Happy Birthday To Me

Bad Things About My Birthday:
I had to work.
Justin had to work.
The kids were extremely crabby.
The screaming children gave me a screaming headache.
Justin is going to play poker after work instead of coming home to spend time with me.
No one sang Happy Birthday.
No one made me a cake.

Good Things About My Birthday:
I have a job I don't hate.
I have children who are often lovely.
Tylenol...with caffeine...and ibuprofen.
Justin's grandma brought us a raspberry pie (and I ate a quarter of it).
The weather was gorgeous.
Many many people called to wish me happy birthday.
I'm not 30 yet.

Simplicity Schimplicity

So...I was trying to simplify my life. But I just went from having one (easy and boring) job (that I hated) to having 2 (or 4) jobs (depending on your point of view). Yes, that's right, I finally quit Captel, the bane of my existence. Friday was my last day. And today was my first day at Postnet in Oregon. It's a franchise business that does shipping, printing, etc. At last, opportunities to interact with people. In person. So I'm working there 3 days a week, and then 2 days a week doing bookkeeping, order processing, etc. for a guy in Oregon who has his own software development company. I also recently obtained my first free-lance editing job (!!!) and then of course, I still have to find time to work on my craft business. I thought simplifying my life would make me happy, but it turns out that I enjoy having a lot going on, and a lot of different types of things to do. In other news, tonight I rode my bike 4 miles into Oregon, my first bike ride in a year. And believe it or not, it is actually uphill both ways. (And some downhill both ways too I suppose, but definitely more uphill.) Unbelievably I survived, and am still able to walk (we'll see how I feel tomorrow though...).

Baby Genius? I Think So

Yes, I do think that Sasha is a baby genius. It's only to be expected since Jordan was one, and since her parents are so brilliant. Since five months of age, Sasha has used a fake cough to get attention. Since having a very bad real cough a few weeks ago she has amped up the fake cough so that it sounds like she is coughing so hard she's choking. Sasha also responds to her name, initiates games of peek-a-boo and chase, and (best of all) knows how to say mama. Usually she says "um-um-umma" but every once in a while she slips in a "mama". Also, when I ask her if she wants her nummies, she starts hyperventilating, saying "umma", and trying to rip off my shirt. And not only is the child brilliant, but fearless as well. A few days ago we were outside on the front lawn sitting on a blanket. All of a sudden Sasha took off crawling after Jordan. She followed him all the way down the hill beside our house (which is quite steep) on her hands and her bare little knees. And our grass (what there is of it) is not very nice for crawling on. Jordan is (finally) exhibiting his share of bravery as well. Today he actually put his face underwater when I told him to get his hair wet and last week he ate a bite of radish even after I told him it was spicy. Karlye has always had more than her fair share of daring-do, looking before she leaps, so to say. Last summer she got halfway up a climbing wall before looking down and realizing how high it was, and this month she went on a ride at an arcade that would have made me sick to my stomach. She did look terrified the whole time, but got off smiling and claimed to have had fun. Now I just need to work on my courage ;)

The Calm After the Storm

I might as well start this post by saying what a week! If my last post (which took me 4 days to publish) wasn't completely coherent, I can't be blamed. After I gave Jordan the first application of his prescription ointment I put him to bed and sat down to write. Midway through typing my entry, he showed up at my side itchier than he's ever been in his life. I spent the next 3 hours doing everything I could think of to help him. Finally, at 10p.m. I gave him an oatmeal bath and he settled down. He slept until 4a.m., at which time he woke up crying that he was itchy and in pain. My attempt to administer topical Benadryl only resulted in him screaming in pain. So I got ahold of the doctor on call, who told me he had no real advice to offer me, and to try the oatmeal bath again and call the pediatrician in the a.m. Thank God, Jordan fell asleep on my lap while I was on the phone. And the next morning he was fine and his rash was vastly improved. The nurse at the doctor's office said it was probably just the beginning of the healing process that was so uncomfortable. That's all well and good, but a little warning would have been nice. Of course, all of that was extremely stressful and exhausting, and when factored into my very busy week and the exhaustion of having a nasty cough and dealing with a sick baby who is cutting her first tooth (!) did not make for a great couple of days. But now I'm done with scheduled events for the week and can take a few moments to relax before starting in on the 2 million items on my to do list. Woo hoo.

What A Weekend!

Wow - I am worn out! It seems like with Justin and I working opposite shifts our whole lives happen on the weekends. This invariably leaves us with too much to do in too little time, resulting in the need for a vacation or, at the very least, a massage. This weekend was no exception.



The schedule was as follows: Saturday - create raised flowerbed in front yard, pick up babysitters, attend wedding reception. Sunday - church picnic, afternoon at the park with friends, regroup. The reality was that on Justin worked on the flowerbed from 10am Saturday until about 7:30pm. By that time we were both too exhausted to want to dress up and go to a wedding reception. But I had already picked up the babysitters (two of my sisters) on my trip into town to pick up extra edgers from Menards. So we cleaned ourselves up and went out for dinner. And it was desperately needed, as we've only been out by ourselves two other times since Sasha was born in November. Sunday we did make it to the church picnic, and we managed to enjoy ourselves in spite of the fact that Sasha and I were fighting some kind of nasty respiratory bug, Justin was exhausted, and Jordan was really itchy because his eczema was acting up. However, after yet another trip to Menards for the final two edgers, we were beat and decided to scrap the whole park idea. So we spent the remainder of the day being somewhat out-of-sorts at home.



Which brings us to today...Monday, everyone's least favorite day of the week. And today was no exception. I dragged myself to work at the ungodly hour of 7am, and 15 minutes later I left for home again. I was coughing way too much to be effective at captioning any phone calls (since we use voice recognition technology). I took a nap hoping to recover somewhat, awakening to find that Jordan had developed a nasty rash on his face. I wasn't sure if it was more of his eczema, which in the last two weeks has become completely out of control, covering about 75% of his body, or something contagious. So, I had to haul him in to see the doctor. Turned out to be yet more eczema, and that the eczema on his legs is infected. So now not only does he have to have a steroid cream, which I was hoping to avoid, but an oral antibiotic as well. I want to cry every time I look at his poor red rashy face and scabby legs. But, on the upside, we didn't have to cancel plans to go to the zoo in the afternoon since the doctor's office is very close to the zoo, and they squeezed in his appointment half an hour before we had planned to get to the zoo.

Update Already?!?

And the photos are up. I impress myself!

I'm Baaaack!

Hello all! I have decided once again to take keyboard in hand and rejoin the wonderful world of blogging. Although I would love to pretend that my motivation is pure, and that I am blogging simply for the sake of blogging, like Abraham Lincoln I "cannot tell a lie". (Okay, I can, but I won't). I've been considering doing the whole blog thing again lately because I've been feeling really out of touch with family, friends, acquaintances, and really with life as a whole. Having a baby and a job with virtually no interpersonal interaction will do that to a person I guess. But what's pushing me back into the blogging fold now is really a desire for shameless self-promotion. I've started my own business making crafts from second-hand and recycled materials and realize that blogging could be an excellent avenue for marketing. So on that note, check out my Etsy shop (the link to the left that says Hannah's Shop, in case that wasn't totally obvious). Buy my stuff, tell your friends...more stuff will be added all the time. Now that that's out of the way I can also say that I need to brush up on my writing because I'm planning to start writing real actual books (as opposed to imaginary books) and to do some freelance writing. So, I will attempt to make this blog interesting and informative. That way we all get more for our money! Look out for lots of fun stories about child-rearing, house-wifery, demeaning part-time jobs, and the link to a site with lots of cute family pictures, as soon as I get it up and running.

So Long, Fare Well

I'm sorry to announce that there will be no more posts made to this blog until further notice. At the moment I have so many projects going on in my head that I am depressed and overwhelmed and I need a break. So this blog is one of the things that is going to have to go. I will email you all if I decide to resume blogging at some future time. Hasta la vista!

I Want My Money Back!

I have come to the conclusion that if I have to rent anymore, I will go crazy. So far nothing too horrible has happened at our new place (with the exception of blinds that have not been cleaned since 1993 and are growing virtually irremovable fuzz). The problem is the continuing drama with our old landlord. Somehow she has managed to top two years of us having to harass her to fix the simplest things around the house, and put up with her incompetent (and frightening) maintenance man who managed not to fix anything correctly, when he actually did get around to messing with it. When I gave notice that we would not be renewing our lease (more than 30 days in advance, mind you), she dropped off a copy of a new lease with a note saying we had to sign it since we did not give 60 days notice as required by the previous lease. Now, that lease did say 60 days notice was required, but it also said that the lease was not automatically renewable, and said nothing about what would happen if we gave less notice than that. I wrote a polite letter pointing that out to her, and sent it to her with the new lease unsigned (and a huge fear that she would try to abscond with our security deposit). How right I was. Not only did she charge us for raking our lawn (not required by our lease), and for the cost of replacing light bulbs that were burned out when we moved in, but she also charged us $500 (half a month's rent) for giving insufficient notice. Plus, she put a note on the form saying she could have charged us a whole month's notice but was choosing not to. Now that is just a dead give away that she was up to something fishy. And of course, she has no legal right to withhold that money from us. After spending hours on the internet looking up laws, statutes, and the like, I wrote her a nice note pointing that out, and informing her that we were aware of our right to file a complaint against her with the Department of Consumer Protection, as well as take her to small claims court for double the amount she wrongfully withheld plus legal fees. I even gave her 7 days to return the money. 10 days later, nothing. Now I am going to have to figure out how to take someone to small claims court. If I had wanted to be this involved with the law, I would have gone to law school. Just my luck that Ann still has a semester and a half to go. Where are your friends when you need them? :)

Feng Shui?

I'm not really into feng shui. This is sort of surprising considering all of the other things that I'm into, but it's true. The thing is though, that I noticed that my furniture arrangement is totally affecting my life and my priorities. Ever since we moved to our new place and put the computer in our bedroom because there is no room in the living room things have been different. I balance my checkbook less than once a week instead of every other day. I write in my blog almost never. I check my other people's blogs less than once a week instead of almost every day. I play almost no Spider Solitaire. Internet radio usage is almost non-existent. Even internet shopping has lapsed. It's odd how much things have changed actually. Pretty soon I may not even need my computer, and my living-on-an-island plan will come to fruition.

Karlye turned three on Friday and we had her birthday party on Sunday. It went well considering I planned it in a day and a half, because we had to switch weekends AGAIN at the last minute. Things are pretty frustrating on that front, but I never thought it would be easy. We had a picnic with Lydia and Brandon and the boys on Saturday, and played some kickball. This made me realize two things: 1. I love kickball and miss recess, and 2. kickball is hard work - my shins are killing me.

In other news, Ann and I decided what we're going to be for Halloween. I convinced Justin to be Jack the Ripper and we're going to be his victims. I'm excited about wearing a corset, and looking scary because I'll be dead, but my mom says she's going to disown me. Oh well. Jordan's going to be a Dalmation, so she should still love him, and in the end that's all that matters :)