Eve

Alex had a very good birthday. He got cupcakes again, and lots of presents.

He seemed to have figured out the whole opening-presents thing fairly well, which surprises me slightly. I think Penny was nearly three before she really got into it.

Anyway, Alex got three separate Elmo toys -- a huge one from my parents (that actually used to be Penny's, but she didn't really play with it much, so it went into the attic), a "baby" one (complete with pacifier and diaper) from Matt's dad, and a smaller regular Elmo from Matt's brother and his wife.

Alex glommed onto the little ones immediately, and doesn't want to put them down. He even tried to open the rest of his presents while keeping one of them tucked in his arm, which was adorable.

I'm at work today, but I honestly don't mind too much. There's nothing actually happening, which gives me time to clean up my desk and do paperwork and generally try to get into a good frame of mind for the coming year. And unless something surprises me by turning up, I'll be skipping out at lunchtime.

Tonight we're having my parents over for a simple Christmas Eve dinner of soup and sandwiches. (It would be the whole family, but Sam is working three separate Christmas Eve services for her church, and John opted to stay with her for dinner -- which I certainly can't blame him for.)

And tomorrow is Christmas, whoo! I'm really looking forward to it. Penny is so excited, she's already vibrating. (Note to self: remember to put her present from Santa in my trunk before I head home today!) Dinner will probably be at John and Sam's, as I'll be really surprised if the work being done at my parents' house is finished in time (those things never are -- I have no idea why my parents didn't put it off until after the holidays).

As far as I know, we don't have any particular plans for the weekend, though Matt had an email from our friend Chuck asking about when it might be a good time for us to all get together, so maybe we'll meet up with them. Other than that, my plan is: relax!

Celebrating Christmas or not, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Two Years.

 

Alexander Quentin Brooks

12/23/07 12:51pm

8lb, 2oz

When Alex was born, they wrapped him in a blanket and laid him on my chest, and he stuck out his bottom lip at me in the world's biggest pout. "Oh, lord," I said, "this one's going to be a drama queen."

Two years later, he's so much more than a baloney loaf in a blanket. He loves books and blocks and puzzles. He doesn't like oranges, but he does like pasta and oranges and tomatoes. And he's got a sweet tooth, of course. He's very smart. His teachers tell me he speaks very clearly for a two-year-old; he loves to look at books and be read to; he already recognizes a solid half of the alphabet and is starting to associate the letters with words and sounds; he can sometimes count to fourteen (providing you're willing to start at 3, since 1 and 2 don't interest him); and we're working on colors. He adores Elmo, but doesn't zombify in front of the TV the way his sister did. He's surprisingly polite and reasonable for a two-year-old: he often says "please" and "thank you" without prompting, and is sometimes even willing to share with others; and when I tell him it's time to put his blanket or toy away and go to school, he doesn't generally fuss about it. He's a sweet, affectionate, happy little boy who loves to give hugs and kisses. The Terrible Twos are making an appearance, but aren't taking over entirely.

Happy Birthday, Alex! You're loved more than I can possibly express with mere words.

(But I totally called it on the whole "drama queen" thing.)

Pick Pick Pick

Yesterday was... annoying.

Nothing really disastrous happened, but the petty annoyances piled up and up and up.

Several minor health issues nagged, including running out of allergy meds (takes 2 days to get a prescription request through the system), a painful muscle spasm in my back that fires randomly, and a couple of TMI things.

Came in to work to discover that my office heater had shorted out and melted the surge protector it was plugged into. I'm lucky it didn't start a fire, actually. Without a heater, my office averages about 68 degrees, and I'd decided to wear a short sleeved shirt, of course. So I skipped going to the gym so I could buy a new heater, but couldn't find the same one again... and of course the replacement is noisy.

My light-up Christmas necklace broke so it no longer lights up.

The company's expense report system is down for end-of-year processing and won't be back up until January 4th, which means that if I submit my report the day it comes back up and stand on my boss and make him approve it that same day, I might get my expense check the day after my credit card bill comes due.  All of which means I'll need to take money out of savings to cover the office's holiday party.

Just as I was consoling myself with the fact that it's a slow week and at least I'll be able to take some time off in the afternoons, we got hit with two emergency software deliveries that have to go out this week.

Also, we've got to create some data DVDs for another project, and apparently the only working DVD burner in the office is... my laptop.

And all that stress piling on completely eroded my dieting willpower, so instead of getting back on track after the weekend of indulgence, I ate my fool face off. Which... did not do much to ease my stress. And this morning, I was so completely exhausted that I smacked my snooze until it was too late to fit in my Wii yoga routine. Maybe I'll do it tonight, and some other stuff as well, since I'm not getting to the gym again until next week.

The Best Laid Plans...

I wore a short-sleeved shirt to work today on the assumption that I'd be spending the whole day in my office, with my heater. I brought my gym bag with me on the assumption that I'd be going to the gym after the morning meeting.

But my office wasn't cozy and warm when I came in. My heater was up on the credenza with a note taped to it. Oh boy, I thought, a scolding from the landlord about leaving my heater running over the weekend. But no, that wasn't it. It looks like my heater shorted out, literally melting the plug and frying the surge suppressor/extension cord that it had been plugged into.

So it turns out my short-sleeved shirt was a bad idea, and instead of the gym, I'll be running up to the store for a new heater and a new surge suppressor/extension cord thingy. Yay. It's a good thing I keep a sweater in my office, even if it is three or four sizes too big, because without my heater running, my office is about 65.

I had a good weekend, though. I can tell, because I'm up two pounds from Friday morning. Whee!

The office party was a great success (except for my having inadvertently pissed off the caterer by not being able to afford to tip her -- I'd assumed it was built into the invoice and blown the rest of my budget already) and I ate so much that even though I skipped dinner entirely, I was still feeling full to the point of being ill that evening.

It snowed Friday night -- not a lot, just enough to get Penny excited.

Saturday was our Christmas party, and despite some last-minute cancellations due to illness and weather (it snowed harder in some other areas) I think it was a success.

While we were partying, it snowed some more.

And then Sunday, we had dinner with my family to celebrate Alex's 2nd birthday. When Sam set the tray of cupcakes in front of him, he made the most adorable startle ever. Like, "Oh my gosh, cake!" as if he hadn't been pestering me for a cupcake all afternoon. And then, for no apparent reason, he decided he needed to try to eat his cupcake without actually picking it up, which was hysterical.

Lots of fun! And a very great deal of food, oh my lordy.

This week will actually be somewhat calmer and simpler, I think. Work looks fairly light and quiet, as could be expected. I need to come in every day, but I'm hoping to be able to take some (or even most) of the afternoons off.

Tuesday we're having a friend over for chili, and Thursday (Christmas Eve) we're having my parents over for soup and sandwiches. Friday will be more hectic, of course, but also plenty of fun.

Half-Baked

So after the kids were in bed last night, Matt had to go back into work to take care of an emergency fix, and I got to baking.

I made a batch of gingerbread -- not cookies. Gingerbread. It turned out pretty well, though it wasn't as dense as I was expecting -- more like cake than bread. I might drop the amount of baking soda by a smidge in the next batch and see if that helps. It tasted quite good, though personally I like a stronger ginger flavor, so the next batch might have more ginger in it, too.

And then I was still feeling pretty chipper, so I decided to go ahead and try out the recipe for cheese straws. That was a bit more time-consuming than I expected, mostly because I hadn't factored in how long it would take for me to roll out some fifty-odd little snakes of dough. But they turned out pretty tasty (butter and cheese -- how can you go wrong?!) and I think it would be a really fun recipe to make with the kids, since the dough is pretty much play-dough consistency, and it will bake into any shape you lay it out in. (My last batch, just for giggles, I made circles instead of sticks.) I'd just have to lay out some ground rules about the thickness of the shapes, and then let them go wild.

I expect you could also roll it out flat, cut it with small cookie-cutters, and make pretty tasty crackers. I might try that some other time. In any case, definitely a keeper recipe, though I'd like to experiment with whole wheat flour, butter substitutes, and/or lower-fat cheese (not all at once!) to see if I can make it a smidge healthier.

But not tonight. Tonight's mission is to make another batch of gingerbread (with less baking soda and more ginger) and cupcakes for Alex's birthday party on Sunday. And to do some initial clutter-control so we can clean up for the party tomorrow. And start assembling the party favors and stuff.

But before that! is my office's Christmas holiday party year-end event. The catering lady will be here at 10:45 to set up (the party doesn't start until 11:30, but she's got three other luncheons to set up today, apparently, and most of my order is sandwiches and other things that can sit at room-temperature). I'll get to give a lot of gift cards away as door prizes, and eat good food and -- I think -- have a really good time.

Delays

This morning has been all about delays.

At 7:23, I said, "Okay, kids, time to get ready to go!" I put my coat on, then got Alex into his coat, and Penny was... still not even in the living room. "Penny, you have until I count to three to get in here and get your coat on!"

"But Mom, I have to go potty!"

...

What the hell was she doing while I was getting my coat and Alex's on, then? I really don't want to know, because the answer would probably just anger me.

Got Alex to school, then took Penny to her school, and she said, "Mom, my throat feels kind of like I'm going to throw up." I took her to the nurse's office. The nurse looked at Penny's throat and took her temperature, and I said, "Boy, I hope you're not really sick, Penny, because if you are, you'll have to miss the cookie party with your class tomorrow."

When the thermometer came out of her mouth, she said, "I only feel a little sick."

Oh, good, because the bell has already rung.

Walking back to my car, I remembered that I'd run out of Splenda for my tea at work, so I detoured over to the grocery store to pick some up. In front of me in line was one of those women who has to completely disassemble her purse in order to dig exact change out of the bottom.

Finally on my way, I discovered... an accident right at the ramp I use, completely covering both lanes of oncoming traffic and the ramp itself.  So I wound up having to drive down to the next ramp. Which, because of some really stellar road planning, is about six miles down. And even then, I wound up doing a mostly-illegal u-turn to get moving in the direction I wanted to go. Possibly, it would've been faster to just wait for the damn accident to clear.

And that's what my day has been like so far. Boy, I hope it improves from here.

Craze

Let's see...

Today between my 11:00 meeting and my allergy shot this afternoon, I'll go out and buy the door prizes for my office holiday party. (Why yes, I am dropping the entire $2000-ish holiday party budget on my credit card that gives me a cashback bonus.)

Matt and I worked out the remaining details on our Christmas party last night, so tonight I'll go shopping for the remaining stuff for that. (Mostly groceries, though we're also thinking of door prizes and -- since there will be kids present -- party favors.) I suspect I'll do that immediately after dinner, which leaves Matt to put the kids to bed by himself, but some of the stores I want close at 9, so waiting until 8:30 to head out is pretty much out of the question.

Tomorrow evening I'll start the party preparations. (Baking, mostly.)

Friday is the office party at work, and then that evening I'll continue the preparations for our party. (More baking, plus some cleaning/clearing and digging out my festive serving platters and such.)

(Along with all that, what started out as a relatively slow week at work turned into insanity, as I've had four  unscheduled documents and not one, not two, but three emergency software releases -- each of which requires a minimum of three documents to be created -- pop up on me.)

Saturday we'll finish the cleaning/clearing, do some last-minute decorating, and assemble all the last-minute stuff for the party. And then actually have the party, which I think will be fun. (We're looking at around 20 people, total, if we don't have a lot of last-minute cancellations. Even if you go by the rule that about a third of the guests will drop out at the last minute, that's 14 or 15 people, about a quarter of which are kids. Not bad!)

Saturday night or Sunday morning, if I didn't get to it before, I need to bake the cupcakes for Alex's birthday party, which is Sunday afternoon/evening. And, of course, Sunday is the usual grocery and laundry day.

Whew. After all that, Christmas week itself will be a snap. It's a good thing I'm starting to recover my Christmas spirit.