Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Waiting to Cool Off

I'm currently sitting here waiting for the AC repair people to show up. The guy we talked to on Saturday set us up for a "First Call" this morning and said the repair people would be here around 8:30 because we were first on the list for this morning.

It's now 10 AM. Where are the repair people?

I called the office just before 9 and was told they were doing paperwork and would be here soon. I just called again and was offered the opportunity to leave the install manager a message because he wasn't in his office. Needless to say, I wasn't very nice on the phone, which is very unusual for me.

******

I had to nurse Tree Faerie, and they showed up while I was nursing. They're doing the install now and will be repairing the freon line shortly, so hopefully we'll have cool air shortly.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Well THAT Was Short!

My dear Tree Faerie has been crawling for less than two weeks, but apparently she's ready to move on. Last night we were at a friend's house and I was letting her play on the floor in front of me. She was really focussed on the drum stand that was next to me, so I was just trying to make sure she didn't pull it over or hit her head on it. I was carrying on a conversation with my friend MC, so I was constantly looking back and forth between Tree Faerie and MC.

Now, for the last couple of days, it looked like Tree Faerie was trying to pull up on things, but I figured it would still be a while before she would actually be able to do it.

I was wrong.

She placed both hands on one of the legs of the drum stand and proceeded to pull herself up into almost a standing position. She was on both feet, but she was bent over instead of standing up straight because the leg of the drum stand just wasn't high enough for her to pull into a straight position.

She didn't stay that way for long because I gasped and scared her. I didn't mean to scare her, I was just surprised that she actually did it! I was hoping to at least have a month of crawling before she started pulling up! I don't want her pulling up yet! I'm not ready! But I am proud of my little girl. I have one smart cookie!

In other news, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding our AC problems. Both units should be fixed tomorrow, and it will only cost us an arm and a leg instead of a whole body. I can hardly wait to have wonderfully cool air, because dealing with a teething baby in 98 degree weather is just not fun.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Just Keep Swimming

Our AC is still on the blitz (we're not going to talk about that today), so Tree Faerie and I went for a walk after we got home yesterday. We haven't gone walking since she was about 3 months old, so this was a new adventure in itself. We saw the ducks (I must remember to bring bread or crackers next time), and some of the ducks have ducklings now. It was really cute watching Tree Faerie watch the ducks. As we were coming back towards the house, I decided to check out the pool that's behind our house. I know a bunch of kids hang out there because I see them traipsing up and down the alleyway next to the house, but the pool was empty when we looked.

Now, I haven't stuffed myself in a bathing suit since the summer before getting pregnant. Because my only swimsuit is a 2-piece and because of all my new stretch marks, I haven't had the courage to try putting on my old suit and was afraid to go buy a new one because I didn't want to see what size I'd be in. I've slowly been loosing weight and my stretch marks have faded a lot already, so I decided I'd give it a shot.

I actually managed to fit into the bathing suit and didn't look like I'd really been stuffed into it! I did put on a t-shirt, though, because my belly is just not ready to be exposed to the world. I had some Little Swimmers (tm) that someone had given me for Rowan, and I found this cute halter top set for her to get wet in. She was so cute! I should have taken pictures!

Off we set for the pool. Just as luck would have it, there were people there now, but it was just a couple of teenage girls. So, Rowan and I get in the pool. The water was much colder than I had expected, but it didn't take long for me to adjust. I think it took a lot longer for Tree Faerie to adjust to the experience as a whole, though. At first she clung to me and would just splash the water with one hand. After she realized I wasn't going to let her go, she started giggling and
cackling while bouncing on me and splashing. It was wonderful! She dunked her face several times, but it never upset her. I think the last few times were intentional. We had a great time! I kept watching her lips, because the water really was rather cold, and when they got dark, we got out. I wrapped her up in my Finding Nemo (tm) beach towel and we headed back to the house. She was so cute!

We are definitely going swimming again! Though I'd like to get a new bathing suit first - one that covers my belly and hopefully my upper thighs.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Oh, and it's our 2 year wedding anniversary today. I love DTTF so much!
Still! (Thankfully!) We've been together for 6 years, though.

Manic Monday

I just left my baby with strangers!

And of course I cried. Bawled, more like it. I know she'll be okay,
and I'll call and check on her in an hour.

More to come...

*********

Today is Tree Faerie's first day at Location B. I've already talked to them once. Apparently she is the only happy baby there today. When I dropped her off this morning, all the babies were upset for one reason or another. When I talked to her new teacher around 11:30, she told me Tree Faerie had just taken a bottle and went to sleep, and that was after playing in the floor all morning. The room is MUCH smaller than the room at Location A, so I was afraid they wouldn't put her on the floor to play. I shouldn't have worried. I know I still shouldn't worry, but I do. I just called and left a message again for a call-back because the afternoon teacher is there now, and I haven't met her. I just want an update.

What can I say? I'm an emotional sop!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Aloha Friday!

Aloha Friday!
No work 'til Monday!
We're going to play today!
Aloha Friday!

We used to listen to a radio show in the afternoon on a local station before the station changed formats. On this radio show, Mike Evans would give us the Hollywood update every day, and every Friday, he always signed off with this song. It was something DTTF and I looked forward to every Friday. It marked the start of our weekend. Now the only thing we have to mark the weekend is the knowledge that we don't have to go into work the next morning. That, and pizza. We have pizza every Friday with only a few exceptions. And now we have pizza and Doctor Who.

I'm in love with the Doctor, by the way. I fell in love with him when Christopher Eccleston revived the series, and when the Doctor changed bodies, I was afraid I wouldn't love the new doctor, played by David Tennant. I should not have worried, because I'm more in love with the Doctor now than ever before.

DTTF is aware of this infatuation and is not opposed. He would be in love with him too if he swung that way. Instead, DTTF just loves the show and drools over the companions. Granted, DTTF used to watch the Doctor Who series years and years ago, maybe even before I was born!

Did I mention I'm robbing the grave? DTTF is 11 years my senior. And I couldn't love another man more.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

She's On The Move!

It's official! As of 9:20 PM last night, Tree Faerie is CRAWLING!

She's been trying for a few weeks now, and as of last weekend she started doing one-step-face-plant crawls. Earlier this week, I thought I saw her take two steps before face-planting. Last night, however, there was no doubt about it - she's crawling!

Last night after we finished Baby Rub (TM), Tree Faerie rolled over on her tummy and realized her daddy had the laptop out. This laptop has been an obsession of hers from day one, especially since we haven't let her chew on it. Usually she just wiggles and stretches for it. This time, she got on her hands and knees and took THREE steps towards the laptop before plopping down and reaching for it! THREE! And she didn't just do it once! She did it over and over and over again, at least until she finally got frustrated that we kept moving her back from it and finally had a melt down. (Did I mention this was just before bedtime?)

I cried.

I cried because I'm so proud that my little girl is figuring out how to do things herself and will someday be a beautiful, independent woman.

I cried because I'm sad that my little girl is figuring out how to do things herself and won't need me to do everything for her anymore.

I cried because I didn't know what else to do.

Then I called my mom. I got my step-dad because my mom was already in bed, but I told him about it and told him to tell Mom as soon as she gets up (which is at some un-godly hour like 3AM).

I saw 3AM this morning, though. And 1 AM and 5 AM and 6 AM and 7 AM. I don't think I saw 2 AM, but I think I saw 4 AM. I don't know if it's because Tree Faerie is adjusting to crawling or if her tummy ached because she hasn't had a BM since Sunday, but she was fussy every hour or two last night/this morning. I even tried bringing her to bed with us. She still woke up, and usually that does the trick.

Can you really call the crawling motion steps?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Eyes Only for You

What a dork I am! I'm excited that on Friday I get a new pair of glasses!

I've been wearing contacts for 13 years now (I've been wearing corrective lenses, i.e. glasses, for 17 years - WOW!). During that time, I've had back-up glasses off and on, but I rarely wear them. My current pair of back-up glasses are about 5 years old, so the prescription is off. It would be fine if it were only a little off, but I can't even drive in my glasses now because my eyesight has gotten so much worse. My eyes are tired of wearing the contacts. As I've mentioned before, money has been a little tight around the Fey household, so I've been holding off on going to the eye doctor (not to mention I'm the world's best procrastinator). Now I have no choice. I've been wearing my last pair of contacts for entirely too long and really need to go to the eye doctor.

I called my normal eye doctor to find out how much it would be for the eye exam, the contact fitting (why do they have to do this every time, when I've been wearing contacts for years and it's NEVER CHANGED???), and 2 boxes of contacts. Even with the 'discounts' from our insurance plan, it was still going to cost me around $160. Fine. I decided yesterday that today I'd make an appointment.

Then the Fates stepped in.

I get home yesterday afternoon and on the kitchen counter I see a flyer for Eyes For You advertising several contact lens specials under $100. It had just come in the mail, and DTTF happened to go through the flier bundle instead of just chucking it. One of these specials was for 2 boxes of disposable contacts in the brand I wear plus the eye exam and all that other stuff. Another was for one pair of daily wear contacts, which I haven't worn in years, and a pair of glasses.

So, I called today and asked if I got the daily wears, would I be able to take the same prescription and get my disposables, either online or through them. The answer was...

YES!!!

So, now I'll have a new pair of glasses, a new pair of contacts, and I'll be able to order the disposables once we're more financially comfortable! I'm so excited!

I'm such a dork!

(In case you can't tell, DORK is my word of the day.)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Wait, were we talking about weight?

I am finally down to my pre-pregnancy weight! WooHoo! Sadly, that's still 30 lbs heavier than when we got married in July of '05, and 55 lbs heavier than when we started dating in '01. I'm celebrating my small successes as they come, which is much easier knowing that I've lost 40 lbs since giving birth.

I've started watching what I eat better, trying to limit my calories to around 2,000 since I'm still breastfeeding. I'm also trying to increase my physical activity, which is actually a lot harder than eating better. Who has time to exercise anymore? I don't seem to find much time. We go to Taekwando about once a week, though we didn't go last night because I was sick to my stomach. Other than that, when I get up to go to the bathroom, I make a quick (really quick) trek through the office. When I'm waiting on my queries to run, I sometimes do leg-lifts or squats. I bench-press my baby. I practice my Kegel exercises every time I think about it, and I've started adding a "tummy-tuck" when I remember to do the Kegels.

My husband is being very supportive, but I'm trying to get him to realize that I don't need a drill sergeant, I need a cheerleader. When I told him I don't want him being a drill sergeant, he responded that when privates are in boot camp, they hate their drill sergeants, but once they're done, they really appreciate their drill sergeants.

"Yes, but they don't marry their drill sergeants. I need my husband."

The other thing I keep hearing over and over in my head...

"I can't celebrate your successes and not criticize your failures."

Why not? That's what I try to do for HIM as a loving and supporting wife.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Childcare on Friday the 13th

Doesn’t that just deserve an evil laugh? MUAHAHAHAHA

This morning I went to check out Location B of our wonderful childcare company. I walked in there hoping that I wouldn’t love it, hoping that Tree Faerie would look at me and say, “Mommy, this is not the place for me.” (High hopes for a 6-month-old, I know.) That is not what happened. Instead, I really liked the teachers and the director. Tree Faerie seemed to be okay with the teachers as well. It’s a very clean place, and as I said in this post, it’s only 2 miles from home.

I sat in the floor of the infant room where Tree Faerie would be spending her days and let her roam around and interact with the teachers while I asked questions. Tree Faerie was not opposed to either teacher. Both teachers were very receptive to my questions and had clear answers. I appreciate that. The director was also very receptive and informative. We discussed whether or not to transition Tree Faerie to the new location or simply make the change if we decide to switch. The director suggested making the change so as not to confuse Tree Faerie with the back-and-forth between the two locations. I told her I would have a decision by Monday.

Then I took Tree Faerie to Location A, where she normally goes. I talked to the director there as well as our favorite teacher and told them the same thing – I’ll have a decision by Monday. I really like the teachers at Location A, but is that the only thing holding me there? That and it’s cheaper?

Let’s look at the Pros and Cons:

Location A:

Pros – 1) Wonderful teachers 2) that I’ve built a relationship with and communicate well with. 3) Cheaper price by $17 a week

Cons – 1) It’s located 7 miles in the wrong direction

Location B:

Pros – 1) Only 2 miles from home! 2) in the direction of Work! 3) Very Clean 4) Nice people

Cons – 1) $17 more expensive a week, or $68 more a month (though when figured against gas $ per month, it’s only $35 more a month)

So, if I switch to Location B, it should cut down my traveling time by an hour or so a day. That’s an hour I could be doing other things. That’s 5 hours a week or 20 hours a month. For $35 more a month.

I had hoped that visiting Location B would make my decision easier, and at first, I thought they had simply made it harder. Now that I’m looking back over everything, I actually feel BETTER about making the decision! I’m still going to discuss it further with DTTF and look for a little insight.

Speaking of insight, I may have gotten a sign this morning. When I pulled up to Location A, my trip-o-meter, which I reset every time I fill up with gas, read 66.6 miles. Now, 666 is not consciously a negative number for me, given my spiritual and religious path, but since I was raised Christian, it did cause me to pause. 666. On Friday the 13th. Hmm.

*Update* My mom just called! They’ll be here in about 4 hours! Yippee!!!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Focus, People, Focus!

Focus is something I seem to have NONE of today. I have started working on several projects several different times today but can’t seem to stay focused on any particular one in order to actually get anything accomplished. It could be because I’m hungry. I’m trying to watch what I eat and reduce my caloric intake, but I feel like I’m S.T.A.R.V.I.N.G. today! Yesterday was almost as bad and I noticed I wasn’t producing as much breast milk. So, I’ve tried to space out my eating a bit better today, but I still feel ravenous! At least I know I’m producing breast milk today.

I’ve started bringing my lunch instead of going to Subway ™ every day because I was spending about $120 a month on lunches. I picked up these little frozen dinner thingies that I’ve seen several other women in the office eat. My question is…

HOW DO THESE WOMEN NOT STARVE TO DEATH!

The meals are not filling. They are barely satisfying. They ARE cheap, however. I’m hungry within 2 hours of eating them, so if I get something else to eat, that makes them not as cheap, right? If I’m snacking on fruit or veggies or something all day, it would add to the cost of my daily meals, right? The problem is – I’m not prepared to be hungry!

*****

I just splurged on popcorn and a coke. So much for watching my calories today, because it’s definitely not LIGHT popcorn. Oh, no. It’s BUTTER LOVERS popcorn. If I eat the whole bag, that’s 425 calories, and we’re not even going to figure up the fat and such. Thankfully, I’m sharing. Want some?

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I Can Hardly Wait & Childcare Decisions

My parents are coming up on Friday evening for a visit and leaving Saturday morning to go back home. They live in southern Arkansas, so it’s about a 4 hour drive to Memphis. That’s 8 hours of driving to visit for about 15 hours, several of which will hopefully be filled with sleep. I can hardly wait, though. I love my parents dearly. We were originally planning to go down there this weekend, but money matters around the Fey household are T.I.G.H.T. I’m glad they decided to come visit us for the night, though, because Tree Faerie is growing so quickly. It seems like she won’t be a baby for much longer, and I want them to experience her babiness. After all, she’s an amazing kid!

Speaking of her being an amazing kid, our childcare place now has an opening for Tree Faerie at the location (Location B) closest to our house, but I’m torn on whether to switch now or wait until she is going into the toddler room. I love her teachers at the location (Location A) she’s currently attending, and they all absolutely LOVE her. Tree Faerie also seems pretty fond of them, too. I’m afraid that I won’t like Location B’s infant room as well, be it the teachers or the environment or whatever. I’m afraid she won’t like them, either. Location B is also about $50 a month more expensive and I’ll only be saving about $20 in gas.

My only reason for wanting to change? Location B is only 2 miles from the house and on my way to work, whereas Location A is 7 miles from the house in the opposite direction of work. I know it would take less time to get to work, including the time it takes to drop Tree Faerie off, but is that really worth paying more? I’m going to go check out their infant room either tomorrow or Friday morning before taking Tree Faerie to Location A so I can see what it’s like when they’re actually taking care of kids and also see how she takes to them.

Dangit! I thought I would have until October to prepare for this! And of course DTTF is leaving the decision up to me because I’m the one who takes Tree Faerie to and from childcare and interacts with the teachers and staff.

The other thing that makes me cautious right now is Tree Faerie has started exhibiting signs of stranger anxiety. She’s a very social baby and loves people, but now it takes her a moment to warm up to new people before she’ll let them hold her. She even fussed when I handed her to her Nana (DTTF’s mom) on Sunday because Nana had just arrived and Tree Faerie hadn’t warmed up to her yet. She doesn’t mind smiling and talking to strangers from the safety of my arms, but she’s not too keen on being passed off until SHE decides it’s okay.

What can I say? Right now, she’s definitely a mama’s girl.

Did I mention I love her current teachers? Yes, I did, but let me say it again. I LOVE her teachers! They are sweet, they interact with all the children beautifully, and they are very responsive to my questions and concerns as well. The only time I’ve ever had an ‘issue,’ it was addressed immediately and has not been a problem since.

I’ve pretty much made up my mind, but I guess I feel obligated to go check out Location B because that’s the location we really want Tree Faerie to attend long-term. I am walking in there knowing that unless they absolutely knock my socks off, which will be pretty hard seeing as I won’t be wearing socks, I’m not switching right now. I’m going to go ahead and check them out, though, because I really want to get a feel for the place to be prepared in January when Tree Faerie should be switching to the toddler room. Plus, you never know… My socks may get knocked off!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

The old man is snoring!

Fell out of bed

And bumped his head

And couldn’t get up in the morning!

A morbid little song, isn’t it? We’ve been having torrential rain here this morning. I just stepped out the back door at work to breathe in the moist air and get away from my desk for a moment. While I was standing there smelling, watching, and hearing the rain pound the parking lot and spew from the gutters, I had a very distinct memory slam me so hard it made my heart ache for simpler times.

My parents (my mother and step-father) got together in November of ’92. From then until I left for college in ’98, we lived in a house on the Little Missouri River every summer. I know my mother would have gladly lived there year round if the bus had been able to pick us up during the winter, but since the sloughs (pronounced sloos and are kind of like marshes) would fill up and cover the road whenever the river rose, and since the river stayed high most of the winter, that was impossible. And though there were times I hated being so far from civilization, I must admit I had a wonderful time during those summers.

The memory inspired by today’s rain is of me sitting on the covered part of the back porch in an old metal spring chair. I was curled up with a huge, hardback, Stephen King book. I don’t remember which one because I read so many of them (we made weekly trips to the library, and between my mother and me, we could check out 10 books and usually read all 10 before the next trip into town). The rain was pouring so hard I could barely see the outline of the bend in the river 150 yards away. I was wearing a tank top and shorts, and my hair was still wet from swimming before the rain. The rain smelled wonderfully fresh, the book smelled comforting, and everything was right in the world in that moment.

I miss those times. I have a lot of little snippets of my little utopia, and I don’t visit those snippets often enough. Things that seemed major back then now seem so minor. Now, things that would have been a Big Deal then are now simply a part of every day life. I sometimes wish I could go back to my Age of Innocence, back to a time before having a full time job, a car payment, and a mortgage. Back to a time where my biggest responsibility was washing the dishes or hanging out laundry. I think I’d like to take my husband and child back with me though, because that would make my utopia even better. I’d also like to take the knowledge I have now so that I can truly appreciate and enjoy those times, not take them for granted like I did then.

Monday, July 9, 2007

These Precious Moments

Saturday morning I had the bed all to myself at 6:45 AM because DTTF fell asleep on the couch. Tree Faerie woke up to nurse and went back to sleep, but every time I tried to lay her back in her bed, she fussed. Every time I took her away from my shoulder, she fussed. So, I lay down in bed with her on my chest and we got another hour of sleep. By 8 AM, Tree Faerie was starting to stir and I really had to pee, so I slid Tree Faerie off my chest and onto the bed.

She opened one eye, looked at me, grinned really big, and smacked me in the face.

“Well, good morning to you, too!” I said chuckling and kissed her on the cheek.

She pushed herself up on her hands, flopped over on me with one arm around my neck, and planted a big, wet, open-mouthed kiss on my cheek. She pulled away, gave me a huge grin, and giggled.

I wouldn’t trade this for the world!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Happy 6-Month Birthday, Tree Faerie!

Dear Tree Faerie,

As of today, you are 6 months old, and what a wild ride it has been! Time has simply flown by! In the beginning I was eager for you to start interacting more, and now I’m begging you to slow down and be a baby for just a little longer.


Yes, my baby is growing up quickly. Right now you’re trying to crawl. It’s so much fun to watch you play in the floor, especially when you think your daddy and I are not watching. You get on your hands and knees and rock back and forth so hard that it looks like you might just launch yourself right off the ground! In the past couple of days, you’ve started putting one knee up, trying to will yourself to move forward instead of backward. So far, it still ends in you pushing yourself backward, but I know you’ll get the hang of it very soon.


We haven’t tried any other solid foods besides rice cereal and bananas. We actually took a couple of weeks off while you were suffering from a double ear infection. What fun that was! (Remind me to teach you more about sarcasm later.) You were NOT a happy camper with the ear infections. You didn’t want to nurse. You didn’t want to sleep. You didn’t want to be awake. You certainly did not want to be very far from me. In fact, I think Daddy was beginning to think you hated him because every time I handed you off to him, you screamed. Every time he kissed you, you screamed. If he looked at you strangely, you screamed. Basically, you just screamed unless I was walking around with you. Or unless I actually managed to convinced you how wonderful sleep could be.

The doctor put you on amoxicillin, but by the 4th day, you were throwing up regularly, so we moved on to antibiotic shots. That was so much easier for the both of us since giving you oral medication seemed to be a losing battle. At least with the shots, you were over the trauma quickly. You also got better quickly. When we went to the doctor yesterday for your 6-month shots and a follow up for the ear infections, I was half-afraid she would tell me that the right ear was still infected. Thankfully she gave you a clean bill of health. You got really mad when the nurse was trying to give you the oral immunization, but you handled your shots really well.

Now that the ear infection is over, you’re sleeping about 8 hours every night, which means I can get in 7 hours when I’m lucky. Of course, you still have the occasional night where you’re up every 2 hours, but we seem to muddle through those, too.

Father’s Day was a lot of fun! You’ve opened up a whole slew of new gift ideas for your daddy. For his first Father’s Day, I made you two onesies – one said Daddy’s Punk Rock Girl and the other said Daddy’s Little Pagan. Daddy LOVED them! His reaction was PERFECT! I think it would be kind of cool to get into the business of making these to sell. They were a lot of fun to make, and everyone who saw them loved them! And of course you were absolutely adorable in them!




We’ve officially set up a bedtime routine. It consists of:

-changing your clothes and your diaper – I put you to bed in a onesie because you’re rather warm-natured, but I may go back to using sleepers now that the downstairs AC is working again. I don’t want you getting too cold!

-a Baby Rub ™ - This is where I use the lavender lotion to give you a little baby massage, concentrating on the arms, legs, feet, and tummy. You giggle with anticipation whenever I grab the bottle of lotion. It’s awesome!

-a bedtime story – usually either Oh, the Places You’ll Go or The Bear Snores On, sometimes both. We also have other books we occasionally read, but we always finish off with one of those.

-snuggles and Smoogles ™ – both from me and Daddy. When you’re in the mood for snuggles and Smoogles ™ (smoochy snuggles), you giggle and babble delightedly until either you’re done or we’re done, whichever comes first.

-nursing and rocking to sleep – I’m really going to miss this part when we decide to wean. Maybe I’ll still be able to snuggle and rock you then.

I really love our bedtime routine because it gives us another opportunity to bond. I also love hanging out with you, playing with you, watching TV with you, listening to you babble…

Which reminds me! I nearly forgot to include this! YOU SAID YOUR FIRST WORD!!! Granted, I don’t think you KNOW what you’re saying, but you at least repeated it! Your first word was –

DADA!

You’ve been saying DADADADADADADA and BLABLABLABLABLABLABLA a lot lately, and I’ve been trying to get you to just say Dada. Well, on July 4th, we were our to dinner with a wonderful friend, and you were sitting in your seat saying, “Dadadadadadadada.” I looked over at you and said, “You’re supposed to say Dada and leave it at that. Dada.” I turned away to continue talking to our friend, and the next sounds you made were, “Dada.” Very matter-of-factly. You even repeated it when I repeated it back to you! It was awesome! And thankfully your daddy was sitting right there to hear it! Now, under normal circumstances, as I’m sure you’ll soon learn, I tend to be a perfectionist. If I was going to be a perfectionist about this, I’d have to wait until you actually intentionally said a word and knew its meaning. When I told your doctor about this, she said it was completely okay to count it as your first word because you’re one smart cookie, so who knows what you may have meant by it!

Now I’m working on getting you to say “Mama”, which is proving to be difficult since you don’t really make the ‘M’ sound right now. :)

Love always,

Mama

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Independence

Independence took on a whole new meaning yesterday, and I'm not sure I like it. Let me give you a little back-story...

Shortly after we took possession of this house last year but before we moved in, the downstairs air conditioner went on the blitz. Since it was October, we didn't worry about it too much because we shouldn't need the AC much until around March. Well, March rolls around, and sure enough, the downstairs AC isn't working, though thankfully the upstairs one is. We call the home warranty people, who send someone out to fix it. 2 weeks later, the AC is blowing warm air. We were going through a cooler spell, so we almost waited too long before calling to have them come back out. They came back and put more freon in it but didn't check to see where the freon had gone. weeks later - more warm air. So we call again, this time immediately. The same guy comes out and takes a look. He determined that the problem was actually with a part that wasn't under the home warranty policy and would cost us $700.

DTTF thought that was B.S., so he had someone else come out and take a look while waiting for the home warranty people to find someone else to give a second opinion. The person DTTF had come out said that the freon was leaking from the compressor and even showed DTTF where it was leaking. This guy was very nice and did the assessment for free. Shortly thereafter, the home warranty people sent someone out for THEIR second opinion. The guy they sent out (let's call them Company B) said the freon was leaking somewhere in the line between the compressor and the main unit in the attic. Now, this line runs down the wall in my closet, behind the drywall. Company B does not tear out drywall, so they proposed cutting a hole in the outside wall of the house and running a new hose down the outside of the house. DTTF wasn't really thrilled with this idea, so he talked to Company B, and they agreed to replace the line inside the wall if we tore out the drywall. We made an appointment for today, when I planned to be home anyway due to Tree Faerie's 6-month shots. So last weekend, I took almost everything out of the closet and hung it in the office closet upstairs.

This brings us to yesterday.

Yesterday, DTTF starts tearing out the wall in my closet. The plan was just to remove enough drywall to change the hose. DTTF marks the spot in the closet where the hoses were and tries to find something to cut it out with. The razor knife was too dull. We couldn't find the jigsaw. The Dremel tool didn't have enough torque. So, DTTF decides to try the circular saw.

Well, as he was cutting, he nicked the freon hose to the upstairs AC, spewing freon out into the closet, the bathroom and our bedroom. This was like the final straw. Thankfully he started from the bottom of the wall instead of the top, though, because after removing more drywall, he discovered an electrical wire just above where he stopped cutting. I'd like to take this as a sign from the gods saying, "Hey, it could have been worse," especially since we were suddenly COMPLETELY without AC. In Memphis, TN. In 90+ degree weather.


Independence. Owning our own home. Not much fun at this point.

We got through the night, though, and I took Tree Faerie to get her shots this morning. After the doctor's appointment, which went really well, I called DTTF to let him know we were done and found out that Company B had already called to say they were on their way. When I got home, the guy from Company B was waiting on me. He worked on it for a couple of hours, said he was done, then tried to collect money from me for the work, money which the warranty people are supposed to pay him. So, I picked up the phone and called DTTF, and he picked up the phone and called his office. I did not relay to the guy from Company B everything my dear husband said, but let's just say he was off the phone before I was and apparently was straightened out by his office.

As he left, he said it would take a couple of hours for the AC to catch up, since it was trying to cool off hot air. So I'm sitting here in as little clothing as possible trying to keep cool, and I keep going over to the vent to make sure it really is blowing cool air. All I have to say is that if this didn't fix the problem and the AC is blowing hot air again in a few days, SOMEONE will soon be headless, and I'm not really picky about who!

Can you tell I'm a bit irritable about it?

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

To Sleep Perchance to Dream

Dear Sleep,

Why do you elude me so? Why can you not simply overtake me as soon as my head hits the pillow, ignoring any non-emergency noises or disturbances? If this is not to be, please try not to impact my ability to function as a normal (normal? what’s that?) human being. Please do not make me achy and cranky as retribution for not spending more time with you. Some things are simply out of my control.

Appreciatively,

Andrea

P.S. And do you mind toning it down on the dreams? Some of my dreams are so active I think I’m more tired when I wake up than I was when I went to sleep!

************

I’m having trouble sleeping. Except for the vividly active dreams, I actually sleep pretty well when I get the chance to sleep. The chance to sleep seems to be eluding me, and the reasons vary daily. Saturday night I stayed up WAY too late (3AM!), knowing that Tree Faerie was going to wake me around 7AM. I tried napping when she napped on Sunday, but I still didn’t feel rested. I had hoped to go to bed early on Sunday night, but we stayed up and watched Ghost Rider, which was actually a pretty good movie. I let Tree Faerie fall asleep on my chest at her bedtime instead of going through the whole bedtime routine of changing clothes, a Baby Rub ™, a story, and then nursing and rocking to sleep. I think this messed up our night, because she woke up every 2 hours or so to be comforted or nursed. After one of these moments of comfort, I’d gotten her back down and crawled into bed, only to be disturbed by a tick-tick-tick-click-click-click.

DTTF was on the laptop.

I tried to ignore it, but instead I just got frustrated. While I was trying to find a nice way to tell him to KNOCK IT OFF!!!, I turned over and looked at him. Apparently the look on my face was enough to cause him to pause and ask me why I was looking at him. I had not yet formulated the nice words to ask him to please either go into the other room to do that or put it away and come to bed, so he didn’t get the nice words. I don’t remember WHAT I said to him, but I know it was not nice or pleasant. I love my husband dearly, for he immediately put the laptop away, turned off his light, and snuggled down in bed.

Still, we were up around 7AM yesterday, and I don’t get a chance to nap on the weekdays after work. Even if I HAD gotten Tree Faerie to take a good nap in the evening, we had Taekwando last night. I was SOOO tired and achy during class, and my balance was not up to par. After we got home last night, we went through the bedtime routine, adding a little playtime in as well, but I had a hard time getting her to stay asleep.

Once I actually got her in bed, I still had to feed our ball python, Aradia. (***Warning: the next part of the paragraph may not be suitable for all readers. If you have an extremely weak stomach, please skip to the next set of ***.) We’ve had Aradia for almost 3 years, and we’ve always fed her frozen mice (thawed, of course), and now frozen rats. To me, this is the most humane way to feed a snake, not to mention it’s also cleaner and healthier. For some reason, though, she starts with the butt first 90% of the time, which is completely backwards to the way it’s SUPPOSED to go! Of course, she ate last night’s rat backwards, so it took forever!

***Because this took so long, I actually lay in the floor next to her feeding box and dozed off while waiting for her to finish. Our cat Storm kept trying to distract Aradia, so I finally shut Storm in the bathroom. DTTF suggested that I just let them be, at which point I bit off his head, chewed it up really well, and spat it out on the floor, then proceeded to shut the cat in the bathroom. Once again, DTTF proved how wonderful he truly is by not biting back, which I truly appreciate. He understood that exhaustion was talking, and not his sweet, loving wife.

Needless to say, I know it was much later than I wanted it to be when I finally crawled in bed, so today I’m suffering once again from sleep deprivation. I feel like I’m swimming through pea soup (I’ve never even seen real pea soup, so I actually have no idea what consistency it is, but I imagine swimming through it would feel a lot like what I’m feeling now) and trying to get my brain to at least function at 50% of normal, because I HAVE to finish this project!

I can hardly wait for tomorrow, when I know I’ll once again have to get up at 7AM, but at least I’ll be able to take a short nap when Tree Faerie goes down for a nap around 9! Plus, my brain can take a break, too!

Monday, July 2, 2007

Introductions Are In Order

Hi! I'm Andrea, otherwise known as "Mom to the Fey" and your guide on this journey through motherhood and life in general. I'm a 26 year old new mother to a beautiful red-head who will be 6 months old on Friday. The Tree Faerie is already full of sunshine and mischief! I live near Memphis, TN, though I'd much rather be on the beach!

What better way to start off an introduction than with random information? Inspired by Manic Mom, though I wasn't one of the first 5 to post a comment:

What were you doing 10 years ago?:
10 years ago, I was 16 going on 17 (are you now humming the song in your head?) and lived in southern Arkansas. We were wrapping up our 6 weeks at Upward Bound with a trip to Memphis, TN. That was my first visit to Memphis, and we visited Graceland, the Pyramid, Pink Palace, and the Civil Rights Museum, among others. Oddly, since moving to the Memphis area 6 years ago, the only one of those I've visited is the Pyramid, where we saw KISS in concert a couple of years ago. That's also where I saw Billy Joel and Elton John perform together just before moving to Memphis.

What were you doing 1 year ago?:
I was pregnant with Tree Faerie, and we were house hunting for our starter-home. We'd probably already looked at 20 houses, and I was getting really tired of looking. Sonic's Cherry Limeades where a saving grace, though. We'd seen a couple of houses I really liked, but we hadn't found "the one." A year later, we're living in the house we picked to be our starter-home, though we don't plan to live here for more than a few years.

Five snacks you enjoy:
Salsa and Chips

Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Grapes

M&Ms (any kind)

Colby Jack Cheese, Summer Sausage, and Triscuts

(Okay, now I'm hungry!)

Five Songs to which you know all the lyrics:
Me & Bobby McGhee (the Janis Joplin version)

Stay - Lisa Loeb (that one popped into my head the other day while trying to come up with songs to sing to Tree Faerie to keep her entertained while I showered, and amazingly, I still know all the words!)

Hey Jude - The Beatles

Darker State of Grace - S.J. Tucker (and about a dozen more of her songs - you should definitely check her out! I think she's even on iTunes, but since I don't have iTunes, I can't say for sure. Let me know if you find her there.)

Fell In Love With a Boy - Joss Stone (though originally I learned the words to Fell In Love With a Girl by The White Stripes, who we'll hopefully get to see live at the end of the month!)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Be a SAHM! Though we wouldn't stay home. I have a whole seperate list of what we'd do...

Invest so that I'd never have to go back to working a mainstream job again.

Buy some land and build a house MY way.

Go to various technical/focus schools, like massage therapy, acupressure, aromatherapy, and other homeopathic studies. I'd also like to take art and pottery classes.

Visit the beach more often! If I could convince my dear hubby to live near the beach, I would!

Five Bad Habits:
P.R.O.C.R.A.S.T.I.N.A.T.I.O.N. - that's my worst bad habit, though Rowan is helping me not be so bad.

Eating when I'm bored.

Picking at my toenails.

Picking at my scalp.

Ripping a broken nail or a too-long nail instead of clipping it.

Five Things you like doing:
Reading

Writing

Sewing

Crocheting

Eating

Five Favorite Toys:
Tree Faerie! - I'm with Manic on that one. My kid is my favorite toy! She's just so much fun!

My Hubby - he can keep me entertained for hours, even without getting intimate!

My Computer

My Guitar

Frisbee

As far as tagging goes, I don't know enough bloggers to tag people, so how about this... If you decide to be tagged, comment so I'll know to go read it!