It’s back to work for me and a few other people. I feel very fortunate - Christine and family are still without power and were told it could be October 7th before they got phone service. Can you imagine living without a phone that long? If you know Christine, you would know that it is a terrible prognosis for her. That woman has permanent cauliflower ear.

As if Richmond hasn’t had enough to deal with we had a tornado go through Amelia and Chesterfield, as well as Mechanicsville yesterday morning. It’s been kinda nutty around here lately. Thankfully we didn’t lose any more trees. Poor Will had a limb come crashing down on his beautiful Saab convertible and dent the hood - this was after it survived Hurricane Isabel. He still has no electricity or phone service. Both he and Laura are supposed to come by today and shower, then have a sales meeting.

We celebrated our third anniversary last night by going out for a dinner we can’t afford at the Melting Pot - we got engaged there and like to visit it every now and then. It was fabulous. Mike also splurged and got me a pedicure and massage - I can’t wait to use it. I of course got him nothing but a card, but he didn’t seem to mind. As I said to him last night, “I thought we were on a budget???” That’s what credit cards are for, I guess.

Mom and dad took care of Lily last night and had a great time with her at Moe’s - apparently the little flirt was batting her eyes at everyone in sight, smiling and cooing, and generally being friendly to everyone. She did the same thing in Wal-mart yesterday (or as my mother says, “Walmarts”). Let’s hope she keeps her sunny disposition and doesn’t turn into her mother!

My sister got all over me because I haven’t blogged since Monday, so here I am, blogging away at her request. Hey, I’ve been busy this week. And most importantly, I stopped working on my “days off” and have been spending time with Lily. That’s my new mantra: I don’t work on my days off. And I’m sticking to it. Plus, the weather has been so perfectly fall, it’s hard to sit in the house when I see what it’s like outside.

Ahhh, my fax machine just rang. I see that when I ignore my cell phone, regular phone, and e-mail, they just decide to fax me stuff instead. That’s okay. I’m not even looking at it.

Lily decided to eat well today at lunch, though she’s more interested in what’s on our plates than anything she has to eat. She mowed through a good portion of her own food then ate “bird” style from my hand - I had a shredded chicken sandwich and she was groovin’ on the poultry and having a good time opening her mouth and making growling sounds at me when I wasn’t feeding her fast enough.

We walked around the brand-spankin’ new Short Pump Town Center (or is it Short Pump TOWNE Center? Or the TOWNES at Short Pump???). It was very upscale, as promised. I’m just happy they have a Pottery Barn Kids, so I can ogle all the things there I can’t afford. I bought Bill and Eileen a “shower” gift there. They are mortified that a friend is having a party to celebrate arrival of their third child. No one is calling it a shower, but I’m gloating, because Bill gave me endless amounts of crap for moving to the suburbs. So, anytime I can make fun of him, I do. He thinks multiple showers are in the worst possible taste, and so it is especially ironic that he is getting one. I keep telling him how excited I am about the SHOWER. Everytime he curses me. It’s been really enjoyable.

I think I’ll go out back and enjoy the remnants of daylight while my beast is still blissfullly sleeping . . .

Blogging remotely - what a change. Today I made a pitstop at a friend’s home office, caught up on e-mail, and thanked god for the invention of air conditioning. The heat index in Richmond today is through the roof. Have I mentioned that I’m not really a summer person? I can’t wait for the chilly air of fall to get here.

Lily is home with my mom, probably going to sleep right about now. It’s weird knowing she is home when I’m not - something about leaving her at someone else’s house made me feel less strange about it. I think it’s just that when she is home, I want to be with her. I have to adjust to this as well.

I am less irritable about my work situation right now. Maybe because I see there is an end in sight to some of my current problems, or I am just getting used to it. I’m not sure why, but things seem to be falling into place. I feel like I might possibly get organized before 2004 begins.

We thought about going to Pinehurst for the 2005 US Open - and guess what - the house we were just renting? For $75 a night? Yeah, that same house is $20,000 A WEEK. And no, that is not a typo. Talk about ridiculous. Needless to say, we are not going now. Who spends $20,000 on a house for one week? It wasn’t that fabulous of a house, either! I’d rather go to Colorado 5 times for that money and ski my butt off. Sure, seeing all the golfers up close and personal would be cool, but it just further reminds me of what a wild place Pinehurst is - or any golf community. Or any resort, for that matter. I’m surprised I can afford to breathe when I am down there.

Enough griping - I’m off to work.

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.

Silence in the house - my parental units are out cruising around Chesterfield county and Lily is sleeping. While on the phone with my sister, Lily decided to attack me - which means crawling all over me and alternately licking and biting me. It was interesting trying to hold a conversation while Lily teethed on my arm. I was telling Risa about Beth’s surgery and I think we are all relieved that it isn’t cancer, and also that no doctor will tell her she’s a hypochondriac or that it’s all in her head anymore. I think lately doctors who can’t figure out your problems within the 15 minute window they have with you just chalk it up to insanity and prescribe Prozac. Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but many people I know have been told that their illness is non-existant when it obviously isn’t.

Anyway, Beth is fine and recovering from her surgery, Risa was sipping an extra-hot skim latte, reading the paper and waiting for yoga class in Southlake, TX and I am sitting here taking a break from work and wondering if I should be taking a shower instead of working on Lily’s stuff. Or working on client deadlines. I’ve been billing like a fiend lately - now I just have to get paid.

Lily’s learning to eat chunky food now, which is great - maybe soon I won’t have to purchase baby food anymore. That stuff is expensive! Some fund manager should come up with a mutual fund of diaper companies, baby food manufacturers, diaper wipes, teething ring manufacturers and burp clothes. We’d all be millionaires.