Holly Jolly Christmas

Oh you just gotta love company holiday parties. I never worked for anyone that did them (except for one, but they only invited management) so I have to experience them through Hubby's work. - ok, I take that back, I worked for a company one year that had a holiday party. One of the employees invited all of his loser friends and they spent the entire evening stealing stuff and getting high in the back rooms. It was not a pleasant experience, so I have tried to erase it from memory -

So anyway, about every other year Hubby's office puts on a pretty good shindig; nice location, good food, free drink tickets for all the employees (pretty $$$ overall); and we go, mainly so Hubby can be seen by the higher-ups and so we can sit in the back and watch everyone get stupid. This year was no exception. We were hosted at an old Mansion turned hotel downtown, served stuffed chicken and rosemary beef tenderloin medallions with a yummy red wine and mushroom sauce and there were two bars, one on each end of the room, actively serving the guests. This year the company hired a local photographer to do portraits of the guests - ok, just a hopefully helpful note here: if you are ever in charge of securing a photographer to do portraits for an event, please, please don't hire an architectural photographer, even if he's cheap. He may want to break into event photography, but most likely all you'll get is a bunch of pictures of the building mixed in with way over lit, harsh photos of the guests. End of Rant. No, actually the photos turned out pretty good (shh, I think he used a warming filter in his post processing). I'm not quite sure why the location shots are not of the actual location of the party, but whatever.

So we sat in the back at one of the many overly squished tables (why, why, why do party planners think it is ok to put 10 people at an 8 top table??? I know the chairs fit when they are empty, but when you put bodies in them, knees are going to be knocking, glasses will be toppled and people will NOT be able to walk between the tables. Either insist on booking less people or put only 8 chairs!!!) Ok, so I used to be an event planner too. Forgive me. We sat in the back with Hubby's best co-worker friend and his beautiful wife. Co-worker Friend (CWF) is notorious for his joking nature and picking fun at all things politically incorrect. So I got to endure the discussions about the alternative lifestyles and the races and all things that would potentially get a rise out of someone. Then came the discussions about who they didn't like and all the office gossip and poking fun at what people were wearing and who was flirting with who and how annoying they were. I swear, for a moment or two I thought I was sitting with 2 catty women, picking apart everyone else in the room. But it was all in good fun I guess. Hubby and I had a decent conversation about the photographer and the equipment he was using. It is fun for me to try to figure out how and why photogs do things, since we all seem to do things differently; and it was great having a decent conversation with hubby about it - until he forgot who I was and started making bad jokes and talking to me like he talks to CWF. It kind of shut me down and suddenly the event was not much fun. People were starting to feel the alcohol and get silly, the food portion was over and since this particular company doesn't do any announcements or anything there wasn't much left to the evening. So after staring blankly around the room for about 30 minutes, I told Hubby I was ready to go. No doubt Kiddo was by now giving his generous care givers a run for their money; as he did not nap that afternoon. I was pretty sure by then they were all in need of rescue.

I tipped the valet way too much money and we left (it was bitterly cold - I bet those guys were making a fortune!). Kiddo, who had been surprisingly wonderful, was exhausted when we picked him up and easily went to bed. Unfortunately, all he needed was about 2 hours of solid sleep and then proceeded to keep me up the rest of the night while he flailed and whined and annoyed me in his half asleep state. *sigh*

I guess it was a nice night. I got to dress up and look nice and not have to worry about food or snot on my clothes; got to pretend to be an adult with all the other pretend adults and got to see a beautiful, famous venue that I would not otherwise have the opportunity to see. The only expense was gas to get there and a valet tip - so yah, it was worth it. :)

Thankfully we only do that once a year though...
More later,
D :)

Jingle Bell Rock

Ok, so I didn't try the fire eating thing, but Hubby suggested training him to walk on a bed of nails.....hmmm....nah. Maybe when he's older! ;)

I do, however feel like hammering a nail in my own head this morning, especially if I have to hear the shrill, whiney voice of some nasal problem inflicted preteen woman singing (only the first verse - ack!) Jingle Bell Rock one more time. The atrocious sound comes from the (imagine me saying this through gritted teeth) all too cute dancing Rudolf that my loving, wonderful parents gave Kiddo last year. (Hi Mom, THANKS!;) ) This is by far Kiddo's favorite thing right now. He pulled it out of the box of Christmas decorations before I had a chance to hide it and his gloomy world suddenly turned into a joyous, dancing, singing place. He walks around with it squirming in his little paws, trying to sing the song, pushing the dang play button over and over until his father and I are ready to stab our eyeballs with toothpicks.

Here's a pic of the little bugger in case anyone decides he might be cute...

He is NOT cute! Ok, maybe the first time or two, but then it just gets annoying. Please, take my word for it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Now here's something cute, but he's not for sale...



That's correct, he's wearing my shoes.

Oh, and it has been confirmed that he actually ate glass the other day. His diaper last night had lovely sparkles of blue...ugh.

More later,
D :)

We are Training Him for the Circus

How else would you respond to the question of why your child would eat glass?

Yes, I know it probably wasn't the smartest move in the world to put glass ornaments on the lower half of the tree, but Kiddo thought they were "pwetty cooool" and he thoroughly enjoyed helping me put them on. He is not usually the kind of guy that puts things in his mouth, but I guess crushed glass makes for a wonderful afternoon snack. After a joke of a call to poison control (did they really not think eating glass shards was a problem?) where they told me he was probably fine, I called the pediatrician and of course was ordered to come in immediately. Honestly, I wasn't really worried. I don't think he ate hardly any and what he really was doing was popping the glass in his front teeth. If he swallowed some it was minimal and well crushed. So off to the ped we went; we didn't even have to wait when we got there, which of course fueled Kiddo's already mounting anxiety. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot he started fussing; didn't want to get out of the car seat; he KNEW something was up! We got into the exam room, and the nurse looks all panicked. I explained the situation and she sends in the ped. Of course he asked me what happened and I have to tell the story all over again (why do they do that? He was right outside the door the whole time - don't make me tell it twice!!). So he checked him out - no cuts or scratches in his throat or mouth. The doc told me to watch for anything unusual, but he really didn't think he swallowed much if any at all and he sent us home. As soon as the exam was over and the doc left the room, Kiddo was up and saying "open the door? bye, bye? Aaaaahhlllll DONE!" He wanted out of there. He totally snubbed the toy chest on the way out and headed straight for the door!

So it was a semi exciting day. When we got home I moved all the glass ornaments to the top of our now stupid looking tree. Kiddo is greatly displeased that he can't touch the "bahwoons" anymore and has now taken to yanking the lights out of the branches.

Maybe today I'll teach him the fine art of fire eating...
Until,
D :)

Baby It's Cold Outside

Kat got that song stuck in my head this morning - it's cool though 'cuz it is true and I like it! :)

My poor Kiddo - he is totally fighting diaper changes these days. I thought it might be because he is starting to show signs of wanting to potty train and he just needs control. I ask him if he is wet/poopy and he always says NO very emphatically (even when I know it's not true). He runs away from me and tries to keep me from picking him up to change him. He fights me on the changing table; kicking and yelling and clinging to his pants for dear life so I can't take them off. It has truly been frustrating the past week or two and a couple of times we have both ended up in tears.

But I think I have figured out the problem. I have bitterly, frighteningly cold hands. It has always been a problem of mine, but in the winter it is terminal. Especially when I have been on the computer a lot, my mouse hand could chill your favorite beverage in a matter or seconds. Poor guy, I wouldn't want anyone touching me with ice fingers either. So, I have to make a game out of changing the diaper, trying to do things quickly and without any skin on skin contact. I keep telling him if he would just potty train we wouldn't have this problem, but I don't think he is listening! :)

We started putting up holiday decor last night. Kiddo calls the big green thing in the living room a "Memas Tree", and the ornaments are "bahwoons" (balloons). He helped me place the blooo lights and hang the bahwoons and was very disappointed when they were all gone. (of course they are all on the bottom branches this year, completely opposite from last year when I put everything on the top half of the tree!) According to him the whole thing is "pwetty coooool". Man, I love his little voice. Yesterday he looked up through the skylights in our kitchen and said "Look, the cwouds are pwetty cooool". I just about melted! How can so much cuteness be bottled in such a small package?

Oh yes, and now that NoBloPoMo is over, someone has started Holidailies. Should we all jump on the bandwagon?

More later,
D

Things I am Thankful For

I light if the past few days events (see post below) I think I need to make a statement about 10 things that I am thankful for. I have been blessed in so many ways and it helps to remember that when I am feeling low.

1. This morning I am thankful that my Kiddo is still asleep and I have a moment's peace (though he is in MY bed and will probably leave me a nice, warm, wet spot! :P blech )
2. I am thankful for the one car we have that is running ok - even though it needs work
3. I am thankful the car that broke down on Tuesday waited until after our 600+mile trip last week
4. I am thankful for the amazing clients I had this season and that my little business seems to be doing pretty well. (now if I could stop buying equipment I might actually make a profit)
5. I am thankful for my amazing family and their generosity
6. I am thankful for my neighbor and her ability to "spread the word"
7. I am thankful for the roof over my head, the money in the bank that will cover our bills and the food on the table
8. I am thankful for my sweet baby boy and the joy he brings me every day (and the headaches as well)
9. I am thankful for my Hubby, who's patience is astounding and who's sacrifice is appreciated more than he will ever know.
10. I am thankful for God's Grace, that He might allow me such a blessed and comfortable life

Those are my 10 for today. I think I may try to make this a monthly thing; just to keep me focused on what is important.

What are you thankful for today?