Thursday morning.

I forgot how much of a morning person I am. After I left my job last summer, I have been pretty much reveling in sleeping late whenever I can. Which happens more than you would think. People always were telling me how early babies get up in the morning, how horrific it is when they wake for the day at 5am, blah blah. Of course, I half don't want to say this out loud, but my baby is actually rather considerate when it comes to the mornings. Sure, she's still waking up twice a night on average, but in the mornings? 8 o'clock is early. Yesterday we all slept until 9:15. (Nate is also able to sleep late, since he doesn't have to be at work until 10)

But last night baby was pretty cranky and fussy and tiredish, so I put her down a smidge earlier than normal. 7:30 instead of 8:00. Which meant that by 7:00 this morning, she was awake and ready to start the day. I was not so keen on he idea, because I stayed up stupidly late, as usual, doing what I don't know (ok, yes I do know. I was folding laundry and browsing the interwebs and watching Stewart/Colbert and Michael and Michael Have Issues which is actually a pretty funny show and also flipping through porn my Ikea catalog) but ANYWAYS I was up until like 1:30, so suffice it to say that I was not actually all that interested in getting up at 7am, especially since I knew that I had finished all the coffee two days ago and hadn't bought more because I developed some sort of weird grocery store aversion since the baby was born. But that kid was in there crying, so I got up and was surprised to find that I was actually okay with being awake and out of my bed. So I nursed her, changed her, brought her downstairs for her second and third courses of breakfast (ahhh yes, I'll start with an order of the mother's milk, then for the main course I'll take a tray full of cheerios, and then let's see, I guess I'll finish with some of your finest canned peaches, cut up into very small bits.)

By the time Fiona had finished her breakfast (No breakfast for me at this point in the story, stupid thyroid meds. Making me wait an hour before eating anything.), I had made up my mind to run to the grocery store for a. Coffee, and b. Lunchmeat. Because poor Nathan has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch way more often than any 27-year-old man should.

I could have thrown on some sweatpants and run out the door. But I did not. Thanks to countless hours spent watching WNTW (That's What Not to Wear, for those of you who aren't in the know) I am very cognizant of the fact that you are supposed to wear actual clothes when you leave the house. Even to the grocery store. So not only did I get dressed (in a skirt, no less), I did one better. I also did my makeup. That's right. By 8am I was dressed and accessorized and out the door with makeup on, feeling fabulous. Thank you, Stacy and Clinton. It's my very own "Chic mom-on-the-go" look.

So out the door, trashcan dragged to the curb, baby in carseat, and go.

And you know what? I don't actually mind grocery shopping at this time of day. There are a thousand open parking spaces, there was nobody in line at the deli, all the employees were friendly and nice and not at all frazzled and annoyed and world-hatey yet (I'm looking at you, employee of the month), there was no line at checkout. Only two people gushed over the baby, instead of the usual 4 hundred. (I'm not going to go into it, but that's pretty much why I avoid the grocery store. I can't handle all the attention I get because of the insane cuteness of my child. I know, I know. I'm all kinds of messed up.)

Did my grocery shopping, got home, brought the trashcan back in from the curb (good thing I didn't leave it for Nate to do, cause our trashman comes way earlier here than at our old place, and they're weird about not letting you put the trash out the night before), put away groceries, put the baby down for a nap, made lunch for the boy, ground coffee, brewed coffee, made out with the boy, set out doughnuts, cleaned up from making lunch and the baby's breakfast, said goodbye to the boy, poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down to blog about all of that.

So. I believe that that answers, once and for all, the question of whether or not I am a morning person. I am. Could you imagine the things I could accomplish if I got up this early every day?!!?!?

Fun dangly earrings, huge cup of coffee, apple cinnamon donut.
It's a good day already.

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Let's hear it for employment!

Tonight's top story- I got a job! Just a couple hours every afternoon, making sure a 10-yr-old boy does his homework, gets to football practice, and then I start dinner. And then I go home and start my own dinner. I'm excited. It's gonna be great. More funds=awesome.

In other news, our basement is quickly becoming the hottest new photo studio this side of... the tracks? Anyways, it's going to be awesome. Spent some time at Ikea today, getting things like new flooring and a footstool.

Also got one of those rollercoaster toys (you know, the ones with the beads) for Fiona, and a wok (for to cook stir-fry. Yay!), and some of those awesome cookies from Ikea, with the chocolate in the middle...mmmm so good. All awesome things.

In sports news- my fantasy baseball team was in first place until the all-star break and now they are slipppppppping into a distant second just like the Red Sox. I am not happy about either of those. Not awesome.

In closing, today was stellar. Three out of four things I am thinking of as I head to bed are awesome. Which makes it a good day.

Plus, there is this-

I don't think I need to say any more.


Oh! But I will. Say more, I mean. This morning we were watching Sesame Street, and I hear "duh nuh nuh nuh...duh nuh nuh nuh nuh...The Final Countdown" and then who is there but GOB BLUTH but he was playing "Max the Magician" but he was GOB! On Sesame Street! And it was awesome and I must say, I enjoyed it immensly. And I very excitedly texted Nate to tell him. Plus tivoed it so he could watch it when he came home from work. That too, was awesome.

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Ketchup.

With all that's happened, how have I not written more? Oh,right, I was busy doing all those things. In any case. July was crazygonuts. For realz. We moved into our new house the weekend of June 26th.

Gah. The spacebar on this laptop is turrible. Like, really bad.

We then spent the 4th of July weekend at Nate's grandparents' house in Pennsylvania. Uncle Nick and Auntie Kelsie both came up with us. It was very fun, except for the part where the baby decided to scream for the entire damn night until I told Nate I'd had enough and got up and walked out of the house and drove for like half an hour into nowheresville Amish country Pennsylvania before deciding that okay, I guess I should come back after all because that kid is awfully cute when she isnt screaming. But other than that, good weekend!


July also saw a visit from Auntie Kelsie, which was delightful. Kelsie is heading off to Ireland in the fall, she'll be there for a year working with NET ministries, so wanted to make sure we got plenty of quality time in before she leaves. I am insanely jealous of the whole Ireland thing. I wish I could go.


Then the entire fam descended on our new house on their way to the beach in Topsail, North Carolina. It was a totally crazy day, but loads of fun. We hung around for another day, and then headed down to NC to join them at the beach. Holy CFL. What a fab time.



We were at the beach a week, then went home for one night before Fiona and I took off for MA and Nate headed for a hockey tournament in PA. Fi and I stayed at Auntie Manda's house for a night, then went and stayed with Nan and PopPop. (We think those are their names. We're still trying them out. I assume it will feel more natural when Fiona can actually say them...)

The reason for our trip to MA was another wedding. Manda and Joe got married on August 1st, and it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day. I was matron (ugh) of honor, so we spent the entire week before the wedding in MA, some fo the time at Manda's doing wedding prep type shizz and some of the time just hanging out with the fam. One morning we went to a Fancy Picnic at the library with the little girls. It was quite lovely.



Finally home like 2 weeks ago and we are still recovering. Schedule is just about back to "normal", whatever that means, and I have finished all the unpacking from the trip and resumed unpacking from the move. We still have stupid amounts of boxes left to go through. Pro tip: Sort through your crap and get rid of stuff BEFORE you move.

OH! Also, wanted to report that last week Fiona had her 9month doctor visit, and she is doing fantastical, and continues to be a teensy little shrimp at 27inches (thats 25th percentile) and 15lb5oz (yeah, thats 5th percentile). But she is bigger than she was the last time we went in, so the doc said nothing to be concerned about, she's perfectly healthy, she's just little.

Oh, and I got a haircut earlier this week and its wonderful. It takes me three seconds to slap some mousse in it, add a little anti-frizz serum, and pin the bangs back with 2 bobbypins. I lurve it.


Annnnnd thats caught up. Pretty much. The short version. One day, I see this blog having entertaining, witty content. Maybe if I could keep up with the day-to-day recounts of events I'd actually have time to ponder and have thoughts as well... we'll see. I make no promises.

Peace out, y'all.

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Shoot.

Expect a longer, catching up post soon. It's half-written, saved as a draft. Probably to be posted later this afternoon during naptime. This is a short update to say holy CRAP this child is close to walking.

We bought this little walker type push toy at a yard sale the other day and when we brought it home she just held on to it and stood there, bending her knees a little. Then last night she just took off, across the basement, walking and pushing the thing in front of herself like a pro. Today she basically RAN with it across the living room. Not that she can run by herself, but I was pretty impressed by her ability to keep up with the momentum of the toy.

Oh, hai. I am trubble. Hide your USB cables and charger cords.

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Theatre geekery

A few days ago, Nate and I were talking about drama and why it was so important to me in high school. I think I can boil it down to a couple pictures.

High school theatre was so important to me because it allowed this girl-
to disappear for at least a little while. It let that girl be this girl-

-at least for a few hours at a time. And yes, those pictures were taken on the same day. It helped me escape me. And really, it did so much more than that. It taught me to be more outgoing, to interact with more people, to not be afraid to get out there and make a fool of myself, to make people laugh, to make people cry, to try something new.

So there you have it. My love of the theatre boils down to the need to escape from those godawful glasses.

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Epic Fail.

It's a really good thing that this isn't like a real blog, one with followers and sponsors and crap like that. Cause I'd be so fired by now.

It is, however, supposed to be a great place to keep everyone caught up on the goings on in our household. Lately, however, I've been too preoccupied with actually going on to bother chronicling everything. So here's your recap of the past month.

Since the last time you heard from me, the following things have happened-

- I went to the podiatrist and she confirmed that yes, I had overstressed myself right into plantar fasciitis, and to take it easy for awhile.
- Fiona was baptized (huzzah, she's no longer a little heathen baby!) and we had a MASSIVE family party with guests from 5 different states. Note to self: get more chairs.
- Auntie Chrissy stayed with us for a week. We ate cake every day for breakfast, so it was a pretty good week.
- We drove up to MA the following weekend for a hectic, sacrament-filled couple of days. Nate and I became godparents to my cousin Isabella on Saturday, and then Mickey and Natalie both got confirmed on Sunday. That's three sacrament parties within a week. Which is, as it turns out, a LOT of cake.


- Somewhere in there we found out that our landlady sold her house to avoid foreclosure, and that she would be needing to move into the house we currently live in. So we started to look for a new place.
- Babygirl got two more teeth! Now she's got four!
- The mobility level of this child has just EXPLODED. She doesn't quite have the concept of crawling on only her hands and knees, but that DOES.NOT. slow her down. She moves around incredibly fast, and she pulls herself up on things- the bars of the crib (we've had to put the mattress to the lowest setting for fear that she would launch herself out over the railings), the couch, a laundry basket, the coffee table (which really doesn't work all that well- she bangs her head a lot), and of course, on the boxes that are everywhere in the house right now because


- We found a new place to live, we'll be moving this coming Friday. It's a little further from Nate's work, which is a bummer, but its really not that far. Only 5 miles. It's in a nice neighborhood, one I know well actually. I used to live there with roommates in a townhouse in the same developement. We'll have access to the community pool, there are several playgrounds, a couple lakes with jogging paths around them... its going to be good. I will post pics of the new place just as soon as I can.
- On a sad note: I found out that my drama teacher from high school passed away suddenly last weekend. It was completely unexpected and really shook me up more than I expected. Drama was a HUGE part of my life during high school, and the people involved in that, especially the teachers who supported and believed in me (even if I was only cast for my physical ability to play a 9-year-old) really shaped, in a big way, the person I am today. Doug was the kind of person that was larger than life, and one of those people that you just expect to be there for always, like as a part of the auditorium. Hearing he was gone hit me really hard, even though it's been years since I've seen or talked to him (outside of facebook, of course...) and I just really regret that I never told him how much he impacted my life just by doing his job as a teacher and a director.


- We attended (and I was a bridesmaid in!) a wedding. My dear dear friend Katie Walker (the original Katie Walker) has gone and changed her last name and it was a beautiful day.


- Fiona had her first pedicure. A girl's gotta look glam for a wedding.


- We celebrated Father's Day... started out with breakfast in bed, and Fiona had picked out a fabulous new watch for her daddy. She's got great taste, if I do say so myself. We basically just chilled out around the house all day, which was wonderfully relaxing. And very needed, as we head into this week of what will most likely be a hectic mix of packing and getting distracted.


That about brings us up to speed. I sort of regret not being better at this, I am missing all the little things, and those are the ones that I am going to forget. But today is Monday, and Mondays are for starting fresh.

So. Here's an entry. I will do my utmost to squeeze in at least one more before we pack up my computer and turn off the internet access.

ps. We've got tickets to the Sox/Nationals games on both tomorrow and Wednesday nights!!! I'm so stoked! Babygirl gets to attend her first MLB game!!!!!!!!!

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Just awesome.

In my last post I wrote all about how "Yay I ran a half-marathon even though I wasn't prepared but hey it still went well!"

Forget that nonsense.

Remember that foot pain I mentioned? How it kind of bothered me a little bit but I just ignored it and powered through the race and wow look how hardcore I am?

It hurt for like 5 days, and then felt fine and better. Then all of a sudden on Saturday morning it started hurting again. Now it hurts even more. And I've been told by my physical therapist friend that it looks to be plantar fasciitis. And to not run until its totally healed, and then some. Now I'm just barely hobbling around my damn house. Standing at the sink for 5 minutes to bathe the baby is excruciating.

This is yet another seriously depressing veggie in the crap stew that is my 2009.

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