Testing for Spam

This is a test of the Emergency Spam Stopper Filter Thingy in my comments. If there were an actual emergency, rampant spam would have flown into my comments bin as soon as this post was published. This is only a test.

BEEP!

Happy Halloween From J

BOO!


(More pictures will be forthcoming, just as soon as I have some time to upload them. There are a bunch!)

As an aside, methinks the blog spammers found me tonight. I am going to try to shake them, but if I am unsuccessful, I will have to turn on the "word verification" option to get rid of them. I hope it doesn't come to that.

Latest quiz results

Got one wrong, so lost half a mark on my overall course average. Now, the highest I can get in the course is 97.5. Not bad, but unlikely to garner me that Award of Excellence I covet. I'll still try for it, though. Nothing bad can come of my trying to get it.

This was actually the most difficult quiz yet, so I am pretty darned pleased that I only got one wrong. It could have been much, much worse.

I feel so smart!

I asked the online tutor a couple of long and convoluted questions yesterday, just to make sure I was undestanding the materials.

Here is my latest convoluted question:

Let me see if I am understanding the logic behind this correctly.

At the bottom of p 622 and top of p 623, the textbook reads as follows:

"If the plant and equipment has a remaining useful life of 10 years and Small uses straight-line depreciation, Giant needs to increase the depreciation expense for Small by $40,000 divided by 10 years, or $4,000 each year for the next 10 years."

When using the equity method, the proportionate share of Small's net income would be applied to the original investment amount. When Small records the depreciation, it would debit depreciation expense and credit accumulated depreciation. Depreciation expense is already a component of net income (or loss) for Small.

Therefore, Giant would not need to adjust depreciation expense when accounting for proportionate net income from Small, except that in this example, the market value of plant and equipment exceeded its book value at the date that Giant acquired shares. So the adjustment Giant is making to depreciation expense in this example is to allocate the amount that market exceeded book at the date Giant purchased the shares to the remaining years of useful life of the asset in question.

I think I understand; it's just a little convoluted in my mind, and I want to make sure I have a proper handle on this.

Thanks.

I was actually right! Could it be I am starting to grasp some of the information on investments, hmmm? If so, then it's about time!

J tried peas tonight

He liked them. It is the most he's eaten yet. What a good baby! He seems to like thicker foods with interesting textures. I didn't make the peas really smooth, and that may have been a contributing factor. He is still quite insistent that he can feed himself, and he really tries to grab the spoon and put it in his mouth himself. So cute!

J was pretty crabby today. He got up in the wee small hours of the morning and he stayed up. He wouldn't eat his breakfast, and he was crying his little heart out for much of the day. But he ate his dinner and is now sleeping peacefully. He'll need to get up soon for a change and feeding, but we'll let him sleep as long as possible.

I think his little teeth are still bugging him; poor little man!

Will justice be done?

The tutor has deleted the question from Cheater and her own posted response, and has replaced them with a very clear message that the course tutor cannot answer questions from online quizzes.

I don't know if there will be any disciplinary action taken. The program stipulates that a student's first instance of proven cheating will get him or her kicked out of the course and count as an attempt at the course, and that a permanent record of a reprimand will be put on the student's file; a further instance will get said student permanently kicked out of the Association entirely. But they might give Cheater some leniency; I don't know for sure.

I hope they are not lenient about it. Cheater's behaviour was so inappropriate and unethical, I just can't believe it. And I don't think there is any way to claim ignorance; it was pretty clear what she was doing. I know that one quiz question makes a difference of only half a percent toward her final grade, but when we have students gunning for scholarships, that half a percent can be the deciding factor. Not to mention the ethics involved in the Association's Code of Conduct, and the tutor's reputation to consider. It's a pretty big deal, really.

If she gets a higher grade in this course than I do, and she walks away with the Award of Excellence, I will be severely ticked! (Steal my thousand bucks, I'm gonna ... mutter, mutter, mutter.)

I will assume that she will be appropriately disciplined, and I will feel better believing this to be the case.

She's Cheating!

OMG! I am in disbelief! I am furious!

One of my classmates has posted a question to our online tutor. The question is, verbatim, a question from one of our quizzes. She's even supplied two of the possible answers from the multiple choice question and has asked the tutor to tell her which answer is correct.

The tutor has made it abundantly clear, on numerous occasions, that she cannot assist us in answering questions from online quizzes and that she doesn't even have access to the quizzes. So this student has not told the tutor that it is a quiz question, and is just asking it as though she were curious.

And the tutor has answered the question!

So now, I find myself in an uncomfortable situation: I feel morally obligated to essentially rat out a classmate who is cheating in the course, but I don't want to be a tattletale.

Why someone would behave so inappropriately is beyond my grasp.

Wheeeee

Another day, another Halloween party. Tonight, we decided to go as the Spiderman family. (To clarify, think in terms of nice Jewish last names, like Goldman, Silverman, ... Spiderman). H and I both wore Spiderman t-shirts and J wore his Spiderman jammies and his Elmer Fudd hat. We were "Phil, Gina and Elmer Spiderman". We had no shoes that went with J's Spiderman jammies, but this was remedied by H, who suggested J's duckie sleeper should go under the Spiderman jammies so J would have "webbed feet". It was a lovely pun, and a good time was had at the party.

Until J decided it was time to go home, that is. He got mad and started to cry, and we had to leave. But that was probably okay; I still have studying to do, and my nephew's birthday party is tomorrow, so I have to buckle down into the wee small hours tonight. Busy these days.

*************
J drank out of a sippy cup for the first time today. We offered him some water from his sippy cup when he was having his dinner. He seemed to quite enjoy that. He did quite well with it. I was most impressed.

I was pretty unimpressed that we had to miss J's swimming lesson this morning, though. We tried to get there, but were stopped by a train. Literally. The thing took 20 minutes to clear the tracks, and by that time, we were going to be really late for swimming. It just didn't seem worth it to go and get ourselves and J ready so that we could hang in the pool for maybe 10 minutes, so we decided we'd best just forego it. I was disappointed; I love watching J play in the pool. But it was a wise choice, given the circumstances. C'est la vie.

*************
Tonsils are infected yet again. This time, it's the right side that's all swollen up and painful. I wish they would just take them out already.

But they won't.

Just Stuff

Went to a Halloween party tonight. H and I didn't have costumes, so we just went as ourselves. J's really cool costume that we got from Holly doesn't fit well in his car seat, but we wanted him to dress up. So tonight, J went dressed as Elmer Fudd in the opening sequence to the Bugs Bunny cartoons. He had a red and black plaid hunting hat with ear flaps, and wore a little black and white tuxedo with red vest. To complete his ensemble, Monkey dressed up as Bugs Bunny. He had socks over his ears and wore a little shirt with "WASCALLY WABBIT" written on masking tape taped to the back of the shirt. It was a funny little costume.

*************
Driving home, I heard an announcement on the radio for a "Lingerie Pumpkin Carving Contest". This begs the question: How does one use one's lingerie to carve a pumpkin? Or are we talking about Madonna and the pointy bra here?

*************
Heard some super-sappy "Why Won't You Love Me" song on the radio. I don't know what it is, because I couldn't listen to that garbage for long enough to get a title. Gist seemed to be "You don't love me, and maybe you never did, and you left me, and now I'm incomplete, and my dog hates me, and there is no point to anything anymore, 'cause you left, and nothing was ever any good again." You know ... the usual drill. I can't believe anyone would buy something like this. "And now, the latest track from 'Music to Mope By'". Here's an idea ... we'll listen to the CD, break the bottle and pass it around.

*************
Working on my course. I hate this section. It's all about investments, and it seems that isn't quite my area. I really have to struggle to understand it. I have a quiz to write on this one. I will try not to be upset if I don't do as well on it. At least I know this isn't my area, so I know what I have to work on.

*************
Have you seen that commercial? The one with the gorgeous woman trying to entice the young man to smoke, sexily leaning in and telling him how much he wants her ... and then he chews his quitting gum, and we see the gorgeous woman morph into some hideous troll-like demon? Ever notice how some people are like that? It boggles my mind. They can seem so beautiful in so many different ways, but then, just below the surface, there's this hideous troll-like demon just waiting to get out. Why is there a demon in such a beautiful package? It makes no sense to me. Packaging should advertise what it sells. It would be so much easier to tell personality types apart if a person's surface matched his or her inner workings. Of course, then we'd probably all have warts and big ugly moles, 'cause who has an unflawed personality after all (and who'd want to hang out with Little Miss Perfect anyway)? But a degree of deformity could be used as a guideline, to tell the really ugly and defective personality traits apart. Yes, this would work for me.

But what do I know about such things really? I can't even understand investments; I can't be expected to understand the nature of a poor reconciliation between visual and actual. Still, shouldn't there be some way for us to see things as they are? I don't think the school-of-hard-knocks is a fitting educational forum for life. There must be an easier way.

*************
Apparently, I like things to be easy. I should get over that. Nothing in life is easy.

Costochondritis

An inflammation of the joints in the ribcage, right around the breastbone area. Avoid activities such as lifting, which may aggravate the condition, and take a medication such as Advil 4 times a day to help with pain and act as an anti-inflammatory.

And that is what I have. (Hurts!)

J started veggies tonight

Acorn squash. He liked it. A lot. He ate about 1-1/2 Tbsp (dry) of oatmeal cereal and around 2 tsp of acorn squash for dinner. Opened his little mouth wide to take in his food. (Usually, he doesn't really open his mouth to accept the food; we just sort of smear it on his face and hope he absorbs some through osmosis.)

I am pleased that he seemed to like his first taste of veggies.

A Message from J

J writes: j m,oil.kbbbbbbbbbbbjv kkuc xy boln mk;bn;bnhhhhhhhvn kbbvvvv nv b ;n [jl

T writes: J has tried twice to type this message. The first time, he accidentally navigated away from the page before he was done. It upset him, because he had something important to say. He nearly did it again here, but caught it early enough this time around to save the message.

(He is chewing on my fingers now. I theorize that his message translates to "My teeth are really sharp!")

GRRRRRRR...

J decided that I should not go to sleep when I wanted to last night. I was up really late with him. Around 1:00 a.m. or so, I finally got to settle in, only to be woken up at 5:00 a.m. by a screaming child. He was wet. I asked H to please change him. An exhausted H was grumpy about that, but he did it. Then he brought J to me for feeding, and H fell back to sleep.

It was 6:00 a.m. when J was through with being fed and burped. I was putting J back in his crib when H's "ealy warning alarm" started going off. (Loud music: "Warning, warning; you will have to actually get out of bed in roughly half an hour".) H wondered why I wasn't putting the alarm to snooze, and he was sort of testy about it until he realized I was on the other side of the room putting J back in his crib.

J would not go back to sleep, however. All attempts to put him in his crib this morning were futile. He would scream and cry if I tried it, so I had to get up with him. So in short, my day started at 5:00 a.m. and I'm functioning on 4 hours of sleep. I don't think I've ever been this crabby.

Skipping ahead in my morning, past the numerous episodes of petty and inconsequential bickering with H - and we never used to fight, but now it just happens ("Why are you so grumpy today?" he asked; gee, I can't imagine), we arrive at J's cereal. Today, J decided not to eat. He had a couple of quick mouthfuls, but generally was only interested in throwing things on the floor and crying.

J is cleaned up. The kitchen floor is cleaned up. His highchair is cleaned up. I still have to wash his dishes. And now, he is once more obsessed with ripping his soother clip off and throwing the soother across the room. I have actually taken it away (I nearly threw it across the room myself just a moment ago); this is not a fun game for me, and I am in no mood.

And my chest still hurts. I think I'd best see my doc today about it. I'll phone and see if I can get in.

My day needs to improve. I have work to do, but can't function well feeling this tired and irritable. (Go to sleep, J! Think "turnip". Please?)

It's not even 9:00 a.m. yet.

Chest Pains

I think they are nothing. Likely just stress. Hurts though. Back and neck out of alignment, and my arms are numbing up. Not unusual. Must see chiropractor. Soon.

Studying done for now. Much to do still, but I think I'm getting it. I hope that will continue.

J's second tooth emerged through his gum today. I can feel the sharp jagged edges with my finger. He is hurting. But he has been so sweet today, even though he's had grumpy moments. (Just ask va1kyrie, who got to hear him shrieking over the phone.) He ate almost all of his oatmeal this morning. Okay, so he really just dragged his fingers through the stuff on the spoon and then sucked on his fingers, but he still ate it. I'll take what I can get. I really love being a mommy!

Going to bed now. 'Night.

Heart full of love

J awoke at 5:30 this morning. H changed him, and I fed him. I tried to put him back in his crib for more sleep, but he just wanted to be cuddled. I held him close and rocked him, and he slowly began to drift off. I put him back in his crib, and he allowed me to sleep for a little bit longer. (In several chunks, with cuddles in between.) Not too long, mind you; he is a baby after all, and his day starts early.

Yesterday was so stressful, what with J's continual screaming fits and hair-pulling and all, that my neck is skewed to the side from tension. Not wry neck this time around; just really tense muscles that I can't seem to shake. (A direct quote from me from yesterday: "J won't stop screaming, and he keeps pulling my hair, and he's hurting me. And this is my life now.") He was so into throwing his soother on the floor that I put one of those pacifier clip thingies on him. Took him all of 20 seconds to figure out how to rip it right off. And now, he can use the string to really wind up and throw the soother across the whole room. What fun!

Today, a calm and peaceful day would be nice, but it isn't going to happen. J is teething, I have at least 3 chapters to read, and my house is a horrible mess. The house will have to wait, though; I am too gimped up to tackle that today. And I will be missing my New Moms Network offshoot group. For the second week in a row. I'm just too busy and gimped up to get there today. C'est la vie.

When J last awoke, he got fussy really fast. By the time I got him out of his crib, he was screaming and little tears were streaming down his sweet little face. I thought I was in for it for sure; we're going to have another day like yesterday, I thought. Was he hungry? Was he wet? Was he in pain? No, no, and no. What was troubling him? Well, he just wanted his mommy. I picked him up and held him close; he immediately stopped crying, cuddled up, and gave me the biggest sweetest smile ever!

He is a lot of work. And his screams could shatter glass. And some days, I feel like I've reached the end of my tether. And many times, I feel like the poorest excuse for a mother ever. I'm sleep-deprived and I can't keep on top of daily chores. My house is always a mess, and there are days when a shower and clean clothes are expendable luxuries.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

You are my child, J. I love you so much.

One little tooth

J has cut his very first tooth! It is one of the bottom front teeth, over on his right. The one on the left looks like it will follow shortly. I can see the top of the tooth, and I can feel the sharp, jagged edge with my finger. Poor wee man! No wonder he has been so horribly grumpy lately. That must really hurt.

I have doped him up with the appropriate amount of Tylenol to try and take the edge off his pain. He would not nap today, but he is asleep now. He has been screaming and pulling my hair for most of the day.

I was going to go for ice cream tonight, but I really need to try and get out of the habit of emotional eating. That's not the way to achieve the much-needed weight loss.

I hope for better days ahead.

Tension headache starting now. Two more chapters to read tonight ... I wonder if I'll remember any of it.

Ouch, that smarts

J headbutted me. Right in the mouth. I have a fat lip tonight. Ow.

Still trying to do homework. Hard to concentrate with the pain and the swelling. I'm very tired. Hoping to be in bed early tonight. We'll see if J will cooperate.

Free Falling

J is up late. Talking. And throwing his soother about. If we put him in his crib, he gets progressively louder. We are exhausted and are currently taking turns walking the floor with him.

Odd things occur to you when you are passing-out-tired and the baby won't let you sleep.

****************
Dear Mr. Petty:

Much as I generally enjoy your music, I must take issue with "Free Falling". While it is an excellent song in many respects, I cite the opening lines:

"She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus, and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses, and her boyfriend too"

Has it occurred to you that you have rhymed "too" with "too"? This is one of the worst rhyme schemes I have ever heard, and it has annoyed me for years. There is no shortage of words that rhyme with "too". Let's explore a few possible ways of completing this lyric without repeating the word "too" at the end, shall we?

Here is my "Top 40". Let's take it from "Loves horses":

1. 'cause they make good glue
   
2. they're so fun to shoe
   
3. and cows that say "Moo"
   
4. and homemade beef stew
   
5. them horses can chew
   
6. she once thought they flew
   
7. and an actress named "Drew"
   
8. and her boyfriend, Stu
   
9. and cats; they say "Mew"
   
10. she can play the kazoo
    
11. and her boyfriend's canoe
    
12. and the Great Gazoo
    
13. and a bear named "Baloo"
    
14. coo-coo-ca-choo
    
15. she's contracted the flu
    
16. and Little Boy Blue
    
17. and Cindy-Lou Who
    
18. and her floral mumu
    
19. she can build an igloo
    
20. for a price, she'll love you
    
21. could you please buy a clue
    
22. when she gets sick, she'll spew
    
23. and a boy named "Sue"
    
24. and playing "Taboo"
    
25. and Seaworld's "Shamu"
    
26. from Katmandu
    
27. she's staging a coup
    
28. she lives in a slough
    
29. and good witches brew
    
30. and the whole cast and crew
    
31. bright with morning dew
    
32. and of course, the Haiku
    
33. Nanu Nanu
    
34. and "The Taming of the Shrew"
    
35. she invented "Yoo-hoo"
    
36. and Dogpatch's "Shmoo"
    
37. all shiny and new
    
38. skinamarinky doo
    
39. was that a kangaroo?
    
40. but not Raj Pannu

I am reasonably certain that more suggestions will be forthcoming, but you see my point.

In short: Buy a rhyming dictionary, you twit!!

Sincerely,

T

Song for 'Chelle

Yesterday, it was 12 years since I lost you. I miss you.

Standing on an empty space
Alone, without a clue
Looking for a friendly face;
I looked back and there was you.

And I, sometimes I wondered
What it was that saw you through.
And I, sometimes I wondered
About the friend I'd found in you.
And I, sometimes I wondered
If you'd really be alright
And I wonder if you're somehow here tonight.

Fearing that your heart would break
If you didn't take a stand,
You took all that you could take
But you still held out your hand.

And I, sometimes I wondered
How you kept your peace of mind.
And I, sometimes I wondered
How your soul could be so kind.
And I, sometimes I wondered
When your patience would run dry
And I wonder if you'll soon be stopping by.

Standing on an empty space
Staring through the miles.
So much time I had to waste;
You're gone but I still see your smile.

And I, sometimes I wonder
If your spirit's in the wind.
And I, sometimes I wonder
If the hurt will ever end.
And I, sometimes I wonder
If you really are alright
And I wonder if you're somehow here tonight.

I wonder if you're somehow
Here tonight.

I am a little black rain cloud

Today, J's teeth are bugging him. My tonsils are swollen and infected again, and I'm exhausted. J has stomach cramps. H is working. I cancelled a visit with J's Memaw; I was not doing well, and I couldn't handle seeing people today. I have things to do, but can't muster the strength.

H received a phone call from me at work this morning. J was screaming in the background. He'd been screaming for awhile. By the time I phoned H, I was crying also. J was clearly in pain, and I couldn't help him. He'd had Tylenol and Anbesol, but he was still hurting. I didn't know what to do for him. It was most distressing. By the end of the conversation, I was sobbing and incoherent. Poor H was trying to understand me and be supportive, and I could barely hear him over the screaming J, as I tried to express my frustration.

What I said: "J is crying, and he won't stop, and he's in pain, and I can't help him."

What H heard: "Ja ca pa aaaaaa [squeak, squeak, squeak]."

J is napping. Finally. I feel a bit better, because he isn't in pain just now. But it occurs to me that I have not yet eaten today. This is alarmingly normal. I'd best eat now. And then... Homework? Housework? Sleep? I think the last option will win today. It is as it should be.

In Search Of ... Motivation

I don't want to do homework. I don't want to do housework. I don't want to do anything at all.

J is sleeping. I should take advantage of this nice quiet time to get stuff done. I have a bunch of chapters to get through to complete Module 7. I need to work on them today. I really do. J's Memaw is going to come for a visit tomorrow, so I need to get some housework done, just so the place doesn't look quite so much as though it was hit by Hurricane Katrina. And then this is going to be a very busy weekend. J has swimming, we have some errands to run, we are taking H's mom around to look at a few different complexes, there are parties, my birth family is coming in... I need to get a jump on stuff now. Today. I won't have time later.

But I can't concentrate, and I can't get motivated to do anything.

Paul is what, now?

I searched a friend's name on Blogger's blog search engine tonight. I was curious to find out if his blog would show up this way. It did not. But, for the sake of comic relief, here is what I did find:

"Sometimes something as simple as an accent can make you seem smarter or more credibile, just ask Paul Wallace, our Senior Advertising Strategist. Thank goodness we don't need him to do much real work as he's drunk most of the time."

Okay, so it's not technically my friend, but just some guy with the same name. So what? It made me laugh, anyway.

(More on the multi-talented Paul may be found here.)

To one who needs a better path

I am perplexed.

It has come to my attention that you have harboured ill-will toward me and my family. It is not that I was unaware of the ill-will you have been harbouring, but I was unaware of the scale. It seems overblown, given the situation and lack of contact. I would have thought it would be over by now.

In light of what I have recently learned, I don't know exactly what to say to you. What happened, happened. It was a long time ago. No one can change what they have done in the past. The repercussions of your behaviour have been far-reaching. Friendships have been destroyed. They will not be rebuilt, because you will not allow that to happen. We have reached out to you, in kindness and in friendship, and you have relished in turning us away. You have taken pleasure in the thought that perhaps your actions have caused us pain and have even boasted to others about your bad behaviour as though it were somehow something to be proud of. But we have been unscathed by your actions, and it is the fact that you have enjoyed it so much that makes your behaviour so very reprehensible.

We have tried. We can try no longer.

I am not bad, mean, sour, pouty, petty, or any of the other colourful adjectives you have used to describe me. My husband is not "whipped". Standing by those you love when they are attacked is a normal response, and one that should have been anticipated when you acted as you did. Your current behaviour is not affecting us. It is not damaging our relationship. We rarely think of you. Your actions are only hurting yourself. When we learn of your actions, they are merely puzzling to us.

The anecdotes you relate to others are wildly inaccurate. I do not know if you are aware of that fact and revel in the lies you tell. Perhaps you have somehow convinced yourself that these stories are true. I hope the latter is the case. It seems a mildly better personality flaw to live in delusion, as opposed to focusing your energies on that place of vengeance and hatred where you seem to have set up residence. But in either case, it is sad that you live where you do, and I hope that you can move soon, to a better and more uplifting neighbourhood.

I am not the reason your friendships have deteriorated; you have done that to yourself. Your inappropriate actions have left those around you with no other choice. Had a compromise been possible, resolution would have occurred. We were always open to making such a compromise. It was you who was unwilling to bend.

I feel sorry for you. You are an unhappy person. And you are the cause of your own misery. But you will not be a cause of mine. You do not mean enough to me or my family to cause us any unhappiness. We are past this. We stand strong together, and we will not be felled by you.

Those who know me know that I am not the evil and controlling, manipulative monster you have made me out to be. Those who know my husband know that he is not a spineless man who caves in to the whims of his overly demanding wife. And those who do not know us do not matter to us; they can think what they like.

We know what happened, oh so long ago. We know who was responsible. We know that the apology which we deserve will never come. We accept that. The world continues to turn; the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. You are who you are; a part of our past and a learning experience for us. Our present and future are absent of you. We do not feel deprived.

We wish you peace.

Finally!

I finally got 100% on a quiz! Yippee!! Hooray!!! Woohoo!!!! (I am such a geek.)

So, 3 of 5 quizzes complete, and I've only lost 2% of my final grade so far. I have listened to the audio lectures for Module 1, so now I have to complete the audio lectures for the remainder of the modules. (There are a total of 10 modules, and each has a total of 3 hours of audio lectures; I'm just completing Module 6 now, so I have a fair bit of catching up to do there. And the more I listen to the lectures, the more my instructor sounds like Grover; I kid you not.) I also have to run the "Interactive Demonstrations" for Modules 1 and 3, and work the self-test problems for each module.

But, while I work towards all of that, I must also complete Modules 7 & 8 in the next 2 weeks. My next quiz is due in just over 2 weeks' time. Then one more quiz after that on Modules 9 & 10, 2 weeks after that. And then I'm into full throttle exam review to prepare for the FINAL EXAM on November 30. Eek!

I don't quite recall how I managed to keep up with the first course I took. Oh, right! I didn't have a child then! I'd forgotten.

On the subject of said child, he seems to like his barley cereal a bit better than he enjoyed the rice. He ate more of it this morning. He let me get some sleep last night, which was very nice. But he is quite insistent that it is now playtime. I hope he will go down for a nap in a bit. I need to wash his diapers, do some dishes, dust, clean the ensuite, study ... I don't think I'll get through my list today, but I aim to try.

Barley the Dinosaur

Breakfast is far more fun when H is at home to participate.

Today, J tried barley cereal. He wasn't too keen on it. H sat across from J and ate a bowl of Cheerios again. (He also made J laugh and, while the mouth was open, I tried putting the spoon in so J would get more. J didn't like that. We won't try it again.) J didn't even want to feed himself this morning. But we did get about half the bowl into him anwyay.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, H started telling J all about "Barley and Friends". Stories are entertaining for H and I, even if they do nothing to convince J to eat his cereal.

H: Then Barley the Dinosaur said "I've had enough!" so he left to become a Monk in Siberia.

Eureka!

J has now figured out that baths are fun!!

We gave him his bath tonight, and he played happily in the tub. It was his first time in the "big tub", as opposed to his smaller sized baby bathtub. He is big enough now and has enough upper body control to be in the larger tub. So we put his tub sling in there and gave him a nice bubble bath, complete with a little rubber ducky for him to play with. He smiled and played happily, kicking his little feet about merrily. There were no tears at all. (We got pictures. I'll post them ... hopefully tomorrow.)

Then we wrapped him in his little hooded towel, gave him his massage, got him dressed in a nice warm sleeper, fed him, gave him his vitamin drops, read him a story from the treasured "Little Bear" book, and put him to bed.

Also on the subject of "Eureka!":

This morning, J ate nearly all of his cereal!!

I have figured out that at least part of the problem is that my baby wants to exercise his independence and feed himself, rather than having us do it for him. So I put the cereal on his little plastic spoon and gave it to him to play with, and he promptly put it in his mouth and ate it. I kept doing it this way. He missed his mouth a few times, but yes, he successfully fed himself most of his breakfast.

Whatever works, I suppose.

Late. Tired now. Everyone else is asleep. No more school work tonight. Bed. zzzzzzz...

Things I Learned Today

1. J may have hated baths, but he loves swimming pools.
   
   J had his first swim class today. H had to miss it, since he had to work. J and I went together. J's little friends, Andraya, Izzy and Gemma were all in the same class. J learned floating on his tummy. He thought that was lots of fun, and he even kicked his little feet. He didn't quite get as into it with his arms, and he just sort of put them out to the sides as though he were an airplane and didn't splash.
   
   He wasn't particularly fond of floating on his back, especially when he got water in his ears. And he wasn't pleased with being cold and wet and back in the change rooms after swimming class. But he did behave very well today, really enjoyed playing in the pool, and made me so very happy.
   
   It was also lots of fun for me to spend time with theatre mommy and va1kyrie today. Good friends always make for a good time!
   
   
2. Paul is allergic to nuts, and can't even be near the smell without feeling sick.
   
   And I really should have known better, too. Especially after he asked the waitress not to bring peanut butter to the table. Apparently, my brain did not function at an appropriate capacity today. I thought he was just nervous he might come into contact with peanut butter if the kids were playing around; I truly didn't realize that the smell factor was a concern.
   
   Anyway, I'm sorry, Paul. And I promise that I won't order anything peanut-ty again when you are in the room. I hope you are feeling okay.
   
   
3. H is a wonderful husband and father, and I need to learn to cut him some slack when he has an off day or so.
   
   I really do know this, but I need to be reminded from time to time. When H is tired, he isn't as helpful as usual (which is a pretty normal trait of most people). But I need to remember how wonderful he is when he is functioning at full capacity. When he has those off days, he sure feels badly after the fact. And he really does make it up to me. I'm just an impatient person, and it is hard for me to go through it at the time. Especially when I am so busy these days.
   
   H was extremely helpful to me tonight. This was really great, since I have a headache and had a lot of work to do. It was so nice to have H take J and the house well in hand when he got home from work.
   
   I love my husband so very much! He is a wonderful man.
   
   
4. Interest rates are a big pain.
   
   When dealing with notes payable and receivable, apparently if the stated rate is different from the market rate, the stated rate is used to determine cash interest payments, while the market rate is used to determine values, interest revenue and interest expense.
   
   Not too hard, really. Interesting tidbit to keep in mind. It's bound to come up on the exam. (I hope I can keep all of these interesting tidbits in my head. There are many of them, and my flash cards are quite daunting these days.)
   
   Once again, it is very helpful to be able to plug all of the information from a problem into a financial calculator. But you still need to know all the rules, since the financial calculator can't read and decipher the question.
   
   Note to self: remember all the rules.
   
   Ah, if only it were that easy...

Taking a Break

If I listen for long enough, my course lecturer eventually starts to sound kind of like Grover. If I imagine Grover delivering the lecture, it actually becomes far more entertaining. But I can't stand listening to the lectures for all that long. That is unfortunate. I need to listen to the lectures and do the review problems so that I can stay on top of the class. And I already find myself a bit behind the 8-ball on those things. I have some catching up to do on lectures and review problems. A lot of catching up to do, actually. I'm getting quite freaked out about it. I should be studying right now, but I've been going for a couple of hours now and need a bit of a break.

******************
On another note, tonight some jackass on the Ave nearly sheared off my half of the car. Here's how it went down.

A vehicle turned right from a red light without the driver (we shall simply refer to him as "Mr. Blind" for the sake of convenience) first stopping (or even apparently looking), and cut us off. H was not able to stop our car in time, so he quickly moved over into the next lane. He would have needed to do this anyway, as there were parked cars ahead. Quick thinking, but not a big deal. So far.

Then, when Mr. Blind immediately found himself about to strike a parked car, he decided to change lanes. Suddenly. Without signalling or shoulder checking. Directly into our passenger door.

Again unable to stop, H moved as far to the left as he could without hitting the vehicle beside us and, at the same time, hit the horn so as to alert Mr. Blind to the fact that we were directly beside him. Mr. Blind ignored the horn and continued unabated, and we briefly found ourselves precariously driving three abreast in two lanes of traffic. That is, of course, until Mr. Blind got so close to our car that he actually struck our mirror. Then, he decided that his game of chicken was perhaps a tad too risky.

As we pulled into a parking lot, Mr. Blind followed us. I was amazed; I thought for sure he would continue with his traffic violations and leave the scene. H got out of the car (ready to beat Mr. Blind to a pulp, by this time). Mr. Blind meekly apologized for his stupidity, and then they surveyed the two vehicles. Fortunately, there was no damage to either car. (Thank heaven for spring-loaded mirrors. I gather Mr. Blind's mirror was what hit ours, and the two mirrors survived the impact.)

So no harm done. The car is safe. We are all safe. But we were pretty ticked about the whole thing, and we aren't sure who this guy paid off to get his driver's license.

****************
Back to the books now.

And the award for "Stupidest Non Sequitur" goes to...

...this sentence: "Katie will be having a drug-free birth, because Tom is a Scientologist".

I really don't see what one has to do with the other. When Tom tries to pass a pot roast out his butt, then Tom will be able to dictate what type of birth Tom would prefer. Is Katie a Scientologist? No? Then how does this affect her decision on how she will be handling her pain in childbirth?

No pain medication now, dear. And don't scream either. It's against someone else's religion. Yeah, sure. Childbirth as a beautiful, still experience, huh? Gimme a break!

The other night, I had a dream. I dreamed that I was in a Tom Cruise movie. As part of the script, I was to beat him about the head with a 2x4. (A real 2x4, and no stunt double either.) I awoke, feeling so happy and refreshed!

Blue

I got tired of the pink look of the page. So I switched it to blue. Not an easy task to change the template when you have links that you wish to preserve. I am glad that I first copied my template into a word document so that I could recreate the links. Worked well. But I don't think I'll be changing it again any time soon.

Blue is appropriate anyway. It is the favorite color of both H and myself. I think I like the page better this way. We shall see!

Now, for a rousing round of "We Don't Know Your Debtor"

We don't know your debtor, so stop calling.
We don't know your debtor, for the third time in a week.
You can call throughout the year,
But there will be no "Michael" here.
And the fact that our surname's creative
Doesn't mean we're all related.
(We concur that it's unique,
But we aren't the one you seek.)
We don't know your debtor.
We don't know your debtor.
We don't know your debtor, and we're calling the police.

*****************
Seriously, folks. Three times now. And she sounded so surprised when I said that we didn't know him. For. The. Third. Time.

Honestly, the shared last name is just a terrible coincidence. Hardly a big one, either. I mean, if our last name was "Smith", no one would question it. It would not be assumed that we were somehow connected to every other "Smith" in North America.

Anyway, I toasted the skip tracer. And I asked her not to phone here again. I hope that will do the trick; if not, we may need to file a formal complaint. (Fortunately, my years of experience working in a collection agency mean that I know exactly how to do that.)

H takes liberties with story-time

H was reading J "Birthday Soup", which is one of the short stories from my old "Little Bear" book. (I should add that this is a first edition hard cover copy of the first "Little Bear" book, and a favorite of mine from when I was little. Special stories!)

In "Birthday Soup", all of the little animals come to Little Bear's birthday party, and Little Bear makes Birthday Soup for them out of various vegetables, since he doesn't realize his mother has baked him a surprise birthday cake. As they come in, they each say "My something smells good. Is it in the big black pot?" and then Little Bear tells them that he is making Birthday Soup and invites them to stay and have some.

Well, H got as far as the Duck before taking liberties with the story.

H (reading to J): "My, something smells good. Is it in the big black pot?" says Duck. "Yes!" says Little Bear, and he pushes the duck in.

I laughed. That is, of course, not how the story goes. But I don't think J will be scarred for life, so it's okay.

Take Them Out - A Haiku

Tonsillitis back.
Doctors will not take them out.
Very, very sick.

How to annoy me - Part 2

Operate your vehicle on the Freeway while reading a magazine, balanced on your steering wheel. Drive slower than the speed limit, so as not to bounce around too much; makes it harder to read that way.

How to annoy me

After I tell you that I don't know the person you are calling for, phone me back two business days later and ask again. Perhaps I'll remember him by that time. (This is particularly effective if both calls come hideously early in the day. Like around 7:00 a.m.) Even if the last name is unique, it doesn't mean we're all related, so stop it. I do not know him. I've told you that. And I don't particularly care if he owes you money, so knock it off.

J's first Thanksgiving - and more on the cereal

This morning, J ate some of his cereal. He still didn't finish the small portion in his bowl, but he did eat. Thank you all for the tips.

I fed J, burped him, and waited about 45 minutes, until he started acting kind of hungry again. Then H got himself a bowl of Cheerios so he could eat breakfast with his son. I tried putting some of J's rice cereal on my finger and letting him suck so he would get the taste. (Thank you va1kyrie for that suggestion; he didn't seem to mind it as much that way.) And then H sat next to him and demonstrated eating with a spoon. J stared at his daddy. Then I tried offering J some of his cereal from the little silver spoon, and found him to be more responsive.

Now, he didn't open wide to eagerly accept his cereal or anything like that, but he did take some of it in. He took about half the serving I'd gotten ready for him. It wasn't much, but it was certainly better. And shortly after he finished with the cereal, he filled up with more breastmilk.

Maybe I just have a baby who wants the milk for dessert. Who knows?

************
J's first Thanksgiving Monday was very nice. We went to C&L's place for a wonderful turkey dinner. We took baked acorn squash with us. (Yum!) L made her first turkey. She cooked a wonderful meal that we really enjoyed.

We amused ourselves after dinner by telling riddles. I enjoy a good riddle, and many were told tonight. It was lots of fun.

J slept through most of the evening. I suspect he is going through a growth spurt. He sure is tired. On a bright note, he hasn't vomitted in a few days. But he still has a bit of a cough. He will be seen for his 6 month checkup on Wednesday, so I'll mention it to the doc then.

************
I worked through some more of my course and am slowly grasping more of it.

Words of wisdom: Never take a financial accounting course without equipping yourself with a financial calculator. Sure, you can figure out the problems manually, but why anyone would want to is beyond me. The calculator makes it so much quicker and easier. And with the limited time given to write exams, we need all the shortcuts we can get. (I bring this up because it seems many of my classmates do not yet have financial calculators, and they are running into trouble as a result.)

************
J is sleeping peacefully in my arms. He has the right idea; it is late. I'm going to knock off my studying for the night and go to sleep now.

J has something to add

[0p[kmkkkkm, 8hgbvbuj
////. dvc o esdaaaaaaaaaadeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeecx v c vvvvvvv vfb v bbbbbb bnhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh6fnn, d mkivc ddddddddc b b

I hate my course.

It makes me feel like an idiot.

What am I doing wrong?

Two days in a row, and J has no interest in rice cereal. No interest. Whatsoever. None.

He wakes up in the morning (I've been told morning is the best time to introduce the cereal to him). We change him into a clean dry diaper, and then I feed him and burp him; all advice I have received says to do this first. (Cereal is supposed to supplement his regular milk, not replace it, so feed him first). Then he goes into his high chair with his plastic froggy bib with the big scoop at the bottom, and I give him a little plastic spoon to play with. He plays happily there, chewing on his bib and his little spoon, while I mix up his rice cereal.

I mix it up in his froggy cereal bowl with freshly expressed milk to a thin, watery consistency, just like the books say (watery applesauce, they say; I even saw a dietician do it at NMN, so I know it's the right consistency). I check the temperature and then warm it slightly until it is a nice lukewarm. I stir it all up and check the temperature again. It is perfect. Then I bring his little froggy bowl over to him, with the little silver spoon his Auntie gave him, and I sit down and get ready to feed him.

And through all this, he plays happily in his highchair, putting his little plastic spoon in his wide open mouth, and he talks to me, telling me all about his night.

I take the little silver spoon that is just the perfect size for his sweet little baby mouth. I put a bit of rice cereal on the end, and I hold it up to his mouth. He sees the spoon coming, and suddenly clamps his mouth tight shut. But he gets a bit of the taste from the end of the spoon. He cries. I try to give him a little bit more. He screams and pushes the cereal out of his mouth. Maybe two more attempts, and I am forced to concede defeat. (Don't force the issue; you'll turn him off solids completely.)

He is sobbing by now. I put the bowl down, take him out of his high chair, and cuddle him. And he is happy again. Holding him in one hand, I rinse the bowl, spoons and bib with the other. (I will wash them properly later, when I don't have a baby in my arms.)

I feel discouraged. If he won't eat his cereal, I am going to have to get him started on iron supplements. He is over 6 months old now and, according to all the literature, his iron stores are becoming depleted. But he simply will not eat his cereal, and I don't know what to do about it.

I'm really not sure if it is normal for him to be quite this deeply uninterested in solids.

Driver Training

To all the drivers on our city streets who feel that driver training is somehow beneath them:

When you come upon an intersection and the lights are out, and there is now a red flashing light in all directions, that means that you have reached a 4-way stop. It does not mean that you have the right of way at all times, because you are so much more special than all the other drivers on the road. Stop your car and wait your turn, you selfish little creep.

When there are two cars ahead of you waiting at a red light at which you wish to turn left, you are expected to wait your turn. You are not, under any circumstances, supposed to veer into the oncoming lane of traffic so that you can get ahead of the other cars and make your left turn more quickly. The left lane does not become the right lane just because you happen to be in a hurry this evening, and a head-on collision could kill you and take several innocent parties out also. Please purchase a brain at your corner store.

Traffic going straight has the right of way over traffic turning left from a stop sign. Do not turn left in front of oncoming traffic and cut them off. I don't care that you are driving a bus that could squash my little Chevy in an instant. Just because you can turn my Chevy into a much more compact vehicle doesn't mean you should do so. Now calm down!

Red means stop. Green means go. Do not come to a complete stop at the red light, and then proceed to inch ever so slowly through the intersection, thinking that the light may turn green at any moment. Wait until the colour actually changes, please (Mr. Aforementioned-Bus-Driver).

*****************
We went to my parents' place for Thanksgiving tonight. J slept for most of it, except for those brief moments when he blew raspberries at all who would listen. He is still exhausted from his shots yesterday. R&C's little girl, S, (my 2-year old niece) provided much amusement, though.

R&C: S, do you want to sing the alphabet song?

S: ...

R&C: S, go show Grandma how you can sing the alphabet song!

S: [walking over to Grandma and climbing in her lap] ...

Grandma: S, do you want to sing the alphabet song with me?

S: [loud and emphatic] NO!

To J on his 6 month birthday

My darling baby boy,

I can't believe you are 6 months old already. It's been over 13 months since Mommy and Daddy first got the news that they were going to have a baby. Oh, how happy we were! Mommy wept with joy and phoned Grandma and Auntie Jan right away to tell them. She didn't even care that it was so very early in the morning and she would be waking them up. We were just so excited that we couldn't wait to share our wonderful news! Grandma and Auntie Jan didn't mind having their sleep disturbed. They were just so happy to learn that you were going to be born. There was so much joy and anticipation!

We were going to wait until after the first trimester to tell everybody else about you, but Grannie was going on a trip, so Mommy and Daddy decided that she needed to know about you right away. I remember how we took her out for pizza. When we were sitting down, we presented Grannie with a fridge magnet that read "God couldn't be everywhere, so he made grandmas". Grannie thought we were talking about your cousins down east. Even when Daddy said "You are going to be a grandma again", she didn't pick up on it. Oh, how we laughed when the waitress realized what we were saying and offered her congratulations before Grannie! But once she realized that you were coming into the world, Grannie was happy as could be. She just couldn't contain her joy.

Mommy and Daddy realized right then that their precious secret would not be kept for long. We had to let everyone know you were coming, or someone else would. There was so much joy as each new person heard the news. I remember the big smiles we got when Mommy and Daddy grandly produced two little newborn sleeper outfits they had bought for you the day they found out, and inquired of Uncle Chris and Auntie Lisa, "If you were a baby, which would you rather wear?" Auntie Lisa ran behind the concession counter where Mommy was working to give her a big hug. Similarly, many hugs and congratulations were received at work and from friends. Grannie couldn't keep the news a secret; she was just bursting with excitement. She told Great-Aunt Juliet, and before we knew it, all your Great-Aunts and Uncles knew too. We were all so happy!

I remember it all so clearly, it just doesn't seem possible that it was over a year ago!

Mommy signed up on one of those pregnancy calendar thingies, where they email you once a week to tell you all about your baby's development so far. They kept comparing you to fruit ("This week your baby is the size of a raspberry"). Daddy went out and bought raspberry ice cream to celebrate that one. And when they said that you had little paddles for hands and feet, Daddy started calling you a platypus baby. Oh, the fun Daddy had with it when you developed webbed fingers and toes! And even though Mommy was so horribly nauseous, even right away, she couldn't believe her good fortune. Morning sickness felt like winning the lottery, Mommy felt so very lucky.

You gave Mommy and Daddy a lot of scares along the way. Daddy used to joke about it; he said that once you were born he was going to periodically sneak up on you and shout "BOO!", just to get back at you for scaring us so often. (He did scare you playing "peek-a-boo" one morning, but he assures me it was unintentional.) Mommy had a lot of ultrasounds, and long periods of bed rest, and many trips to the hospital to make sure you were still okay. In one of the earlier ultrasounds, Mommy and Daddy could see you already sucking the little stub that would become your thumb!

And then, on December 1, 2004, your placenta started to pull away, and Mommy thought she was going to lose you. I have never been so scared in my life. Two of my coworkers immediately rushed me to Emergency. Daddy met me at Emergency, and we spent the whole day there just praying for all we were worth that God would spare you and bring you into the world safely. Grandma and Grandpa and all the good people from their church prayed for you also. And their friends started praying too. So many people were praying for your safe arrival. And I guess God heard all our prayers, because here you are today. But after that episode, even more ultrasounds were needed. Here you are, being all dramatic on the morning of December 15:


Mommy thought your bone structure resembled Auntie Holly's here, and she called her to tell her so. Auntie Holly was thrilled!

Mommy spent a lot of time on bedrest. Daddy was such a strength and support through it all. He worked all day and handled everything at the house as well. And he cared for you and Mommy so very well, making meals and helping Mommy when she would get sick. Once the morning sickness left, it was replaced with horrible reflux, and Daddy would have to go downstairs many times a night to get Mommy milk to help her feel better. Eventually, Mommy and Daddy learned, and a cooler was placed by the bed so Mommy could help herself during the night.

The family all pitched in and helped as much as they could too. Daddy, Uncle Chris, Grandpa and Grandma all went to town and decorated your bedroom, and Auntie Jan planned your quilt. Mommy spent a lot of time knitting your little orange blankie that you take everywhere. She received a lot of directions from Auntie Jan, because Mommy is not the best knitter. But she is proud of the fact that she completed it all by herself and Auntie Jan did not have to finish it for you. Daddy went out on his own and bought your little bassinet that you slept in for your first four or so months. And Nana brought up your change table all the way from Calgary. We were ready, and still just hoping and praying for your safe arrival.

Then suddenly, you were here. You were early, and you were small and jaundiced, but you were here. Healthy and safe. Mommy and Daddy fell in love with you as soon as they laid eyes on you. We'd spent so much time loving you and praying for you, wanting you here, hoping you'd wait, feeling your sweet little kicks from in Mommy's tummy, reading Dr. Seuss to you. We already knew you, and it was a dream come true to hold you in our arms and know that you were okay.

Mommy loves holding you in her arms now, but a big part of her still misses feeling your little kicks in her tummy. You could knock the wind right out of her. On more than one occasion, you kicked the book she was reading off of her and onto the floor! Daddy used to come and put his hand on Mommy's tummy to feel your kicks, and he was so happy when he would feel you fluttering away in there.

You were only 5 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long at birth. You were tongue-tied and colicky, and you didn't gain weight very quickly. You cried all the time! We spent a great deal of our budget on gasoline, driving you around to calm you. But we loved you so very much and did all we could for you. We got your tongue-tie fixed, went to the breastfeeding clinic to learn better techniques for feeding you, and started you on a healthier weight gain. We had your hearing checked when we realized that you didn't react to loud noises; we were very relieved to learn that you can hear perfectly and that you were just ignoring us, a skill we are sure will serve you well into your teen years. We took you in regularly for your immunizations and doctor's appointments, read to you, sang to you, and introduced you to the cats. We snuggled you and played with you, washed your laundry and comforted you when you were sad. We have loved every moment of it!

And now today, here you are. 6 months old! You can roll over all by yourself, and you grab and hold things (especially Monkey and your sucky-thing). You have favorite toys: your Monkey, rings, bedtime Pooh, your exersaucer. You have wonderful neck control and are trying to sit up on your own. You are getting teeth, though they haven't emerged yet. You reach for toys that you want, and you enjoy being sung to and playing peek-a-boo. You smile in your sleep when Mommy sings you "Love You Forever", and you enjoy "The Seals on the Bus" at playtime.

You weigh 14 lbs 6-1/2 oz today, and you are over 2 feet tall! You are so big now! We have had to start putting your clothes away as you outgrow them. You make noises - "Hi", "Ga" and of course, your favorite "Thbbbbt!" Today, you had your 6 month immunization. You sat on Mommy's lap and blew big raspberries at the nurse, and when you got your shots, you cried only briefly. Then Mommy cuddled you and you calmed down, like the big boy you are. Mommy was so very proud of you.

I love you so very much. I love you more than I ever thought was possible, and I want all good things for you. I pray for you every day and every night, that God will keep you safe and protect you, and that Mommy and Daddy will be given strength and wisdom in your upbringing. I wish for you to have the very best life, to be good and kind, strong of spirit and sweet-natured. To grow up to be the person you were meant to be.

We thank God every day for the tremendous gift that he gave us in you. It is Thanksgiving this weekend, my sweet little man, and a perfect time to reflect on you, the greatest gift I have ever received. I am so thankful to have you in my life. I am so very proud of you. Every new thing you do brings Mommy and Daddy such tremendous delight. You are the absolute brightest light in our lives. Your beautiful smile brings us such joy, your tears make us weep, and your many noises make us laugh.

I know that this letter is long, and I still don't think it has done you justice. I love you more than mere words can say. I would do anything for you; you are my best little friend, and I delight in you. I am so proud of the boy you are growing up to be.

I love you even when you throw up on me. Like now. And so I must end this letter and go get cleaned up now.

I would like you to always remember how very special you are, how wanted you were, and how very, very loved you are, my sweet precious angel.

Love you forever,

Mommy

xoxoxoxoxoxo

New Moms Network, et al

Last NMN session today. It was cold out this morning, and I had to scrape the windows. I decided J should go into his snowsuit for the first time, because I wanted to make sure he stayed nice and warm for the trip out.

J looks like a little starfish in his snowsuit. It was very precious! I didn't manage to get a picture of him in it, but I will next time.

Went to new moms network. J usually naps a bit there, but today, he decided he would be active. Today's speaker was from the library. She talked about all the books we could read to our children, and she had brought an assortment of them with her. As she talked and passed the books around the room, J perched on my knee blowing raspberries at her throughout her entire presentation. (Apparently, J is also a literary/public speaking critic. I am not certain whether it was the presentation or the books themselves that he objected to.)

When he appeared to want down, I laid him down on the mat on top of his blankie. He and another little girl, Jenna, tried to trade toys; she wanted Monkey, and he wanted her ladybug teether toy. He kept trying to roll over and grab it.

At the end of the session, we got little certificates which were completed by placing a footprint of our babies in the corner. They were yellow. J didn't really mind getting the paint on his foot, but he was most unimpressed with having it washed off in the bathroom after. He still isn't much of a waterbaby. But it is still a very nice keepsake, and I will put it in his scrapbook.

Then we had treats. J was still really squirmy, so I couldn't put him down. I got a plate together while holding him, and he tried to upend the entire plate onto my shirt. Thankfully, anything messy was firmly attached to the plate, and he didn't get it all over me. He cried at his foiled attempts to cover me in food.

He is still teething like mad. Had Tylenol and Anbesol today. Would not nap with ease and needed encouragement. Needed many, many snuggles. Woke up screaming and needed much consoling. Poor little man!

Otherwise, an uneventful day. Had a nice chat with theatre_mommy. Learned more about using my financial calculator (apparently, you need a degree from MIT to figure it out in its entirety). Not much time for study today, but it's a short module this week and next, so not to worry; I'll make it up.

Gripe of the Day: Driver Training 101

Took J for a drive tonight to console him for awhile. Bad drivers on the road; we were nearly killed. And so...

When passing parked cars, please speed up or slow down to get in the next lane over. Do not lane split and drive down the middle of 2 lanes nearly shearing off the passenger side of my car, you brilliant and privileged thing, you. You won't get there any faster in your body bag; trust me.

Also, people who smoke while driving annoy me. Especially when they flick their ashes out their windows onto my car rather than using their rather conveniently located ashtrays. And especially when they utilize this technique by crossing their right hands over their left arms while operating their vehicles at high speeds down the Freeway. This technique has killed people before. Trust me; I know. (But in his defence, I'm sure his left hand was already occupied by his cell phone.) Both hands on the wheel, people! At least one, though! Please don't steer with your knees!

And today I learned: there are many, many drivers on our streets who do not know what to do when confronted by an emergency vehicle. What do you do??

Please, if you're going to cause an accident, don't take me with you. Just drive into a pole or something.

My son, the music critic

Me: [singing to J during early morning diaper change] "You are so beautiful to me, can't you see?"

J: "Thbbbbbbbbt!"

Failed Ad Campaigns - #5

Failed Ad Campaign #5: The Kleenex "Pick a Winner" Contest

Boogers could be judged on both size and uniqueness of appearance. Bonus points could be awarded to those resembling celebrities. The winner would receive a year's supply of Kleenex.

The wonderful and talented J

J has a hat.

It is a cute hat. It is blue and fleecy, with a puppy dog's face on the front. It has big, floppy, dark blue ears that stick up on either side of J's head. It matches his blue fleecy outfit, which has a puppy dog's face on the body (complete with the big, floppy ears and also with little paws that stick out at the sides). The outfit has built in feet, which also have the puppy dog's face and stick-up ears on them.

He looks adorable in his cute little outfit.

I got J all dressed up, and he and I went out this morning. By the time we got to our destination, J had pulled off his hat and was using it as a hand puppet. (And then as a chew toy, but the hand puppet thing was really sweet!)

H, J and I all went out tonight for a bit of a drive. On returning home, we discovered that little J had managed to turn his hat completely around so that the face was in the back. This was a pretty amazing feat, since he was in his car seat the whole time. But I swear he did it. Before we left for our drive, I snapped a picture of J in the hat, and the puppy's face was toward the front.

I can't figure it out.

I'll try and get some pictures up later this week. Hopefully I will manage. We shall see!

Suggested new logo

This seems appropriate, somehow.

Less than 30

Less than 30 thank-you cards to go now. I hope to be done soon, but somehow, I doubt this will happen. I do procrastinate horribly. But also, and more to the point, I am just terribly busy these days. I try.

Less than 30 days since my friends lost their little boy. I have not been able to speak with them yet; I don't know what to say. I have finally gotten a sympathy card in the mail to them. It was hard enough to get up the strength to write that, but I know it is important. I should have mustered my strength earlier, I know. It's late. I couldn't wait any longer, or it would have been really inappropriate. Hard to think about it, though. Still very sad.

Less than 30 minutes until H is home from work. That will be good.

******************
J has been sleepy today. His teeth are really bugging him, and he hasn't slept well for a few days now. Seems it has finally caught up with him. I hope he sleeps well tonight also.

I got a bit of studying done while J slept today, but not too much. I just couldn't concentrate well. Ear infection and really tired; makes it hard to focus. I do what I can.

I have to get into the office this week. I went on Friday for a bit of a visit, but the partners were all away at a meeting, so I didn't get to see all the people I need to see. I'll try going tomorrow, after new moms network, if J will cooperate.

Tomorrow is the last new moms network meeting. I will miss it. I hope arrangements will be made for us to continue on. It has been really helpful.

Enough blogging now. Other things to attend to. Back to work I go.

Thus far ...

... well, let's see...

J finally fell asleep at around 2 a.m. Woke up through the night and woke us up into the bargain. Numerous changes and feeds later...

J woke up at his usual time, looking for another change and feed. I changed and fed him, hoping he would go back down afterwards. After all, I reasoned, we had the same kind of night; he must be just as tired as I am.

Finished feeding him. Held him up for burping. Heard him poop. And at the same time, he threw up (not spit up, but throw up) all over the bed!

Stripped the sheets, changed the baby, put him back in his crib, changed my clothes, washed the sheets. Came back upstairs. Heard J start to cry. Went to check on him.

He had been playing (not sleeping) and had once again handcuffed himself together with his plastic rings.

Picked him up, got him unstuck. He spit up on me, then pooped again. I changed him again. Didn't even bother with myself this time; what's the point?

He now sits in my lap, chewing his fingers and telling me all about his night. I know about his night; I was there. But I love him, so will let him tell me again in his own words. Soon, he will drift off, cuddling in my arms, and I'll hopefully be able to put him down and get some work done. No more time for sleep today, I'm afraid.

Must do housework this morning; people are coming over. Must start Module 5 of course today. Must beat senseless the smugly self-satisfied, childless (I know because of earlier intros), prissy little classmate who went online to the Student Lounge last night to place a comment into one of the threads from all the moms struggling with the course, to inform us of how brilliant she is. Her post even came complete with the smug smiley face.



I genuflect in her general direction.

Mental note: when successful, be proud of yourself, but don't rub it in. I feel somewhat pleased by the fact that she made 11 spelling and grammatical errors in her two sentence post.

Just a day

J has been crabby today. Really crabby today. Teething. He is irritable. Poor little man! (I'm exhausted.)

I got through my ethics reading. I find ethics readings particularly annoying. No one needs to tell me that morals and honesty are good and necessary, so having it drummed into me through numerous 20+ page readings bugs me. But it is required reading, so I oblige. Must get more studying done tomorrow.

Both my sister and J's Memaw are coming by tomorrow to visit. I must tidy up my house before they arrive. I do hope they come at different times.

Attended a play reading tonight, and it went very well. I have been given some really good ideas on changes to make to the script, and have already begun. It's my first play, so it was not anticipated that it would be problem free. But I am glad that it has a good starting point. A bit more work, and hopefully I will have something to be proud of.

J cried through pretty much the whole reading. I wish J were happier. Sometimes when he fusses so much, I think I'm doing something wrong and I feel like an incompetent mother. I love him so, and I want him to be happy. It hurts me terribly to see him so sad.

I need a good cry.

Geez! Conspiracy much?

Studying. Doing my ethics reading.

Apparently, economist Milton Friedman said:

"Businessmen who talk this way are unwitting puppets of the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society these past decades".

A bit harsh, isn't it? Hard to take him seriously now.

Also: Pretentious much?

Who uses the word "eleemosynary" anyway?? And who knows what it means?

eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\, adjective:
1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary institution."
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms; as, "eleemosynary assistance."
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as, "the eleemosynary poor."

I should not have to stop in my readings to look up a term in order to learn that a writer is discussing a charity!!

(mutter, mutter, mutter...)

Family Portrait

Picked up our family portrait from Sears today.


Someone is soooo getting fired!

Nice Morning

J didn't sleep very well last night. And he awoke bright and early this morning and didn't want to go back to sleep. He's not wanting to eat a great deal today; I think his mouth hurts from the teething. He seems to just want cuddles. But earlier this morning, he didn't even want that. He was hard to please, to say the least. He forced us to get up bright and early (well, dark and early actually), and insisted it was time we got up for the day!

I changed his diaper, and he finally managed to get a foot into his mouth. (Cute little toe-sucking baby! Wish'd I'd had my camera handy.) Fun story: When H changed him earlier, he found that I had accidentally done up the diaper with the peepee teepee still inside. No harm done, but it shows how tired I was at the previous diaper change. At least I remembered the plastic pants; H has forgotten those before in the dead-of-night changes.

J has spat up several times today. Quite a bit, too. He's about to be put in outfit#3, and then we are going to see if we can get our car's rear defroster fixed. I hope it won't be too costly. When we get home, I'll do the laundry and then some homework.

While attempting to keep J entertained and happy this morning, I played with MS Paint for a bit. Hard to manipulate the pencil drawing tool well, but J likes to watch characters form on the screen, and sometimes you've got to do whatever will entertain the baby. So here is what I came up with:



Isn't she just lovely?