Phrase...

Every once in a while, I will catch a phrase. Maybe I'm walking by someone, or maybe the TV is on in the background. For some reason, this is a phrase that I had to "write down" recently: maximizes palette pleasure.

I'm not quite sure why it is cooking shows are on in our house so frequently - we rarely have a "fabulous" home-cooked meal! I guess at some level, we hope they provide some kind of inspiration.

So, my palette's pleasure was recently maximized by... a sweet potato. Love the way restaurants get them to be so tender! Add a little cinnamon and sugar and I'm in heaven. I had to share my recent one with Mark. Next time, perhaps he will be getting his own!

Love: Conversations that are "over heard"; Boy, I hate to admit I'm so nosy... but yes, I am.
Hope: I hear another interesting phrase to report back on soon!
Do: Still need to get some "target" like items; perhaps I'll visit the target closer to my work!

All in a day!

Some days, I'm amazed at everything that can happen in just the few hours of daylight.

Today, I started my morning feeding Mark, as usual, and headed to Yoga. I came home for a bit, played with Mark, and then headed out to Target and AT&T.

I never made it to Target - - there was a shooting there (guy killed a cashier, then killed himself when confronted by police). I did, however, make record time at the AT&T store and got a new phone!

After stopping to grab lunch, I got two calls from friends. One dropping off an impromptu present for the baby (Thanks BJ!), and one giving us details for the "picnic". We played bocce ball and got to know new friends!

We headed to the park around 2pm, and had several hours of food, friends, fun, and boats (paddle for me, canoe for Seth). Additionally, Mark had his first playdate - - we got to see him interacting with a baby about 2 months younger! It was lots of fun. She weighed only 13 pounds or so, which made me feel like Mark was HUGE at almost 21 pounds!

After the park, we ate dinner out.

Anyhow - a big, fun-filled day. The time at the park (including a lake) made it definitely feel like Memorial day!

Love: Spending time outdoors!
Hope: I don't wake up sore or sunburned!
Do: Need to thumb through the manual for the new phone!

Bedtime, Books...

I love bedtime. One of the reasons is that typically, I get to read really fun books to Kiddo before I tuck him into bed. For some reason, it just makes me happy to "neigh" with the horse or "Arrooof!" with the dog in the story. Boynton's books are currently my favorite, and there are a few we don't yet have!

Maybe by the time Mark is 2, and I've got all the books memorized, I won't enjoy it as much. However... I secretly look forward to the time that Mark can "act out" the "promenade two by two" or "Jammie to the Left" along with the book.

In the meantime, it brings out the "kid" in me. Not that I need any help, I suppose. I seem to find a way for the "kid" to come out regardless of whether I'm at work (and sticking my tongue out at a coworker) or taking girls to the zoo for fun.

Love: Being a kid! I don't want to grow up. Although I told DH earlier today that I feel more "grown up" because having a kid is more responsibility, and I equate responsibility with "growing up", I guess.
Hope: I memorize all Kiddo's books and can recite them from memory!
Do: Need to get a few more books. Perhaps I'll just add them to the wishlist!

A bit more interesting...

Mark is starting to get a little more interesting. He's not yet crawling, but he's definitely thinking about it, as shown here! He's also playing a lot more with the dogs. And the dogs keep coming back for more!

Love: Watching a baby grow. And Fridays before 3 day weekends!
Hope: It doesn't rain tonight - we're headed to a baseball game!
Do: Need to get in some exercise this weekend, I've been a slacker!

Night-Life

On occasion, I put the babe to bed and think "Woohoo! I have my life back!" with the caveat - only between the hours of 8:30pm and 6:00am.

In fact - I recently spent my first night away from the baby. For the course of 12+ hours, I forgot that I was a mom (other than the pumping, and seeing another cute 1 year old at the pool). I felt "free" again!

Love: "Me" time - which mostly involves playing on the computer. I also love when my hubby makes yummy dinners to share with me! Also love that it is "finale" night at the Williams' house - Biggest Loser, Parenthood, and Celebrity Apprentice (all on DVR)!
Hope: for the best...
Do: maybe some laundry tonight?

Accosted!

I thought about making this "Accosted, part 2" but decided against it.

I was walking from my office to the Dunkin' Donuts less than a block away, when a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints stopped - on his bike - and proceeded to ask if I believed in Jesus Christ and to tell me about John the Baptist.

I was trying to find myself out of the conversation, and he asked, "May we come to your house?" to which I responded, "No." He asked, "Why not?" and I said that he made me uncomfortable. I don't remember my exact words, but he responded, "you're uncomfortable that I'm wearing a tie?"

The discussion ended after he asked, "May I leave you with a card?" and I said, flatly, "No." Perhaps I should have learned my lesson the first time: Never leave office property without taking someone with you. Although perhaps it still would have occurred, I would have at least had a witness to help protect me!

I hate "those" people! Even though I have a friend in Kansas who is a member. Blech!

So, I got my bagel twist and tea from Dunkin' Donuts and headed back to work.

And now, for a few additional random thoughts of the day...

Since I do blog quite often, I occasionally say something or blog about something that is a bit "edgy" or fits the category of "maybe I shouldn't have done that." As a result, I've wound up removing two posts. It's nice that when you put your "foot in mouth" electronically, you can literally "take it back." And hopefully not TOO many people will have read it by then!

I admit: I don't remember silly things that my brain considers "useless." For example, I've watched the same movie 3 times - without realizing until the opening scene (the beginning credits, in fact) that I'd seen it. More generally, though, I don't remember movies I've seen. I recently discovered that I own 3 DVD copies of the Labyrinth. I've also seen a trailer here and there recently, and I can't remember if I've seen, for example, the movie "It's Complicated."

And lastly, in the "random thought" category of the day, I had a conversation today about kiddo's wardrobe. I admitted that he's still wearing his 3 month old pants, because we don't have many that fit currently - - they look like high waters. He has recently outgrown all of his Pajamas, too, so he frequently goes to bed in just his diaper (with his "sleep sack" - I love those things!) Although I did get him a couple of new pairs of shorts (and some adorable crocs- hopefully I will post a picture of them soon!) - we're definitely not designer parents. I am sad that I am finding fewer and fewer onesies that will fit him. When he can no longer wear onesies, he'll no longer be a "baby" in my book.

Love: Writing. I don't know why. Math is good, too. But I am a wierd person who also likes to write - just because!
Hope: I find a few more onesies still- I'm not ready for my baby to be walking just yet!
Do: Find someone to walk with me if leaving the parking lot at the office!

Routine..

Some people don't like routines, because they are boring. I like my routine, however. In fact, today I even began to think about studying again for my next test. Boring to some, perhaps. However, it brings a sense of calm to me.

Now, thinking about studying, for me, is the first step. I'm hoping that by this weekend, studying can begin in earnest! It won't be the "drop everything" type of studying that occurs inside the 2 month window of the test, but a book here and there, a paper everywhere.

I am glad that life has a routine. I like my bedtime, for example. I like my commute, most days. I like when it's 4pm. I like email, and blogging. I like my online games (current games of choice are Bejeweled Blitz and Scrabble).

I like the quiet in the evening after bug has gone to bed. Letting the dogs out.

Love: Routines! Most of the time.
Hope: Everything will be okay.
Do: Wonder what DH is up to in the kitchen!

Creepy, Crawly...

We're still waiting for Mark to "officially" crawl. And when he does start crawling, I doubt he'll blend in as well as the "creepy" lizard on the tree. Although maybe he'll start creeping before he starts crawling?

Something about creeping and crawling and the fact that these were the 2 most recent pictures on my camera seemed to work to make at least a decent topic/post for the day.

Love: Watching my "bug" learn to crawl.
Hope: All my scouts will be joining us for the weekend Zoo trip!
Do: Only have one more day of work this week - yay for Fridays!

On/Off Switch

Do your days sometimes feel like they have an on/off switch? I think my switch was turned "off" today. I have been just a little out of sorts- and no real reason. Maybe it's my cycle beginning it's return (it's been 2 years or so thanks to the baby and nursing). Maybe it's the weather (cloudy and rainy). Maybe it's that I haven't worked out and I need to. Regardless, I hope I can go to bed and automatically be turned on tomorrow. (Don't read that the wrong way!)

Love: Quiet houses - including "TV off" time. I guess that even fits with today's topic!
Hope: Tomorrow I see the sun!
Do: Think about working out. Maybe if I keep thinking about it, it will turn into doing it!

Favorites..

For some reason, one of my favorite phrases is "deal-breaker". I don't know what about this appeals to me, ,or why it is of significance today. Perhaps it is one of those catch-all terms which puts things in perspective. Every once in a while, someone needs to slap you upside the head. I think it's particularly useful in relationships, and I should try to apply this to my own relationships more often.

After all - - most things are truly not deal-breakers, even if they are annoying. (For anyone curious - the thought for the day on deal-breakers was sparked by a conversation I heard on the radio!)

Love: Phrases that make me think.
Hope: Mark has a tooth one day to show for the fussiness.
Do: Need to let the dogs out and go to bed... the usual!

Bug goes Bowling!

Not many parents would take their baby out past bedtime - especially to a bowling alley!

I guess this is where we don't exactly fit the "many parents" rule. There was no "shh!"ing going on around our kiddo, instead - a handful of strikes and spares.

Even though it took him a bit longer to fall asleep than usual, he did sleep quite contentedly in his carrier while we were out!

And to remember the evening... we even came home with a bowling pin! We got a package deal that included tokens for the game area. We got enough tickets from playing games to get a bowling pin (and thanks to the smooth talking of our best salesman friend, a 2nd bowling pin for them!)

Quite an evening - enjoyable and memorable - even if my bowling score never broke 100 (even playing with bumpers!)

Love: The once or twice a year we make it to a bowling alley!
Hope: The weather stays pretty again today!
Do: Get a new phone today, maybe?

Irregular...

My blogging has become much too irregular! Instead of promising I'll continue to keep up with it daily, I may have to start trying for every other day. It's not as fun when it is something you feel like you "have" to do.

Anyhow. It's funny watching babies sometimes. Mark just fell over, and hit a toy. Looked like it would have hurt to me, but no fussing yet. He's just playing lying down now. Or maybe I typed that too soon.. The fussing seems to be coming now, since he likes sitting up but not laying down.

Really, the boy just needs to learn to crawl!

Love: Successful furniture shopping (after we had to "beg" for a sales person, who works on commission!)
Hope: Tomorrow is just as successful in finishing my to-do-list for the day!
Do: Did a lot today - shopping and bathroom cleaning (which has got to be my least favorite thing in the world)!

Hmmm....

Another day, another post!

Who invented dog tags? And why is it that the "tags" that soldiers use are called dog tags?

There's some music going on in the other room. I wonder if the baby is intentionally jamming (with his rattle), or if that's just what's closest. My guess is that's what's closest.

Little Boy is also a camera hound, already. LOVES having his picture taken. I love watching him light up when I point and click!

Love: Happy baby (even though it was in part due to a late nap!)

Do: Need to finish vaccuming upstairs. Eventually.

Hope: My head doesn't explode. Don't know why I've had some headaches the last couple of days...

Warning! Long Blog...

For some reason, I feel like I haven't blogged in ages - even though I skipped only one day since the last post!

I guess there are some days (and weeks) that feel like they last way more than the number of hours, just based on the events that transpire.

According to my business writing class today, I should begin my "writing" with a purpose. But, you see, I blog intentionally without a purpose. So I'll save having a "purpose" for work.

The writing class was actually pretty good. I was terribly sleepy today, though, which is never all that fantastic, especially on a day filled with long meetings. I learned something from the class, and actually enjoyed remembering basics of English! Don't be using a passive voice. Sentence fragments bad. All of that good stuff!

Upon arriving home... I sent DH to a Parent meeting at daycare, where we found that Daycare will be closing it's doors. That means we are stuck finding a new place, which is no fun! It was hard enough to find the first one - and it is so convenient, it's really unfortunate.

So, pizza for dinner for us followed by a quick shopping spree. Although Mark was well behaved, as usual, he was demonstrating that he can squeal at very high volumes in the restaurant and in the shop!

We finally committed to a June trip to see family. It's nice to have the ticket, and something to look forward to, in just under a month! Finding a ticket for a decent price was definitely more of a chore than usual, however, but we still managed to get decent prices. We enjoy seeing family.

I've had a huge headache most of the day, and tomorrow I have a lunch with the Actuaries in the area that I am looking forward to.

Lots of craziness. My head is spinning. I might be heading to bed earlier than usual - it's been an odd day, and I'm beat. To top it off, I have a doctor appointment to (not) look forward to tomorrow. I am finally going in (my first "real" doctor in the area) for a bad rash that I've had for over a month. Joy.

Hope: This wasn't too boring! ... and that the headache goes away soon.
Do: Need to work on finding a new daycare.
Love: That we have travel plans on the horizon!

Slobber Mouth fuss face..

Our slobbery-mouthed fuss-face must be teething! He suddenly likes chewing on fingers (more than normal) and doesn't mind ice cubes. Maybe this means one day he'll join the average baby-his-age and have a tooth or two!

Overall he's still doing well. Tonight he fell asleep on his belly before we put him to bed. He's list of foods is growing, although ever so slowly. I didn't realize that babies only have about 10 foods to start with. All these crazy things only mothers know!

Speaking of Mothers.. I enjoyed my first mother's day. I went to yoga and my DH made me a nice dinner. We even got a bit of shopping in, which included buying an upgraded car seat for bug! And by "buying" - I really mean spending the last of our "free money" from baby showers and the like. We don't make our way to BRU often, and didn't realize the gift certificate still had over $100 on it!

So, that's the peak in my (our) life for today. Not too exciting in my book. I could tell you about how 113 degrees in our server room at work almost caused us to be out of work for the day, or how a late afternoon meeting led DH to getting in the house before me by a few minutes - - but the baby stuff is usually a little more interesting and exciting.

Love: Peaceful time after kiddo falls asleep in the evening.
Hope: to see some teeth soon!
Do: Get at least one thing accomplished every day this week. Today: Going through a long over-looked stack of mail!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my "new mom" friends!

Love: My baby!
Hope: Everyone has a wonderful mother's day!
Do: More house cleaning and errand running in store for today!

Produce

... And by Produce, I mean STRAWBERRIES!

One of the great things about North Carolina is that there are several "pick your own" strawberry growers. You have to get there early - which is a little tough on a Saturday morning - but the experience is worth it! Even "bug" picked his very first ever strawberry! (And then enjoyed some for lunch, I might add..)

Love: Spending a Saturday with the family and NOT studying!
Hope: We have more strawberry picking adventures in our future!
Do: Figure out what to do with the 4 lbs we collected (in just under 15 minutes)...

Old friends...

I love it when I run into old friends! Tonight, I went to a graduation party for a friend locally, and two of her friends from Drake were here to help celebrate the occasion!

So, thanks to Dr. PT for graduating - it was great to see HM and AC...

Do: Enjoy the rest of my evening!
Love: Old friends!
Hope: For a productive weekend- including a longer post!

Moving on...

So, with the test now over, it's time to move on!

I have a huge list. Laundry to do and cleaning to be done. I did manage to get the dogs to the vet today. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. Most importantly, I don't have to study!

It was good to read comments on the exam and discover that others had some of the same concerns/thoughts. For example - - if you don't remember a name of someone, and there is a question related to that topic, it's a bit of a bad sign for that question!

It was also nice to see that one of the questions I actually studied very recently was on the exam, so hopefully I did well on that question.

Overall: As usual, it's just good to be done! The family went out to dinner. Tomorrow night, it's date night! DH and I are going to see Wicked. We'll be getting home late, so I'll warn you now: It's likely a no-post day.

Love: Finishing a test, and moving on!
Hope: Nashville begins to recover from the flooding.
Do: Lots! But no studying for a while!

Twist and...

Well, twist - at least! That is, baby has learned how to twist around! On his belly or on his butt or on his back. It's a little odd - - every once in a while we look up and see him all twisted around!

Sorry no post yesterday, and short today. My head is immersed in bond pricing and all kinds of other stuff.

Love: Finishing tests. No matter pass or fail, it's always good to be done and a new beginning!
Hope: I survive tomorrow.
Do: Finish looking through notes (and hopefully memorizing!) before tomorrow 8:30am!

Sleep!

We're trying to do the sleep-training thing. Lately, that's meant a few nights of "crying it out."

I'm sure it's no fun for Mark, but it's less fun for us!

It's just a phase. One of many of the not-so-fabulous phases of parenthood, I suppose.

Do: Need to wait it out, even though it isn't fun.
Hope: It is a short-lived phase.
Love: Weekends. Always enjoy them.

Learning...

As a baby, there is a lot to learn. For example, a baby often learns how to crawl! In order to learn this valuable skill, a baby must spend time laying on his stomach on the floor. However, at least lately, laying on his belly on the floor means it's nap-time. Or perhaps even bed-time (at 7:30). Regardless, not much progress is made in learning to crawl when you fall asleep in the process!





Another good skill for a baby is eating. That skill is... well... going. Fruits are good, Vegetables are Evil (particularly the green ones; who came up with "jolly" green giant, any-hoo?). And dinnertime is, perhaps, a bit too close to bedtime.








And then there is sitting. This is definitely a skill at which Mark has reached some level of mastery recently. Two days in a row, he has sat for an hour or more in a high chair at a restaurant. He's doing really well in grocery and shopping carts. He can even pull himself up with a little assistance (but still has not mastered moving into a sitting position on his own). We got him his own chair for the back porch. Of course... it may still be a while before his feet touch the ground!



Love: Learning!
Hope: I have learned something over the last several months of studying...
Do: Go back to studying!