DragonBlog

No take the internet away! NO!

The internet keeps going down on us. It's totally unreliable right now. If you are trying to e-mail us, picking up the phone is better. Maybe. The phone tech comes in the morning tomorrow to look at the lines. I think there are connection problems. Grrrrr...

No pics right now yet, as I can't guarantee the DSL will be up long enough for that. And we'll be away for most of the weekend, camping. Oooooh. More on that later. And more on the two shows I'm going to miss because of it. They just had to hold some of the good jewelry stuff the same weekend I finally get to GO somewhere, didn't they? ARRRGH! Oh well. I'll mourn the loss while I'm basking in some sunshine and relaxing.

Oh, and as a side note (although it probably should be more than a side note, eh?) today was our anniversary. We went out for breakfast then worked on gardening and cleaning the garage while juggling Kayla's demands and Jareth's infinite capacity to ignore whatever we say... then we ordered pizza for dinner. At least I didn't have to cook. *sigh* Need I say more? Nah. It was a day. We'll relax this weekend. Or so I keep telling myself anyway...

G'night!

Current Mood: stressed

The Subtle Sound of My Brain Slowly Melting Away...

I think I can literally feel my brain just oozing out my right ear. Perhaps that's why I have trouble hearing these days. Or, maybe it has to do with the little girl who so often screams in it. Could be. Maybe.

But I signed on for another round of the "Guess which phantom thing is bugging your infant today!" game. It's when you run out of the multiple choice options and figure out your kid is crying just to cry that it gets frustrating. Or when it's just gas pains. All the gas drops in the world don't seem to be enough to make the gas go away for my little one. As I did with Jareth, I once again fear I may have blessed my child with my gastrointestinal nastiness. I hope I'm wrong, and that she outgrows this stage. Soon. Very. very. soon.

But all the usual child crankiness isn't what's making my head split like an overripe melon. Nope.

It's the T.V.

*insert long, echoing scream of terrorized frustration*

Last time, when I got stuck on the couch with Jareth for hours on end, it was watching Buffy. I saw more Buffy than I care to admit, to the point where I was taping it for Brian to watch with me when he got home, so he'd know the show and understand why I was utterly shattered by plotline shifts and character deaths. Yeah. I know. It was just Buffy. I was post-partum. Shut up.

So now, this time around, I've diversified. We've got Charmed, Angel (since we've already watched all of Buffy), and Alias, which I began watching during the pregnancy and am trying to catch up on so I can watch the latest season's episodes that are being recorded by our hard-working DVR. But now, I've gone and done it. Now, I've found...

The Home and Garden channel.

Now I not only get to watch hours and hours of great tips and tricks for remodeling, interior design, and landscaping... but now I get to guilt-trip myself quite far into oblivion about the absolute state of disaster my own house and yard are in.

*sob*

As if I didn't have enough house projects in the plans already, but now I think I ought to just tear the place down, re-sod the yard, and build from scratch.

Yeah, that'd be real practical. And cost-effective too. NOT.

*sigh*

But little Kayla wants to be fed again. And I'm having trouble enough with her latching on properly that changing locations for breastfeeding isn't the best idea. And my head generally hurts too much for a good book to suffice. Of course, that's probably a side effect of the tv in the first place...

Excuse me while I return to the living room and the slow rotting of my brain.

*waves*

G'night!

Current Mood: distressed

A Quick Post To Catch Up...

Wow, I haven't blogged since Jareth's birthday? I guess that just goes to show how busy I've been. For one, I'm finishing up on my second Jewelry class, with everything due on Wednesday. I spent last Wednesday at the jewelry lab at school for most of the day, with a two-hour break to feed Kayla and grab some lunch at home for myself. Then I high-tailed it back and stayed at school until around 8pm to get most of the stuff finished. I finally got the last bits done today during class. Wednesday is grading day and lab cleanup. Then I'll be out of class until August, as it's not offered over the summer. I'm finished with the two actual classes that are offered. From here on out it's "independent study", which means I set a syllabus of things to learn and do each semester, which gets approved by the teacher and the dean. Mine's all set, with six projects to complete next fall, several of which include things I know next to nothing about. It should be fun and challenging.

In the meantime, however, I've got to start getting a lab together for myself at home. We're planning a setup in the garage, with drywall and insulation involved so we can cool and heat it for the rougher weather days. It'll take time though, since we still need to get Kayla's room together too, and the thousand and four other projects around the house. And the extra bunch of projects I've got of my own that need finishing up. Seems like every time I get ahead I inadvertantly take on another project without thinking. So I've got a couple that have been waiting far, far too long to get finished up. I'm hoping next week I can start getting some of those back in gear and taken care of.

Let's see... what all has been going on since I last blogged though? Ah, yes. Jareth's party went off without a hitch again this year. For the third year in a row, the weather gods have graced us with beautiful weather, despite impending rain predictions from the weatherpeople on TV. Friends and family were present, food was shared all around, presents were opened by the birthday boy (who received an overwhelming amount of wonderful gifts again), and everything was done and being tidied up by his naptime. I like doing it at lunchtime - I think that will be the trend from now on, instead of doing a dinner thing. Getting it all in before naptime made for a much happier little guy on his birthday. Yay! I even got his candle-blowing on a little video with my digital camera too. Of course, I've just realized that all the pictures are still on my camera, so I don't have any to pop into this post as of yet. I'll have to do a picture-post another time soon, with a couple from the party maybe. I think I've got some good ones. *grin*

Also, yesterday was Mother's Day. This momma got a torch (Yippee!!! *does the flaming dance of joy*) and a dozen roses, along with a rather sentimental card from Brian. I also got a BUBBLE BATH, complete with having Brian loofah my back for me. Mmmmmmmmm. God, but that felt good. Then there was dinner with Brian's folks, so we could celebrate some mom's day with his mom. Brian did the cooking too, although I made sure to set him up with a recipe that was just a matter of getting everything cut, measured and into the crock pot by 10am and then it could just be served up at dinnertime without any fuss.

The only complaint I had was that I forgot to make someone take a picture of me with my kids. It occurred to me, after it was way too late, that I don't think I've had a picture of me taken with either of my children since around the time Kayla was born. She's two months old now and it's going to look like I never held her if you just let the pictures tell it! Argh. Sometimes it sucks to be the shutterbug around here. I'm always the one taking the pictures, so I'm never in them. Normally, that doesn't really bug me much, since I don't consider myself particularly photogenic. I comes with the whole "low self-esteem" thing. I have rare moments in specific lighting where I think I might, maybe be a little pretty, but generally I'm not overwhelmingly optimistic. *sigh* So, when the cameras come out, unless I'm in a rare mood, I generally run for cover if I can get away with it. Hence, few pictures of me exist these days. That always irks me about my own mother - since she was a single mom there were even fewer taken of her. I gotta make sure my kids don't look back and wonder where their mom was hiding while they were young. Nevermind that Jareth takes thousands of pictures of me! It's just that they are all taken with whatever toy he's pretending is a camera just then. *grin* I love it when he says "cllll-ICK!" while he's taking the picture. What a cutie! I like that one much better than the bazillion ways that he pretends toys are cell phones. I do NOT want my kids to become the kind of people that spend more time with the phone glued to their ear than they do living life! Good grief!

Anyway, I just need to pick up some flux and firebrick and then I can start playing with my new torch! Pretty soon I'm going to have to put in an order for tools and supplies at Rio Grande. Sweet! I'll have to get a picture of the jewelry pieces I've done so far and drop them up here too. I've got a couple I did this semester that I am particularly proud of. I can't wait to start getting in some work here at home too.

Well, anyway. I've been blogging in my head aplenty lately, so I've got lots I'd love to drop into this post, but I don't want to make it excruciatingly long. I tend to ramble enough as it is. Perhaps I'll stick some of it in tomorrow, or maybe I'll have a chance to upload those pictures. We'll see how it goes.

G'night!

Current Mood: busy

The Birthday Boy

Here he is! After Big Trucks, we stopped off at the park. Partly, we weren't at the trucks thing long, as all the kids beeping the horns on those trucks had Jareth edgy. I guess he's still got some inhibitions when it comes to noisy places after all. He liked looking at them, but didn't want to try and go inside them or get too close. I did pick him up and take him into the driver's seat on one early in, but he literally asked to get out. So, to make sure it was still a fun morning, we stopped at a park I'd seen on our route. He had so much fun, he cried when I made him go back to the car.

Yes, he's got a scraped-up nose. Leave it to my child to go running down the hall and trip less than a week before his birthday. All the pictures are going to have the evidence of his rug-burned nose right smack dab in the middle of them. *sigh* I keep telling him not to run in the hallway upstairs! Of course that's because I worry I'll see him go careening down the stairs. I didn't expect it to be some other injury. Good grief!

He's napping now, after helping me make the batter for his cake. He loves to help in the kitchen these days! A future chef perhaps? Who knows...

Gotta go though! Lots more to be done for tomorrow's party!

G'night!

Current Mood: bouncy

My Little Guy Turns THREE!!!

Jareth turns three today! Of course, we'll spend most of the day cooking and cleaning, in preparation for the party tomorrow. But I am planning to take him over to this Big Trucks thing in a little while. It's not much, but hopefully it will be fun.

I picked him up new summer sandals yesterday, and on Wednesday I went out on my way back from class and got him one of those kid's standing easel/chalkboard things, along with some washable markers and colored chalk. I also got one of those big pads of paper for him and we've got watercolors and crayons already, so he should be set for "art supplies" to go with it for the moment. I've just got to assemble the darn thing later, during naptime, so we can present it to him tonight. I'm not going to try and wrap it though. If I have time, I'll wrap up the accessories. He's already seen the shoes - he helped me size them and pick them out - so I won't bother wrapping those. Heck, they're already in with the rest of his shoes. We just need the weather to warm up again so his toes can come back out of socks to wear them. I got him Buster Browns of course. They're the best. *grin* They don't have the sandals shown on their web site though, so I can't link them.

Anyway, that's all for now. I've got to get the birthday boy out of bed if we're going to go see the trucks. Maybe I'll have time to post a picture or two later. No guarantees though - I've got a party to prep for.

Later!

Current Mood: optimistic

Officially a "Mom"...

Well it's official. I'm a mom. Okay, yeah, I know. I've been a "mom" for a while now. Actually, more of a mommy, considering the ages of my children. But now it's really official. I'm a mom. A suburban mom at that.

Because, last Friday night, I went to my very first...

*cue drumroll please*

Tupperware party.

*cue canned "oooooh" from audience*

Yes folks, it had to be done. I got invited to one. And, like every good suburban mom should, I went. I even bought something. The Mickey Ice Tups® Set for making popsicles. I'd link it, but their stupid web site is flash-based and it doesn't work to link to a specific product.

And, despite the fact that a part of me in the far back reaches of my brain was screaming:

"What!?! What are you DOING here? Are we going to buy a fucking MINIVAN next, you whipped soccer-mom-to-be??? Don't give in! Don't become one of the mindless masses of moms, cleaning their kitchens and ironing their husband's shirts! A TUPPERWARE party? You've GOT to be kidding!!!!"

Yes, despite that defiant person inside of me, who thinks they are still in their "early twenties"... I had FUN!

Alright, admittedly it was the first night I've gotten out in a truely social capacity without my kids since my daughter was born. And, admittedly, I did indulge in a drink to help me relax a little. Just one though, as I'm breastfeeding and all. But, despite the fact that I didn't even know most of the women at the party, I DID actually have a good time. In fact, the last time I went to one of these kinds of parties (although it wasn't a TUPPERWARE party, mind you) I had fun at that one too.

Whatever has become of me?

Oh, yeah... I became a mom.

But, it's true. Not only did I have fun, but I entertained visions of my cupboards filled with tupperware containers - all neatly labeled and stacked - keeping every item as fresh as only Tupperware can. And with Tupperware tumblers to hold my drinks, and Tupperware plates to eat my food from, and Tupperware...

Oh, boy. It's like a sickness or something, isn't it? Damnit.

But... but... there's this spatula I just have to have!!!

Damnit. I just can't seem to make it stop. And while I can't exactly afford to redo my cabinets in boxy plastic goodness, I think I probably will order the damned spatula. If nothing else, because mine are looking icky. My kids are going to want to lick brownie mix off of those, damnit. They need to be replaced.

At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. So Nyahh. *sticks out tongue*

But hey - now I'm officially a good little suburbanite "mom". Because I've been to a Tupperware party.

*devious grin*

But I'm not hosting one damnit. And no minivan. And Brian knows how to iron his own shirts. A skill he'll have to pass on to our children since I can't actually iron worth a damn. But I can fix a toilet, so it all balances out in the end eh? Thought so. Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean my kitchen now...

P.S. - For those who've been asking, Jareth's wish list on Amazon is located here. I've marked it with a note about it being for May, 2006, since there's another one from before that I can't get into to change. They're going to delete that one for me. Hopefully they won't delete the new one too while they are at it. That would suck.

What Brian and I are getting him isn't even on the list though, so nobody will duplicate it. 'Cause I'm smart like that. Mwahahaha.

G'night!

Current Mood: amused