To share this humorous tidbit I just read on wonkette (which I barely ever read, a fact that has made this little find that much more special):And so it was that yesterday Mike Huckabee decided to let his redneck flag fly by announcing that he doesn’t only kill small animals for fun all the time unlike that poseur Romney, he eats them, too. Yes, in order to pander to the varmint-eaters vote, Huckabee bragged “I figured out you could put grease in a popcorn popper and heat that thing up, and you could cook anything,. So we fried squirrel.” OMG, people, is this what we’re coming to? Who is the biggest redneck Macgyver? And with 10 more months to go? I’m cracking the booze now.
Thanks to Keri and Dave for all the awesome baby Cubs gear! She loves this little blanket, and in a couple months the clothes will fit just right.
So I have been much more rested in the past week as my mom came in to help out around the house. Which means I get to sleep in until 9 or 10 after a 6 or 7 am feeding, and sometimes get a nap in the afternoon as well, which is fantastic. I'm still pretty wiped out as I haven't had a night in a long time where I actually slept through it, but things are just so much better! My mom leaves on Sunday, but Mark's family gets here Saturday, so help will still be plentiful.
Caroline is getting so big! This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago, and I swear her head alone is tons bigger. And she's getting so long now--I can hardly believe how much bigger she's gotten in just 5 weeks. She's sleeping much better at night--usually 4 hours during the first stretch and 3 for the second. But once daylight hits, she's not big into going back to sleep. We've moved her from the bassinet in our bedroom to the crib in her room (with a little sleep positioner) because she was making so many squawks and squeaks that it was just getting too hard to sleep. She does have some reflux, which sucks because she'll be sleeping soundly after a feeding, I'll put her down, and then she'll wake up spitting up and coughing. Gross. Hopefully that won't last too long.
My mom gave us a great Christmas present and watched Caroline that afternoon so Mark and I could go out on the mountain for a few runs. It was very strange being away from Caroline that long-guess I have to get used to it, but still. My new snowboard boots and bindings that Mark got me for Christmas are fantastic, so much better than my old ones, with much better control. I think Mark is next for new bindings, though--his are getting pretty old too. Last night we left Caroline with my mom again for a Christmas dinner/annual business meeting with my partners. Looks like my first day back to work is January 8th, when Caroline is 7 weeks old. It's a little daunting putting her in daycare that early, but it is a small daycare and that makes me feel a little better about it. We're still playing the lottery in the hopes that Mark can quit his job. the perks for working for the mountain are nice, but it would be even nicer if he could stay home with Caroline. Hopefully in the next couple years.
OK, I need to feed the baby and then we're taking a little field trip to go get me new glasses. I have some left over health savings account money that needs to be used up before January 1st. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
So it's been a while since I updated. I wrote another at work on Monday but then took Tuesday off to help out around the house. This morning (Wednesday), I updated the Monday post, but then work called me away from my desk and instead of returning to it I just came home instead.
So, I've put Caroline down twice now and she woke up again, so I'm typing this all one-handed. Which really sucks, but oh well.
I'll update this from work tomorrow with a cut and paste below.
Oh! I fixed Billy Kidd's computer today. And met him. And snowboarded at lunch today. booya.
Work update
--Weekend report--
(Originally written Monday)
So I didn't get any work on the house done this weekend (with the exception of finally getting the tree trimmed, finishing wrapping most of the presents, and cleaning up the crap that's been living in the living room). And the good and bad news is, there is virtually no way for me to get done what I wanted to before our company gets here. The good news is: Dana's mom is coming early to share Christmas with us and help out around the house. The bad news is, I now have ZERO weekends left to finish the house. So hopefully Carol can tolerate me working on the house a little while she's around. Certainly it should be much easier to GET work done with an extra pair of hands to watch the baby. Also, Dana and I asked for a 'date night' as a gift from Carol, since we haven't been out alone since before little Caroline joined us. So: early visitor also = instant babysitter. :)
Speaking of bittersweet, I have another daycare check to drop off this week. Merry Christmas to our provider.
Also also, as if I haven't missed enough work lately, I have been summoned (summonsed?) for Jury Duty in the middle of January. And: "In colorado there are no occupational, economic or age-related exemptions from jury service," but that's OK because I kind of relish the idea of participating. Most likely, though, it'll be some lame case, but that's OK too. I've never had to do jury duty before - it should be interesting.
-second day's posting-
And, speaking of missing work, I took yesterday (Tuesday) off just to help out around home a little. Stress levels are high and there's so much to do that it all got a little overwhelming. But all is good. And extra-special bonus, it's snowing today (Wednesday), so come hell or high water (please, no high water) I'll be going out again for lunch today. Things are sure to get a lot more crowded after this weekend (our busiest time of the year is XMas-NYE), so getting some quality time out now is a big priority. Also, when Carol is here Dana and I will probably be sneaking away from teh baby for a little bit for a few quick runs.
Oh, and our baby should be dubbed: destroyer of diapers. The blowouts she's had in the last couple days have been simply astounding. Sorry, no pictures.
So, I'm not as good about updating via the USB drive. But you get it eventually.. Here goes..
First on mountain day of the season
...and certainly not the last.
It wasn't bad out. I left my office at a little before 11:30 and was back by 12:45, so I could have squeezed in a couple more runs if I had known better (and had lunch waiting for me back at the office, instead of having to go get it). Things to remember for next time.
Anyway, I also had to navigate (for the first time) my way through the locker room. Since I'm a big shot employee now, I have my own locker in the gondola building to store my crap, but since I hadn't been on the mountain yet I still had to lug all my crap with me. Now my board, boots, helmet and goggles are living in the locker, so the only thing I'll have to bring with me next time is my pass and my booty. Let me tell you, that's going to be very convenient.
So after getting dressed I took a trip up the gondy and down Vagabond through the maze of trails that then lead you down to the base, and then hopped on the new Christie Peak lift (which replaced Christie 1-3 lifts this offseason) to the top of its length, then down from there.
In retrospect, I should have either gone up the gondy twice, or gondy to storm peak, and then downloaded. I think I'll time myself to see if it's quicker to download or to ride down. I suspect it will be pretty similar, actually.
Since we haven't been posting much lately, I decided to compile notes at work and bring them home (I have a little USB drive that I bring back and forth) to post later. So here goes.
Things have been subtly crazy lately. I say 'subtly crazy' as things don't seem outright crazy, but I realize that I'm really tired and have no energy to do anything after a day at work. Dad and I went out to cut down a Christmas tree this past weekend and after getting home didn't have energy to do anything (but drink lots and lots of wine, natch). And Sunday was a complete bust. I was going to trim the tree and get some other stuff done, but the only productive thing I was able to manage was fixing this thing in our garage that had been leaking water and snowblowing our driveway. The problem is, when I have energy (and desire) to do something, it's my turn to watch Caroline. And after I'm done, the desire to be productive has left me. This doesn't bode well for my plans to get working on the steps this weekend... I'd also love to surprise our parents and get the doors re-hung, but I really do think the bannister isn't going to happen until after the holidays, unfortunately. Which will drive my mom nuts, of course. But oh well. As long as nobody falls off our second-floor landing, it will all be OK.
Add to this the fact that I work for a ski resort and haven't been up on the ski mountain yet.. I feel like I'm being a bad employee. So I think I'm going to head up for a couple runs tomorrow at lunch just so I can say I've been up. It would be a shame to not take advantage of the flexibility they give me precisely for this purpose. But at the same time, with Caroline just arriving, there's a lot to do and only so much energy that a guy can draw from in one day. I suppose I'll have to suffer and go snowboarding AND work and care for the baby.... the sacrifices I make.. Anyway, it would be embarassing if Dana gets more skier days than me again this year, so I'm determined to not let that happen.
Some other good news to come out as of late is that I get a locker at the Gondola building - which means, I don't have to cart my board and boots back and forth every time I go to the mountain - I can lock them up there and only have to worry about my coat, gloves etc. I could also leave those, but then the accumulated snow would melt in the locker and make it like a sauna, which would be no good (clearly). I'm stoked about having a locker, it should make things nice and convenient for running to and fro quickly (like on a lunchbreak).
[note] the image was chosen (with one hand) as I'm posting this while holding a fussy Caroline. We can't decipher why she's fussy, but my best guess is that it's my fishy beer breath (sushi for dinner).
Sorry for the lack of posts--this past week has been a big recovery one for me. After the disappointment of having to go back into the hospital last weekend, I've been slowly on the mend since being discharged Monday. Unfortunately, I was on 2 different antibiotics, one of which gave Caroline some wicked diarrhea and gas, so her little butt is all torn up. But I finished the antibiotics yesterday, and we're both doing much better.
So my tired and achiness of infection has now been replaced by the tiredness of new parenthood and getting up multiple times per night. But the past few nights have been pretty good, with Caroline sleeping 3-4 hours in between feeds, which helps a lot. Although I'm such a heavy sleeper, she's usually really crying by the time I actually hear her.
Let's see--fun Caroline stuff. She loves being sung to, especially with a certain Neil Diamond song. She's making a bunch of new noises and sounds, which is always fun. And of course, loves her daddy, who always seems to be able to quiet her down. Except when she has the hiccups, which is at least 3-4 times per day. Her look of consternation with the hiccups is hilarious.
Mark's dad Jim stopped by for a couple days on his way back from being in Seattle at the end of last week. Yesterday the boys went out and cut down a great Christmas tree for us off of Rabbit Ears Pass, and it looks fantastic in the living room. We haven't had a chance yet to decorate as Mark needed to go and buy more lights for the tree, which he picked up today. It was great to visit with Jim a bit, and it'll be fun when all the Fitz's are back in Steamboat around New Year's. I'm also really looking forward to my mom visiting at Christmas. Good thing we'll have a chance to actually clean up our place a little bit before everyone gets here. Mark is planning on working on putting the wood floors on the stairs next weekend, and my office Christmas party is next weekend as well. Good thing I'm starting to feel so much better.
Sorry if I haven't had the chance to return any phone calls yet--whenever Caroline is sleeping during the day, I try really hard to sleep as well, but I promise to start calling people this week--thanks again to everyone for their good wishes!
Sorry for the lack of posts, but on top of getting no sleep during the day, D had doctors' appointments pretty much every day last week, and we've been back in the hospital since Friday (it's Sunday as I write this, and hopefully we'll get out tomorrow).
Baby Caroline is fine (as fine as she can be living in a hospital, but I'm sure it makes little difference to her), but D spiked a bit of a fever last Thursday night, and her doctors wanted to nip any possible infection in the bud before it got bad. So to sum up: we're all OK (if tired). D is fighting an infection with IV antibiotics, so the three of us have been staying in the hospital all weekend. I came home to snowblow and nap, but found that our neighbor had already cleared off the drive for us (thanks, Jim!).
So I thought I'd send an update. I had planned to actually get some work on the house done this weekend (stairs!) and call a bunch of people back, but this has set those plans aside for now.
Luckily my mom has been able to extend her trip with us, which has helped out tremendously. At two in the morning when I can't stop the baby from crying, it drowns out everything else in the world, so I'm sure coming home to a sink full of dirty dishes would quite possibly push me over the edge.
Oh, and in the good news department, the dryer alert was a false alarm - everything is working as it should, so we don't need to blow money on THAT, thank the gods.
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