to her in a while either, so it was nice to catch up. Her husband's in Iraq, so I should probably call her more often. The shopping was quite successful - black shoes on SALE, a skirt for my cousin's wedding next month also on SALE, some white sheets, and some underwear (cause I'm done wearing the boring maternity panties LOL). Ok...done talking for now. |
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But I am happy about those Cardinals! The same Cardinals that I'd written off as possibly the worst playoff contestant in history just three weeks ago. Now look at 'em! I'll be pulling for them in the Big Game!
Stupid Ravens.
