Nepalese booties keep baby feet warm & dry . . .

I forgot some things in my non-bulleted list that I posted yesterday.  Since it snowed a ton today I figured I'd also include some photos.

Baby J . . . he is standing.  Not right this second (well, maybe he is I cannot see him), but in general  he is now standing on his own.  I time him and he's gone 8 seconds before falling.  Walking, here he comes!  He will not yet walk while holding just one hand but he'll nearly run when holding both your hands.  He went from hating to walk with his walker to spending a good portion of each morning going back and forth across each room & the hallway.  Instead of learning to turn it around though, I suspect he has decided to walk with it backwards.  I don't like this idea because, though it is innovative, it lends itself to crying once the walker tips over and spills baby J onto the floor.

You probably can't tell, but Jack is wearing his Nepalese booties here.  

They sort of fit.

Cleo . . . she is home now.  I did not look into the bag in which she was returned too well.  I saw a box and a plastic flower and then left it alone.  Today I unpacked the bag to find it is a beautiful cherry wood box, a plaque (unattached), and a creepy little envelope full of fur.  I squealed  (which scared J) when I opened it  and quickly tossed it back into the bag.  I'm not sure what to do with Miss Cleo.  Honestly, I really  want to have her made into a diamond and wear her around.  I don't actually like diamonds but I would wear Cleo; I bet she'd be a gorgeous diamond. 

Work . . . I left this out altogether.  After a stressful week, I hope to be getting 1st draft designs in for the last couple specs this week.  My artist was stressing and I think/hope we have made it over a hurdle and onward.  I'm really excited to see them.  

I have also contacted a local printer.  I'm hoping to have a quote from them in a few days, maybe a week?  I don't know how long that takes.  I like them, but I think since I'm clueless I will have to dig up at least one more printer for a second quote. 

Because it's time . . .

. . . to post, but it'll be bullets!

Tonight was J's first late night.  He did not get to bed until 10 p.m. - poor tired boy.  We had a dinner party out with D's coworkers.  Wish we could have spent more time, but thanks to the weather that was not possible.  It took us a little over an hour to get there - Main was a parking lot and hence we arrived late.  But we arrived much earlier than others.  Getting home was worse because the snow had turned to freezing rain.  I thought surely J would sleep on the ride home, but nope.  

My clothes don't fit.  It's a problem.  They fit last month but now, nope.  Was it the Christmas cookies?  Maybe it's that I stopped nursing?  Or maybe my dryer really IS shrinking all my pants.  Hmmmm.  In any case I'm making the gym a priority.  It's not my favorite place, but until the weather breaks I don't have a choice.  I have my first trainer appointment tomorrow (assuming the roads are plowed and I can get out of the driveway).  I'm seeing Elizabeth again - my on again, off again trainer for the past 5 or so years.  I can't even do a sit-up I discovered at ab class last week.  Nice.  I looked like a flopping fish on the floor - embarrassing.  

I got a lot accomplished so far this week.  I have J's cake designed for his party ( I thought it would take longer or I would have procrastinated as usual).  I contact a real estate agent and he's coming to the house next week (it's a perfect time to sell, right).  The freelance job is going well - I have the work all scheduled out.  The t-shirts are a bit behind but I think we just got over a hurdle so I'm excited for what should be coming.  I found an hourly daycare for J.  I was excited to use it until tonight when I cringed to see him next to a baby with a cold.  I know he'll get sick - it's natural, but I'd still like to postpone it as long as possible!  Ugh.  I thought there was more, oh well.

I got my new computer - a Mac.  I'm still learning little things and have more to learn.  It's for work.

Speaking of computers . . . I barely blog anymore if you haven't noticed.  I'm never on MySpace anymore either.  And I'm not so sure about Facebook.  I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I'm addicted to my Lil GreenSpace (or whatever it's called).  I think it breeds discontent if overused and I'm overusing it.  

Cleo is home.  We picked her up today.  I most often think of her in the evenings.  Some nights I still expect to see D carrying her up the stairs.  With that said, I actively avoid thinking about her because I just get upset.  That sounds bad.  Maybe that's not exactly what I meant, but I do avoid dwelling and over thinking so as not to get upset.  That sounds better.  It's hard to explain.

Sirachi Hot Chili Sauce can NOT be substituted for "chili sauce' in a recipe.  FYI.  Happy HOT Chinese New Year!  

As promised . . .

A holiday pictorial (since I now have the forgotten photo card reader back home with me).



Our winter solstice trip to the Columbus Zoo for Wildlights. It was cold but fun. J really like the animals. We saw the indoor exhibits of course . . . elephants and fish (lots of fish).

I was so proud of my first attempt at meringues that I took a photo. These are cardamom flavored. They were really tasty and pretty. I'll make them again next year (I also made mocha flavored this year which were also good).

J taking in the sites of Christmasland at Kraynak's.

J opening gifts Xmas Eve at my aunt's home. He really liked a blue ribbon that was attached to this gift.

Christmas morning at my mom's.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who commented on the memorial. Tomorrow will be 1 week and it's starting to sink in more - though last night I thought 'wait, where's Cleo' as I heard D bounce up the stairs (he never bounced up them so gingerly while toting Cleo).

Miss Cleo

Photo winter 2008

Cleopatra Amber Joy
1993 - 2009

We adopted Cleo from BRAT (Basenji Rescue and Transport) in 1999 as a one year anniversary gift to ourselves (oh, along with the new house we'd just bought). D wanted a dog now that we had the house, but I was more of a cat person. I researched breeds in my down time at the vet clinic (there was a lot of that) and came upon the basenji. A very cat-like breed they were known to keep themselves fastidiously clean and they were often aloof like a cat. Cleo was both.

We drove to Philadelphia via D.C. to pick her up from her foster home. She was cool as a cucumber. It was the 4th home she would join in less than a year. Her first owners divorced and there seemed to be an opposite custody battle over her. She wound up with grandma who could not properly care for her. Next off to the foster and then to her forever home with us.

Of our three basenjis she was by far the closest to typical. She was just naughty enough to let you know her brilliance and competency. She was aloof indeed but would happily lie next to you. She was always calm and collected though would change in a second upon seeing wildlife in the yard. She was a hunter. She baroo'd and yodeled and often on command. She hated water. She was a basenji through and through.

A few months after she arrived we adopted a brother for her (Jeremy). They got along wonderfully and often cuddled together during car rides and near heating vents around the house. In 2000 we fostered Zulu and he's never left. From the get go he was the annoying little brother. By now she was nearing 10 years old and was becoming less patient with things she did not like or approve. Zulu fit both categories and she snarked at him anytime he came near. Sometimes he really just wanted to be near her but all too often he seemed to enjoy annoying her.

If I walk into our bedroom I will step in the crumbs she left on the floor from her biscuit - still not vacuumed. If I walk into the laundry room I will see her sweaters awaiting the wash. Her food stand still sits by the backdoor. Her home was not ready for her to leave though we and it had been preparing for months. Cleo was 16 years old this year. A fierce warrior basenji she clung to what grace and strength she could to the very last moment. She will always be with us in spirit and thought.

We love and miss you, Miss Cleo.

Cleo the weekend we picked her up (pictured in Ashburn, VA)

Cleo after she broke her back leg jumping off the deck (circa 2000)

Showing she can be naughty indeed - that's a blue highlighter she gutted.

Basking in the sun. Basenjis (and Cleo) love sunshine.

Circa 2007, she's backed up to a heating vent.

A new favorite

I can't say I dislike my freewill horoscope this week, but it's not a favorite either. Instead I'm posting something that is a favorite - a new favorite.

J has gotten numerous new books over the holiday season. Still, I bought him a handful more the other day. One is called Winter Babies Wear Layers and I LOVE it! It's a simple sentence per spread (perfect for J's current attention span) and the artwork is simple. The mom in most pictures is dressed modernly, but the colors and patterns in her clothing, baby's, and the scenery are all very mid-century modern.
My favorite page is below.

I want to be this artwork.

Sh!tty R Us

I'm boycotting both Toys R Us and Babies R Us . . . the entire R Us franchise. In fact I may lift my nearly decade long boycott of Wal-Mart in light of, though that's not for certain (two wrongs don't make a right).

I was first annoyed with RUs when I was doing my baby registry. Their online merchandise and store merchandise are completely separate. You cannot find something in-store online and vice versa (at least with Babies). After this there was a lull in annoyance.

Today was it. Today was enough to warrant an indefinitely long boycott. I arrived with J and D and a handful of items to return/exchange. I had no gift receipts but would happily accept store credit. The clothing was short sleeved and will not fit by the time it's warm . . . J's grandparents got him a walker toy so he doesn't need the one we bought, etc. Well, they don't do returns OR exchanges without a receipt. Nothing - nada - goodbye - don't let the automatic doors hit you on your way out.

Seriously? The customer service was already lacking, but this was it. This was the last straw. There isn't ANY customer service. It's ridiculous.

I'll hopefully find my receipt but what about others who sent J items in hopes they would fit, but if not security in knowing they could be exchanged. I guess they'll have to be hounded for their receipts. Or maybe the gifts will go unused and languish in a drawer. Or better yet, J can sport them for Independence Day in January - the flipside of Christmas in July.

You know I returned 2 gifts to Wal-Mart already and it took 10 seconds for them to issue me a store credit. Though I have been boycotting them I will more happily spend that money there than a single further cent at any RUs store.

On a side note, I've been waiting to become sassier. I thought oooh after 30 I'll come into my own and speak my mind - nope. Then I thought oh surely once I'm a mom I'll be more vocal but not so far. Well, finally I did and I was not rude or anything. But I did express my disbelief, displeasure and their loss of a customer. While I was very angry and in shock, it's not the cashier's fault so I would not have wanted to be rude or make a huge scene (though part of me did want to do exactly that).