Xmas2009: Day 10

Well, it's been an eventful week. Trent became a perfect little angel after I put him back into his routine. Daz and Mel arrived on Monday evening after a few delays in Dulles. They were exhausted but happy to be here. We spent the past couple of days shopping for xmas and picking up last minute supplies for xmas day dinner - which will consist of roast lamb, yorkies, mint sauce, a variety of veggies, gravy, and a trifle for dessert! So can't wait to eat all that. I'm declaring us officially ready for xmas. Lucky too, because tomorrow is xmas eve!

Merry xmas, y'all.

Xmas2009: Day 3

day 3 greeted me with yet another cranky toddler who wouldn't take his meds. This morning Trent promised he would take his meds after I gave him a treat, then he refused his meds. I had a flash forward into my day (imagining it to be similar to the previous one) and completely lost it. In what seemed like a blur of motion, I changed him, threw on my clothes, called his daycare and cancelled his holiday time, and drove him in to daycare to dump him off. I ain't spending my holiday pandering to a whiny little tyrant with an inflated sense of self-importance.

In all fairness, he was most likely acting out because I broke his routine and he's bored and doesn't know how to express himself other than to be defiant, push my buttons, and whine constantly. I think putting him back into his usual routine is best for everyone. Sure, mum and dad are probably disappointed that they don't get to spend as much time with him, but I could tell they weren't enjoying being around him, either, because he was stressing me out so badly. I feel like a bad mother and a complete amateur.

After I dropped Trent off, I spent the day hanging with my parents in peace. Did a little xmas shopping, and cooled my jets a bit. When we picked him up he was so much more pleasant, but that only lasted about an hour, then he was back to pushing buttons and making my life hell. I'm so very disappointed in both Trent and myself. Him for choosing this time to act out, and me for letting it get to me.

Xmas2009: Day 2

well today was a little rough. Trent was extremely strong wiled today. He had very definite ideas about what he wanted to be doing and we ended up having a time out in his room where he screamed for 15 minutes while balancing on the top rail of his crib demanding to get out. But he never made it out. After a stand-off he decided to be a good boy for the rest of the day, but he'd already burned through my fuse.

Today we went to the mall and Trent got a look at Santa. He wouldn't sit on his lap, though. Maybe next year. Mum made a funny observation, though: We spend all our lives teaching our kids to not talk to strangers, then at Xmas it all goes out the window as we force our kids, crying, onto some stranger's lap under the guise of Santa.

Xmas2009: Day 1

Mum and dad arrived around 7pm last night. I picked them up and to the first order of business: Papasitos fajitas. YUM! followed by a nice cup of tea @ home.

This morning we went and did some xmas shopping: Koh's, Old Navy, Toys R Us, followed by a trip to the grocery store to stock up on necessities for lunch/dinners, etc. When Trent took a nap I went out for a much needed run. I did about 3.5 miles or so and was relieved to find that, despite my recent laziness, I hadn't lost any of my running stamina. After Trent's nap he took nana and grandad to the park for an hour, which gave me time to do a little work and catch up with emails.

Brian and Kev went out this evening, which presented the perfect opportunity for my favourite food: Fish and vegetables. I made a delicious salmon with broccoli, corn, and Jasmine rice. Then after dinner we went upstairs and played with Trent until bed time. Trent loved making "waffles" with play doh using his toy saw to make a pattern in the "pancakes" I made him, and he played drums for nana and grandad.

Such a great day!

Trent was the perfect little boy today. Only a couple of tiny whining episodes

We Rock U!

More TrentTube!

postponing the inevitable

well, I'm gonna be out of town for my birthday this year. Away from my family and friends. Initially I wasn't fond of the idea, but I've been saying for years how I wish my birthday was in the middle of the year instead of in January, right after the holidays. So I think I should take advantage of this opportunity and move my birthday to May or June. I'll celebrate my half birthday, instead :-)

So that's great news for all of you who were thinking of showering me with expensive presents. Now you'll have an extra few months to save up! LOL!

Happy camper

This past weekend we took Trent on his very first camping trip. We went with our friends, Bryan and Danielle, who have two young children (4 and 21 months), both of whom also go to Trent's daycare. There were also two other couples, each with 2 kids. So a total of 7 children at our camp site! what a zoo! (wine helped me not freak out).

Trent was very well behaved, though with a lake and a fire pit to worry about, we had to have eyes up our arse to keep track of him. The other kids had fishing poles, and Trent was very excited to use them, but children aren't always the best at sharing so we bought him his own. He was so excited! obsessed even. He did, however, relinquish the fishing pole long enough for Sophie to play with it. What a nice guy!
Bryan and Danielle are pros at camping and there were two shifts for dinner. One for the kids who ate beans and hotdogs, then a later dinner of extremely gourmet burgers for the adults. We set up a movie in one of the tents and the kids all settled in to watch, excpet Trent, who insisted on getting in and out of the tent to give us hugs every 2 minutes. But it was very cute. When the kids' bed time rolled around, everyone had little issues of their own to deal with.
I put Trent in his car seat in the car and read a story to him and he fell asleep like a little angel. Then when I transitioned him to the tent he freaked out. 20 minutes of "I wanna get out!" at the top of his lungs, then he passed out. I felt bad because everyone was trying to sleep.

In the early hours of the morning, I heard some of the other kids having their little "moments" as well, so I actually felt a little better about Trent's peace-disturbing outburst.

We all slept on a blow up bed int he Tent, even though it was queen sized and even though Trent isn't that big, he still managed to take up the most room. And of course the thing had a slow leak so by morning it was almost completely deflated. I didn't sleep at all, and I could tell that Trent's sleep wasn't great quality. Brian seemed to have passed out nicely though. Must be a man thing.

We were surprised and happy at the success of our first toddler camping trip, but our celebrating ended abruptly as Trent threw is first of many tantrums of the day. The disruption in his sleep caused him to be a holy terror for most of Sunday. But we cut him some slack because he had a legitimate excuse.

So in hindsight, I'm glad we went. While it was a lot of work to keep an eye on the little guy, it was a good experience for all of us, and Bryan and Danielle made it easy for us, which we so appreciated! We made some new friends, which is aways a plus. And now Trent knows what to expect the next time.

Christmas is coming!

This year I'm really excited for xmas. So much so that I have even opened up to the possibility of having a tree (not a real one). Certainly enough to at least deck the halls. Why? Because my family is coming, and Trent is old enough to understand what all of it means. Last year he was so helpful in passing out presents and we were so proud of him. This year I can only imagine how much fun it will be for him. Even more fun is the fact that he will have his cousin Louise to play with.

Yesterday we attempted to get a head start on xmas shopping. We have good indentions of doing it way early to avoid that mad-dash last minute. So we went to the outlet malls in Round Rock, but sadly, only came home with a few small stocking stuffers and some PJs for Trent. I'm sure it'll all come together. I find the best presents when I'm not actually looking for them.

Another cool thing about this xmas is that we will be featuring some traditional English food on xmas day. Not specifically xmas food, but things like roast lamb and mint sauce, yorkshire puddings and gravy (yes, I know you traditionally eat that with beef but I don't care), ginger and pear trifle, and of course we plan to set a christmas pudding on fire! In addition to that, everyone will be required to participate in the wearing of the paper hat from the christmas crackers. I predict the evening will end with a farting contest between Daz and my dad ;-)

I can't wait!

Tapping into the inner psycho

Last night I caught a rare glimpse of my inner psycho. I was at a Suede concert and the usual craziness on the dance floor had commenced. A Bon Jovi number always riles up the crowd. I'm used to it, I can hold my own and not get pushed around. I usually just ignore rude people trying to displace me from my "spot" up front with the girls. But last night this random guy and his "friend" pushed me over the edge. First, she stepped on my toe with a stiletto heel. FREAKING OUCH! drew blood, damn near impaled me. It felt like someone tried to drive a 6 inch nail through my foot. Now I know how Jesus felt!
Meanwhile the guy is trying to high-five Robert (who is completely ignoring him), and in the process elbowing me in the head and shoving his armpit in my face. After about the 6th blow to the head I lost it. Completely lost it. So during his final elbow blow to my head, I threw an elbow into his kidney, pushed him out of my way, then I got in his face and proceeded to scream at him, at the top of my lungs that if he so much as knocked me one more time I would go medieval on his ass! (a few choice swear words thown in for good measure). He tried to deny that it was him, but seeing that I was over the edge he wisely backed away and gave me some space while I lectured him on how the dance floor was for everyone and you just don't treat people around you like that.
Then, as quickly as the psycho came out, she was back in her cage and I was once again shaking my booty on the dance floor. Yea. I'm a little scary.

Random post

Just stopping in to my blog for a quick update. Nothing specific to report but it's been a while and I figured it was time for a life update.
Work's going well for both me and Brian. Brian has a new assignment that he's very happy about. I'm so busy that last week I spent half a day on Friday analyzing my current work flow and habits in the hopes of finding a more efficient/effective way to manage my time and my tasks. Some of the measures I've taken are working, others have fallen off after only a few attempts. But I'm making improvements and moving forward, and that's good.
Some days I have so much to do and so much on my mind that I find myself frozen, trying to figure out which task to tackle first. But despite my inefficiencies and the feeling of being overwhelmed, I've always managed to keep a positive outlook, and I'm really good at leaving my work at work when it's time for family time. A couple of weeks ago a colleague from my previous dept. pinged me to ask how I keep such a good attitude when everything around us is going to shit. It was someone I have quite a lot of respect for, so I was very flattered that he asked me.

In home life things are good. Brian and I are amazed every day at how intelligent and sweet Trent is. We were playing upstairs the other day and Trent counted all the way to 17 on his own. We are so proud of our little guy. His teachers are constantly telling us how sweet Trent is, and what a huge vocabulary he has, and how well adjusted he is for a child of his age. I wonder how many other parents they say that to, like, are they just making us feel good? but deep down I want to believe that my kid is smarter than his peers. So what? I'm a mother. Y'all don't judge till you've walked a mile in my shoes.

Family visit countdown: 2 months today!

Future American Idol?

Homework assignment

Trent got his first homework assignment this week... well, when I say Trent, I really mean me. The assignment is to make a simple photographic family tree.

Brian said that one "over achiever parent" had already turned theirs in. And I found myself questioning what theirs looked like so I could ensure that ours is better!!! WTF? it's a 2 year old's homework project! When did I become competitive?

That's Brian rubbing off on me, that is!

So here's what "Trent" came up with ;-)

Kiss it better

Whenever Trent gets hurt, I always offer to kiss it better. Most of the time it works, too. I say "mummy kiss it better?" and he sobs "yeees". Then I say "is that better?" and he says "yeees - thankooomummy". Today, I opened the freezer to put something away and a frozen chicken breast attacked my by landing on my foot! Why is it that frozen stuff always lands right on your big toe? why does it hurt SOOOO bad??? And why does it make me swear so much???

As I stood there like a very pissed off flamingo on one foot, holding in all of the swear words that were rising to the surface like hot lava from a volcano, Trent came over and bent down and said "Trent kiss it better mummy!" and he kissed it. Then he got Bear to kiss it, too. And as I marvelled at how very sweet my little man is, do you know what happened? My toe stopped hurting. Moments like those are what makes it all seem worth it.

TrentTube!

Trent's got his own youtube channel now: http://www.youtube.com/user/keylimeypie

Check out his "wee daddy" video. It's pretty cute right up until he smacks his face on the drum set at the end.

How to call your grandparents, by Trent

Can barely contain the excitement!

Seriously, this xmas is going to be the xmas to beat all past and future xmases. Why? Because not only are my parents coming, which is, in itself, reason to celebrate, but also my BFF, Darryl, his awesome wife, Mel (like a sister to me) and his very cute daughter, Louise, are also coming!!

I can barely stand to wait until December!

The only down side is that they will eventually all have to go home. But let's not focus on that. Let's instead focus on how freaking awesome it's gonna be to have everyone together for xmas for the first time EVER since I moved to the USA. I usually hate xmas. I normally get the blues around xmas time because my family is so far away. Don't get me wrong - my Texas family are awesome and they really, really try hard to make me feel at home and go along with all the English traditions like the silly xmas crackers and party hats... and I love them dearly for this... but nothing --I MEAN NOTHING -- can compensate for having your own family around during the holidays.

We have a graduate in the family!

Trent graduated from the 2 year olds classroom today! They had a little graduation party, which the parents were allowed to attend, but which I decided not to because it would upset Trent for me to show up, then leave again. Instead I settled for watching him on the web cam. They had special treats to eat and it looked like they had fun.

On Monday, Trent will be in his new classroom, the "3 year olds" class. What does this mean?
Well, first off, this is where potty training begins! He's already using the toilet at home but it's quite intermittent and most of the time he poops then tells us he needs to use the potty. So that being said, the recommendation is that we do not use diapers anymore. They claim that 2 weeks is all they need to get them trained.

Brian and I both raised an eyebrow when this news was given to us. But I think we've concluded, after a little worrying that he's not ready, that if they say they can do it, we'll give it a shot, follow the recommendations, and look at this as a wonderful gift.

In this classroom, Trent will also work on communication. This is where his vocabulary will really take off. Many people have commented to us how great Trent's vocabulary already is. I cracked up the other day when Trent corrected me. He said "Actually 2 mummy" when I pointed something out to him and used the singular. The fact that he knows what "actually" means cracks me up. He uses the word all the time.

So, on to a new chapter in Trent's life. What adventures we will have.

Bathroom redo part 2

The bathroom is finished! Here's what I did:

1. Repaired and repainted the walls "Soothing Green Tea"
2. Installed a new light fixture
3. Installed decorative shelves
4. Installed the new sink and cabinet, which consisted of the following steps:

• Mount faucet to granite counter top
• Attach sink to counter top using provided hardware
• Call sink manufacturer for better instructions on how to connect the damn thing to the drain pipe. Sent them pictures via email. Waited for them to respond. No response.
  
• Figured out a way to connect it myself by using the parts from old sink and one new $2 piece from Home Depot.
  
• Tighten all the connections (Sink to counter, faucet hoses to water supply, drain to wall)
  
• Attach granite counter top to the cabinet using silicone
  

All done. We now have a fully functioning and beautiful sink:

Bathroom redo part 1

Well, the ugly sink is out! It was a multi-part task that Brian and I shared. I got it un-stuck from the wall and floor and shut off the water supply, then Brian disconnected the hoses (a nasty job) and did the heavy lifting. What a man! (all without me asking him to).
The floor tile under the sink is intact so no floor fixing to be done. YAY! The wall where the sink was connected needs a minor patch and some texturizing to match the rest of the wall. I think we've picked a colour. It's called "Soothing Green Tea". It's kinda light greenish yellow. I hope it won't overwhelm the bathroom. I thought it might lend itself well to the somewhat asian style cabinet that I'm installing.

Anyway, some before and in-progress pictures:


Before: Note the ugly light fixture, the hideous scalloped sink, and the fact that the sink isn't even the same colour as the toilet! Also notice the very ugly colour on the walls.



Sink has been removed and I made a unsuccessful attempt at texturizing over the spot where the sink was attached. It didn't look good and the stuff I was using didn't work properly so I wiped it off.








This is the colour I am thinking of painting the walls. Imagine it with black furniture/mirror and brushed nickel light and towel holder.

Potty in style

Well, I finally did it! Talked Brian into letting me buy a new bathroom sink! I've never liked the downstairs bathroom. The colour looks like poop and the scalloped sink is SOOO 1980's. It doesn't even match the toilet. The sink is off-white and the toilet is white. So for 2 years I've been whining about how I hate the sink. I found a great deal on Ebay and the exact one that I want. The image shown has a white marble top, but ours has black granite.

So a couple of things to do to prepare:

• Remove the current sink
• Repair any wall or floor issues - I'm not sure if the tile under the sink pedestal is a complete tile and I don't know how the sink is attached to the wall, so it might need a patch to the wall texture.
  
• paint the bathroom - as I mentioned, it's shit brown right now. Not a colour one should associate with a bathroom. Or is it?
  
• Install the new sink
• Install new light fixture - It currently has those ugly circus mirror globe bulbs. Whoever thought that was a good look for a bathroom should be shot!
  
• Finally, install a new TP and towel holder.

I imagine if Brian's reading this he's rolling his eyes and flapping his hands because when I asked for a new sink, I failed to mention all the other things that would go along with it. Apparently, Brian was under the impression that I'd just swap out the sinks and that'd be it!

I asked him if he even knew me at all!

fun with the little sicko

I'm always so amazed at Trent's ability to behave completely normally and go about his business like nothing's wrong when he's sick. I have this trait, as does my mother, and I had always assumed it was a learned trait. But Trent hasn't had the time to learn this. I now wonder if we're genetically coded to either be tough or be a hypochondriac (ok, fine, there might be a few stops in the middle).

Trent woke up on Saturday morning with a low-grade fever and a barking cough. It sounded and acted like croup. But he was his usual mischievous, energetic self. We did some normal weekend activities, such as a run on Saturday morning, followed by playing in the sand pit and splash park at Brushy Creek, and a trip to the grocery store. On Sunday we spent time at the pool, went to the book store where we got some ridiculously good deals on books for Trent, and picked up some big boy underpants for Trent and some other things at Wal-Mart on the way home (more details on the big-boy underpants later).

This morning, Trent's barking cough has turned into more of a hacking cough, and we took him to the doctor. It sounded like we thought - started off as a croup type cough, but turned into an infection and now he has a bunch of green stuff draining down his throat from his sinuses. Poor kid. We have some antibiotics and some breathing treatments to administer for the next couple of weeks. Of course, nebulizing a 2 year old is no small task. We tried it today and realized that we need to actually try to steath-administer while he's sleeping. Not an easy task since the nebulizer sounds like a mack truck idling.

We kept Trent home today since he still had a bit of a fever yesterday and we want to ensure he's not contagious before sending him back to daycare. We also want to make sure he's comfortable, too. It's easy to work with a sick kid when the kid actually behaves like he's sick. At least that's what I've been told by those who know. I wouldn't know since my kid has never acted sick a day in his life.

SO delicious!

I got inspired to make this by Andi, who made something similar for girl's night last week. I couldn't remember all that was in it, so I made up my own. It's FREAKING AWESOME.

Recipe:
1 large mango
cherry tomatoes
1/2 red onion
fresh basil leaves
2 avocados
2 tbsp olive oil
juice from 1 whole lime
garlic salt and pepper

Just chop all the fruit/veggies up into small cubes and throw it in a bowl. Rip up the basil leaves and throw those in. Gently stir it up to get it all mixed. Then drizzle in the olive oil, add garlic salt and pepper, add lime juice. Gently toss it around to get everything coated/mixed.
DONE!

I could see adding a can of some black beans to it and using it as a side with grilled chicken.

following through

Last night Trent learned the lesson that follow through is good for some things, like your golf swing, or your promises, but not good when farting!

Here's how that lesson went:
We were in the bathtub. Trent's recently been quite adamant that he wasn't taking a bath, and I'd resorted to bathing him in the kiddie pool in the back yard, redneck style. But we can't do this in the winter, so I needed to take steps to correct the problem.
I bought him some tub crayons. The kind that float and that you can draw on the tile and tub and it washes right off with water. He loves them, and this does get him into the tub now, but of course, he won't sit down, so I have to sit on the edge of the tub with my feet in the water, and wash him that way.
Anyway, we're drawing on the walls and Trent farted. Then he cracked up. Then I said "got anymore?" and he pushed one out and let out a HUGE belly laugh. We both fell about laughing. Then he kept doing it. Having just learned to fart on demand he wanted to test out his new found skill to the max.
One after another after another, and we laughed so hard. Then I saw his face turn red as he pushed another one out. And I asked "are you pooping??" to which he replied "no". Then all of a sudden we both hear this "SLOOSH!" and Trent goes "Uh oh. Poop". At which point we evacuated the tub.
Later that night when I was putting Trent to bed, he reminded me of the lesson he learned by warning me "Don't poop in the tub, mummy".

showboating in the pool

Yesterday, after all of our water fun in the back yard, Trent asked to go play in the pool. When we got there, there were 2 teenage girls in the water and Trent wanted to go over and see what they were doing. When we got there he started to laugh a lot and kept jumping off the side of the pool (into my arms) and checking to see if they were watching him. He was completely showing off for the ladies. They were cracking up and so was I.

Trent is really starting to love the pool and is starting to understand the concept of swimming, although he's not ready to actually try it yet. I need to get him a floaty bathing suit!

Backyard fun

Today Trent and I are spending the day together, just the two of us. It's been a great day so far... We slept late (10am) then Trent asked to talk to Nana and Grandad on the computer, so we chatted with them for a while and Trent drew a picture to show them. Then we played outside in the kiddie pool. I added a drop of baby shampoo as I was filling it up, and it produced a lot of bubbles, which Trent thought was the best thing ever. Just look at his smile!
I threw in all the balls that came with his play hut set and he was so thrilled. We spent a good couple of hours playing. Here are some of the highlights. You can, of course, see the rest on Trent's picasa photo album.

Dinner date

Tonight Trent and I had dinner without Brian (he had soccer). He helped me make quesadillas (or queasy dillos, as he called them) and we ate those, with beans and avocado. During dinner Trent told me about his day. He said he had a "good day" and I asked what he did, and he said "coloured", and I asked who he played with and he said "Evan and Jack". How cool is that? he can tell me how his day was!
After dinner he asked to watch Mickey Mouse and it was sooo cute. He goes "hot dog, hot dog... doggy dog... watch Mickey Mouse. yes!". Sadly I didn't have any Micky Mouse recorded, and he asked for several other of his shows by name (which I didn't have) but we finally settled on the encore American Idol Michael Jackson tribute show, and he danced with me to the songs.

What a great little boy he is!

Boat buddy

This Saturday we were lucky enough to spend the afternoon on the lake with Mike and Tara. We headed out after Trent's nap and he was so excited to get on the boat. In the car he kept saying "On a boat. Touch the lake. Touch the water!". When we got on the boat Trent just hung out on Daddy's lap as we motored up river to where the water was more calm. We hung out over by the Dell lake house and just relaxed why security kept a watchful eye on us. Trent ventured onto the swim platform at the back of the boat and laughed when the waves splashed over him. The water was very cold and after I had managed to talk myself into getting in, Trent agreed to join me and we hung onto the boat as he tried to acclimate to the cold water, and numerous times decided it was "toooo cold, mummy! - back on the boat!". But he at least made several attempts to submerge himself, so long as he could hang on tightly to Mummy.

We sat and cuddled and watched Uncle Mike wakeboard and Trent seemed very interested. Then I got to wakeboard. It's been almost a year since the last time I did it, but I'm happy to report that my body remembered how to do it and I even got about an inch of air as I crossed the wake.

We were out from about 2:45 to 7:30 and the whole time Trent was so perfectly behaved. On the way back to the dock he sat and cuddled with Aunt Tara. He sure does love his Aunt Tara and Uncle Mike, although he keeps calling Mike "Aunt Mike", which makes me laugh, but Brian always corrects him.

We stopped at Rudy's for dinner on the way home, and Trent went to bed like a very good boy. We expected Trent to be well behaved because he is a very sweet and considerate little boy, but he completely exceeded our expectations that day and we are just so proud of him.

My online life

Whatever did we do before the internet? I'm old enough to remember those days, yet I still find myself questioning how we lived before it. How far we have come just in the last 15 years amazes me. How much technology I rely on daily amazes me. It also scares me a little bit. Let's look at the technology I use on a typical day. I consider myself to be a relatively light technology user. I don't own a smart phone, Sat Nav device, kindle, or any other fancy gadgets, but my electronic footprint is quite large.

Blogging
I have blogged for several years. This blog alone dates back to 2005. A total of 463 blog posts so far. That averages about 115 a year or so, about 10 posts a month. Not only do I keep my own blog but I read other people's blogs.

Social Media
I have profiles on facebook, myspace, dailymile, twitter, in addition to the profiles I keep at work on Lotus Greenhouse, Lotus Live, Beehive, Fringe, Blue Twit... kinda makes your head spin, doesn't it?

Email
I have active accounts on yahoo, gmail, and my work email. I send and recieve almost 200 emails a day. Some are spam, most are not. Some are important, some can be ignored. Some I have to act on immediately, some I flag for action later. All require at least a cursory glance to see if it's relevant to me.

Instant messaging
I use Lotus Sametime in my job and spend hours at a time chatting to work colleagues about work related things via this medium. I use AIM to talk to my BFFs, I sometimes use Facebook messenger to talk to friends from back home and friends from just around the corner.

Text messaging
I use text messages daily to keep my BFFs in the loop and get the latest scoop on who's doing what.

Phone
This is a technology I have the biggest aversion to, and it's the oldest one. I'm on the phone an average of 6 hours a day on conference calls. It's not surprising that come 6pm I don't want to answer my phone.

Webcam
I use this to talk to my mum & dad on a very regular basis. My favourite piece of technology because it allows me to see them and bridge the very large distance between us. A couple of weeks ago mum took me into the kitchen with her while she checked on dinner. That was cool.

Online photo galleries
I have accounts on Picassa for both me and Trent. Hundreds of pictures instantly shared with anyone with a browser and the curiosity to look at them.

Web sites
I manage 2 music-related web sites for friends. I'm heavily involved with contributing content to web sites for my job, including wikis. On any given day I have used the phrase "I'll google it". I perform Google searches daily and consume massive amounts of information. You can find ANYTHING on the Web. I used Google to help me repair my digital camera, my toilet, my vehicle, my house. The web makes it possible for me to never leave my house and have everything I need come to me. The days of going to a shop and picking out a gift, packaging and taking it to the post office are long gone. Now I point, click, pay, and ship all from my office chair.

I have the electronic footprint of a giant! All of this has happened within the last 10 years. How amazing is that to think about? Did you ever think the future would be like this 10 years ago? can you imagine what we'll be doing 10 years from now?

This is an amazing time to be alive. Yet every now and then I long for the days when none of this existed, people were simpler, communication was in-person or via traditional mail, and nobody could reach me 24/7. Every now and then I want to not open my laptop and not answer my phone. This is why I am so excited about our upcoming holiday. No laptop. No phone. Just us.

storm chaser

Last week we had a really bad storm. Lightening, thunder, tornadoes, hail. Trent, Brian and I sat in the game room upstairs and set up some of Trent's chairs by the window so we could all watch the storm. Trent grabbed his bears and made sure they all had front row seating. When he heard thunder he would say "thunder! hear it. No touch!", and when lightening would strike he'd say "lightening. hot. burn you. no touch!". Brian and I were cracking up.

Yesterday when we were heading out to Mike and Tara's, Brian was wearing a new shirt and Trent said "Cool shirt, Daddy". When I asked him if he thought my shirt was cool he replied "no mummy. No cool shirt". My shirt was just a plain blue t-shirt and it was NOT cool. It's nice to know he won't lie to me to make me feel better!

Today we went to the pool and spent a good 2 hours playing in the water. By the end of our time there Trent had gotten all the way into the pool and was sitting on daddy as he did the back stroke. He thought it was so hilarious. We sat at the baby pool for a little while and chatted with a lady who had twin girls about 4 months younger than Trent. One of them wanted to sit on my lap and as soon as she did Trent got very upset because I am HIS mummy! A little possessive maybe?

Toilet training and a little trip on the Ecstasy

Trent's potty training is going very well. He actually used the toilet for its intended purpose twice this week at school. We still haven't seen him actually go at home, but he does like to sit on the toilet and grunt. It's very cute.
Today I woke up under a thundercloud it seems. I have very low patience and Trent knows all the right buttons to push. It didn't help that Brian chose this very day to finish the front door re-staining project, which means while he's working on that I'm dealing with the little button pusher on my own. Not a good combo. The door looks nice, though. We added one more coat of stain which is now drying and tomorrow we have the final step of the urethane top coat to seal the deal.
Can't wait for our cruise! We're going on a 4 day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy. I'm especially excited about this because the Ecstasy has a lot of sentimental meaning for me. It was the first ship I ever set foot on in my short but fun career as a Casino Dealer for Carnival. I met the Ecstasy at the boat yard in Finland where it was built, and was one of a very lucky group of crew members who got to take its inaugural voyage from Finland to it's final home in Miami, stopping at Boston, NY, and Philadelphia along the way. What a fun trip that was. It was on this ship that I met one of my best friends ever, Marie (from Sweden *ya!). It's also the opening chapter of my life in America. So many great memories on that ship. My memory of the ships layout and details is fading, but I imagine it will all come flooding back. I just can't wait

Some cool things about Trent lately

Trent's been cracking me up lately. His grasp of the English language is amazing and he's busting out words I'd never expect to hear from him. On Saturday when we were coming down the stairs he noticed that Onyx had thrown up a little bit on the stairs and he said "Oh Oh! Onyx! Puke!" Then he said "clean it! Towel! Get towel. Clean Onyx puke". Which was funny in and of itself, but then the icing on the cake was when he got a towel, went back up the stairs, and started rubbing the carpet!

Yesterday he made me and Brian so very proud. He actually asked to sit on the toilet. When I confirmed what he had asked me he said "Yes!" and then pulled his shorts down and said "Diaper off!". He didn't actually use the toilet, but this is a sure sign that we're ready for potty training. Later on he did it again. This time I showed him how to tuck his stuff down so that he didn't pee in mummy's face :-)

He's still very fond of giving me bogeys. Brian encourages it, of course, because he thinks it's hilarious when I gross out. Nothing says love like accepting a bogey from someone while holding back spew.

attitude adjustment

In light of my recent holiday cancellation and consequent bummed out feeling, I needed a distraction. Yesterday I spent the day at Hippie Hollow with Barbie, Michelle, & Andi. We all giggled when the lady at the booth at the park entrance said "y'all know it's clothing optional, right?" Of course we know!
We made our way down the rocks to a perfect spot and made ourselves comfortable. We figured since it's a week day that there wouldn't be too many people out. We were wrong. By noon the place was buzzing with nekked people and very entertaining for us. Many times we laughed so hard we rendered ourselves inaudible. You know, the kind of laughing that looks like someone pressed the mute button. At one point we were happily floating around in the lake when a MASSIVE critter launched an attack on our picnic area. We identified the offender as a squirrel the size of a raccoon. The thing was humungous! The reaction of our group and the surrounding people was hilarious and we spent a good 20 minutes trying to control ourselves and causing a major scene. Barbie rescued our food from the critter while the rest of us watched helplessly from the water and heckled her.
A group of guys showed up about the time we were ready to leave and started throwing beer bottles into the lake. As the rest of the people sat there and politely ignored it, Andi asked them to stop it and pick it up. Go Andi! When we left we ratted them out to the park ranger. Bastards need to learn some respect.
What a fun day we had. We all left with a major attitude adjustment, and the promise to do this more often.
I still want my cruise, though, Brian. Don't think you're off the hook ;-)

Is there brightness on the horizon?

I spent some time with mum & dad on Sunday, via web cam. They enjoyed watching Trent trash the patio with a bucket of water and some sidewalk chalk. We also talked about their upcoming holiday to Rhodes (Greece). I'm very happy that they were able to find an alternate destination for their holiday for the same dates and everything. I had briefly entertained the idea of us joining them, but after a bit of research online it turned out to be a bit unfeasible due to the number of connecting flights needed to get there.
Then we got to talking about next year's plans and a great idea was born! We could go to England for a week, then leave Trent with mum & dad, and just Brian and I could go to Italy for a week! how much fun would that be??? then, since I was in the holiday mood, I thought it might be a good idea if Brian and I could take a 4 day cruise out of Galveston this year after the pig flu problem is resolved and travel to Mexico resumes. Wouldn't that be nice! 4 days with just my husband.

a little cheese with that whine?

I have lived a relatively charmed life. I don't have much to complain about at all. And the situation I'm in regarding living thousands of miles and an ocean away from my family is self-inflicted. But somehow, right now, those facts still don't make me feel any better about the fact that I was looking forward to seeing my parents in less than a week, and now I have to wait 7 months to see them. And purely due to circumstances way beyond my control. I'm not just disappointed for me. I'm disappointed for them, too. And for Trent. And on a more selfish note, I was so in need of a holiday. I was so looking forward to relaxing on a white sandy beach, not thinking about work or responsibility. And now it's business as usual. With nothing to look forward to. No plans. No beach. Nothing. I realize this makes me sound terribly spoiled and part of me is thinking "boo fricking hoo mandie, get over it, people are dying of the flu", but I just can't shake it. :-(

Idol manipulation

I love the psychology behind American Idol. The manipulation tactics they use to make you remember or forget a performance, like the "pimp spot", for example. The pimp spot is the last spot of the night. It plays on the short attention span of the veiwers. Adam Lambert has dominated the pimp spot for more of the weeks than any other contestant.
I was amused by the mind manipulation on the results show last night. I was surprised to see Adam Lambert in the bottom 3, but what I wasn't surprised about was when they said they would send one of the 3 back to safety, they chose Kris, and not Adam, and this is pure speculation on my part, but the media buzz around him and popular opinion of my friends, seems to support my hunch, that Adam was unlikely to have received less votes than Kris. The producers clearly wanted us to be on the edge of our seats as Matt and Adam waited to hear which one of them would be gone. Of course we all knew it would be Matt. We all KNEW. But it doesn't stop you from feeling that tiny bit of doubt for Adam. And the result? all those Adam fans who felt that he was safe and nobody can touch him will pick up the phone and vote for him next week. He likely won't be in the bottom 3 next week. That's just an observation from an untrained eye.

2 weeks since my last blog?

Wow, I'm slacking! Ok, what's gone on in the past 2 weeks?

Well, first and foremost on my mind is this damn swine flu outbreak in Mexico. That's royally screwed up our holiday plans. I was so looking forward to that trip, not only because *I need* a holiday very badly, because I have a very stressful job and being a mother to a very active toddler on top of that is extremely hard, but also because I get to see my parents once a year! Many people I know joke and say things like "man, I wish I only saw my parents once a year!". Let me tell you, if you were in my situation you'd feel much differently, no matter what your relationship is with your parents. I'm not saying you'd feel the same way I do, but certainly you wouldn't be wishing to only see them once a year. I'm lucky enough to have a great relationship with my parents, and I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more than spending a couple of weeks with them, and seeing how much they love Trent, and how much he loves them. Now I don't get to do that. At least not for another 7 months!
I'm trying to get over it. Really I am. But I just feel robbed of an experience that was so important to me. I'm mad. I want to blame someone, but of course there isn't anyone to blame, and blame is pointless because it won't change my situation.

Other things of note:

• Trent counts only in odd numbers.
• My American Idol prediction on who would leave last week was spot on.
• That awesome blue cheese pasta dish I made a while back is even better with beef (leftover fajita beef)

Idol chatter 2009

I haven't blogged much about American Idol this season, mostly because I've been using Facebook to air my opinions. Tonight, though, Brian is working on the Honda (regular maintenance) and I have some time to kill. He doesn't get into American Idol, so I usually watch it alone anyway.

Alison Irahita took on an Aerosmith song. In fact one of my favourites. I thought she did ok. My issue with her is that she doesn't have much range. I think that she picks songs that suit her voice, and that is probably the only reason she's still around.

Anoop Desai has a lovely voice, but there's something about him that makes me think he's a jerk. I can't get past it.

Adam Lambert is probably my favourite Idol of all the seasons (ok, I loved Daughtry and David Cook too) but Adam's got a star quality and is the most unique contestant the show has ever had. My money is on him to win.

Matt Giraud is too piano bar. I think voices like his are a dime a dozen and he pulls some weird faces when he sings. I just can't get past it.

Kris Allen is completely forgettable for me. He has a decent voice, but I find myself forgetting his performances almost immediately. I think he's pretty, though.

Danny Gokey has an excellent voice and is very talented. Something about his face reminds me of Robert Downey Jr., although I don't think he looks like him. Danny's my #2 pick. I predict that he, Alison, and Adam will be the last 3 standing.

Lil Rounds has consistenly disappointed over the past few weeks. She started off so well but has completely lost herself in bad song choices. I completely agree with the judges on this one. Poor Lil. She seems sweet.

I was happy to see Scott McIntyre go last week. I felt like he got a lot of mileage out of his disability and he didn't measure up to the others vocally. I admired his attitude and how capable he was despite his visual impairment, though. A true inspiration that you can overcome almost any challenge.

So there you have it. I predict Alison or Danny will be the second to last person standing, and Adam Lambert will take the gold. Don't let me down, America. (I voted for both Danny and Adam tonight - probably a good 20 votes for each).

I want to do it on MY terms!

Lately Trent has been protesting quite a bit about anything and everything. From changing his nappy (even though he has a huge poop in there) to putting on clothes, to taking a bath, to putting on shoes. He has to do it on HIS terms. So for example, I ask him to put his shoes on, he says "no! no! no! no! no! no!" then 2 minutes later I show him his shoes and say would you like to put your shoes on now, and he says "shoes!" and lets me... the 2 minute waiting period is important :-)

Last night I had to manipulate him into taking a bath using bubbles. Not bath bubbles, but the bubbles that you can blow from the bottle. I had to give him bubbles in the play room, then slowly steer him toward the bathroom while trying to undress him without him noticing. I finally got him into the bath without him screaming. Then when it was time to come out, and to take the bubbles away, he freaked out.

I have to bribe him to get in his stroller and go for a run with me. I have to use cookies. Sometimes even that doesn't work.

He won't sit in his high chair anymore. He freaks out if you try to put him in it. I haven't managed to find a strategy to get him in it yet. He goes all stiff and screams. Now I have to sit and eat one handed with him on my lap. I end up wearing a lot of Trent's food.

Ah the joys of reaching the terrible 2's.

another great pasta dish

3 or 4 links of **Chicken, feta and spinach sausage
handful of asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
garlic salt
pepper
2 cups bowtie pasta
3/4 cup feta cheese

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile...
2. Cut sausage into small chunks - I find it easier to just take the skins off and use my hands to rip into chunks
3. Brown the sausage in a saute pan.
   
4. Cut asparagus into about 1 inch pieces and place on top of the sausage. Turn head to med/low. Cover and let the asparagus steam for about 2 minutes.
   
5. Mix asparagus and sausage together and turn down the heat to low.
   
6. Drain pasta. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Add olive oil and feta to the pasta. Mix it all up so the feta melts and coats the pasta.
   
7. Add pasta/feta mixture to the sausage/asparagus pan, and mix all together.
   

That's it! you can either serve it right away, or keep it over a low heat and stir it every now and then till you're ready to eat it.

**You can use other types of sausage, this is just the original one that inspired the recipe.

This dish would probably be good with some cherry tomatoes cut in half and tossed in at the last step as well.

Productive weekend

This past weekend Trent had the pleasure of spending his Saturday with his aunt Tara. He had the best time! He didn't flinch when I left, and he had so much fun playing trains with her and Austin. He helped her water the plants in the garden, and they blew bubbles and played ball with Maverick. Meanwhile, Brian and I spent the day doing some much needed chores around the house. Brian took off the front door, stripped and sanded it, and re-stained it to its former glory. All that's left to do now is a clear urethane coat. While Brian took care of that, I cleaned the entire house.
On Tuesday, Trent discovered Baskin Robbins - the ice cream shop at the end of our street. He really enjoyed his chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, but was also very interested in daddy's bubble gum ice cream. After ice cream he walked all the way home holding my hand and talking about ice cream all the way.

Last night Brian, Trent and I went to Steiner Ranch Steakhouse to see Brian & John play. It was a beautiful night, not to hot, just the right amount of breeze, and the venue is incredible because it's overlooking lake Travis in the distance and the sun sets are gorgeous.

It's official!

Brian and I are now officially holders of a United States Patent, issued by the US Government :-)
It has taken 7 years from filing the patent to actually having it issued, but here it is in all its glory:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7490298&OS=7490298&RS=7490298

How awesome is that?

Sadly, one of our co-inventors, Herman Rodriguez, passed away last month. Herman had an amazing enthusiasm for inventing and he took every opportunity to encourage others to invent. Herman leaves behind a an intellectual legacy of hundreds of inventions and US patents, and a personal legacy in all the people he has helped and encouraged to become inventors. I hope everyone he helped will honor his memory and continue to invent things that make the world a better place to live. R.I.P. Herman.

Great chicken pasta dish

I find it hard to always come up with new ideas for dinner, and yesterday was no exception. I had a giant tub of blue cheese, some chicken breasts, and some pasta available, so I experimented with that and came up with the most delicious dish! It took 20 minutes to make and is super easy. Here it is:

Serves 3 - 4

2 chicken breasts
Bowtie pasta (or whatever shape you prefer)
cup of blue cheese crumbles
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 whit or yellow onion
1tsp dried rosemary
garlic salt
pepper

1. Boil pasta according to directions on package
2. In large saute pan, add 1tbsp olive oil, onion and chicken. Season with garlic salt, pepper, and rosemary.
3. Brown the chicken and turn the heat down to low.
   
4. When pasta is cooked, drain and pour into the pan with the chicken.
   
5. Add the remaining 1tbsp of olive oil and toss it all around to get the pasta mixed in well.
   
6. Add the blue cheese. Toss it all around again to mix the blue cheese in. The cheese will melt with the heat from the pasta

Things you could add to make it even better (not all, choose one):
Asparagus
Artichoke hearts
Fresh tomatoes

Interesting article about religion and its correlation to standard of living

http://www.gallup.com/poll/114211/Alabamians-Iranians-Common.aspx

I'm very tolerant of other people's belief systems so long as they're not pushing their views on me and condemning me for mine, so I say this with as much objectivity as I can muster:
I found it interesting that Texas is one of the top 10 most religious states, and yet more than 75% of my friends are either non-believers, agnostic, or non-practicing believers. I imagine that's largely due to the fact that I live in Austin. I've always thought of Austin as being like an oasis in the middle of Texas where open mindedness still dominates. That's not to say that I think all religious people are closed minded. I don't think that at all. I do think that to choose a specific religion and to follow it to the exclusion of all other religions closes a person off to all of the other possibilities. I'm just sayin' ;-)

recent observations

There are a lot of cool things happening with the little guy lately:

• He's been talking in sentences, such as "more cheese please" (accompanied by signs for each word), expressing what he'd like to eat (and getting a little pissy when he doesn't get it) for example, he wanted ice cream for breakfast yesterday, but he settled for yogurt.
• Bed time is never a fight anymore. He willingly goes to bed and calls out "I love you mummy!" as I go down stairs.
• He knows about 50 signs and on our walks to the park he enjoys playing "show mummy the sign for....".
  
• He's starting to understand colours and during our walks to the park we play "what colour is mummy's shirt" where I name a colour, he repeats it, and we both say "naaaww!" if it's the wrong colour until we ge to the right one and we nod and say "YEEEEESS!"
• If you say "one, two..." he'll say "three, four, five".
  
• After the recent hail storm, we went out for a walk (because the weather in TX is crazy like that) and he was so amazed at all the ice laying around he kept pointing and saying "Ice! Ice!" (he tried to eat some, too)
• He can build things really well with lego. Last night we built tunnels for his train to go through and he clapped every time the train made it through a tunnel.
• He has mastered the stairs.
  

I have seen other children develop in this manner and I thought it was cool, but you can't really appreciate these small things until your own kid starts to do them, then they become REALLY COOL.

Better 'n gaffer's tape

I feel compelled to give credit to Brian for a couple of things he's done recently.

1) on Friday evening he made dinner. Not Pizza, not Macaroni and Cheese, not something he can reheat in the microwave, but actual dinner. He made Chicken Parmesan. It was delicious.
2) this morning he got up with Trent and let me sleep in because I went out last night and got home very very late (or early if you're counting it as this morning), and I woke up to the smell of delicious cornbread muffins baking. When I came downstairs he made me a cup of tea and served me breakfast.
3) I managed to break the on-off switch from my hair dryer last night. It snapped right off and I thought for sure it was a goner. But Brian fixed it by drilling through the plastic and reconnecting the switch with a screw, which is far better than I was expecting.
4) keeping his clothes off the bedroom floor, and not getting defensive when I point out all of the other things he does that piss me off, but actually trying to improve them.

Ok... I don't want him to get a big head and think he's in the running for HOTY yet, so I'll stop there. So thank you, Brian, for all the sweet things you do for me.

Streak of violence continues

This just in:
Nerves were frayed in classroom A4 of Bright Horizons late morning on Monday when toddler on a rampage, Trent B, continued his recent streak of violence by biting a friend. Eye witnesses reported that the victim, whose name is being withheld at this time, tried to take Trent's chair from him.

There is speculation that the little tyrant issued a warning to the would-be chair thief using a hand gesture and the words "mine! mine!" before escalating the incident, however, no witness is willing to come forward and confirm this.

Nobody was seriously hurt in the incident and the victim recovered quickly from the attack. Trent served a stint in time out and got a jolly good talking to. Trent declined to comment on the incident, but his mother, Amanda B, said "Trent's been testing boundaries lately and trying to assert control over his environment. Just the other day he executed a perfect pimp slap right across my face. You can't learn that kind of violence on TV, obviously we need to determine who is influencing this type of behavior and remove them." Trent's father, Brian "pimp hand" B was unavailable for comment.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Brian turns 28 tomorrow. That means only one year to go until we are the same age ;-)

To celebrate his birthday we had a party at home. It was a great turn out and Brian had a wonderful time. We got to see some people we haven't seen in a while, hang out with best friends, play some Rock Band, and eat some of Brian's favourite foods, which includes pizza and Paula Deen's bread pudding (it's soooo good, yaaaawl). We were even treated to a rock concert a la Trent and Ethan upstairs as they rocked out on the drums. It was so much fun to see them both playing. Jett joined in at least as a spectator. I took some pictures, which I'll upload shortly.

Around midnight I knew Brian was drunk when he opened the back door to talk to those of us sitting on the back porch and he was wearing his drunk smile and slurring ever so slightly as he asked if we'd care for more pizza.

It also happened to be the night the clocks go forward. I don't recall what time we finally got ot bed, and certainly Trent stayed up much later than his normal bed time. This morning Trent didn't get up until after 11am (accounting for the time change). It was so great to sleep in! Today we're complete off, time wise. We seem to be off schedule by a couple of hours.

Trent and I went for a run and stopped at the park to play on the slides for an hour. It's now 4:30 and he's been rolling around in his crib for almost an hour, refusing to take a nap, but not minding hanging out in his crib... I can hear him talking to his bears through the monitor. CUTE!

Today we are going to make a new stepping stone with Trent's hand and foot print.

Pimp slap

Well, it's confirmed... the pimp slap is not a learned trait, but rather, it is a natural instinct in males.

How do I know this??

Last night we were playing in Trent's play room, when I obviously did something he didn't like. He walked up to me and just flat out slapped me. Right across my left cheek. A right proper, expertly executed "PIMP SLAP!". I am not kidding.

Now where the hell did he learn to do that? Certainly he hasn't seen me or Brian do it, and he hasn't seen it on TV because we only let him watch Disney and learning DVDs. Perhaps he learned it at daycare, but the optimist in me wants to believe that those parents live by similar rules as us and wouldn't expose their kids to that kind of violence. So I can only conclude that this trait is genetically coded into all males.

I have to admit I was rather shocked when he did it that I couldn't react other than to gasp. Of course, he didn't get away with it. Brian leapt to my defense like a knight in shining armour and very sternly informed Trent of the right kind of behaviour. I couldn't tell then if Trent was crying from whatever pissed him off and caused him to slap me, or if he was crying because he got told off. But he was soon over it and back to being my little sweet man.

In more positive news, Trent is now putting words into sentences. Last night he actually said "I love you" when he was going to bed, and then we call out to each other as I'm going down the stairs "love you!", "love you!". So freaking cute!

ROCK OUT!

This weekend I was expecting to have my patience tested based on recent toddler behaviour, but Trent was pretty well behaved, or perhaps Brian and I have become more adept at mitigating the meltdown risk. Anyway, we had a great weekend, which included some alone time for me, a visit with Ben for Brian and Trent, a stop n' chat w/Mike and Tara, a trip to Costco where we had hotdogs and churros for lunch, and a new set of drums for Trent.
We found them on craigslist on the recommendation of Andi (thank you). We only paid $30 for them. What a steal. These drums go for $129.99 on Amazon.com and they are in excellent condition. When we went to pick them up, Trent was a little shy, but on the way to the car he got very excited about hitting the drums as I was carrying them. When we set them up for him in the playroom he immediately picked up the drumsticks and started drumming. The kid has rythm! Here are some pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/trent.bauman/February09#

Have the terrible 2s started early?

Lately Trent has been a bit of a drama queen. If we try to redirect him from his intended path/activity, he throws a massive wobbler. Throwing himself on the ground and crying. I guess it's developmentally appropriate, but it is NO FUN at all for me and Brian. I haven't much patience for this kind of stuff. On Tuesday he wanted cookies instead of dinner, and kept slapping his lasagna away and screaming. Finally I put him in time out. I turned his high chair towards the wall and let him cry. He eventually calmed down when Brian offered him some cheese, and he eventually decided that the lasagna was looking good and ate some. Then he had the audacity to ask for cookies and ice cream. Of course he didn't get any. Naughty boys don't get cookies or ice cream.
Mornings are starting to become a bit of a battle, too. He's not interested in getting dressed and he gets so mad if you even show him his shoes. It has to be his idea to put his shoes on. Yesterday I had to pin him down and put them on him. It's not how you want to start your day.

a small shift in the work/life balance

In the past 1.5 years that Trent has been going to daycare, Brian has always picked him up at the last possible minute to "get his money's worth" out of daycare. A practice I haven't fully approved of but tolerated mostly because we both have demanding jobs and we'd very much like to keep them.
But on our ski trip during a philosophical conversation with Tara in tha hot tub, I finally made my point that the extra 5 hours a week that Trent spends at daycare could be time spent with us, and time that we'll never get back. So we've made some minor adjustments to our schedule. It's taking a little bit of getting used to, especially for me, because my usual routine was to quit working at 6pm and take 45 mins to tidy the house and make dinner so it'd be ready when the boys get home. Now with Trent getting home earlier, I have to make dinner with him around, which is difficult because he's always on my leg when I'm in the kitchen. Last night I took him out for a run so Brian could work a little bit more, then Brian took him upstairs to play while I made dinner. We sat down to a family dinner a little later than usual, and Trent was very fussy while he was banished to the game room so I could make dinner. I think it's going to take a little time to get the routine right, but I am so glad we made the decision to spend a little extra time with him.
I am making the shift from having an office at work (which I rarely use) to going full time working from home. That means that Brian would always have to drive Trent to daycare because it's near the office. We think it's time to make the switch to a new daycare that's closer to home. This way I can run with the jogging stroller to pick him up and Brian can work however late he wants at the office. Stay tuned for more on that.

keep piling it on...

Well, I guess I shouldn't complain because this falls under the category of job security, but it can't go un-commented. I have received 2 new assignments in the past week. Not to replace anything I'm currently doing, but in addition to. There weren't enough hours in the days before, so you can imagine what this is going to mean for my work schedule. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it and an open mind. One of the projects - well, it's not really a project because that would suggest it has an end - is handling a multi-million dollar budget for the creation of educational courseware. It's my first time to do this kind of work, so this will be a completely new experience for me and an opportunity to learn. I'll be working with external vendors and internal financial people, and I've got some great people supporting me as I learn so hopefully I'll gain some good project management experience. The down-side is that I'm taking this responsibility from someone who got laid off. She was gracious enough to give me an orientation.

The second project that landed on my lap is to manage a project that converts DITA source to a format consumable by a Notes database. This one most definitely will have an end date, but this project runs in parallel with the other development project I handle, so it's a significant increase in workload.
We'll see how it goes. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to complain, just processing what this will mean to my work/life balance.

Taos ski report

We're back from a wonderful mini-break. A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpapparazzi for taking Trent for 4 whole days!
We headed to Houston on Thursday afternoon, just in time for dinner. We got Trent settled in and spent some time hanging out with Bri's parents.

Friday
7am flight to Albuquerque, NM. We got up soooo early, not that I slept anyway. Arrived in ABQ at 8-ish and picked up the rental car. A Pontiac G5. What a piece of crap that car is, but it seemed the lesser of all evils given our choice. I picked it because it was cuter than the other options, but it's downsides became apparent very quickly. Massive blind spot, useless rear window, oddly small trunk opening and a cavernous trunk, and the worst feature: MASSIVE doors. Like to get out of them you had to practically back out of the car. Anyway... won't spend too much time dwelling on that but it was worth a mention.
We arrived in Taos around 11:30 or so and had no trouble finding the condo, which was right above Terry's Sports. Tara was there, Mike was already on the slopes. We settled in, radiod Mike to come in for lunch, then after lunch we suited up, rented our gear, and spent the rest of the day throwing ourselves down the mountain. The lift ride up is long and the face of the mountain is intimidating, but there were many great easy and medium runs. The weather was perfect. Not too cold, and beautiful blue skies. That evening we hung out in the hot tub, made a small dent in the giant bottle of Makers Mark we brought with us, and had a pasta dinner.
Grandpa reported that Trent hadn't mentioned us even once! Glad to hear Trent isn't missing us. That must mean that he's enjoying spending the day with Grandpa.
Saturday:
Up early, yummy egg breakfast, and off to the slopes. The morning was lovely and sunny and after we went in for lunch, Tara joined us on the slopes in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn between when we came in for lunch and the time we got back on the mountain. The wind had picked up and the temp. had dropped drastically, which made it less enjoyable to ski.
Again, we spent time haning out in the hot tub, drinking whiskey and cokes and enjoying the calm and relaxation of not having a toddler around, and spending quality time with our friends. Valentine's day dinner was prepared by the men. Steak and asparagus on the menu, two of my favourite things. Delicious!
Trent had a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa and was being a perfect little boy. Awh!
Sunday:
Pancake breakfast! mmmmm. I traded my skis for a snowboard this morning. Brian and Mike headed up the mountain while I spent time on the bunny slope trying to get reaquainted with the snowboard. It's amazing how little of what I learned last time I snowboard stuck with me. The theory was there, but the execution was horrendous and I spent a lot of time on my arse or flat out on my stomach. But I persevered and kept getting up and trying again. By the end of the morning I was able to get down the hill without falling over, but was ready to go back to skiing so I could end my trip on a high note. Brian made me lunch. Least said about that the better, I think, other than it was a nice thought ;-)
While on the bunny hill, I noticed a lot of little kids learning to ski. By little, I mean as young as 3. They were so cute in their little tiny ski outfits, and so fearless. It made me miss Trent and Brian and I decided we would take Trent skiing as soon as he was old enough.
The afternoon's skiing was wonderful. Brian spent some time going down the black diamonds with Mike (and some time hiking back up one that was beyond his abilities - haha). I stuck to the blue runs, mostly because the black runs have mogels, which I absolutely can't stand. I did make one attempt to do mogels as we were heading down to see how Tara was doing on the bunny slope (Mike had managed to talk her into trying skiing again so she'd have a more positive experience than the day before - Tara's such a good sport). During my mogel attempt, I managed to lose control and not only fall over, but take out Brian as well. Poor Brian ended up on the ground with his skis buried all the way up to his boots! I managed to lose a ski and gave up trying to get it back on on the hill and hiked down swearing a LOT.
We ended the day with a visit to the clam bake that was going on at the base. Sadly, all the clams were gone, though. We went to dinner at Tim's (something or other) Tavern and I tried the green chile that New Mexico is so famous for. MMMMmmmm. good.
More hot tubbing, more whisky and coke, and finally, off to bed ready for an early start the next day.
Monday:
We got up at 6:30 and packed up the cars. We were on the road by 7:30 and back in Albuquerque by 11 or so. Uneventful flight (thankfully) and back in Houston. Trent was indifferent at first when we showed up. He walked into the kitchen, saw me, smiled, and walked back to the living room to get a toy! About 5 minutes later, though, he gave me a big hug. Grandpa looked a little exhausted but we could tell he and Trent really enjoyed spending time together. We ate dinner in Houston then headed home to Austin, arriving around 10:30, just in time to go straight to bed.

Taos here we come!

Ski trip imminent. We took all our ski stuff over to Mike and Tara's last night. They are going to drive there, so they are taking our bulky items with them.
Brian and I are heading to Houston tomorrow to drop Trent off for 4 days of fun with Grandma and Grandpapparrazzi. I think it will be fun for Grandpa and Trent, who will get to spend the whole day together on Friday and Monday. This will be the longest time we've spent away from Trent. I'm gonna miss him soooooo much, but I know that he's in the best hands possible.
On Friday we fly from Houston to Albuquerque, then rent a car and drive 3 hours to Taos. Half a day of skiing on Friday to get reacquainted with the sport, then hopefully 2 days of snowboarding to follow.
The condo has an indoor hot tub so we're definitely going to take advantage of that with our aching muscles.
Mum & Dad, I'll be sending updates via twitter from my mobile phone periodically. Updates will display here in my blog, as well as on my Facebook status. So stay tuned :-)

eeeeee! excited. Tonight we have to pack!

Quick update

Turns out that my voice loss is not from all the singing and woo-hooing at the Suede concert. I actually have a sore throat and congestion :-( Boooo! Hopefully it'll all clear up before this weekend's ski trip, but regardless, I'm gonna tear it up on the slopes.

fun night downtown

The front row of the Suede show is always crazy. Michelle and I spent the entire evening there, from the second song all the way to the very last, dancing our arses off. The crowd starts off thin but by about 10:30 there's only hip shakin' room in front of the stage, and by midnight a whole bunch of crazy comes out. I always find mystery bruises on my knees the next day. I finally figured out why last night. The stage is exactly knee high to me, and the crowd behind me was particularly pushy last night. I banged both knees several times! Bruised knees = Suede tattoo. Mike took some awesome pics of the band last night. I imagine he'll put them on his web site soon: www.johnmichaelharris.com. I haven't looked at my camera yet, but I imagine it's a whole bunch of pics of me and Michelle taking pictures of ourselves as usual! Oh, I can't belive I almost forgot to mention this, John Popper, of Blues Traveler fame, sat in. Good stuff!

I woke up this morning as hoarse as can be. I sounded like an old smoker!
Note to self: Nobody can hear you singing at the top of your lungs with the band playing, so turn it down a couple a notches. Sure was fun, though. Michelle was sounding a little raspy when I talked to her this morning, too.

the good news... not conjuntivitis!

The bad news... double ear infection, sinus infection. Nurse Grace prescribed an antibiotic for the ear infection and eye drops to clear up Trent's snotty eyes. Poor kid, it's so hard for us to know when he's sick because he never ever complains. We have one tough kid. Sometimes I wonder if his pain receptors work, but I get confirmation that they do whenever he bumps his head (often) and says "hurt! hurt!" and rubs it.

A good end to a bad week

It's been a very, very rough week. It started off ok on Monday, but on Monday evening Brian came running in like his arse was on fire... except it wasn't his arse, it was the car. Ok, well it wasn't on fire, but it was smoking. Between stopping for petrol half a mile from the house, and getting home, something happened to the Subie and it was leaking coolant all over the garage. Lucky for us that Brian has become so handy lately, and could diganose the problem, and even more lucky that we have such great friends who would loan us their vehicle so we could take Trent to daycare on Tuesday!
Tuesday got progressively worse. As Brian took the day off to fix the car, I started my morning with optimism that soon gave way to shock, then incredulousness, then nervousness as friends and co-workers pinged me to tell me the news of all the layoffs happening that day. People you'd never in a million years expect to be cut got cut. Whole departments. Managers, too!. Rumours were flying and it felt like someone had walked into a conf. room with a machete and started slashing. By noon I was completely convinced I was going to be given bad news and was contemplating all the things we would need to change in our lives if both of us lost our jobs.

Around noon I couldn't stand the waiting any longer and so I aksed my manager to put me out of my misery. Thankfully, the news for me was not as dismal as the news others had recived that day, but you can't help but be affected by it. Later that day Brian was also told that his job wasn't selected for the "resource action". We both felt a mixture of relief and guilt, for obvious reasons. I found it interesting, the choice of words many managers used when telling those of us who were not laid off. "Not affected". Everyone is affected by a round of layoffs, especially one like that that hit over a third of the people you know! You can't just go about your business like nothing happened. You feel for the people you know who's lives are about to take a major change that wasn't their decision. You feel guilty that you get to keep your job and they don't. You feel angry that this is happening to people you care about. You feel helpless because there's nothing you can say or do to make it better for anyone. You feel relief that you aren't in their shoes, then more guilt! You feel disenchanted with the company and its leadership. It threw me off my game for most of the week.
On Thursday I quit early and went to happy hour with a bunch of people from my old dev team (Brian's current dept). A few of those who were laid off were there, and I was so happy to see them and know that they were in good spirits, despite the crap that just happened.

On a more positive note, I am happy to report that Brian fixed the subaru on Tuesday, so it was only out of commision for one day. Thankfully, we made it through this bad week with only a few mental scars and a couple of bucks spent on fixing the car.

What we can take away from this experience is that life can take a turn at someone else's hand, and you need to be prepared for that.

Weekend of fun

Well, I'm officially done celebrating my birthday. This weekend was the icing on the very delicious birthday cake. I spent the whole day with Trent on Saturday, which is both exhausting and fun at the same time. He's so much fun to be around these days because he's so interactive and he's constantly making me laugh. It's exhausting because I have to think of ways to keep him engaged and entertained. Brian saved us $400 this weekend by fixing the Subie's roof rack himself. It'd been rattling and annoying both of us for some time, and the Subaru service dept. said to fix it they'd have to take the whole roof liner out and all the interior panels to get to the bolts. Brian decided he could do that himself. I remember when I met Brian how completely useless he was as a handy-man. And in the last week he's saved us hundreds of dollars by doing the 40K mile maintenance on the Subie, and now this. I'm happy to report that the annoying rattling is gone and the interior of the Subie looks exactly like it did before. Way to go, Brian.
On Saturday night the girls and I headed down to Cedar St. to finish off the birthday week with some ass-shaking, and that's exactly what we did. I didn't sit down the whole night. Lucky for me I was wearing my super comfy kick ass boots. The girls got me a birthday cake and balloons and ensured I always had a vodka soda in my hand. True friends never divulge your age, and I was entertained by the fact that my cake said "Happy 29th Birthday Amanda!" hehehe. We all spent the evening in our usual spot right in front of Brian Lee, dancing and being generally goofy. Brian is as entertained by us as we are by him. As usual, the night got crazier with every passing minute. I saw a small cat-fight break out nearby at one point but it was diffused quickly. The band learned 2 of my favourite Bon Jovi songs and played them back-to-back! I felt so honoured. Danny came up to me later and told me that they learned those just for me! what a wonderful surprise.
On Sunday, Trent slept until 9:30! what a good boy, then Brian took him downstairs and let me sleep a little longer. We spent the day playing and hanging out, then ended the weekend at Hula Hut with Tiff & Brett and many people I hadn't seen in ages, to celebrate Brett's birthday. Trent was so perfectly behaved and Brian and I were so proud of our little guy.

In other news, I got a good rating on my yearly assesment at work. I hope that this will help me survive the current round of lay-offs happening this week. Brian also got a good rating. Cross your fingers :-)

Another year wiser

I just want to point out that I am not one year older. I am only one day older than I was yesterday. My day started off pretty well, but had a few minor hiccups in it as the day progressed. Brian and Trent treated me to breakfast today. I had that delicious coffee cake with the raspberry cheesecake stripe down it! mmmm! I got to open a present from Kevin & Darice. I am now hooked up with a Bluetooth headset to go with my awesome new phone :-)

Then I got a call from mum and dad on Google Video Chat. That turned out to have way better video and sound quality than we've experienced lately on Skype. I also learned that my mum is on Facebook! That's so cool!

About 30 mins or so into our chat, my great morning started to take a turn... my laptop crashed. No blue screen, no warning message. Just flat out turned itself off and then refused to boot. I tried a bunch of things to get it back up, including safe mode, recovery mode, and even swearing like a sailor mode. Finally I resigned myself to having to take it in for recovery by the pros at work, and set about getting my other laptop up and connected to the intranet. Lucky for me I have 2!! Meanwhile I'm still desperately trying to boot my regular laptop. After about 15 or so reboots, it came back!!! Tenacity does pay off. But that little eye-opener prompted me to continue to get laptop #2 connected and loaded with everything I use on a daily basis, should this happen again.

Next, I had to set up an appointment for Onyx to see the vet. She has blood in her urine again, and I was tired of schlepping the poor cat 15 minutes in the car to our old vet, plus she always wants to run a barrage of tests on her that cost a fortune. So I switched Onyx to a new vet who is only 5 mins away. Onyx didn't even put up a fight when I shoved her into the carrier. A sure sign she's not feeling well. I like our new vet. He seemed a lot less judgemental than our previous one when I said I wasn't interested in running a bunch of tests, and wanted to just make Onyx as comfy as possible. He didn't even take blood or urine, but instead read her file that they had retrieved from our previous vet, made an educated guess on what could be wrong, and we're treating for that to see if it helps. He thinks she has sterile cystitis. We're giving her a special diet and an anti-inflamatory. If Onyx responds to the treatment, then we'll do some kidney tests to make sure that her kidneys can handle the medication. I am pretty sure our previous vet would never have prescribed something without a mountain of tests, so this makes me very happy.

Ok, so one disaster averted and one positive prognosis for the cat has rescued my day. I'm looking forward to dinner with friends this evening.

Trent and daddy comparison

Courtesy of Grandpapparazi, here's a comparison of Trent and Brian. SO cute!

Sick boy!

Trent seemed to be having a bit of a tummy issue on Sunday. During breakfast he didn't eat much and had a minor throw up of his french toast. Didn't think much of it, assuming he managed to gag himself, which he does every once in a while. At lunch time he barely ate his leftover grilled cheese from Saturday's visit to Spicy Pickle, though I did convince him to eat some lasagna. A move I would later regret. His demeanor seemed normal, though so I figured he was just not hungy. We met Barbie and her family for dinner at TX Roadhouse, and I ordered a kids meal with steak and mashed potatoes for Trent. He just played with it. He even refused the cupcake Barbie's dad offered him. He just poked the frosting and ate a couple of finger fulls of it. In the car on the way home, all hell broke loose. First came the suspicious smell, which I blamed on Brian... and Brian couldn't recall if it actually was him so he graciously took the blame ;-) As we pulled into the garage, Trent chucked up the bit of frosting all over himself and his car seat. Ugh. I stripped him down and bathed him, at which point I discovered the source fo the suspicious car smell as it smeared onto my trousers! After his bath he seemed a little lethargic. I put on his PJs and right after I was done dressing him, he threw up all over himself (and me)! I sent Brian out for some pedialyte while I continued to comfort Trent as he threw up the remainder of whatever he'd eaten. Poor Trent emptied his entire stomach on me, himself, several towels, the floor, and his his giant stuffed lion.
As a parent you try not to overreact to these things, but with it being both diarrhea and vomiting, and he has a minor cold as well, I just wanted to get an expert opinion, so we called the doctor. The doc seemed unconcerned. We sat up with Trent till we were sure that he was done throwing up, then he willingly went to bed.
The next morning when Trent got up he was fine. No signs of anything wrong. Weird! We kept him home for the morning to be sure he was ok, and then he went to school in the afternoon. School reported a normal day. I have no idea what that was, but Trent was such a big boy about it. He never once cried or fussed while he was throwing up. Way less of a baby than I would be under those circumstances. I dunno if all kids are like this, but I feel like Trent is a tough kid. He never complains about being sick. Even when he had the shingles he didn't scratch or anything.
I'm happy to report that the poop came out of my trousers after I washed them in hot water and Oxyclean.

18 month checkup, etc...

Trent had his 18 month checkup today and we're so impressed with the little guy. He only cried for about 20 seconds when he got his injection, and the doctor said that he's already hitting many of the 2 year developmental milestones, most notably his language skills, his affinity for mummy, and his independence. His projected adult height is 5'10". Not bad considering the height of my family :-) I don't know how accurate that can be at this point, though.

While we were at the doctor's office we witnessed some parenting techniques that could benefit from a visit from Supernanny, to say the least. Brian and I try not to judge because everyone's parenting philosophies are different, but this woman was a complete control freak and her poor daughter was just trying to express herself. She actually took her to the bathroom and spanked her. We could hear the girl howling in there. I couldn't help judging. I hate that I did, but it's so clear to me why her kid was acting like that when she clearly sets such a bad example and completely and publicly invalidated her daughter's feelings. Of course, I've never been in her situation so I don't know how I would act under those circumstances, but I'd like to believe that I'd show Trent some consideration and try to diffuse the situation without resorting to violence.

Completely unrelated sidenote: Last night when Brian and I were about to watch a movie, I had to laugh when the DVD player reported that the disc was an unsupported format and Brian walked over to the DVD player, took the disc out, wiped it on his jeans, and put it back in. I wondered if that was an advanced technique I hadn't heard of yet for correcting a badly formatted DVD ;-)