The Stump, She Is Gone

The stump finally fell off. He's wireless.

We had Kathy and Travis over for dessert Tuesday night. They are living in a hotel while their kitchen is being suddenly remodeled. They discovered a pipe that had never been capped inside their walls, and it leaked for what I assume is a year. The kitchen is a ruin. I made blueberry cobbler from a mix given by a coworker a few weeks back. They cooed over the baby, and he ate up the attention. He's also eating much more milk now. His scheduled growth spurt is right on time. He's only going to get heavier, and I really want to start a running regimen again to get in shape.

Still waiting for hear about the derby logo.

We started a service contract with a local air conditioner service, and the first inspection went great. That's pretty impressive for a machine that's run almost every day without any maintenance for five years. My notion for starting this contract is an extension of the nesting instinct, I'm sure. I made a to-do list of things to minimize sudden replacements like the clothes dryer last month.

I was contacted by the theatre again about auditioning for the latest show. Actually, I was told there was a part right up my alley, suggesting I wouldn't need to audition. I could show up, commit to the show, and get cracking. I passed. Twice within an hour. I was left a voicemail, and I declined over their voicemail. I was called back and given the live sales pitch, and I said I'm holed up with the youngin. But break a leg and have fun without me. See you when I see you. Also, in a shock to no one, this show replaces the originally advertised production.

Picture of the Day
We may have found a sidecar for the baby.

Face Glue

The boy developed an eye problem. We were told early on to express the tear ducts if they become blocked, and we've stayed on top of it, we thought. On Saturday, however, he woke up with an eye crusted over, and it threatens to seal up each time he sleeps. His eye itself isn't irritated; they both remain wet and clear. We clean the gunk away and clear out the duct. It seems to be getting slightly better. Maybe it was a sinus blockage.

I've had the same problem for about ten years now. I get gunk inside my eye, and it adheres my lid to my eyeball. I can hear myself blink. The docs say it's allergies. It's a mere inconvenience to me, but I worry it's a small trauma for the deputy. He seems more bothered by our ministrations than the gunk.

A lack of beef broth and the presence of some sort of moth in our rice bowl made me change dinner plans and make emergency alfredo. We fell into food comas and went to bed early.

Yesterday's massive rain shower was exactly what my new grass patch needed. I take it as karmic congratulations for much work done well.

Picture of the Day
Behold the many faces of the boy. It's uncanny.

The "you're not funny" face.

+ + +

The "gooned on milk" face.

Skip to the End

I am beat up.

I spent many a day this past week and weekend catching up on yardwork. Your Sis usually manages the flower beds in the front yard, and they've been neglected for about a year. We noticed all the trouble visitors had using the front walk and even navigating the wild branches between the first true bed and the front walk. Because we've settled the boy into something resembling a routine, I was able to get outside and hack away at the overgrowth. The front yard looks spindly now. My back feels spindly now. But one cannot deny the results of a workout routine that includes lugging around a ten-pound baby, hedge trimmer, and weedeater within an hour. I celebrated the end of the chore with a Throwback Pepsi.

Side note: Throwback Pepsis were advertised this winter as a limited release, but we saw a new stack of them yesterday and bought two cases. We'll ration them as best we can; Your Sis needs the caffeine some days.

We experimented with the Deputy's disposition and took him out twice this weekend. He was very popular with the ladies. He sleeps most of the time, and now he's able to sit quietly for long stretches. We turned on the sound monitor and had him sleep in his nursery Saturday night. It went fine. He wasn't in the crib; we'll work him up to that soon. But he did sleep much longer that night.

His umbilical stump is holding on only by a thin strand. It's coming off any time. His navel looks fine underneath. We started placing him on his stomach for ten minutes to help him build his torso muscles. We're trying to establish nighttime routines to prepare him for deep sleep. We use a zippered blanket sack and dim the house lights. Also, I feed him before we go to bed. He's gobbling a lot more milk at one time, and we rotate between feeding him from milk cubes, frozen milk bags, bottles, and the tap.

I met with the two derby reps Friday at an Asheville coffeeshop. Their notes on the logo were few and reasonable. I suspect they were nervous about asking for the adjustments, but I assured them I was happy to work with them and see the logo through to the final version. I miss collaboration like this. The biggest change involves color. While they admit they initially didn't want to restrict logo suggestions, they now want the logo to be closer to teh blue used for the first team. That's easily done. We met for maybe twenty minutes, and I surprised them by saying I could have the changes done by Monday. They're eager to get the logo out into the world to recruit new members and brand the team. Maybe it will debut before Friday.

Your Sister will go to a Pampered Chef party Thursday. We seem to have come out the otehr side of her "nursing cave" phase, and we can take turns heading out at night. We're planning his first road trip in to weekends to see My Mom. She's impatient to see the boy again and wants to show him off to the neighbors.

The ants are not completely gone, and Your Sis is on a slow boil about Terminex fixing the problem on their third try. I still haven't put in the ceiling fan, but I'd like to have that done before September.

Moving Pictures of the Day
Can I interest you in the official Lost epilogue?

OMFG It's The Official Lost Epilogue