I'm plagiarizing myself; I posted this on Keller Williams blog as I am still welcome to post on the site even though I don't write about anything even remotely related to real estate.
This is from yesterday:
I finally made it out to Ikea in Renton to have our baby car seat inspected. In line ahead of me was a responsible pregnant woman making sure her car seat was properly installed before her precious cargo arrived. Ahead of her was another irresponsible couple like me who hadn't gotten around to this important job in a timely fashion since their rear facing pint size passenger was in the dad's arms. In my defense (to make myself feel better and look less flakey) my baby did come nearly 3 weeks early (never mind he's 3 1/2 months old now and I've had 3 1/2 months to get around to this task).
After sitting in my car for about 15 minutes it was my turn for a pat on the back. OK, so I was expecting to be one of the 10% of the genius population who can install a car seat properly. Actually, I was piggybacking on the brains of my engineer husband who is very mechanically inclined. I knew that by myself I would be part of the 90% of the population who have to chant "righty tighty, lefty loosey" when turning a screw driver.
Not only did we:
1) fail to install our car seat in best location (middle seat - which we knew, we just couldn't figure out how to make the seat base secure enough),
2) we attached it incorrectly and
3) had the harness too low on the baby which would have helped facilitate serious damage to his delicate internal organs in the event of a car accident.
Needless to say I was humbled to learn that our efforts to keep our son safe were very flawed and I am very grateful to the people who volunteer to help keep our innocent children safe while they share the roads with distracted drivers.
If you have a baby in a car seat or a toddler or young child in a booster seat you can call the Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition at 1-800-BUCKL-UP or visit their website 800bucklup.org for information on car seat checks like the one I attended today at Ikea.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
All Inclusive
Has anyone out there done the all inclusive resort vacation? We are looking for an easy way to vacation this Spring someplace warm where we can cart The Gavinator with us with minimal hassle. Thus far our sights are set on Mexico as it is close and airfare and travel time will be diminished.
I'm hoping to go someplace close to ruins so we can make at least a couple of trips away from the compound of disgusting indulgences (and by disgusting I mean delicious). I'm looking forward to a vacation while breastfeeding because I can go nuts with the guacamole and fear little retribution on the posterior (as in calories going straight to it).
We will need to have the G sleeping in something other than his swing by vacation time. I don't imagine trying to get him to sleep in his co-sleeper while on vacation would do much for our sanity. Not that I have much claim to sanity at this point. He did sleep from midnight to 4 am last night. That was a nice stretch of sleep.
OK, gotta cut this short. Gavin finally fell asleep which gives me time to catalog our Goodwill donations before I load them in the car. Ha. Before I wait for Ryan to come home and load them in the car.
Speaking, er writing, of the car... I had our car seat inspected today at Ikea since our local store sponsors the checks once a month. So glad I made the trek to Renton. We failed on three counts. The seat was not in the safest place (the middle - we couldn't get it snug enough there), it was attached incorrectly and we had the harness too low on his abdomen. I haven't told Ryan how wrong we were with the car seat yet. He isn't going to believe me.
I'm hoping to go someplace close to ruins so we can make at least a couple of trips away from the compound of disgusting indulgences (and by disgusting I mean delicious). I'm looking forward to a vacation while breastfeeding because I can go nuts with the guacamole and fear little retribution on the posterior (as in calories going straight to it).
We will need to have the G sleeping in something other than his swing by vacation time. I don't imagine trying to get him to sleep in his co-sleeper while on vacation would do much for our sanity. Not that I have much claim to sanity at this point. He did sleep from midnight to 4 am last night. That was a nice stretch of sleep.
OK, gotta cut this short. Gavin finally fell asleep which gives me time to catalog our Goodwill donations before I load them in the car. Ha. Before I wait for Ryan to come home and load them in the car.
Speaking, er writing, of the car... I had our car seat inspected today at Ikea since our local store sponsors the checks once a month. So glad I made the trek to Renton. We failed on three counts. The seat was not in the safest place (the middle - we couldn't get it snug enough there), it was attached incorrectly and we had the harness too low on his abdomen. I haven't told Ryan how wrong we were with the car seat yet. He isn't going to believe me.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Unsolicited
I set out to buy some new tops the other day since my proportions have changed drastically since I got pregnant and my upper half is going to remain gargantuan for so long as I breastfeed. I strolled the G in his super deluxe coolio baby ride up and down the aisles of blouses grabbing everything that I thought was a possible match. By time I was ready for the dressing room I had at least 25 shirts hanging from the stroller handle; I'm surprised the stroller didn't tip. The fitting room attendant did not look pleased since there was an 8 item limit for the dressing room. Too bad. I'd be darned if I had to go back out the rows and rows of racks of clothing after I tried on each batch of tops.
Gavin didn't explode in protest to the shopping until I was down to my last 2 shirts to try on. I quickly tried them on all the while telling G I was almost done and that he was going to get to eat really soon as if he understood a word of what I was telling him. After pulling my own sweater back over my head for the last time I took one last look in the dressing room mirror. Oh the horror!
Dry weather + low humidity + dry hair + repeatedly pulling sweaters over ones head = severe static electricity.
My hair was beyond flat on top. It was as if the bottom of the strands were pulling with all their might the roots of the hair. My hair was plastered to my face and I couldn't pull it back, my eyes were watering from the static electricity in my hair and the bottoms of the strands were floating off into space. Just thinking about it is making my eyes water.
I could have fed Gavin in the dressing room but I really didn't want to hang out in the dressing room for 20 more minutes, besides I just had to pay for my shirts and be on my way. Unfortunately a line of customers swelled in front of the cashier lanes and I was at the end with a screaming baby.
A kindly woman behind me gave me a kind look befitting of a kindly woman as I picked up Gavin to calm him down. The woman in front of me smiled but it didn't seem very kindly. She gave me some unsolicited advice. Normally I just smile and nod when people give me lame advice. But since pregnancy changed my disposition (which some were hoping was temporary) I thought to myself, I'm not going to let this woman think I appreciate her advice nor that I think it is correct.
Her suggestion was something that she used to try with her own children for when they were fussy. She would carry around suckers with a spiral handle so the baby could hold it and suck on it.
Really.
I said, "Uh, no. He's way too young for sugar. He's only 3 months."
Not so helpful stranger: "I'm just saying." (that's it. She's just saying).
Next time I'm going to give an answer my friend Heather suggested: tell them that I have a nip of whiskey before I breastfeed him to knock him out. I think I'll take it one level more tell them that when I make his bottle I mix in a bit of cough syrup. That'll make 'em choke. Choke then call CPS.
After I paid for my goods I went to the Starbucks around the corner to give Gavin the goods. I looked around the tiny Starbucks for a cushy chair to sit in for feeding and there was one upholstered chair open - right next to a young man reading a book. Poor guy. The one comfortable chair was next to him. I had no choice.
I plopped my bum down in the chair, threw my bebe au lait (nursing cover) on and fed Gavin while sipping my cocoa and reading the paper. The young man didn't even blink. He stayed still save for turning the pages of his book. Gavin was hungry so he wasn't eating quietly. There was much lip smacking, slurping and grunting going on. The young man reading his book couldn't avoid what was going on under my bebe au lait. I must say the situation made my heart snicker.
Gavin didn't explode in protest to the shopping until I was down to my last 2 shirts to try on. I quickly tried them on all the while telling G I was almost done and that he was going to get to eat really soon as if he understood a word of what I was telling him. After pulling my own sweater back over my head for the last time I took one last look in the dressing room mirror. Oh the horror!
Dry weather + low humidity + dry hair + repeatedly pulling sweaters over ones head = severe static electricity.
My hair was beyond flat on top. It was as if the bottom of the strands were pulling with all their might the roots of the hair. My hair was plastered to my face and I couldn't pull it back, my eyes were watering from the static electricity in my hair and the bottoms of the strands were floating off into space. Just thinking about it is making my eyes water.
I could have fed Gavin in the dressing room but I really didn't want to hang out in the dressing room for 20 more minutes, besides I just had to pay for my shirts and be on my way. Unfortunately a line of customers swelled in front of the cashier lanes and I was at the end with a screaming baby.
A kindly woman behind me gave me a kind look befitting of a kindly woman as I picked up Gavin to calm him down. The woman in front of me smiled but it didn't seem very kindly. She gave me some unsolicited advice. Normally I just smile and nod when people give me lame advice. But since pregnancy changed my disposition (which some were hoping was temporary) I thought to myself, I'm not going to let this woman think I appreciate her advice nor that I think it is correct.
Her suggestion was something that she used to try with her own children for when they were fussy. She would carry around suckers with a spiral handle so the baby could hold it and suck on it.
Really.
I said, "Uh, no. He's way too young for sugar. He's only 3 months."
Not so helpful stranger: "I'm just saying." (that's it. She's just saying).
Next time I'm going to give an answer my friend Heather suggested: tell them that I have a nip of whiskey before I breastfeed him to knock him out. I think I'll take it one level more tell them that when I make his bottle I mix in a bit of cough syrup. That'll make 'em choke. Choke then call CPS.
After I paid for my goods I went to the Starbucks around the corner to give Gavin the goods. I looked around the tiny Starbucks for a cushy chair to sit in for feeding and there was one upholstered chair open - right next to a young man reading a book. Poor guy. The one comfortable chair was next to him. I had no choice.
I plopped my bum down in the chair, threw my bebe au lait (nursing cover) on and fed Gavin while sipping my cocoa and reading the paper. The young man didn't even blink. He stayed still save for turning the pages of his book. Gavin was hungry so he wasn't eating quietly. There was much lip smacking, slurping and grunting going on. The young man reading his book couldn't avoid what was going on under my bebe au lait. I must say the situation made my heart snicker.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Stalking the Parks Dept. Employee
Little G was fussy so I put him in his car seat which I then clicked into the stroller, packed the diaper bag, the laptop, external hard drive and grabbed the essentials from my purse and stuffed them into the laptop bag and headed to the library. The short walk to the library did not put him to sleep so I kept walking. And walking. And walking. No such luck.
I stopped in the baby boutique Buggy and bought some mitts to cover the talon Gavin's talon like finger nails that grow almost fast enough to watch with the naked eye. He still refused to sleep. We headed back in the direction of the library and this time I slowed my pace as we walked through the small triangular park as a Parks Department employee was using a leaf blower. I peaked at Gavin and saw his eyes getting heavy as the leaf blower worked its magic on his noise loving ears.
Sweet sleep! At last!
One more block and we were at the library. I paid my late fees that were very, very, very late (several years late) in the amount of $18.50. As I put my checkbook away I see Gavin's eyes pop open. I roll the stroller back and forth.
His beautiful blue eyes remain open. Then his mouth opens. Then he proceeds to protest at being in a quiet warm environment where his beloved Mommy wanted to do some simple work.
Being the nice person I am I left the tranquility that Gavin was making less tranquil by the second and walked back up the road. This time I stopped on the sidewalk opposite the leaf blowing man. Leaf blowing man turned the blower down. I didn't budge. Leaf blowing man finally turned it back to full power when it became clear I wasn't going anywhere. He moved to the opposite end of the small park. I followed then parked the stroller and waited for Gavin's eyelids to become heavy. It didn't take long. So I stood there rolling the stroller back and forth over a crack in the sidewalk while leaf blowing man blew leaves.
After G fell asleep I gave the noise another couple of minutes to make sure he was going to stay asleep. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the library because the quiet would wake him so I kept walking and am now sitting in Galaxie Espresso. I devoured a delicious turkey sandwich on a baguette. It was a large sandwich but I'm still hungry. Breast feeding requires a lot of energy and since I've been walking a lot the last couple of days I've been expending a lot more energy without replacing it properly.
I suppose I should get to work on sorting photos and such since that is what I set out to do when I left the house.
I stopped in the baby boutique Buggy and bought some mitts to cover the talon Gavin's talon like finger nails that grow almost fast enough to watch with the naked eye. He still refused to sleep. We headed back in the direction of the library and this time I slowed my pace as we walked through the small triangular park as a Parks Department employee was using a leaf blower. I peaked at Gavin and saw his eyes getting heavy as the leaf blower worked its magic on his noise loving ears.
Sweet sleep! At last!
One more block and we were at the library. I paid my late fees that were very, very, very late (several years late) in the amount of $18.50. As I put my checkbook away I see Gavin's eyes pop open. I roll the stroller back and forth.
His beautiful blue eyes remain open. Then his mouth opens. Then he proceeds to protest at being in a quiet warm environment where his beloved Mommy wanted to do some simple work.
Being the nice person I am I left the tranquility that Gavin was making less tranquil by the second and walked back up the road. This time I stopped on the sidewalk opposite the leaf blowing man. Leaf blowing man turned the blower down. I didn't budge. Leaf blowing man finally turned it back to full power when it became clear I wasn't going anywhere. He moved to the opposite end of the small park. I followed then parked the stroller and waited for Gavin's eyelids to become heavy. It didn't take long. So I stood there rolling the stroller back and forth over a crack in the sidewalk while leaf blowing man blew leaves.
After G fell asleep I gave the noise another couple of minutes to make sure he was going to stay asleep. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the library because the quiet would wake him so I kept walking and am now sitting in Galaxie Espresso. I devoured a delicious turkey sandwich on a baguette. It was a large sandwich but I'm still hungry. Breast feeding requires a lot of energy and since I've been walking a lot the last couple of days I've been expending a lot more energy without replacing it properly.
I suppose I should get to work on sorting photos and such since that is what I set out to do when I left the house.
Sorrow
This brief post is for two very special people - you know who you are. I tried to pen special words but I think the lyrics to "It Is Well" are better than any I could write. The author of this hymn, Horatio G. Spafford, wrote it during a time of unfathomable pain and suffering. I pray that his words will provide some measure of comfort.
It Is Well
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
It Is Well
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sorry
I just deleted my most recent post. I prefaced the post with a statement about being an open book. True. I am an open book but just because I am doesn't mean you want to read all it. The only way you could have known you didn't want to read it is if you read it because I gave no indication as to what the subject matter was.
So for those of you who didn't get around to reading the post I can give you the scoop by phone or e-mail.
So for those of you who didn't get around to reading the post I can give you the scoop by phone or e-mail.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
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