having a quiet night at home. Felix is down for the night. Andrea and Glen are off at an event. i'm finally getting some time to sit and collect my thoughts, have a little "me" time...and I'm wasting it all sitting here writing on my blog :(
Actually, what I'll probably do in the next hour is turn on a show I haven't had time to watch on the way to or from work (I re-encode them for playback on my pocket PC and watch on the train) while i do the dishes.
so, whats happening...I now have library cards for both the Brooklyn public library and the New York public library (see: Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island). I actually have two books on reserve and waiting for me to pick up at the branch three blocks from our house. The problem is, as with most libraries, they're never open during hours that normally employed people can actually visit them (hence the sense that sometimes library target demographic is truant children and the unemployed). I'll pick them up tomorrow, I hope...never know if a library is going to be open on the weekend. I know that the central (Brooklyn) branch is open on weekends, but you never know about the smaller branches. Those are the ones that have hours like 11am-2pm. What? That's not a schedule, that's a friggin nap!
I have finally finished getting the ball rolling to get the house rented out. now the property management company will be doing whatever it does to try and find a renter. I suspect that the $$ for "advertising" is bullshit since they're probably just posting a listing on their own website, but hey, you never know. maybe they do list with newspapers and real estate services, etc. they stand to make more money with people in the house than without. of course, they don't lose anythign by having it empty either. whatever. I'm just hoping that they find a/some good tenants and we can get on with it all.
actually, after I finish the dishes, I should really try to do some writing exercises. yes, it is that time of year when I start saying I'm going to try to start writing again, or wish i was writing again, or try harder to write, or mope about not being able to write...other than the visual verbal stain I leave on this blog every so often. but you know...we're in New York where everyone is a part time actor/writer/artist/something. why not me too? being realistic, I'm not going to be practicing aikido anytime soon, so I should try and find other hobbies that can more easily fit into my schedule...so basically for times like this.
anywhoo...I'm off to do some dishes and listen to a show.
happy whatever you feel like being happy about this time of year. seems like most people around me are swimming in bad news and bad mojo (not any of us, but definitely some of you). be happy for something.
i would be a little more relieved and relaxed than I usually am this time of year because of the house...if not for that i'd probably be feeling my holiday happiest this year, happier than i have been in years past.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
bubble bobble
so, I've gotten the paper work started to hire a property management company to try and rent out our house until the housing market turns around. it feels very weird to be handling all of this via telephone and email. anyone who tells you that the housing bubble isn't real (just like global warming, right?) should not be counted on to watch your cat while you're on vacation.
work is busy, ramping up a bit for me. again, after working in IT for a major retailer, it is a bit of a shock that the holiday season has no impact on the schedule of work (other than working around people's vacations). back at big red things supposedly slow down during the "freeze" of peak season when no changes can be made to the production environment. well, I'm not in retail anymore so i have a whole new calendar to get used to. soon I'll be assessing hardware for our upcoming refresh, teasing out the complexities of deploying Office 2007 across the enterprise and, surprise surprise, NOT having to worry about migrating to Vista any time soon.
Felix is still in the midst of his cold-season sniffles but over the weekend he got feverish for about a day and since has developed a nasty sounding cough that comes more at night. It sounds like the croup, I think. I will try to get him a dr. appt tomorrow, but it is really just a confidence building/due diligence exercise since at this point in a child's life, treatment for 95% of infant/toddler cold/illness is "fluids, fluids, rest, use a humidifier, prop up the crib for better drainage..." Basically everything you already are doing if you are halfway intelligent. But its better to see a doctor and get their co-pays-worth of advice before continuing on the board certified regimen of doing what you've been doing.
Worst case scenario is he DOES have something that falls into that 5% that is treatable by antibiotics (pneumonia...bacterial bronchitis?).
So, that's basically the short program of what's been going down. We all generally feel like crap due to the shift in weather, -50% humidity (and that WITH a humidifier running all night) and general crapuliciousness that goes with public transportation.
ta.
work is busy, ramping up a bit for me. again, after working in IT for a major retailer, it is a bit of a shock that the holiday season has no impact on the schedule of work (other than working around people's vacations). back at big red things supposedly slow down during the "freeze" of peak season when no changes can be made to the production environment. well, I'm not in retail anymore so i have a whole new calendar to get used to. soon I'll be assessing hardware for our upcoming refresh, teasing out the complexities of deploying Office 2007 across the enterprise and, surprise surprise, NOT having to worry about migrating to Vista any time soon.
Felix is still in the midst of his cold-season sniffles but over the weekend he got feverish for about a day and since has developed a nasty sounding cough that comes more at night. It sounds like the croup, I think. I will try to get him a dr. appt tomorrow, but it is really just a confidence building/due diligence exercise since at this point in a child's life, treatment for 95% of infant/toddler cold/illness is "fluids, fluids, rest, use a humidifier, prop up the crib for better drainage..." Basically everything you already are doing if you are halfway intelligent. But its better to see a doctor and get their co-pays-worth of advice before continuing on the board certified regimen of doing what you've been doing.
Worst case scenario is he DOES have something that falls into that 5% that is treatable by antibiotics (pneumonia...bacterial bronchitis?).
So, that's basically the short program of what's been going down. We all generally feel like crap due to the shift in weather, -50% humidity (and that WITH a humidifier running all night) and general crapuliciousness that goes with public transportation.
ta.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Holidrizzle
What? Thanksgiving is THIS week? holy moses time flies in the big apple. Seems like Halloween was just last week. I have found my autumn to be pleasantly lacking holiday music, though I did see regular TV the other night while picking up dinner and all i can say is...how on earth did we ever put up with those crappy commercials?
So, I thought thanksgiving wasn't until the last thursday of the month, or at least, wasn't until next week. So suddenly I'm looking at a 3-day week, which also means a 4-day weekend (both Andrea and I get Thursday AND Friday off from work). How weird is that? Gone are my days of remembering to try and take that day off. Gone are my days in retail. Also, at work, I've been here for what, two months now? coming up on 3...now is when I'm looking like I'm going to get busy instead of ease off like in my old job. In retail, the retail side gets super busy but the support side, well, that slows down a bit since nothing major can be implemented during "peak season." I think I'm liking it in the non-retail world. I'm sure that benefits consulting has its own special calendar, probably related more to the fiscal calendar or something.
So then the question comes from all directions, "What are your holiday plans? Are you going back to Minnesota?" Of course we're not going anywhere. We'll probably stay in all day on Thursday and hang out. Friday I think we'll have the nanny come and watch Felix so Andrea and I can go out and catch a movie or something. We started to make our own traditions back in Minneapolis and I expect we'll do that here too, but I have a hard time feeling like the holiday traditions are really going to take shape and start to stick until Felix is old enough to hold on to them too. Holidays, in my mind, seem to be more for children and extended families. What's that? Has my atheism McScrooged my love of a "day off" and an excuse to sit on the couch, watch football, and drink beer before dangerously over eatingmyself into an early grave? Not at all. It's just that holidays don't seem to eclipse anything like they used to. It used to be that when life was rolling along and things were on your mind, hey, at least you could push that stuff to the background and just focus on the holiday, on the food and family and fun.
I expect that when we do finally make our way back midwest for a visit, we'll be a lot more appreciative of our surroundings and family and friends. Partly because we'll probably be mooching off of them for a place to stay and a car to borrow when we want to visit someone...and of course, the baby sitting!
It's hard for me to imagine experiencing a holiday in the same way as I used to; sitting around doing nothing, eating lots of food...just being. I don't think anyone can "just be" around a fireball like Felix. Seriously, we are the support crew for rocketship Felix. Look out!
Did I mention that he is now on to acrobatics?
So, I thought thanksgiving wasn't until the last thursday of the month, or at least, wasn't until next week. So suddenly I'm looking at a 3-day week, which also means a 4-day weekend (both Andrea and I get Thursday AND Friday off from work). How weird is that? Gone are my days of remembering to try and take that day off. Gone are my days in retail. Also, at work, I've been here for what, two months now? coming up on 3...now is when I'm looking like I'm going to get busy instead of ease off like in my old job. In retail, the retail side gets super busy but the support side, well, that slows down a bit since nothing major can be implemented during "peak season." I think I'm liking it in the non-retail world. I'm sure that benefits consulting has its own special calendar, probably related more to the fiscal calendar or something.
So then the question comes from all directions, "What are your holiday plans? Are you going back to Minnesota?" Of course we're not going anywhere. We'll probably stay in all day on Thursday and hang out. Friday I think we'll have the nanny come and watch Felix so Andrea and I can go out and catch a movie or something. We started to make our own traditions back in Minneapolis and I expect we'll do that here too, but I have a hard time feeling like the holiday traditions are really going to take shape and start to stick until Felix is old enough to hold on to them too. Holidays, in my mind, seem to be more for children and extended families. What's that? Has my atheism McScrooged my love of a "day off" and an excuse to sit on the couch, watch football, and drink beer before dangerously over eatingmyself into an early grave? Not at all. It's just that holidays don't seem to eclipse anything like they used to. It used to be that when life was rolling along and things were on your mind, hey, at least you could push that stuff to the background and just focus on the holiday, on the food and family and fun.
I expect that when we do finally make our way back midwest for a visit, we'll be a lot more appreciative of our surroundings and family and friends. Partly because we'll probably be mooching off of them for a place to stay and a car to borrow when we want to visit someone...and of course, the baby sitting!
It's hard for me to imagine experiencing a holiday in the same way as I used to; sitting around doing nothing, eating lots of food...just being. I don't think anyone can "just be" around a fireball like Felix. Seriously, we are the support crew for rocketship Felix. Look out!
Did I mention that he is now on to acrobatics?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
I scream, you scream, we all scream for butt cream
Felix has developed a very nasty looking diaper rash. My skin burns just looking at it. Poor little guy. So I've been looking into various butt soothing remedies since the (zinc based?) cream we use frequently doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I think also it is due to him not getting changed enough during the day and not having the cream applied regularly enough. I think we need to institute a strict butt drying policy as well. Sigh.
Today we toured a local, highly sought after child care center for next year. The tour is the first step in the enrollment process. Then, sometime in February we get to wait outside the place because enrollment is first come-first serve. Andrea's not too excited about the place even though it is one of the few places that offers a 5-day, 7am-6pm schedule for 2 year olds and it is a good place to get a leg up on the competition for the lower school there, which is also highly sought after.
Last night was a pretty rough one and I really felt it today. Tonight isn't looking to be much better. It's quarter past ten and I've already been in to soothe Felix twice, and just now a third time while writing this paragraph. Its more complicated by his being both teething, has a craptastic cold, AND this diaper rash from hell. And the only thing that sort of soothes him sometimes is to get to sleep in our bed, which doesn't mean sleep so much as play bumper pool all night ling with mom and dad as the bumpers.
Anyway, I'm generally feeling worse these days, my crappiness doesn't completely o away when I get up and out of here and into the world like I had been doing last week. I think its everything working together to whittle away my immune system and eventually I will succumb to the level that Andrea and Felix already have.
Now i need to go soak my foot. I have an ingrown toenail (the big toe, of course) that somehow feels like some sort of legacy. I seem to recall my dad have horrendous looking toenails. Well, now I'm falling pray to foot disease too. Hopefully soaking will be enough and we can avoid the minor surgery involved in cases that are too far gone. I just can;t imagine having my foot in bad shape around here...it'd be like having your car in the shop! Yikes.
Today we toured a local, highly sought after child care center for next year. The tour is the first step in the enrollment process. Then, sometime in February we get to wait outside the place because enrollment is first come-first serve. Andrea's not too excited about the place even though it is one of the few places that offers a 5-day, 7am-6pm schedule for 2 year olds and it is a good place to get a leg up on the competition for the lower school there, which is also highly sought after.
Last night was a pretty rough one and I really felt it today. Tonight isn't looking to be much better. It's quarter past ten and I've already been in to soothe Felix twice, and just now a third time while writing this paragraph. Its more complicated by his being both teething, has a craptastic cold, AND this diaper rash from hell. And the only thing that sort of soothes him sometimes is to get to sleep in our bed, which doesn't mean sleep so much as play bumper pool all night ling with mom and dad as the bumpers.
Anyway, I'm generally feeling worse these days, my crappiness doesn't completely o away when I get up and out of here and into the world like I had been doing last week. I think its everything working together to whittle away my immune system and eventually I will succumb to the level that Andrea and Felix already have.
Now i need to go soak my foot. I have an ingrown toenail (the big toe, of course) that somehow feels like some sort of legacy. I seem to recall my dad have horrendous looking toenails. Well, now I'm falling pray to foot disease too. Hopefully soaking will be enough and we can avoid the minor surgery involved in cases that are too far gone. I just can;t imagine having my foot in bad shape around here...it'd be like having your car in the shop! Yikes.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Sunday Evening Post...er...Saturday
I would have to say that a toddler is like a Ferrari. No, not red, sporty, and capable of going from 0-120mph in 90 seconds (wait, no, that DOES sound like a toddler) but that a toddler is like a very very expensive and finely tuned piece of machinery. You get one small thing out of whack and that's all she wrote. Motor oil and transmission fluid all over the highway. So, what am i talking about? Previously noted shifts in routine aside (and the perpetual state of "teethinghood"), Felix had a much too short nap today. Yep, game over man. Even if we spend time on ourselves, make plans for ourselves, and do as good a job as we can to make sure that we remain autonomous, there is just no escaping that parents really are just the pit crew for the toddler-mobiles that we brought into the world. (Sorry about all the automotive metaphor...not sure what that's all about) When his schedule gets messed up, it impacts our schedules as well. Its not like you can just say, "Oh, well, I'll just do the same stuff I normally do while he is napping and we'll get back on his scheduled when it usually happens." Uh huh. Good luck with that.
I think the problem is that as adults, we are USED to operating at various levels of restedness and we have learned (or at least how to compensate for) our limits in those cases. Toddlers, on the other hand, are fresh and expect to operate at peak efficiency all the time until they suddenly stop and pass into a short regenerative coma like a nap or a bed time. Then they wake, re-calibrate, and off they go at full speed ahead. They have not developed the levels of activity us analogs have. Toddlers are still cutting edge and digital.
Anyway, needless to say Felix has had a rough day and so have we all. The past week has been rough due to his escalated teething (actually have one or two more teeth half-way emerged) and cold symptoms (snotty nose) which are compounded by the heat coming on at night which makes this place dry as hell. Andrea's sick, I'm not the greatest (but not too bad) and Felix is cranky at night and early morning, but otherwise happy as can be. It's a lot harder to deal with now that he only has one nap. Back when he did two naps a day you had a shot at resetting him with that second nap if the first one was missed or cut short. On one nap, the only reset opportunity comes with a good night's sleep. I hear that still exists somewhere on this earth.
Also, only a parent can truly understand what "sleep like a baby" means. Really.
I think the problem is that as adults, we are USED to operating at various levels of restedness and we have learned (or at least how to compensate for) our limits in those cases. Toddlers, on the other hand, are fresh and expect to operate at peak efficiency all the time until they suddenly stop and pass into a short regenerative coma like a nap or a bed time. Then they wake, re-calibrate, and off they go at full speed ahead. They have not developed the levels of activity us analogs have. Toddlers are still cutting edge and digital.
Anyway, needless to say Felix has had a rough day and so have we all. The past week has been rough due to his escalated teething (actually have one or two more teeth half-way emerged) and cold symptoms (snotty nose) which are compounded by the heat coming on at night which makes this place dry as hell. Andrea's sick, I'm not the greatest (but not too bad) and Felix is cranky at night and early morning, but otherwise happy as can be. It's a lot harder to deal with now that he only has one nap. Back when he did two naps a day you had a shot at resetting him with that second nap if the first one was missed or cut short. On one nap, the only reset opportunity comes with a good night's sleep. I hear that still exists somewhere on this earth.
Also, only a parent can truly understand what "sleep like a baby" means. Really.
Monday, November 05, 2007
savings?
If someone had tried to convince me that the world was somehow geared to make life easier for people who don't have children I would have said, "uh, yeah, suuuuure." But I'm starting to think that is really the case.
I don't think that there is a conspiracy or anything, just that the wants, needs, and basic physiological and psychological (mainly the latter, but directly stemming from the former) requirements are given much less attention than those of non-child-rearing lifestyles. Its more a case of global/universal neglect. It is a crime of neglect that you inevitably find yourself on one side of one day and then suddenly and unexpectedly (not that you will unexpectedly have children, just that you will suddenly realize that you are now on the OTHER side...you know, the one with all those complainers) find yourself on the other side.
Case in point:
Daylight savings time. How does this benefit the average parents? Do they get the fabled "extra hour of sleep?" Only if their children have somehow been reset to the correct time by the latest update from Microsoft. But the point is, the kids will get tired at the same time they they always do, they will wake up when they always do, and they will get hungry when they always do...except how it is an hour earlier in our adult schedules. So that extra hour of sleep turns into just and extra hour of being awake and chasing a freshly energized toddler around the apartment half naked before escaping off to work. It also means that upon arriving home, that kids wants to e fed NOW, not in 30 minutes, not when momma gets home, but right pronto now Tonto! And going to sleep "earlier" means that now we have less fun time with him unless we try to make that extra hour in the morning the fun time...which is sorta tough when you're low on sleep. More on this later.
I don't think that there is a conspiracy or anything, just that the wants, needs, and basic physiological and psychological (mainly the latter, but directly stemming from the former) requirements are given much less attention than those of non-child-rearing lifestyles. Its more a case of global/universal neglect. It is a crime of neglect that you inevitably find yourself on one side of one day and then suddenly and unexpectedly (not that you will unexpectedly have children, just that you will suddenly realize that you are now on the OTHER side...you know, the one with all those complainers) find yourself on the other side.
Case in point:
Daylight savings time. How does this benefit the average parents? Do they get the fabled "extra hour of sleep?" Only if their children have somehow been reset to the correct time by the latest update from Microsoft. But the point is, the kids will get tired at the same time they they always do, they will wake up when they always do, and they will get hungry when they always do...except how it is an hour earlier in our adult schedules. So that extra hour of sleep turns into just and extra hour of being awake and chasing a freshly energized toddler around the apartment half naked before escaping off to work. It also means that upon arriving home, that kids wants to e fed NOW, not in 30 minutes, not when momma gets home, but right pronto now Tonto! And going to sleep "earlier" means that now we have less fun time with him unless we try to make that extra hour in the morning the fun time...which is sorta tough when you're low on sleep. More on this later.
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