Weekend getaway

Today I'm leaving for my very first baby-free trip since my hilltot was born! I can't believe that it's been almost 16 months and I haven't even spent a single night away from him. I'm a little nervous about how I'll handle it, but I know that he'll be just fine. It will be so great for Chris and Z to have some father-son bonding time, and it will be good practice for Chris as my pregnancy progresses and he has to take on more parenting responsibilities. I did cook enough food for Z to last a couple weeks (in case I decide I need more away time), but other than that, it's going to be Daddytime, 24x7! They are going to have a great time.

And I am going to have a fabulous time! We're going to Disneyland, we're going to eat lots of good Asian food, it will be warm (at least compared to the several inches of snow I woke up to this morning), we're going to get pampered, and best of all, I get to hang out with Trish! And I won't have to constantly think about nap times, meal times, packing up 10 tons of gear...in fact, I'm going to fly with JUST A CARRY-ON! What a dream. No car seat, no stroller, no huge duffel bag with a Pack-n-Play. Just me and my clothes. Whoo hoo!

OK, maybe I won't have such a hard time with this. I'll try really hard not to skip down the airport terminal.

Just kidding. I know I'm going to miss my boys terribly. And I'm too awkward to skip anyway.

Emily's baby shower

You may remember my posts a couple years ago about Emily and Brett making it legal by getting hitched (twice). Well today, we celebrated their upcoming new addition! And not their home remodel, although that is apparently going well too. Emily's friend Angie threw her a lovely baby shower, where we got to munch on yummy snacks, play games, and watch Emily fan herself as she got overheated. We also got to see Emily do a belly bump boo-yah with Lori, who is due a week after Em. In addition to Em and Lori, there were several other pregnant women there (the second picture below shows the six of us in chronological order of "ready to popness"), including Em's sister Alison! They also got married the same year, so they apparently like to keep their parents on their toes.

I can't wait to meet their little one! Although if they have a girl, apparently we have to keep Z away from her when they reach adolescence.

My first album

This is another "viral note" that's going around Facebook, but it entertained me so I'm posting it here. Here are the rules:

1. Go to wikipedia and hit “Random... Read More... Read More” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to "Random quotations" or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3. Go to flickr and hit “Explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

Here's mine:



(My band name is a species of dragonfly, the album is a quote from Kanye West, and the picture is, umm, a picture of a girl.)

It's called "back-up"

The man in the mirror

Today I took my car in for service and was given a loaner car to use. I installed Z's car seat in the loaner, but I didn't move the Bear View Mirror (we have the monkey version). I didn't realize how accustomed I am to watching Z through the mirror until my heart stopped not once, not twice, but three times in a 20 minute period when I glanced up at my rear view mirror and thought, "My baby's gone!"

They owe me

I hear and see so many commercials about those annoying, aggressive, hassling, bothersome pit bulls (all words used in actual ads) who bother innocent citizens AT THEIR HOMES and need to be stopped! These poor victimized souls need someone to protect them, to stand up for them and tell those bullies to back off! Who is mercilessly bullying our hapless friends and neighbors? Why, those evil collection agencies and credit card companies! How DARE they hassle people who borrow money to spend way beyond their means and then are unable to pay the debts that they themselves accrued? That's just downright cruel. If I were to build up $50k in unsecured credit card debt (what are these people buying and why can't they stop before they reach $50k?), I would totally expect my credit card company to leave me alone and not demand that I pay them back according to the terms of the agreement I signed when I applied for the credit card. After all, why should I be accountable for my own bad decisions? They are the ones with all the money, so that makes me the innocent victim.

And yes, I fully realize there are situations out there where people are taken advantage of or get stuck in a cycle of debt that they can't get out of without help. But help should come in the form of a reasonable payment plan and counseling on how to make better financial decisions. Not these ridiculous companies that claim to "reduce or eliminate your debt by over 60%!" or "beat the credit card companies at their own game!" If you spent the money, then you should pay it back. And if you accepted the terms of the credit card YOU applied for, then you've agreed to play their game.

Sorry for the crankiness, but I get SO tired of this sense of entitlement and lack of accountability, and I must hear those ads on the radio at least a dozen times a day.

Warning! Clouds!

Wow, I'm lazy

I seriously need to update this blog. Somehow, I don't seem to have much spare time (I think it has to do with a very busy little 14-month old who runs me ragged) so I'm lucky if my baby hill blog gets updated, let alone this one! And most people seem to be much more interested in baby hill than in me. Don't worry, I don't take offense. I'm more interested in baby hill myself.

I hope that everyone had a happy, healthy and safe holiday and we're all looking forward to wonderful things in 2009! In our house, we are steadily marching towards (or perhaps even entering) the "terrible 2's" -- that fun-filled time when our already headstrong boy decides to assert his independence. We can see traces of it already and are looking forward to a whirlwind of new experiences. I'm about to enter my "thrilling? threadbare? 36's" and I'm wondering if that gives me license to throw tantrums too. I hope so. Z and I can go head-to-head. And I'm still bigger.

I hope to update my pictures on flickr soon and maybe even find more time to babble on this blog. But if not, you can always head over to baby hill to see what's going on in the whirling dervish's life! Since our lives revolve around him anyway, you'll get an idea of what's going on in general.

Happy New Year!

On a completely different note...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Jules

Just wanted to take a moment to remember my friend Julie Brusegaard-Bissel, who lost her year-long fight with cancer yesterday. She leaves behind a family who loves her dearly, including her husband Bob, her 19-month old son Blake, and her sister Tammi. Julie, you've touched a lot of people with your joy and love and your baby boy is lucky to have such a wonderful guardian angel watching over him. Rest in peace.