It’s been a few days since I last updated the blog . . . that’s the way it goes when your child is sick, no one is sleeping, and there are workmen all over your house making a lot of noise and bringing new and interesting problems to your attention every 10 minutes. Today’s ordeal is figuring out how to get the pantry doors to fit over the Pergo. I feel like borrowing a chainsaw and solving THAT problem quickly.
We’re still in a waiting/holding pattern on Mike’s mom, which is driving everyone nuts, most especially Susan herself. One of my issues with healthcare and test results is how damn long they make you wait for results, especially when it’s a major issue. I remember waiting 2 days to find out of the fetus was viable (who later became Lily) and how no 48 hours ever seemed so long. And compared to Susan, waiting to find out if a pregnancy is viable is no big deal in the larger scheme of things.
Both Mike and I feel terribly about Lily - four days straight of seeing her not playing and only wanting to be held listlessly in arms is really depressing. She’s never been this sick - two doctor’s visits later we have an antibiotic which seems to be helping. My parents are both sick, too. After that Thanksgiving hell week, it seems to be bleeding over into the Thanksgiving Kick Off of Two Weeks of Hell. It will be over soon - I keep telling myself that. Last night we took turns sleeping on the futon with Lily because she doesn’t seem to be able to sleep in her crib. I think she has trouble breathing.
In the meantime I’m supposed to be figuring out dates and locations for my father’s 80th birthday in August. Seems like a long way away, but not when you are going to vacation land (Northern Michigan) for a family reunion. I’ve probably already missed the boat on plenty of reservations.
This weekend is the annual Hayes Hitzeman Foundation Silent Auction - once that is over, things will begin to calm down a bit. I’ve been putting in a lot of hours trying to help Kyra get things together. I finally sucked it up and bought a dress on Sunday - it’s nothing special but it fits, and that was a major undertaking, trying to find something that fits my oddly shaped body. Now I just have to find shoes. Jennifer found an absolutely gorgeous (and very expensive) dress, but she looked fabulous. If I had found a dress that made me look like that, I’d buy it too - and wear it everywhere.
There’s not much new to report. The doors are in on my office, which is a step in the right direction. They need to be painted, but at least now I have a physical separation between my work space and my home space. It helps, at the end of the evening, to pull the doors shut and firmly say “I am done working”. It also helps me keep Lily confined to an area where she can’t hurt herself or do any damage 
We are gearing up for a week-long festival of Lily’s Birthday and National Gain Ten Pounds day - Thanksgiving. I blew off all responsibilities today and made Christmas cards at Wynne’s house (wait, I mean HOLIDAY cards - don’t want to offend the non-christians). I have lists galore.
As I write this, Lily is crawling around in the foyer with two large plastic stars she always holds onto - she now likes to crawl with them and use them to bash whatever is in her way. Currently she is bashing the glass shelves of the etagere and creating an unholy racket. I’m sure our neighbors love us. The banging is interspersed with the sounds of grunting. It’s quite spectacular, I assure you.
Ellen had us over last night for her world famous wings - they were delicious, but Lily did not cooperate and we had to make a hasty exit, still stuffing homemade brownies down our yaws. Is yaw a word? I always use it, but don’t know if it’s real or not. You get the picture. She was just tired, like Mike and I were. We all slept in until 8 AM this morning - unbelievable.
The big news is, we finished the office this weekend. It is officially painted, curtains have been hung, and furniture has been rearranged. We even hung pictures today. I cleaned out my desk and got things back in order . . . it won’t last, but it feels good right now. I ordered another piece of furniture to house the television so it isn’t the focal point of the room, and will keep Lily from pushing the on/off button constantly. She really likes the Wiggles, by the way.
The home equity line came through, so now we will be putting in carpeting through the entire house (except in the areas that have linoleum or hardwood). The kitchen linoleum will be ripped up and we’ll have Pergo in there - cheaper than hardwood and you can wash it with water (or, to quote Mark, the installer, “You can juz SWIVVER it”). Then, paint the fourth bedroom and we’re pretty much done with home upgrades. Sometimes I think we would have been better off to tear the house down and start from scratch!
We’re back from the big weekend in Pinehurst. Lily did well on her first trip - except she hates being stuck in traffic almost as much as I do. Picture this: Cristina in a traffic jam, leaning over Lily, chained to the car seat, nursing her at a 90 degree angle while trucks roar by and Mike makes faces at me in the rearview mirror. Lovely, ain’t it? You do what you have to do to keep your child quiet and fed.
I spent the day driving around Richmond, catching up on phone calls and e-mails, being annoyed with my work life and the fact that it collides with my personal life all the time, and having one of those days where I wish I was a rich, pampered, stay-at-home mommy. I was resentful every time the phone rang and angry at myself, mostly at my inability to walk away from things that demand attention. Every since the inception of the fax machine and god forbid, e-mail - everyone expects everything instantaneously. Imagine, having to wait 24 for a return phone call! It would kill us all, wouldn’t it? And people get SO huffy when you don’t respond immediately to every request. Or maybe it’s just my anal-retentive personality in overdrive, trying to meet everyone’s highest expectation and beyond. Whatever it is, it’s ANNOYING.
The chaise lounge we ordered came in today, along with a media cabinet to get the 2gabillion CDs Mike and I co-own off the floor and out of Lily range. After Mike spent all evening driving to Southside and trying to figure out how to fit it all in one car, the box had been left open and both ends and the glass shelves fell out and burst into a million pieces all over our front walkway. He was thrilled and came up with some new cuss words I’ve never heard before. Lately, we haven’t caught many breaks - no pun intended. Even dad experience the curse of our new house - it took three coats of paint to finish our dining room.
Nothing much to report on Lily - she’s crawling faster and better and pulling up on things and falling down a lot. Today she tried to pull up on my bookshelf, but lost her legs, and fell crashing onto the hardwood floor on her side and her head. She was not happy, but she didn’t try it again, either. I guess there is no way to protect your kids from all the scrapes heading her way, both emotionally and physically, but I sure would love to try.
By the way, I added some new links to the site. Most of these are friends of mine (with the exception of Google News). Go to their sites and buy stuff. They’re good people.
Mike worked like a maniac today in the yard while Lily recovered from waking up during the night. Mike and I had some bizarre “sleeptalking” episode last night - he was talking in his sleep and I was answering him in my sleep, and woke half way through it and said, “WHAT? What are you talking about?” He just grunted and went back to sleep. I wish I could remember what he said, but I can’t. Who knows what I said back to him, either.
I went through all of Lily’s clothes today, reminiscing about where that spit-up stain came from, and remembering the time I gave her prunes instead of plums (geez, they both started with “p” - who would know) and she blew out a diaper and an entire outfit, and her Uncle Jay’s shirt. He just stood outside on the deck yelling “HELP!” in the most pitiful voice. Those shorts were retired today with just the faintest hint of the Great Prune Explosion of 2003. (Note to breastfeeding mothers: NEVER give your child prunes. THEY DO NOT NEED ANY HELP WHATSOEVER WITH REGULARITY!!!) Those damn prunes should have come with a warning label. Oh well. Live and learn.
It was kind of sad to retire her swing, and see a gigantic garbage bag full of enough outgrown clothes to outfit an entire third world nation. Made me feel guilty and lucky all at the same time. Note to all my girlfriends out here: Hurry up and reproduce so I can see Lily’s cute clothes on someone else. Oh yeah, and don’t have a boy, either, cuz I can’t help you with clothes for that one. Along with the bag full of clothes, I retired the boppy pillow, her lamaze mat, and a faux Kate Spade diaper bag that is missing the faux Kate Spade tag - which basically means it’s just a big, black bag with some newborn diapers still in it. Mike’s got to crawl into the attic at some point this week so we can walk through the hallway.
We saw American Wedding last night - we were supposed to go to Seabiscuit but we cut it too close and of course it was sold out. I laughed just because Mike was laughing, and to hear him guffaw in a movie theatre is something that must be experienced to be understood. He took me to a movie early on in our relationship and since I continued to date him after hearing him bust a gut laughing, he figured he’d marry me. He’s the guy you don’t want in back of you at a funny movie, but I love it and it makes me giggle.
