Moving...

Changed my mind and decided to start a new blog, which can be found here.

Alex's 2nd Birthday Party

Yesterday we held Alex's 2nd birthday party at Romp N Roll. He shared his party with Preston, his cousin born eight days before him, and Camden, his cousin born eleven days after him. What a blast! See pictures and video below.

We waited until it was almost time to leave for the party before explaining to him that he was going to his birthday party. We told him all the people who would be there, what we do, how much fun it was going to be, but all he wanted to know was, "Birthday cake?" My boy loves some birthday cake! (For some reason he's been randomly asking for birthday cake for the last couple of weeks, so he was especially excited for his request to actually be fulfilled yesterday.)

Romp N Roll is located in a strip mall (big surprise) and when we pulled in, poor Alex was confused and started screaming, "No shopping! No shopping! Birthday party!"

He had a blast and Claire was a dream, mostly just hanging out with me in the Ergo carrier.

Minor mishap with the cake - it stuck to the pan!

But it turned out well enough. Just had to send Dave to the store for another container of icing so I had enough to cover the cake after doing a repair job.
Alex was a bit slow to warm up to Rompy.

Same blog, new focus

Figured I'd resurrect this blog and use it to post random things about Alex and Claire. If nothing else it can serve to document things that just aren't making it into the baby book (um, so far nothing has made it into Claire's and Alex's is hardly bursting at the seams).

Goofy Dog Behavior

My dog barks at the vacuum cleaner. Not only does he bark, he also tries to attack it by lunging and biting at the end of it. It was really annoying. I wasn't sure how to respond so I tried to reinforce his good behavior by praising him when he was quiet. Well, that didn't work, so I just ignored him while I completed this mundane task and he finally got tired and walked away. My limited web search suggested slowly desensitizing him. What a pain. I guess what they say is right: there are no quick fixes. (Just kidding. Who is "they" and is that what they really say?)

But During my web search, I did find this interesting board on petlovers.com where someone asked the following: "When I vacuum my dog goes nuts. Maybe it’s the noise, but even if I put him in the backyard he starts howling whenever I start the vacuum up. But he’s also an incredibly hairy dog, so it’s not like I can stop vacuuming. Suggestions?" (Oh, so if her dog weren't hairy, I guess she could stop vacuuming.)

I found Paul Camp's response particularly helpful and insightful: "I saw a Roomba Robot Vacuum at Sharper Image yesterday. Great for collecting that precious dog hair trail around the house. I also waited in line for 15 minutes just to get into the new Apple store. Forget it that is my last trip to the mall this year, I am going to do all my shopping online from now on. So first up the irobotstore.com for the new discovery, then the ipodstore.com for the blue mini … both have free shipping and my toys will arrive on early next week, how easy is that." Thanks, Paul! This information won't help me get my dog to stop barking at the vacuum cleaner, but now I know another gadget that will pick up my (precious?) dog hair trail and drive my dog nuts. And I learned I can actually shop online...wow!

My Poor Abandoned Blog

Come on, blog, hang in there. Stay with me now. You can do it. Wait, I think I see signs of life. Yes, there's a pulse! Hooray!

Katrina, you're a bitch

I'm so annoyed by the actions of these jerks in New Orleans who are vandalizing, stealing non-necessities, firing at rescuers, starting fights, and raping women. I really feel sorry for the law-abiding people who are trying to survive this mess but are having to cope with the additional terror caused by these idiots.

And I'm getting so sick of hearing only about New Orleans. How are the people coping in the other affected cities? Are they receiving the help they need? (They must be since we're not hearing anything about it. Doesn't make for compelling news, I guess.)

Annoying Busy People

There are so many people that always have to be doing something. And they assume everyone else is like that too.

That’s why people always ask on Friday, “What are you doing this weekend?”

And on Monday, “What did you do this weekend?”

And when you’re taking a day off or vacation days, “Where are you going?”

“What are you doing?”

“What did you do last night?”

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

Sometimes this is just idle, polite chatter, small talk. But under the surface, I think it’s expected to have an “acceptable” answer.

Why is it expected that we should be busy and off doing stuff all the time?

Take my neighbor (and co-worker). Every weekend during the day he’s out in his yard mowing, pruning, planting, weeding, picking, washing. The guy has three kids too, so I know his evenings are slammed. At work he runs around all stressed out and talks really fast. He makes me edgy just being around him.

I, on the other hand, have no problem sitting on my deck reading or sitting on my ass watching TV or movies for hours.

My husband and I take an annual vacation…we stay home and recharge; we don’t do housework, yard work, or errands. We take what I consider a real vacation. When I tell people (because they always ask what we’re going to be doing on our down time) that we aren’t going anywhere, we’re just going to stay home and relax, they all look at me like that’s the most novel and innovative idea, and they say how they should do something like that. (Of course, they never do.)

Are we low-key? Or are we just lazy?

We take trips and have interests, so it’s not like we lead the most boring lives ever. (OK, well maybe the second most.) We’ve taken two weeks to drive the California coast, we’ve seen London, traveled Australia. My husband even went on an Antarctic adventure. Our lives are multi-faceted enough.

And our house and yard are in relative order. We pay our bills and are functioning members of society.

Come on people, watch some mindless reality television. Stare into space. Come over to the dark side!

My Life Would be Better If...

• Ernie's brain tumor would stop coming back and he were healthy
• Dave was able to get a good night's sleep every night and wake up refreshed
• Our pets weren't constantly sick
• Our puppy slept later than 6 AM
• I didn't have allergies
• I loved my job
• I had a best girlfriend, instead of all these quasi-friends

The Light Challenge

Our lights at work are motion-activated, so sometimes while I'm at my computer reading, etc., and not moving much, the lights will go out in my cube. I like to see how long I can minimize my movements and keep them off. It's harder than it sounds, especially if somebody walks up to talk to me or if I have to reach for the phone.

Relief

I can’t wait for fall. I love that crisp, cool air, leaves crunching under my feet. I can’t wait to put on my running shoes and take my dog for a jaunt in the autumn air. [I like to pretend I’m a runner, even though I seem to never make time to go anymore. When I’m working only three days a week I’ll have no excuse. Oh, no. Bring on the guilt.]

But then it will get too cold. I’ll complain that I have to walk the dog when it’s freezing. The dog won’t want to go out. [Maybe I’ll buy one of those doggie sweaters for him. Or maybe he won’t be the wimp I think he is, but wouldn’t the pads on his little feet freeze if the concrete is really cold?] I’ll complain that I’m cold all the way into my bones, and nothing I do will make me warm. I’ll take showers that are too hot. My skin will be dry. My lips chapped.

And so the cycle continues. Whatever.

Same ‘Ole

I’m so unmotivated [lazy?]. I keep going back to my email hoping that I’ll get a new message that will distract me from the stuff I’m supposed to be working on. Or I spend time looking for good blogs. Is it bad when you try to go to a website and a message pops up that says the site is blocked by your company’s web filter due to adult content? Do you think my name ends up on a list on some IT guy’s computer? Am I being watched constantly…every key stroke captured, every second I’m browsing the internet tallied? If so, you know how unproductive I’ve been lately. When are you going to do something about it? What are you going to do about it? I’m here for only two more weeks, then I’m outta here for 90 days [unpaid]! Yippee [except for the no pay thing]!

Chicken Conundrum

There’s a chicken processing facility not too far from my house, so as I’m driving to and from work I often see trucks full of live chickens on the highway on their way to the plant. Sometimes I don’t actually see the trucks, but there’s evidence of their recent presence in the form of small white feathers flitting around the road.

There are a few things that I find disturbing about these trucks:

• The chickens are jam-packed into cages that are so small, they can’t stand up; and there are so many chickens crowded into a single cage, they can barely move or turn around.
• The cages are wire mesh and open on all sides, which means, when it rains, they all get soaked; in the winter, the chickens probably freeze to death before arriving at the slaughterhouse, if not from the frigid temps, then from the wind chill of traveling down the highway at 65 mph.
• Once in a while there’s a single dead chicken on the side of the road, presumably because it fell from the truck. How did it get free from the cage? And since it’s in the cage with lots of other chickens, how is it that there’s only one casualty? (Perhaps the others are crammed in so tightly they don’t fall out even if the cage door is left open.)

I’m not some radical animal rights person, but I feel sorry for these little creatures. I think we could at least treat these poor birds with kindness before we kill and eat ‘em.