Twice in one month

It's a bloomin' miracle.

So... we're in the throes of teething. Some night are good, some are a waking nightmare of fussiness - made all the more shocking because she's usually such a happy, mellow baby. But as of yesterday we are now equipped with baby orajel and baby motrin in case of emergency.

I'm about to leave this evening for a 2 night conference in New Hampshire, leaving Dada on solo parenting detail. I'm sure they'll be fine. And if not, I'm driving separately in case I need to make a quick exit.

Work has been mucho crazy-o, to the point that my projected workload for the next school year looks to have tripled. We'll see how THAT goes. Or doesn't go, as the case may be.

In happier news, we're planning our summer travel plans, including a 3-4 week road trip extravaganza. It's been a long time since we took a real vacation and even longer since we saw friends out west. Yay, vacation!

Regular Posting to Resume

I have seen the error of my ways. I will hereforth desist in posting lengthy updates on the Dooce Community and Facebook and Ravelry, and will instead attend faithfully to this long neglected Blog.

Yeah, sorry, I can't continue with that, even if it is April Fool's. Heh heh.

Here's the short version of life:

Work has gotten a lot crazier lately in a "be careful what you wish for" kind of way. It's good, and it means more job security, but it also means a lot less time for slacking off.

There is a definite element of being on the Life Merry-go-round these days... wake up, feed Zoe, shower, hand Zoe back and forth as we get ready to leave for work, drive to work, hustle through the day so we can leave by 4:30, pick up Zoe, drive home, make dinner and feed Zoe, eat, maybe watch a few episodes of something on Netflix, continue to feed Zoe until she passes out, pack up diapers and other morning gear, brush teeth, go to bed. Rinse. Repeat.

This weekend we're trying something ever so slightly different - driving to NJ for spring break with the in-laws. My parents are meeting us there and staying at a hotel with us, since the in-laws aren't really set up for hosting two adults & a bebe. It's the 2010 Grandparent Extravaganza! Should be fun, but I'm not really looking forward to the drive. Babies need more breaks than we big people do, ya know. Usually the drive takes about 6 hours with one or two stops. We're thinking it's going to be more like 8. Hours, not stops. I hope.

Anywho... just checking in again. Time to grab lunch and get back to work.

Happy New Year

Yeah, so I'm running about 2 weeks behind on everything. We just mailed out the last of the Christmas presents this morning. And yes, that's more than two weeks behind, but what can I say? We're blaming it all on Zoe this year. And probably for the next couple years as well.

She's cute enough to deflect irritation.

Still haven't gotten back into the writing groove - probably has something to do with my complete lack of free time. I have more free time while at work than I do when home - writing this from work now, as a matter of fact.

I did get a bit of knitting done in the last month - 3 kid-sized hats - two for my sitter's daughters and one for Aunt Lily (who is now 2 years old - yay for 2nd wife syndrome). I do have intentions of knitting another hat for Zoe, and maybe a couple more pairs of pants, since she's just about outgrown the three I did in November. My little hobbit is getting long - definitely gets that from her father's side of the family.

Okay - dull post, I know. I'm just trying to get in the habit of posting at all. I'll work on being interesting later. Ha.

She lives!

Apparently pregnancy completely deletes my creative writing inclinations and abilities. Zoe Jeanne was born October 9, 2009... and is currently sleeping in her bassinet at my side.

Other than work-related reports and a few posts on Ravelry.com, I haven't written a thing since April. This will also be the first year I'm not even starting NaNo, though I am on maternity leave until December. Still, Zoe is not so much for leaving me chunks of time to write, and I'm already sleep-deprived because of the whole night feeding thing.

Anyway, just checking in to note that I am alive and kicking. I think I might try to revive the blog a bit more, if only to get back in the habit of writing regularly. Somehow Facebook updates don't fill quite the same niche. ;-)

Baby-in-law

My father-in-law and his wife just welcomed baby Lily into the world on Saturday. Good timing! A day later and there would have been some really interesting driving conditions on the way to the birthing center.

Next week we'll be heading down to Jersey to scope out the newest addition to the family. Apparently she is "pretty cute" according to her dad.

Bombs Away

I got to talk to my dad last night. He's doing a lot better - much more coherent than when I spoke to him on Saturday (they think the stroke started about the time I called). He estimates that his right leg is operating at about 90% of the norm, but his right arm and hand are giving him trouble. He claims they're only 50% operational, but mom says he's exaggerating.

The most assuring part of the conversation - he half-dropped two F-bombs when talking about staying in the hospital (they're moving him to the physical therapy unit today or tomorrow) until he can make and fist and pick things up with his right hand again. Probably an extra week.

Cleo (the family dog who is really my dad's dog because she loves him with enthusiastic and unwavering devotion) must be absolutely depressed from missing her favorite person. She can usually sense him from blocks away and starts tearing around the house, pausing only occasionally to leap up on the couch to stare out the front window before repeating the circuit.

In any case, I feel much reassured today.

Mostly well?

So Dad had a minor stroke on Saturday evening, but they caught it quickly and were able to give him whatever drugs they have that are supposed to prevent longterm damage. He's got some weakness in his right arm, but is doing much better, apparently.

Mom keeps telling us all not to worry, not to try to come in, but what I think she fails to get is that we wouldn't be coming to keep Dad company (because he hates anyone to see him when he's not 100%) but to keep each other company.

I'm sure everything will be fine.

I'm just going to keep repeating that.

All's well

Dad finally went in for his bypass surgery - double bypass instead of the single that we expected - but he's doing well and will soon be driving all the nurses in the cardiac care unit completely insane. Mom is hoping they keep him in until Tuesday, but Dad want to be home for his birthday... He turns 70 on Saturday. Knowing my dad, he'll be home sooner rather than later.

In house-related news, we still haven't seen our furniture - the sofa and loveseat that were left behind at the factory by mistake (f**kers) - but we should have Internet access at home in two weeks. I had hoped for sooner, but apparently, despite what the provider told me, the guy who does the actual installation in our area does not work on Saturdays, so we have to wait until Jay can stay home on a week day.

Anyway, in light of the first paragraph, the gripes of the second are pretty damn minor, so I'm just gonna get back to work now and count my blessings, eh?

Disney whooped my ass

Went to Disney with my family - Jay, the parents, brother, 2 sisters, niece. 8 people in two rooms. Crowded, but mostly good. Disney designs the rooms so you don't really want to spend much time in them anyway. The better to spend money elsewhere in the parks, of course...

Magic Kingdom was lame as usual - could have skipped it happily. MGM isn't my favorite either - but the live car stunt show was pretty damn awesome. Animal Kingdom was really nice... and one of my favorite new phrases came from the Maharajah's Jungle Trek. (But is it bigger than a bat penis?) Epcot was the coolest, of course. Our favorite was "Turtle Talk with Crush" - animated, interactive show with the sea turtle from Finding Nemo - they load the front of the room with little kids and then ask them questions that Crush responds to. Hi-lar-i-ous.

Little kid: Um um um why was the um fish afraid of the turtle?
Crush: I dunno little dude, why *was* the fish afraid of the turtle?
LK: Because, um, da fish was um um um afraid of the fish!

Little kid jokes... so funny because they make absolutely no sense.

Went back to the show twice.

Food was pretty good, too. Fulton's Crab House - tasty tasty seafood. Rainforest Cafe - not anyone's favorite, but the only place we could get a reservation for 8 on Thanksgiving. In Epcot we had Morrocan take-away for lunch, ate at the Japanese steakhouse for dinner, and had tirimisu and torta di ciocolata for dessert in Italy.

Drank too much (always happens around my brother) and slept too little. Wouldn't want to do it again any time soon, but enjoyed the time in the sun with the family.

Should have internet access at home starting next week (if the satellite installation guys can make it on Saturday), so things might actually pick up around here again.

Gimping along

It's been a busy week. Of course, that might be obvious from the total lack of posting here...

I have finally seen all but about five of the students I'm supposed to be monitoring. I'm still monitoring them, of course, just not firsthand. But the things I hear... oy vey.

I stained the two windowpane end tables I bought from a local guy via Craigslist. We don't actually have a local list, but the one for Burlington covers the whole state more or less. Mostly less, unless you're in the Burlington or Montpelier areas. But in the process of sitting on the garage floor and staining them, I managed to throw out my back. Joy. So they are still waiting for the coat of polyurethane. But I am gimpified by the unexpected bursts of pain whenever I do something crazy... like twist from the waist.

My mom and the older of my baby sisters came up for a quick visit. They brought my old IKEA desk that I got when I was 12 - it's kind of beat up, but beat up furniture is better than no furniture right now, so I'm happy to see it again. They also brought an old maple dining room table from one of our dead relatives. It needs major refinishing, but is otherwise in great shape. We also have three more sets of "stackable" bookshelves and some metal chairs for the back porch. This is way more exciting to me than it would have been a year ago.

Prior to their visit, I managed to talk Jay into a trip down to the booming metropolis of West Lebanon, NH so we are about $800 poorer, but now own a 26" flat screen TV, a shop vac, new pillows, large microwavable bowls, and fabric for curtains. My mom very kindly volunteered to make said curtains, so they are now hanging in our living room, covering the hideous purpley-red paint smears on the wooden trim left by the previous owners' paint job.

However, we also looked through the photos from the "history of the house" file that the previous owners left for us, and the house had been a wreck when they bought it 15 years ago. Underlying structure was there, but the walls and windows and everything else was pretty well trashed. So as sketchy as I think some of the cosmetic details are, considering what they started with, it's still fairly impressive.

In non-house-related news, we also took them to the big corn maze nearby. Beautiful weather Sunday, only took us an hour and a half to get through (which is about average), and we bought a bunch of preserves from the local memorial orchard which raises money for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) research. My fridge now holds dilly beans, fresh salsa, and wild blueberry jam. Yummy.

Anywho... I should be working on my research into effective practices in basic skills instruction at the college level. Much more interesting than it sounds, I assure you.

Sicko

Headcold just in time for my first day of work yesterday. So far, so good. Still in the set up phase, and it's hard to be productive when you're blowing your sore red nose every five minutes.

Mostly I'm reading all the information I need to be familiar with ASAP. Also signed up for Facebook. (Yes, finally! My sisters have been on me to do that for awhile.) So if I had an email addy from you, and you were in the Facebook network, you might have gotten tagged. Just say yes, okay? If you are on Facebook and are looking for me, I'm now there. I know you're excited - don't lie. Ha ha.

No new info on the house yet. I'll certainly update when I know more.

Pause

I think the problem is that I'm thinking about too many things at once. I actually have about four different blog entries I'd like to write, but I've been knitting and reading and traveling instead.

We spent this last weekend down in New Jersey visiting Jay's family for his 30th birthday. A nice time as always, though the drive is a bit of a hassle. This time my sister was able to take the train out from NYC to hang for the weekend, too. First time that part of Jay's family has met any of my side of the family. One of the things we kind of skipped by not having a wedding.

To answer some of the questions from the comments below, I found all our accommodations on EnjoyEngland.com - great site for finding all sorts of different places from B&Bs to larger hotels. As for the rest, we kind of played it by ear. I asked some of the Brits on the web forums I frequent for recommendations, which is how we ending up down on the coastal path near Poole, and up in the Lake District as well. We joined National Heritage while we were there, and that helped us locate some of the random manor houses and other historic attractions. Mostly we just looked at the tourist information available at the guest houses and tourist info in the towns and took it form there. Having a car made a huge difference as well. I don't think we could have gotten to many of those places without our own transportation.

Alrighty. Just checking in today, but I should have some actual content sometime in the next week. Unless all the thoughts in my head collide in another bottleneck...

Somehow it's appropriate that we leave on April Fools

The thing that irks me the most about living in the boonies is that the nearest airport is a two hour drive away. For our 9am-ish flight tomorrow, we have to leave the house by 5:45am. Meh.

But the earlier departure means that we will be arriving in Pittsburgh before 2pm, which is nice. Only other flight I could find with the frequent flyer miles I had arrived around midnight... never fun.

Blah blah blah.

Going to bed now. 5am comes way too quick.

Marie O'Keefe Vorobely

My dad just called. Grandma died last night.

I met Grandma when I was just a little girl, 2 or 3 years old. She lived in the apartment complex opposite ours. She had other grandchildren - her sons' kids - and we all used to play together. I remember that she used to have the flavored ice cream cones - the cake cones that were brown, pink, or green. She wasn't biologically related to us, of course, but that never made her any less family.

Her first marriage was abusive, and with the help of her parish priest, she escaped and divorced. I can only imagine how bad the marriage must have been for a Catholic priest to actually condone divorce. She was a tough lady with a sparkle about her... my mom always referred to her as a leprechaun. The last true memory I have of her is from 1999 when I took her to a Dervish concert (Irish music) in Pittsburgh. She practically danced in her seat the whole time. She wasn't even five feet tall, but her spirit was huge.

That sparkle has been extinguished for many years now. Alzheimers took her mind and spirit long before her body died, but I still feel incredibly sad to know she's really gone. And her husband Sam will be devastated. I don't know how he's going to keep going without her. Their friends have slowly disappeared, unable to cope with Marie's slide. Grandma was always the social butterfly, and Sam was the cranky old man with the heart of gold.

I'm worried about how that heart's going to hold up through this.

But wherever Grandma is now, it has to be a better place than the one she'd been trapped in for the last eight years. So I'm going to picture her in her gingham square dancing dress with the fluffy petticoats and that impish grin and twinkling eyes.

I hope you're dancing with all the handsome young men. I hope they can keep up with you.

Bah

Apparently my aging computer (a 1999 iBook with a 2002 software upgrade) isn't compatible with the changes to Blogger, so I'm only able to post from work for now.

Enjoyed a visit from my younger sister (the one in NYC) this weekend and now I'm scrambling to get ready for classes starting Wednesday. Cobbling together a syllabus in two days for a course I've never taught - and which is taught very differently by all the instructors who do teach it - is proving to be quite interesting.

With interesting being a euphemism for other, more colorful words, of course.

Happy Holiday (or not) of Choice

Jay and I are celebrating this year by not going anywhere for the holidays. We're staying home, sleeping in, not driving or flying or waiting in lines. Yay! What a great xmas present to ourselves, I say.

I've been finishing up the holiday knitting - done 2 hats, 1 lace scarf, 1 pair gloves, three ski bands - just one more hat to finish up, one set of gloves that needs the bezillion ends woven in, and I will be ready to ship out the packages. What, you say? By the time I send them it will already be AFTER xmas? Well, of course, silly. I'm sending NEW YEARS presents. Duh. (They might get there by then...)

I also have to finish the tail end of a queen-sized afghan that I've been working on since September, but I've decided that we'll give that to the recipients when we see them Jan 5th or so...

But after THAT is done? No knitting for anyone outside the house (ie: anyone not me or Jay) until Spring. Yeah baby. 'Bout time I got to keep some of the fruits of my labor. (I have a few things, but I realized that most of the knitting I've done in the last year has made its way out the door. Usually before I remember to take a picture of it, too.)

First on the in-house list? Another hat for Jay - something warmer and washable than the one he has now. Second? 1 chunky scarf for me, 1 lacy scarf for me. Finish pair of socks started in November...

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend (even if that just means an extra day off work for you)!

Squish

There are way too many damn people on this fricking island.

Spent yesterday on the train from Vermont down to New York City. Almost an eight hour trip. Someone who got on in Springfield, Massachusetts had evidently been... getting mellow for the ride, and until he/she got off the train in New Haven, Connecticut 2 hours later, we all enjoyed the contact high. Gag. I hate the smell of pot.

I had thought to spend the trip grading my students' journal entries (more reading reactions than diary type entries - at least they're supposed to be...), but the ride was kind of bumpy, the tray table was too small, and I just couldn't deal with lousy writing while moving backwards in a pot-scented compartment.

Instead, I alternated between reknitting the cuff of a pair of socks I knit too loosely back in June, and reading another crappy book. The book started off well, interesting premise, decent writing... but then. I don't like ANY of the characters. They all annoy me. The main character killed someone in the first part of the book, and he continues to make shitty choices as the story progresses... and progresses... and progresses. Damn thing is over 500 pages long, which usually, I appreciate, because I read pretty fast, and shorter books are done too quickly. BUT DAMN. I just want to know "whodunnit" and I have to spend time with people I can't stand (the characters) in order to find out. Irritating.

HOWEVER. Now I'm on the Upper East Side, chillin' with K2 in her tiny yet expensive apartment. And there's this thing. This thing I had forgotten all about. See, you can pick up the phone, tell people what you want to eat, and they BRING IT RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR. (Yes, I'm a bit overexcited by this fact... I live in the sticks, okay.) And you pay them, and they leave you the food and go away. Mmmmmm. Haven't had good Chinese food since I moved out west in 1999. It was kind of shocking.

Unfortunately, the Chinese is still shocking my system, so I'm going to have to continue my New York adventure tale later. Ugh. (But it was so tasty)

Recap Plus

Okay, we're home. Actually, we came home a bit early, I just haven't felt like writing anything until now.

August 4th-7th: Hung out in Jersey with Jay's family. I actually got to spend some time with his sister without him around, and that was kind of nice. She and I are both extremely competitive when in comes to games. She kicked my ass in Scrabble, so I had to teach her a couple card games so I could beat her at something. Heh.

By a strange twist of circumstances, my mother was in the area that weekend (moving K2 into her Manhattan digs) and so we got the mothers together for the first time. Went pretty well, I think.

August 7th: Drove from northern New Jersey to just north of Portland, Maine. We camped out at the Bradbury Mountain State Park campground... next to the most annoying family from Massachusetts. (This was a common theme throughout the vacation.) Rained pretty hard that night - big thunder and lightning - but it was dry by morning, so not a big deal. Mosquitoes were kind of nasty - ate up our feet and ankles until we managed to get out of our Chacos and into socks and shoes.

August 8th-9th: Continued up Route 1 along the Maine coast. Stopped off for a picnic lunch at the Pemaquid lighthouse, played on the rocks, watched the loons. Camped that night just north of Camden, in the Camden Hills State Park. Good site, very nice facilities. The first day in, we hiked up Mt. Megunticook (great name) to get a better view of the region. Not a bad hike, but nothing special. Second day, we rented a tandem kayak and took it out on Megunticook Lake for a ten mile (16K) paddle around the nature preserve penninsula. Beautiful day - one of the best of the trip. Had to bully Jay into going into Camden for dinner that evening. Bought a few things at Stitchery Square (Britany Birch double point needles and some Louet Euroflax) and then hopped into the book store to refresh my reading supplies. Dinner was delicious - lobster, asparagus, garlic mashed, and chocolate truffle cake for me - tuna steak with ginger and seaweed salad and greens, shiraz, and blueberry pie for Jay. Yum.

August 10th-12th: On to Lamoine State Park near Acadia National Park. Nice facilities, but our campsite was rather lacking in level spots, and the slope of the tent started bugging me by night three. Not to mention the really obnoxious group of teenagers from... guess where... yep, Massatooshits. Anywho.

Hiked Cadillac Mountain by way of the Ladder Trail up and over Mt. Dorr (?). Very cool trail. The first half of the trail is a steep rock staircase, up and up and up, with a few metal ladders embedded in the boulders that were too big to blaze around. Truly impressive trailwork all throughout the park, really. Didn't even see that many people on the trail until we got to the top of Cadillac, which has an auto route to the top. Followed the south ridge trail down the other side of Cadillac and skirted back to the start of the Ladder Trail where we'd left the car. Only saw two other people on the trail after we left the ridge. So many people visit, but so few of them leave the beaten path. I suppose I should be grateful instead of astounded by that fact. All around, a 6 mile (10K) hike, and definitely in the top three days of the trip.

Next day, we rented a kayak again, an 18 foot Wilderness Systems Northstar that had seen better days. Wasn't terribly impressed with the counterguy's knowledge. Also, because he was kind of rushed to pick up the incoming tour, we managed to leave without getting spray skirts. Not the end of the world, but salt water really makes my skin itch. We paddled out from Pretty Marsh to try to go around Bartlett Island, but the waves were a bit much - starting to be all whitecappy - so we gave it up and paddled back down one of the smaller sounds. A fun day, but marred by the itchy rash the salt water spray brought up on my legs and butt. We ventured in to Bar Harbor for dinner: lobster taquitos (though not like any taquitos I've ever had before) for me, grilled stuffed portabella for Jay, and an ancho chile chocolate tart with cinnamon ice cream for dessert. I also picked up four nice prints at the Clair de Loon gallery. I'm a fan of art as souvenirs. Someday I will have a house to decorate.

August 13th: Drove down the Schoodic Penninsula to the less traveled part of Acadia and enjoyed a picnic lunch on the rocks. Then on to a private campground a little further up the coast. Can't recall the name right now. Mostly what I remember is the wicked wicked mosquitoes. By the time I had the tent set up, I had a dozen new bites behind my knees and around my ankles, and three bites ON MY FOREHEAD. What the hell kind of mosquito bites people on their foreheads. Evil, perverted mosquitos. So while this was a fairly nice campground, I didn't quite enjoy my time there.

August 14th: Last stop. Cobscook Bay State Park. On the way there, we stopped at the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse. Beautiful place - classic red and white striped tower, good views of Canada, decent and easy trails along the coast. We walked back to Green Point, watched a big freighter sailing in to Lubec (easternmost town in the US), saw a couple small planes circling overhead, ogled some tide pools. After setting up camp, we drove across the bridge onto Campobello Island (Canada) for dinner and also to check out the East Quoddy Head Lighthouse.

We had intended to stay two nights at Cobscook, but it rained most of that night and everything was soaked in the morning. Eight nights of tent sleeping had left me tired and a bit stiff, and coupled with the "everything is wet" factor, and the prospect of being damp most of the day in the fog, I convinced Jay that we should just head home. By the time we hit Bangor, the skies were clear and sunny, and we were home before 6pm. God bless my nice firm mattress.

Alrighty... that's all for now. Next time, I'll tell you what we did yesterday. Because I'm totoally psyched about it. Hee hee!