Sunday, September 28, 2008

The changes are a-comin'...

We found out this week that Brian has a new job!! He will be working for a small company in Massachusetts, about 25 miles from here. The best part is.....no more night shift!!! Will and I will have Daddy at home on nights and weekends!!!! This is pretty exciting stuff, since Brian has been working the overnight (aka "Vampire") shift for four years now. I won't have to check all the time to see if he is working before planning anything!

There are some kinks to be worked out, but for right now, share my excitement!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Ouch!!

I've done something that I haven't done in a while. I've hurt my back!

I had a little bit of muscle strain while in North Carolina, getting tossed down by the waves on the beach. It had been getting better, but on Wednesday night I must've done something bad, because it hurt a lot. Not sure if it was giving Will a bath, picking something off the floor or WHAT. I had a very tough time getting out of bed on Thursday, and tying my shoes, walking, etc etc etc. It was bad enough to go to the doctor today.

Doctor prescribed a muscle relaxer for bedtime, and lots of advil, heating pads, stretches and rest. He also said that it would take about four to six weeks to be back to my old self. FOUR TO SIX WEEKS!!!!!

This is a little bit of a wakeup call. I'm spreading myself a little too thin these days. Taking on too much. So today, I pledge to take better care of myself!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Welcome Back!

The Fall Season of Television is upon us! Everything is new starting this week. And (hopefully) there'll be no more strikes to screw it up!

Hello How I Met your Mother! Ghost Whisperer...good to see ya! Scrubs, ER, here's to a great last season! Grey's.....hope you're doing better! And hey to soooooo many more! I'm going to totally load up the DVR. (Which truly is a wonderful invention!)

Oh yes......Thursday TV Night is back!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Adventures in Boston....





We had a great day in Boston yesterday! I signed us up for a trip to the Boston Children's Museum with the playgroup, but ended up being the only member there. But we had a great, great time!! Our friends Alana and Jason came with us and Jason offered to drive. Will LOVED the museum!! What a fantastic place, and they really go out of their way to make sure there are things for all kids, big and small, to play with. Will's favorites were definitely the bubble room and the boat room. That boy just can't get enough of water! After two floors though, he was tuckered out, so we headed for some lunch at Au Bon Pain and then out to the truck. Oops....blocked in.

So we started walking, looking for something to do and wound up at the New England Aquarium. Will enjoyed seeing all the fish, and some frogs, and Alana got a great shot of a blue lobster. The penguins were our favorite, though!

The aquarium was absolutely MOBBED, which was frustrating. But I managed to have the dumbest conversation I've ever had with a customer service person. Let me set the scene: it's crazy with people, people cram-jammed on the whole first floor. And looking above us, it doesn't look like it's going to thin out anytime soon! Will's really cranky-hungry, and the cafeteria is on the second floor and we have a stroller. So we find the elevator, and damn! It's got a huge out-of-order sign. The stairs going up to the cafeteria warn not to bring up a stroller, and frankly, the admission prices just aren't cheap enough to get kicked out. So I try to find another way upstairs.....to an emergency exit not going to the cafeteria. So Alana and I make our way down the ramp to Customer Service, and it went a little like this:



Me: "Excuse me, is there another way to get to the cafeteria?"


CSR: "You just use the elevator around the corner."

Me: "But there's a big "out of order" sign on it. Is there another elevator?"

CSR: "Well, did you try pushing the button?"


Me: "Ummm.....why would I try pushing the button if the sign says it's out of order?"


CSR: "Well, most people still try!"


Me: "Well, I didn't plan on getting stuck in the elevator in the aquarium!"

She then mumbled and walked away, and I had a mini-meltdown over the stupidity of that gem of a conversation. I ended up leaving Will with Brian, going upstairs and buying some yogurt and Teddy Grahams (Will's favorite) and a nutri-grain bar for the bargain price (snicker) of $4.73. That'll teach me to pack more food in the diaper bag!


All in all, Will enjoyed his first day in Boston. And there were no stuck elevators in the experience!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bugs indeed....aren't funny

Have I told you that I am a total bugophobe?? I am ridiculously terrified of bugs. Well, not flies or ants. But pretty much anything else! If it has more legs than my dog, well......keep it away from me!

Brian was telling me a story this morning, and in the middle of it I started to scream hysterically!!! While he was talking, a huge bug was crawling out of my work bag, which was on the dining room table in front of him. I scared the hell out of him with the scream, then running into the kitchen and practically hyperventilating. WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT??

Ladies and Gents......a cricket! A cricket. Harmless cricket with the unfortunate (and decidedly tragic) location of my work bag, nestled with my library book and Palm Pilot. Do I know this bug is harmless?? Of course I do.....but it doesn't matter. A bug is a bug, and what we have here is an involuntary reaction, folks!

So I guess the question is.......We're raising a son. How the hell am I going to handle it when he plays with bugs and brings them into the house? I'm done for, you all know that. He's going to think all of that is so cool and want to collect it. He's going to turn into Gil Grissom from CSI!

After the major crisis was averted and I'd calmed down Will from thinking Mommy was going around the bend, it was time to leave for work.

But not before Brian checked the work bag to make sure there weren't any more!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Clean it Up, Clean It Up....

I recently realized that I don't remember the last time that I vacuumed. Probably when someone was coming over and I wanted to give the appearance that we're not cluttered, frazzled people! I actually don't want to know the last time, it might prove to be rather embarrassing.

Anyway, I brought the vacuum out, in hopes of getting a room or two done while The Backyardigans were on. No such luck....apparently our vacuum is MUCH more entertaining! Will followed me around yelling "More!" every time I shut it off. He's a great cheerleader when it comes to motivation. He started crying in the beginning, and I thought he was scared of the vacuum. (maybe something he learned from Joey, our dog!) So I turned it off and discovered that he's not scared. My son is apparently the one kid that is upset because he isn't the one doing the vacuuming!! He just keeps coming up and saying "Please? Please?"

I'll check back with him when he's thirteen and playing video games. But I HATE housework?! Why meeeeeeee??? " And when I gently remind him of his vacuum-loving toddlerhood, he'll just roll his eyes and scoff. I can see it already.

But for now.....he may be onto something!

Monday, September 15, 2008

It's Official...

...I've entered the full-time workforce again. After a little over a year away, I'm back! Since this change took place in September, I felt like I was a kid again and kissing summer goodbye come September!

How's it going? This is my first full week and I haven't been this tired in ages!! But I'm really busy with a project and things are going well. Will was already in full-time daycare so not much has changed for him. He's playing and learning and eating better for his daycare provider than he would ever eat for us! Today he greeted me at the door with a magnifying glass, reading letters and numbers. My little detective. :)

I'm going to miss a couple of things about working part-time. Like grocery shopping on Tuesday morning instead of in the Saturday crowds. Or getting a coveted hair appointment in the middle of the week. Once I get by this tired thing....I think it will be good!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

My Backpack, Mine!

Will has his very own backpack.....and he's very proud of it! It's (of course) Cars, with Lightning McQueen on the front! We use it as his bag to go back and forth to daycare. He actually cried the first time he wore it and we made him take it off so he could go to bed.










Friday, September 12, 2008

Happy Birthday, Brian!!!!




Happy Birthday to my dear husband Brian :)




I know that things have been crazy this past week and I've been pretty pre-occupied with work. But I want to tell you that I love you to bits and Happy Birthday!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Book #3--The House on Mango Street

I finished this book in a flash, because it is very short. It's a well-written short story about a girl that's living in a neighborhood that she doesn't feel is her own, and how she wants to escape it one day and be something bigger. It held my interest, though I didn't care much for the author's style of writing. The entire book is broken down into "short stories" that follow the above theme. Some of these sections are as short as a paragraph or two. If these "chapters" had been woven together, it might have been easier to follow.

I am not sure what my next book is going to be on The New Classics Challenge. I am having some trouble getting my other three choices at the library, and I am trying really hard to not buy any books in order to save money. When you love books like I do, the money starts to add up and so does the clutter in your house!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Root Beer!

Y'know....coming from a 22-month old, "love you" sounds an awful lot like "Root Beer!" It's so sweet either way and I know that's what he's trying to say, it just gives me a giggle. :)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Road Trip!!

I went to visit my friend Lexi from college! Brian and I had talked about this a couple of months ago, and he was happy to have me go while he and Will got to have some guy time. And no, when I got home, amazingly Will couldn't belch the alphabet and there weren't a lot of dishes. Had it been hockey season though.....Will probably would have been able to cuss out a referee when I got home. Which is a useful skill, actually. :)

I actually had forgotten a little bit what it's like to travel by yourself! I packed a bag and was flabbergasted that I didn't have more stuff to bring with me. I felt so light and free, no pack and play, no DVD player, no making sure I had snacks, juice, sippies and diapers and Heaven forbid, Brown Doggie. Just me on the open road, blasting my iPod at will. And since we got back from North Carolina last week, my trip to Maine makes it ten states covered in a week's time!

For those that remember (or not), Lexi is my refreshingly honest, fun and funky, tell-it-like-it-is girlfriend from Salve. If you ask her for her honest opinion she will surprisingly give it to you. She has a log cabin in her hometown that she shares with her husband, a state trooper and her German Shepherd. Oh, and Lexi is pregnant with her first child, a boy, to be born this winter. Her husband was away so we actually met up at the Baby Mecca, Babies 'R Us. That store is daunting for many, but I helped guide her through, past the crap that the baby world wants you to get sucked into and to the stuff you'll really need. (And though I've said it before, Thank You to all of my girlfriends who helped me at my time of confusion! You've helped make me the savvy mom that I am...) After BRU we headed to a Mexican restaurant in Portland for a late lunch, then up to the cabin. I played flashlight tag with her dog Rufie, who is the hap-hap-happiest pup I have ever met! We had an ice cream dinner at her parent's ice cream shop (check out Blue Plate Special for details on that) and then watched craptastic TV about speeders and criminal drivers until we felt sleepy.

Now is the time that I should mention the rain. Oh my goodness...the rain! It was like a monsoon, it rained hard from 7pm till 6am this morning. I should know....Lexi has a metal roof. It's quite a noise, but it put me to sleep. Till it stopped raining and I woke right up. Lex has a kiddie pool for Rufie out in the yard. When I got there it was empty....and when we went out for breakfast this morning it was totally full!

Thanks for a wonderful time, Lexi. Since our schedule is usually see each other once a year....next time I see you you'll be a mom! And you will be a great one, I already know.

Monday, September 1, 2008

The Vacation Post

And now for our vacation.

To sum it up, I have to say that the Outer Banks of North Carolina is one of the nicest places I have ever vacationed. It's a really family-friendly place, with lots of things to see and do. We had a nice mix of relaxing and having fun.

We started the drive down on Friday, choosing to split it up so we weren't in the car too long. We stopped for the night in Pennsylvania, at Grandmom and Grandpop's summer place at the campground. Brian has a lot of childhood memories there, the family has been camping there since he was a kid. After a night's rest, we set out for North Carolina.

The drive down was fairly uneventful, with lots of smaller freeways instead of staying on I-95. We didn't go through any major cities that way, but we certainly went through all of the smaller ones! Traffic didn't get bad until the bridge going to the Outer Banks, where it took us over an hour to go eight miles!! The name of the village that we stayed in is Duck, NC. Duck was just incorporated as a town in 2002, and it's mostly resorts and private beaches. Lovely area, though.

We went to the ocean, which Will liked better than last year but only if his toes were touching the water and nothing else! Mommy and Daddy got their butts whipped by the waves, with Mommy getting bowled over three times! We took advantage of the resort's amenities, swimming as much as we could. My mother and I even took a side trip to the spa! (What's a vacation without some pampering?) This spa was pretty neat, it's entirely organic, down to the organic paint and the vegan nail polish. Nothing like a massage and a pedicure to put you in relaxation mode! We also did some sightseeing, and toured one of the lighthouses. I say "toured," but I volunteered to stay down with Will while Brian and my parents climbed the 214 stairs to the top of the lighthouse. (I'm not a fan of heights) And the shopping.....we shopped till we dropped! All in all, this is a fabulous place to vacation. I would recommend it to anyone, and I am sure we will go back eventually.

We left North Carolina on Saturday morning, and got back to Pennsylvania in the evening. Labor Day Weekend is pretty big at the campground! On Sunday there was a barbecue at Grandmom and Grandpop's site, and Will got to play with Uncle Tony and Aunt Tina, Uncle Matt, and then pal around with Aunt Beth and Uncle Julian, and their three girls. Will LOVED climbing the rocks that Beth and Brian climbed as kids, and swinging on the swings! He was having so much fun, he skipped his nap for the first time. But then he was in bed at 6pm!

Now we've returned home, with a little bit of the "post-vacation blues." Luckily, I don't have to return to work until Wednesday so I can soak up a little more vacation until then. Soon I will be going back to work full-time and working on a huge new project. So it's good to fully enjoy the time off now, since it's coming to an end.

Thanks to everyone who helped make our vacation special: Nana and Papa, Grandmom and Grandpop, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are more like family!




Family Portrait at the beach


Daddy taking Will for a dip

Will concentrating on his sand creation while Nana looks on


There were painted horses in front of many establishments. The celestial one was my favorite.



Will looking down the slide at the pirate ship playground




Will posing with Beth and Julian's oldest, Olivia





Beth with Olivia and Rhianna






Aunt Tina pushing Will to the playground







Beth and her youngest, Rebecca




Will climbing rocks, The King of the World!!




Back to Reality....

Well, we've arrived home, safe and sound. The trip from PA today was long and uneventful, thank goodness! That's all for now, because now there's a flurry of unpacking, laundry, errands, grocery and bills to do!