Reunion!


In case you didn't see them on Facebook, here are the photos from the reunion we were at this past weekend.

It's been an interesting month around here. There are considerably fewer mice in our house now, a rather large hole in the wall around our tub fixtures (pretty snugly covered with plastic sheeting), Isaac turned into a shark (Nooo!! I'm a fwendwy sawk! I onwy bite bad guys! I ONWY EAT BAD GUYS!!!), Daniel had a frightening fall, I had some more working evenings, and I found a group of people more Republican than I am (on average, anyhow).

Never a dull moment!!

Labels: boy talk, boys, home improvement, W and L, work

- posted by Lenise @ 9:58 PM |

 
General Update
Well, things at work seem to refuse to settle down. I had another big deadline New Year's Eve (for which I had to do some work Christmas weekend, since I had to take a sick day for Daniel), and we're doing some follow-up on the earlier project, while the next huge project looms over our heads (we're not ahead of the game). Thankfully, since we did our extended family Christmas over Thanksgiving (except for the things we have to mail to family in Michigan STILL, and well, I am not sure what to do about family in Lebanon!), Christmas preparations were not bad. I wrapped a number of things as they came in (largely from others- I didn't buy much for us), and still others arrived in wrapping paper, so Christmas Eve here was low-stress EXCEPT for cranky baby on antibiotics. He's feeling much, much better.

We've been baking cookies every week or so, which was fun sometimes (I ended up doing quite a bit on my own, which is just fine). It's always fun to eat the cookies, and baking has gone much better with the oven repaired (Paul replaced the bake element a week ago). We even tried a chocolate gingerbread recipe I received via email from Lowe's Foods. It was fairly good, but I think it would have been better if our kitchen weren't quite so cold (butter never softened, even though it was out all day and all night, and the "room temperature" melted chocolate chips started to harden all on their own (and fairly quickly at that!).

Last Friday we did a family trip to a local science/ children's museum. The highlight for Daniel seemed to be watching a tortoise try and escape its enclosure (it was very easy for him to see from the stroller), though he also enjoyed the play areas. The rest of us were excited to pet an extraordinarily friendly wallaby, which was soft and fuzzy like a kitten. Not many families get the chance to pet a wallaby. Not around here, anyway!

We had a nice Christmas (we had Christmas dinner at the home of some friends with a number of other guests), and had a good New Year's Day (some friends came over and we had a quiche brunch), with some additional fun fit in here and there. Now that we know about the museum, we may go back a few times to visit the wallabies. There are also supposed to be meerkats, but they seemed to be trying to stay warm underground last Friday- we saw neither head nor tail. We'll definitely have to take Uncle Todd!

Labels: family, wallabies, where did the time go?, work

- posted by Gary @ 8:26 PM |

 
So Many Posts, so Little Time
I was thinking today that I'd really like to get back into the habit of blogging daily- there's not a day that goes by without at least one of the boys doing something that I'd like to remember down the road. I doubt that will happen, though, and it's probably good, since once I get online, my evening seems to magically disappear in a cloud of smoke. Self-control *sigh*: if only I had some.

So this morning, Jay came into our room around 5:45 AM wanting to sack out with us. It doesn't sound bad, until I'm trying to get comfortable in a space that is only as wide as my thigh. Thankfully, the nightstand is close enough for me to put a hand on it as I'm squirming in place, trying to flip over. Also a plus, Jay doesn't wake up if I push him towards Paul. Still, he finds his way back to me. Nice soft, warm, mama.

Anyway, Paul dragged him back to his bedroom, where he remained for about 10 seconds before whimpering, whining, I-don't-know-what-ing, "Mama, pweese put mine bankets on *fuss, fuss, fuss* Mama, pweese put mine bankets on *fuss*", etc. So I did, and plopping back into bed, thought, then mentioned to Paul, "I could get up, go to work, and come home an hour earlier". I decided to do exactly that after having been quiet and still long enough that (I hoped) Jay would have gone back to sleep.

This is not the kind of thought that would have seemed like a good idea to me under normal circumstances, but ever since DST began, the evening traffic has been HORRENDOUS. My theory is that there are timid people freaked out by the darkness, and therefore going, say, 10 mph more slowly (who don't, incidentally, bother to get into the right lane) along with the usual nut cases who believe that it is their prerogative to drive at 90 mph wherever they are in whatever conditions, generally clogging up the roads, creating scads of passers-on-the-right (grrr), and making me downright angry.

So (particularly after a bout of the above combined with Friday traffic- HELP!!!), I got up at 6. Jay came crying into the bathroom shortly after my shower began, but was not so difficult or time-consuming as to make me "late", and it seems to me I even got an "I love you" before I went to work =]

Anyway, the results were mixed. The lighter traffic in the morning was made distinctly less relaxing by the dimwit who passed me and two other vehicles on the two-lane road I use to get to the highway. It's only a couple of miles long, and the speed limit goes very quickly from 35 to 45, and eventually to 55. The only circumstance under which it takes any considerable length of time to travel the road is when there's an 18-wheeler going into or coming out of one of the factory-type facilities in the 55 mph zone at the far end of the road. When this scofflaw passed me, I was going 50 in a 45 mph no-passing zone. Whatever. Traffic on the highway was lighter, but not very much so.

This afternoon on my way home, though, traffic was much lighter than during my normal commuting hours, as was the road. So was my mood. Pray for me, please, that I will continue to get up early enough to maintain these hours, as it will be much better for me if I can. It also means that I am home in time for dinner with the boys. Did I mention that they are really cute?

Labels: baby talk, boys, traffic, work

- posted by Lenise @ 8:29 PM |

 
Busy-ness
Things here have been hectic. Paul has gotten a lot of work scheduled at his work-from-home listening job. In fact, I believe he's scheduled to work every Tuesday and Thursday this month. This is very good, financially speaking. It's probably even good for Paul (though this particular job can get a bit mind-numbing, I suspect). However, it puts a little extra stress on the boys and me, and potty training is right out at the moment. Why, you ask? Because there is no way to keep my two children quiet. We could go upstairs and play with Jay's train set, except that it's 100 degrees outside, and as the outdoors go, so goes the upstairs. More or less.

So we leave.

We used to like to go to the zoo of an occasional T-day, however, temperatures in excess of 90 degrees and pregnant ladies outdoors for hours on end don't mix so well. Sometimes we walk to the library and various downtown destinations, but not when it's 100 degrees out. A dear sweet friend of ours kept the boys for me this morning so I could get my ultrasound, and has invited us over for a day next week, which is absolutely wonderful! Paul's over there teaching one of her daughters piano once a week, and the boys (which is to say Isaac) have gotten rather used to our friend. Truly a friend to be thankful for!

We spend a lot of time at shopping malls. Which means I buy stuff. Today, Isaac got a cool ball that is really a bunch of rings melded together. He likes it quite well. I got Jay a toy that has chipboard lace-up shapes and foam cut-outs which can be strung. He is quite enthusiastic about it too. I've just got to stop buying stuff all the time. I got Jay his birthday present (a Lightning McQueen car that talks and drives when you shake it) and one for Isaac (Mater) back when my family was here. I also ordered him a Henry train for his wooden train set and a replacement pen for his My First Leap Pad (apparently they go out a lot, and ours has). That's really more than enough. I will stop!!!

I think I need to call up some friends with little folks and see if we can arrange a play date. At their house!

Labels: birthdays, boys, work

- posted by Gary @ 8:42 PM |

 
And Now, Back to Our Story
Well, a quick update anyway. I've got an interview tomorrow with a non-profit in downtown Durham. I had a phone interview with them last week, and that went well enough that they invited me to come in. It sounds like part-time is a possibility, so although this job doesn't sound like it will stretch my technical skills, it's looking like a very good opportunity.

In the meantime, I was contacted by a recruiter who saw my resume posted on a data jobs website. I don't want to get into too much detail, so I'll just say this job sounds like a better "career" move and more of a challenge, but I know very little about it, so if they don't get in touch with me this week, and I get offered the other job, I may just let it pass by.

Paul's got a part-time job lined up (related to his ESL teaching certificate), but we're not sure how many hours it will involve. That will start in a couple of weeks.

All in all, things are happening, I guess. As always, we welcome your prayers!!

Labels: life, work

- posted by Lenise @ 10:04 PM |