Hey, I'm still here.....
No really I am.It's been a L-O-N-G time since I've posted. So much has been going on that frankly posting hasn't been on the priority list. Baby: 1 year old!!! Can you believe it?!? It seems like yesterday that she was born. WOW!! A year goes by so quickly. She's walking now. It's both awesome to watch and terrifying to think she's going to be even faster now... She loves all veggies, fruits, yogurt, cheerios, and cheese. Not a big meat eater. Loves the outdoors. (Part of the reason there haven't been any posts from me in so long.)Wife: Is hanging in there. Business has been slow for her. Totally understandable with the economy the way it is... Her dad passed away a few weeks ago. So she's been dealing with all the bureaucracy associated with dying. (Executirx of the will, what to do with the house, his car, etc....) I don't think she's had time to start grieving yet...Me: I've never been this busy in my entire life!! Work has been out of control busy. The project I'm working on is fairly complicated and comprehensive. They've got me involved in all aspects of it. So between meeting, calls, and e-mails it never feels like I'm getting anything done. When I get home I spend my time with the baby. Soaking up baby time. HRH: Is doing OK. He doesn't get to the dog park as much as he's used to due to the baby & etc but he's doing OK. He likes the baby more now that she's giving/throwing him food.Home & garden: The house is doing OK. No new projects. (I've learned my lesson) I did have to clean out the gutters. During a heavy rain a few weeks back I noticed the gutters were overflowing.. The garden is doing well in spite of our neglect with weeding and planting annuals. The perennials have filled in and provided some color...Miata: Not driven much at all this year. To & from work and on errands but no fun trips. I did change the headlights & taillights, added rear speakers and a style bar. It looks pretty cool for not going anywhere... Rest of the family: Is status quo. I actually have time to write this since we're on our first family vacation. I haven't been able to take a vacation due to my project until now. I'm pretty burned out & tired.We're at Deep Creek, MD. Very nice place. We rented a house so we could have more space for the baby and HRH along. We went to the beach yesterday. Today we plan to go on a hike to Swallow Falls State Park. The food has been hit & miss. Some places are very nice, some are OK, others are barely better than fast food...Labels: Family, HRH, Life, Miata, Parenthood, Update, vacation, Work
Baby Update
- She crawls quite well now. Her favorite things to crawl towards and mess with are HRH's toys & his water bowl. She's HRH's #1 fan. All she needs to do is spot him in the room and this happy squeal comes out of her that's just priceless.
- She can pull herself up to standing and sit back down readily. Sometimes, she'll stand for 10 or 15 minutes. It's pretty cool. She's not totally steady on her feet but she is standing.
- She loves walking with adult assistance. She does what I call the Frankenstein walk since she's not bending her knees as she steps and she's wobbly.
- She has 3 front teeth.
- She loves to eat. She'll try anything & everything. She's eating cereal and baby food in addition to formula. We've started giving her teething biscuits to keep her busy when we're eating. Last week we gave her a little fish to try. And some mushrooms and green peas. All eaten without issue. A few days ago she had cream of broccoli soup. Cheerio's are always welcome. She loves meatloaf. Spat out french fries & potato chips. (Good for her!!! Let her decide to clog up her own arteries NOT her crummy parents!)
Labels: Baby, Parenthood, Update
I could kick myself
Sometimes the adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" is true. Sometimes it is better to leave things just the way they are. It's not being lazy or a cop out. Case in point: The house. I thought I was being proactive by having the roof and furnace replaced. After all, they we both at the upper limits of their life cycles. And with the baby coming I didn't want to have these kind of troubles with a baby in the house. After I had both replaced in the summer/fall, I was happy that 2 items had been removed from my worry/task list. This comfort was short lived. My wife discovered a mold problem in the attic. We didn't have a mold problem in the attic before the new roof or furnace. We must have created a haven for mold when we had the new tighter roof put on AND a whole house humidifier installed with the furnace. UGH!!! I am so mad at myself!!! I feel so stupid for making a mess out of things. Neither the roof nor the furnace were broken. I just figured lets replace them before something went wrong. Well, I guess I went looking for trouble and it found me!!! So then the mad scramble to figure out what to do to fix this problem. Is it dangerous? How do you clean this up? How much will it cost? How soon do I need to do something? Can we do it ourselves? Do we need to replace the whole roof? Well, a few thousand dollars later (That I didn't plan on spending! This adds to my feelings of stupidity and anger.) the mold remediation people have started their work. Theoretically, after they are done the mold will be dead and not returning. They have also installed a device that keeps the air circulating in the attic to prevent future mold growth. They've cleaned & tested the attic twice now. They needed to clean twice because the post test after the first cleaning came back positive for mold growth. They re-tested last week. I suspect they'll be back since they left debris in the attic that was supposed to be removed. UGH!!!I'm starting to learn my lesson: Sometimes it's OK to leave things just the way they are. Not everything needs to be perfect. I don't need to obsess or worry about certain things. Me obsessing/worrying about them is not going to change them. Sometimes it's OK to leave well enough alone. "Put my hands up and step slowly away from the controls" Labels: ChowderHead 101, frustrations, house, My OCD's, Update
Things I've learned
Things I've learned as a new parent:
- Sleep is your freind. I used to hate sleep. It got in the way of me doing things, having fun, hanging out. It was easy for me to think that way when I was getting enough sleep. Now that I don't... Sleep is my friend.
- Plenty of planning and scheduling need to go into any attempt to get anywhere with the baby. packing bottles, checking the baby bag, packing a change of clothes.
- Set my expectations very low regarding how many errands I can run with the baby is tow. She's got her own idea when it's time to go home.
Labels: Baby, Family, Life, Parenthood, Update
Happy New Year
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!OK. So I'm a few days late. But the sentiment still holds: I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and you got lots of good stuff. I also hope this year goes great for you.
Baby's first Christmas was cool. Everybody was busy fussing over her and she was eating it up. My sister came in for an extended stay to soak up as much baby time as she could. I took a few extra days off and we spent it all recovering from colds....I wish we were all well then we would have been out a bit more. As it was, we stayed in a lot coughing, hacking, and blowing noses. Not great but we were together. We are all on the mend eventhough the baby still sounds congested. Labels: Baby, Family, Holiday, Update
Happy Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. This was baby's first Thanksgiving so it was special for us since she's what we are most thankful for this year. We had my dad over along with some friends and their kids. It was a good time. We brined a turkey overnight and roasted it up nice & brown. In addition to the salt & sugar in the brine solution, we added sage, thyme, and parsley from our garden. The turkey turned out very moist and flavorful. We also made stuffing Giada style. It totally rocked! I highly recommend this stuffing. And of course we had mashed potatoes. I also sauteed some broccoli and mushrooms to give us more veggies. 1 friend brought pumpkin pie and a gingerbread cake topped with roasted pears. Someone else brought salad. We had a feast and left overs galore!!!Labels: Baby, Family, food, Friends, Holiday, Parenthood, Update
Sorry for not posting for so L-O-N-G
Sorry for not posting for such a L-O-N-G time.People warned me a baby would change my life. They said she's going to eat up all of your time. You won't have any time for yourself. Well, they were right. Baby's do require a lot of attention. It's no fault of theirs. They enter the world totally dependent on you for everything. (Food, shelter, warmth, clothing, bathing, etc...) Soooo, guess what. She's taken up all of my time & attention. I haven't had much free time. She was just at the pediatrician's last week. She's 4 months old and she's 90% for length and 80% for weight so she's in the good & healthy range!!!But it's all good. It's all worth it when she looks at me and flashes that million dollar toothless smile of hers. No matter how tired we are OR how fussy she's been. 1 smile from her and I'm reminded it's all worth it. In addition to baby, work has changed a bit for me. It got busy a few months ago. Then it leveled off & slowed down. I was in Houston a few weeks ago helping the Houston office get back up & running due to Hurricane Ike. (I'm actually back in Houston right now. More help for them...) Last week I was offered a new job/project to work on. It's going to be at least 14 to 16 months. It will invovle all the North American locations. It's going to be big & involved. I've accepted the job since I've really needed a change for quite a while. The summer came and went. It's really a sleep deprived blur. It's funny how a new born puts things into prespective and you can easily differentiate the "need to do" from the "nice to do" chores/tasks. Many things got put to a lower priority. The lawn & garden survived. None of the cars fell apart because they didn't get washed or waxed. The garage didn't become a total dumping ground for everything. The walkways & patio didn't fall apart becasue I didn't weather seal them this year.Due to the baby, we ended up getting a home equity loan and spending the money on: A new car for my wife that was child seat friendly, a new roof, a new furnace, and a new front door. All sorts of home related things. I would have thought the loan would make me crazy & nervous with the economy the way it is but I actually feel better since I'd been fretting about the roof AND the furnace AND the front door for the last 4 or 5 years. I actually feel less stress now. All of those things are taken care. I'm a worrier so it was nice to get rid of those big ticket items from the list. So yeah, the loan gave me the chance to get things taken care of and off "the list". I've been pretty good about NOT adding anything to the list of worries. I'm happier and less stressed for it. HRH had to go through about a month/ month and a half adjustment to not being the center of attention. But he's OK with the new arrangement now. I wish we would have had more time/energy to take him out for hikes this summer but it just didn't happen. We did manage to take the family out a few weeks back. We went up to Morraine State Park and spent the afternoon hiking. It was great, HRH ran around like a little maniac. The baby soaked everything in. My wife and I enjoyed the outdoors and watching the baby's reaction to things. And HRH of course. My wife is doing well. The initial sleep deprivation is starting to go away now that the baby is sleeping through the night. She's even had a few painting jobs the past few weeks. So it's a nice change for her to get out of the house and intereact with adults.Labels: Baby, Family, travel, Update, Work
Update on my life as I know it
Sorry it's been a l-o-n-g time since I posted. But it's been a challenge.
We're all adjusting to the new "normal". I knew it was going to be different and a challenge but I had no idea how different and how challenging.
For me this is much like going from being single to being married. An adjustment period needed to happen. My actions and thoughts needed to change. It took me a while to make that transition from single to married since I'd been single for a l-o-n-g time. I'd gotten used to doing things my way. Coming and going as I pleased. Not taking anyone else's needs and desires into account. Now to go from being a couple to being parents is a new adjustment.
The biggest change for me was the prolonged lack of sleep. Pre-baby, a few days of less than normal amounts of sleep could be caught up on the weekends. No big deal. In fact I hated sleep since it got in the way of me doing things. Post baby, the sleep interruptions happen every night and there's no getting caught up. It's gotten better in the last week or so. But the first month and a half were really tough. I was a zombie. The baby is sleeping from about 10:30 to 3:30 - 4 ish. AND she's in her room now instead of in the bassinet in our room. Both of these developments have helped with my sleep deficit.
My wife is doing well. She's really taken to motherhood. She's the best. Always a smile and kind word to the baby even though she's gotten no sleep. Patient even when the baby has totally melted down.
HRH has taken the longest to adjust. He's gone from king-o-the-roost to third string quarterback. Initially he wanted to lick & lick & lick. Sniff & sniff & sniff. We couldn't let him do that since she was so small and he's very aggressive with his licking & sniffing. Slowly we let him get his sniffing & licking in. I'm sure it's not as much as he'd like but.... We still don't leave the 2 of them unattended. We're not totally sure of his intentions quite yet. I'm sure he's jealous and a bit mad that he doesn't get nearly as much attention as he's used to. Oh well, he's got to adjust too.Labels: Baby, Family, HRH, Parenthood, Update
What does a Chowderhead do on his vacation?
He works on his lawn & garden. Weed & feed the lawn. Turn over the flower beds and put down 4 cubic yards of mushroom manure. Yes, it’s THAT time of year again. We’ve learned the mushroom manure not only helps to feed the plants, replenish the nutrients in the soil, insulate the plants from temperature swings, but it also helps to break up the hard clay soil that was my flower beds. We’ve been using mushroom manure for the flower beds for 4 or 5 years and they are so much easier to turn over now versus then. In the past I might get 1 or 2 beds turned over and I was exhausted. (I had gotten a work out.) This year turning over all the beds was pretty quick & easy. Yes, it was still a few hours worth of work but it was done in a few hours versus a day & a half. I find gardening to be a good stress reliever. Yes it's work but gardening allows me to get out of the office and not think about my usual occupation. He gets a new top for his Miata. I love the new top. The glass window really increased the clarity and visibility out the rear window. People with regular cars don’t think about their rear windows much. But the original plastic rear window was starting to get cloudy, yellow and wrinkled. All of this reduced visibility making it harder to park the car & a bit more dangerous. Something else people that don’t have convertibles don’t know or think about: shrinkage. Convertible tops invariably shrink due to age, wear & tear, and exposure to the elements. Shrinkage isn’t a problem unless it rains. We live in Pittsburgh, it rains…He works on his baby girl’s room. We bought a glider/rocker and a crib. I assembled and placed the crib. He takes his wife to a surprise baby shower. Her gal pals called me months ago to get names & contact information for anyone they and I thought should be invited to a baby shower. Since we both come from small families her friends took it upon themselves to throw her a baby shower. They did an awesome job. The food was good, the games were fun, and most importantly so many people came to celebrate with my wife. She had a great time. She was floored by the number of people who came. And the distances some of the attendees drove to get to the shower. We did manage to squeeze in a few nice dinners that week.Labels: Baby, house, Miata, Update
Sorry for the lack of posts...
I'm sorry for the lack of posts. LIFE has been very busy with the baby on the way, getting the house ready for said baby, work, spring on the way so the garden will need attention, etc, etc, etc...So here's a quick update on Chowderhead's world:- I'm putting the finishing touches on the project I've been working on for the past year. The feeling of accomplishment is nice BUT I am ready to move on. I'm through with it!!
- We’ve been working on the game room: We painted, installed new light fixtures, and put in new carpeting 2 years ago. We bought a ventless fireplace, new bar, and storage chest last year. We didn’t see any sofa’s or entertainment centers we liked so we held off on those items. Until now. We found furniture we liked and now it’s in our game room. The room is almost complete. (As close to complete as we're going to get at least) There are just a few things that need to happen: I need to transfer my 1,000,000 CD collection into the storage units we purchased and secure them to the wall. We need new window treatments. Those old beat-up, nasty, vertical blinds have to go. We wanted to get the game room in order before continuing with the baby room.
- We’ve sold off the full size bed that was in the designated baby room. We need to move a family heirloom trunk somewhere. We need to get rid of/move a sewing machine that belonged to my wife’s grandmother and a small end table. New carpet is a must. It’s the last room in the house that has not been re-carpeted in the 11 years I’ve owned the place. Once we figure out where the crib & etc are going to be placed, my wife is then going to paint birds & animals on the walls. It'll be very cool once she's done with it.
- HRH is doing OK. Now that all the critters are coming out of hiding, he’s barking up a storm. It got so bad that we went to Petco the other night & bought a citronella anti-barking collar. The collar has a microphone & citronella spray pump on it. When HRH barks, the microphone picks it up, and he gets sprayed in the face with citronella spray. According to the marketing info it’s quite effective at training dogs out of barking AND it's more humane than shock collars. (J’s sister had a Jack Russell and this collar worked like a charm on him.) My wife (the 1 who wanted a dog and LOVES HRH) said “Let’s go. Right now!!!” because she was ready to kill HRH the other night. He kept finding things to bark at. So between the lack of sleep and the hormonal rage she was felling he just missed getting killed…..
- We went to the Byham Theater a few weeks ago and saw a live taping of the NPR show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me.." It was a very entertaining night. The people on that show are very witty and quick thinkers. It was interesting to see how they put a radio program together. The radio shows always sound so polished on the air but to see the behind the scenes work involved gave me a new appreciation of "what" is involved to make it sound so smooth.
- I'm itching for Miata season. 10 days & counting down!!!
- And the best for last: We saw the OB/GYN yesterday morning and everything is OK. 26 weeks and counting!!! The baby’s heartbeat sounds good & strong. You go baby girl!!!!
Labels: Baby, Family, Health, house, HRH, jobs, Update
22 weeks and counting
We made a routine visit to the OB/GYN today and everything is OK with the baby. 22 weeks and counting!!Labels: Baby, Family, HC, Health, Update
It's official
HC and I are both over 35 so as a precaution the OB/GYN suggested we have a genetic screening and detailed sonogram for us to get a better idea of the potential risks.
We filled out all the family medical history paperwork. It was scarry and a little depressing thinking about the shopping cart full-o-malidies we might be giving the little 1 to deal with.
Last Friday we met with the genetic couselor and had an enlightening meeting with her. She answered our questions and put some of our fears to rest. She reviewed some of the odds for certain illnesses and that made me feel better. She also told us using this detailed scan they'd be able to see certain things that could indicate genetic abnormalities. AND also things that could be used to give us a better comfort level.
Then it was time for the detaled sonogram. The moment of truth had arrived regarding some of the ailments and genetic defects they could spot right away with this sonogram and the baby's gender.
I'm truly amazed at what they are able to do with sound waves. Just the right frequency and amplitude to get the image of the child without causing any damage or death. Really brilliant the people that came up with this.
The sonogram technician gave us a tour of our baby. She pointed out the baby's brain, head, neck, spine, arms, legs, fingers & toes. All the while she's taking measurements of the baby. The baby is quite busy moving around in there. I was amazed the little bugger was flip flopping all over the place. The baby's weight and length are all in the normal range. She also showed how to determine the gender of the child. We're going to have a baby girl!!!!
It's still sinking in. I am happy. Stunned. Excited. Nervous.Labels: Baby, Family, HC, Health, Update
Update
I haven't been able to post much recently.- Work has keep me crazy busy. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The project I've spent the past year on is coming to an end for me in the next few months. I'm finishing up a major portion of it these next couple of days. So far, so good. Planning and research on my part has made implementation go much smoother. I'm also training a couple of new guys while I'm at it so they'll learn tips & tricks from me. It's neat being a mentor of sorts.
- My wife is doing OK. Right now she's struggling with the whole baby sickness. I can't call it morning sickness since she feels her best in the AM. The past week she been sick on an every other day schedule. A few weeks ago she was up to feeling pretty good for 3 or 4 days before she had an episode. We go for the second sonogram next week. So we should be able to tell if it'll be a boy or a girl.
- HRH is a little stir crazy from not having much outside exercise. It's just been too cold. I took him for a walk today and my wife took him out to the park yesterday but we know it's not enough for him.
- I've been working on my stress, control & anger. I've been doing surprisingly well with it. I've had a few set backs but I remember my breathing or do some exercises and I'm on a better course. I do feel better and less irritated/irritable. I know it's a better way for me to live.
- Just a few more months until the Miata comes out of the garage and is on the road once again!!
Labels: HC, Health, HRH, jobs, Update
Workin' on it
In my last post I said I was working on stress management strategies. And letting go of things I have no control over.
It's only been a few weeks but I do feel better. I didn't think the results would show up so soon. But I feel less agitated and irritated. I don't feel as much of the weight of the world on my shoulders. Letting go has been liberating. I don't get as pissed at drivers, co-workers, or clueless people. I practice my letting go and it helps!
Now that's not to say I'm back to my good old self. I think it took years to build up to this level of irritability so I'm not going to be back to myself overnight or in a few weeks. But I'm headed in the right direction. I did have a small set back last weekend when I had a bunch of errands to run and felt rushed/stressed. I became irritable and started muttering the same old comments about people. But I recognized it and began doing my breathing exercises and I reminded myself to "Let go".
So it's working. Slowly but surely.
Labels: Health, Update
Chowderhead: Work in progress - Stress, control, and anger
I've been working with my therapist on stress, control, frustration, and anger management.
Stress and feelings of loss of control/no control lead to frustration which leads to anger. Stress & lack of control aren't the only causes of my anger but they are major contributors. She and I are working on strategies for me to use when I feel stressed or out of control. If we can head me off from getting frustrated, then we have a good chance of keeping me from getting angry. We're working on changing the way I perceive things. And coming up with healthy techniques I can use to control my stress and frustration. I need to let go of the things I have no control over. I need to let go of the peanuts more often. I want to change. I want to get back to the way I was. I don't like being angry and irritable all the time. Angry, irritable, catty, bitchy, and prickly are all parts of my personality but I never tended to be any of those things for any length of time. I don't know what triggered me to start being angry and irritable all the time.
No matter. These feelings and thoughts do me no good. They're bad for me. They're bad for my wife. They'll be bad for the baby. They build up inside until I reach critical mass and then I blow up. Like a volcano. Like a nuclear bomb. Laying waste to everything and everyone in my path. Then I'm left feeling embarrassed and ashamed by my behavior. And all the apologizing I have to do to people for acting like such a colossal a-hole. Like I said, these negative thoughts & feelings do me no good.
Some of the things I'm trying to let go of getting upset at: - Lazy co-workers. They don't care. No good would come of me getting upset or making comments about them and their work ethic. They are probably not very happy at their jobs and are trying to get out of it. I actually do enjoy my work most days so I need to focus on me and the satisfaction I get from accomplishing something and doing a good job.
- Lousy drivers. They are clueless and don't care. As long as they aren't hitting me or my car. I need to let it go. Me getting upset or making comments won't affect them or their actions.
- Clueless people: Who jay walk in front of traffic without looking, therefore forcing drivers to slow down for them. Who take up extra spaces on the bus with all their crap. Who stand right in front of elevator doors and try to get on the elevator before letting you get off. Who park their cars so close to your's it's difficult for you to get in your car. Who are too lazy to take their shopping cart to the shopping cart pen in the parking lot or back to the front of the store. They are who they are, nothing I say or do will make a difference in their behavior. BUT I can change how I react and feel about it. Me getting mad at these people won't change their behavior. But it will get me mad and make my blood pressure rise. So I need to let it go.
- My sister: For not coming up & visiting the dad more and helping more with taking care of our dad. For the piss poor job she does when she does take care of my dad. She is who she is. Nothing I say or do will change her behavior. Anything I do say will just make her resistant to coming up more/helping with the dad. So I'm better off changing how I feel about the situation.
Letting all these things get to me serves me no good. It raises my blood pressure, makes me want to eat poorly, gets me crankin' at people that don't deserve my bitchiness. So for 2008 I want to work on getting back to the old me.
I want to be well on my way with this before the baby arrives. I know I'll have very little control when the baby arrives. Other than providing food and a good environment for the baby, we'll have very little control of it's behavior. So I figure the sooner I start the better off everyone in my life will be.
Labels: ChowderHead 101, Update
Updates
- I took the Daddy-o to his PCP the other day. He's doing well. They've been steadily reducing the amount of prednisone he needs to take. His Diabetes is under control. He isn't sore. He doesn't feel weak. His blurry vision & double vision have gone away. He'll be off the prednisone in a few weeks and they hope he can come off the diabetes drugs once the prednisone is out of his system. This takes some stress out of my life & some weight off my shoulders since I've been checking in on him weekly and calling every other day just to make sure everything is OK. And to see if he needs anything. And to make sure he's not getting depressed since that's a side effect of steroid use.
- HC's slowly but surely feeling better. The first few months of pregnancy has been tough on her. She's felt nauseous the whole time. Now the nausea only happens every 2 to 3 days. So it's getting better for her.
- Work was slow during the holidays. So far it's still going kind of slow. So that's good. I'm also due to wrap up my current project and start some others. I'm looking forward to the change.
- I survived the holidays without any major drama/trauma.
- I've been working with my therapist on stress, control & anger management. For me, stress and feelings of loss of control lead to anger. Those aren't the only causes of my anger but they are the major ones. She and I are working on strategies for me to use when I feel stressed or out of control. We're also working on changing the way I see things. I need to let go of the things I have no control over. In other words, I need to let go of the peanuts more often. I want to change. I want to get back to the way I was. I don't like being angry and irritable these feelings and thoughts do me no good.
- We've been going to yoga on a regular basis and I've been exercising more. It's really helped with my stress and with all the food I ate over the holidays.
So this year is starting on a good note. Let's hope it continues this way!!!
Labels: ChowderHead 101, Health, Update
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to everyone. I hope everyone has a happy, healthy & prosperous 2008!
We had a quiet New Years. We had my Dad, H & J over for dinner and hung out until the New Year arrived.
This holiday season was pretty quiet & low key. Just what I needed.
I had a nice bunch of days off. It felt good to be away from work and able to do what I wanted to do instead of what others required of me. We had a nice mix of activities, visiting friends, having people over, going out to dinner, and going to a few movies.
Wednesday morning came way too early. I'd been sleeping in the whole time I was away from work. I really didn't want to go back to work but what choice do I really have?!?! Oh well. Back to the grinder.
Labels: Holiday, Update
Merry Christmas N'at
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.Ours was OK. The typical combination of visiting relatives at the nursing home and preparing dinner. There were only 3 of us at dinner this year. My sister couldn't make it in this year. And our friends who usually join us had other plans. Dinner was a very non traditional Beef Bourguignon. Since then we've been trying to catch up with friends & running errands. We took HRH for his annual check-up. You'll all be happy to know he's in perfect health. We asked the vet about what we needed to do when the baby arrives. Any concerns, issues? He didn't think so because HRH's personality and demeanor were so mild mannered. We had A & J over Wednesday evening for Salmon patties. Last night we were at Kiku. Wonderful friends and good food. The service was very slow but that was OK. We were there to hang out so it was perfect.This will be the first day we don't have anything planned. So I will get to r-e-l-a-x a bit. (Not too much. I might become soft & weak) So I'll blog, workout & watch DVD's.Labels: Family, food, Friends, Holiday, Update
Update from hectic central
Things are going better:
- We all survived Thanksgiving. (That's something to be thankful for!)
- The Daddy-o is living back at his place. His blood sugar level is under control. He's feeling better and he's not sore or tired.
- My sister has gone home. My stress level is slowly going down. And there's less chaos in our house.
- We had a sonogram last week and saw the baby's heart beating and limb buds. What a crazy phrase "limb buds". Seeing the heart beating was very cool. Technology can be amazing.
- We saw the OB/GYN today. My wife's about 11.5 weeks into the pregnancy. And everything looks good.
- She's starting to feel sick less often. The doctor said 4 to 7 more days of this and she'll be through the first trimester when the nausea & sickness are the worst.
- Work has been slowing down. There are still spurts of craziness but with the holidays and the end of the year, everybody is easing up.
- My stress is slowly coming down. I'm doing breathing exercises, yoga, relaxation exercises, and trying to exercise more.
- HRH is doing well. He'll be due for his check-up right after Christmas.
I have no idea where this year went. It really doesn't feel like the end of the year, much less Christmas to me. It wasn't that long ago we were getting the lawn & garden ready for the new season. And I was getting the Miata ready for another season of use.
I've noticed the older I get the less Christmas has that special appeal. Maybe it's because work has kicked my butt the past few years, maybe I'm getting jaded, maybe I see it as just 1 more chore to do (cards, decorating, gifts), maybe I'm just tired of the commercialism.
Hopefully having a child will give me the chance to see Christmas through some younger, less cynical eyes.
Labels: Family, HC, Health, Holiday, Update
But wait there's more
How much stress can I handle?- crazy job
- pregnant wife
- sister in town for a visit
wait for it....
Dad admitted to the hospital. Yep. 1 of the potential side effects of using Prednisone is diabetes. None of us recognized some of the signs of diabetes. (tiredness, dry mouth, constant urination). Fortunately, he had a routine doctor's visit scheduled on Monday. His blood sugar level couldn't be measured with the meter in the doctor's office. His doctor had him admitted right away. They were able to get him stablized and released him last night.
He's going to stay with us for a few days just to ease him back into his normal flow.
Labels: Family, Health, Parents, Update
