Scrubs?

By the way, did anyone else catch Scrubs last night? I like that show, but I don't schedule my life around it (unlike The Office and 30 Rock). However, I did catch it last night and I found myself laughing SO HARD when Turk and J.D. took their respective babies to the park and J.D. and Turk were talking for their kids, Sam and Izzy. And then J.D. decides to make Sam hit on another baby at the park. It was brilliant and I haven't laughed that hard all week. Making babies (and pets) do funny stuff makes me laugh, anyway, but Turk and J.D. are really funny together. I'll kinda miss that show when it's gone, b/c whenever I do catch it, it's pretty darn funny.

Here's the episode clip from nbc.com. The part that I love is from 2:11 to 3:29. You'll have to put up with an annoying ad. I couldn't find this on YouTube. Oh, the breastfeeding bit at the very beginning is pretty funny, too.
http://www.nbc.com/Scrubs/video/episodes.shtml#vid=189820

ek

Goodbye for another year, November

I'm so excited for December 1, which is of course tomorrow. I really love December. Besides May, June and October, it's my fave month. It's just so cheesy and full of cheer that I look forward to it. Plus it sometimes snows in December, and I'm ready for the snow. Bring it on.

So this whole putting Gus to bed completely awake is working well. We started putting him down completely awake, after he has a sippy cup of milk and plays a bit. I'm even putting him down a bit earlier, around 7:30pm, and so far it's great. He does cry a bit when we first leave the room, but his crying spells are much shorter every night. I hate not rocking him, but it's for the best. Our babysitter, Annie, had no issues whatsoever with him on Wednesday when we went to the KU bb game. In fact, he went to bed for her with no issues, barely even crying. Annie is our lucky charm. She is such an awesome babysitter. She is so good with Gus and has such a calm but really fun nature. I found out she's going to be at KU for at least another year or two, so selfishly that makes me very happy.

My work email is acting weird this morning so I'm having a hard time remoting in. Annoying, but kinda nice, too. I have a real reason not to work. Gus looks hilarious today. He's wearing these great pants that Kelly and Alex got for him in Malaysia, but they just recently became way too short. So he's still wearing them right now b/c they are so cute, but they are total high-water pants now. And I even pulled them down below his pot belly, so they are definitely low rise pants. My kid is stylin'....helllzzzzz yeeaah. You don't really realize how much your kids grow until you put clothes on them and they are too short! He's totally grown a couple of inches since he last wore them, which was not that long ago...maybe a couple of weeks? Crazy. It's funny, though, b/c I was looking at him last night in his crib when he was sound asleep and I thought he looked much longer. He loves snuggling with his stuffed animals at night. We kept the crib free of stuff until he turned a year, but he now loves sleeping with a blanket and his stuffed frog (Fred the Frog), monkey (Marty McMonkey) and fox (Frannie the Fox, or Mr. Fox, depending on who you ask...me or Andy).

Well, I'm off. Have a great Friday and keep your fingers crossed that Oklahoma beats Mizzou tomorrow in the football game. Otherwise, we'll have to endure the fact that Mizzou will play in the National Championship game, which is about as humiliating and disgusting as North Carolina winning the NCAA championship when Roy decided to go back there. But I must admit, Mizzou winning the football championship wouldn't bite as hard as the North Carolina NCAA championship. That was a depressing year for me...seriously...not kidding at all. I hate to remember it. I hate North Carolina so much. Have I mentioned that? Not bitter at all. Whatevs.

Happy Hump Day

So, it is Wednesday, and I am back at work. Gus is having more issues with his eczema, so I am going to call a dermatologist, per the recommendation of his pediatrician. Hopefully we can resolve the issue once and for all. Arrrgghhhh (that's the sound of me being frustrated).

Otherwise, just getting through the end of November. I feel like it should be December already. Usually time flies, but lately it seems that the end of this month is creeping by.

I am excited because Andy scored free tickets to the KU bb game tonight. I was afraid we would have to pass because of the late notice, but our lovely friend, Annie, said she could come over tonight and watch Gus. May the gods bless you, Annie, for passing up free tickets (even if they are nosebleed seats) to a KU bb game is just a shame. We considered taking Gus, but I was afraid the noise in Allen Fieldhouse might be a bit too much. Plus, the game starts at 7pm, and his bedtime is around 8 or 8:30pm, so that would not work. So, thanks, Annie! Hopefully he will go to sleep for her tonight. Sometimes, with a babysitter, Gus refuses to go to sleep. It is kinda funny, because I did that when I was little, but I think I was older than 1! Sometimes he seems like he is 4 years old or something...he cracks me up.

Speaking of sleep, we have been trying to put Gus down awake (but tired) at night so he can go to sleep completely on his own. I imagine most people with 15-month old babies have been doing this for some time, but we are just starting to really enforce it. Up until now, I have honestly really enjoyed our bedtime ritual of rocking him to sleep (after he drinks some milk). I usually put him down when he is super drowsy, but I never really make him go to sleep completely on his own. So we'll see how it goes. He is really good about going back to sleep by himself in the middle of the night. We've done the whole "cry it out" thing before, and it has worked on him. If he wakes for any reason and is upset, he pretty much immediately goes back to sleep (unless he's sick or really teething or something). But when he first goes down to sleep, he is just used to snuggling with me. Selfishly, I'm going to miss that time with him. He's growing up and it makes me happy but sad, too. But it makes me more happy than sad. :)

I'm excited b/c this weekend we are having a holiday party with our Lawrence friends, hosted by Jim and Hannah. They have a 18 month old, Ash, and all our Lawrence friends will be there with their babies and whatnot. This year we've all decided to get gifts for a low-income family in Lawrence (set up through Ash's daycare facility) instead of getting each other gifts, so it'll be awesome to give everything to this family. It feels good.

ek

Back to the grind

So, it is the day after the Thanksgiving break and I am depressed about going back to work, but that is to be expected, I guess. Thanksgiving was nice this year. We drove down to B-game for some home cooking, courtesy of Shee-wee (thanks, mom...it was yummy!). I made the green bean casserole and my bro-in-law made the stuffing. Other than that, it was all my mom, and she did it up. We totally pigged out and then I ate more that night and the next day. And then Andy made turkey salad and we had more and more and more. I still feel rather lethargic.

It was a good and bad weekend for KU sports. KU lost the football game to Mizzou (that was hard to type) but the basketball team won in overtime last night against Arizona. That game freaked me out a bit. But it is good to play a close game early on, I think. We do not want to get big heads, which we tend to do...because we are SO GOOD! :) That half-court shot that Rush almost made at the end of regulation play was amazing...but overtime is good for us...we need to get used to fighting for a win.

Enough about that. Gus is doing well. His face rash was finally diagnosed as eczema (sp?), so we have been applying a prescription cream to his face that seems to be working really well. The only problem is that we cannot use it for more than 2 weeks at a time because it is pretty potent stuff, so he is on hiatus right now. We also finally got a humidifier for his room, which has been working, and we have been moisturizing the crap outta him all day! We are always applying lotion to that kid. He has been in great spirits, though. His temper is shining through more and more each day. I think he definitely got that from my side of the family. Ouch. But otherwise he is the sweetest little guy. He really is. He just goes from 0 to 60 really fast! But he loves to blow kisses (he ends up spitting a lot) and he loves to wave to people right now. Every time he hears the car start or the garage door open, he starts waving to Andy. He associates that with Andy leaving for work. It is pretty funny. Oh, and he covets his legos right now. He cannot get enough of them! We pick them up about a billion times a day, which is a workout in and of itself...seriously.

That is it for today. Until later...have a manageable Monday!

ek

Be careful what you ask for

It's Thanksgiving eve and it's sleeting in Lawrence (snowing in Kansas City, I believe). I like it, but I guess I didn't realize the change in weather would be so dramatic. It was over 70 degrees yesterday and now it's around 30 degrees. But it's fun to break out the winter coats and whatnot.

I just ran a few errands during my lunch period. After my run to Target and home to eat some soup (and watch Days of our Lives, of course), I stopped to get gas. While I was in line to pay for a coffee at the gas station, this woman comes in and goes to the front and asks the cashier if they sell glass smoking pipes at the store. The cashier was so mad, I thought she was going to go after this woman. I think she was a mega-Christian or something, b/c it really pissed her off and offended her. The woman who asked for the pipe seemed really jacked up on something (I thought that before I heard what she asked for), but good lordy, it was funny more than anything. Maybe she just wanted to smoke a little weed before the big holiday? Hilarious...but maybe it was for meth. If so, that's just sad.

Anyhoot, on that note, happy Thanksgiving, people!

ek

Almost turkey day!

Today has been nice so far. I worked all morning and then Gus and I went to KC to my nephew's Thanksgiving lunch at his elementary school. My sister and brother-in-law couldn't make it, so we went. It was really hilarious and fun. The kids helped make stew and corn bread desserts, and we ate lunch and looked at the different Power Point presentations the kids created. My nephew's presentation was about the weather. It was really good, in my opinion. He was so mad at himself for getting one word wrong in the presentation and he kept talking about it. I told him I think he deserved an A+, but it seriously was a really good presenation. His friend's presentation was also awesome (about water). Seriously, I didn't know half of this stuff when I was in 2nd and 3rd grade.

Earlier today I watched some old Electric Company clips on YouTube with Gus. My older sister and I LOVED that show...holy cow, I had forgotten how amazing it was. So 70's! And Morgan Freeman was so amazing in bellbottoms. But Gus loved it...maybe not quite as much as I did. Now I'm going to look to see if "Picture Pages" with Bill Cosby (from Captain Kangeroo) is on YouTube. I imagine it is!

Well, that's about it. Just gearing up for turkey day this week. We're going to my parents, so that'll be fun. I'm really looking forward to the turkey, mash p. and stuffing + gravy. That's all I need to be truly happy.

ek

Gas leak anyone?

So last night I swear I smelled gas in our kitchen. Andy said he smelled "something weird" but he couldn't tell if it was gas. We have an antique Chambers stove (gas), so it freaked me out that we had a possible gas leak. Let's just say that going to bed last night was interesting. I think I went in the kitchen at least 5 times to check for strange smells. Andy slept like a champ; I tossed and turned all night. What can I say...I'm a bit of a worry wart.

So this morning Andy came in the bathroom while I was getting ready and asked me to smell the kitchen. I did and all I smelled was the coffee brewing (the best smell in the world, I think). But once it stopped brewing we BOTH smelled gas. So we called the gas folks and the woman on the phone was very dramatic (I know she's trained to be that way) and told us to immediately go outside and don't stop go and don't collect $200. We didn't do that. The gas dude showed up about 15 minutes later and took apart our old stove, checked everything he could and said there wasn't a gas leak. Our stove is so old (1920's) that the pilot light was dirty and was letting off a foul gassy smell. So we need to clean the pilot lights or this smell is going to continue. Good thing we don't have a gas leak. That would've sucked big time.

So, now we're considering selling this antique stove and getting a nice, brand new stove. We're not sure yet, and if we even do it, it won't be for awhile. I really love old stuff that still works--the aesthetic value is priceless. But now that I have a kid, practicality rules and I think a brand new stove would just be easier to deal with. And, Gus won't be able to mess with the handles on the stove (this old stove wasn't designed with little toddlers in mind).

That's my story. Fun Monday morning so far!

Oh, Gus update! He is really into handing us books to read to him. And what's even better: he likes to then position himself in our laps so he can read along with us (in his own little language, of course) and turn pages. We need to record his "language" b/c it is hilarious. It would be a nice keepsake to have recordings of all our kids when they spoke their own fun gibberish.

ek

ek

Little Helper

Gus is on my lap as I type this. He's not typing for me yet, but I imagine he will be soon enough. He is really interested in what I do when I'm working from home. Until a few days ago he could've cared less. But lately he wants to sit on my lap and just watch me type or whatever. It is funny. Sometimes I give him a treat and we check out the Sesame Street website. Today we checked out the Wiggles website for the first time. He seemed to be somewhat interested, but the Wiggles are no Elmo at this point.

His napping schedule has been strange the past week for some reason. Yesterday at daycare he only took an hour nap, and that was after my daycare provider tried 3x to put him down. Today I had to rock him over and over to get him to chill out and nap, and he finally gave in and napped for 2 hours, so that is good. This strange behavior usually signals some annoying sickness (cold or flu) coming on, so hopefully it's just a cold. I can deal with that...he's basically had a cold in some way or another for about 2-3 weeks anyway. Fun times with babies!

Other than that, just took a big grocery trip today to our fave low prices grocery store (All the best stuff is cheaper at Checkers!) That is the jingle from their commercial. Anyway, we bought lots of food and since then we've been hanging out and napping. I made some muffins and I've already eaten 2 (oops) and they are darn good. Pretty exciting stuff.

I think I'm going to hit the gym tonight before we stay in and watch a Netflix movie. Tomorrow is the KU football game...go Jayhawks! I'm nervous, but I think we'll be ok.

ek

Strange sightings

I was at the gym last night and saw this familiar woman on the treadmill next to me. It took many awkward sideways glances to figure out who she was, and once I figured it out, I found myself feeling strangly uncomfortable. She was a former supervisor from a job I held (for a short time) in college. I had a few crappy jobs in college (didn't we all?) but this job was probably my least favorite (besides the babysitting gig I had with a church daycare...I got pink eye...enough said). Anyway, this *shitastic* job was with Sears Home Improvement. This business was housed in a big warehouse on the far northwest side of Lawrence. The location was ironically not terribly far from where we live now (we live in a more residential area, but it's not too far). I love our neighborhood, but I remember driving over to that general area of Lawrence in college and feeling like I was in another land, b/c, well, it wasn't downtown. When I was in college the only places that existed in my mind were either on campus or close to downtown or downtown. Now that makes me laugh, but I was stuck in my little bubble in college.

So, anyway...I saw this woman and had many funny and unfortunate memories of working there. Sears Home Improvement was a contracting call center. We were call center employees who wore head sets and were paid $6/hr to call people who had shown some interest in contracting work. The problem was that I could only work from about 4pm-9pm or 10pm every night b/c of class, so I always called people during or right around dinner time-the WORST time ever to get a call from a stupid call center. 9 times out of 10 the person on the other end of the phone was just pissed. I spent most of my time saying, "Well, sir, you did show some interest back on (insert date) in our services, so we were just following up..." And my boss was nasty...the woman I saw at the gym. I had to punch in a time card every time I showed up, left, took a 10 minute break. Most days I was literally about 1-2 minutes late, and I received "bad marks" every time I was over a second late. Not joking. There was no fudging around. So after 2 or 3 bad marks, I was called into my supervisor's office and she scolded me. I tried to tell her how ridiculous it was that I was getting in trouble for being 1 minute late when I really tried to make it on time, but she was just Little Miss Nasty about it. I know, those are the rules and she was just doing her job, and I could've pulled my tired butt off the couch and left a bit earlier, but back then it just made me mad. Looking back I realize that she was just handling the situation the best she knew how. She wasn't a nice person, per say, but she had to control a huge room full of mostly annoying college kids who were never on time. And there was a lot of turnover...go figure.

So...the next time I was scheduled for work I called in and quit. So bad of me. I called and talked to the floor manager, this nice-enough college-aged dude who put in enough time to get a promotion, and he said, "Oh, you're not coming in today?" to which I replied uncomfortably, "Uh, yeah, and then I'm never coming in again after that, either..." Why couldn't I just say "Hey, dude, I quit. This job is for the birds..." or something more direct like that? No, I had to get all awkward when I finally did it. But once I did it I never regretted it. I know we've all had crappy jobs during and/or after college, so this one probably isn't that big of a deal. But it was one of those jobs that made me feel really lonely, for the most part. I think it was the fact that we weren't allowed to talk to anyone else in the call center, I hated what I was doing (although there were some interesting calls, including one incoming call where a woman's dog was trapped in her house b/c the roof had fallen in and she needed Sears to come fix her roof...uh, call 911, sister, not Sears Home Improvement), and the fact that we got a 10 minute break and if we punched back in from our break more a second late we were in shitloads of trouble. With a capital T...

So, that's who I saw last night. After I saw her, I immediately ceased all sideways glances and hurried up my treadmill work. I then moved on to the exercise bike and never looked back. That's so stupid, but I was immediately thrown back in time about 12 years and it didn't feel good.

But all that experience at Sears Home Improvement just took me to the next fabulous level which was a hilarious retail job at the Lawrence Outlet Mall in the Corning Revere Store! Now that's a job with some fun stories...for another time. I'm sure Kelly could chime in with some awesome Wallet Works stories, too.

Til next time...over and out, people.

ek

Busy bee

Things are work are super busy right now, so I will keep this short.

Andy surprised us with an earlier flight last night, so he got home around 7pm instead of 10pm, which was awesome. We were able to have dinner together and hang out a bit. I made pesto pasta with shrimp and PIGGED out. I love shrimp so much, so when I make it I just go a little crazy. I think (know) I ate too much because I had a stomach ache all night.

I used part of my day yesterday to shop a bit before my eye appt. I got quite a bit of our xmas shopping done, which is great. It was difficult shopping with Gus because I went to little shops that had no carts. It is so hard to do anything with a 15-month old without a cart or stroller, and I totally forgot to bring the stroller. So I carried him for quite some time and my arm was killing me. But we were productive. I think I will try to shop online for most of the rest of the holiday gifts. God bless online shopping.

That is all I have for today. Back to work.

I'm in the mood for snow

Most people who know me know that autumn is my favorite season...hands down. I love it so much that I look forward to it all year. We've had a wonderful fall this year, which is nice b/c our autumns are usually fleeting (I've used "fleeting" in the past 2 posts...sorry about that). Anyway, I am a total cheeseball about autumn...love watching the leaves fall and taking walks and making hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks, etc...all the autumn stuff that warms the heart. The weather is just lovely (in the 50's during the day, maybe the 60's). But lately I've really been yearning for some snow. I think it's b/c people are already starting to celebrate Christmas, so that always gets me in the mood for snow. But I'm not going to get too excited considering we usually get more ice than snow 'round these here parts. But, maybe this is our year for a snowy winter wonderland? That would be fun. I just love hunkering down with the family on a snowy day or night.

I have to run to KC later today for one of my lasik follow-up appointments. I had the surgery back in August/September, so I have a few follow-ups throughout the year to make sure my eyes are doing well. I have NO complaints. I've worn glasses and/or contacts since 6th grade, so having perfect eyesight is like 10 birthdays in one for me. But I have to go to the appointment, and I have to take Gus, so it should be interesting/hilarious. He's going to run around the office like a crazy little man, so it'll take some energy and patience (what doesn't?). But it'll be fine. Other than that, just working today. Gotta promote some fine arts musicians today, and I'm not really feeling it. Maybe after my 2nd cup of coffee I'll feel more like writing the press releases. Fun!

I think Gus' cold is slowly going away! Yahoo! His rash looks better today. We've been putting Vicks Vaporub (well, actually the Target brand to be honest) on his feet and covering them with socks every night, and it seems to be working. Andy's co-worker suggested it, and she knew what she was talking about. Thanks, Danni!

Andy returns tonight from Dallas. I'm excited. I not a huge fan of his travel sked since he does it quite a bit, but distance does make the heart grow fonder, so it'll be fun to see him. And I should get used to it b/c once he goes to the next level at work he's going to travel all the time...albeit shorter trips, but still...But I don't mind it too much b/c his trips are usually pretty short. He's started this fun tradition of buying Gus a snow globe in some of the cooler travel locations he visits. So far Gus has one from Seattle, but Andy wasn't sure he could find a snow globe in Dallas! So perhaps he'll get another from D.C. later this year. He'll have quite the collection when he's older. Speaking of travel, I haven't been on an airplane in, well, too long. So I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that we can take a spring vacation to Savannah to visit Andy's sister, Jenny, and her baby, Eli. Jenny's husband, Aaron, is in Iraq (2nd trip over there) and he returns later in 2008. So we really want to visit her. Plus, Eli and Gus are basically the same age (3 months apart), so they are going to have a ball together. We may even go into Florida and visit Andy's aunt and uncle. It should be a really fun trip. I'm excited for it!

Until next time...

ek

Monday...what can you say about Monday?

So, it's Monday. I'm not a big Monday fan. Who is, though? I'd like to meet Monday fans. I bet they are weirdos. Just kidding...I also don't like Wednesdays. I think I dislike Wednesdays as much as Mondays. I don't mind Tuesdays or Thursdays, and I've already talked about my feelings for Fridays. Anyway, not sure how I got off on that...

Yesterday ended up being a pretty good day. We drove down to Burlingame to visit pops. He was in the dumps, I'm assuming b/c K-State lost badly to Nebraska on Saturday. Thankfully my mom was there, too. We just hung out and tried to control Lucy, their dog. Lucy is sweet, but she is annoying, too. But she's sweet, so I feel bad saying that she is annoying. She just barks loudly and she jumps all over you and it really takes her some time to calm down. She scared the crap out of Gus, so he was really afraid of her for awhile. But then they became best friends, so it worked out. Poor Lucy, so misunderstood. We left Burlingame a bit later than I would've liked b/c my dad really wanted to find this electric train that goes around the base of the Christmas tree. He found it and gave it to us, so that'll be fun to turn on during the holidays. I have a feeling one or more of the cats will dismantle it in some way, but it'll be fun. Dad perked up a bit by the time we left, so I guess that is good. I used to get super moody when KU would lose a basketball game, but I've mellowed out. My friend Jessica told me the other day that she's convinced having a baby mellowed me out. She said I would make her feel uncomfortable b/c I would get so pissed if KU lost. That made me laugh out loud, b/c I had forgotten how truly upset I would get. I'm just passionate, that's all.

Gus has been going through a bit of a shy phase lately. He warms up to people after awhile, so that's good. I'm not used to this b/c he's not a shy kid normally. He seems pretty extroverted, actually. But my daycare provider informed me that most kids around his age go through this, so that's good to hear. Not that being shy is a bad thing at all, but I'm just not used to it with Gus. I have to admit it feels nice to be wanted. He's always hanging on to my pant legs. Before Gus came along, I would try to imagine how it would feel to have kids. They are so dependent on you for everything, and they love you so much. It's like nothing you've ever felt. I don't mean to sound like a Celine Dion song, but it's just a wonderful feeling. I always looked forward to being wanted that much, and I have to say, it's a wonderful, mushy, fabulous feeling. Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to be independent, self-assured adults. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy this fleeting time while it lasts. :)

Ok, I'm out for now.

ek

Rock Chalk

WOO HOO!

What a weekend for KU fans! Friday night's bb game was awesome b/c we creamed the other team, and last night's football game was awesome. I can't believe we are 10-0! Everyone in Lawrence is in a state of shock right now. We could go to the national championship game...in FOOTBALL! We are so excited. I dressed Gus up in his Jayhawk stuff for Friday and Saturday night's games, but he goes to bed at 8pm, so he didn't really get to enjoy too much of the games. But last year during bb season he would get really upset when Andy and I would yell at the tv during games (it startled the little guy...he was only 3 months or so!) but now he just gets really excited and jumps around and shouts with us. He's learning! So, I need to really figure out who my new boyfriend on the basketball team is this year. I have too many right now (in no particular order): Collins, Chalmers and Jackson. I think Jackson is my #1, and then Collins and then Chalmers, but sometimes I like Chalmers better than Collins, for whatever reason. But I think Jackson, with his cute dimples, is my #1. So, back off, ladies. Back off.

Other than watching KU sports on tv, it's been a relatively laid-back weekend for us. We played outside in the yard yesterday for such a long time. Gus was in heaven. He just played and played and played in the leaves. At one point I just sat on the back patio, read a magazine and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate while he continued to play. It was really fun. The photo above shows Gus in our backyard. It's not the best shot of our yard, considering our garden has packed it in for the winter and our compost pile isn't the most attractive thing to feature in a photo, but whatevs. You get the idea!

Andy left for a business trip early this morning, so it's a lazy Sunday for the Guster and me. We drove to Munchers for a donut (for mommy...cream cheese donuts make me very happy) and now we're just hanging out. My mom is out of town on trip with the high school she teaches at, so we may visit my dad today. However, he's been in a really crappy mood for the past 2 months b/c of K-State football (not doing so well...). So, we'll see if we make the trip.

Oh, does anyone out there watch The Soup on Friday nights on E? It's brilliant. There are only about 3 shows I've ever been able to suck Andy into watching with me on a somewhat regular basis: 30 Rock, The Office and The Soup (used to be Talk Soup...). So funny! The Beyonce sketch on Friday night was so hilarious. I don't have to watch all the crap reality shows on tv b/c The Soup covers them for me...in small little bites! Perfect! And it comes on at 9pm Central Time, so we can watch it after Gus has gone to bed. Anyway, I recommend it.

'Til next time...go Jayhawks!

TGIF

It's Friday. I'm working from home today, which I LOVE. Still in my pjs, but I'll get dressed soon. I mean, I have to run out and get my mom a birthday gift today and I probably shouldn't wear my yoga pants and oversized t-shirt (that's actually Andy's) for the trip. Might not be the most appropriate outfit for Borders...maybe for Walmart? Ouch. Anyway, Gus is running around with a runny nose. Gross. Gotta run and wipe that...okay, I'm back. I hate snot more than poop. I swear, it's true. And he has had this runny nose for awhile now. I wish it would pass. It has also caused a "contact rash" on his face from all the rubbing and wiping and whatnot that goes on with a runny nose and drooling mouth (he's also teething again big time). I've taken him to the doc 2 x now thinking he had some type of allergy on his face, but it's this stupid "contact rash" that comes and goes. I guess my son has sensitive skin. Maybe all kids do at this age? What do I know. I'm new to this!

Anyway, back to Friday. I love Fridays. Now that I work from home (1/2 days) on Tuesdays and Fridays, I love those days so much. But Friday is the best, b/c, well, it's the day before the weekend. I wake up with Andy but there's not that rush that I feel on my days in the office. I can very slowly get around with August. It's great. I hope my schedule never changes. I'm getting a new boss next school year, so I'm a little worried about that, but we'll see!

Okay, so last night's 30 Rock was amazing. I couldn't stop laughing. Truly. And Andy was on the phone with his mom during the show and kept asking me to turn the tv down. I was so frustrated b/c it was probably the funniest episode I had seen of 30 Rock. So, when he got off the phone we enjoyed the last bit together. Oh, lordy, I love that show so much. Every character gives me this huge rush of joy. And the flashbacks to Kenneth's party were truly hilarious. Pure comedy. And I know I shouldn't have a crush on Alec Baldwin, especially after he yelled at his daughter last year (and was recorded...yikes), but he is just dreamy and one of the funniest and best actors out there. I heart him. And The Office was pretty killer last night, too, especially when Creed told Jim that he wanted his own peach pie for his birthday celebration. Creed is my hero.

I felt bad watching tv last night, though, b/c for the first time Gus stopped playing and watched with us. Andy said, "uh, he's actually just staring at the tv with us..." and I nodded my head slowly in sadness. Sadness b/c this means we really shouldn't have him downstairs with us while watching tv if he's just going to watch with us, unless we're watching Sesame Street or something (which we did for the 1st time last week...what is it about Elmo? he's a drug, i tell you! Gus LOVES him). Anyway, now I will feel too guilty if Gus watches primetime tv with us. Typically he's just played and played and played while we (try) to watch tv (although we're running after him the whole time, really). Now we'll have to figure something else out. I don't want a zombie baby or to be one of "those parents." But we've really cut down on our tv-time, anyway. I used to be such a tv addict and now my must-see shows are really just on Thursday night (and sometimes Wednesdays b/c of America's Next Top Model...but I watch that alone). Otherwise, we are Netflix addicts, and we typically watch those movies after the little man hits the sack. So, we'll have to figure something out so Gus isn't watching with us. I've read recently that's it's not good to have them around with the tv on, period, b/c it's almost worse to have the tv on in the background while they play than to have them actually watching it. I guess it affects their sleep, ect...but honestly, as hard as we try to be really good parentals, we're not going to be so organic that we never watch tv around our kids. I grew up with a tv on in my house (at night, and my mom did regulate sometimes), and I'm fine. I'm not a couch potato...or is it potatoe? hee hee.

Okay, enough from me. Til next time...

ek

Lovely and sad

I love www.babble.com so much. It is truly an addiction of mine. I discovered this poem yesterday on Arthur Bradford's Diaper Bandit blog and had to share. It's lovely and sad. I'm such a sucker for lovely and sad. Oh, and speaking of lovely and sad, ever listen to the words of My Morning Jacket's At Dawn album? It's really some of the best music I've ever heard. Andy and I played it last night and really listened to the lyrics this time (how many times have we listened but never really listened?) It's amazing. But I digress....here's that poem. I guess Arthur Bradford saw this posted in a NYC subway (it was part of a program they have called "Poetry in Motion"). Even though it's a father/daughter poem, it hit home with me as a mom of a little boy, too.

“A Little Tooth” by Thomas Lux

Your baby grows a tooth then two,
And four, and five, then she wants some meat
Directly from the bone. It’s all
over: she’ll learn some words, she’ll fall
In love with cretins, dolts, a sweet
Talker on his way to jail. And you,

Your wife, get old, flyblown and rue
Nothing. You did, you love, your feet
Are sore. It’s dusk. Your daughter’s tall.

Like a virgin...

So, this is my first blog. I'm an avid blog-reader, and I love to email and talk, so why not create my own blog? This is it, people. I hope you don't suffer too much. I plan to give updates on life in general, but I'll mostly blog about being a mom. That's what I'm so interested in these days!

Update on me and mine:
Things are great. As you all know, Andy and I had our first baby last summer. His name is August David, and he just turned 15 months old. He's a keeper, as my Mom would say. It's hard to put into words how fabulous this little guy is. I knew being a parental would change me, but I never realized it would change me for the better in so many ways. He's just a delicious little dude and Andy and I love learning new things about him every second of the day. We've been considering when baby #2 might be appropriate, and sometimes I really want another wee one very, very soon. But then sometimes I want to wait a bit longer b/c, well, selfishly, I like my sleep. That's about it. I'm a nasty little bear when I'm exhausted. We'll see! I WON'T keep you updated on that! TMI...the less said the better! Anyway, I'm still at KU working as the communications director for the School of Fine Arts. It keeps me busy, and I love my schedule (2 days at home with August). Andy is working in Kansas City in software sales, and he is extremely busy, but seems to really like it. We bought a new house a year ago, still in Lawrence, and we really like it. It's bigger than our east side bungalow, which is wonderful. I do miss a front porch sometimes, though. Can't deny it.

August David Dierks (a.k.a. Gus, The Guster, The Gus-meister, Gusty, Gussy, August):
He's wonderful. He's walking all over the place now. His words to date are: ball, car, choo-choo, 'nana (for banana), bye-bye, hi, dad, mama, titty (for kitty...yikes!). We're now trying to teach him the names of people. He hearts trains. Really loves them right now. Every time he sees or hears a train he stops, very dramatically, and looks into the distance saying (or whispering) "choo choo..." It's hilarious! And when he sees a truck pulling a trailor, well, that's a train, too. He was a train engineer for Halloween this year, so that was fitting. Let's see...he's just great. We are really excited for Christmas this year b/c we haven't seen Andy's sister, Jenny, in quite some time. Her little one, Eli, is just turning one this month, so Gus and his cousin have a lot to catch up on. I can't wait to see them interact.

Things I dig right now
Oh, here are some things I'm interested in right now: reading Smithsonian Magazine, reading the New Yorker magazine, reading babble.com, Cookie Magazine, Neil Young (I'm on a kick right now), Sun Kil Moon (another kick) and Pandora online radio. Oh, and The Office, 30 Rock and ANTM (although with the writer's strike I'll be watching reruns).