Posted by Heatherdawn on Sunday, November 12, 2006 @ 05:29 PM
We're here. I know, I know. But flogging is against the law, so there.
Actually, my unclass machine at work went belly-up on me about 3 weeks ago (if you look at the blogs, you'll find it an interesting timing coincidence). You see, unlike my husband, I cannot stand the sight of a computer once I get home. After 8 hours of dealing with them at work, I'd sooner throw my personal one out the window than spend more time in front of it. I used to get to work and, amidst checking out news headlines, etc., I'd catch up on the blogs and try to write out something quick. Without that access at work, I've trailed off in my duties…
Here are the basics:
Weather...
We've had some great weather around here. Several days in a row of Indian-summer type stuff, intermixed with some more "normal" temps and a little rain and then back to high 60's / low 70's and sun. It's been so crazy that I've yet to pack away the short-sleeved shirts for Kadie as I've been having to use them frequently.
Halloween…
We took Kadie to the Baltimore zoo for trick-or-treating this year. She went as Strawberry Shortcake. It was a one piece costume that allowed her to wear real clothes underneath, but we didn't have to pad her too much as it was fairly warm that day. They had booths set up around the zoo that handed out candy to the kids and she got to see some animals intermixed in the festivities (it's "trick-or-treaking" by the way). Unfortunately, the zoo had closed several exhibits to accommodate the decorations (there were several cemetery-type scenes), so we'll be going back for more animals at a later date. It's fairly close and parking is free, so I figured it was worth buying a yearly member pass - only, next time, I'll pack a picnic lunch for everyone. 3 bucks for a lousy hotdog encased in a slightly crusty bun that looked like someone had just crumpled it up for a quick game of field hockey was a bit of a shock.
Injuries…
So far, the east coast Todnems are winning the war on living the longest - no one's gone off any embankments, messed with any large equipment, dangled over any pit toilets, embarked on any nefarious Jeep trips, or adopted any bossy felines out to get the rest of the family. Kadie has a bit of a head cold right now, but it only provides her ample opportunity to bless us with the gift of boogers. Nothing says love like, "Here, Mommy. I got something for you… (squish)."
Work…
Overworked. 'Nuf said, right? I'm up to my eyeballs in work. They've decided to start throwing me to the wolves with the database development stuff - as in, "here's something you can try out" - sink or swim, baby! So far I've only gulped a few mouthfuls of water and I'm still dog-paddling, but I'm working on it. I spent all of last week in a software course. Great! Now they'll expect me to know more, right? We have another deployment coming up on the 15th of December and I was picked as one of the test managers again. With only five of us to choose from, it doesn't take long for your turn to come 'round again, but it wasn't the best timing as I'm still the only one doing the help desk queue while trying to learn the development part as well. Anyway, enough complaining. I have a job and it's fairly secure right now (though what's gonna happen now that Democrats are ruling the houses remains unclear - don't get me started on the recent elections).
I actually had a thought a couple of weeks ago that would have been go great, had it been probable: a Starbucks franchise. There isn't one in Westminster where we currently live and it does great business in this area of IT geeks that need to keep the gears grinding into the wee hours of the night (or, with us, the morning). I wouldn't mind giving up the commute and 8-hour days in a windowless environment for running a coffee shop, but Starbucks doesn't offer its name for a franchise. You can purchase a license from them if you already have a "qualified high volume/high traffic retail or foodservice operation", so I guess that leaves us out. Oh, well. It was nice dreaming of spending my mornings surrounded by the sweet smell of coffee. Ah! Though I've tried to swear off caffeine, I've had to bend that rule on a few mornings. There are days when I seriously have to wonder why I made that decision to begin with.
Schooling…
Kadie is learning so much! It's a terrific age and Jeff and I are both impressed (and entertained) as she regales us with what she's learned for that day at preschool. I've recently started sitting down with her in front of my computer (I know - but she's touching it, not me) with preschool games and we're working on manipulating the mouse. She's getting the hang of it, but it's slow-going right now. We also found some books at Costco that are "full curriculum" books (one for each year, up to 4th grade). I bought one of each and plan to use those as the core for our schooling, adding additional stuff that I find along the way and/or look up on the internet. I'm putting together some animal facts (habitats, diets, physical features, etc.) right now for our next trip to the zoo.
The holidays…
As we have a standing invitation to Dean's every Thanksgiving, I'm sure that's where we'll be in a few weeks. Kadie's been asking to see "silly boy" (her name for Dean) for months now and is excited to be going. I'm excited to not have to cook, though I'll probably make a full-course meal sometime that weekend so that we'll have leftovers to pick from. I've already got the ingredients; it's just nice to not have the stress of getting it done on a particular day at a particular time for a houseful of guests.
We're throwing another birthday party for Jesus this year. It'll be on the 16th - the day after I pull an all-nighter for our deployment at work, but it's the only day that worked for the majority of our guests. We've adopted a little girl that lives out in California for the kids to buy gifts for (www.hugsandhope.org) and we're doing the normal cake, games and crafts thing.
Unfortunately, we won't be able to come home for Christmas this year. It's been a bad year for retaining leave. We used up what we had the first part of the year for our move and when the parents came out. The second half of our leave was spent on various illnesses (both our family and daycare's) and surgeries (Jeff's wisdom teeth extraction). Right now, I have 2 days on the books - one of which will be used for the day after Thanksgiving since I don't have daycare. Even with the leave, we're a bit financially dry from our houses. We're still paying off that stupid water heater from the old house and the appliance suite for our new house. I'd love to come home to see everyone, but I'm afraid we'll be looking at a springtime visit at the earliest.
Mom…
You should have received (then again, since it's Powers, you may receive shortly) a package from Amazon. I picked out gifts for all the kids (for Christmas and birthdays - it was so nice of you guys to arrange them all so close together) and had them sent to you for distribution. I sent labels with them, but they should be pretty self-explanatory if the labels don't go separately with each gift. If it works out well, you'll get the package while Lisa is there and can send Z's and Bri's home with them. They didn't offer any holiday wrapping paper though so I'm afraid I have to defer that chore off on the parents.
Lisa…
Since you've been talking about Z's work with learning his letters, etc., I just wanted to make special mention of a series of DVDs that we've discovered that are great. It's the Leapfrog series on ABCs, words, and math (they're at WalMart for about 10 bucks a pop). Kadie just loves them and is starting to learn to read using them. We pop them in on our way to daycare and back each day and she hasn't tired of them yet.
Well, that about brings you all up to date on us. I don't know if my computer at work has been fixed yet or not, but I'll try to get on at least once this next week at home if it isn't. Love and hugs to all. Everyone have a great holiday season this year!