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
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
