Refrigerator Hum

CP is snoozing quietly behind me on the couch (similar to the way she was when we were at Grandma's in Texas) and the birds are trying their best to chirp louder than the freezer's compressor hum. She was up early this morning and a bit needy, so it's good to see her sleeping, even if she's wayyy outside of her usual schedule. We've got things to do and errands to run, but the world, at least around here, runs on CP's schedule.

Catch-up

I finally feel like we've both caught up on sleep after the road trip. It feels like we've fallen right back into our home pattern of chasing baby and trying not to get on each other's nerves as we bump into each other in the little house on the desert.

Spent some time this morning cleaning up the old Jetta for its upcoming repairs and sale. Its been a good car and the LW and I have a ton of fun memories that seem to attach themselves to that car. It pulled up next to my truck, by matter of pure chance, carrying the LW on our first date. Our first road trip, which was shortly after we met, was to New Orleans in this car. It delivered us to Union Station in Kansas City where we were married and sped us along on our shared honeymoon with friends. Eventually it took the LW to the Birth Center and brought CP home on her first ride in a car. Funny how much happens to and in vehicles in this life.

CP's making her intentions known more and more. She consistently tells us when she's thirsty or wants something to eat. She also lets us know, in very certain terms, when she wants her restrictions on dangerous things around the house lifted. Yesterday afternoon she, while holding on to my hands, gave the chickens a good run around the yard.

The Toll

A quiet morning of listening to the radio while CP plays in a box of old CD cases and in her Chariot.

Taps just played on the radio as a part of this story. What would these folks say if they could come back? Would they be proud of a seemingly rediculous country song or a priveledged president that speaks about them, or would they scream at us about the stupidity of what we do. I would imagine that it would be the latter, but endless rows of silent headstones are all that we are left to learn from.....and as a society, we're not really learning the lesson that they teach.

Fly By Night

This morning CP stood up on her own for the first time. She grabbed a bag of spinach out of the fridge and just stood there holding it....with both hands!

Our visits with family in the midwest went well. It was a relaxed visit - sans holiday or reunion madness - and we all really enjoyed it. It was quiet. The picture nearby shows CP getting a workout on Grandma's front porch. She loved it - especially the stairs! CP got to see all of her cousins except SuperDave in this one visit and as an added bonus, she got to see the grandparents, the Wisconsin Schnorenbergs, Grandma Great, Jan & Steve as well as spending an evening with the lovely Cavanaughs. After picking up the car, we decided that since we were only 8 hours down the road from Dallas, it'd be a crime not to go down there.

The car is wonderful and we've really enjoyed travelling in it already. Our first fill-up was at around the 620 mile mark. From what I can tell, we ran around 46mpg under less than ideal conditions (rain, 20+mph headwinds, and high speed). It's a tight car with a few little imperfections here and there - and we love it. CP likes it too because she can see out the rear hatch window and is able to wave at everyone.

We made it home this morning around 5am from the whirlwind mid-America tour. The sun was just coming up as we pulled into our little street and let the noisy beast out of her car seat/straight jacket. After leaving Grandma Great's place in Euless, TX at around 1pm our time, we headed out into the vast expanse of rain and boredom that is West Texas. A stop here and there for food and windshield de-bugging were about the only things to break the monotony of the road. The LW took the wheel and drove from 830-430...oh, and there was some excitement provided in the early morning when, what the LW said was a housecat, decided to dart into the road out in the middle of nowhere. If you've ever been out in the open area near San Simon, you'll realize just how strange it is that anything is present to dart into the road. Well, this little furbag decided he wanted an exciting morning and decided to run out and kiss our new TDI wagon on the front fender as it whizzed by at 80mph. Sadly, it didn't end well for him or the car. The front valence under the bumper was torn loose, the inner fender well cover was ripped in half and turned into the wheel (thus making a hellish racket), and the fender attachment point for said cover was bent. It can all be fixed, but I wish that cat hadn't decided on that particular moment to fill his morning prescription for excitement.

Of course, all of this happend while I was as sound asleep as one can get while wedged between the car seat and the door panel in the back of the car. There's nothing like loud popping noises, akin to a few Rubic's Cubes bouncing around in your car's fenderwells at 80mph, to wake you up quickly.

TDI

The LW and I have been looking for a TDI that fits us for a long time. It's a type of VW turbo diesel that gets great fuel mileage. This week, with the gas prices climbing for no apparent reason and when the superjetta started overheating at stop lights with the AC on, we both remarked that it is about time we made the leap. I started searching craigslist and found this car. It looked as though someone else would swoop in and get it before us, but money talks and tomorrow our check will be on the way. The LW's parents drove down to look at it and just called us back to say that it is all but ours. We went today to see our favorite loan guy and he hooked us up with a blank check. Tomorrow it's off to the fedex folks. While we're there, CP will get to visit both sets of grandparents, several cousins, and get to meet her aunt Lisa for the first time.

We'll sell both of our vehicles to knock the loan amount down and will be off and running.... I can't wait to get the "BioDiesel - NO WAR REQUIRED" bumper sticker!

The LW's Day

No saccharine card, no bouquet of flowers,....this morning I loaded CP up in the Chariot and took her to the park for an hour or so. After I left, the LW got to spend this time finishing up her night's sleep and then luxuriating in the shower....this time without a little person who loves to sneak into the bathroom and pull back the shower curtain. It seemed to be the perfect mother's day gift.

She's wearing her Uncle Jason's hat in this picture. I kept putting it on her and she kept trying to put it back on my head. Fun stuff.

I picked up a file cabinet at the Planned Parenthood yard sale on Saturday. I passed it and was going to head home, but the local fundies were out with their picket signs, so I decided that it was worth a visit. (You'd think that they'd be busy adopting all of those children in foster care, or who are born to parents who don't want them instead of protesting Planned Parenthood.) Either way, I found the perfect file cabinet and today the LW picked out a paint color and we rattle-canned it a sage color. I remarked that it looked to almost be the color that many of them came in originally, but to no avail. It did however take about 4 cans and we still have not finished the job. The final coat/can will be done in the morning.

This afternoon we spent some time in the community garden. It was good to see squash, and whole lot of other plants growing in such a short time. We had our first two tomatoes this week. One was 9oz and the other was 11oz. They made really great BLTs!

Backyard Gardening

Just spent some time tending to "the girls" out back. They have fresh water and I harvested a fresh egg in return. The stickers from BackYard Chickens are ready to order, although the LW wants this one on a shirt. It would be funny for my mom as well, since they used to always have peeps at special events at her office.

I think that today might be the day for my first beefsteak.

MMR + Varicella + Anemia + Teething....add it up

It was CP's 1yr pincushion baby appointment this morning. She did ok with the checkup until they brought out the needles. One in the leg, one in the arm, one stick in the finger, then it was over to the lab for the fun with phelbotomists show. The doc, a nice guy, said mistakenly that they'd just probably do a heel stick for the CBC...nope. CP got the full human sized needle in the arm for a blood draw. I hope that they don't have to do much of that in the future. It hurt her in addition to making me want to break the needle off in someone's eye. The doc seems a bit worried that she's not getting enough iron and argued against what I said, which was that she's been sick for her last two appointments. The last time was when she got that norovirus stuff from me (and had it for two weeks) and this time she's got a cold and is teething and hasn't eaten much in about a week. Either way, she's getting the polyvisol like clockwork from now on and I'll make damned sure that she has it before her next appointment.

The LW and I stopped by Mesquite Valley on the way home and picked up some plants. I think that it's getting too late for seeds around here so we picked up some heat loving things. Crookneck squash, peppers, eggplant, and some herbs. This evening we went out to plant and while we were planning where things should go, the LW asked about the potatoes that she had going. We looked in the book and saw that it was the 90 day mark a few days ago. She started them from a red potato that had been quartered. This evenening CP and I watched as she began pulling them from the ground and the harvesting went on and on and on.... When she was done, there were around 5lbs of potatoes in her harvesting bucket. That's a nice return.

"The girls" continue to give us an egg a day on average. There are half a dozen in the fridge right now that will soon become the LW's tomato & basil quiche.

Hmmmm

Recently, my 20 year high school reunion stuff came in the mail. The LW and I looked at it and wondered how 20 years had passed. I went out to the website that the reunion folks had put together and, while most of it just blew by me, the "In Memory Of" section shocked me a bit. Two friends from there were listed as having passed away - Sydney Madden and Jason Duermyer. If they'd have been clowns, I can't really say that it would have affected me much, but they weren't. They were both really great guys through and through. Syd played in a band back then and Jason was my weightlifting partner. Being out of that area and that scene has left me only to wonder what could have happened to them. I guess that's not really important in the grand scheme of things, but for some reason, I'd still like to know.

This afternoon, I think that I figured out why CP has been cranky. I suspected teething, but didn't suspect it on such a grand scale. She has 3 or 4 teeth coming in at the same time and these aren't the little incisor type teeth either....they're large. She goes to the doc tomorrow anyway for her 1yr gig, so it's good timing, I guess.

My bro called me today and said that he'd been helping to move equipment away from one of the plants where he works. After 9 inches of rain in two days or so, the river's expected to come out of the banks and levees. No fun there.

Have Your Cake....

The LW loved the image on this website, so she had a cake made for CP from it. It turned out great and she loved the cupcake that Maribelle's made for her too. That cake is great! Not only did it look wonderful, it tastes great too. Chocolate with rasperry filling in the middle. The LW cut huge pieces for everyone after we'd been snacking and then most folks filled up with beer and bratwurst. It was a sleepy looking crowd after that meal and Oma brewed up some coffee to jolt everyone back around. We had a good time.

CP was at the Child Watch gig the other day at the Ott Y and there was a kid in there who was coughing. CP now has that same cough and is just out of sorts a bit - cranky, doesn't really want to eat much and her nose is constantly plugged up. The LW says that it's good for her immune system and that her cousin Teague was sick most of his entire first year at day care because of stuff like this. It's no fun though.

Teague now has his little brother around and Aunt Carie is doing well. The LW took some birthday cake to the hospital for her since the gestational diabetes is now finished. We just got word this afternoon that little Victoria came into the world recently. Good news all around....must be something in the water.

1 Year

CP came in with us at 5am this morning and slept until 8. It was nice. She finally kicked around and woke herself up.....we told her this story this morning. Time flies....

Last night we took CP to her first outdoor big-screen movie at Cinema La Placita. It was great! The movie was The Wild One in honor of this week's Tucson Thunder event. Nothing like watching a motorcycle movie while bikes blast up and down the street right next to the screen. The LW now knows the folks that put it on and it turns out that they're our neighbors and even have a small person.

Rialto Trip

Ahhhh kids. CP and I met the quite pregnant Aunt Carie for a bit of baby time in the park today. The little ones enjoyed some face time and were just beautiful. Soon they'll be joined by another little person.

Last night's show was great. Junior Brown was stellar. It looked as though he had just picked up a drummer for the show. The LW and I enjoyed watching him communicate with the bass player in order to keep up with Junior. The drummer did well - playin' behind that guy's a tough gig when you know what's coming up next. We sat in the back row and only had a couple of instances where someone thought that they wanted to sit in front of us. The LW actually got up twice and asked some people to have a glass or two of shut the hell up. I was impressed. Robert Earl Keen was good too. Just a fun character. His sound guy was deaf though. He kept cranking up the instrument levels as the set went on and by the end of the night, the guys were singin' hard just to be heard.

Wanted By The Police....

...and my wife thinks you're dead.....

If you recognize that bit of a song, then you'll know where we're headed tonight. The LW and I are off to revisit a bit of our past. I don't know how the Rialto Theater compares to the Bottleneck where the LW and I first met at a Junior Brown show, but it probably can't get any nastier. We're really lucky that Brown and Keen are going to be on the same show. The LW introduced me to REK after we'd started dating. I really didn't like him much, but the sound grows on you. Then, there is of course, that buckin' song. Auntie Melissa just flew across town from work (tail wind) and will watch CP tonight.

I think that this is supposed to be an early 5th anniversary outing. My wife is the best!