Monday Morning Daydreams

Staring at:

Dreaming of:

Yeah....

Right after I hit the 'Publish Post' button on the last entry - the one where I said the winter storm had pretty much fizzled here - it started snowing heavily and hasn't stopped.

My father in law just brought Charlie home and had to turn right around and head back before the roads started closing.

Brad left 15 minutes ago for a Starbucks and beer to take to a Superbowl party tomorrow. We can't let bad weather stand in the way of our priorities after all.

Snowy Weekend Ramblings

Brad and I are finally crawling out of our cave of sickness back to civilization. After a lot of rest and fluids and meds I think we're both feeling a lot better. Charlie is in Williamsburg with my in-laws, who were so kind to take care of him the past couple of days while Brad and I have been sick.

The thing about Charlie is he never. stops. moving. Trying to keep up with that when you feel awful is pretty tough. Him being away gave me a chance to wash everything and attack all solid surfaces with Clorox wipes. The maid service comes Monday to finish the job. It also gave me a chance to catch up on work yesterday when I wasn't resting so I don't have to dread heading back on Monday way behind on everything.

We're getting the remnants of the storm that is hitting DC and it snowed all day yesterday and sleeted all last night. It's been warmer here, though, so it didn't really stick and overall it's been a huge non-event. They did close my office yesterday around lunch but I was already teleworking since I was still contagious so just kept on working as much as I could.

Now that I'm feeling a bit better I think I'll make dinner tonight! Going to try the Pioneer Woman's braised short ribs over polenta, which looks delicious. I'm now wary of her tex-mex recipes after the chicken enchiladas turned out to be so bland, but I do think the woman knows her stewed meat. So we're going to kiss and make up over some short ribs. I optimistically saved the leftover enchiladas but I just need to dump them. Nobody goes to the trouble to re-heat bland food.

As for our vacation, we're trying again this weekend to book something. Thank you everyone who sent suggestions! Unfortunately Starwood has not graced a single suggested location with a hotel so they won't work to use all these points Brad has accumulated. It's a battle between Grand Cayman and St. John now. I know, I know, my life is full of trials and tribulations, isn't it? Poor me.

Remember when I had the stomach flu last month and read the Hunger Games and said I hope I get sick again so I can read Catching Fire in one sitting? Yeah, I was kidding. But in a strange coincidence, Catching Fire arrived in the mail on Thursday. I will always associate these books with being sick.

Anyways (SPOILER ALERT), I just about threw down the book in disgust last night when I got to the part where they have to go back to the arena. Really? Didn't we do this already? Can we not do something different in this book? I'm not sure why but it annoyed me. Like the author is having a hard time drumming up enough drama without her main characters in the arena. These are probably premature criticisms. I'm sure the story line will take a turn. I hope.

I think that's all I've got. Have a great weekend and to my DC friends - I hope playing in the snow is fun and your power stays on!! It's all fun and games until the power goes out, isn't it? Stay warm! xoxo

Grumpy

Disclaimer: If you've had your fill of whining and complaining elsewhere today, I'd move along.

We are all sick in the Spooner household. On top of the double ear infection, Charlie has some sort of lower intestinal bug that is resulting in a lot of laundry. We'll leave it that. Also a mean case of diaper rash. It hurts so bad he doesn't want to sit on his bum and last night he refused to take a bath. Breaks my heart.

Brad and I have strep throat. And all the fun that comes with that. Two sick, sleep deprived adults trying to take care of a sick baby. In an increasingly messy house. Not exactly how I pictured a work week we actually got to spend together.

We delayed our trip to DC to this weekend because of the major snow storm last weekend. Now DC is getting a major snow storm this weekend. Richmond is on that annoying snow/ice/rain line that we usually depend on North Carolina for taking. I think we're getting 4 to 8 inches.

This means no fun baby shower re-do for Lakshmy. I have all these fun gifts to give her and I miss her terribly and want to see her cute baby bump and the nursery (which I have the curtains for) and their cute little house they bought. Now I'm just hoping I can see her briefly before her due date. I am most upset about this.

I found out yesterday my writing class at the University of Richmond has been cancelled due to low enrollment. This is a major bummer. Haven't decided yet what to do about that. I'm going to have the very sweet babysitter I found at the University of Richmond come once a week anyways and get myself out of the house. To do...??? Anyone want to grab dinner or a glass of wine?

Illness and bad weather are not stopping or delaying my big Feb. 16 deadline at work. It is really hard to write policies and procedures when you don't feel well. Or to be pleasant on conference calls.

Ok, that's all the whining I have for now. Oh I do have one piece of shallow good news. They weighed me at the doctor and I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Only took 11 months people! It's a small thing, but today, I'll take what I can get.

Monday. We Meet Again

It is mass frozen chaos around here in Richmond after getting about a foot of snow over the weekend. Schools were closed and a lot of businesses had delayed openings. My employer asked everyone to telework since there was still a lot work to be done on the parking lots and sidewalks around campus.

Despite all the melting that went on today, things are refreezing and schools are cancelled again tomorrow. The kids are ecstatic, the parents are panicked - I can safely say the children's museum will be a zoo tomorrow afternoon. The scent wafting around town is desperation - to leave the house.

Charlie was warm again when he woke up today and so we took him to the doctor. Double ear infection and a fever but luckily his chest was clear. He was given new antibiotics, some white liquid he hates. He napped a ton today and went to bed relatively early so hopefully he's on the mend. We'll see what the morning brings as to whether he'll hit up daycare for some play time.

Yesterday I made the Pioneer Woman White Chicken Enchiladas which sat in the fridge until tonight for dinner. Verdict: Bland. I should have known better after looking through the recipe - no garlic called for, the seeds are removed from the jalapenos, and paprika is used as a spice.... The recipe as a whole is in dire need of salt. And some lime juice somewhere. At least I was able to use the leftover chicken bones for some homemade stock to use later.

Anyways, I think I will try some more of the PW's home cooking type recipes but avoid the tex-mex. And that's no knock on her recipes. I love the Barefoot Contessa too and I avoid her tex-mex like the plague. She doesn't even like cilantro and replaces it with parsley. Ick. Paula Dean doesn't trust a skinny chef and I don't trust one who hates cilantro.

In other news, Brad and I are still engaged in the great vacation debate of 2010. I think I've mentioned before that Charlie's Nana wants to spend her spring break with him in March and has offered to keep him so Brad and I can get away for a few days.

The requirements:

• We want to use Starwood points since Brad has so many of them
• Preferably fly American so we can upgrade
• We don't want it to be horribly far away so 7 to 8 hour max flying time from Richmond or 3-4 max from DFW (since we'd have to fly there first with Charlie)
• Kara is not feeling wild about going to Mexico
• We would like to avoid spring breakers. They can be down the street but not next to my pool chair.
• I haven't skied in years and this isn't the trip I'd like to invest in the bunny slope.
• No Las Vegas or Cancun

Just amazing we haven't found anything right? The top contenders (all of which have downsides) have been

1. St. John, USVI (Resort is not that nice but this is a front runner).
2. Seattle, Wa. and Victoria, BC (Kara's favorite but Brad has decided he'll be too cold. WIMP.)
3. Grand Cayman (this has potential and scuba diving. unsure of spring break crowd)
4. Aruba (kind of a high rise situation that's not looking appealing)
5. Los Cabos (nixed for spring breakers and being in Mexico)

Anything obvious we've missed? I wish it wasn't so cold in Montreal in March. Am debating San Fran and Napa but that doesn't have Brad too excited for some reason. Maybe I can work on that. He must be envisioning sand in his toes. Oh Hawaii, why do you have to be so far away???

Yeah so that's what's going on here in between snow storms and ear infections. Toodolooo!

11 Months of Charlie

We are getting dangerously close to no longer defining Charlie's age by months - he's going to be a year!! Why is that making me all misty-eyed and sentimental? I keep thinking about what we were doing a year ago to get ready for him and how excited we were. I'm maintaining a completely romanticized version of all that naturally, as I had debilitating back pain and constant heartburn and Brad was feverishly job hunting after being laid off. But it was a Perfect and Magical time!!

But anyways, on to the update. It doesn't feel like there's as much to write this time as things stay more status quo the older he gets. Or maybe things progress so slow I am not realizing it.

Our little munchkin (current nickname: The Munch) is eating a lot, moving all the time, growing really fast and has quite a bit to say. Most of it doesn't make sense but I think his words with meaning include DAH (Dog) and BAH (bath). Lots of Dadadadadaaaaahhh and Mamamamamamahhhh but I can't quite tell whether he associates that with us or not.

Charlie has gotten a lot easier to take care of if that makes sense. We can take him out to dinner and put him in a high chair. He loves to go to Target or the grocery and ride in the cart. He likes people watching from his stroller at the mall. Where I used to feel like I had to wait until Brad got home on the weekends to get my errands run now I feel like I can take him with me. He used to scream from gas pain or boredom or who knows what if I took him anywhere - it was awful. Now it's fun! I can also cook something for dinner if I give him tupperware or steel bowls and a wooden spoon to play with. Having dinner on a weeknight ... something I would have never dreamed about when he was 5 months old.

I never mentioned this before because I didn't realize not every baby did this, but Charlie likes to hit things. If he has any two objects he wants to see what happens when you bang them together. If there's nothing to hold then he wants to hear his palms slap on whatever is in reach - the floor, the sliding glass door, the table. I thought all babies did this, as I don't really have a basis for comparison. I've since been told (especially by mothers of girls) that this is not the case for every kid.

Charlie also loves to shake things. He's grown out of the phase where everything goes into his mouth but if you had him anything he will shake it to see if it makes a sound or what it feels like. Do you know how challenging it is to take a photo of a child who is always shaking things? Let me demonstrate:

In addition to shaking things, standing is a favorite activity.

Why do anything if you're not standing? It's pointless. I'm greeted in the morning by Charlie standing in his crib, typically having an in-depth conversation with... who knows? Fortunately he will stop standing at bed time in order to go to sleep. He's a great sleeper at night. Still won't nap much during the day especially at daycare. He goes all day at daycare, standing, shaking things, walking behind push toys and eating. Ahhh eating.

Favorite foods are mac n' cheese and pizza. Everything else he'll sample, some he'll eat more of, but he's very fickle. One week he'll love a certain food and the next he wants nothing to do with it.

In what has to be the ultimate in baby food snobbery, Charlie doesn't like reheated leftovers. Don't ask me how he knows, but if I warm something back up the next night, he's not having it. Nothing doing mom. The dogs get plenty of whatever Charlie's having (or not having I guess) since he's nice enough to drop it on the floor next to the high chair.

I'm already starting to shop for some birthday toys for Charlie and it is so much fun. I've found so many things - a Radio Flier Wagon, Little People sets, trucks, building blocks. I think we may have to have a mid-year birthday too because summer is coming and we need a sand box! And a trike!

There were so many out takes to choose from this time. The challenge in working with a constantly moving object. ;)

Talk to you next time when we'll be, sniff sniff, a year!!

A January Snow Storm

I think the weather men in Richmond must be on revolt after being criticized for so long for making a big deal out of nothing in their snow forecasts. The last three snow storms they have way under predicted.

This week's predictions started at 3 inches then increased to maybe 6, to 6 to 10 as of last night, 8 to 12 this morning and now 11 to 13. And seriously guys, this storm is about to stop ANY SECOND. Yet it keeps snowing. It's been snowing since I got up at 6:30AM.

I don't mind really. We were able to delay our trip to Washington, DC to see the Mahons and celebrate their baby on the way until next weekend. We'll actually get to see more of them so I think that is better. And after a really hard week for both of us, Brad and I are enjoying resting at home and playing with Charlie.

Brad *barely* made it home last night. I was anxious about it all day. They had a deadline and he didn't have a flight even booked until 6:30PM. He got the last seat on the last flight from LGA to RIC. When they cancelled the flight before his I got really panicked. He did eventually make it, though after midnight. He had been at the office the night before until 4am. Needless to say, he's pretty tired

I was so stressed out last night but today I am uncharacteristically zen. Being trapped in the house during a snow storm is about as relaxed as you'll ever find me not on vacation. No errands to run, the gym is closed, everyone is at home too. I don't feel all that pressure that follows me around every other day of the week to get it all done. It's like a holiday with no commitments.

I love to cook something yummy, put on some nice music (I'm playing Vivaldi's Winter right now to be funny) and I get the closest I ever get to taking a nap. That means I give several minutes of hard consideration to napping and then don't. But that I'd even consider it is a testament to my relaxation level!

I also love our house when it snows. It is so peaceful outside with the trees covered in snow. Some birds swoop by now and then and it's just serene. I could stare outside all day. I actually keep the lights turned off all day so the first thing you see when walking in a room is the snow falling outside the window or the fire in the fireplace. Lovely.

Later today our neighbors are going to trudge over in the snow for some Pioneer Woman Beef Stew with Mushrooms, wine and some Australian Open rebroadcasts. That beef stew is turning out to be my snow storm dish - I made it last time it snowed.

Here are some shots around our house at about 2pm:

Here's what's piling up for Brad to shovel later. And yes, he has been wearing shorts all day.

Since the snow is dry and light the poodles like running around it. With wet snow they turn around at the back door and look at you like Really?? You expect me to go in this??

They were being very agreeable today so here are some Bad Poodle Snow Frolic photos:

Hope everyone out there is enjoying as nice a Saturday as we are having. We'll eat some beef stew for ya! xoxo