This song could be the story of my life. For all of my dear family and friends who, like me, find themselves wondering why things happen when and how and why they do. It's not an easy answer, but I guess that just makes it all the more true.
Link: In God's Time
Swamp
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Daddy Addict
After the weekend we had, I could hardly blame him, but on Tuesday morning I was fairly convinced that Charlie had successfully faked a stomach bug in order to stay home with Daddy.
Our fabulous weekend started early with Charlie staying home on Friday to help me wrap presents before meeting Daddy for a birthday lunch with his work friends. Despite the fact that Charlie fell asleep on the way to lunch, he eventually perked up and enjoyed his pulled pork sandwich, half of Daddy's french fries and hamming it up for Daddy's coworkers.
Charlie then got to spend Friday evening with "Miss Jennfa" from church while Mommy and Daddy went to dinner and a comedy show with friends, and we definitely have a bit of a crush developing -- all day Saturday we heard, "Jennfa go?" -- too sweet!
The queries about Jennifer were mixed in amongst a cranberry muffin breakfast, helping Daddy open his birthday presents, learning to use the Kinect and Charlie's first trip to the boat show -- his response to which can be described as nothing other than "reverant awe". Charlie was almost silent for the first hour, gaping at the boats and the people. After his first bag of kettle corn he came to enough to try to climb into a couple boats and dance his way to a free whistle from the Sea Tow crew.
We capped off a fabulous day with dinner at Hucks on IOP overlooking the Atlantic. Charlie had Gruyere and Bacon Mac n Cheese and split my pear Panacotta (aka Pear Pudding!) -- our little gourmand!
Sunday was full of church, a pizza party and a movie with his church friends, but we continued Daddy's birthday celebrations into Monday night with a traditional spaghetti and meatball family feast followed by angel food cake and custard and a Kinect track meet with our fabulous neighbors. Charlie is a firm believer in the extended birthday, just like Mom and Dad.
So, after four days of Daddy-focused fun and adventure, I was suspicious when Jason called me Tuesday morning around 11:30 as I was pulling off Interstate 95 to head west towards Pine Hurst. Charlie's daycare had just called and he had gotten sick twice, so Jason was en route to pick him up. My immediate thought was to turn around, but Jason assured me that that was not why he had called -- that he'd even considered not telling me until I was home to avoid that response, but knew I would kill him.
While I would like to be able to say that my response was purely altruistic, and my only thought was of Jason's need to be at his job, to be honest, I love Charlie's sick days -- not that he's sick, but that I have him home with me and in a cuddly mood. Once I was honest with myself, I gave up the thought of skipping the Sales Kickoff and heading home, after all, I guess Jason deserves a Charlie sick day every now and again, too.
Around 1:30 Tuesday afternoon, Jason texted me, "Charlie is on fire. Amazing what a nap can do!" Hmmmm...is my little boy a little faker? Did he put it together that since Mommy would be out of town until Wednesday, if he came home he'd get Daddy all to himself?
Well, by 3:30 my suspicions were put to rest...my own tummy started to clench and Jason confirmed via text that his was doing the same. I managed to power through the rest of my Tuesday meetings and even the dinner that evening, then crawled into my hotel room bed at 8:15.
By 4:15 Wednesday morning I completely gave up on sleep, got up, checked out and was on the road by 4:35. My stomach had made it perfectly clear that I was not going to be sitting in meetings on Wednesday, and I knew I'd rather be sick at home than sick in a hotel.
Apparently, 4:15 was also when Charlie gave up on sleep that night, so Jason was noticably relieved when I walked in around 8:00, while he was cleaning up the remnants of Big Bird, whom Louie had "mistaken" for his own toy.
The three of us spent Wednesday dozing to House Hunters and Sesame Street, eating bland food and making up new games, the highlight of which was a three hour nap from 11 to 1 -- for all of us! While I would never wish this particular bug on anyone, there is no better way to spend a sick day than with your two favorite boys.
This morning Jason is back at work (hopefully all is going well!), I am up to about 85% and Charlie is still battling a bit of whiny tiredness, but we should all be 100% in time for another fabulous weekend!
Our fabulous weekend started early with Charlie staying home on Friday to help me wrap presents before meeting Daddy for a birthday lunch with his work friends. Despite the fact that Charlie fell asleep on the way to lunch, he eventually perked up and enjoyed his pulled pork sandwich, half of Daddy's french fries and hamming it up for Daddy's coworkers.
Charlie then got to spend Friday evening with "Miss Jennfa" from church while Mommy and Daddy went to dinner and a comedy show with friends, and we definitely have a bit of a crush developing -- all day Saturday we heard, "Jennfa go?" -- too sweet!
The queries about Jennifer were mixed in amongst a cranberry muffin breakfast, helping Daddy open his birthday presents, learning to use the Kinect and Charlie's first trip to the boat show -- his response to which can be described as nothing other than "reverant awe". Charlie was almost silent for the first hour, gaping at the boats and the people. After his first bag of kettle corn he came to enough to try to climb into a couple boats and dance his way to a free whistle from the Sea Tow crew.
We capped off a fabulous day with dinner at Hucks on IOP overlooking the Atlantic. Charlie had Gruyere and Bacon Mac n Cheese and split my pear Panacotta (aka Pear Pudding!) -- our little gourmand!
Sunday was full of church, a pizza party and a movie with his church friends, but we continued Daddy's birthday celebrations into Monday night with a traditional spaghetti and meatball family feast followed by angel food cake and custard and a Kinect track meet with our fabulous neighbors. Charlie is a firm believer in the extended birthday, just like Mom and Dad.
So, after four days of Daddy-focused fun and adventure, I was suspicious when Jason called me Tuesday morning around 11:30 as I was pulling off Interstate 95 to head west towards Pine Hurst. Charlie's daycare had just called and he had gotten sick twice, so Jason was en route to pick him up. My immediate thought was to turn around, but Jason assured me that that was not why he had called -- that he'd even considered not telling me until I was home to avoid that response, but knew I would kill him.
While I would like to be able to say that my response was purely altruistic, and my only thought was of Jason's need to be at his job, to be honest, I love Charlie's sick days -- not that he's sick, but that I have him home with me and in a cuddly mood. Once I was honest with myself, I gave up the thought of skipping the Sales Kickoff and heading home, after all, I guess Jason deserves a Charlie sick day every now and again, too.
Around 1:30 Tuesday afternoon, Jason texted me, "Charlie is on fire. Amazing what a nap can do!" Hmmmm...is my little boy a little faker? Did he put it together that since Mommy would be out of town until Wednesday, if he came home he'd get Daddy all to himself?
Well, by 3:30 my suspicions were put to rest...my own tummy started to clench and Jason confirmed via text that his was doing the same. I managed to power through the rest of my Tuesday meetings and even the dinner that evening, then crawled into my hotel room bed at 8:15.
By 4:15 Wednesday morning I completely gave up on sleep, got up, checked out and was on the road by 4:35. My stomach had made it perfectly clear that I was not going to be sitting in meetings on Wednesday, and I knew I'd rather be sick at home than sick in a hotel.
Apparently, 4:15 was also when Charlie gave up on sleep that night, so Jason was noticably relieved when I walked in around 8:00, while he was cleaning up the remnants of Big Bird, whom Louie had "mistaken" for his own toy.
The three of us spent Wednesday dozing to House Hunters and Sesame Street, eating bland food and making up new games, the highlight of which was a three hour nap from 11 to 1 -- for all of us! While I would never wish this particular bug on anyone, there is no better way to spend a sick day than with your two favorite boys.
This morning Jason is back at work (hopefully all is going well!), I am up to about 85% and Charlie is still battling a bit of whiny tiredness, but we should all be 100% in time for another fabulous weekend!
Charlie wrapping some of "his" tootsies for Daddy
Testing out Daddy's new Fishing Pole from BaBa and PaPa
Setting up the Kinect
Whoa! Boats!
Make a wish!
Daddy and Chad running hurdles
Calling Grandma to feel better
(he gets that from Mommy)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Word Games
Old News: Regis Philbin is retiring this summer
Breaking News: Charlie is intensively training to take over as host of "Live"
Back in late August when Charlie's vocabulary exploded, Jason and I teased that he was going to be a politician or a talk show host. Well, it looks like everything's coming together for him to have his own morning show at 2 years old. The kid is cracking us up -- complete sentences are old news. He now likes to start conversations with strangers, to talk in paragraphs, and will do almost anything to get a laugh.
We're celebrating Jason's birthday with friends this Friday night by going to an Improv show downtown...if it didn't start at 9:00, we would probably take Charlie and let him try out his routine...he'd bring down the house.
Some of his latest and greatest in context:
"He woofening" - announced anytime a dog barks (live or on TV)
"Mama cookening" - given as play-by-play while I make his oatmeal or toast in the mornings
"How 'bout..." - repeated over and over with his fist to his chin and his index finger stroking his cheek, while he painstakingly picks and chooses the five crayons or five play-doh tools that he gets to use. Saturday night at Chad and Corrisa's he did this so long that he never even colored!
"Could be Daddy" - any time any phone rings anywhere...even if Daddy is the one who answers it
"Cuppa Minute, Youie" - stated while holding out a hand in the "wait" position when Louie wants out of his kennel, but Charlie is busy gathering Daddy's input regarding which shirt he should wear, the Otis shirt, the blue airplane shirt or the white airplane shirt
"Youie, be wight back" - promised anytime he happens to be leaving a four foot radius around Louie
"I caywee you" - offered when I'm carrying Louie down the stairs in my left arm and Charlie wants to ride in my right arm, followed by "I caywee Youie" and "It ok, Youie" as soon as I scoop him up
"Great bite" or "Great bus" or "Great book" or "Great truck" - used in place of big (must be my Spanish literature background...grande?)
"I fast" - screamed after tucking his hands up under his armpits in preparation to run
"I no fit, Mama" - asserted when told to climb in his carseat yesterday afternoon, following a conversation in which I had told him he looked like he'd grown two inches during the day
"It's flying up high" - shouted while holding his peanut butter toast above his head prior to swooping it into his mouth
"The girls" - used as an answer to the question "Who are you going to see at school today?" after he's listed his teachers, i.e. Miss Jo-Jo, Miss Manda, Miss Bwendah, Miss Janet and "the girls"
And some of the not so greatest:
"Oh my goooosh!" - repeated over and over and over again the past couple of days, because Mommy obviously says it far too often -- ostensibly harmless coming from a 33 year old, but exposed as a useless and somewhat vulgar phrase when coming from a 22 month old
"Damnit" - oh yes, it happened. Following Louie's millionth accident, Daddy let it slip the other day...luckily it didn't make too much of an impression and has been dropped
And, my all time favorite, a recent discussion on the way home from school:
Charlie: Jack n Jill, Jack n Jill, Jack n Jill...
Mommy: Where did Jack and Jill go?
Charlie: I don't know
Mommy: Did they go up?
Charlie: Yes
Mommy: Where did they go up?
Charlie: Jack n Jill up the ladder
Mommy: The ladder?
Charlie: Yeah.
Mommy: Why did Jack and Jill go up the ladder
Charlie: To get a drink
Buh-boom-cha!
Recognizing the importance of versatility, Charlie is also working on his physical comedy:
Breaking News: Charlie is intensively training to take over as host of "Live"
Back in late August when Charlie's vocabulary exploded, Jason and I teased that he was going to be a politician or a talk show host. Well, it looks like everything's coming together for him to have his own morning show at 2 years old. The kid is cracking us up -- complete sentences are old news. He now likes to start conversations with strangers, to talk in paragraphs, and will do almost anything to get a laugh.
We're celebrating Jason's birthday with friends this Friday night by going to an Improv show downtown...if it didn't start at 9:00, we would probably take Charlie and let him try out his routine...he'd bring down the house.
Some of his latest and greatest in context:
"He woofening" - announced anytime a dog barks (live or on TV)
"Mama cookening" - given as play-by-play while I make his oatmeal or toast in the mornings
"How 'bout..." - repeated over and over with his fist to his chin and his index finger stroking his cheek, while he painstakingly picks and chooses the five crayons or five play-doh tools that he gets to use. Saturday night at Chad and Corrisa's he did this so long that he never even colored!
"Could be Daddy" - any time any phone rings anywhere...even if Daddy is the one who answers it
"Cuppa Minute, Youie" - stated while holding out a hand in the "wait" position when Louie wants out of his kennel, but Charlie is busy gathering Daddy's input regarding which shirt he should wear, the Otis shirt, the blue airplane shirt or the white airplane shirt
"Youie, be wight back" - promised anytime he happens to be leaving a four foot radius around Louie
"I caywee you" - offered when I'm carrying Louie down the stairs in my left arm and Charlie wants to ride in my right arm, followed by "I caywee Youie" and "It ok, Youie" as soon as I scoop him up
"Great bite" or "Great bus" or "Great book" or "Great truck" - used in place of big (must be my Spanish literature background...grande?)
"I fast" - screamed after tucking his hands up under his armpits in preparation to run
"I no fit, Mama" - asserted when told to climb in his carseat yesterday afternoon, following a conversation in which I had told him he looked like he'd grown two inches during the day
"It's flying up high" - shouted while holding his peanut butter toast above his head prior to swooping it into his mouth
"The girls" - used as an answer to the question "Who are you going to see at school today?" after he's listed his teachers, i.e. Miss Jo-Jo, Miss Manda, Miss Bwendah, Miss Janet and "the girls"
And some of the not so greatest:
"Oh my goooosh!" - repeated over and over and over again the past couple of days, because Mommy obviously says it far too often -- ostensibly harmless coming from a 33 year old, but exposed as a useless and somewhat vulgar phrase when coming from a 22 month old
"Damnit" - oh yes, it happened. Following Louie's millionth accident, Daddy let it slip the other day...luckily it didn't make too much of an impression and has been dropped
And, my all time favorite, a recent discussion on the way home from school:
Charlie: Jack n Jill, Jack n Jill, Jack n Jill...
Mommy: Where did Jack and Jill go?
Charlie: I don't know
Mommy: Did they go up?
Charlie: Yes
Mommy: Where did they go up?
Charlie: Jack n Jill up the ladder
Mommy: The ladder?
Charlie: Yeah.
Mommy: Why did Jack and Jill go up the ladder
Charlie: To get a drink
Buh-boom-cha!
Recognizing the importance of versatility, Charlie is also working on his physical comedy:
I sit top, Mama!
I ride!
I seeping, Youie.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Power Outage 2011
I have to say that it is much less stressful to have the power go out at 5:15 in the evening with a pot of homemade chicken soup on the stove, a fire in the fireplace and your husband playing on the floor with the dogs than it was at 1 AM with Jason in Daytona last year!
Quick thinking had me throw the noodles in the soup within a couple minutes of the blackout, so we were still able to enjoy a "romantic" candle-lit dinner for three...followed by cozy fun and games in the living room until bedtime. The shutters even kept Charlie's room warm enough to put him down up there -- and with the power coming back on at 8:00 (beating last year's time by 14 hours!), it was just a minor winter-blip in our day!
And best of all, with my new kindle and it's handy-dandy light, I was able to read the evening away until the power came on -- you gotta love technology!
Quick thinking had me throw the noodles in the soup within a couple minutes of the blackout, so we were still able to enjoy a "romantic" candle-lit dinner for three...followed by cozy fun and games in the living room until bedtime. The shutters even kept Charlie's room warm enough to put him down up there -- and with the power coming back on at 8:00 (beating last year's time by 14 hours!), it was just a minor winter-blip in our day!
And best of all, with my new kindle and it's handy-dandy light, I was able to read the evening away until the power came on -- you gotta love technology!
"Boating" by firelight
Monday, January 10, 2011
Painful Lesson
While patience is definitely not one of my strengths, I proved to myself this afternoon that I have much more than I previously thought...
During round two of play-doh fun this afternoon, Charlie again dumped the entire bucket of tools and accessories on the floor. This time, rather than pick them up for him (since I didn't have the deadline of a rapidly darkening grilled cheese sandwich), I helped him out of his seat and instructed him to pick up the toys and put them in the bucket.
My initial request was simply ignored, and he wandered off into the living room. Upon being brought back to the kitchen and re-instructed to pick up his toys, Charlie said, "No!"
A bit taken aback, I asked him again, more nicely, to pick up his toys and explained that since Charlie dumped them out, Charlie was responsible for putting them away. His response? "No!" only louder this time.
So, we had our first round of time out -- the end of which would be up to him, when he was ready to pick up his toys. He quickly agreed to pick them up, after asking for a hug, so I put him down on the floor.
Charlie then proceeded to go empty out all of the random gadgets he'd recently stored in the stock pot and ended up back in time out -- this time staring me down, fully aware that it was taking every ounce of my self control to keep from laughing.
Upon his release from time out, I sat down on the floor with him and instructed him piece by piece by piece to pick up his toys and put them in the bucket...all 26 letters, 10 numbers and various "tools." This kid is stubborn - almost as stubborn as his mom!
What you may ask was the incentive behind this manual labor...since time out obviously didn't serve as much of a deterrant? Water. Yes, water, sipped out of a small plastic shot glass was the carrot I dangled in front of him, and that, along with vigilant reminders provided the necessary motivation to get the job done.
After barely preventing Charlie from dumping the whole thing out again, I got up to fill up his cup, and Charlie found two more tools in his high chair. I offered to put them away (to keep him away from the bucket), but he insisted on doing it himself.
I could probably convince myself that I just successfully taught Charlie the value and necessity of putting away his toys, but in reality I think that it's more likely that the key lesson here is that my son is a force to be reckoned with and my patience is going to get quite the workout over the next 20 years...
During round two of play-doh fun this afternoon, Charlie again dumped the entire bucket of tools and accessories on the floor. This time, rather than pick them up for him (since I didn't have the deadline of a rapidly darkening grilled cheese sandwich), I helped him out of his seat and instructed him to pick up the toys and put them in the bucket.
My initial request was simply ignored, and he wandered off into the living room. Upon being brought back to the kitchen and re-instructed to pick up his toys, Charlie said, "No!"
A bit taken aback, I asked him again, more nicely, to pick up his toys and explained that since Charlie dumped them out, Charlie was responsible for putting them away. His response? "No!" only louder this time.
So, we had our first round of time out -- the end of which would be up to him, when he was ready to pick up his toys. He quickly agreed to pick them up, after asking for a hug, so I put him down on the floor.
Charlie then proceeded to go empty out all of the random gadgets he'd recently stored in the stock pot and ended up back in time out -- this time staring me down, fully aware that it was taking every ounce of my self control to keep from laughing.
Upon his release from time out, I sat down on the floor with him and instructed him piece by piece by piece to pick up his toys and put them in the bucket...all 26 letters, 10 numbers and various "tools." This kid is stubborn - almost as stubborn as his mom!
What you may ask was the incentive behind this manual labor...since time out obviously didn't serve as much of a deterrant? Water. Yes, water, sipped out of a small plastic shot glass was the carrot I dangled in front of him, and that, along with vigilant reminders provided the necessary motivation to get the job done.
After barely preventing Charlie from dumping the whole thing out again, I got up to fill up his cup, and Charlie found two more tools in his high chair. I offered to put them away (to keep him away from the bucket), but he insisted on doing it himself.
I could probably convince myself that I just successfully taught Charlie the value and necessity of putting away his toys, but in reality I think that it's more likely that the key lesson here is that my son is a force to be reckoned with and my patience is going to get quite the workout over the next 20 years...
Snow Day!
Who knew that snow days were even more fun as a mom?!
Due to the 38 degree temperatures and freezing rain, the state of South Carolina more or less shut down today, so I got to keep Charlie home with me. With multiple bridges and all state governments closing down we thought Jason would get to stay home, too, but apparently the VA is the only organization that stays open in this kind of weather.
Like all of our Kansas City friends and family, I find the whole thing fairly ridiculous, but that doesn't mean we aren't enjoying every minute of it! We've spent the day playing with the dogs, discovering that Louie is even less a fan of cold weather than Otis and doing a few loads of laundry while icicles form on the eaves and sleet patters at the window...to which Charlie loves to yell, "Hear that?!?" -- so funny.
The highlights of the day so far have been a marathon play-doh session during which we learned to use scissors and discovered that play-doh does not, in fact, taste like gingerbread cookie dough followed by some rousing games of "pockafoozie" while our grilled cheese cooked. (aka Ring Around the Rosie, "Pocket Full of Posies".
Right now the plan is for me to shower and change from the sweats I slept in to a new pair while Charlie naps, after which he'll take a bath and do the same...then some cars and Sesame Street before we make chicken soup to warm Daddy up after his day facing the bitter South Carolina winter -- hah! I love it!
Due to the 38 degree temperatures and freezing rain, the state of South Carolina more or less shut down today, so I got to keep Charlie home with me. With multiple bridges and all state governments closing down we thought Jason would get to stay home, too, but apparently the VA is the only organization that stays open in this kind of weather.
Like all of our Kansas City friends and family, I find the whole thing fairly ridiculous, but that doesn't mean we aren't enjoying every minute of it! We've spent the day playing with the dogs, discovering that Louie is even less a fan of cold weather than Otis and doing a few loads of laundry while icicles form on the eaves and sleet patters at the window...to which Charlie loves to yell, "Hear that?!?" -- so funny.
The highlights of the day so far have been a marathon play-doh session during which we learned to use scissors and discovered that play-doh does not, in fact, taste like gingerbread cookie dough followed by some rousing games of "pockafoozie" while our grilled cheese cooked. (aka Ring Around the Rosie, "Pocket Full of Posies".
Right now the plan is for me to shower and change from the sweats I slept in to a new pair while Charlie naps, after which he'll take a bath and do the same...then some cars and Sesame Street before we make chicken soup to warm Daddy up after his day facing the bitter South Carolina winter -- hah! I love it!
Tah-dah!
Oops...Mom, I have no idea how this happened!
Brrrrrr.....
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Point Taken...
Louie disappeared this evening.
For all intents and purposes, he is all black, so seeing him beyond the swingset is near impossible. One minute he was there, the next minute he was gone. Jason started the search, but when I laughingly came out and asked if he'd found Louie and he said "No," I joined in.
I was searching close to the house and realized that as grown up as Charlie is, we really couldn't both be out and about searching, so I went in -- Charlie quickly let me know that I was not his preferred parent of the moment, so I grabbed Otis and sent him on a recon mission then sent Jason inside.
While Otis happily chased Oakley, I scoured the perimeters of our house, Bob's house and Garret's house -- as far as Louie had ever been, but I kept hearing a high-pitched barking from up near Butternut. So, certain that that was Louie calling for me, stuck in some hole or something, I headed up the mud road and into the brush...in my flip flops...without my cell phone.
After about fifteen minutes I heard Jason yelling for Louie and realized he'd successfully put Charlie down and was back on the hunt...not a good sign. A dozen puddles and a ditch later, after stopping many times when the barking stopped, waiting for it to start up again, I gave up and began the trudge home, picturing Jason's, Charlie's and even Otis' faces when Louie still wasn't back by tomorrow.
I realized that as annoying as it is to have to take him out in the rain every 30 minutes and still clean up his messes as soon as we come back in, I've grown to love the little critter over the past week. And as territorial and spoiled as Otis is, he would be lost without him...not to mention Charlie. Jason would probably take it best of any of us, and it's his dog.
About one hundred yards from home I saw Jason shining his flashlight my way. I glumly shined mine at him...hoping he realized it wasn't a sign of success, hating the thought of him believing I'd found Louie when in fact I'd just given up.
Then Jason yelled, "I've got him". I was stunned. I was prepared to learn and suffer from all the lessons having to do with neglecting our pets by looking away for a minute and not having a fence and the trauma this would cause Otis and Charlie, etc...but Louie was found!
He'd been in Bob's garage the entire time! Did I mention that I saw the pedestrian door open and was going to look, but got distracted by the distant dog barks. Yeah...
So, Louie's fine. My OluKai's are quite possibly ruined. Otis and Charlie are pleasantly sleeping. And me, well I realized that as annoying as dog pee is, Louie is one of the family and I wouldn't have it any other way.
For all intents and purposes, he is all black, so seeing him beyond the swingset is near impossible. One minute he was there, the next minute he was gone. Jason started the search, but when I laughingly came out and asked if he'd found Louie and he said "No," I joined in.
I was searching close to the house and realized that as grown up as Charlie is, we really couldn't both be out and about searching, so I went in -- Charlie quickly let me know that I was not his preferred parent of the moment, so I grabbed Otis and sent him on a recon mission then sent Jason inside.
While Otis happily chased Oakley, I scoured the perimeters of our house, Bob's house and Garret's house -- as far as Louie had ever been, but I kept hearing a high-pitched barking from up near Butternut. So, certain that that was Louie calling for me, stuck in some hole or something, I headed up the mud road and into the brush...in my flip flops...without my cell phone.
After about fifteen minutes I heard Jason yelling for Louie and realized he'd successfully put Charlie down and was back on the hunt...not a good sign. A dozen puddles and a ditch later, after stopping many times when the barking stopped, waiting for it to start up again, I gave up and began the trudge home, picturing Jason's, Charlie's and even Otis' faces when Louie still wasn't back by tomorrow.
I realized that as annoying as it is to have to take him out in the rain every 30 minutes and still clean up his messes as soon as we come back in, I've grown to love the little critter over the past week. And as territorial and spoiled as Otis is, he would be lost without him...not to mention Charlie. Jason would probably take it best of any of us, and it's his dog.
About one hundred yards from home I saw Jason shining his flashlight my way. I glumly shined mine at him...hoping he realized it wasn't a sign of success, hating the thought of him believing I'd found Louie when in fact I'd just given up.
Then Jason yelled, "I've got him". I was stunned. I was prepared to learn and suffer from all the lessons having to do with neglecting our pets by looking away for a minute and not having a fence and the trauma this would cause Otis and Charlie, etc...but Louie was found!
He'd been in Bob's garage the entire time! Did I mention that I saw the pedestrian door open and was going to look, but got distracted by the distant dog barks. Yeah...
So, Louie's fine. My OluKai's are quite possibly ruined. Otis and Charlie are pleasantly sleeping. And me, well I realized that as annoying as dog pee is, Louie is one of the family and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The genius figuring out the dog bowl
The genius figuring out the dog bed
Our Louie
A new strategy...
I need some advice...as crazy as it sounds, lately I've found myself envying people who "get" to go to a job every day and leave their to-do lists behind.
I started working from home in September, 2006 and for a long time I cherished the ability do so much while I worked. During conference calls I can easily run/empty the dishwasher, change/fold the laundry, make the bed, plan/start dinner, make a grocery list and more. Plus, since I take lunch whenever I feel like it, I can squeeze in grocery shopping, exercising, walking the dog, doctors appointments, cleaning the house, etc -- all while getting my work done ahead of schedule.
In the past two years I've even been able to add Charlie's sick days, picture uploads, blogging, additional laundry, and volunteering my administrative skills for church. With a managable workload and the ability to set my own deadlines for everything else, it's seemed like a win-win situation for a long time -- Jason and I have felt extremely blessed that I've been able to handle so many of the logistics and little things, so we can relax in the evenings and on the weekends.
But lately I find myself despising the fact that it's so easy to just run upstairs and change the load of laundry or empty the dishwasher or stop by the store on the way home from daycare...because I have no excuse not to do it, and in the end, I find myself stressing out over my spreadsheets because I need to change the laundry, then get upstairs to run by 11:30, so I'm done by 12:30 for a call, then finish my work and squeeze in a shower, but still start dinner by 4:00 before I go pick up Charlie so I can play with him when he gets home...while finishing dinner and tidying up the house, running the vacuum to rid the house of dead grass and hopefully folding the load of laundry sitting in the dryer before Jason's shirts are irrevocably wrinkled...
Obviously, something's got to give, but I'm just not sure how to go about it. How does one escape the guilt of saying no to herself and allowing the dog toys to remain in the middle of the living room -- especially when all of the people that work away from home would give their right arms to get a few more things done during the day and probably want to smack me for complaining (rightly so!)
I guess I just need to figure out how to give myself a little leeway on days when I have pressing deadlines or overlapping conference calls -- but how? I feel like such a slacker when I don't get it all done, since I'm home all day, which leads to some very grumpy mornings when I look at my to-do list and my work schedule and realize that it's just not going to happen. Any suggestions?
In positive news...we're making serious progress in other fronts...
Charlie is starting to earn his keep and do some of the heavy lifting around here:
and Otis is caving despite his best intentions:
I started working from home in September, 2006 and for a long time I cherished the ability do so much while I worked. During conference calls I can easily run/empty the dishwasher, change/fold the laundry, make the bed, plan/start dinner, make a grocery list and more. Plus, since I take lunch whenever I feel like it, I can squeeze in grocery shopping, exercising, walking the dog, doctors appointments, cleaning the house, etc -- all while getting my work done ahead of schedule.
In the past two years I've even been able to add Charlie's sick days, picture uploads, blogging, additional laundry, and volunteering my administrative skills for church. With a managable workload and the ability to set my own deadlines for everything else, it's seemed like a win-win situation for a long time -- Jason and I have felt extremely blessed that I've been able to handle so many of the logistics and little things, so we can relax in the evenings and on the weekends.
But lately I find myself despising the fact that it's so easy to just run upstairs and change the load of laundry or empty the dishwasher or stop by the store on the way home from daycare...because I have no excuse not to do it, and in the end, I find myself stressing out over my spreadsheets because I need to change the laundry, then get upstairs to run by 11:30, so I'm done by 12:30 for a call, then finish my work and squeeze in a shower, but still start dinner by 4:00 before I go pick up Charlie so I can play with him when he gets home...while finishing dinner and tidying up the house, running the vacuum to rid the house of dead grass and hopefully folding the load of laundry sitting in the dryer before Jason's shirts are irrevocably wrinkled...
Obviously, something's got to give, but I'm just not sure how to go about it. How does one escape the guilt of saying no to herself and allowing the dog toys to remain in the middle of the living room -- especially when all of the people that work away from home would give their right arms to get a few more things done during the day and probably want to smack me for complaining (rightly so!)
I guess I just need to figure out how to give myself a little leeway on days when I have pressing deadlines or overlapping conference calls -- but how? I feel like such a slacker when I don't get it all done, since I'm home all day, which leads to some very grumpy mornings when I look at my to-do list and my work schedule and realize that it's just not going to happen. Any suggestions?
In positive news...we're making serious progress in other fronts...
Charlie is starting to earn his keep and do some of the heavy lifting around here:
and Otis is caving despite his best intentions:
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A new baby...
Well, since we can't seem to control when/if Charlie will get a new sibling, we went ahead and got one for Otis. Meet Louie...our new baby. I have to say I forgot how much work a puppy could be, but Charlie absolutely adores him and Otis is slowly coming around.
At this point, we are letting Charlie "hold" Louie on his lap once a day in a somewhat useless effort to prevent him from picking Louie up by his back legs and/or head. Thankfully, Louie is a trouper.
Like Otis, though, Louie hates the cold weather, so these 30 degree temperatures in the morning are not helping our potty training efforts...looks like we're going to try the litter box route like we did with Otis. I just keep telling myself that eventually he will learn that if he goes to the bathroom outside his life will be much nicer...at which point life will be much nicer for all of us -- and I may even end up with a brand new living room rug out of the deal!
At this point, we are letting Charlie "hold" Louie on his lap once a day in a somewhat useless effort to prevent him from picking Louie up by his back legs and/or head. Thankfully, Louie is a trouper.
Like Otis, though, Louie hates the cold weather, so these 30 degree temperatures in the morning are not helping our potty training efforts...looks like we're going to try the litter box route like we did with Otis. I just keep telling myself that eventually he will learn that if he goes to the bathroom outside his life will be much nicer...at which point life will be much nicer for all of us -- and I may even end up with a brand new living room rug out of the deal!
Merry Christmas!
Tolerance
Louie prefers Otis' bed to his own
(another Little Napolean)
Sun Bathing
Again, trying to be like Otis
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