Unspeakable Tragedy

I've been gathering my thoughts about my father-in-law's sudden, unexpected death for the past few weeks; it's a lot to process all at once. Sometimes it still doesn't seem real. It still seems like we're going to see him at Christmas, along with the massive amount of Christmas decorations (mostly nutcrackers, which he collected) that he put up every year.

There are so many things that are tragic about this. He was a husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, and friend of many. Very many. There were probably 600-700 people at his funeral, and many more who said they wanted to attend but couldn't. But the thing that I keep coming back to is that there's a beautiful little baby boy who will never know firsthand how wonderful his Grandpa was. So here you go, little guy....here's the first of many times I'll tell you about him.

Dear Elijah,

Your grandpa loved you very much. I probably had a hundred people tell me how excited he was about meeting you. And how he showed off pictures of you at every opportunity, in typical proud-grandpa fashion. He saw a picture of you every time he turned on his cell phone, and carried your newborn photo from the hospital in his wallet---the only photo he kept in there. He was so proud. He was all smiles whenever he saw you. I have a picture of all four of your grandparents as they walked into the hospital room to meet you for the very first time. All of them were so excited to meet you!

Your grandpa was a great guy. As your daddy said on the day of his funeral, he was the kind of man who looked after widows and orphans. He was always caring, always visiting, always helping. He was the person we called when we thought we were having car trouble. He helped us fix a few things around the house not long after you were born. He had lots and lots of tools, and was very smart---he could fix anything. And he was happy to help out anyone with anything.

Back when I was first getting to know your daddy's family, he always tried to make me feel welcome. I talked to him a lot, about all sorts of things.

One little thing I will miss is waking up to the smell of breakfast cooking at his house. And the tailgating at Michigan football games! Those were some very early mornings, which would start out with breakfast under the big Michigan tent and end with more food.

I am so sad that you won't get to see his big smiles, or hear his laugh. And that he won't get to toss you up into the air, help you learn to swing a golf club, or take you to a football game. But even though you won't get to know him, always remember that he knew you, and he loved you.

-Mommy

>

Right Now

My wonderful husband, baby strapped to himself, just baked brownies AND walked into the room with the mixing bowl so I could have the little bits of batter that remained.  Does it get any better than this?  Ahhh, I picked the right guy.  :)  

Sometime I will post about the tragic and overwhelming events to hit our family in the last two weeks, but for right now I will revel in what is right with the world.  My family.  I love them more every day, in ways that I couldn't have anticipated even a few years ago.  My friends, who have shown me their love in support in ways that I have never experienced.  My little guy, who brings me so much joy.  I am learning to savor the moments.  All of those little moments that I never used to notice.

Portraits

So I realized that the reason I didn't like a lot of his photos, other than the fact he's not smiling, is that they had him propped up at a weird angle, which I didn't notice at the time.  So he looks a little uncomfortable in most of the leaning-back ones.  Here are just a few!

3 Months Old!

Of course, Mr. Smiley Man decided to not really smile much during his session at the portrait studio today. Not sure what that was about. I think he must be tired. We got there within 45 minutes of him waking up from his nap, and he just ate, but he still wasn't nearly as alert and interactive as usual. Oh, well...the photos were still pretty cute. 

I managed to get some really cute photos of my own 2 days ago---so many shots of him with big smiles that it'll be hard to narrow down the best ones! I'm starting to wonder how much it would cost me to set up my own portrait studio at home---I have a good camera, but I'd need the lights and backdrops. Then at least I could get him when he's happiest, right after waking up and eating!

 

Do I really look that frazzled?

I thought I looked pretty good today. I mean, I showered and everything! And I was wearing clothes that were free of spit-up and drool. But for some reason when I was at Target today with the little guy (we went to the portrait studio) I was getting all kinds of sympathetic comments from people. "You've got your hands full, huh?" Several people offered to help me get him in and out of his car seat. And when I was almost back to the car, and older gentleman walking past said, "Don't worry, they'll grow up soon." Elijah wasn't even screaming, or all of this would have made sense. I didn't think I was stressed out, either (except by the fact that I had to pay full price for the portraits since I forgot my coupon). So the only conclusion I could draw was that I must look really tired or stressed out, by normal people's standards. I guess not sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time for 3 months will do that to a person, I don't know.

"He's so huge!"

At church today, it was fun to see a whole bunch of our friends...some of whom I haven't seen in a while.  And they hadn't seen Elijah in a while, either.  Quite a few people commented on how big he's getting.  I think he seems to look different every day.  He has so many facial expressions now that it seems like every picture we take is different than the last.  It's really fun to see him learning how to communicate, making faces and sounds.  I know it'll be a while until he can actually talk, but hearing his gurgling noises is still pretty fun.  

He turns 3 months old next Saturday.  How time flies!  The following Monday he has a doctor appointment and we'll find out just how big he is.  I keep having to remove clothes from his dresser that no longer fit.  I had to go buy some more sleepers for him.  His PJ's were getting too short, but now he has enough of them, at least in his current size.  But I somehow doubt that the 3-6 month size is actually going to last until he's 6 months old!  It's really amazing to watch a tiny human being grow literally before my eyes.  

A few photos from today....

Playing with daddy...

A new skill, or an accident/fluke?

From what I hear, it's waaay too early for Elijah to be rolling over.  Except that it's now happened 3 times.  But until he's started doing this on a regular basis, at times other than right after I've set him down for tummy time, I'll refrain from pronouncing him SuperBaby.

Check out the drool that I caught mid-air on this one:

"Ohh, here we go...not stable, not stable, rolling.....uh, mom?"

"Hey, what happened?!?  How did I get here?"  

 

Ok, I stand corrected.  I have been informed that it is possible to measure one's success as a mom at this stage: everyone is breathing at the end of the day, and I am still sane.  My problem is that I am an overachiever.  True, true.  :)  

Well, it is the end of the day, and everyone is breathing, and I have my wits about me.  Score one for me!!!!

Nap time

I know I should be spending Elijah's nap time either doing something productive or sleeping, but alas, here I sit in front of my computer, doing nothing, and eating cookies.  :)   Oh, well.  At least my brain is taking a break at the moment.  

This morning the speaker at MOPS was talking about getting rid of "mommy guilt."  This is a topic that I was completely unaware of even a few months ago...and now, with only ten weeks of motherhood under my belt, I could completely relate to everything she was saying.  There have been so many times when I questioned whether I was doing the right thing, or the best thing, and even more times when I had no earthly idea what to do.  

I've been trying to figure out why motherhood has completely overwhelmed me at times.  The reason, I've decided, is that there's really no way to measure success.  In school, you get grades.  At work, you get feedback from your boss.  But as a mother, not only is there no endpoint, but there are no grades or annual reviews.  There's no syllabus outlining expectations.  You don't win or lose.  And there is always something more you could be doing.  And there's always some new thing to wonder about ("shouldn't he be able to do X by now?").  So, as a habitual overachiever-type, I have had this nagging feeling that I'm not succeeding at this, even though I can't explain what I'm not doing right.  It's crazy!  

Fortunately for me, I have wonderful people in my life who tell me to get a grip, to go outdoors and take a walk, to stop reading all of the parenting books, to stop worrying, and to just breathe (you know who you are!).  And I really, truly am enjoying this.  It's the most difficult, delirious, uncertain season of my life thus far, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  So thank you, all of you who have helped preserve my sanity in the last few months!  

Rollin' along...

On Saturday, Elijah somehow managed to roll over from his back to front while napping in his crib...while swaddled, no less. I found him up against the rails (thank goodness for no crib bumpers that he could have smothered in!). But this means that I probably should stop swaddling him because I really wouldn't want him to get stuck somewhere with his face down and not be able to use his arms. This is really frustrating, too, because we were just starting to get good naps with his new, harder-to-escape swaddle (The "Woombie"....looks goofy but it works). And now he's back to waking himself up frequently with the wildly flailing arms. Sigh... I guess we just have to wait for him to have better control over his limbs and lose that startle reflex. I am hoping and praying that he will be a better daytime sleeper very soon! And that he'd sleep through the night, of course. Waking every 3 hours isn't fun, but at least I'm getting sort of used to it!

I keep telling myself that I just have to keep perspective: in the grand scheme of things, this is a very short season of my life, and I need to enjoy it for what it is. It's really hard to do some days!

Time for some sleep...however brief it might be. :)

Talkin' to Daddy

Apologies to anyone who doesn't find 2 minutes of baby cooing and smiling to be the height of entertainment...but I thought some might think it's cute.  We sure do!

  

Warning! Advertencia! Avertissement!

I finally got around to cutting off all the extraneous tags on the "tummy time play mat." I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there were more than 20 warnings and notices. This item shouldn't be used in a crib, without supervision or near an open flame. (Thanks for the heads-up on that one!) And in case you speak Spanish or French, they have repeated all of the warnings. Even the "inspected by" tag.

A Nap Disrupted...

Arrrgh.... I finally got the little guy to sleep and now there's some sort of plumbing repair work in the building that involves cutting through concrete and who knows what else. So the entire floor is vibrating and the noise is incredibly loud. Poor kid's not going to get a whole lot of sleep today if this keeps up for too much longer! He could end up being well on his way to grumpy land by evening. Yuck!!

Cheeks!

My mom took this photo on the way to church on Sunday. He usually hates riding in the car; apparently all he needed was some company in the back seat. :)

Packing for Work

I'm sure I forgot something.

This isn't my first day at work but it's the first day we're leaving Elijah with the sitter and I have a ton of stuff to take for him and for me. I'll spare you the details.

But the amount of stuff rose to the level of ridiculous when I had to get out a wheeled briefcase to take my two (yes, two) laptops and cables. The new one doesn't have all the necessary software and I have yet to organize and transfer the files from old to new.

Now all I have to do is find some clothes to wear tomorrow and get some sleep! I've been waiting for Elijah to wake up so I can feed him but he is sleeping longer than usual. I hate it when I'm awakened just a few minutes after falling asleep...but since he had his two month shots and some Tylenol today, it's anybody's guess how long he will sleep! Probably a while. Poor little guy!

That's all for now...

Some recent photos

Here are just a few photos I've taken lately. If you're on Facebook, you can find more photos there. :)


Big smiles!


Talking to Grandma


Drooling during tummy time


So happy today!

Watch Elijah Learning to "Talk"

We've been doing this for a long time every day...I can actually see him trying to figure out how to make sounds.  It's pretty amazing. . . and fun!  This video doesn't capture just how smiley and interactive he has become.  Hard to believe he's two months old already!

Parenting Book Overload

I was putting books back on the shelf, and I made the mistake of counting how many parenting books I've read in recent months....twelve. Most of these have to do with various parenting philosophies. The problem I've encountered is that nearly every book not only says it's the best way to parent an infant (of course), but has some very sharp criticism for all of the other books out there. Some of them actually name the other authors, and say that this or that is going to scar your child for life, make them unhealthy, make them not trust you, allow them to run your life, and on and on. There's attachment parenting, child-led feeding, demand feeding, parent-directed feeding, Ferberizing, the Baby Whisperer, Babywise, Happiest Baby on the Block, and on and on and on! Prior to becoming a parent myself, I had no idea about this huge debate going on (each with its own set of devotees, bloggers, endorsements, critics, etc.), and I'm glad. It's all too much for my brain to handle.

I need to stop reading these books! But it's sort of addictive because, in truth, I really don't know what I'm doing. All of this parenting stuff is pretty new to me, and I'm just learning as I go like everyone else. Anyway, whenever the library books come due I'm returning them and not getting them again. Gotta save my sanity. :)

It has been a LONG day!

So sleepy... After a somewhat difficult night that involved moving our car away from advancing floodwaters at 2:30am, then having baby at home by myself while Will was at church, then having the power go out, I finally couldn't take it anymore and a friend helped us get to her place. It is great to get out of the house, be with other people, and not think about the sandbagging and power outage going on at our place!

Flooding

It has barely stopped raining in the past 24 hours and it looks like we are in danger of flooding if the water keeps rising. From our window it looks like we may not be able get the car out of the alley tomorrow. As long as the first floor of our building doesn't flood!

One month old today!

I can't believe he's a month old already! Wow. Elijah is getting very big, and seems to be changing every day.

Four weeks

How is it that the past 4 weeks have flown by but sometimes each day feels like it lasts forever? It's amazing to me that it has been four weeks since Elijah arrived. He looks a lot different than he did back then. Amazing. I'm coming to terms, albeit slowly, with the reality that he won't always sleep when I want him to (and desperately need a nap myself). I think the day is much easier if I just don't expect to get a nap and then I will be pleasantly surprised if I get one. It's all about the attitude and expectations.

God, in his infinite wisdom, knew I needed some sleep last night. A couple of 3-hour blocks of sleep may not sound like much but it was what I needed. Little dude still doesn't like napping in the daytime in the crib (prefers to be held), but he seems to have figured out what "night" means.

Hmm, do I dare risk waking him by moving him? Nah. I'm sleep-deprived but not crazy. :).

Awww...

...his first projectile spit-up. Ew.

He's still cute, though.

Ten Days

I would be lying if I didn't say that these have been the most difficult 10 days of my life. Despite everything I'd done to prepare myself for having a child, I discovered it's not something you can ever be totally ready for. (And all of the moms out there are smiling and nodding right now.) We've been having some issues with feeding, but the little guy is totally healthy. I'm working with a really great nurse, though, who's helping us through it. And I know that I need to be patient. Everyone keeps telling me that things will get easier, and I do believe them, but when every day seems like it's 48 hours long, it's hard to look very far past the current moment!

Still, every bit of sleeplessness, frustration, and uncertainty has been completely, utterly worth it. Right at this very moment, I am sitting here with a tiny little person bundled in a blanket, sleeping on my chest. And it's the most beautiful thing in the world.

Two Days Old (almost)

It's a Boy!

Elijah James...Born August 1.

No news is.....no news.

It's been fun to see friends old and new come out of the woodwork in the last few days to see if the baby has arrived yet. But no, I have nothing to report at the moment. According to the doctor today, I'm not any closer than I was a week ago. Which is rather frustrating, but I know things can change at a moment's notice. And since today is my due date, there are technically more than 6 hours before the baby is "late." Some friends of ours are going bowling tonight, and I might actually go--not to bowl, but to have something to do, and to be walking around a bit. We'll see, however.

Sometime after we call all of our family members with the news, we will probably be putting something on Facebook and possibly here to let everyone know. Once my mass-email list started approaching 100 recipients, I figured I should just stop and take advantage of Facebook.

...

Ha, ha... I am now watching 2 squirrels chase each other up and down the blackberry tree outside my living room window. Very cute.

...

Now, back to tying up some loose ends for work. I am starting my leave on Monday, baby or not, since the doctor said I shouldn't be trekking downtown every day. I couldn't agree more!

Have a great weekend!

Ok, now I'm ready. I got a pedicure and a haircut, so now I can go into labor. :) Ha, ha. As if I am the type who normally gets pedicures, or even gets a haircut more than twice a year, for that matter. If it was in the budget, though, I probably would. The pedicure was very relaxing.

I'm discovering just how impatient a person I really am. I think I knew that already, but this is really bringing it out. Will has been very nice despite all of my whining. Today I really should have done something healthy like take a walk, go swimming....something--but right now I'm laying on the couch trying to decide between taking a nap....and laying here not sleeping. I actually feel fine, just really lazy. Hmm, maybe it's time for a nap. :)

90 Degrees + 9 Months Pregnant = Ick

Wow, it's hot outside! Even early in the morning while waiting on the train platform, it's unbelievably hot. I don't like this kind of heat anyway, but especially not this year. Only a few more days.....

No more decaf frappuccino...

My hot-weather Starbucks beverage of choice ceased to exist this week. I switched to decaf last November, and lately I've been getting various decaf blended frappuccino beverages as a treat for myself. I had quit drinking coffee altogether (what's the point, I thought, if there's no caffeine?), but I restarted the habit because it tastes good and, well, it's a habit. Anyway, today I found out that since they have these new non-coffee beverages, I can't get my coffee version without caffeine. And there isn't a close approximation, according to the barista.

In the grand scheme of things, this is about as trivial as it gets, I know. But lately, I've been clinging to the simple little pleasures of life as I wait...and wait...and wait for baby to arrive. Speaking of which, I think I'll schedule a pedicure since I can't reach my feet and I got a spa gift certificate for my birthday!

Chicago: highest sales tax in the nation!! Woo hoo!

As of 12am today, Chicago (Cook County) has the highest sales tax of any major American city: 10.25%. Somehow I missed the news that this was happening and heard about it on the 10:00 news last night. Good thing I don't need to make any more major baby-gear purchases! I would have been tempted to run to Meijer in the middle of the night.

So now it's a toss-up: spend a little extra gas to make major purchases in one of the surrounding counties? Or save the gas money and pay the higher tax? Too much mental math for this time of the morning.

Speaking of baby gear, we are slowly but surely getting everything finished. We're installing the car seat tomorrow night; we got the replacement part for our new dresser which I'm finishing tonight (the top wood piece had a deep scratch in it); I have a few more loads of baby laundry, and that's about it. This weekend we're going to thoroughly clean the house, or so we hope!

Lovely day

Today turned out to be a beautiful day, despite the forecast of storms. There was just one nasty but brief storm that passed through. I was at a wedding while it was still sunny....it was a great day for an outdoor ceremony and reception. I had a good time despite my cold or allergies or whatever this is. Then I had coffee with a friend, and now I'm home all evening by myself. (My "other half" is leading a retreat for college students this weekend, but I'm not allowed to travel that far anyway.) So now I just have to decide if I want to be lazy or productive tonight. So far "lazy" is winning...it is dark in here but I don't feel like getting up to turn on the light!

Today's adventure:

This is the sidewalk directly in front of my office building. When I got here this morning, I found out that a car hit a fire hydrant and there would be no water in the building all day while they do repairs. Which means that since I need to visit the bathroom every hour, I'm getting lots of fresh air! The train station is less than 2 blocks from here; same with Starbucks. So, no problem; just gotta plan ahead and not wait too long!

Ahh, summertime...

I escaped the office for a little while and got to enjoy the blue sky
and sunshine!

There are so many things about pregnancy that are unexpected, new and a little strange that it would take forever to list them all. My favorite of late is all of the people who talk to me who otherwise wouldn't. I have met quite a variety of interesting people on the train, for example. The other place it happens is at church. Since I'm up on stage singing on a regular basis, the 500+ people out there have seen me "growing" over the past few months and often someone I don't know will say hi and introduce themself. It's been a nice way to meet people! (If I am gone for a week or two, apparently that makes some wonder if the baby arrived.) Yesterday my favorite comment was, "you're lucky you still have ankles!" Well, some days I don't and if this weather keeps up I anticipate being rather swollen for the duration! But that's a whole other topic.

I had a close encounter with a Segway...or a near miss, whatever you want to call it. I stopped suddenly as I was walking down the sidewalk because I was about to cross the street. The guy swerved out of the way and I was quite startled. It was so quiet I had no idea it was behind me. They're pretty cool. This was the first time I'd seen someone other than a cop or a tourist riding one.

Wow, I need some sleep! I haven't been sleeping very well or very long. Goes with the territory, I guess!

It's a.....Jicama!

From this week's pregnancy email: "By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long." Yeah. That's so helpful. (Trisha---they are definitely running out of vegetables!)

First Redamak's Visit of the Season!

We stopped at Redamaks on the way to visit family in Michigan... Most people don't get this excited about a cheeseburger, but these are both the best anywhere and bring up many happy memories of childhood. We may eve go there the next 2 weekends in a row! After that, it may be a while before I do any more road trips!

Ha, Ha! Funny ads

I love a lot of things produced by the Ad Council...this one about fatherhood made me laugh out loud:

You don't say...

Your coffee is hot? Really? I guess with the prevalence of iced coffee these days, it's good to make that clear. I don't know why I was struck by this sign...just thought it was goofy. Interesting word order choice, too. (I can't help it...I'm a grammar nut.)

It's too bad that they're across from Dunkin' Donuts, and not far from Starbucks, Caribou, McDonalds, and even 7-Eleven. I applaud them for attempting to break into the market, though!

Train-appropriate reading material

I know I shouldn't care what people think of me, but I realize that lots of train riders can see what you're reading. I started to flip through a really good issue of Pregnancy magazine that my friend gave me, and realized that some of the article topics and ads are a little embarrassing. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. :)

A Rutabaga?

I get a "Your Baby This Week" email from some baby website, and it's usually full of interesting information about what things are currently developing, how big the baby is, etc. Up til now they've used various fruits, vegetables, and other things to describe how big or heavy it is. But in the "25 Weeks" email, it just said that "Your baby's weight isn't much more than the average rutabaga." I have made it nearly 3 decades without knowingly having eaten, or even held, a rutabaga. That's about 1.5 pounds, apparently. And 13.5 inches long. Seems kinda skinny!

Hopefully next week they'll use a fruit or vegetable that I recognize!

Wow, two "when is the baby due?" questions by strangers in one day. The first at Starbucks this morning, and the second at The Container Store tonight. So much for the winter coat making it harder to tell!

morning coffee

One of the Starbucks employees that I see every day just asked me if I'm having a baby....she noticed months ago that I switched to decaf, but didn't want to say anything. So I guess it's pretty obvious at this point, even through a winter coat!

Starbucks just launched its new coffee roast and its retro-looking logo (saw it on the news yesterday), and the place was packed today. Looks like their media blitz worked: there were probably twice as many people in line this morning compared to any other day. Crazy!

What month is this?

Oh wait, it must be the end of March. So much for that "out like a
lamb" thing.

Duh moment of the day

I was sitting at my desk without my shoes on; after I put them back on, I noticed that they felt really tight. "My feet must be really swollen today," I thought. Until I looked down and saw that they were on the wrong feet.

The return of my energy?

Today I had one of the most productive work days in a long time. I actually felt like my brain was firing on all cylinders, for a change! No mental lapses either (except when I almost started filling the coffee mug upside down again...I think the mug must be at fault). The question is, will my productivity continue when I get home? Will this happen again tomorrow? Has my body finally gotten the memo that I'm supposed to have more energy in the second trimester? Only time will tell.

Peeps!

Upload your own creative photos of Peeps!

Caption: "Where's Waldo?"

I haven't actually had any Peeps this year, but I am a big fan. One of my college friends, I can't remember who, totally hates them....but how can you not love sugar-coated sugar?

Ewwwwww.....

Ok, I'm not sure why I'm posting this, but I saw it on another blog I read and couldn't let it go by without comment. Check these out:



In case you didn't catch it...yes, they're plush toys designed to introduce kids to the wonderful world of potty training. Eww.

Mmmm.....cookies

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time, and though I've completely missed it for the last few years, this time I've crossed paths with some enterprising Girl Scouts on 2 different occasions. And I caved in and bought some cookies. The first time was at our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant, and the second time was today at the bank building that houses my Starbucks. Apparently since they were off school thanks to Pulaski Day (it's an Illinois thing), they set up tables in downtown office buildings. Way easier than going door to door like I did when I was that age.

Ok, I'm hungry....time for some cookies.

Getting Rid of Junk.....that somehow, lots of other people want

I'm a fan of Freecycle, which if you haven't heard, is basically a free local email group where you can post offers of stuff you want to get rid of, and respond to others' offers and free stuff. As I continue with my massive house cleanout project, I post things that I don't want anymore and would feel guilty throwing in the dumpster. And I usually get lots of responses. When I first joined, I was more interested in getting free stuff, but now I'm motivated by the desire to actually see the back wall of the closet for the first time in years, and then to create space for this tiny little new person who's going to have lots of stuff. Tiny stuff, but lots of it, I imagine.

So, I think I look a lot more pregnant than I did a week ago. Or maybe it's just an optical illusion created by the horizontal stripes I've worn for the last 2 days in a row. I'm not a good judge of how much I'm showing at this point; it seems like a lot. But to someone who isn't aware of my new status, I probably look like I just ate waaay too much Valentines candy. Which I did, but that's beside the point.

I just realized that the 2 of us have never had a portrait taken, at least since our wedding 7 years ago. I'm thinking that maybe we should, before we become the 3 of us. Maybe on Sunday, if both of us are having a good hair day!

My street this morning...

Ok, I have to admit, it was pretty. Though not so much through the
windshield.

Will winter ever end?

I was officially sick of winter a couple of weeks ago, during our last snowstorm. So I was not thrilled to hear we were going to get another dumping of snow last night. Usually when I awake to everything coated in white, I'm like a kid again, excited that it snowed, even though I'm not going to go sledding in it and there's no possibility of a snow day. But today wasn't like that, and the snow only represented a potential sloppy mess that would require me to wear boots and lug around extra shoes. We've had so much snow this winter that it will be a long time before it all melts, but I'd settle for sunshine and dry pavement.

Ok, enough whining about the weather. I did choose to live in Chicago, after all. But around here, complaining about the weather is as ubiquitous as snarled traffic or Starbucks.

Update

It's been a really long time since my last post...I keep thinking about it but never have gotten around to it. :) Anyway, I'm sure everyone who reads this knows by now, but we're expecting our first child this July 24! So far everything is going along well. So that's pretty much been consuming my energy of late. That, and our massive clean-out-the-house endeavor that we're in the middle of. Anyone want some free books? !! Sometimes it seems like we're not making much progress, because lots of the progress isn't visible (in closets and such). We are probably also going to replace the carpet in the bedrooms because it's in worse shape than I though (now that we're moving furniture around that was cleverly concealing the stained areas). So, more stuff to do! But we're really excited about this summer!!

Weather

It's a sad, sad thing when 20 degrees starts to feel warm---compared to the last few days of single digits. When we woke up on Saturday morning, it was 6 degrees outside. By yesterday, our kitchen sink pipes had started to freeze because they're on an outside wall; despite our best efforts to keep the water running, keep the cabinets open, heating the room, etc., the cold water slowed to a trickle. But now it's back...at least for now. We need to get the condo manager to do something about that one.

Also in the single-digit temperatures on Saturday morning, we got a flat tire. We called AAA and sat there for a very long time waiting for them, though that was much better than changing a tire in that weather! Not that we could have anyway; it turned out that we don't have any tools in the trunk. Whoops! So we had an unexpected major expense last weekend, too---we replaced all 4 tires at once. The traction on snow is much better now, thankfully.

One sort of amusing thing that happened this week was that downtown by the train station the wind took my hat right off my head, and sent it sailing for almost a block. I would've given it up for lost, except that it got stuck on a fire hydrant (after skipping through a puddle), so I went and got it. I'm very picky about hats, so I'm glad I don't have to buy another one!

Living in IKEA

It's been a while since I made regular trips to IKEA; I can safely say that we have plenty of furniture by now. Maybe too much, even. But I'm still a fan, even though I haven't been there in a while. And I couldn't pass this up: a guy who convinced an IKEA store to let him live there for 6 days while his apartment was being fumigated. This is also the same guy who visited all 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in one day. I think he's a comedian/filmmaker/performance artist/etc., so this will probably buy IKEA some free publicity, as if it needed it.

The videos are hilarious, by the way.

Mental lapse of the day...

This all happened in a matter of a few seconds, but I got a huge laugh (at myself) out of it:

In the kitchen at work, I reached up to get a mug out of the cabinet, then reached down to fill it with water in the sink. I noticed I was starting to get very wet, then looked down to see I was holding the mug upside-down. HA!!! Note to self, always make sure the cup is right side up when filling with water. Or, in general, watch what you're doing. :)

Have a great day, and don't forget to laugh at yourself!