Happy 1st Birthday D!

I had to sneak a happy 1st birthday wish in here for D while it was still actually his birthday.  He's catching up with his brother just as fast as he can.  He figured out walking in about a week, and although he's not great at it yet, he loves it and gets further every day.

Tomorrow is official party day, with a Cinco de Mayo theme, including beer, margaritas, guacamole, and a pinata.  We're really just using D's birthday as an excuse to invite some friends over, but he doesn't seem to know that.  I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this blog yet, so everybody be cool.  Don't spill it to him, OK?

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas, everybody! I wish I could be with the rest of my family today, but I'm still very thankful for what I've got right here with me...

Stupid music in my head

On the road again,
Wish I wasn't on the road again,
Rather be back home with my kids and my best friend,
Wish I wasn't on the road again.

Yeah, I'm on the road working again. It's the first time since D Money was born, so it's an experiment for all of us. I know it's necessary, at least for now, but I still feel like I'm ditching the fam'. I did the best I could for Franny. My folks will be there part of the time, and her folks part of the time, but she'll still have a couple days by herself with two little tyrants demanding the world. Good luck, F. I wish I was there to help you.

I'm back in Montana this time. I've made this trip a few times, but the last was February. It occurred to me maybe half way here that I took off without a map and without looking up any directions. Apparently I've been here enough to find it familiar. I must have been right since I didn't get lost.

The trip to Missoula took about nine hours, and at least it was decent weather. I was worried about 4th of July Pass in Idaho, since I've found poor road conditions there in the past, but all was clear yesterday, so it was pretty smooth. Today I continued on to Bozeman over the Continental Divide. 6,380 feet up if you're interested. The weather wasn't so hot although it certainly could have been worse. It sleeted part of time and I'm sure the pass is pretty icy at night. There's melting snow all day and 20's at night, so I'm sure it gets slick. I guess it's supposed to get more wintery later this week. It is Montana, I suppose.

I did find that the last hour or two in the dark last night was a lot less fun. I knew I had been driving too long when I realized the I was emphatically (and loudly) singing that I am indeed a redneck woman. I was half right anyway. Actually, although I don't even know any Tanya Tucker songs (much less all the words), and I'm hardly the girl next door in my neck of the woods, the song wasn't entirely wrong. I would rather drink beer all night than swig that sweet champagne. I definitely ain't no high class broad. My Christmas lights weren't on the front poor all year, but they did make it to March or April. And most importantly, I can certainly buy that same damn thing on a Wal*Mart shelf half price. Hell Yeah.

It looks like I should drive less and sleep more. Sounds like a plan. Good night.

My calves are still sore

This weekend, we took the family out for the Providence Bridge Pedal. This is an annual event, in which the city closes half of each bridge for exclusive bike traffic, including the two interstate bridges. This does not amuse drivers, who are stuck with detours and delays all morning. Too bad. Actually, due to the fact that one of our kids only has a plastic tricycle and the other one barely has feet, we chose to do the Bridge Stride instead, which only covers two bridges. I'm not sure how many walkers there were, but there were 18,000 total walkers and bikers. The Mizz rode in the backpack (hence my sore calves), and D rode in the stroller and slept, the lazy bum. Here is a picture of us setting out.


And here we are heading up an off-ramp onto I-405. This felt wrong in more ways than the sign can convey. For an added dose of wrong, marvel at the optical illusion created by the confluence of the dark pad on the backpack, my cargo pockets, and the Mizz's shoes, making my backside look positively enormous. Perhaps I should walk on the freeway a little more often.


Here is a view from the top of the Freemont Bridge. This was pretty cool, since you usually see it at 55 mph, when you are not up there for long and you really ought to be watching the road anyway.


And finally, I don't understand all the fuss about closing Starbucks stores. We can get lattes in the middle of a frickin interstate highway down here. High speed drive-through is the wave of the future.

Happy 4th of July!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted anything. I told myself that if I didn't have time to keep current on the stack of bills on my desk, I certainly didn't have time to blog. I don't think I actually got behind on the bills and stuff, but it was all I could do to get everything paid on time, including occasional online payments the day things were due. But I finally got ahead of the critical things and I have a few minutes. Ever since Baby D's arrival, most waking moments have either involved working or taking care of one or both kids. I've been able to watch movies and more TV than I've watched in a year, but only while holding an irritated or sleeping baby. Doing anything involving hands or a brain hasn't been much of an option. But we're getting better at it, so maybe this blog won't die after all.

In the time since I've last posted, I've missed (blog-wise anyway) a bunch of stuff. There were several birthdays, including Franny's and the Mizz's and the actual births of two new nieces. Baby D has started to smile and laugh at me all the time. My boss got back from a 6 week vacation beyond phone-reach. Both the Mizz and D have done numerous funny and/or impressive things. There was Mother's Day, during which my mother was visiting, and Father's Day, during which my father was visiting. The Democrats finally chose which history-making presidential candidate they are going to field. And gobs of other stuff that's escaping my mind at the moment.

Anyway, while the rest of the country is outside blowing their fingers off, I have a little time to myself. The Mizz and I left Franny and D at a 4th of July cookout so the Mizz could get to bed. the Mizz had a big day today (Thomas) and a little nap in the car on the way home, so he wasn't up to partying all night. So it's just me and the internet and a bunch of explosions outside my window. Happy 4th.

Check out my excuse for not blogging!

OK. I admit that a month is a long time to go without posting, but you have to admit, this isn't too bad an excuse. Welcome Baby D, as of 5/8. Incidentally, that's my old hat he's wearing, from 1970-something. It's a tad small now.

The new guy is pretty awesome. Aside from an early bout of not getting bigger fast enough, he's doing really well. He's pretty easygoing most of the time. He doesn't need to be swaddled much to sleep, and most of his wide-awake times are during the daytime. Feeding is not going as smooth as it should, but he gets away with it by being crazy cute. The Mizz thinks he's awesome, and does not appear to be blaming him for the fact that his world has been rocked. Mizz is always wanting to hug him and look at him and make sure that the light over his bed is turned off so he can sleep. That last one is a really big deal, as the Mizz does not turn off lights without a really good reason.

I've been staying at home whenever the Mizz doesn't have daycare, but that's about to change tomorrow. It'll be Franny's first time dealing with both boys by herself, which will likely be interesting, to say the least. I won't be far away at least, for all that's worth.

There have been all sorts of things I kept thinking I should be posting, but time has usually been monopolized by one or both boys, sleeping, and, when possible, getting other things done that really need to get done, like pay bill and make sure the house doesn't come falling down around us. I even had to pay someone to do a crappy job mowing my lawn yesterday. It had been maybe 4 weeks and looked like an abandoned lot. It pains me to pay anyone to do something I think I should do myself, and especially mowing the lawn, which I don't even mind that much, but it wasn't getting done and it was the only sunny day for a while, so I suppose I'll live.

I can tell by my conversations with everyone that I have a new kid. Not the obvious, "How's the new baby?", or "Do you have any pictures?" Those are expected. I'm talking about discussing cervices and nipple pain with my sisters. I'm talking about strangers asking about water breaking and stitches. I mean, if I haven't offered you details about my wife's intimate parts, you probably don't deserve them. Seriously, the women are the worst. They figure new Dad is totally ready, not only to discuss his wife's private issues, but to hear about their recollections of their kids' births and breastfeeding issues from years ago. I'm having to picture things about my coworkers and customers that are definitely not part of my job description.

Other than the new guy and family issues, I'm pretty disconnected from the world these days. I'm aware that Oregon overwhelmingly voted for Obama, although, since I'm not a registered Democrat, nobody asked me. It's sort of amusing that we got so much attention. Usually, Oregon doesn't figure much in national politics, and after last Tuesday, will probably go back to being ignored. It's odd this year. The candidates are now having to pretend that they give a hoot about issues in Guam and Puerto Rico. Resources and effort well spent, I'm sure.

Speaking of resources, we got our economic stimulus payment, $1,500 from Uncle Sam. "Economic stimulus payment" is a much more palatable term than "throwing money at the problem," or "election-year patronization." Seriously, this it the best way the might of the federal government could be used to help the economy???

Of course, gas prices are going up. And food prices. And the sting at the pump. And the rising cost of food. And GAS! And FOOD! In case you hadn't noticed the price of gas and food rising, the local news shows are careful to work it into every story to remind you that gas and food are getting more expensive. Thanks, news media. You're a big help.

The three day weekend all looks the same to me right now, but I am also aware that it's Memorial Day weekend. I'd like to take a moment to remember the servicemen killed in the line of duty whom we are supposed to be memorializing. However, based on the TV, I think I'm just supposed to take that stimulus money and buy a new mattress. Or maybe fill up my gas tank.

Enough with the rambling. It's time to get back to my duty, which mainly consists of washing dishes and pump parts and bottles and such. See you again, in another month. (Sooner, I hope.)