another list

I'm well aware that I have not blogged.  I've been busy but that's not why.  I just haven't had a desire to write anything.  I'm not concerned about whether or not anyone is reading.  I'm not worried about saying too much or not enough or anything like that.  I just have no interest in saying anything.

But here I am.

Today, I guess I feel chatty. . . 

I was trying to blog about my freewill horoscopes but a few were a little too personal to discuss.  What he wrote may not have been but the cord it hit was.  I do feel like anything I write here I should be willing to scream into a room of strangers.  Other weeks the horoscopes were just stupid (or stupider depending on your point of view).  

Of course I try to blog about J regularly to keep people updated.  However, I'm not sure anyone is out there reading and I talk to enough folks that I think the people who want to know what's going on with him do know.

So here are a few updates . . . . 

Baby J is sick.  [Oh and he's only "baby J" on here because "J" sounds like my dog.]  He has his first cold.  Snot is everywhere.  Both my nasal aspirators are broken (dog ate one & the other split in half around the center of the bulb) so CVS here we come!  I'm happy that he did not get sick until now, but I had been hoping to get him to his first birthday which would coincide nicely with the start of spring and the beginning of the end of sick season.  But no, the combination of meeting other babies, daycare at the gym, and using up all his frozen anti-body laden breastmilk created the perfect storm.  Poor little guy - he's in good company though.  Seems like everyone is sick around here, including his dad.  So far I'm staying healthy.

My t-shirts are causing me stress.  I'm currently getting feedback from people on my first drafts.  I may have to branch out and get even more feedback though.  Today's feedback from non-STJ visitors contradicts the initial feedback from my group of STJ junkies.  Hmmmm.  The issue I'm fretting over is which designs to keep and which to dump . . . and how many if any new designs I should add.  Do I do a cohesive line or the original hodgepodge I'd created?  Ugh.  Too much to consider.  I'm new to all of this so finding a printer was causing enough stress before adding the need to focus (or re-focus I guess).  So if you want to be part of my focus test let me know.

My other job is going better.  It's pretty straight-forward.  I'm happy to have it and I like it.  Not much more to say about that.

We had a real estate agent come by last week.  He'd been here about 4 years ago when we'd considered selling.  So now we're back to that and he's back.  He did a walk through to see our upgrades.  He plans to go over some local sales data and get back to us on a listing price.  

Average days on the market here is over 4 months!  Ugh.  

I'm really nervous.  Mainly because we don't know where we want to live or where we can live.  The plan is that if the house sells fast we'll just rent until we figure things out.  Ugh.  We have 3 cats and 2 dogs and I don't want to live in some dump because of that.  Finding a rental is really making me skittish.  

I'm trying to remain positive but it's hard.  That's not my go-to emotion.  Anyway, we plan to list in late spring.  We'll see what happens.  

More about J . . . he's quickly approaching the big ONE.  We work daily on walking and words.  And I'm working on figuring out what to feed him.  He's sort of in-between right now.  He can't chew a lot but he's not so interested in pureed mush.  He's also really taking to feeding himself.  So now I need a whole new batch of ideas on what to feed him for a few weeks until he's ready to just eat what we're eating.  If you have ideas by all means share!

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).