So I'm going to just post this: the best song ever, by the best band ever, performed in the best city ever, last week. And you can probably hear me singing along happily somewhere in the crowd.... ;o)
You'd think I'd be happy just seeing him once on this tour but I'm pretty bummed about missing the Raleigh concert...unfortunately, I don't know that many people here who actually listen to good music (sorry, it's true!) so at this point I'd pretty much have to go alone. Which I'm actually quite tempted to do. It's not like it's dangerous, the audience is just a bunch of older people and happy stoners, really. And the occasional random preppy math teacher/mommy, like me. ;o)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
6 Month Stats
No, I don't have time for Chicago pictures yet, but we did have the 6 month checkup yesterday and Ava is...
27.5 inches long
18 lbs. 14.5 oz.
...in other words, HUGE. Still in the upper-90s for percentile ranking. Jeez! But, she's healthy and happy so no complaints here! I started giving her some Mylicon with her before-bed bottle and she now seems to be sleeping through the night without crying out, so maybe she was just having some tummy aches while adjusting to new foods. This morning she ate at 6:45 and then snuggled in bed with me, where we both slept until 9:15...nice! In my world, that's considered "sleeping in." ;o)
That's it, pictures to follow one of these days...
27.5 inches long
18 lbs. 14.5 oz.
...in other words, HUGE. Still in the upper-90s for percentile ranking. Jeez! But, she's healthy and happy so no complaints here! I started giving her some Mylicon with her before-bed bottle and she now seems to be sleeping through the night without crying out, so maybe she was just having some tummy aches while adjusting to new foods. This morning she ate at 6:45 and then snuggled in bed with me, where we both slept until 9:15...nice! In my world, that's considered "sleeping in." ;o)
That's it, pictures to follow one of these days...
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Chicago Trip, Part 1
I don't have time to download pictures right now--I have to resize and then Bubbleshare and it's going to take a million years--so this will be the verbal update and part 2 will be the photo update. :o) Let's see....the day after the concert...Ava got to meet some old family friends of ours: my mom's friend Jan and her daughters Jessica and Alison, and Jessica's daughter Janna, whom I'd never met. It was great to catch up with everyone! (It's also a riot listening to my mom and Jan talk, they're basically an older version of MJ and me ;o) That night Craig and I went to go see Wall-E...our first movie date in something like eight months. Great movie, by the way: family-friendly without being stupid. Most family-friendly stuff makes me want to kick myself in the head because it's usually pretty cheesy.
Fourth of July, my grandparents and aunt, uncle and cousin came over so Ava got to meet more relatives and we had a lot of fun with everybody. I miss my family like crazy. I swear, if not for the insanely long and freezing winters...I'd be very tempted to move back up there. But I am definitely not cut out for winter, I can barely tolerate the short, mild winters we have here in NC. Anyhow...we left after a late breakfast on the 5th and stopped overnight in Charleston, WV--Ava did much better this way and slept great at the hotel. Not us though...her little noises pretty much kept us up all night. But that's ok. :o) We made great time on Sunday and arrived home around 3pm and even though I miss everyone even more than before and even though I miss Chicago, it's good to be back in our own space again. I'm telling you though...I feel even more like an outsider down here than ever before. Everybody here has their family close by except us, and most people here don't quite "get" my particular brand of weirdness. For example, when we were at the movies, they showed a preview for a cartoon called, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." It was terrible...the creators of it need to be beaten with sticks. The preview alone made me want to burn out my eyes and ears. I said to Craig, "THAT WAS HORRIBLE! I would rather stab myself in the head with an ice pick than ever see that again!" Apparently I said it loud because the guy in front of us started CRACKING UP and repeated it to his wife. That wouldn't amuse most people here, they'd just think I'm insane. (Which may very well be true, but they'd think it like it was a bad thing.... ;o)
Also--I miss the food. OHHHHH do I miss the food!!! Here is a sampling of what we enjoyed up there:
Portillo's
Noodles & Co.
Corner Bakery
Fannie May Candy
I'm telling you, all we have around here is fast food or ridiculously expensive restaurants! Or the same old boring chains: Olive Garden, Chili's etc. Not that they aren't good from time to time, but I like really good, reasonably priced places to eat. The only place I've found here that's local and pretty much awesome is Bella Monica. But, it's all the way on the other side of town and it's a place I'd rather enjoy sans baby.
Oh yes, in other news, I took Ava for her first "photo shoot" at Sears yesterday. We got a few pictures that turned out okay. Why only okay instead of adorable? Because she had a meltdown of epic proportions while being photographed. WONDERFUL. And I just got a plain white background instead of doing anything exceptionally cute or fancy--I had a coupon for a free sitting fee and 10 x 13 pic, and I got a few others. Now that I know I have to take her over within seconds of her napping and eating (to try to catch her best mood), I can plan another session and really do it up cute. Not too cute though...I don't do too cute. ;o) Tomorrow is the 6 month checkup (details regarding her latest weigh-in and such will follow) and on Thursday we have an appointment following up on something. Either her tailbone or her kidneys, I can't keep it straight anymore. (See how worried I am? ;o)
That's it for now, I guess I should probably start dinner...just salad and leftover Vidalia Onion Soup from yesterday (I make awesome soup) but I promised Craig homemade croutons for the salad. I randomly made up my own recipe yesterday and they were simply AWESOME.
Fourth of July, my grandparents and aunt, uncle and cousin came over so Ava got to meet more relatives and we had a lot of fun with everybody. I miss my family like crazy. I swear, if not for the insanely long and freezing winters...I'd be very tempted to move back up there. But I am definitely not cut out for winter, I can barely tolerate the short, mild winters we have here in NC. Anyhow...we left after a late breakfast on the 5th and stopped overnight in Charleston, WV--Ava did much better this way and slept great at the hotel. Not us though...her little noises pretty much kept us up all night. But that's ok. :o) We made great time on Sunday and arrived home around 3pm and even though I miss everyone even more than before and even though I miss Chicago, it's good to be back in our own space again. I'm telling you though...I feel even more like an outsider down here than ever before. Everybody here has their family close by except us, and most people here don't quite "get" my particular brand of weirdness. For example, when we were at the movies, they showed a preview for a cartoon called, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." It was terrible...the creators of it need to be beaten with sticks. The preview alone made me want to burn out my eyes and ears. I said to Craig, "THAT WAS HORRIBLE! I would rather stab myself in the head with an ice pick than ever see that again!" Apparently I said it loud because the guy in front of us started CRACKING UP and repeated it to his wife. That wouldn't amuse most people here, they'd just think I'm insane. (Which may very well be true, but they'd think it like it was a bad thing.... ;o)
Also--I miss the food. OHHHHH do I miss the food!!! Here is a sampling of what we enjoyed up there:
Portillo's
Noodles & Co.
Corner Bakery
Fannie May Candy
I'm telling you, all we have around here is fast food or ridiculously expensive restaurants! Or the same old boring chains: Olive Garden, Chili's etc. Not that they aren't good from time to time, but I like really good, reasonably priced places to eat. The only place I've found here that's local and pretty much awesome is Bella Monica. But, it's all the way on the other side of town and it's a place I'd rather enjoy sans baby.
Oh yes, in other news, I took Ava for her first "photo shoot" at Sears yesterday. We got a few pictures that turned out okay. Why only okay instead of adorable? Because she had a meltdown of epic proportions while being photographed. WONDERFUL. And I just got a plain white background instead of doing anything exceptionally cute or fancy--I had a coupon for a free sitting fee and 10 x 13 pic, and I got a few others. Now that I know I have to take her over within seconds of her napping and eating (to try to catch her best mood), I can plan another session and really do it up cute. Not too cute though...I don't do too cute. ;o) Tomorrow is the 6 month checkup (details regarding her latest weigh-in and such will follow) and on Thursday we have an appointment following up on something. Either her tailbone or her kidneys, I can't keep it straight anymore. (See how worried I am? ;o)
That's it for now, I guess I should probably start dinner...just salad and leftover Vidalia Onion Soup from yesterday (I make awesome soup) but I promised Craig homemade croutons for the salad. I randomly made up my own recipe yesterday and they were simply AWESOME.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
runnin' down a dream
Last night Mike and I went to the Tom Petty concert...as always, it was utterly, ridiculously, AWESOME. He is just an amazing musician live! No new album this year, just a random summer tour, so he played the hits and some other odds and ends--good stuff. We had a great time, except for the CRAPWEASEL DRUNKEN FRAT-BOY types behind us that yelled and cussed when the band played a couple more obscure (but still very good) songs. I wanted to throw them over the balcony because honestly, why does anyone go to a concert if they don't really like the band?!!? Morons. We did have an awesome guy in front of us though, who was rocking out and dancing like only an old white dude can. It was hilarious...but I respect that he was having a great time, even if he was expressing it with some rather amusing dancing. :o) Anyhow, I'd love to see him again in Raleigh next week but if it doesn't happen it won't kill me, I had a great time enjoying the music last night and hanging out with my brother as well. I have no pictures from anything yet, so enjoy this video instead :o)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sweet Home Chicago!
This trip is going by way too fast...needless to say, we are having a GREAT time. Yesterday, Ava got to meet her great-grandparents (my grandparents on my mom's side) and they all enjoyed getting to know one another. Ava is also loving my brothers, her Uncle Mike and Uncle Billy. Craig and I are sleeping in the guest room downstairs and the baby is in the room next to my parents because my mom wants to be the one to get up with her in the morning, bless her heart! I could still hear her when she cried out a few times at night (par for the course, but she's usually just crying out in her sleep) since I apparently have some kind of ridiculous mutant sense of hearing now, but I didn't get up. (Okay, I snuck up there ONCE to check on her at 4am....) It was nice to be able to get almost normal sleep but I don't think I will ever sleep again as soundly as I did before having the kid.
ANYHOW, Craig and I went to Portillo's today, WOOHOO!!! It was heavenly, of course...and all of you transplanted Chicago people, I thought of you when I bit into that chili cheese dog (no onions)...AWESOME. They seriously need to put one in Raleigh, although I guess part of the appeal is that it's Chicago thing and I only get to enjoy it when I'm up here. Oh, I'm also getting a big box of Fannie May candy to take back with me. I'm telling you, NC just does NOT have good food unless you are willing to spend a fortune: up here, you can find good stuff in any price range, and even when we lived in Orlando there were some very good places. Okay back on track--after Portillo's we stopped at Fresh Market to pick up some dessert for the family and nearly got run over by some moron in the parking lot (idiot drivers are nationwide, apparently)...Craig made kind of a "WHAT THE HECK?" gesture at the lady and then motioned like he was talking on the phone (apparently he thought she was on the phone) and she--I'm not kidding--rolled down the window and shrieked, "I WASN'T ON THE PHONE!!!!!" Craig doesn't usually get into it with people, but he laughed at her and said, "Maybe you should have been, dumbass!" (I guess meaning if she wasn't on the phone then what was her excuse for almost running us over, she had come barrelling around a corner and we were crossing at a marked crosswalk.) She replied by shrieking, "SHUT UP!!!!" It was pretty funny, I don't think I've ever heard a grown woman shrieking like that before....um, psycho!!! Maybe Craig shouldn't have called her a dumbass but in his defense, she prety much was. Besides, better him opening his mouth than me...there is no telling what is going to come out of my mouth sometimes.
Anyways....I'll post pictures eventually but it probably won't be until we get home. Tonight, Anna and Jesse and Anna's parents came over to meet Ava but she was a bit fussy, as she usually is in the evenings....we did get a few smiles out of her though, and it was good to see everyone, even if only for a little while! I'm currently in Michael's room listening for the baby because she was having a hard time going to sleep (napped too late) and everyone else is downstairs playing with the new Wii. Tomorrow, Michael and I are going to the Tom Petty concert downtown--BIG WOOHOO!!! I was supposed to go in Raleigh but that fell through, so I was utterly THRILLED to find tickets up here. More expensive but totally worth it--I rarely get a chance go really go out these days and since Tom Petty is my absolute favorite musician, this is a huge deal to me. I have been waiting for this since the last time he came around. You know those people who follow around bands when they go on tour? I'm like that, only I have a career and family and can't follow the band, so I just go stir crazy until they come to town.
That's about it for now, I'm trying to post updates as the trip progresses so I don't end up just doing one GIANT one at the end, because that's a pain.
ANYHOW, Craig and I went to Portillo's today, WOOHOO!!! It was heavenly, of course...and all of you transplanted Chicago people, I thought of you when I bit into that chili cheese dog (no onions)...AWESOME. They seriously need to put one in Raleigh, although I guess part of the appeal is that it's Chicago thing and I only get to enjoy it when I'm up here. Oh, I'm also getting a big box of Fannie May candy to take back with me. I'm telling you, NC just does NOT have good food unless you are willing to spend a fortune: up here, you can find good stuff in any price range, and even when we lived in Orlando there were some very good places. Okay back on track--after Portillo's we stopped at Fresh Market to pick up some dessert for the family and nearly got run over by some moron in the parking lot (idiot drivers are nationwide, apparently)...Craig made kind of a "WHAT THE HECK?" gesture at the lady and then motioned like he was talking on the phone (apparently he thought she was on the phone) and she--I'm not kidding--rolled down the window and shrieked, "I WASN'T ON THE PHONE!!!!!" Craig doesn't usually get into it with people, but he laughed at her and said, "Maybe you should have been, dumbass!" (I guess meaning if she wasn't on the phone then what was her excuse for almost running us over, she had come barrelling around a corner and we were crossing at a marked crosswalk.) She replied by shrieking, "SHUT UP!!!!" It was pretty funny, I don't think I've ever heard a grown woman shrieking like that before....um, psycho!!! Maybe Craig shouldn't have called her a dumbass but in his defense, she prety much was. Besides, better him opening his mouth than me...there is no telling what is going to come out of my mouth sometimes.
Anyways....I'll post pictures eventually but it probably won't be until we get home. Tonight, Anna and Jesse and Anna's parents came over to meet Ava but she was a bit fussy, as she usually is in the evenings....we did get a few smiles out of her though, and it was good to see everyone, even if only for a little while! I'm currently in Michael's room listening for the baby because she was having a hard time going to sleep (napped too late) and everyone else is downstairs playing with the new Wii. Tomorrow, Michael and I are going to the Tom Petty concert downtown--BIG WOOHOO!!! I was supposed to go in Raleigh but that fell through, so I was utterly THRILLED to find tickets up here. More expensive but totally worth it--I rarely get a chance go really go out these days and since Tom Petty is my absolute favorite musician, this is a huge deal to me. I have been waiting for this since the last time he came around. You know those people who follow around bands when they go on tour? I'm like that, only I have a career and family and can't follow the band, so I just go stir crazy until they come to town.
That's about it for now, I'm trying to post updates as the trip progresses so I don't end up just doing one GIANT one at the end, because that's a pain.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Road-tripping
Well, here we are, north of the Mason-Dixon line! The trip up was quite the adventure: Ava was doing so awesome that we decided to drive straight through. Two words: BIG MISTAKE. Long story short, we figured because she was doing great with napping and playing in the car, we could just give her a bottle at bedtime and she'd sleep in the car seat and upon our arrival just transfer her to the crib. Unfortunately she's started to sleep on her side and she couldn't do that in the car seat and freaked out BIG TIME...she was trying so hard to sleep and couldn't, and then she'd just start screaming her head off. We finally got here at around 11:30 IL time (12:30 NC time, which is what Ava was on, a good four hours past her normal bedtime) and she was so overtired and upset that she pretty much screamed until about 2:30am. I felt soooo bad....we are definitely stopping on the way home!!! Poor baby. She slept about three hours and wanted to eat (on schecdule though, so that was actually good and is helping to get her back to normal) and then she went down for another three hours, and since then has been eating and napping normally and seeming much happier. My mom is sleeping (she worked a night shift last night since she wasn't expecting us until this afternoon) but so far she's enjoyed seeing the baby. :o)
That's it for now, the kid is napping and I'm starving. Could really go for a Portillo's chili cheese dog (no onions) but I'll settle for more Cheerios. For now.
That's it for now, the kid is napping and I'm starving. Could really go for a Portillo's chili cheese dog (no onions) but I'll settle for more Cheerios. For now.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Having skull (and other) issues
I have noticed recently that I don't have a very well-designed skull when it comes to coping with haircut mishaps. I've been wearing headbands a lot because it really helps make my hair look a little less poodle-ish, and I need all the help I can get, but there's a problem: the headbands are constantly trying to slide off. If I had a few well-placed lumps or indentations in my head it would really help. (And since I have thick, curly hair; nobody would ever notice that weirdness because it would be hidden.) I've drawn a sketch to illustrate my point:
(Of course, after obtaining a more efficient skull, I will try to obtain a more efficient means of drawing on the computer, because Microsoft Paint is just not cutting it, in my opinion....) The arrows are pointing to the proposed indentations that would help keep my headbands in place. OH, and as long as I'm designing things, I'd like to make a sign on a piece of cardboard and attach it to a stick. I want to keep it in my car and I want it to look like this:
I'm sick of almost getting killed five times a day by bubblehead soccer moms driving around their cute little SUVs and yapping on the phone! I would also like a catapult on the roof of my car that I could use to fling rocks at their windshields, but I'd make do with the sign for now. I know, I seem like a very angry person; but I swear I'm not--I'm actually quite pleasant as long as there aren't any idiots getting on my nerves. ;o)
(Of course, after obtaining a more efficient skull, I will try to obtain a more efficient means of drawing on the computer, because Microsoft Paint is just not cutting it, in my opinion....) The arrows are pointing to the proposed indentations that would help keep my headbands in place. OH, and as long as I'm designing things, I'd like to make a sign on a piece of cardboard and attach it to a stick. I want to keep it in my car and I want it to look like this:
I'm sick of almost getting killed five times a day by bubblehead soccer moms driving around their cute little SUVs and yapping on the phone! I would also like a catapult on the roof of my car that I could use to fling rocks at their windshields, but I'd make do with the sign for now. I know, I seem like a very angry person; but I swear I'm not--I'm actually quite pleasant as long as there aren't any idiots getting on my nerves. ;o)
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