Monday, August 17, 2009

Random

I have written so many blog posts in my head, but I haven't been taking the time to sit on the computer to type them up. Or, when I DO get a chance to sit on the computer for a while, I can't remember what I wanted to write about! So here's a catch-up, rather random, whatever-occurs-to-me sort of thing.

I'm back on coffee, after 6 months of being coffee-free. But I'm not drinking full-strength caffeine: of the three scoops I put in the machine, two are decaf. So that's not so bad, right? (I'm just not going to tell Mary Anne...)

Julie is taking DH and me to dinner on Saturday. She asked for suggestions, then rejected everything DH brought up saying they weren't fancy enough (!). We decided we couldn't bring Z along to such a fancy restaurant. The plan is to wear an outfit such that it's very obvious it's a pregnant belly, not just a fat one, and let that start the conversation, then we'll have a couple pictures of Z on hand to show her. She'll get to meet him the following week at the shindig she's hosting at her house for all of her labrats employees for all of the people who work in her lab.

Z climbed out of his crib again the other day. I heard the sound of legos as I walked past his room, so I looked under the door and saw cute little feet running around. But that was several days ago and he hasn't done it since. We have security measures in place to keep him contained to the upstairs if he does crawl out again though (gate at the top of the stairs, gate across the computer room, and doorknob covers on the bathroom doors and my closet). These security measures also make it possible for me to get housework done upstairs when he's awake.

DH keeps asking me what I think of the three possible job locations: Huntsville, Sylmar, and Mountain View. Problem is that I don't see the point of spending any more energy on the question than we've already spent until we get some offer letters. Why get all excited about a location, just to be disappointed by an inadequate offer letter? Or get a better offer for a different location? We already got all excited about one location, and then not a single company applied to returned the interest, so that location isn't even in the running. I only have so much energy these days, so I have to prioritize what I want to spend it on.

Which brings us back to the coffee. For some people, coffee (caffeine) keeps them awake. For others, it doesn't have much of an effect (DH claims he's one of these, though I beg to differ). For me, it energizes me. Case in point: a few days ago, while DH was off in CA for an interview, Z and I had McD's for dinner. I had a large sweet tea. I refilled the cup before we left. At 10 o'clock at night I found myself enthusiastically folding laundry and putting away clothes, after having cleaned the kitchen till it sparkled and scrubbed our bathroom till it shone. I didn't fall asleep until closer to midnight that night. (At first I thought it was the famous nesting instinct, which had me washing baby clothes at 6 am one morning while pregnant with Z, but then I remembered the sweet tea.) So the next morning I made coffee (2/3 decaf 1/3 reg) and vacuumed the downstairs, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and cleaned the other two bathrooms. And so I've decided it's not worth forgoing my beloved coffee in the morning anymore. The baby has developed past the critical stage where caffeine is scariest, and I'm actually getting my chores done these days.

Speaking of the baby, we've come to a naming impasse. One of us would like to name him Patrick. The other would like to name him Daniel. Neither of us seems willing to budge. (Actually I think a compromise would be acceptable, but nothing worthy has presented itself). The funny thing is that the person who likes Patrick (person A), hated it when we were expecting Z. It was actually person B's favorite name, but A talked B out of it. Now that we're expecting our second one, A has decided that Patrick isn't really so bad after all. But B was talked out of it so completely that B doesn't like it at all now. Besides, B claims that it "feels wrong for this baby" while Daniel "feels right". So we're stuck. I'm thinking of emailing the question to friends and family and getting their input, without identifying which one of us prefers which name. What's preventing me, however, is the fear of negative (as in, trying-to-talk-us-out-of-the-name) comments about the name I like. So I haven't done it yet.

We've pretty much decided on a middle name (I think), but are keeping quiet about it to most people, because SOMETHING has to be a surprise when he's born!

When I picked Z up from the church nursery last week (not yesterday, but the week before), the kids were being watched by two older gentlemen. One of them apologized for not knowing how to use cloth diapers and that the "fancy diaper job" I'd find was his. I'm used to people not knowing what to do. I should probably invest in some all-in-ones for this next baby. Anyway, after we got home and it was time for a diaper change, I found Z in a disposable diaper with the diaper cover over it. (The diaper cover is waterproof, since moisture would just soak through the cloth diapers into the clothing without a cover.) The guy wasn't kidding when he said he didn't know what he was doing! But I didn't think of it again until yesterday at church. The same guy apologized again and told me that he owed me for a cloth diaper. Turns out, he had thrown the cloth diaper away! In the trash! Cloth! As if it were disposable! (THIS is why there should always be a woman in the nursery! Or at least a competent father) I didn't really know what to say. I hadn't noticed because I don't count my diapers (why would I need to?). Fortunately he didn't throw the cover away! Those covers are at least $10 each. The diaper cost a little more than $2, but you can't get just one, and you have to get them online, which means you have to pay for shipping, and I don't really expect him to pay me back. Just one of the risks of using cloth in a disposable world I guess!

Remember that guy who came into our church one day and got my address? Well it didn't stop after just one letter. He called the church office asking for my phone number (they didn't give it to him, thankfully), and he's sent me three letters since (none of them with adequate postage. I should take them to the post office and ask about that...). I was considering writing back to him and asking him to stop sending invitations to me, but I haven't decided if it's worth the stamp.

DH has new laptop fever. We currently have one desktop computer (which is technically "mine") and one laptop (which was supposed to be "ours" but turned into "his" because he takes it to school). The laptop has a 17" widescreen and is rather heavy (it's like a portable desktop). Now that he's looking at a new job that will not require and may even prohibit using his personal computer for work, he's ready to get rid of the behemoth and get something smaller, lighter, and with a longer battery life. So we've been to Office Depot and Best Buy looking at the computers on display. We've configured laptops many times over on the Dell and HP websites. We've scoured the web for what good deals are coming up. I think he knows we can't afford to get one for at least a little while, but now that he's gotten started, he can't stop thinking about it. He thinks we might switch computers - the desktop would become his so he can do his programming on the 20" widescreen and I would get the small, light, portable laptop so I can keep up with whatever computer work I have without having to wait for naptime. It sounds like a good plan. But the desktop was never really "mine" after we moved here, and I know the new laptop wouldn't stay "mine" either. What bothers me about sharing a computer is that we have different organization styles, and he likes to install programs, which leaves me with a cluttered computer full of programs I don't use. We'll see. We probably do need to downsize the laptop. The thing is too hot and heavy to use on your lap, and if we sell it now we might get as much as $500 for it. I think if we DO get a small laptop, and we DO "switch" computers, I'll create two accounts on "my" laptop: one for me and one for him, so at least he can't clutter up my half.

My Mary Kay representative got herself promoted to a Directorship position, so she's giving free facials to all her current customers. I'm kindof excited! She'd love for me to bring a guest or two, and is offering free stuff for doing so. I've asked a couple friends if they'd be interested, but I'm not really sure they would be. We'll see.

Yesterday was our 6-year anniversary. How did we celebrate it? We played board games all weekend and then went over to a friends house for BBQ/bible study last night. We have a gift certificate for a restaurant ($25 gift certificate that I paid $2 for at restaurant.com), but we haven't felt motivated to use it. Is that weird? (yes, it's weird). Thing is, we went out for DH's birthday (8/10), DH ate out almost the whole time he was in CA for interviews, Z and I ate out a couple times while he was gone (although he ate at sushi and mexican restaurants and we had fast food. Not the same category of "eating out" in my book!), and then Julie's taking us out on Saturday and hosting everyone the following week, and we couldn't pass up bible study because getting together with our friends is so much fun and we don't have that many more opportunities since we're moving soon, and so we haven't felt like using up this fantastic gift certificate! It's rather funny, actually. It's good for a while yet, so maybe we'll use it when we're getting ready to move and don't want to buy any more groceries. Or maybe to celebrate getting/accepting an offer letter.

Well, this has probably turned into a long enough post to make up for my lack of recent posts. And I'm hungry. Time for a snack. Haha, you should hear Z say "snack"! He only says the first part: "sna", and he makes it so nasal, it's hilarious! He even scrunches up his nose while he says it. His vocabulary is exploding, by the way. He's adding new words every day, and just gobbles up the time I spend to teach him something new. The other day we went over the facial features: eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, over and over and over and over. Good fun. My favorite new one recently is "chee", as in "change". It means "I need a diaper change". I love that he's aware and comes TO me now!

Okay, I'm really done now :)

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1 comment:

ehart said...

Sounds like you've been really, really busy.

Two accounts on the computer sounds like a plan.