Back from the whirlwind trip to Dallas. It started out a little rough and rainy and ended quietly with puddles of water resting everywhere upon our return. Ya see, I'd never actually used the Park 'n Ride part of the Tucson airport. I've been past it plenty of times, but never actually had to get my vehicle into the place in the dark...when it was raining. I thought that I was going to self destruct when we couldn't find the correct entrance, were running late, and were running late. Did I mention that we were getting there behind the schedule that I'd attempted to set. We made it to the plane with about 10 minutes to spare. I learned some things on this trip.

Lessons learned:
Pad time 45 minutes - 1 hour
Pack everything into the fewest number of bags humanly possible
Britax Boulevard car seats are built strong and as such are HEAVY
My wife would be a saint if she believed those kind of fairy tales
Carry cash, so you don't have to stiff someone after they load heavy things on a bus

We made it into Dallas on time and happy and the nice folks at Hertz had everything lined up and waiting. CP did well on the plane and only started getting antsy when she couldn't exit the plane when she wanted. It took me a while to get the car seat into the car. The seat tracks on the Malibu that we got were typical American car stamped-metal cheapos that weren't set up to accomodate the front strap of a rear-facing car seat.

Lessons learned:
Hertz Rocks!
Ask for a Japanese car if you're given a choice

Trying to find Gramma's house turned out to be an almost knock-down-drag-out affair thanks to the lovely folks at Google Maps. The directions were so far off of the mark and convoluted that I would bet that the best cartographers would need a valium or two if they were forced to follow them. When CP started screaming we had to pull in behind a strip mall and just vent a bit. It wasn't pretty. All of us calmed down after a bit and the LW called her aunt to save our bacon. We made it to Gramma's shortly after and were met by air conditioned air and huge smiles by Gramma and one of the LW's cousins.

Lessons learned:
Google maps still has a bit of de-bugging to do - cross reference with other map offerings
Stop the car when the baby really goes ballistic and you're hopelessly lost
LW can soothe baby in short order, but also inflames tired husband with similar expedience

The weekend went really well. We stayed at a Homewood Suites in Bedford, TX and that place was nice. It's really the same four stick & stucko walls that you get anywhere, but the staff were top notch. They transferred us from MIL's "holding" room to our other respective rooms after the cleanup crew got them ready and everyone got settled in. They even had a crib set up and waiting in the room when we got there.

Later on, CP got to meet and snuggle with her cousins and other relatives. The LW and I tried to lay low and get some relaxation time, but there wasn't any of that. When planning this trip, we sat around in a dream-like state thinking of how we would hand little CP off to some of the anxious relatives and sneak back to our room for a nice nap together (since we haven't had one since May 3rd). You can almost hear that big buzzer coming........ ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. That didn't happen. CP's schedule was a bit off and this meant that her naps were shorter and more frequent than usual.

Lessons learned:
Pay some baby-eyed, but baby-less relative to watch baby so that you can nap with the LW

The weekend was full of laughter and eating. Two good things in equal portions. The LW soaked up all of the time with her family and it was good to see. It seemed like all too soon when Monday rolled around and we had to pack it all in. We arrived home to find our town dealing with flooding due to rain measured in inches, not just in hundreths of inches as it has been for the last few years.

CP's nap times are shifting around a bit and we're trying to keep up. It's a bit strange, but we're fighting our way through it, quite literally at times. I'm beginning to think that having a 28-day alarm on my pda is not such a good idea. On the good side, at least I know what I'm in for, but the bad side is that it doesn't make the LW's short fuse, screaming, tears, and anger any easier to accept...or avoid. After a week or so, it passes, and then seems like a small price to pay in order to live with such a wonderful woman.

This week we're off for the cool temperatures and chilly breezes of Dallas Texas. Yup, we've had enough of the low-humidity and lack of haze, this week we'll pack it all up to go see Gramma! CP's going to have a good time getting to hang out with all of the family and the LW will get to see a familiar face other than mine.

It's been right near the record marks here, and in most of the world, all week on the weather scene. Records from the late 1800s that is. It's a good thing there's no climate change going on though. A rethuglican congressman from Oklahoma of all things has the whole thing figured out. He says that it's all a ploy similar to what happened in Germany after WWI. Somebody elected this guy? Of course when the oil and gas industry gives your campaign over $300,000, you'd better pay the piper sooner or later.

It's a crazy world that little CP will inherit, but at least she'll have a chance to go to camp.

Just catchin' a breather here after the 5:30 wakeup. The LW made coffee this morning for the first time in what seems like eons and we're both wide awake and happy. The swamp cooler started working this morning again. Well, it's been running for about 10 days straight, but the humidity was beyond the threshold of its effective operating parameters.

Uppp... things were going good until a few minutes ago. The LW's brother is selling his house in Kansas and the LW thinks that I should tell people back there that it's for sale...oh, but she doesn't know how much and is completely bent because I had the nerve to ask. Yeah, I can see that that scenario will work out.

Potential conversation:

"Hey, my BIL is selling his house outside Kansas City"
"Really? How much?"
"Oh, I don't know, do you really need to know that for buying a house?"

The LW thinks that it's absolutely absurd that I would need to know the price range before I tell someone about a potential house for sale and that's all it takes these days to send us into our morning tailspin.

CP's in the swing gnawing on her fingers. That's her trick for the day. Earlier she had the blanket in one hand and didn't want to let go in order to put her fist in her mouth. It was pretty funny.

CP's been holding her head up more and more recently. She's able to keep it steady even when she's bouncing or being rocked. It's pretty funny sometimes and I figure that she'll bobble and bust my nose with that huge head of hers some time soon. The LW transplanted some agave plants out front the other day. They had been growing on one side of the yard in a temporary space and needed a new home. Checked the water meter today since the person checking our water use says that last month we used 6732 gallons last month, up from around 3500 gallons last month. The meter was supposed to have been read yesterday, but wasn't touched and looked as though it hadn't been for quite some time.

The crackheads that filed charges against our neighbor dropped them. They must be afraid of drug dogs in the courthouse. The charges are dropped, but our neighbor incurred legal fees and now has not got a job. We'll probably lose them as neighbors because of this.

It seems as though things are heating up in Mississippi (where I grew up) recently too. Their one abortion clinic is under seige by some misguided members of the skydaddy fairy tale club. I can understand restricted federal funding, that's fine for now, but these folks need to get a grip. I don't see them out protesting fertility clinics. All of those embryos are going to be DISCARDED, but could be used in stem cell research. What part of thrown away don't these sheep understand? What a joke. As if the local weather wasn't blowing enough hot air around down there, vice-president Falwell will be bringing some of the locals his official take on morality.

In the same day, the reverend bush vetoed a bill that might someday save people's lives with stem cell research. Someday one of his daughters may need a new liver or treatment for liver disease and he may have to send her to Korea or some other country that has completely beaten us in the stem cell research field by not being hung up on some twisted pandering to the religious right.

It's just baking now, but it actually rained here the other day. As you can see our swales kept the water in the yard, but it may have been a bit too much for the mesquite tree. The dirt around the trunk was really soft and the wind whipped it pretty well. We'll see. They are a tough tree and it'll probably do just fine. Our little palo brea over in the right side of the picture was sheltered from the wind by the fence. CP didn't seem to mind the rain and couldn't figure out what all of the excitement was about. We took her to the garden meeting on Saturday and she did well. It seems that excursions of two hours or less are fine. After that, it's rollin' the dice. She'll go tonight to the cycling club meeting and get to see some new people, but right now she's sleeping now and it's quiet.

The "new" video camera is finally here and works really well. I ordered a firewire PCI card from newegg.com that allows me to write the video to the hard drive where the Ulead Video Studio software makes it into a movie automatically. I can still alter it if needed though. I've had fun with the night shot function on the camera. Everything comes out green, but being able to see in the dark is pretty wild. The next DVD for the grand and great-grandparents will be a bit different from the grainy previous offerings.

CP finally has a mattress for the crib that Grandma Sch brought for her. I found a set with a bumper, sheet, mattress, and blanket at a local Twice as Nice shop and it's been good. She'll just nap there though until the LW's SIDS paranoia is reduced to levels not requiring medication.

The LW and I watched a PBS show about Vancouver by Rudy Maxa the other night and it was nice for her to see what I saw when I went there. Wanderlust set in immediately and we'll probably vacation there with CP if we ever have a spare cent to our name again.....ever. Kids there can learn several languages in grade school as compared to here where the offerings are spanglish, street slang 101, thugwannabe 45, and english for the (child who is) left behind.

There is hope yet, in this strange place and some are standing up and waving the BS flag. Lt. Cmdr Swift deserves a promotion.


"The people can always be brought to the bidding of leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

- - - - Reich Marshall Hermann Goering

This morning, CP has declared her independence from peace and quiet. Nothing seems to keep her from screaming at the top of her lungs just when we think she's finally drifted off into a nap. The LW was up most of the night and I didn't sleep well either. Supposed to make cookies and go visit Oma Darlene today, but we'll see whether or not that pans out. I just dropped a dish in the sink while washing it and the wife came into the kitchen with that, "drop another one and you're dead meat" look.

We made sweet pickles the other day. Not the boil and seal kind, but the kind that just get boiled and put into the refridgerator. I guess we have to wait two weeks for some reason before we can use them. I think that I'm going to sneak some of them though.... The first watermelon of the season came out of the garden on Saturday. It wasn't quite ripe, but it was still really great. The birds haven't taken over everything.....yet.

Found out about this garbage yesterday. It just figures that it's from Faux News. An "office of censorship"? You've got to be kidding me. Everyone knew that the gubment was watching wire transfers. They've crowed repeatedly about freezing assets for years. This isn't a revelation, but it is an easy opportunity to go after the NYT.

A$$hat politicians. This time it's someone local. Revoke the NYT credentials. He must be smoking some of that stuff that comes across the border.... If they didn't print some of the corrupt stuff that our government does, where would we be. In the dark and certainly not in a democracy.

Another beautiful day with CP is in the tank as she dreams on the couch. It actually rained here today as we kicked around the house. I was trying to catch up on some sleep this afternoon and was awakened by water running off of the roof into the back yard. The LW was nice enough to unplug everything due to the lightening and made sure that I didn't get shaken out of dreamland by random pot clanging in the kitchen. I found myself awake near dinner time and she was mixing and baking some granola-type stuff while watching CP in the swing. I don't know how she does it. At least three times today CP was screaming like there was a fire in her diapers and as soon as she hit the LW's arms - calm, it's like she was instantly intoxicated with the smell and feel of mommy. I can't blame her for that.

I didn't realize that the job of SAH Dad would require me to shave every day, but evidently it does. I can't really hold CP without her random head balancing act causing her to smash some tender part of her face into my beard. She's backing off of the post-shot crankiness a bit, but a smattering of it remains. I was advised by my brother to never let the LW take CP to get any more shots. "That's your job", is pretty much what he said. The LW is still somewhat traumatized by the screaming, but is recovering well.

We got up and out this morning to water the plants and were met with a 5-0 convention in our front yard. At one time there were four unmarked cars, a crime scene van, and three marked cars. The only time I've ever seen more cops in one place was at the Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Grant & Swan when someone apparently must have tried to rob it a few weeks ago.

Anyway, there's a chop shop on the SE corner of our neighborhood and it's a bit of a diversified business because they apparently sell drugs as well. Guess where the crackheads and crankers go when they need money to get their fix. Thaaaaaaat's right Bob, into our neighborhood looking for things to steal. The carpenter next door surrendered his tools, I gave up several dollars in change, my owner's manual for the truck, and my ashtray that held the aforementioned money. The neighbor across the street had his kid's christmas toys ( a battery operated atv toy) stolen. The theif/crackhead apparently dropped his hat on the way out of the yard and while the neighbor was calling the cops, the thief sneaked back into the yard and took his hat. By the time the police came the hat was gone. Of course, there were only two of them and they stayed at the house for about 20 minutes.

The neighbor evidently found out that the brain surgeons over at the chop shop/crack emporium were somehow involved. I had been told that it was a chop shop/crackhouse by a neighbor. It's supposed to be an auto repair shop. Evidently people take their vehicles there and the "technicians" take the cars out and make drug drops with them. Heck the next door neighbor even owns an old "drop car". The gas tank is gone and it has an open hanging area for bales where the tank was. It wasn't made for carrying hay bales either.

This last theft of toys was six months ago. Well, someone shot at the crackheads last night and they told the police that it was our neighbor. I guess the cops showed up early this morning at about 4am and went through everything that they own looking for gunshot residue and a gun. I doubt that they found either one since the neighbor is a good kid and he doesn't even own a gun. He's had a bit of a checkered past, but has his stuff together now and loves his kids. The cops didn't find a thing, but he had a four year old warrant for something or other (probably parking tickets), so 5-0 had to take him in. The cops even remarked that they wish that they could shut the crackhouse down, but haven't found anything yet to hang them on. Something tells me that they soon will. The 5-0 finally took off at around 10am or so.

CP got her first chance at the pool the other night. We took her over to Oma Darlene's place and she enjoyed a short dip. She was very calm, but kept turning her head to get her hands in her mouth and got more than she bargained for when she'd get some water in there with all of those fingers. It was a good time though and any time with Oma is good as gold for her.

I've been having some trouble coming to grips with this fatherhood gig. The LW took to it like a fish to water, but she has spent a good bit of time around babies. It's tough when CP gets handed to me after eating or when she needs changing because she's usually not very happy. Then, of course, the LW shows up when she's screaming, takes her from me and it's like a switch goes off in her and she immediately quiets down. Odd and a bit more than disconcerting.

The LW was up early this morning and made cinnamon and raisin scones. They're the best batch yet. Just right! CP got her first round of shots this morning while I was over at the garden meeting. It was hard on mom and baby. They're both sleeping it off right now. CP weighed in at 11lbs 2oz this morning and she's 24" long. Every inch is beautiful.

It's a bit humid at 24% and 93degrees at 11am. That's nothing to everyone back in the midwest and south, but it's double what we've had for months now and you sure can feel it.

8:30am Loud music coming in the sliding door to the bedroom. LW and baby sleeping soundly. I spent the night with CP on the couch, so the LW could get a good night's sleep.

Holy @##$$# @#$%, who in their right mind blares the radio at 8-@#$%^&-30am in the morning? I wander out to see what's up and there's a Jeep Cherokee in the new neighbor's driveway idling with one rear door open, ac running, music blaring out of it, and the open door pointing toward our house and our bedroom window. I got my nastiest duds on and tromped sleepily over there.

Go to door.
Child opens door to find me.
Child's sister is on couch watching tv.
Child's sister sees me and yells, "shut the door".
Child slams door in my face.

Knock on door.
Child's mom comes to door.

"Is that you're...", as I point to the Jeep.

"Yes, it's a rental", she says.

"Is it supposed to be sitting out here with the radio blaring?"

"Oh, I'll tell my husband. He must have had to run in ...blah blah blah..."

"Uh huh...thanks...", as I tromped angrily back across the yard and to bed.

What the hell is wrong with people? Can one be so utterly clueless? Like I've said before, it wouldn't be all that out of the ordinary if it was a couple in their 20s, but it's not.

Well, yesterday I moved their trash can back into the yard just to be neighborly and in order not to send out the advertisement to the local sticky-fingered crackheads in the area that noone was home. I see the folly of my action now. Good neighbor my arse....

CP sleeps quietly as the LW sits with her laptop in the office/nursery on a conference call for work. Mrs. G will come by soon for a bit of lunch and reverie on her day off and then the LW will be off to the BWHC later for a visit. I hope to get some things done on the upcoming issue of the garden's newsletter today and I've already downloaded the most recent video of CP for the upcoming DVD. We started a Vanguard Star fund account for CP's college/first house fund today, so in lieu of toys or other things that she will never remember, we would like to request that anything sent to CP be sent in monetary form in the LW's name. Flimsy Chinese toy today, or college tomorrow. It sounds like an easy decision to me.

Thanks to Google Video and a link from the World Wide Rant, I got to watch the Root Of All Evil part 1 and part 2 videos by Richard Dawkins. This is the guy who was invited to take on the school boards in Kansas and said basically that there was no point in arguing with clueless midwestern fundamentalists. He does it well enough in the videos to expose them for what they are.

__Update______________________________

Mrs. G was just by and brought some tasty stuff from Feast on Speedway. She said it was from there anyway. See, she's a wonderful cook and I figure that she just whipped a few things together, put them in little plastic take out trays and brought them over. It was good to see her and it did the LW a world of good to have someone to visit with.

Got up early yesterday, got the LW ready for the day, went out to the truck ready to go downtown to the CNF meeting and as soon as I turned the key I knew how my day was going to go. RRrrr... RRrrr ....clickttttttt. I've been putting off any sort of vehicle maintenance for a while now and it's finally caught up with me. This battery wasn't very old, but I can only assume that the heat and low humidity had finally beaten it out of liquid and the spark of life needed to start things spinning. I took the superJetta over to one of the local parts stores where I parted ways with over $100 and loaded up on things involved with engine electrical and lubrication systems. Once home and rushing to beat the heat, I smirked as this was one of the few times that I've ever actually worked on a vehicle while taking advantage of a "shade tree". Humor for a guy who used to work the flat-rate system in dealerships. In short order the truck was done and the car followed. Thanks to this, we can now take off in the car with the A/C running without having to rev the crap out of it.

I had to work in the afternoon, so most of the day was spent lazing around. An uneventful and indulgent pre-father's day trip to the grocery store wound out the evening. Lots of smiles for the middle-aged bald guy carrying a 6-week old infant! Cake mix, sour cream, ice cream, and a package of oreos. I think that I'll get accustomed to this father's day thing....

This morning we were all up and out - headed for the Chaverim garden and the monthly garden meeting there. It's a good group. Very few of the gardeners actually belong to the congregation there, but they make the garden a beautiful, quirky, and interesting place. George was being peppered with wilt questions, as usual, and handled them well. Tomato russet mite and my buddy the squash vine borer were about and making themselves known. The plants seem to be holding up pretty well to the heat and insect pests. Life struggles to go on, no matter what.

The LW, CP, and I went over to the Kelly's place for tea and cherry tomatoes afterwards where we discussed everything from babies to strawbale B&B's. George and Darlene were there and told us of their recent trip to the Antiques RoadShow as it stopped here recently. George was a bit disappointed in their review of a portable writing table that was given him by his grandmother, but noted that the reviewer took notice of the brass Tanganyikan military uniform buttons that he had purchased when he was a young horticulture agent there in service of the Queen.

I had an agreement with the LW that we wouldn't buy things for each other, but it seems that she has taken this first father's day as an opportunity to blow that deal. On my first father's day, not only did I win the beautiful wife and child lottery, I got a copy of the oft-quoted movie Raising Arizona and a box style cheese grater. Mmmmm cheese graters... See, we've had one of those pampered chef flat ones for a while (that they won't even sell anymore) and I curse that thing's very existence any time that I have to use it in the kitchen. It flexes, it threatens to injure my digits, it doesn't shred very well, it just sucks! Now, there's a shiny metal one that sits ready for use, in the cabinet. Ahhhhh...just knowing that it's there is a comfort. I'm going to try to sneak out back and treat it to a little bit of Office Space style love a la 3lb sledge hammer. You know, like they all gave the copier in that movie.

We got home at 11am and I had bacon, eggs, toast, grapefruit, and lemonade for lunch. Dessert was cookies and cream ice cream with more oreos added (since they never give you enough in the ice cream anyway). It's a good day!

This haze of a week has apparently come to an end. I did a little work and got to try out some anatomy trains type work. We'll see what the consensus is and see if the concept helps me to help people take care of themselves.

I had to go on base this week and it just brings back memories of being Uncle Sammy's little pawn. Can't hardly stand it. I pulled up to the house to hear "Made It To Arlington" blaring. I got into a little discussion of how the song is sung in the first person of a dead military person. (It was apparently lost on this person that I spent six years in the military as well.) The song is basically speaking for a dead person and presumes that this dead person saw his father the day he arrived in a casket...as a dead person. I guess I'm the only one that finds this rather odd and bit morbidly disrespectful. The song presumes that there is some sort of afterlife, another thing I find strange as a materialist. I wonder how many of the dead, if they could come back, would look upon all of us and scold us for the folly of killing ourselves as a matter of common course because our governments believe that one creation myth is better than the other. Simply absurd.

CP and I spent a little time with mommy at the credit union today getting the details sorted out on the little trail bike that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. It's all plated and ready to go, but I have to get my permit/license endorsement to be fully legal. I look forward to being able to run short errands on the thing around town so I don't have to fire up the truck. You just can't beat 50mpg. After we got home, the LW made some mushroom enchiladas and I took CP out in the garden for a tour and a look around. She seemed enthralled by the corn blowing in the breeze and I got down close to the Mexican Hat that's growing in the flower plot. The cantelope are growing like mad and I wonder how much CP will have changed by the time they ripen. We started getting goldfinches this week. They're fun to watch and the house finches have been trying their best to hang upside down and get at the tiny thistle seeds.

Our new neighbors to the west have been in the house for a couple of weeks. Seem to be nice folks, but still have not put any curtains or window dressing up. It's kinda strange. If it were a couple of college kids, I wouldn't really think twice about it, but it's a family of four. Oh, and trash day is on Saturday, but they put the can out on Thursday. The lid blew open and not only filled the yard and desert plants with various trash, it smelled like something died in the trash can. Niiiiice.

The Coronado National Forest planning meeting is tomorrow downtown and I hope to get enough sleep between now and then to make it and be able to compose coherent thoughts. I'm sure that some of the folks from the Center For Biological Diversity will be there and it might be a good show. The gal that was at one of the meetings last year was an angry person. She seemed in a huff the entire time and snapped when one of the guys at the tables started talking about something concerning critters. They're working for "roadless", and while I agree on many of their points, I'm just not down with that.

Life lately seems like a broken record. This one spins on a 12 revolutions per day. It goes: Child cries, mom rushes to pick up child, dad looks on as child quiets down. Now, if you alter this tune to where dad listens as baby cries to see if she'll settle her self down, it turns into something that sounds like a Rob Zombie tune. It changes in the latter part to: Child cries, dad looks on, mom comes rushing in, looks at dad as if he's an idiot, mom "rescues" child from dad, and leaves in tears. We're vascillating among the different versions of this twisted tune daily as the chorus of sleep deprivation plays in the background.

Other than this it's just pretty warm here.

Last week in Santa Fe, CP started holding her head up by herself and she's been improving her fine motor control ever since. She no longer bounces as bad as she did when she started and can hold her head up while she's prone on the blankets. She's growing fast and just this week started throwing out random smiles, creating enormous joy for her parents. Yesterday was a big day. She was awake and not really screaming for most of the day. She had little catnaps, but no real long periods of sleep. When we put her down last night at around 9pm, she was out until about 2am. This was HUGE!! The LW and I got some much-needed contiguous sleep and well, it just made us really happy. I hope that this will continue.....

The first planting of corn turned out to be a bust. I got about 7 half ears out of two 8' long rows. Now, if I'd been raising earworms, it would have been a bumper crop! Most of the ears not only had worms, but hadn't been pollenated and the kernels were unformed, so I dropped about a dozen empty, worm riddled ears into the compost heap. This is a definitely a learning year. I also, had to get rid of my "Black Beauty" zucchini this week. I saw it slumping during the day, but didn't think much of it. I should have been inspecting the vine closer because a few days later it REALLY slumped over and the leaves wilted. When I went to pull it up, the squash vine borers had eaten completely through all three vines and they just snapped off at ground level. Sad to see a productive heirloom variety of plant cut down like that. I got a little bit of revenge by putting the caterpillar and the grubs out in the water bowls that we keep in the front yard for the birds. Cucumbers are on the vine, as are the tomatoes, peas, and okra. A dozen or so red peppers currently hang from our 3 year old "Anaheim" plant in the mid morning sun.

Whew! It's been a while since I put anything down here, or anywhere else for that matter.

We just returned from Santa Fe. I had to attend a massage seminar there. It's a racket really. The states mandate that you take a certain amount of continuing education within a certain amount of time and the providers know that they have you over a barrel. They're all too happy to charge you $450 for a weekend of their opinions on this or that "new" technique. There aren't really any new techniques as such, just new names for them. I managed to skim a few new ways of looking at things and some ideas about assessment that I can use in my practice. We'll see.....

It was CP's first road trip and she did well. She slept in the car seat most of the way and then spent the night fussing and keeping her parents awake. Maybe we'll travel at night in the future. I don't know the answer to this problem. We have to go to a family reunion in July, so maybe we'll try something different then.

We rented a Hyundai Sonata for the trip from Budget and it performed well. It's pretty evident why the US carmakers are taking it in the shorts after a long drive in that car. It was nice. I wish that it got more than 23mpg though, but if they don't have to conform to any efficiency standards, why should they?

I found out this morning while listening to the local NPR station, that the county is going ahead with the purchase of some Diebold voting machines under the ruse of helping better serve the disabled voters in the state and county. I don't really think that this is a good idea and I like the old paper ballot method. Call me crazy for wanting a verifiable vote count. It makes me wonder if our secretary of state is looking to follow the path of Katherine Harris.

There was an interview also with John Peterson about the upcoming documentary movie that's being shown on PBS called The Real Dirt on Farmer John. It sounds like an interesting show and it showcases the promise of Community Supported Agriculture. Through my work with community garden projects, I'm a bit biased toward that idea, but for people who don't want to or can't grow their own, I think it's a pretty good plan. It was pretty sad to hear about how the community reacted to him initially by calling him a devil worshipper and other crap. I guess small town small minds will do as they may....

Grandee and Papa enjoyed their visit, but CP's parents were just drained the entire time that they were here. I think that CP enjoyed seeing some new people, but she seemed to miss them at about 2am and took this anguish out on her parents. We enjoyed their visit and look forward to seeing them again in October.

The garden put off it's first tiny blast of summer vegetables this morning and we'll cook them up this coming week. Not much going on today. I juiced some lemons a bit ago and put it in the freezer in the ice trays. Grapefruit are next on the list.

It's memorial day weekend and I had planned to go do some riding down near the border on the dirt bike, but lack of sleep crimped that plan. Instead this weekend fills with thoughts of those who joined the military and other government branches to see the world as I did, but never returned home to their families. My thanks to you all.

My folks are in town this week and it's good to see them. We've caught up on all the family news from "down south" and they are really enjoying playing with CP. She just rolls with it and does whatever pleases her at the moment. It seems that while we're sleeping, it pleases her to scream or make some type of noise every 20 minutes or so. Mmmmmmmmmm that's really pleasant.

The veggie garden is coming along nicely and the corn is really moving along. I think that I learned a good lesson this season about corn though, and that is to not plant things directly on the north side of it. It tends to make a nice shade tree and forces things to sprawl in search of sunlight. The tomato plants from Lowes have started bushing out in search of sun as a result of the corn shade. All else is well and the zuccini have already started producing. I'm so glad that I only have one plant though - it's a beast. Brandy came by a few days ago (all days are the same now) and took some onions and zuccini home. She promised to come and raid the herb garden some time soon as it needs a good mowing.

About Cady Paine's namesake:

"But, whatever may be the imprudent utterances of the one or the impolitic methods of the other, the animating motives of both are evermore as white as the light. The good that they do is by design; the harm by accident. These two women, sitting together in their parlors, have, for the last thirty years, been diligent forgers of all manner of projectiles, from fireworks to thunderbolts, and have hurled them with unexpected explosion into the midst of all manner of educational, reformatory, religious, and political assemblies; sometimes to the pleasant surprise and half welcome of the members, more often to the bewilderment and prostration of numerous victims; and, in a few signal instances, to the gnashing of angry men's teeth. I know of no two more pertinacious incendiaries in the whole country. Nor will they themselves deny the charge. In fact this noise-making twain are the two sticks of a drum, keeping up what Daniel Webster called 'The rub-a-dub of agitation.'"

Theodore Tilton

If you have not seen it yet, check out the Ken Burns documentary called "Not For Ourselves Alone". Also, check out the last speech of Elizabeth Cady Stanton called "The Solitude Of Self". It is well worth the time that it takes to read.

Now this is a welcome sight. Yaknow all of those parents tell you about getting your sleep and all that crap. Well they're right to a point. Most of the first week was great and CP was just a happy camper.....then the LW's milk dropped and so did our levels of consistent sleep. We're doing ok though. It's nothing worse that the LW experienced during the KU 5-year plan or that I dealt with during my 6 years in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club.

As far as feeding goes, she either:

a. gets too much
b. gets enough and gets hellish hiccups
c. gets enough and can't burp which leads to power regurgitation
d. gets enough and gets painful (baby opera) gas
e. gets just the right amount and keeps it down happily

We hope to make it to "e." more than once a day some time in the next year.

It's good to have Grandma here, but a bit nerve wracking at the same time. It's a strange thing to have someone foreign in your home, but is sweet relief to hand a screaming kid off to someone at 3am when you really just need one more hour of sleep.

It's Melissa's birthday today and there's a cake in the kitchen, but no Melissa. She's not feeling well and goes waaaaaaaaaay too long without sleeping. It must be rough for all of the hospital folks who have to dodge deadly diseases and cranky people on the aptly-named graveyard shift.

I just got home from a run to Sierra Vista to pick up a motorcycle to find CP sacked out in her secure sleeper on the dining room table. The house smells like a bakery. Yayyyyy!

Grandma has arrived safely from Kansas City this morning and is enjoying her time with CP already. This time with grandma should allow the LW to get back into the swing of work and get into a bit of a routine. CP and I went out in the garden today to give the LW some rest time. It's amazing how every little noise and burble from CP jolts us both out of sleep like a bucket of ice water. The LW was able to catch up on some rest this morning and is as beautiful as ever. Last night I took CP out into the corn patch at dusk so she could see everything without having to squint. She seemed to like it, but was really interested in her fingers and the nursing session that she seemed to know was on the way.

Brandy and Carie came by yesterday and visited with the LW. It was just what she needed and right when she needed it most. The nursing, lack of sleep, worrying about work, and again the lack of sleep had conspired to break her down, but her dear friends showed up just in time to lift her up again and put a smile back on her face.

CP's been sleeping well and having only a little bit of trouble with nursing. It seems that the shift from having to work at it to having it come easily to her, has been a bit strange. She's fine though and it's more worrying for the LW than for CP. Last night was the GABA board meeting and it was a big surprise to see what all of the wonderful board members had in store for us. The decorated cake was really great - it tastes wonderful too. CP got her first helmet and a gift certificate to our local baby stuff store, Aldrich Baby News. The helmet is really cute - it has fairies and unicorns on it.

This weekend we had some visitors. Kurt and Lisa came by to see CP as did Melissa. The LW's milk came in also and CP has been taking full advantage of that. The Traditional Medicinal tea really helped get things jump started. CP's sleep has calmed down a bit and we've been able to get a few hours at a time during the night. I've tried to sleep through some of the night feedings (since I have nothing to offer) so that I can "step~n~fetch" during the daytime and take care of household stuff. CP has been getting some "nekkid time" and a bit of supervised time on her tummy lately and is enjoying both. The indirect sunlight coming through the window in the bedroom seems to be doing her some good too. The follow-up visit at the Birth Center went well this morning. CP and the LW are fine. It was reassuring for the LW to get a quick checkup too. She's been worried about the blood/clotting and was happy to hear that she was really doing fine.

CP had her first pediatrician appointment this morning at 8am. It was a bit of a rush to get our breakfast made (biscuits, jam, bacon, & bananas), get dressed, and get CP into the car and going. We made it 5 minutes late and all was well. The nurse measured and weighed her while we were waiting for the doc. Dr. Callie (Jr.) came in shortly afterward and checked her out. We looked at her skin in the sun to see where the jaundice was, and she looked fine. He's very nice and we're glad that Dr. Tooley recommended him and his father. It's a father and son practice.

After the doc, we went over to the Corbett Garden and got to see the gang. Oma, George, Naniloa, and Gary got to see CP and hold her. Two days old and she's making the rounds.

She's been eating well at the colostrum fountains and the LW is using an organic mother's milk tea to get things started. She's nursing about every two hours and actually slept for 3 whole hours this morning. The LW had the 10p-2a watch and I got the 2a-6a portion. She was a bit fussy during the LW's time, but settled down while I was on watch. By 4am, she settled into the secure sleeper and was off in dreamland until around 7am when I started rustling around in the kitchen. She's been enjoying the aquarium take-along swing that Harmony let us borrow, although it's made for a bigger person and swings like crazy with her in it. I've been just turning it off and pushing her in it a bit to soothe her - it's great during the early mornings.

Our neighbors Bill & Karen were out this morning and saw me out moving the trash cans and watering the plants. They came over to get the news and were really happy to hear that all was well. They are soooo nice. They've both been fighting cancer and Karen recently had another surgery. All of this and her brother is going to Iraq soon - still all she could talk about was our baby. It's wonderful to have good neighbors.

We're still just overwhelmed with gratitude towards all of the folks who helped get little CP here. Caryn Fraser of Agave Massage, our doula, was a lifesaver. Her husband is a world class cyclist, but she will always be my hero. She took the role that I couldn't have figured out and helped the LW in so many ways. Tanya and Tiffany, in addition to the remainder of the top notch staff at the birth center did what they must do every day at work. What a job to have - seeing beautiful little things come into the world on a regular basis.

Wednesday morning our midwife Tanya told us that the LW was set for the prostaglandin gel and that we should make our way to the hospital. It was our last possible day to have CP at the Birth and Women's Health Center, so we got right on it. After the requisite check-in and paperwork fumbling, we were put in a windowless room and told that we'd probably be there for 12 hours. Now there's nothing that'll take the wind out of your sails like going to the hospital for what you thought would be an in-and-out procedure and realizing that you're stuck there. You're not only stuck there though, there's a chance that your wife will go into labor and all you brought with you were the clothes on your back and a book to read. We got lucky. The nurse, Anne, came in and told us that she needed to check with Tanya to see which gel we were getting. There's one kind that's a slow release kind of deal and the other just gets squirted near the cervix. She came back in and told us that we'd be using the kind that only required a 3 hour stay. SWEEEEET! All that was settled and we just waited.

Anne came in to apply the gel and see the monitor readings. The LW and CP were working as advertised and all was well. The gel went on and the LW was at 2cm/80%. Anne is evidently the resident gel master as the LW's contractions started hammering away soon after it was applied. This continued until 3pm when we were to go over to the birth center. By this time, she could not walk or talk during the contractions and was working on her bedside white-knuckle grip technique. By the time the release papers came, her grip was in top form. She was at 4cm and we were off to the house to pick up our stuff and head the the birth center.

Evidently, my driving does nothing to soothe the discomfort of contractions. It's not hot enough for all of the snowbirds to have left town, so driving was a bit sketchy. There are numerous gerontology specialists and drugstores along the route from our house as well. I sketched "wife in labor" in the dust and pollen on the back of the car as an open apology to those who I offended during our drive.

In the front door of the birth center we went. Suitcase and aching wife in hand. The midwives were in a meeting and as we walked by the doorway, I heard one of them say, "It looks like they're moving in..". We were. We just didn't know it would be a 20-hour stay at the time. Nothing like a wife in labor and a husband with a suitcase to get things stirring though. Chris came in and helped get things settled before taking off for the day. Tanya was with the LW in short order and things were moving along nicely. The LW was moving through the contractions using the breathing stuff that she uses for yoga. It worked well, but as we would learn later, it's all about how well you can control the muscles of your pelvic basin and floor.

I got on the phone to everyone and let them know that things were ready to crank up. Short messages, but happy news! The gang started showing up around 5 or so and by 7, they were all there. It was good to have them there too. Melissa, "Oma" Darlene, our doula Caryn, and Lisa rounded out the friends and family crew and everyone settled in to watch the early part of the show.


By 7pm or so, the LW had come entirely out of her clothes and didn't care who saw her that way. She was having serious contractions with euphoria in between. She had spent time up on the bed hung over the ball and in the tub. Caryn really helped the LW through the contractions and the rest of us took turns holding the LW's hands during them. By this time I could see that we had made the right decision to have Caryn help us out. She's the best! She said the right things, did the right things, and best of all, took the heat off of me. The LW takes everything that I say differently than what comes from other people and this really saved our butts and kept the birth process from getting ugly..until the end, but I'll get to that.

Between 8 and 9pm, the grunting/yelling portion of the process began. She spent a good bit of time laboring on the toilet and birthing stool during this portion. Her knees aren't the best, so the squatting idea wasn't an option early on. The LW was completely worn out by this time and didn't really know who or what was around her. We all tried to keep her drinking water and I brought some Cytomax energy drink mix with me as well. I don't know where we'd be without that stuff. It seemed to give her just enough juice to keep going and it didn't make her sick. Some time between 9pm and 1am, she must have hit "transition", but she couldn't tell. She was doing so well, but was so tired.



1am and then 1:30am came and went and the gang was still taking turns. Caryn ran the support crew and stayed with the LW pretty much the entire time. The LW was "purple pushing" by this time and it was hard to watch. She had begun to fade out a bit. She was pushing against her own pelvic muscles. When she went into a contraction, she also tightened these musles and was basically fighting against her own strength. (Note to female cyclists. Figure out which muscles you'll need to relax ahead of time or you'll regret it.) Tanya seemed to think that labor was progressing, but by about 1:45am, I was concerned and begin to question whether or not we should call it after 13 hours and ship her over to TMC for a C-section. Tanya, and Tiffany (our wonderful nurse) were thinking of the possibility of a vacuum extraction and the LW said that she'd rather be cut open than have something like that done to the baby. They refused to give up and didn't let the LW give up either. About this time, the squatting option came into play. Caryn had her under the arms and she sat a bit on a little 8" tall horshoe-shaped stool. I don't know who makes that stool, but I'd like to hug them as I am eternally grateful to them and the people who put it in that room.

I got more involved near the end and stopped worrying about whether everyone could see or whether I was getting in the way. CP was on the way now as her head was almost near the opening. On a couple of the strong squatting pushes, I could actually see her head moving out. This is where it got really exciting, but also worriesome, as the LW was almost completely spent and I knew that she couldn't take much more. Tanya and Tiffany were on either side of me making sure that I didn't screw anything up. The LW kept working on her positioning and pushing and things began to happen fast. Melissa worked so well at keeping hot compresses made and Darlene passed them along for the rotation. I put my yell ("Push that baby out damnit!!") in with the rest of the encouraging words that the LW was getting and I got the "you're number one" gesture that she often makes with her middle finger. I had her attention and she was mad. I think that making her mad gave her a little bit of a boost. She's pretty powerful when she's mad and I've seen it more than once! A few more contractions and little CP's head was cresting. It seemed like only a minute had passed when after the contraction stopped, her head no longer ducked back out of sight. It was now staying there. Her head was just sitting there, trying to make its way out. We worked the edges back and away and applied some lubricant to the head and surrounding tissues. Tanya asked me to push the head down, but when I did, it mashed her skull in, leaving imprints, and that was just more than I could stand. I stuck to doing the warm compresses on her distended perineum and let Tanya do the head work. More contractions came and with a flush of blood, fluid, and skin, CP's head came completely out. She was draining well and her face was down and to the LW's left. Tanya and Tiffany got her cleaned up a bit and the LW got to see her head out. I couldn't take my eyes of of the baby, but I wish that I'd seen the LW's expression. She was in the home stretch and would be done in only moments. While Tanya was working on CP's exposed head, she figured out what some of the problem was. CP's right hand was up near her face and under her head during the labor and delivery. She had come through the canal with not only her head taking up space, but her arm too. I looked over at Tiffany and asked her if all of the blood was normal. She assured me that it was and that I shouldn't worry. The LW was doing just fine. She also said that the other shoulder would come next. Another contraction and more encouragement to the LW were followed by another flush of blood and more flesh. The other shoulder had cleared and this time, CP was free.



The LW and I had been worried about this kid since the early portions of the pregnancy when it looked like things weren't going to work - when, for 12 weeks or so of constant vomiting she was losing a pound a week. Now she had bounced back and we'd made it through all of the hurdles. As a beautiful little body emerged from the LW's, all that I could do was laugh out loud. All of the worry, questioning, waiting, and wondering were gone in a flash and our anxiety spilled on the floor, finished. Without cleaning her or anything, CP was put right up on the LW's chest. Melissa cranked open the oxygen bottle while Tanya gave it to her and Tiffany helped to get other things rolling and checked out. Blood was still streaming out as Cady gained some color and everyone savored our fleeting special time.


She's home and beautiful now after wonderful care at the birth center. Our morning nurse Lisa helped us understand some of the things from the baby owner's manual after Tiffany bought us breakfast. I don't know how we'd have made it through today without those pancakes! Before we left, our pediatrician stopped by to pronounce CP as healthy. It's a little after 5am here and we haven't had much sleep, as everyone advised, but we haven't missed it either. The sun of Cady's first full day is coming up and there are too many beautiful things going on in that baby's face. If I fall asleep, I might miss some of it.

Still no baby. Today is the last day that we can have the baby at the BWHC. Their new med group will toss us to the amateur golfers wild western medical show tomorrow if Cady isn't here. We just heard back from the oncall MW and we're getting set up for a prostaglandin gel treatment for the LW. We'll hit the MW clinic after that and see where we go from there.

Well there's nothing like waking up to being another day closer to Pitocin and an amateur golfer with a set of forceps. We went for a bit of a stroll around da'hood this morning and the LW made a castor oil smoothie when we got home. She came outside while I watered the plants and finished the thing off. About half an hour later, I heard the sounds that were familiar back in the first and second trimester when she was dealing with hyperemesis gravidarum. Yup, she was face down at the porcelain altar. Now I thought that castor oil was supposed to work with gravity, not against it, but I guess that I was wrong.

Then I found this while reading the morning news. I guess I was expecting crap this morning, but from my wife, not a failed yankee oilman who thinks he's been appointed king by his man-deity in the sky: http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/04/media-finally-starting-to-report.html

We just returned from the Birth Center. Chris and Fran took great care of the LW this morning. The non-stress test was normal and little CP seems to be reacting just as she should be. Her heart rate really jumps when she starts moving around. It went from ~130 to ~165 when she started kicking and stretching.

They talked to us about what's going to happen this week. I guess since the center has a new medical group, they are less willing now to let the mother move beyond 41-3 or so. That OB malpractice insurance premium sure does scare the crap out of people. (41wks-3days) LW is at 41 weeks today. Fran checked her and she's at 1cm dilation. We picked up some homeopathic things on the way home. Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Evening Primrose, and Castor Oil. The castor oil bit will probably be tomorrow. That should be fun!

Still no baby yet. If you didn't get the most recent pics of the LW, let me know and I'll send them. She's been out in the back yard working in the potting soil. We picked up some plants last night from the new Lowe's on our side of town. We went in for plants and came out with light fixtures, lamps, irrigation supplies, and an irrigation timer that I needed since the other one fried itself out. The LW picked out most of the flowers, but I picked the Side Show Purple (Osteospermum/Cape Daisy) and it is pictured here. CP is five days late now and her mom reminds her of it every now and then. Everyone is anxious, including us.

The midwives continue to monitor the LW's condition, but all appears to be well. It was a tough blow mentally to see CP's due date come and go. That date is just an educated guess that gives the doctors the right to force you into an induction, monitoring, IV,........bills. I know all about the lifespan of the placenta, fluid levels, etc. I also understand that obstetricians have golf tee times and lunch engagements that they don't like to miss. The LW and I were both first children and we were both late babies. She was 3 weeks late and I was just a little over 2 weeks late. We're just continuing on with life as (un)usual for now. There's a stress test planned for Monday if CP's still hangin' in there.

The beloved VW bus went to a new home this week. There's a big vacant place in the yard now. I listed it on craigslist.org on Sunday night and had a guy come pick it up on Monday morning. He evidently has one that has been wrecked, but still has good parts everywhere else. I went out in the back yard with him and had just fired it up and let it idle and he said, "I'll take it". I doubt that I'll ever see another one with a factory sunroof for less than $10 grand, but them's the breaks... I actually did see one that was restored the other day on eBay and it was going for $10,995. The money that I raised from selling it will combine with some recent baby gift money and will start a college/first home fund for CP. The way things are going, she'll need all of the help that she can get.

The LW and I just heard about a movie that's being screened at Tribeca called "Flock of Dodos". It should be a pretty good show, but people will still believe crazy mythologies and antiquated creation stories because they are easy on the mind and encourage them not to think too much. Take scientology for instance, if you think the other religions have the market on outright looney behavior and methods, think again. At least the other god clubs don't have their own Navies.....yet.

In other news, the garden is coming along nicely and the first planting of corn is waist high already. The remainder of the sprouts have broken ground and are moving into the light. It really takes a good bit of soil temperature to get the pepper seeds moving along. They're stubborn.

It's a beautiful sunny day out.

The LW's contractions continue, but other than that, no news is good news. A few relatives have been sneaking around the "don't call us, we'll call you" plan that we set up. I wonder if anyone that's in our immediate nuclear family feels as though we won't call them immediately when something starts happening.

WE WILL. TRUST ME ON THIS.

The labor is moving along slowly, and from what we hear, that's a good thing. When things get rushed, odd stuff starts happening and we don't want any part of any medical intervention. We'll probably go for another walk this evening around sunset and see what happens then.

The LW and I both use MSN's instant messenger service. Just email us if you need the screen names and we'll get them to you. It's an easy way to check in with us during the day and you can tell at a glance whether or not we're out of touch. Also, it keeps anyone from waking the LW up. Something that I feel is of great importance right now.

Prelabor has begun!! Yayyyyyy! The MW appointment this morning went well. No dilation, but the cervix is effaced and CP's head is down in the pelvis. All is well. The contractions continue to be random and non-progressing. The LW is happy, well-rested, and as beautiful as ever today.

It's a bit cloudy and windy today. It started out calmly this morning when I was up on the roof with the shopvac cleaning out the tray of the swamp cooler. The salts from the water had clogged the drip rails last season, so I figured that I'd give it a good cleaning. Within an hour or so, it was humming along and it now cools the house nicely.

The LW is off to have lunch with Brandy today. It's become a Friday ritual of sorts and it gets her out of the house. I think that they were headed to Pei Wei for some oriental style food. I've had a few appointments this week and it's kept me busy and kept my mind off of the "watched pot" that is my wife.

I heard a really good story while listening to Science Friday on the way home this afternoon. It was all about farming and how we have basically taken a good solution, in having animals and crops on the same farm, and have separated it into two problems (where cows go to feedlots and corn fields need nitrogen). The story was about how some farmers have started to use a closed-loop system. I heard of this one farmer who lets cows feed in a pasture, moves them out, waits 3 days, then moves in chickens. The 3 day wait allows the grubs in the cow manure to grow. The chickens move in, dig up the grubs, and spread the manure at the same time. The flies are kept to a minimum because the chickens catch them in the larval stage. The LW and I dream of eventually living somewhere that gets regular rains and feeding ourselves from what we grow and gaining income from the extra that we sell. Ahhhhhh maybe someday we'll find such a place where the local science education hasn't been gutted and supplanted by myth.

Today was belly cast Sunday. We had a nice relaxing weekend and decided that today was the day to get the cast going. The LW has already started having random contractions that give her low back pain. This kid's coming some time this week.....we hope. We sat her down in the kitchen and got everything prepared. I had just started putting on some of the second coat when, the reason why the instructions mention getting a fan, became apparent. The LW became as white as the plaster of paris and almost checked out. It was just like after the amniocentesis...she had that "everything's fine" look on her face - that look, to me, means she's about to check out. I had time to scramble around, grab the fan, and plug it in. I kept her talkin' and she started coming around after a few minutes, but it was kinda spooky. The cast turned out wonderfully and will make a nice heirloom piece to show.

Pffft..

I took the LW out on a date last night. It will probably be our last date as a childless couple. We rushed off to one of the local Chipotle shops for a bite to eat and then on to see One: The Movie. I like going to local restaurants, but lately the Losbetos down the street has been getting so stingy with their ingredients, the burritos come out looking more like a rolled tacos. We made it to The Loft in time to get popcorn and be accosted by the groovy brothers handing out pamphlets about some psychic metaphysical stuff and One: The Conference. After seeing the movie, the conference seems like a way to cleanse your spirit and your wallet of $200 or more. The film is, after all, the project of a lawyer.

After being asked various things by the MC from, "say hi to your neighbor" to "what are the best qualities of being human?", we finally got to sit back and watch the movie. It was billed as a review of life's big questions by lots of different, and interesting people. It turned out to be a wandering home movie that went way too far into discussion of the idea of the movie, how it was made, more behind-the-scenes junk, and brief potshots at atheists. It seemed as though, just when the people being interviewed were about to expand on the ideas discussed in their brief snippets, the editor would cut to the cheesy little "journey" sub-plot. Some of the people interviewed were more than just "interesting". Ram Dass, Mantak Chia, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and "Dragonfly could have easily been edited out, but seemed to have been left in for comic relief. It would however, have taken two or more hiballs of bourbon, to make them even remotely funny. The remainder of the gang had some interesting things to say, but it seemed as though Chris Wallace, the street kid was right up there with them. Maybe he should get in on the game of selling tapes, books, and videos to help people find their inner punk while separating them from a few dollars. He's the only person in the list of "great leaders" not in that particular game yet.

Maybe I could become a great spiritual leader and charge for enlightenment. I might just get my $20 back.

Water vapor will make your stove burn with an orange flame. The SW Gas man showed up at 0735 this morning. He came inside, saw the flame, and asked if I was running a humidifier. It's in the kitchen right now. I'm sick with sinusitis and it is helping. It's in the kitchen because the combination of a container of water with two cats on a new laminate floor just didn't sound like a good plan.

The LW woke up late this morning after going to bed with a headache. This combined with having me wake her up every hour or so during the night by coughing, didn't do her any favors. This morning she officially reached the point where eating small meals slowly became necessity. She had a big breakfast only to have CP push it right back out. That kid is already making her presence known to everyone around here.

We came home with our Britax Boulevard yesterday. We went to Aldrich Baby News here in town and picked it up. Mario, a great guy from the store, officially installed it in the car and now I see why my buddy Pat from out in Napa recommended this thing. The seat is a beast, but it has some cool features and CP should be able to use it for quite a while. I'm sure that we'll be regulars at this store for a while. They carry all kinds of Mustela products and stuff that we've only seen in catalogs. The website is kinda simple, but their selection is great.

This little snippet should show what's going on at our house right now. It's part of the bar graph from pollen.com. We're at 10.5 out of 12 on the scale here right now thanks to the rains that came last week. After 140+ days with no measurable rain, everything started pushing blooms recently in an effort to get while the gettin's good. I started sneezing earlier in the week and by Friday, it was full blown - not my nose, the sinusitis. I've been using Claritin and Mucinex for a couple of days and will be bound for the local doc this coming week. No fun there. It's beautiful outside and the LW has spent a good deal of time reading and enjoying the sunshine. She's also been doing the household stuff since I'm down and out for a bit. That's a strange reversal and it's a little hard to get accustomed to. Our little CP continues to move around alot and you can see it from the outside when she does. A few more weeks and she should be making her grand entrance. It's time to get the baby seat in the car and get the overnight baby bag ready to go.

CP is healthy and her heartbeat is fine. That's the news from the midwives at the Birth Center. Our little one continues to kickbox her mom's internal organs though and as an aside, has begun to give her mom some pretty stout back pain. Our doula is coming over tonight to do a basic interview session. It will be nice to meet her and see how her personality fits with the LW.

I'm almost done with my master gardener course and will be glad to not have to drive an hour or so each way to get to the class. This past week was citrus and Dr. Glenn Wright layed it out for us. By the end of his presentation, I wanted to plant all kinds of strange fruit. I had never heard of the Pummelo or the Cara Cara or most of the other varieties that he mentioned, but I'm determined to try them. It was a great class. Hopefully this fall we can get some dwarfs planted, but I have to see what performs well on "Flying Dragon" rootstock. I'd like an Oro Blanco and a Minneola Tangelo - the LW and I will have to wrestle over the other choices.

It rained here recently and it was a welcome sight. I'm sure that the critters enjoyed it. I figured that T. Beth over at FireFlyForest would have some great pictures this week. She never disappoints.

The LW started working from home today in the middle of her 35th week of carrying our little one. I got out back this morning so that she could have some quiet time and pulled our carrot patch. We figure that we came close to 40lbs of carrots from a 4'x16" patch that were planted from seeds. It took a while to get them cut, blanched, and packaged, but it's worth it. Little CP will have some home-grown baby food later this year and we'll have veggies on hand for cooking without making a trip to the store. The snow appears to be almost gone from the mountains. I guess that it got cold for one of the local road races recently. The snow sure is a pretty sight though and the critters and plants can use all the moisture that they can get. Last night was the last night of the childbirth class and we were tired when we got home. Something about having a childbirth class full of pregnant women sitting in one spot until almost 9pm just doesn't make sense. Maybe they're trying to get everyone accustomed to being tired. All is well and little CP continues to play visceral kickboxing with the LW's organs.

It's been a while since I've put anything here, and I apologize. Shortly after the last post, the LW's family started arriving. We had the parents in town for almost a week and on the same day that they headed toward Texas, one of the sisters arrived and entertained us through the weekend. Both were good visits as we saw Kartchner Caverns, a bit of Tombstone, and ran up Mt. Lemmon with the parents. We even conned LW's dad into making bread while he was here - good stuff. The Betsy was in town for the baby shower and while she was here we went to the short film contest at the Loft. Adding guests to our 750sf house was interesting, but the LW made it work beautifully.

The LW starts her new job soon and was quite happy to bid adieu to the guy who has made her present job grueling for the last month or two (although he said nothing upon hearing the news and hasn't communicated with her at all since). In her new job, she'll be doing technical writing from home. She's looking forward to just being a writer again since the last place couldn't figure out that they needed an office manager and Dianne was doing that job too. Only a month ago they finally figured it out and gave it to a technophobic engineer who thinks that an excel spreadsheet is as good as a well-configured database. Wheweee...wouldn't want to be a part owner in that company! Anyway, she's happy to be telecommuting again and will make site visits locally as necessary. This means that she'll be home with the little one and I most of the time. This should be very interesting.

It's starting to get warm out.

It's a bit cool today and I got chased out of the garden by sprinkling rain. I was out pulling up the broccoli that bolted and working on two new plots. Some of it that bolted into flowers is left in the garden for the bees. They are having quite a time with it. These two latest plots will bring the garden up to what I consider to be its maximum of 9 plots. It'll provide roughly 250 square feet of planting space and should be just about right for producing what we can use. Since it is a bit shady today, I pulled both of our heating pads out of the closet and put them under the new sprouting plants in the kitchen. Some of the seeds from two weeks ago are just now starting to break the ground while others are taking off.

The LW continues to grow large and has a hard time getting comfortable on the new futon couch/bed that we purchased recently. We didn't have any place for the inlaws to sleep during their upcoming visit, so it was a necessity. The LW will be more comfortable in a month or so when CP comes out to greet everyone.

I spoke to a guy this morning who wants to put in a garden at a local group home for men. They have a huge space (5+ acres) and evidently have some willing participants. Their idea is to have a big garden for pumpkins that they can sell to the public around halloween and to have some individual plots for some of the residents. It'll be good if we can get it all set up and running.

The house next door is for sale and we wonder whether we'll actually have someone come in an purchase the house to live in or if it will continue to be a rental home. It is listed for almost twice what we paid for ours, so that bodes well for a bit of easy equity.

7 days is all it took for most of the seedlings to come up and start moving. The leader so far seems to be the heirloom pole beans called "Lazy Housewife". They're moving right along and it's good to see so many sprouts. I've only got a few slow babies in this group. It was hard to choose which sprout in each cell to cut as they all look really great. I hope to start corn soon, but I still have to figure out which variety that I'd like to plant.

LW continues to do well and spent some time in the front yard and the garden this weekend sunning herself and little CP. This is the 31st week and the back pain and sleepiness are just now starting to hit. This week the childbirth classes will start and we really don't know what to expect.

This week's been a bit slow except for the broccoli bolting. That has happened fast with the heat and strong sun that these plants have been getting during the day.

Things are settling down with the LW, although the little one, now in her 30th week of gestation, has taken up organ wrestling - much to the chagrin of the LW. The LW continues to grow larger and we found some "new" clothes for her at one of the local used clothing stores last night. She was thrilled and left for work happily in a different outfit.

The massage practice is still moving along slowly. It seems as though I'm stuck in between the desire to push the business and the upcoming time when I know it will be scaled back due to S(tay A(t) H(ome) D(ad) type stuff. It's an uncomfortable limbo that leaves me to focus on plants or floors or some such distraction. Wierd phase, I guess.

I've been reading from RebelDad and some of the others out there. I've been keeping track of growth with the calendar from BrandNewDad. She should be a little over 3lbs and about 14" or so.

This weekend is the Presidio garden meeting with the Community Gardens. It should be a good time and it'll be interesting to see what's growing. We have an ongoing spinach trial at this garden to determine what grows best in our conditions.

The LW continues to go round and round with the new boss and we'll see what happens. It doesn't look good, but she's not worried about it... We've decided not to go and look at the Mercedes 300TD Wagon. It needs a bit more TLC than our current (or future) budget will allow and would not be a wise purchase at this time. Someday we'll be making our own fuel, just not today.


I've been putting down trim and threshold strips this afternoon. It's slow work and messing with drilling into concrete is a pain. The broccoli was a bit floppy this afternoon so I just turned on the tap to give everything in the garden a good drink. It's supposed to be close to 80 degrees today and any time spent in the sunshine quickly confirms that it's close to that already.

We got a box of goodies from Brandon, MS yesterday. Wow, some of those little clothes are cute and should come in handy. We really appreciate it and look forward to everyone getting to visit with her some time this year.