Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Party girls!


Finally, a picture of me and the girl at my Birthday party. If I'm looking a little stressed, it is because Athena had been crying all night. I finally got her to eat a little bit, and she did nap in the car for a little while, but mostly she was a big wet blanket on the festivities. It's been a month now and I'm mostly over it, but it was truly a bummer.

The party was kind of like a wedding -- lots of people, dressed up, no time to talk to everyone, attention focused on me and Steve. But, like our wedding at least, everyone said they had a good time. The food was fantastic -- Lori Lanza did a wonderful job. She and her husband Steve picked out some delicious wines to complement. She even made a big slice of Italian Creme Cake for me. The group, 36 of our friends and family members, was big enough to be truly festive but small enough that everyone had a chance to mingle. And people took the "formal attire" request to heart; my pals clean up pretty good! I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures, especially of my totally casual husband in a jacket and tie. He looked pretty fine, ladies. Pretty fine indeed.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Vague sense of unease

I'm feeling a little uneasy. Steve is gone to Seattle for his Father's Day "boys on the town" weekend with Andre & Harris. He left this morning at 9:30am (after doing the dishes) and will return sometime Sunday evening. The kids have been great; at least as good as usual and probably better. I had a babysitter come this afternoon for a few hours so I could go to the PT Film Festival. I had no luck getting in to the movie I wanted to see, so I wandered around downtown and ended up at the Upstage drinking a beer and listening to film people talk about ethics. Only they mostly did some heavy name dropping, and for some reason kept bashing this movie.

So now both my kids are asleep but who knows for how long. I think part of my unease comes from knowing that however tonight turns out, it will be all me. Nobody else here for me to beg "please, honey, will you take a turn?" when the little one is up every hour. Nobody to nudge and say, "Sam is up," knowing that he will get out of bed and replace said child in his own room. Certainly nobody to take both kids into the living room so I can catch a few more zzz's while said person makes my coffee. In short, no husband here to do what my husband does so well. Which is make me feel safe and like whatever happens we will face it together.

Thursday, September 22, 2005


Athena is Legally Blonde Posted by Picasa

Thursday, September 15, 2005

We have crawling

At precisely 7.5 months, Athena began crawling. Look out world!

Tuesday, September 13, 2005


SammyT's first day at Grant St. Preschool Posted by Picasa

What the Hell? Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Half a date is better than no date

After my Birthday party two weeks ago, when Athena cried through the whole thing, two of our friends offered to babysit so Steve and I could have an evening out. We took them up on the offer (duh!) and went to see Broken Flowers at The Rose this afternoon. The plan was to have some Thai food afterwards, and be home by 7:30.

The movie finished at 6:15, and at 6:17 my cell phone rings. Oh no. Oh yes. Athena had been wailing for "quite a while" and nothing was calming her down. So we came home, five minutes of boob and she was asleep, and Steve called for take out. We made the right choice declining our friends' offer to stay after I got her to sleep, as she only good for about half an hour before she wanted to read us the riot act again for leaving her.

Sam had a similar incident at around the same age, but we were at the Seven Cedars Casino seeing Cheap Trick, and my babysitter friend couldn't or wouldn't call us home. But it was several months before we had another babysitter.

Athena will not be so lucky. We've hired a lovely older lady to look after both kids for an hour and a half Mon-Fri while we are both at work. So Little Miss will get used to having someone else care for her, whether she wants to or not.

Repeat after me: This is a very short season. This is a very short season. This is a very short season.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Why I run

Or more specifically, why I ran today. Of all days.

To fully understand, we must back up to yesterday. Athena fell off of our bed, where she has been sleeping since she was born. We knew a move to the crib was imminent, but last night it became imperative. So we moved Sammy into the playroom for the night and I prepared to be a walking wet nurse.

After much struggle, she finally fell asleep. Then she woke up. A lot. Eight times, if I recall correctly. So when I got her back to sleep at 6:30 am or so, I had a choice to make. Do I put on my clothes and go running, or go back to bed?

As you know, I chose to go running. For several reasons. Today was my first day running 20min straight, with no walking. I was excited to see if I could do it. (I did) Also, there was no guarantee that if I went back to bed, both kids would stay asleep. And there was also no assurance that tonight would be any better than last night. Using lack of sleep as an excuse when you have two little kids is a slippery slope. You're likely to never get things done.

So I went, and it felt great. When I came home, Steve had made my coffee and he congratulated me on my tenacity. I reminded him that that's why he married me. And told him how nice it was to have just us in the bed again.