Blankie Love

This baby blanket was handmade for our son by a friend, Vy. Ethan absolutely adores his blankie, and has it with him whenever times are tough-- when he's sick, tired, or feeling miserable. And I have photo proof!

When he was a feverish sickie, and wouldn't leave my lap:


When he was teething and couldn't bear to put any food in his mouth:


When he is just waking up and still feeling a bit sleepy:


He loves that blankie!

Photo Fix: Dad 1949

Just got inspired by some photo repairs my Aunt Kathy has been working on recently in her photoshop classes... so I'm doing some of my own! Here's one of my dad's childhood photographs that I attempted to clean up and repair.

Original photo; highly weathered, faded, wrinkled, and stained--


I tried to keep his freckles distinct and retain as much detail as possible--


I used the second photo along with about 150 others for a DVD slideshow I made a couple of years ago, celebrating my parents' 35th anniversary. It was pretty awesome; I've got to figure out how to post a link so that others can watch it too. It's the type of thing I'd love to do for a living, if I could only figure out how to make sure people actually pay for the services. This isn't Walgreens or Costco, people, it's an individually crafted work of art! (So say all the independent small business owners out there, right? Oy!)

EDD update

So, it appears that there may possibly be a chance that EDD might have allowed me to decline a job offer last month... I called this morning to find out the status of my check--which was supposed to be here two weeks ago, but got delayed while they investigated my claim form--and it looks like that check is now on its merry way! We'll see, this week hopefully. I don't want to hope too much, but I'm much more hopeful than I was last week. It would be such a relief to just know what their decision is, as opposed to wondering and worrying and praying for the best. Anyway, enough of that for now. More later, as events unfold.

Happy Mother's Day

Here is my beautiful family, gathered together to celebrate on Sunday.



All of the ladies got together for lunch at the Elephant Bar... we had some issues with the shrimp (first batch was undercooked, and second batch was old/off/smelled way too fishy), but the manager redeemed the situation by giving first class service and even handing out gift cards to make up for the food problems. Can't wait to go back for their yummy Bloody Mary and a salmon roll!

Danger: Slide Warning

So, I totally injured Ethan yesterday afternoon. Not on purpose (OF COURSE), but while trying to keep him safe. Isn't that ironic? And yet, somehow, not really. I found a great article by Abbi Perets on the "She Knows Parenting" website discussing the ways that going down a slide with your child on your lap can be dangerous. It describes exactly why doing what I did-- placing baby on your lap, then sliding down together-- is actually a pretty common way to break your child's leg. Ethan didn't end up with a broken leg, thank God, but he easily could have. What the heck was I thinking? Why didn't I take better care of him and anticipate that he might get hurt? I guess that's the typical and everlasting lament of parenthood... and so it begins.

To continue, right after I felt his leg crush between my leg and the slide, I practically leapt off the slide and told my sister "I think I might have broken his leg." He was wailing out these terrible cries, and we rushed him (through after-work traffic, of course) to the Kaiser Hospital emergency room. The gracious staff there (thank you to reception, nurses, radiology, Dr.Basi, and everyone else!) moved us rapidly from the emergency waiting room to an exam room and then straight on into the x-ray room. That last bit was painful-- both for Ethan, and for his mommy and auntie to watch-- because we had to hold his little ankle in various positions for them to get the best images. Ouch! The results came back faster than I would have thought possible, and showed that it was not a break. Instead, he was left with a very sore leg and ankle, and he can't put any weight on it right now without a lot of pain. It makes it very difficult to roll over, crawl, stand up, or walk, and pretty much everything that a happy, active toddler wants to do.

He's just miserable right now, poor thing. And I feel so guilty! I wish I would've read this article before taking him to the park yesterday. Guess it's time for the mommy of the year awards!

Closing My Ears

A dear friend (T, you know who you are!) has suggested that I make a change in my life... and not a small one, either. You see, she has accurately determined that one of my besetting problems is that I listen to much to others' opinions-- solicited or not-- about how to live my own life. In fact, sometimes I make decisions based on what people might or might not say, think, or do; whether or not they've even done or said anything! For example, I debated for a long time about getting an augmentation done, and the majority of the reasons were not financially based, as you might have thought; instead, my worries were primarily about how I would deal with the people around me and their possible judgments. It turns out, I haven't had any really negative reactions (or at least none that I've heard about!), and also haven't regretted the surgery one bit. In fact, it was one of the best things I've done for me in a long time.

So why do I care so much about other people's opinions? Is this why I'm so attracted to the idea of Burning Man? Because there, you can try to get out of the little box you've stuck yourself in, and be whoever you want without fear of judging or moralizing or negativity? Maybe it's something I need to start practicing in "real life" too; less regard for what other people might say or think about my actions, and more regard for how it makes me feel and how true it is to my real self. Now, there's a goal I can work on for the next few decades. One more step on the path to enlightenment!

Hiding in plain sight

Ethan likes to watch TV. Sometimes, though, he likes to watch it while being completely hidden beneath pillows on the couch.


So that he can then slither out from under them and slowly creep forward...


Peering over the edges to make sure we can't see him...


And then, BOOM!


He jumps out to "surprise" us and cracks himself up in the process.
Mission complete, he can then sit back and relax, congratulating himself on a job well done. That's my boy...

Baby Instructions

Came across this awhile back and thought I'd share... very helpful for those moments when you're just not quite sure what to do. Keep posted around the house for constant reference. Also nice for babysitters to check out when they get confused. The instructions come from a book called Safe Baby Handling Tips, by David and Kelly Sopp. One example of their very helpful tips:


I had originally posted an entire selection of instructional diagrams on my blog, before thinking about it more and realizing that I was patently infringing upon their copyrighted material. These are published authors who have written a smart, entertaining, very affordable book chock-full of great illustrations and hilarious commentary. Who am I to try to rip them off for a couple of laughs? Let's give credit where it's due, and the credit goes to Mr. & Mrs. Sopp. Thank you for your work, folks-- a sense of humor is long overdue in many of the fine parents I know. Here's hoping your book can help bring it back to life!

Chompers!

I think that some of Ethan's teeth are coming in... again. This boy never stops teething, poor thing. He's been shoving his whole fist in his mouth lately, and when I tried to brush his teeth he practically impaled himself trying to get the toothbrush deeper into his gums. The weird thing is, he already looks like he has enough teeth:


Yep, plenty of chompers there. Are more really necessary? How many teeth does one person need, anyway? I mean, sure, you don't want any huge gaps up front, and you need your molars for chewing, but aren't the number of teeth we have kind of overkill?

Or maybe I'm just overly sensitive because it's tough to watch him go through the painful process of teething. Either way, it's a point to ponder; next time you're at the Dentist's office, go ahead and bring it up. Of course, they are slightly biased; the more teeth, the merrier, right? At least someone will be happy to hear he's got more coming in!

Food: Carnitas with Pineapple Salsa

The other day I cooked carnitas from scratch for the first time. It took a lot longer than I expected, but was totally worth it. After the pork was finally ready, I got the rest of the meal together. It involved a whole lot of stuff:

- Carnitas (cooked pork)
- Flour tortillas (we prefer the uncooked ones by Guerrero)
- Fresh limes, chopped cilantro, and diced onions
- Shredded cheese blend
- Habanero sauce
- Spanish rice and refried beans with jalapeno

and, for the piece de resistance, Pineapple Salsa:


YUM! It literally "made" the meal. The tropical flavors of the salsa really enhanced the flavor of the pork, and it was just an awesome meal. The salsa I threw together based on several different recipes and what I had in the fridge, which was basically the following:

- Chopped fresh pineapple
- Diced orange bell pepper, jalapeno, and onion
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Orange-mango fruit mix (flavored applesauce)
- Lime juice, habanero sauce, and salt & pepper to taste

Birthday BBQ

To celebrate the birthdays of my niece Leila and my sister Adrienne, we hosted a barbecue on the third weekend in April. Here are some photos to remember the day...

Ethan loves to play with his Aunt Elena. And she always has a great time, too. PS-- Notice how long her hair is? Careful not to trip over it next time, Auntie!


Here are the two birthday girls, going through the time-honored ritual of "shake it and see what's inside..."


Joel, sporting his "I'm older than I look" facial hair. Hot, hot hot!


And finally, my darling boy, so much cuter than he has any right to be:


Don't I have a great family?

Pondering a new career...

I'm thinking about how to get myself into a career path that would allow me to stay home with my child or children, have flexible hours, be able to go on family vacations or couples-only holidays when we need to, and yet also make enough money to pay for those little things like rent, utilities, health insurance, and-- if we're lucky-- babysitter fees every so often. Here are some possibilities I'm considering:

- Creating DVD slideshows:
I've made several of these and really enjoy doing it. It would require serious time to myself in front of the computer, which would be difficult without having Ethan in daycare at least part-time. I could sell them for baby showers, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, reunions, retirements, and more. A few years ago I got a business license to start working on this, but it never got past the first few steps; maybe now is a better time for it...

- Creating costumes and accessories:
I started sewing and creating costumes last year for our Burning Man experience. I bought a sewing machine and taught myself some of the basic skills, but I'd love to really get into it this year. They have classes at the local junior college that I'm thinking about taking. Some of the projects I'm going to make this year include furry hats, boot covers and boot toppers, shrugs, and providing some accents to clothes I already have (like wrist cuffs added to a jacket, etc.). Shops that cater to the Burning Man crowd (plus ravers, cosplayers, furries, and others) can charge a heck of a lot of money for their goods-- and still get tons of orders! I already bought one section of material to start working with, so that I can see if this is something not only that I can do, but that I want to do.

Other than that, I'm hoping a book editor miraculously discovers Lemon Tart Life and realizes that it is different from all of the other blogs out there-- it's brilliant yet humble, hilarious yet touching, simple yet thought-provoking, and in a word-- perfect. Then they'll contact me, offer me a lucrative writing contract, and voila! Problem solved.

Yeah, um, I'll go ahead and let you all know when that happens. Meanwhile, here's how my days will probably pan out if I'm my own boss:

Return to the Resolution

So, this week it begins... again. The resolutions I made at the beginning of the year faded away somewhat as I got caught up in the preparations for job searches, job interviews, and a possible move-- all of which basically led me back to where I began, on unemployment and home with my baby. Since I'm back at square one, I might as well re-start my vows to make some lifestyle changes. Ethan and I are going back to the gym again, and I also decided that we need to have more routine in our lives. Like, gym in the mornings, then "field" trips in the afternoon: mall, library, park, playground, grandma's house, etc. That, plus getting back on track with the healthy eating, will make a big difference around here. Can't wait to get started!

I don't necessarily have to look like Halley Berry here, but I'd like to get more fit and toned. And a little more tanned wouldn't hurt, either. Too bad the only way I tan is by amassing freckles and/or getting burnt to a crisp. Some people (HB) are just born luckier than others, I guess.



Oh, and I'm going to be much better about taking my ibuprofin for the shoulder pain, too, because that is half the reason why I don't end up going to the gym in the morning. When I wake up aching, I just can't see how I'd get through a workout *and* carry him in and out of the car several times. Time for major pain control!

Feverish

Yesterday, Ethan started to run a pretty high fever. In between doses of Infant Tylenol, he spent the rest of the day refusing food and crying weakly whenever he was off of me. It was strange to see my normally active toddler lying on the couch so listless and uncomfortable. His fever was hovering around 102.5 all day and night, with periods where it got higher and then times when it dropped down to about 100-101, usually right after he took his medicine. It was a little scary, at times, to feel how hot his little body could get. He was like a furnace, just exuding heat from his head to his toes. He and I spent the night out on the couch so that I could keep an eye on his fever and keep him as cool as possible. I slept maybe half an hour all night, and I'm pretty sure he didn't get much more sleep than I did. Poor thing! He was just so miserable... The morning started off without much change in his disposition, but at least his fever appeared to have dropped down to manageable levels. Then, just a few minutes ago, when I sat down to start typing this, I heard a thump and looked around to find that he had thrown his entire dish full of strawberries into his lap, the stroller, and all over the ground. My baby's back!

Talk To Me

Ethan is starting to talk more and more every day. And by talk, I mean babble. His vocabulary, besides high pitched squeals and random sounds, currently consists of the following words:

- Mama
- Dada
- Down
- Up (but he says it "puh")
- Bye-bye
- No (more like, nononono...)
- Duck
- Bah (it means "bath," okay?)
- Woof
- Quack (well, it's closer to "kah" if you want to get specific)

And.... that's about the gist of it. He can say "more" in sign language, but not verbally, so does that count? Joel and I are starting to wonder if he's taking his sweet time in the language department, because he's got about ten words at sixteen months old. The expectation for an eighteen month old is fifteen to eighteen words, so... let's get a move on, kid! No, but seriously, I'm sure there are things we can do to help him add to his vocabulary. I just ordered the "Teach Me To Talk" DVD with strategies for helping your toddler learn to speak, and hopefully we can start working on that soon. You know, right before I leave to go work 12 hours a day. (sigh)

Of course, there's always non-verbal communication to help us get through the next year or two!

Coffee Cake

I just found a recipe for the most delicious, moist, awesome coffee cake I've had in a long while... It's made using the Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix in the box, which makes *my* life a whole lot easier. It takes about five or so minutes to throw together, and then around half an hour to bake. PERFECTION! I made it last night, and as you can see, it was a big hit... not much left for today. Guess I'll have to make more this weekend!



The only thing I'll do differently next time is reduce the sugar a bit, both in the batter and in the amount of topping used. To make up for the lack of sweetness, I'll add in some cinnamon to the batter, and maybe some other flavoring (vanilla? rum? tee hee) to help kick up the tastorifficness. Can't wait!

My New Love

I don't know exactly how it happened, but it did. It wasn't a gradual sort of thing, a love that took years to deepen into something beyond friendship... No, it was sudden, immediate, and took my breath away. I don't know what it is about this love that makes it different and special, but for some reason I can't get it out of my mind. I laugh more. I smile more. My spirits are lifted up and I can't stop grinning. Is it real love, though? Can it be, when it's about a TV show? Who can really say... All I do know is, this is the most hilarious and awesome thing I've seen in a long time. Definitely for mature audiences, but man oh man-- it will have you busting out in laughter in no time flat. To quote one of the reviews, if you like Space Ghost, Venture Brothers, or Harvey Birdman, you're going to love Archer. Enjoy!

Commute

So, it looks like I'll be starting off my job with a monster commute. Although eventually I'll be based in Livermore, for now I will start my training at the main center in Oakland. That's right, Oakland. Hey, at least it's not over the Bridge, right? But this is the reality of the commute I'll drive with thousands of other people every morning and evening:

Driving directions to Oakland, CA
81.4 mi – about 1 hour 23 mins
(up to 1 hour 50 mins in traffic)


View Larger Map

I can tell right now that I'm going to hate that commute. Hopefully Joel gets work soon and we can find a place that's affordable in the Livermore or Pleasanton area. I just can't see doing this for too long... at this point, I will be leaving the house by 6 AM, driving 1.5-2 hours through the morning rush to Oakland, working eight hours, then driving back another two hours during the worst traffic slot possible. By the time I get home, it'll be 7:00-ish, which means I'll see my son for approximately half an hour before it's time for him to go to bed. I'll eat dinner, crash, and start the whole cycle again the next day. Because we don't have daycare yet (and may not be able to afford it), Joel will probably end up scheduling computer jobs for when I get home from work, so I will see him less and less as well. Sounds highly appealing, doesn't it?

:(

I'm sad.

Child Labor?

This boy, I tell you... he just loves doing yard work with us! I hope that's a good enough answer if the good folks from CPS come calling one day, after getting numerous complaints from neighbors that we are making our toddler do all of our gardening. I swear, the minute we get outside, he wants to grab a rake or broom and go to town on the yard. Sometimes, he even skips the tools and just starts picking up the seed-pods by hand and carrying them to the edge of the sidewalk, where he proceeds to toss them into the street. He's just trying to save some pedestrian from twisting an ankle on those little miniature death-traps.


But seriously, doesn't he do a great job with the broom? It's bigger than he is, but he just used it to push a big pile of those seed thingies past the car and towards the gutters. Encouraged of course, by my running commentary of "Go to the street! Get out, seeds!" while he works. We all need cheerleaders to keep us going sometimes, right?


Good kid. Now, if we can only get him to use the vacuum, we'll be set on the outside *and* inside the house.

Happy Birthday, Adrienne!

You've come a long, long way, baby sister. Thirty years ago, a little girl entered our family...


... and stole our hearts!


No matter how grown up you get, I will always remember this girl, and her absolute zest for life. I'm so proud of you and how you have conquered many of life's challenges without becoming jaded or negative. You are an inspiration to me! Can't wait to celebrate with you.

My Skandi-boy

Just remembering when Ethan was this small, such a short time ago; how quickly it flits and flies. Doesn't he look vaguely Scandinavian, like some tiny Northerner about to burst into speech that is chock-full of consonants and a sprinkling of vowels with lines through them? Those eyes, that hat... he used to love his Pooh bear hat, and wore it all the time. He wore it until it didn't fit his noggin anymore, in fact. Now he won't let a hat sit on his head for longer than five seconds before yanking it off and tossing it to the ground. What's up with that? How can things change so drastically in such a short time? I love hats, just wish I could wear them more often. Burning Man 2009 was probably the first time in my life I wore hats on pretty much a daily basis, and it was pretty cool.

Joel and I found these cowboy-type hats at Target for a great price, and they were perfect for keeping the sun off our necks-- and you could wrap a scarf around them and then over your face to keep from breathing in the sand, too. Very handy!

The Positive, The Negative, The In-Between

The thought of finally going back to work is laden with both the positive and the negative...

The UP Side:
- Steady income that won't run out, whereas unemployment checks will eventually stop
- Health insurance!
- Making new connections to other adults in the workplace
- Feeling like I'm contributing to the community again through my work
- Ethan will get to socialize with more kids once he gets into daycare
- Possibly moving towards the Bay Area, which means:
> more job opportunities for Joel
> closer to SF for day trips and such
> better bike paths and walking paths
> nicer weather than Modesto (i.e., cooler)
- Moving closer to certain friends and family

The Down Side:
- No longer being able to spend every day with my son... this is HUGE for me
- Moving away from my mom & dad and sisters, as well as other family and some close friends (and my BFF!)
- Moving, in general-- YUCK! The packing, the hassle, the headache, the cost
- Commuting at first to Oakland, which is 1.5 hrs away without traffic and up to 2.5 during rush hours.. U.G.H.
- Having to find all new friends and babysitters and so on wherever we move
- More expensive rent (up to $500/month higher than we're paying now)

Anyway... I'm trying to stay positive and think of the good side, but those first two issues (missing Ethan and leaving my family/friends) are pretty tough ones. Will try to keep my thoughts focused on my goals: Surviving and thriving for and with my family. We can do it.

Hubba Honda

Joel really likes his Honda. And by "really likes," I mean loves. And by "loves," I mean he thinks it's great and all but can't wait to get a slighter bigger one someday. Ah, the fickle nature of man.


He just changed the handlebars to lower them and make them more like a cafe racer. And the lights, and a few other things... all I know is, it looks great. And Ethan thinks it's awesome, too. He absolutely loves getting up there and playing around with the various buttons and knobs and controls on the motorcycle. And he can spend forever just tinkering around the bike, touching the shiny chrome and finding out where all the dirtiest parts are. Never a dull moment, as long as there are gears and metal pieces and tools and mechanical bits to play with. Like father, like son!

Mission: Get A Job-- COMPLETE!

So, on Wednesday the 7th I went up to Oakland for my second interview. I thought it went well, until the very end when the head of the interview panel told me some interesting news. It seems that they were just finishing up with the 2nd interviews, and were going to start another round of first interviews the following week. What?! To me, that meant that they hadn't found the person they were looking for yet. Otherwise, why bother with yet another round of first interviews, possibly continuing on into second interviews? I left there thinking that I was just going to have to continue my search for employment elsewhere...

When I got home on Wednesday, I found out that Joel had been chosen to participate on a jury for the next couple of weeks, which would mean we'd need to find daycare if I actually was offered the job and they expected me to start before the 23rd of April. Oh, well, we'll worry about that when it happens, right? So I get a phone call from the lead Family Advocate, asking me to call her back and answer a few questions "before we can proceed." Hmm... now things are definitely looking up again. I thought she might have some concerns about whether or not we'd move up there or something like that, so I contacted her and left my info again so that we could chat. Well, she finally gets back to me Thursday afternoon and this is what happened:

Her: "Melanie, I have a few questions that the interview panel would like to ask before we go forward; I know that you've spent the past several years as a supervisor, and I'm wondering how you would feel about working in a position where you wouldn't be supervising anyone? Would that be a problem for you?"

Me: "Absolutely not. Honestly, supervising others was not my favorite part of the job; it was working with a great team of colleagues and collaborating to reach our goals. I enjoyed supervising, but I also really enjoy working as a team member, and have always worked well with my own supervisors. I would have no problem whatsoever with being in a position that's not supervisory."

Her: "I didn't think that would be a problem. So, I have one more question: Are you still interested in the job? Because I'd like to offer you the position."

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

King of Malls

We took a family trip to the Westfield Valley Mall in San Jose last weekend. What a cool place! Huge, and maze-like, but with so much variety that it makes up for constantly being lost and having to use GPS and spidey sense to find your way around. Here's an aerial view:


Pretty neat. I'd love to go back sans-bebe so that we can look around more and do some actual shopping. We had a very tasty lunch there, too. We had fish 'n chips, clam chowder, and shrimp cocktail from Ivar's. It's fast food, but quite yummy. Ethan loved to eat the little shrimp, and (of course) noshed on the fries with gusto.


My craving for seafood lately has been out of control; later this week I'll be making shrimp with red pepper and angel hair pasta, a recipe I stole off of Gordon Ramsay's new cooking show. I only wish he'd include ingredient measurements; it helps, when cooking.

Wisteria...

Last year, we had a crazy-bad windstorm that resulted in several large branches littering our yard. Rather than chop them up and toss them in our green waste for the following two months (there were that many branches), Joel decided to reduce, re-use, and recycle them-- as yard decor! He used two large ones to sort of cordon off the cactus garden, which was useful when the baby was smaller; not so much now that he has decided he has climbing-monkey skills. He then used several of the medium-sized branches to build a sort of rustic trellis above the calla lilies and across the wisteria, with an arch leading to the side of the house. The wisteria vines climbed all over the branches, and when the begin blooming every spring (usually in mid-March), they form this beautiful canopy of purple blossoms outside my window. Every time I look outside, I feel a smile creep across my face... how uplifting to the spirits these simple flowers are! This insect appears to share my opinion.



(Doesn't Joel take gorgeous photos?)

Interview: Out of My Closet, Part 2

I have been called back for a second interview at the Alameda job! Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping I can do well at this one. The day after I interviewed last week, the director called me and said that they were all very impressed during my interview and wanted to know if I could come back up for a second interview. Of course, I said that would be great, and so we set the date for Wednesday, April 7th. When I got a chance, I told her that I was glad she had called because I wanted to thank her and the rest of the team for such a great experience during my interview; I told her it had been very positive and warm, and that I appreciated the opportunity to meet with so many members of the team that day. She said, "Well, the feeling is mutual. After your interview, the panel was unanimous in saying 'Bring her back!'". How cool is that? It's so nice to get positive strokes every so often.

Anyway, here is what is coming out of my closet for Wednesday's interview. Most of my work-related clothing comes straight from the Kohl's juniors section. Yes, I still shop there, apparently breaking a cardinal rule of the "over-30" set.

The top is a Candies shirt, in pink. As you can see, I just want to keep the color coming; I find gray and black so depressing, and can't see myself dressing for gloomy news. I'll dress for a celebration, instead!:


The pants, also from Kohl's:


And the shoes, which I love dearly but can't remember where I got them:


In another sign of favor from the heavens, the rain will miraculously clear up by Wednesday, unlike last time-- when it started just before I walked out of my car and across the huge parking lot to the building. Luckily, Joel insists that I carry an umbrella in my car, so it turns out I didn't make the kind of first impression that gets sent in to America's Funniest Videos.

PS-- The Interview is TODAY, at 1:00 p.m. CROSS YOUR FINGERS!! (Say a prayer, light a candle, meditate, whatever; just send out your positive vibes!)

Hair-Razing Experience

So, I tried to cut Ethan's hair the other day, and learned a valuable lesson: It's almost impossible to cut a toddler's hair without completely butchering it, UNLESS (and this is a big point) one of the following conditions is met:

1) You are a trained professional, i.e., beautician with monkey-wrangling experience,
OR
2) Your child is somehow in such a deep sleep that a buzzing set of hair clippers near their face won't wake them up, AND they are sleeping in a position that somehow exposes their entire head of hair and yet keeps them gently supported at the same time.

Unfortunately, as you might have guessed, neither of these pre-requisites was fulfilled when I began my work. With all of the turning, yanking, running, shoving, and other calisthenics going on, he's lucky he didn't end up with a bald spot over each ear or an off-sided mohawk. Instead, he got what we were calling "The Lloyd," as in the character from Dumb and Dumber with the bowl-cut:


Luckily, he only had to go through one day with that beautiful piece of work. Earlier today, we "fixed" it as much as we could, and came up with this:


By the way, in the above picture he is sitting in his favorite place: the portable highchair seat, which we attached to this carved wooden chair that we happened to pick up for $2.50 at a neighbor's yard sale. What a deal! Especially because he LOVES that chair, and will just go and sit in in throughout the day whether or not he's eating. Just hanging out, chillin' in his seat... it seems pretty comfy, probably because Joel moved the seat cushion onto the back of the chair, so now Ethan has a nice cushy head rest. I'm kind of jealous!

My Beautiful Family

We were lucky enough to spend time with some dear friends of ours early in March at a combined birthday party for J, C, and B. At the party, they were so kind as to provide the services of a photographer to take some portrait shots and spontaneous pics throughout the day. We got these lovely pictures to commemorate the event; what a great gift!

All wrapped up in each other...


Catching a free ride with Daddy...


And finally, Ethan reaches his limit with the posing and such. He wants to go play, and tells me so fairly clearly: "Down!"


Thanks, Mom!


Ain't love grand?

Interview: Out of My Closet

I had an awesome time at my interview on Monday. I truly enjoyed meeting and getting to know the team, and felt comfortable, confident, and welcomed the entire time. Preparing for it was actually the hardest part, not the least of which was deciding what to wear. I ended up choosing this outfit, which was semi-conservative and professional, but still youthful and unique, or at least not the usual dour gray and black combo that seems to be the norm.

The outfit:
I went to Kohl's and got the bulk of my outfit. The shirt (below) was in aqua, not white; I wanted to have a little bit of color in my wardrobe.
in this:

The skirt I absolutely adore, but I do have a slight problem: Somehow, when I tried it on at home, it was suddenly a size too big! What the heck? Guess I'll have to get it tailored somewhere.


The shoes were basically like these, only matte instead of shiny patent. At least they were comfy!

When Good Interviews Go Bad

In honor of April Fool's Day, and to commemorate the fact that I made it through an awesome interview on the 29th, here is a worst case scenario that one should try to avoid when interviewing for a job:



And definitely, whatever you do, don't ever say anything even remotely close to this:


In fact, if you feel like you *might* say something like that, do everyone a favor and call the authorities immediately. Thanks for playing, and Happy April Fool's Day!