Nothing of Importance

This is gonna be a quick post to let you know that we are still alive.   It's been a tad bit busy around here lately.

Last week, we had a wonderful visit from Ganma.  Ganma got to visit preschool and get some quality Katie time, I got to eat an entire rack of BBQ ribs made in a slow cooker, and Huzbend got to show off his knowledge of Seattle cuisine by taking us to Mario Batalis fathers butcher/salami shop.  A good time was had by all.

As is usual, Katie learned to say "Ganma" by the end of her stay.  She hasn't stopped talking about her since.  Whenever she hears a plane overhead the conversation goes something like this, "Ganma!  Plane.  Shooooooooosh (plane sound).  Sky.  Moon.  Home.  Mickey.  Hug."  I told Katie that Ganma had to go Bye-Bye in a plane to go back home.  And being a polite Ganma on a plane, she waved to the moon.  I also told her that Ganma lives right near Mickey Mouse and that she would give him a big hug.  She loves that story.

On Saturday, I got to watch Katie and Daddy participate in their swimming class.  It was just about the cutest thing ever.  They had such a good time splashing around in the pool.  Their swim lessons also happen to be held in the ritziest gym I have ever been in.  You kinda have to see it to believe it.  The women's locker room is larger than our house and had this Roman bath type atmosphere.  It's surreal.

I have to go back to the dentist on Thursday.  I have a bar attached to the back of my bottom teeth to keep them straight.  Part of the cement holding the bar broke off.  Sigh.

I have also been asked by our classes coordinator if I could help her out and write another article for our preschool monthly newsletter.  It's due on Sunday.  I haven't started it yet.  I really gotta get going on that.

I also love Chicken Pot Pie.  LOVE IT.  I think that it might be just as good as eggplant parmesan.  Really.  We had it for dinner on Sunday.  Then I had the leftovers for lunch yesterday and today.  Sadly, I have eaten it all.

Words

Katie here.

  

This is for my cuzzin, Joey.  From the videos I've seen, he's already working on that vocalization stuff.  So, words are the next thing to come.

What better way to learn new words than from my Totally Important Words That You Need To Know Flash Cards.  They only cost $19.95 (plus shipping and handling).  Oh yeah, and be sure to make your check out to "Baybee K.T. Enterprises."

Okay.  Here's a quick sample set.

BAWK

FOOT

BOOTS

WHEEEEE!

BABY

BUTCH

BAGEL

CAR

WATER

SNOW

UP

DOWN

MOMMY

DADDY

HAPPY

I don't watch the news that much anymore.  I find that when I do, I get annoyed by it.

Usually, it's the morning news shows, like GMA, that I'm able to catch because Katie is still asleep.

I remember, last week or the week before, one of the top stories was that Miley Cyrus wasn't wearing a seat belt in her recent docu-movie thingie.  Parents were upset about the influence this would have on their children.

Ugh.  Don't get me started.  Aren't there, like, a million other more important things going on in the world right now besides Hannah Montana and her lack of a brain?

Another point of contention that I have had with the TV news is their need to always find out the "WHY" of things.  For example, "WHY" did that quiet, unassuming kid go on a shooting rampage at the college campus?

I always thought to myself, "Who the "F" cares WHY?  He was obviously "F"ed up and shouldn't be getting any more coverage than is absolutely necessary.  He killed people.  They are dead.  End of story."

That all changed yesterday.  I learned that a man that I used to work with was murdered over the weekend.    

I admit that I really didn't know much about him, even though I worked in the same building as him for about five years.  But, we were a pretty small office, so everyone felt like family after a while. He was shy, but always seemed to have a smile for you.  He didn't speak much English, but was trying really hard to learn.  He also had this laugh, man.  What a laugh.  I have never heard anyone laugh that hard.  Once you got him going, he couldn't stop.  He would be hysterical crying, but STILL laughing at the same time.  He was also really easy to pull practical jokes on.

I've read the newpaper stories about the ongoing case.  They give the latest updates and such. But, I find myself just wondering one thing over and over and over...

Why?

Super Snail Speed

I am in the worst shape of my entire life.

I feel extremely, horribly, totally guilty about it too.  I guess that's why I feel I have to put it down in writing on this here blog.  I could've, should've done a wee bit more in my Katie-free time to get my bod back to into pre-baby shape.  But noooooooooo.  I had to sleep, and clean toilets, and write blogs.  Man, what a dumb-ass I am.

We've had a nice Spring weather preview here in the Great Northwest.  It's been sunny the majority of the week with temps ranging from 50 to 60 degrees.

I decided to head out to The Trail and do a bit of jogging.

Ugh.  There were ducks that were walking faster than I was jogging.  For cripes sake, I should've just hopped in the baby jogger and let Katie push me around.

I jogged a total of 2 miles.  I say "a total", 'cause there was quite a bit of walking going on.  And when I mean walking, I mean w-a-l-k-i-n-g.  Slowly.

On second thought, I wouldn't really call it a jog.  Maybe a really fast foot shuffling.

Oh boy.  Tomorrow I am gonna be SOOOOOO sore.  What the hell was I thinking?

Just Words

I know there are some of you out there (and you know who you are) that just look for entries with pictures or video of Katie.

  

Does that mean that you just pass the other entries by?  Do you turn your nose up at my hard thought out discourses, as Huzbend would do to a dessert buffet table?  Do you at least skim them for any nuggets of knowledge that I may pass on?  I could have told you the meaning of life (which I DO know, by the way) back in October of last year and you wouldn't even know it.

You're probably not even reading this right now.

Katie has a rash.  It started as diaper rash on Sunday and then on Monday it became a bunch of red spots.  Those red spots spread from her butt to her knees and are now popping up in her elbow pits and on her wrists.  Today, I took her to the doctor.

I explained what we did on Sunday (a big hike, diaper changes in the back of the truck, old wipies that weren't as moist as they should be, and lots of kitty hugging/kissing/petting).  They took her temp, looked in her ears, examined the rash and had NO CLUE what caused it.  

They told me to get Benadryl and cortisone cream for her and to call them in 3-4 days if it didn't get better.

Sigh.

After trying all morning to figure out the stupid dosage for the Benadryl and dealing with a cranky Katie, I decided to head out to the local playground.  I needed some fresh air.  

I thought taking Katie might be a good idea too. 

For some reason, toddlers LOVE to slide down a slide and then try to walk back up the slide part.  I have no idea what causes this compulsion.  Maybe it makes sense to them to just stand up at the end of the slide and walk back the way they came.  Don't know.

And so it was that Katie tried to do that very thing.  I told her that in order to go down the slide again she needed to use the stairs.  She kept trying to walk up the slide.  I picked her up, placed her in front of the stairs and said in my Mommy voice, "Katie, you need to use the stairs please."

"NO!"

I asked her again and again I got a, "NO!"  This was followed by a nice loud cry.  It didn't last long.  She got distracted by a dinosaur thingie across the way. Lucky me.

When we got home, I asked Katie if she was tired.  She pointed up the stairs and said, "NAP!". She climbed up the stairs, grabbed her blankets, helped put her "guys" in the crib and then fell fast asleep.

I guess that makes up for the whole "NO" thing.   

Happy Heart Day

I forgot to send out Valentine's Day cards.

  

I went out and bought them.  I really did.  They're sitting right here in front of me.  They have a cute little teddy bear hugging a heart on them.

Please accept this blog entry in lieu of a paper card received through the mail.

  

Yeah.  This is a "Green" Valentine's Day.  That's it.  Environmentally friendly. Yeah. That's the ticket.

Sneaky Huzbend got us some prezzies.

As usual, I didn't get him anything.

I've come up with something.

I just hope that it's, uh, shall we say,

comestible. 

 

Katie got a dolly camping set.  Hiker Girl, tent and squirrel included.

I nabbed a nice shirt and some yummy Chukar chocolate

covered cherries.  Mmmmmmm.

Katie liked Valentine's Day.

After opening her AND my present she had this to say.....

"MORE." 

More. More.

Here's a little somethin' to help put a smile on your face.

You've been quite down lately.  Kick back and relax, my weary friend.

Who doesn't enjoy watching a giggling toddler sledding down a driveway?

Super Boogie Sunday

We didn't watch the SuperBowl on Sunday.  I know.  We're weird.  We're, like, lame-ass parental units now. 

Anyways, in the past we would just watch for the commercials. Now, you can just wait until the day after and check them all out on YouTube.  Da internets is very niiiiiiiccccceeeee.

Just in case it happened to be a good game we decided to LISTEN to the last quarter.  As luck would have it, it WAS a good game.

I'm sorry to all you Pats fans out there.  Really, I am.  I've worked with some of you, some of you are my friends, some of you are even relatives and I feel your pain.  But..... HOOOORRRAAAYYY GIANTS!

Come on now.  There's nothin' like havin' the underdog come back with, like, a minute to go and win the game.  Nothin'.  You know it.

This weekend was our anniversary.  Something like 100 years together or whatever.  We had plans to go out on a "date".  It was going to be a fancy lunch and then maybe a movie.  Katie was going to hang out at a local child care facility.  But, alas, our daughter had the boogies a-flowin' and we decided we would be nice and not pass the sickness along. 

We went out for a quick lunch as a family and then chilled out at home for the rest of the day.  It was actually kind of nice.

Oh yeah, I guess the groundhog saw his shadow.  As the in-house joke goes, "That's 6 more years of marriage."

Ha-Ha.  We are so funny.

January by Katie

And so Christmas was over.  Just like that.  

You know what happens after Christmas in our house?

Video games.

Lots of video games.  

Marathon sessions of video game playing.

Followed by even more video game playing.

Here's me and Daddy playing a little co-op.  I could totally kick his butt.  See how I don't even have to look at the screen to play?  I am THAT good.

After we're done playing Daddy's games, we have to play Katie's games.  Most of the time this includes some form of hat wearing, Monkey and lots of screaming and laughing.

We went on a field trip with my Toddler class this month.  We visited a local fire house. 

Who wouldn't want to be a fireman when you get to watch TV in a cool seat like this?

Oh yeah, we saw fire trucks too.  They were totally AWESOME!

They were big.  And red.  And they go, "Wheee-oooo.  Wheee-oooo."

I bet you didn't know that Monkeys like to drink milk.  They do.  They also prefer it warm and hand fed.

We live in one whacky state.  I don't think it can make up its mind as to what season it wants it to be.  

One weekend we're out enjoying the sun at the playground....

....And the next weekend you get something like this scene below. 

This is snow.  I've seen it before, but not this much of it.  It's cold.  When you touch it, it's yucky. When you eat it, it's yummy.  But the best part about it is going, "Wheeeeeeeeee" down the driveway. 

The "Wheeeeeeeee" is even better when you have a Mommy (or Daddy) to pull the sled all the way back up the driveway for you.  Mush, Mommy, Mush!!!

Do you constantly have to battle the Frizz Monster like I do?  My luxuriously fine hair is prone to states of severe electrical static-dom.  OH BOY, are you in luck. I Katie, have created the first 100% guaranteed fix to this dreadful problem. 

Dudes.  Just put lettuce on your head.  It works every time.  

Now get outta here, you rascals you.  

I gotta take me a bath.

CAKE

For those who care (and there are not many I'm sure) I finished Portal this past weekend.

Total Playing Time: 4 hours and 50 minutes.

Huzbend started playing on Sunday and uh, finished on Sunday.

Total Huzbend Playing Time: Just about 3 hours.

Damn.  I suck.

What else?

What a week it's been and it's only half way over.  Sigh.

Monday started off waiting for Matt the Bug/Mouse Guy.  Finally, we heard a loud knock at the door.  It scared the poopie outta Katie.  I went to open the door for him and she just stood and stared.  He waved at her, she waved back and then sobbed "BYE-BYEEEEEE" and burst into tears.   After she got over her episode, we had to look out all the windows for "MUTT" while he was at "WURK".  Katie assured me that he was "NICE", and then he went "BYE-BYEEE" for good.

Then, at about 4:30, I got a call from Huzbend.  He wanted me to come pick him up from work.  He didn't think he could ride home.  Hmmmmm.  So, we drove down to pick him up. He was nauseous.

At 8:30 he decided to have a bowl of baby oatmeal and puked his guts out in the sink.  Our house is pretty echo-ie, and so the wonderful sound of retching filled the house.  Hooray!  Now, the waiting game begins.  Did Huzbend contract a norovirus (Norwalk Virus/24 hr. stomach bug)?  And if so, will Katie get it?  Will I get it?  They say symptoms emerge within 24 to 48 hours of exposure.  Maybe we'll get lucky and it will skip on by.

Tuesday, I had to get up and go to the dentist.  The dental hygienist tore apart my mouth and then almost drowned me with a fluoride treatment.  She left me there with the fluoride foam in my mouth and no suction.  I didn't want to swallow the stuff, so I had to squish the fluoride out of my mouth using my tongue.  I had fluoride and drool everywhere.  I must have looked like a bubblegum scented rabid animal.  I have to go back in three weeks to have those cavities taken care of.  I can't wait.       

Tuesday afternoon was preschool.  Katie was very clingy and didn't want to play.  Then she just about fell asleep in the playground swing.  Something wasn't right.  We got home and she had a fever.  She didn't want to eat anything and was very fussy the rest of the day.  All night she kept waking up and crying.

Which brings me to today.  Huzbend is recovered and at work.  Katie, although a bit stuffy, seems to be back to normal.  Things seem good.  

I also saw a freakin' bald eagle out of one of my windows today.  He was in a tree across the street.  Forgive the bad camera shot, I had to use a pair of binoculars to get a decent pic of him. But, COME ON, how totally awesome is that?!?!?!